The rooftop trembled under the weight of our power.
Wind twisted around me like a storm searching for direction.
Across the broken concrete, Arin stood with dark energy leaking from his body like smoke from a wound. His eyes glowed with a cold hunger.
For a long moment—
Neither of us moved.
Then he disappeared.
Not vanished.
Moved.
Too fast for normal sight.
But something inside my mind reacted.
A flash.
A glimpse of the next second.
My body moved before I understood why.
I twisted sideways.
Arin's fist cut through the air where my skull had been. The impact cracked the concrete wall behind me.
I countered instantly.
My foot snapped forward in a sharp Muay Thai front kick, driving into his ribs. The impact pushed him back two steps.
Arin smiled.
"Good."
He lunged again.
This time his movements were precise.
Controlled.
A fighter's stance.
His fist came straight toward my throat. I deflected it with my forearm and shifted into a boxing guard, throwing a fast hook toward his jaw.
He ducked under it.
His elbow slammed into my stomach.
Even as a ghost, the impact shook my entire body. Pain exploded through my chest.
He followed immediately with a taekwondo spinning kick. The strike caught my shoulder and threw me across the rooftop.
I rolled across the ground and forced myself up.
Arin was already moving again.
This time his attack changed.
His stance lowered.
Balanced.
Judo.
He grabbed my arm the moment I stepped forward and twisted.
The throw sent my body crashing hard into the rooftop floor.
Cracks spread across the concrete beneath me.
"Still weak," he said quietly.
His hand reached for my throat.
The moment his fingers touched me—
The future flashed again.
A vision.
His next movement.
I twisted my body and slammed my elbow into his wrist. The grip broke.
I kicked upward from the ground with a rising capoeira kick, forcing him back.
We separated.
Both breathing.
Even though neither of us needed air.
Behind us, Vikram slowly pushed himself up against the wall.
His voice was weak.
"Rive…"
I didn't look at him.
My eyes stayed on Arin.
Arin wiped dark energy from the corner of his mouth.
"You've changed," he said.
"So have you."
His smile widened.
"That's because I embraced it."
Dark energy gathered around his arms.
The shadows on the rooftop began crawling toward him.
"I stopped pretending we were still human."
The power around him intensified.
"You're holding back."
He stepped forward slowly.
"Why?"
I looked at him.
At the face of someone who used to be my closest friend.
My voice came out quiet.
"Because I remember who you were."
Arin's expression darkened.
"That person is gone."
He attacked again.
This time his movements became savage.
Less technique.
More violence.
His fist slammed into my face. The strike knocked me backward.
Before I could recover, his knee drove into my ribs.
The impact cracked the rooftop again.
He grabbed my collar and lifted me off the ground.
His eyes burned with hunger.
"Do you know what happens when I devour a strong soul?"
His voice dropped.
"I evolve."
His grip tightened.
"And you're going to make me very strong."
Something inside me finally broke.
Not my body.
Something deeper.
The hesitation.
The memories.
The part of me still hoping my friend would come back.
The power inside me surged violently.
Wind exploded outward.
Arin's grip shattered as a shockwave threw him across the rooftop.
The entire building trembled.
I stood slowly.
The energy around me was different now.
Colder.
Controlled.
Arin wiped blood from his lip.
And then—
He laughed.
Not like before.
Not hungry.
Excited.
"Yes," he whispered.
"That's the Rive I wanted."
We stared at each other across the broken rooftop.
Two ghosts.
Two former friends.
Two predators.
Waiting.
For the next strike.