Chapter 15: An Emotional Battle of Desperation (Part 2)

I began to look closely at the figures, and I was stunned to see that Yang and Yun were finally here, just as I was about to be electrocuted to my death...

"About time you idiots got here! I was about to lose my life here!" I said in a mixture of relief and anger.

"I told you we'd save you Illia, we weren't gonna leave you hanging like this." Yun said, as he threw my brother off of me.

"It would've taken us longer if we hadn't caught the nearby chopper going to Russia." Yang inquired, in his usual calm manner.

"Well, it's still a miracle that you both showed up, or I would've been fried to death..." I said gratefully, as they both helped me up.

"All right just who the hell are you, and why are you interfering with my plans?!" Mikhail shouted angrily.

"We're the Lee Brothers, and we're the greatest Kung Fu Masters that ever lived!" Yun cockily said to him.

"I don't care who you are, or whatever you think you are, you will not interfere with my battle with Necro!" he screamed in rage and frustration.

"I'm afraid we already have." Yang calmly replied, "But we're about to let your older brother take the reins... and defeat you."

"HE IS NOT MY BROTHER! HE IS MY-"

"Blast!" I shocked from behind, catching him off guard.

"You see guys?" I pointed out at Yun and Yang, "He's still just as he was back then... very inattentive at times." They laughed, as Mikhail began getting even more angrier.

"GRRRRR... ELECTRIC SNAKE!" he electrocuted the ground at a great force enough to kill a single human being. I jumped, but I was still hit by the attack and was knocked out.

"No... I can't believe I lost this round..." I was in disbelief, but at the same time I barely had enough strength to keep going anyway.

"Don't give up now Illia. You've only got two more rounds to win, just keep trying!" Effie shouted in encouragement.

"You're right Effie, and I have no intention on giving up. Not if I want to get Mikhail back to normal." I got back up, and began to recharge my electricity for the next round.

"Just give up Necro. You'll never get your precious Mikhail back nor will you escape from your demise."

"You may think that 'Magnectric', but I don't intend on giving up anytime soon!" I defiantly shouted at him.

"Round 3: Fight!"

I was as focused as ever as the round began. All that was on my mind was getting Mikhail back to his original self.

"Rising Cobra!" I swiftly kicked him down with my left foot.

"Blast!" he zapped me, only to have the electricity and the impact be absorbed by me.

"What the- you can't absorb electricity! You're not an electric magnet like me!"

"Who said I can't?" I wise cracked at him, "You forgot that I'm a quick learner like our mother was, didn't you?"

"What are you trying to imply here?" he said bitterly. "Or is this one of your schemes to get me off focus?"

"Oh shut up, you freak!" Yun shouted at him. "I'll have you know that Illia is the greatest electromagnetic dude in the universe!"

"That's right! I am the best electromagnetic person in the universe, no questions asked!" I proudly proclaimed with newfound confidence.

"Blast!" I quickly shocked him, and knocked him back.

"Snake Fang!" he grabbed me by the ankle, much to my dismay and threw me against the wall. I could feel the heat of my emotions flaring up, but I kept them held back. The pain was excrutiating as I got back up.

"You... you imbecile! How can you treat me this way!? After all I have done for you..." I angrily said, as he laughed at me.

"Like I keep telling you Necro, Mikhail is gone and you'll never see him again!" Mikhail spat at me.

"You liar... he's not gone! He's not! He's still here!" I began to deny what he was saying, since I knew that it wasn't true...

"Repent your sins, Necro! Tornado Hook!" he tried to spin and hit me, but I had a better comeback waiting for him.

"Feel my pain, you damn liar! Slam Dance!" I slammed him hard on the ground three times, causing to finally lose all of his strength. His face looked as though it was in a trance, as if Mikhail was trying to break free...

"Unnnnh..." I heard him moan, in the same soft and high-pitched tone that he had as a human.

"Only one more round... I hope I can finally snap him out of this." I said solemnly, "I can just feel him somehow, trying to regain his normal self."

"I know you will... I just know it. He's become a little less scarier now." Irina said with a small smile. Yang began to observe him, as he was getting up.

"You're close Illia, but it's going to take a lot more than fighting and tiny memories. You're going to have to dig deeper into his memory."

"I know, and that's exactly what I'll have to do now..." I said softly, as I was starting to become even more upset over the match.

"Round 4: Fight!"

The battle had reached its climax as me and Mikhail began exchanging electric blasts at each other, as it became even more desperate than ever.

"Tornado Hook!" I quickly spun and hit him five times, knocking him into the nearby tree powered machine.

"You'll pay for this insolence Necro, after I get done doing this! Rising Cobra!" he swiftly tried to kick me in the head, only to completely miss and hit the machine instead, causing him to become even more angrier.

"When are you going to end this charade, Mikhail... and return to the sweet... and innocent little brother I know?" I was desperate now, as he was getting out of control.

"I'LL STOP THIS... WHEN YOU'RE AS GOOD AS GONE, JUST LIKE YOUR BROTHER!" I noticed his eyes were a bright orange color, as it seemed that he has reached his breaking point.

"Stop with all the damn lies! I know you're still here Mikhail, I just know it..." I was getting close to my breaking point myself, as my eyes were beginning to overflow.

"WELL HE'S NOT, SO GIVE UP NOW! SNAKE FANG!" he proceeded to grab me by the ankle and throw me to the wall, at an even harder impact. The pain was even worse now as I got up. Not only was it excruciating, but now it was also emotionally painful as well.

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO STAY DOWN THERE!" he screamed at a high volume that caused the Lee Brothers to jump, and Effie and Irina to become scared. "I WANTED YOU TO DISAPPEAR A LONG TIME AGO... FOR... FOR..." he stopped, as I began to sob bitterly.

"I... I'm sorry... I'm sorry that I never came back sooner... Please forgive me Mikhail..." I was feeling guilty now, as I stood there before him with tears streaming steadily down my face. "I never meant to leave our village like this..."

"ENOUGH! I DON'T NEED TO HEAR ANYMORE OF YOUR SAD LITTLE LAMENT! IT'S TIME THAT I BROUGHT AN END TO YOUR PATHETIC EXSISTENCE! MAGNO-" He suddenly began to clutch his head and loudly scream out... as if he was trying to regain his memory.

"NO! SHUT UP! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" he screamed, as I continued to weep in bitter despair. "STUPID ILLUMINATI MONSTERS, LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"I never wanted this to happen... to you... It just tears me up really bad inside..." I turned away, not letting him see me cry like this. "If only I could hear your sweet voice again... one more time..."

"I-Illia?" Mikhail became aware of my presence. "Is it really... you?"

"Mikhail... it's you..." I turned back and saw that he was back to normal. "It's really you... I'm so glad you're back to normal..."

"Why are you crying Illia?" he asked as he finally approached me for the first time.

"Because I was hurt by the fact that you were working as a cybernetic soldier for Gill... and from what I did a while back..." I softly explained, as I held back a few sobs.

"I'm sorry that I hurt you Illia. I was out in Moscow... looking for you, when they kidnapped me out of plain sight..." Mikhail suddenly became downcast, and then began to gaze upon my damp face.

"Illia... did they do this to you?! Oh no..." he was a little upset from his discovery, as I began to sob even more bitterly now.

"Yes... Yes... it's all true... they did this to me... and it was all so they could use me as an experiement... I should've known they weren't gonna give me a better life..."

"Hey, hey. They did this to me too. But at least they didn't brainwash you... like they did me..." he said solemnly, as Irina approached him and began to hug him.

"Mikhail, you're back! I'm so glad." she happily said, as he gave her a tight squeeze.

"I couldn't be more happier Irina, now that my brother has found me safe and sound."

"Umm, I hate to interrupt, but aren't you guys supposed to finish the match?" Yun inquired us.

"Forget the match braid boy! I'm forfeiting!" Mikhail shouted at him, "I just want to enjoy this moment with my brother and my sweetheart." He hugged Irina once more.

"Okay okay, geesh. But get a room alright?"

"Why don't you tell me to get a room too, buddy?" I wise cracked back at Yun, as Effie and I began to exchange a kiss. Yun began getting grossed out, as Yang laughed at him. By now my tears had already dried out.

"So this is your brother Illia? He seems pretty great." Effie said to me.

"He is great... just as I remembered him to be. It turns out, he was only trying to find me." I smiled as I gazed at him again.

"I'm glad you finally returned him to normal... I just hope he comes along with us."

"I know he will Effie, besides he wouldn't want to miss out on my encounter with Gill." I turned and saw Mikhail and Irina had approached us.

"Hey Illia, I hope you don't mind, Irina and I really want to go with you on your journey." he said, "I've always wanted to see you fight in a real tournament, and maybe I'll be able to see that nice Kenyan girl again."

"Kenyan girl..." I grew curious as to who he was mentioning.

"Yeah. Her name is Elena, and she's ever so kind. I told her what happened to me and stuff, while I was fighting my brainwashing, and she was real understanding about it. I'm so glad to have her as a friend."

"Maybe you will see her again. She is in this tournament you know." I said to him, "But despite that battle that happened between us, I'm just so happy that you're safe and not harmed..."

"I'm just glad that I found you, so you could rescue me from these creeps." he said to me in relief.

"Yeah, but I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me for leaving you without coming back..." I replied in a somewhat solemn voice.

"I've already forgiven you, Illia. You were just trying to help us get a better life, that's all." Mikhail said happily. His words had made me feel a little bit better.

"Hey you two. Lee Brothers!" Mikhail shouted at Yun and Yang, "Why don't you be awesome for us and get us a chopper?"

"I was thinking the same thing, dude. This weird place was creeping me out anyway." he and Yang then went outside to ignite signal flares from the top of the train.

As the day started drawing to a close, and as we waited for our chopper, I began to think about how wonderful the next few battles will be now that my brother was coming along with me to watch them all, and about the new ability I had learned from our previous battle that we had. I no longer had the need to feel anxious or upset, because now I had rescued my brother from the Illuminati and reunited with him for the first time. The only thing I needed to do was to confront Gill and get our freedom back from him once and for all, and that was the only goal I wanted to fulfill the most.