Mashù raised his hands, palms open, every line of his body screaming reluctance. "Please. I don't want to hit a girl. But if I have to… I will."
Across from him, the twins exchanged a glance and a smile that belonged on people far older than they looked. "You couldn't touch us even if you wanted to," Ichiji said.
"**TEMPORAL STRIKE!!**"
They vanished.
Not fast — *gone*, the space where they'd been standing simply empty, like a page torn out of the world.
"Where'd they go??" Mashù spun on his heel, scanning the wreckage-strewn street.
"Mashù, keep your eyes open." Beside him, Suna's voice was tight with focus. "They can show up anywhere!"
"Okay…"
"We're behind you," the twins said in perfect unison.
Suna turned half a second too slow. The blow caught her across the shoulder and sent her sprawling. "Huh— *gah*—"
"Suna!!" Mashù was at her side before she'd even finished hitting the ground.
She waved him off, wincing as she pushed herself up. "I'm fine. They just clocked me a bit."
"Who said we're done?" the twins chorused.
"Oh no— *gahh!!*"
"**Stop it!!!**" Mashù's restraint finally cracked. "**Raaaa!!!**"
A new voice cut across the chaos, almost lazy in its confidence. "Hold on there, pretty boy. You're fighting *me*."
Mashù turned to find a young man stepping out of the haze, grin already in place. Frustration boiled up in his chest — there wasn't time for another opponent, not with Suna hurt and the twins still circling. "I don't have time for this!! **REVENGE RUSH!!**"
"**GALACTIC RUSH!!**" Space met him head-on, and the street between them detonated into a shockwave of competing velocity.
Mashù gritted his teeth, fighting through the resistance. *I have to get to him in time.*
"Sorry," Space said, easily matching him stride for stride, "but I can't let you through."
"No worries." Mashù's grin flickered back despite the pain. "I'll get through myself. Suna — **now!!**"
"**CRYSTAL CLONES!!**"
Tekai blinked. "How is she using that while getting beaten down?"
A heartbeat later, Ichiji let out a scream that had nothing performative left in it. "Ahhh— my hand!!"
"Darling," Suna's voice purred from somewhere off to the side, very much unhurt, "you were fighting one of my clones. Honestly, I'm surprised it didn't break sooner."
---
**A few moments earlier…**
"Suna, how many clones can you make?" Mashù had asked, low and quick.
"Only one, right now. I need time to charge before I can make more."
"How many are we talking, and how much time?"
"About thirty. I'd need at least a minute and a half."
Mashù had nodded once, decisive. "Make a clone now. Go hide. Let them think it's you."
Suna's eyes had lit up. "Splendid idea. **CRYSTAL CLONE!!** I leave the rest to you."
---
**Now.**
"Nice — it worked," Mashù muttered, watching the decoy take blow after blow without him.
"There's so many of them," Space said, and for the first time there was real uncertainty in his voice.
From her hiding place, fully recovered and grinning, Suna lifted both hands. "Now, *this* I call art. **MOLD!!**"
The single clone split, and split again, and again — dozens of Mashùs flooding the ruined street in every direction.
Tekai actually swooned. "Oh my goodness, they're all *Mashù*. I'm in *heaven*."
"Calm yourself, girl," Ichiji snapped, still cradling his ruined hand. "The real one is still out there."
"He's running!" Tekai's head snapped toward a fleeing figure. "Catch him, Space!"
"I know, I know — **GALACTIC RUSH!!** I won't let you get away!"
"Crap—" Mashù put on a final burst of speed, lungs burning. "**JACKPOT!!**"
A small voice rang out from a thicket that hadn't been there a second before. "**OVERGROWN CATASTROPHE!!**"
Vines erupted from the cracked pavement, thick and fast, tangling around Space's legs and dragging him to a halt mid-stride.
"Ah—" Space stumbled, genuinely startled. "What's with all these *plants*?"
A small girl stepped out from behind the new growth, hands shaking but expression resolute. "Please, get going, Mr. Mashù!"
Mashù's breath caught. "Thank you, little girl."
"*No!!*" Space tore free, fury replacing his earlier amusement. "Why you little—"
The girl flinched back. "Ahh! Don't hurt me!"
"*Hurt* is an understatement." Space's hand crackled with dark light. "**NEBULA—**"
"**Haaaa!!**"
The blow came from nowhere — a fist that sent Space crashing sideways before he could finish the word.
He looked up, dazed, to find a woman standing over him, knuckles still raised. "Ouch. Why'd you have to punch me so hard?"
"You're one of the people behind this, right?" Migan's voice was flat, dangerous.
"By 'this,'" Space said, climbing unsteadily to his feet, "do you mean this *beautiful* sight of explosions and turmoil? Then — yes."
"I had a feeling."
"Now, *die!!*"
"**HYPER SHOUT!!**"
The sound that tore out of Migan's throat wasn't a battle cry so much as a weapon in its own right. Space dropped, hands clawed over his ears, collapsing to the ground in a twitching heap.
Migan was already crouched beside the little girl. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"
"No." Nanshi shook her head, eyes wide. "You saved me before he could."
"Good." Migan rose, scanning the wreckage of the street. "Now let's go help the other one. What in the *world* is that?"
A wave of pressure rolled through the air like a held breath finally released.
*Phawoosh.*
"You should help *yourself* first." Jeremi stepped out of the haze, something feral curling at the edges of his smile. "**OMINOUS STRIKE!!**"
Migan hit the ground hard, breath driven from her lungs in a single ragged gasp. "Ahhh— run, little girl…"
"No!" Nanshi's voice cracked. "I can't leave you! Jeremi — why would you do this?"
"Because it's *fun*." He rolled his shoulders, bored already. "I've been so bored lately. Only fighting the strongest mends my hunger for excitement."
"But—" Nanshi's eyes searched his face, confused, frightened. "Why do you look different?"
"Oh, this?" Jeremi gestured at himself, at the dark light bleeding off his skin like smoke. "This is Wraith Mode. Though you don't need to worry about that — you'll be dead soon. Okay?"
"No — no, no, no — please spare me."
"For now, I will." He turned away from her almost casually. "First, I have business with Suna. **CURSED SEVERANCE!!**"
The curse found Suna mid-stride, driving through her like a blade made of nothing at all.
"Huh—" Her knees buckled. "*Gleh*… what did you—"
"No need to worry," Jeremi said, almost gently. "It'll be quick."
"Jeremi—" Tekai's voice shook with horror. "You weren't supposed to kill him without taking his spirit first!"
"Shut up before I kill *you* too."
Ichiji stepped forward, fists clenched, every trace of his earlier smugness burned away. "You've gone too far this time. You — and this lust for power — it's *disgusting*."
"That's strike two." Jeremi's eyes slid toward Nanshi. "Now, for the little girl."
"No—" Ichiji lunged. "Stop, that's eno—"
He never finished the sentence.
"*Ichiji — NO!!!!!*" Tekai's scream tore through the street, raw and disbelieving.
"You going to hold me back too?" Jeremi asked, almost bored.
Tekai's hands trembled at her sides, tears spilling freely now. "No…"
"Good. Now—"
"Why would you do that?" Nanshi's voice was small, shaking with something beyond fear now. "She was on your *team*."
Jeremi actually laughed. "*Team?* Don't make me laugh. She was a pawn on the chessboard. Nothing more."
"A *pawn?*" Tekai's grief curdled into something else entirely. "*How dare you—*"
"I told you, didn't I?"
"*No one* talks about my sister like that!! **TEMPORAL STRIKE!!**"
Jeremi's eyebrows rose, genuinely surprised as the world flickered around him. "Oh — you can use the ability without her. Interesting."
"*Gah—*" Jeremi's hand closed around her throat before she'd even finished the motion. "Let go… I can't breathe—"
"*No!!*" Nanshi's hands slammed into the ground. "**OVERGROWN CATASTROPHE!!**"
"Oh." Jeremi glanced down at the vines erupting around his feet, almost delighted. "Looks like you've got some fight in you after all. Why didn't you show this back in training?"
"I'm not watching you kill anyone else while I'm here!!"
"Then come at me with everything you've got, little girl."
"**FRENZY FOLIAGE!!**"
"So much power," Jeremi mused, shrugging off the assault almost lazily, "and you don't even know how to use it properly. Pity. If you did, I might actually be plant food right now."
"Please—" Nanshi's voice cracked under the strain. "Just go *down!!*"
"Hahaha — **OMINOUS STRIKE!!**"
"Ahh—" Nanshi staggered but didn't fall. "I'm not giving up."
"Well, look at you, taking a hit like that. Let's keep going, then. **CURSED SEVERANCE!!**"
"Oh, no—"
"**GEYSER BAZOOKA!!**"
"Mr. Anjero—" Nanshi's voice broke completely, the last of her strength bleeding out with the words. "Please… help…"
---
*No worries. I'll handle this from here.*
I stood at the edge of the wreckage and made myself look at all of it — really look, the way you're supposed to when you're about to decide something can't be allowed to continue.
Two bodies, motionless. Suna. One of the twins. The other twin sat frozen nearby, breath shallow, eyes hollow with a kind of shock that goes past grief and into something closer to disbelief. On the far side, Nanshi was crying into the cracked pavement, and Migan was still struggling just to push herself upright.
I couldn't believe he'd go this far. Kids my own age, scattered across the ground like this, because of *fun*.
"Well, Anjero." Jeremi turned toward me, and for the first time that smile looked almost sincere. "Ready for our rematch?"
"Mr. Anjero—" Nanshi's voice cracked through her sobs. "Please… stop him."
I looked toward her. "I will. Don't worry — just rest." A thought occurred to me, useless as it might have been a minute ago. "Oh — can you do that healing thing you did back at Tenki's HQ?"
"No." She shook her head, miserable. "I don't even know how I did it the first time."
"Then do this for me." I kept my voice steady, even though nothing about this moment felt steady at all. "While I deal with Jeremi, try talking to your spirit. See if you can find the thread again."
"How?"
"Close your eyes. Focus on your spirit's energy. That's all you can do right now."
"...Okay." A small, wet sniffle.
Jeremi watched the whole exchange with open delight. "Aww, look at you, playing teacher. Too bad you won't get to teach her for long — I do still have to kill her, after all."
"Then why not me?" I asked. "Why won't you kill me too?"
"Nah." He shrugged, easy as anything. "I want to keep you around. So I can fight you later."
"...What?"
"You've got so much potential, Anjero. You might end up stronger than my father someday."
"That's fine and all." I rolled my shoulders, settling into a stance I hadn't needed in a long time. "But I'm not letting you kill anyone else while I'm standing here. Put your dukes up."
"A *fistfight*?" Jeremi's grin split wide, delighted. "Now *that* I'm excited for."
"**VAPOR FISTS!!**"
"**ROUGE OMINOUS STRIKE!!**"
I'd seen that move more times than I could count by now. "Hooh — **haaa!!**"
"Ahhh—" Jeremi staggered, clutching his side. "My ribs! Why you little— huh. What's going on?"
"You're finally out of energy for that form."
"Ahh— it *burns!* My chest feels like it's on fire!"
"What's happening to him?" I muttered, half to myself.
"It *hurts!* It hurts!!"
I exhaled, some of the tension finally bleeding out of my shoulders. "Guess he's done. Nanshi — you good over there?"
"I'm okay…"
"Who says I'm *done?!*" Jeremi's voice tore back up out of the dirt, ragged with fury and pain in equal measure.
"Just stay down." I kept my tone level. "I'll lock you up in a second."
"*Stop ignoring me!!!*"
"You haven't learned, have you." I shook my head, already moving. "Then so be it. **VAPOR BULLETS!!**"