Chapter 7

Eduard had his reasons for being the way he is. He doesn't stay down but that always ended up in him shooting himself. Getting his powers never ended up making his life easier. In fact at times it ended up making things harder for him and his family. He thought that maybe he could change things for the better. Maybe he could end up making his mother smile again. Maybe he can finally make it… make that small hope in his heart meaning. "Have you ever heard the story of Icarus?" Eduard told Christain as he started to smile at the situation he found himself in. Christain looked at him confused because he couldn't seem to understand why he could still smile in his condition. "Yeah, I have; the man with wings?" Christain responded as he started to gain a bit of interest in Eduard. "Yeah. His father made him those wings." Eduard said as he did his best to stay standing. As his memories started to come back to him Eduard couldn't help but stay standing. Eduard could never forget the man that gave him those wings even though at times he wants to throw it in a ditch and forget about it.

"It is complete." A man's voice could be heard in Eduard's mind. Eduard kept doing his best to forget. Eduard grew to become desperate when he started to remember that. He even started to hit himself in the head in an effort to stop his thoughts from flowing in… Eduard already knew that those thoughts were not going to stop flowing in no matter how hard he tried. Soon the memory started to flow through his mind. "Is he ok!? Please tell me my son is ok!" Another voice started to fill Eduard's head. The voice of the father that gave up everything to save his son… "Get out of my head!" Eduard yelled to himself as his breathing started to follow an irregular pattern. "You seem to be going through a personal struggle." Christain said as he started to notice that Eduard was losing his focus on him. Though Christain felt a little bit disrespected by the fact that Eduard was focusing on something else. He couldn't help but wonder why Eduard asked him about Icarus. "Why did you bring up Icarus earlier?" Christain said with an interesting tone. It wasn't really that Christain cared about the story but more so the person telling the story.

Christian always liked the idea of winning a battle in the most incredible way possible. Though seeing just how the story managed to make Eduard fall apart Christain thought it would be fun if he somehow managed to win by breaking him apart. "Well. As the story goes Icarus was given wings by his father. His father was one of the greatest craftsmen so he was able to make someone that his son would surely love. Though when he gave Icarus those wings he had one condition. He was never allowed to fly close to the sun." Eduard said with a saddened look on his face. "Let me guess he went too close to the sun and fell?" Christain said with a chuckle. "Sorry but I am getting the feeling that you are trying to tell me something about yourself with a story that relates to your life and I can't stop myself from laughing." Christian continued to laugh as Eduard stood there. "Tell me someth…" One punch. One punch was what it took to make Christian get knocked down. "I will make you pay!" Eduard yelled as he got ready to land another punch. Christian lifted his hands up in an attempt to block the attacks knowing that it was his only hope of the blades not ending his life. As Eduard landed an attack on a Christian he could feel every single one of his bones cracking. "Get off of me!" Christain yelled as he threw Eduard off of him with the first opening he could find.

"Man this hurts so much. I feel like I am going to pass out." Eduard thought to himself as he did his best not to cry from the pain. He came into this fight believing that he was unstoppable and now his limits were showing themselves in full form. Still there was always going to be that part of his heart yelling out at him to stay standing. That piece of pain he felt that felt worse than the pain he felt from Christain's attacks. As Christain got off of the ground he slowly looked up in anger. "You out of all people managed to make me fall on my back? Boy, you just made a mistake that you are going to wish you never have made." Christain said as he started to run at Eduard again. This time though Christain was not going to allow him to get the chance to get up. As the first punch landed on Eduard he was sent falling into the wall. Eduard felt like his entire body exploded upon impact as he felt the sweat and blood drip down from his face. He could taste the Iron and Salt giving him a bad taste in his mouth and he spit it out of his mouth. Just as he started to look up though Christain had around gotten ready for his next attack. Eduard felt like he was being hit by trucks going at 150 miles per hour with every single blow.

Eduard's vision soon became covered in blood as he started to feel himself holding on by a line. The only thing he could see was the image of a beastly figure as the red outline of the blood covered up every detail of his beatdown. It almost felt merciful that he wasn't able to see how he managed to fall. Still he continued to feel the pain through every second of it. The punches continued to hit him at such a high rate that even his heart started to follow the pattern of the blows he was taking. As he stood there taking in the weight of the world all Eduard could wonder is… "Is this the end?" As Christian got ready to land the finishing blow though there was a sudden pause. "What was that noise? A gunshot?" Christain asked himself as he heard something get fired somewhere behind him. Christian started to look around as fast as he could. "I did not just get surprised again. It can't be. Me? The almighty beast surprised twice." Christain said as he desperately started to look around to see what had just happened. As Christian looked around though he started to hear the sound of steam flowing out of a pipe. It's almost as if… "The water pipes!" Christain yelled and he realized what Nekane's plan was. It was too late though because as he ran towards the pipes they ended up exploding up sending him falling into one of the walls in the building.

"Finally I managed to land one of my shots." Nekane said as he took a second to take a breath. He was still stuck on the upper levels of the building due to Charlotte blocking his path. Though Nekane wasn't too worried, Dolores had the first floor flooded in water and the power to take control. "How did you manage to do that?" Charlotte tried asking him. "It only took me around 7 pennies to break it apart." Nekane told himself as he started to laugh to himself. Charlotte looked down in an effort to figure out the situation but Dolores had already managed to put up a fight against Daif. "You have gone and done it now!" Charlotte told Nekane. "What are you afraid of? That Christian will be disappointed in you? Oh trust me when I say that we are not finished yet." Nekane said as he started to grin from ear to ear. Nekane finally didn't have to worry about Dolores but of her limitations but he could focus on his opponent due to the fact she didn't have anything holding her back. Though Nekane was still a little bit worried about what may have happened to Christian since he wasn't in view anymore. Nekane was concerned that Eduard may have lost to him too easily and it would have ended up with them going 2 on 3. Still the fact Christian isn't around made him believe that Christian was not around. The look on Charlotte's face also helped tell Nekane that they had the upper hand.

"What's the matter? Things not going your way?" Nekane said as he knew they had the advantage. Charlotte didn't say anything as she started to finish her walk to the second floor so she could get closer to Nekane. "Looks like you are taking this fight personally now." Nekane said in an effort to get into Charlotte's head. Now that Charlotte had climbed to him the whole battle seemed to change from a long range battle to something a little more close range. Still Nekane had enough time to think about a solution. "What are you going to do Nekane? We are closer than before and I am sure that you don't have the years of experience that I have in fighting close quarters." Charlotte told Nekane. "I agree with that. Still experience doesn't always win fights, you know? A brawler can always take down a technician with enough time." Nekane said as Charlotte stood in front of him. Charlotte soon grabbed a piece of the safety railing next to her and started to change the element it was made of. As Nekane watched Charlotte change, the iron railing became diamond. "I thought diamonds were formed using extreme pressure." Nekane said as he became confused of the limits her power held. "Yeah, but in reality diamond is only formed using carbon. So all I really need is the pressure I am feeling now to make this transformation happen." Charlotte answered Nekane. "So why are you telling me that you feel pressure? You are just telling me what opening I can use." Nekane told her as he walked closer.

"Does it matter? You aren't going to make it through this fight." Charlotte told Nekane. It was sort of her way of convincing herself that everything was going to be alright. Though Charlotte knew things were going to start going downhill if something was not done. She didn't believe Christain had lost though. More so that Eduard refused to stay down and Christain can't find a way to shake him. "I think you are mistaken. I am going to win this battle." Nekane said as he started to show his confidence. His false confidence may have been coming and going a lot in the past couple of days but for now Nekane was hoping it would mask his insecurities. "Oh so the scared child wants to act as a leader now. Well it's too late for…" Charlotte said as she tried to land an attack. "Wha…" Charlotte's attack was somehow successfully blocked. All Charlotte could do was wonder how as she started to look around for every single possible solution. "Are you surprised? With all of the talking we have been doing I was able to think about new ways to use my power." Nekane said as he tried his best to drown any self doubt that could come back to bite him. As Charlotte looked behind her she had finally figured out what Nekane had managed to do. "I see now. You are able to keep the pennies under your control using the electricity as a sort of sticky tape." Charlotte said as she looked at the sparks flying around.

Nekane had managed to create a sort of field around them that acted as a sort of protection. Every single time she tried to attack him all he had to do was create a sort of shield of electricity by connecting it through any two pennies he wanted. The issue though was that he needed to use a lot of the electricity he managed to keep stored up to create the circle in the first place so he could only create one connection through the center using only two pennies. The upside was that he didn't need to actually worry about the electricity running out but if he loses enough pennies then there will be a lot of things to worry about. To think that he was able to create all of this with around 9 pennies. It started to make Nekane wonder just what he could do with his powers. Charlotte on the other hand was starting to become frustrated at the fact she couldn't do anything. Even if she was able to change the elements that made up electricity it would most likely result in her getting seriously injured. In fact it was now a guessing game of which two pennies Nekane was going to use to attack her. The connection that would end with her losing the fight.

"It's almost like you figured out how to create lightning. All that electricity shooting into any penny it can. Too…" Charlotte once again got cut off and electricity shot from one of the pennies on her left into another one on her right. Charlotte was forced to dodge it and jump back. Almost getting shocked by the circle of electricity surrounding her because she was not able to control the speed in which she jumped back. "If it's fine with you I would wish that you would just stop talking. I am getting tired of hearing how much you love Christian and how you are going to win." Nekane told her. Charlotte just stood there angry and she started getting ready for an attack. She hated the fact that someone who she had just meant had managed to make her look like a fool. As she started to run she tried thinking of every single option she could use. The main problem was that the only real thing she could do was create things made of solids. If she were to turn her surrounding area into liquid it could result in her falling to her death due to the high. If she created a gas on the other hand it would most likely result in her dying due to poisoning. Though something popped up in her mind. As she tried to hit Nekane his electricity managed to block the first attack. Mostly resulting in her getting thrown back due to the shock she felt. Nekane had created the perfect sort of defense in his situation but he didn't really have the perfect attack. He didn't expect Charlotte to be able to dodge his attacks but she has been able to guess his first attack.

Nekane started to make the pennies spin in the circle he created in an attempt to make it harder for Charlotte to guess where the electric shock was going to come from. It also made sure that ducking wouldn't be able to save her. Still as Nekane started to believe that the battle was won he noticed Charlotte start to smile. "If I am going down then you are going down with me." She said she has started to change the iron surrounding her into a new element. "What are…? Sulfur!" Nekane said as he started to try and think of some way to get out of the situation. "She was planning on blowing both of them up the second she managed to find an opening." Nekane said as he started to call the pennies back to him. As the pennies started to come back to him though Charlotte managed to create a huge amount of sulfur. As the final penny started to return to him she threw the sulfur into the electricity that was connecting it to Nekane. The Explosion was so big that it forced Dolores and Daif who were fighting below them to stop fighting. The explosion had managed to destroy the entire roof of the building and send the rocks flying as 10 miles away. Nekane had managed to block the impact though using his pennies to create an electrical ball to protect him but in the process he still managed to get hit extremely badly.

As Nekane started to fall down to the ground below he couldn't help but notice that he was just about to lose his own life. Looking at a hold in his shield he started to laugh a little to himself because he was now down to the 5 pennies underneath him that were still being connected by electricity. As Nekane got ready to fall and feel a world of pain though Dolores managed to locate his fall. She created a sort of ramp using the water from the pipes Nekane destroyed to catch his landing as she created an ice ramp. Dolores soon jumped in the way of Nekane's slide catching him and making sure he didn't end up getting hurt again. In the process though she ended up falling on her back because of the speed he was falling in. "You ok?" Dolores asked as she started to sit up. Dolores got a little embarrassed as she noticed that he managed to hold on to Nekane through that whole scene. "Yeah… I didn't imagine she would do something so crazy but thankfully I had someone amazing to catch my fall." Nekane jokingly told her and he didn't want her to notice just how much pain he was going through. "That was her? Looks like we have a lot in store for us." Dolores jokingly played along with Nekane knowing that he was really hurt. Before they could continue their little talk Dolores noticed Eduard down on the ground knocked out after his battle with Christain.

"Um… Nekane you need to get up." Dolores said as she started to become scared of the fact that Christians could be anywhere. She started to create barriers using on the water she could get a hold of to hide Nekane and Eduard away as she could figure something out. After Dolores had created the barrier though, Daif started to run around looking for Charlotte to see if she was ok. He knew she was a tough girl but her power didn't make her immune to an explosion that big. Before he started to get scared that she could be dead he noticed Christian start walking towards him. Daif noticed Charlotte in Christian's arms and tears started to fill Christain's face. "Thank god you are not dead." Christain said in a cheerful tone. Charlotte had managed to create armor just as the explosion happened and it managed to save her life but it left her in critical condition. "I didn't mean for you to get hurt." Christian continued to talk in a sorrowful voice. It was like he had just seen the world nearly fall on top of him. As Christian made it to where Daif was. Daif could see the moment his anger turned from sorrow into rage. "Daif. Take Charlotte somewhere she can get help now." Christain said as he noticed the ice barrier Dolores created. "But chris…" Diaf talked to speak but… "I said now!" Christain yelled.

Daif quickly picked on Charlotte and started to run as far away from Christian because he knew what was about to happen. As Christain transformed into his beast form the whole room started to become consumed by flames. "I am going to make you pay!!!!" Christain yelled and he started to punch the ice barrier repeatedly. Every single punch resulted in large chunks flying all over the place creating holes on the ground as they landed. Christian continued to punch as his rage continued to build as he awaited the moment he could see the man that hurt someone… dear to him. As he made it to the center of the ice barrier though his heart sank because there was noone to be found. "Why can't I make it 5 seconds without everything going wrong!" Christain yelled as he started to break down in tears. Overbearly guilt started to fuel his anger and he started to fall to his knees and cry knowing no one could see him. However before he could find the chance to comfort himself he heard a spark. As Christain looked up he watched as the ice barrier turned back into water and the 5 pennies Nekane had fall down into the water that was now below it. Resulting in the water that now filled the floor below him becoming electrified. This ends up sending Christian being thrown 2 miles into the air due to the interaction of his flames and the electricity.

Christian ended up landing just in front of his base due to the explosion his flames created but unlike before he was lying there defeated. He felt his heart falling in his chest as he started to stand up after the attack. Dolores and Nekane not only managed to escape with Eduard alive but they ended up managing to destroy something Christain worked so hard on to impress Thane. As Christain's tears continued to flow down his eyes he watched as the building that once was named one of the most protected DPHC bases fall to the ground. As his tears started to land on the ground below him Christian started to clench his fist and his rage had developed into something strong enough to eat through any ego he once held. "This is now personal." Christain told himself and he punched a tree beside him. "I am going to find every single one of you and make you pay!"