14 Airson's Resolve
Standing in front of Airson was the man who threatened to tear down society as he knew it.
"If you insist on getting in my way, I'll kill you too." Z said.
"I'd like to see you try!" Airson said, charging forward.
The two clashed back and forth.
Airson's Super Ultrasonic was fast enough to keep up with Z's movements. The problem was that Z's power outmatched his own. Z's black lightning was stronger than his yellow lightning.
Z rose into the air. He raised both of his hands. "Black Laser." Both of his hands shot out the massive beam of darkness. He crossed his arms so that the beams would intersect, causing more collateral damage from the explosion.
Airson ran around the beams. He tried to fly up but the beams' explosion knocked him away.
Z unleashed one large scale attack after another, forcing Airson to stay on the defensive. "Just lay down and die already!!"
Airson was starting to run low on energy. He had to finish this, and fast. Or else Starlight Square would be reduced to dust. Then he remembered; "Wait, isn't Casey supposed to be here? Why hasn't he come yet?! I'm positive he can sense Z's presence. What's going on?!"
--
Niwea was asleep on the hospital bed recovering.
Nigel sat in the chair beside the bed. By now he was fully healed. "I should be helping Airson fight right now. But I'm not strong enough to deal with that man." He looked at the floor. "He's too strong. I haven't even mastered Atomic Mass yet."
Someone knocked on the room door softly.
"Come in." Nigel said.
Casey entered the room. "I'm here to check up on you two, I heard you got beat by Z pretty badly."
"Yeah, we-" Nigel stopped mid sentence. "Wait, how do you know what happened? You fought Z already?"
"Oh you know, word gets around quickly these days."
Nigel was getting a nasty vibe from Casey. "Answer my question." he said firmly. "What about Z?"
Casey caressed Niwea's head. "There's been a slight change of plans." Casey's hand glowed black for a mere moment, then he removed it.
Nigel jumped up. "What did you just do?! Aren't you supposed to be a Knight?!"
Casey held his hand to his face, giving Nigel a sinister grin between his fingers. "Precisely. Supposed to."
Nigel's heart leaped from his chest.
Casey suddenly lunged forward, outstretching his hand towards Nigel.
Nigel backpedaled toward the window and jumped out back first. "Great Tree Armor: Redwood!" He landed on the ground.
Casey looked at him from the broken window. "You know, acting is exhausting, Nigel." He put his hand to the wall. It started melting.
Nigel started taking steps backwards. "What ability is this? You're supposed to be a flame user…!"
The wall proceeded to melt like molten lava as it dripped down then dried again.
"Quicklime. The ability to liquify and dry concrete or cement-like solids. A very useful power." Casey jumped down. "I collect abilities from other people. As of right now, I've collected 134 different abilities. Including the one I just gained."
Nigel stepped backwards again. "You can't mean..."
Casey's left arm glowed white, and his right arm glowed black. "Oh yes. This is going to be a useful one indeed." He started walking towards Nigel.
Nigel kept walking backwards in response, scared.
"What was your power again? Nature type, healing abilities... and Atomic Mass right?" Casey asked.
"How do you know all this?"
"I'm the second highest ranked Omega in the country. We have access to all kinds of information. Now. Your abilities will make a wonderful addition to my collection." Casey fingered through his hair. "Quicklime."
The ground was quickly becoming liquid. Nigel flew up to escape the thick fluid.
Casey looked at him. "Gravity times five."
Nigel's body suddenly became overbearingly heavy. "What?! My body... I can't maintain my flight…!"
"What's wrong Nigel? Body heavy? Having trouble breathing? Let me help you with that. Gravity times ten."
Immediately the air around Nigel became twice as heavy than before. He was falling quickly now.
"Oops." Casey said.
"The concrete is liquid right now right? Well, here goes nothing!" Nigel held a hand down. "Wood Pillar!" His hand created a large pillar of wood that stuck into the liquid cement. It was tall and wide enough so that he could stand on it.
Casey smiled. "Ah, well if you went down that easy then it wouldn't be fun would it?!" He had a wild look on his face. The gravity let up and the concrete dried.
Nigel let in a gasp of air. He caught his breath.
"Now let me show you something fun." Casey said. He started moving mid air on a surface of ice, like he was surfing a wave, moving fast.
Nigel started flying away.
Casey placed his palms together. "Magic Art: Flight Cancel!"
Nigel immediately fell from the air. He landed on a building.
Casey was gaining on him quickly.
Nigel got up and started running.
"Dragon Flame!" Casey started blowing fire from his mouth that was colored purple, pink, and orange. It burned up everything in its path.
"I'm pretty sure Casey has to make direct contact with my head to steal my power. If that's true, then I'll have to take a gamble!!" Nigel thought. He turned around to face Casey.
The fire breathing stopped.
"So you decided to face your fate?" Casey said with a demonic grin. "That's more like it!! Stone Hammer!"
Casey's left arm turned into a giant mallet made of rock. He brought it down upon Nigel's head.
crack!
The wood armor was shattered.
Everything under the hammer was completely crushed.
After realizing what just happened, Casey instantly regretted it. "NO! I WAS SO CAUGHT UP IN THE FIGHT THAT I KILLED HIM!! I DIDN'T THINK HE'D ACTUALLY GET SMASHED!!"
Nigel then appeared mid-air behind Casey. "Atomic Mass Times Two!!"
Casey looked at him with a devilish grin on his face. "Gotchaaa." He held his hand out. "Fullmetal Armament." Casey's body became a silvery metal. "He won't get me with that punch now, all I have to do is take his ability." he thought.
Nigel readied up his attack. Casey reached out and grabbed his face. "You're mine!!" he yelled.
Nigel let out a grunt of pain. Casey's hand glowed black. "It's over."
Nigel's body suddenly turned into wood completely.
Casey realized it too late. "Another clone?!" He turned to look the other way, where the real Nigel was attacking him.
The wood clone attached itself to Casey's left hand so that he couldn't move it. He held out his right hand.
Nigel held up a wooden fist and smashed it on his arm, easily breaking it.
"What?!" Casey exclaimed. "It's… broken!"
"TIMES… THREE!!!" Nigel slammed his other fist into Casey's face.
BOOM!!!
If it wasn't for his metal armor, Casey's head would have been blown clean off, but Nigel still sent him flying, sending him through two buildings before hitting a third and then falling to the ground.
Nigel released his Atomic Mass. He looked through the gaping holes in the buildings and saw a limp, broken, and unconscious Casey lying face-first on the ground.
"I did it..." said an exhausted Nigel. "I really did it..."
--
Back in the outskirts of the city, Airson was fighting a hopeless battle by himself.
Z knocked him around over and over again.
Airson was laid out on the ground. He was tired. He could barely move.
Z walked towards him. "This is your end. Goodbye, old friend." Z held up his hand in the air as he conjured a Black Orb.
But Airson was mad now. "Old friend...?"
And in a flash of a half second, Airson had his fist at Z's face, charged with lightning. "Don't talk to me so familiarly!"
wham!
Airson stood there, hunched over, barely able to stand.
His Ultrasonic ran out. "Someone like you wouldn't know the first thing about friendship. You just fight to satisfy your hatred for nobles. What friends do you have?!"
Z's mask was torn up, his right eye and nose were exposed. His hair was hanging out. "You're right, I don't know the first thing about friendship. I had no friends to begin with. My life was taken from me. If the nobles of Arbok weren't so complacent, and actually cared about the rest of the world, then we wouldn't have this problem!!"
Airson looked up at Z. Then his eyes grew wide. He dropped to his knees. He knew this face. It was a face he hadn't seen in years. "No..." he said. "It can't be..." in a dry, soft spoken voice.
Z ripped off the rest of his mask. "You should be the last person I have to explain this to."
Airson started crying involuntarily. "A-A-A... Aron? You're… Z? No... it can't be."
Airson started laughing nervously. "No. I'm dreaming right? That's what this is? Z isn't Aron. Aron was my friend. He saved us from that hell in Cell City. Aron is a good person. Who… who are you?"
Airson looked up, with tears streaming down his face.
"Z. As in, the end. I'm putting an end to Arbok today. What I was in the past will stay where he is."
Airson looked down, crying. "When I made Omega, I was gonna come visit you, show you how far I made it, that I achieved my dreams. I wanted you to be proud of me. But now you're just another villain...? I can't believe it. Should I be mad right now? I don't know if I am… I don't know if I can be."
Aron looked at Airson without an ounce of compassion. "It doesn't matter to me what you feel now. I only feel revenge. First I'll finish you. I've already finished off that other lightning-type Knight. Casey should have killed that wood user and that noble by now. Next will be the rest of the people in Starlight Square. From there we move to the royal capital to kill the royal family and take the throne."
Airson was still looking down, crying. "Asnoth is dead? Casey…? So he was a traitor the entire time… and you're saying he got Niwea and Nigel too?"
Immense pressure surrounded Airson. "Oh. I was right. I'm not mad. What's the word, furious? No..."
Airson stood up. His eyes were glowing red. Anger was consuming him. Red lightning crackled all over his body. His muscles swelled to twice their size.
Airson's energy exploded into a bright red beam of light. "ALL I CAN FEEL IS RAGE!!!!" He screamed at the top of his lungs as his energy exploded to even further heights.
"So his rage triggered another transformation. This could be problematic." Aron said.
Airson was still screaming. He screamed until there were no more tears to cry, until there was no more anger, no more sadness.
Only hatred. Only rage.
Airson was now calm. He looked at his hands. Red lightning enveloped him with a burning hatred. He was itching to destroy. "This must be Ultrasonic 2." he said calmly.
Aron held his hand out. "It doesn't matter what form you take, it won't stop my revenge."
Airson calmly looked at Aron.
"Black Laser." Aron said.
voosh!
Airson started running. The form he was in now was way stronger than his Super Ultrasonic form. He ran straight through Aron's Black Laser unaffected.
Aron was shocked. "Wait, how? That lightning can't be stronger than mine"
Airson flashed through the attack and uppercutted Aron in the stomach. "I hate you. This is where you die."
Aron suddenly knew he was in danger.
The impact from the punch sent Aron flying, but before he could recover Airson was right above him. He clasped his hands together and sent him back to the ground with a thunderous crash.
"This isn't enough." Airson said. "I can do more." He raised his power level even higher. "This'll be Super Ultrasonic 2." Parts of his hair turned white, and the lightning became much stronger. He held out his hand. "Red Laser."
A blast of lightning twice as big as the one Aron could use struck the earth, nearly evaporating him.
Airson instantly flew back in front of Aron, and knocked him into several large boulders, smashed him into the ground countless times, and broke nearly every possible bone in Aron's body.
With a skull-crushing fist, Airson knocked Aron into the rocky side of a waterfall. Aron was barely conscious.
"Now that I'm in this form, I can feel them. They're giving off brain waves. All of the people in Starlight Square. Nigel is alive. Niwea is too. But you won't be."
Aron managed to utter a word from his broken, mangled, crippled body. "Wait. Forgive me."
BOOM!!!
Airson thrust his fist into Aron's chest and destroyed the entire waterfall, creating a massive hole for the river water to flow through.
Aron died immediately.
"What was that? I couldn't hear you. Speak up." Airson said.
--
Airson flew back to Starlight Square and reverted back to his normal form. He limped all the way back to the inn, half conscious.
Miraka was pacing back and forth in the lobby worried sick when Airson walked through the automatic doors.
"I'm... sorry." he said as he finally fainted. Miraka caught him. She started crying silently. "Don't be sorry. You came back to me alive."
