Chapter 6

"Dad, I need help." A young Nekane started to cry out in a memory he wishes to forget. "What's wrong?" His father asked him as he started to walk towards him. That day they had decided to go out hunting for deer. Nekane remembers it all too well because he wishes he could have it back. "I can't control it dad." A young Nekane continued to talk as he cried. Electricity was just clinging onto his hand and no matter what he did it would just not get off of his hands. His father just simply stood there in shock. He could not believe that Nekane had finally discovered his powers. "Daddy help me. I want it to go away." Nekane continued to say as he started to cry even more. There was a fear within him that if he didn't hide it the DPHC would come and take him away. Though Nekane knew all too well that they were living in hiding for a long time. All Nekane remembers are the years of isolation and sadness because he could not play with other kids. He could never see other kids because of where he comes from. Nekane's parents would never allow him to make new friends because there was always the chance he would get powers and get found. That day confirmed their suspicions of him having super powers.

"Don't worry son. It's going to be alright." His father told him as he started to walk slowly towards Nekane. "Daddy how if you don't have any powers." Nekane said as his thoughts started to become conflicted. His father continued to walk towards him slowly in an effort to try and calm him down. He didn't know what type of powers his son had gained and unlike his wife.. He didn't have any powers. Still he could not stand the sight of his son crying for help so he did everything he could to help him. "I got you." His father said as he jumped towards him. Managing to give his son a hug of comfort. Even though his father didn't have powers it never meant that he was going to start worrying about his son. As a matter of fact he was scared that he would never be able to see his son again if he was ever discovered. Nekane's father always held the fear of losing both his wife and son to the threat of the DPHC and with this new discovery he couldn't help but cry as he started to hold Nekane tight. "It's ok son. I got you." His father said as he started to say as he held Nekane Nekane closer.

Nekane couldn't help but remember that day. It was a memory that he wishes he would never lose but at the same time he wants to forget it because it hurts him so much to remember something he can never have again. He always had that want for changing the system. He always wanted to make a difference and make sure that everyone in the world would never end up living through the hardships he did. There was always that feeling deep inside of him that made him want to be a protector but out of fear he did everything in his power to hide that feeling. Almost as if he was hiding the person he truly was and all he needed was someone to bring out the good in him. Now all Nekane can tell him himself is that he wishes that he could just leave and not have to deal with all of these things. There is a part of him telling him that he wants to run and leave everything behind and find himself a better future but there was always something pulling on him and making him stay in the past. That part of him that keeps making him want to stay in the past is now filling him with anger and frustration. Now every single time something doesn't go his way he just gets a feeling of wanting to tear everything around him! It all has to fall! "Get out of my way!" Nekane yelled as he threw one of the coins he was holding at Charlotte. Using the electricity to throw it faster than he could ever do normally.

The penny got thrown at Charlotte at the speed of a bullet creating a huge hold on the wall beside her. "I missed." Nekane told himself that he now only had 14 coins to help him conduct the electricity. "That was close. You almost got me there. Still I can not die until Christain recognizes me as his partner so it looks like luck is not on your side.'' Charlotte said as she started to smile. "Now it's my turn to show off what I can do." She said as he reached over to the railing beside her. "Have you ever taken the time to look up the elements in the periodic table? I hear that they are always discovering new elements everyday." Charlotte continued to say as Nekane watched her turn the worn down iron railing into gold. "I would know. I created most of the new ones. Though I am pretty sure that you know this gold. I just wanted to show off some of my powers to you but knowing that your power has something to do with electricity I believe that something less conductive will suit this situation better." Charlotte said as she continued to look at Christain's direction as if to see if he was impressed. Though she seemed annoyed by the fact, Eduard continued to get back up after every attack. "That jerk. Who does he think he is taking the spotlight off me. You will see soon enough.'' Charlotte said as she turned her attention back to Nekane.

Soon Charlotte started to transform the piece of gold she created into a spear of carbon. "I have not used this element yet. I am starting to get excited about this one. I wonder just how much it would cost… hurt. Haha" Charlotte said as started to throw the spear at Nekane. Nekane was forced to dodge as wasting a penny on this spear would result in him having less chances of forcing that water pipe open. Before Nekane could catch his breath though, Charlotte continued to create more spears made of carbon. "How is that even fair!?" Nekane yelled as he was forced to dodge again. "Life isn't fair! Now stand still!" Charlotte yelled as she continued to throw spears at him. Though she knew that he was not going to be able to keep this up forever. Her power was not to create but to change one element into a new one. Though the one upside was that he could bypass the requirements needed to create a new element, there was still one downside. She needed one element in order to create a new one. Due to that reason she was in a bad spot. She was stuck on the stairs and was limited on her movements. Mainly because the stairs are only supported by the outside wall in order to maintain a lot more room in the building.

In case anyone held a flying power of course. They needed as much space as they could get in order to be able to test out the ability after it had been transferred. Seems like they had everything planned out from the start. The only thing Nekane wished they had done was make the area in which you stand on wider. He felt like the railing was going to start to fail him and even worse was the fact that Charlotte had powers that could change the elements. There was no telling what she could do with her powers and yet Nekane was too scared of dying. He felt his blood start to pump as he saw Charlotte walk towards him. As the battle between Nekane and Charlotte was getting started the battle below them was getting intense. Dolores was struggling in a head-on battle with Diaf as he kept throwing rocks at her with the power to destroy vehicles. "How long can you hold on until your water supply runs out?" Daif said as he started to notice the limited amount of resources Dolores had. He believed that her power was to do with water which worked in Dolores' favor. Mainly because it kept Diaf from actually getting closer to her but at the same time he always kept his guard up. Dolores started to feel her arms shaking as the battle continued to go on. The last time she was in a battle was against Curt Meyes. The only reason why she didn't get scared in that fight though was because she was angry about her friends' death. Any self doubt she would usually have would be overcome by the hatred she felt.

Now it feels different though. She is fighting against someone without that anger hiding the fear she felt. She could feel her heart beating as she struggled to think about a way of attack. All she could tell herself was about how scared she was. She blocked everything she could but it never once felt like she was going to be able to get the upper hand without the help of someone else. As a kid she always relied on the help of her family to move her forward. As a tennager it was of her friend Taylor. Now she didn't really have anyone by her side and it made her feel lonely. Explosion after explosion occurred as she continued to use up her resources. She started to become frustrated at the fact that the only way she was able to get water was from the holes in a sink. She was now down to 4 sinks and desperation started to kick in. "You can't block and dodge forever." Diaf said in an effort to make her doubt herself. Dolores continued to try and think of something that could help her though. Though her fear was making it harder to pull through. Dolores knew that if she went down Nekane would be in a worse spot then what he already was. "Wait… Maybe I can undo the effect of freezing." Dolores thought to herself. If she could do that maybe the water would start to flow. Though Dolores had already tried before to do that and it never seemed to work out in a fight.

She thought of making Daif slip on ice when he didn't notice but the only time she had been able to change the ice back was by accident. Even still she still needed to touch it. It was worth a try to make the ability usable at range. That's when the problem of being able to focus arises though. Dolores still had little control over her powers and still doesn't understand the extent of how much it could grow. Soon another rock was thrown at her forcing her to use up another one of the sinks around her. "That just leaves me with 4…" Dolores told herself as she tried figuring out how she managed to somewhat keep up with Curt. As she continued to think about it though, she started to wonder how a blind range could push her past her limits. "Limits…" Dolores thought to herself. "I can freeze water but the question is just how far can I go with this. Maybe…" Dolores started half way in her thoughts as Daif threw another rock in her direction. "How long are you going to keep jumping out of the way?" Daif asked as he became annoyed at how long the fight was dragging on. Daif hated the fact that Dolores was managing to hang in there as long as she had been and the longer he failed to hit her the angrier he started to become. Almost like a pet peeve that he wants to stomp into the ground because of how much he dislikes the feeling it causes.

"That was sink number 6…" Dolores told herself as she started to feel her stamina decrease. Her lack of exercise was starting to affect her ability to think and it simply was just making it harder to think of options. Now with 2 sinks left, Dolores was starting to become more reliant on Nekane, creating a new resource she could use. As the fight continued all she could think about was the fact that she was unable to freeze solids. No matter how hard she tried, the most she was able to do was make a couple of playing cards chilly. Still she was not going to be the one that lets everyone down. Dolores was going to be able to overcome her limit one way or another. Maybe just find some way around it but she was not going to lose this fight. She found someone that could help her avenge her losses… If she loses now before the journey even starts then everything she had ever wanted will just disappear as she throws her life away. "Here comes another one!" Daif yelled as he got ready to throw another rock. "Freeze." Dolores said. "What!?" Daif yelled as he turned to look towards the ground as he started to feel a chill. "From the looks of how you were using your power from the start I thought there was a limit to range…?" Daif said as he noticed his leg was stuck inside a large puddle of water. The whole ground below Daif was covered in water. Making it impossible to even walk due to the weight that the ice carried. "Guess you managed to notice that much but I am not willing to lose that easily." Dolores said as her confidence tried its best to find a place to shine.

Dolores may have been struggling to cope with her self esteem; there was always something she would never do. Dolores was never going to give up on herself till the end. "You managed to get stronger during our battle? You looked like an amateur that I never thought that you would have been this quick to learn new tricks. More so during a battle but you managed to extend your range a bit. Still unfreezing the ice and then freezing it again whenever I managed to stand on them again. That was pretty smart." Daif told Dolores in a really impressed tone. Almost if he didn't doubt that she would have been pretty talented with her power. "I don't need your thanks. Someone who experiments with others' lives doesn't deserve that honor." Dolores answered with a strong sense of anger. Even through her fear she never once forgot about what she saw. "That's somewhat mean of you… Still do you really think this will be enough to stop me?" Daif started to talk in a confident tone. "I can blow everything I touch up after all! You can't simply stop me by putting up a wall between us!" Daif started to yell as his confidence started to take a new form. Soon Dolores watched as Daif started to reach for the ice that Dolores created. "Are you crazy!" Dolores yelled as she noticed her situation. After all that dodging Dolores had managed to get herself trapped in a corner.

Still Dolores' heart dropped as fear filled her mind. "Is it really this easy to lose your life?" She said as she started to search all around her for ways to escape the situation. "It's over!" Daif yelled as he got ready to touch the ice that kept him stuck to the ground… "AAAAAAAA!!!!!" The scream of Eduard could be heard as Daif stopped for a moment to look and see what was going on. "Wha…" Before Daif could even finish talking he saw the figure of a human being flying at him with the speed of a hawk. Dolores watched as her life was saved by sheer luck. As Eduard crashed into Daif, it managed to break the ice and free Daif from his once icy prison. As Dolores continued her struggle Eduard was about to get into trouble of his own. "Man, this guy is tough." Eduard told himself as he started to get up from the dust. Every piece of his body was hurting because of Christain's attacks. "Get off of me!" Daif yelled as he threw a piece of rock at Eduard. "Hey Christian why throw him at me!? Are you trying to make me lose?" Daif continued as he realized why he was hit. "Because you were trying to blow up the entire building!" Christain yelled. "Yeah! Well next time don't make your attempt to stop me hit like a truck!" Daif told Christain. Unlike Charlotte who seemed devoted to making Christain proud, Daif was always defying him and talking back.

Still Christain knew that he had his reasons for the way he behaved. Besides, he owes him a debt, and all debts get paid. "Hey I haven't fallen yet!" Eduard yelled as he started to limp towards Christian. Daif started to get ready to throw a rock at Eduard, noticing just how open he had become. Though he failed to notice one factor, he still refused to give in to her doubt. As he jumped back because a spear of ice was thrown at him stopping him from attacking. Dolores was starting to feel adrenaline flow through her veins. "I am not going to let you get the chance to kill me again." Dolores said in an angry tone. "Deal with her. I have to deal with this one." Christain said. Daif nodded as he jumped right back into his fight. "Now then I am sure that you were going to start talking about how you weren't going to fall?" Christain said in a tiresome voice. He had heard that speech a million times already and every single one of them has ended with him winning. In Christain's mind Eduard was going to be no different. As Eduard started to walk towards him the extent of the injuries continued to show. "You know at first sight your power seems to be perfect. I mean the term perfect as you don't have any setbacks when using your power. I can see right through that though. Even though you can turn parts of your body into blades you can still manage to cut yourself. Am I right?" Christain said as Eduard stopped in his tracks.

Eduard couldn't believe that Christians could figure out his weakness so easily. "Guessing I hit the mark. It's kind of funny. The public looks at these humans with powers almost as perfect but the reality is that we are just simply trading one drawback for another. In gaining powers we started to do new things but in all my time working with the DPHC I have never seen something without a drawback that holds them back. It's almost as if we are as human as those without powers." Christain said as Eduard started to feel his body give up on him. "If that is true then what is your weakness?" Eduard asked as he tried to buy time. "Do you honestly think I am going to tell you that?" Christain laughed as he started to get right into the fight. "It was worth the try." Eduard said as he tried to fight the pain he was feeling. Eduard never once believed that he was going to die in this battle. Actually he still didn't believe he would. Still as he felt his body give up on him Eduard knew that he was about to feel a world of pain. As Christian made it in front of Eduard's open body.

"This hurts…" Is all that Eduard could think as he could feel the pain from every single blow extend through his entire body. Left, right, left, right. Eduard could feel the blows from both hands hit him. Every single time the punch started to feel harder than the last. Still something happened to Eduard halfway through the beatdown. He started to think back a little to himself. He had the sort of look of someone with nothing left to lose as he started to stop feeling the weight of the punches but the weight of his soul crushing him. It was almost as if he was holding the world on his shoulders and teh weight refused to let him move. Then he started to think to himself… Almost as if there was a voice inside of his head screaming for control. As Christain stopped his punching, he watched as Eduard started to fall to the ground. Every Single part of Eduard's body seemed to have been burnt by every single punch landed. "You know I will give you some sort of praise. You haven't died like many others have." Christain said with a smirk. Eduard just simply laid on the ground wondering what had happened to him. You wondered why the only thing you could do while getting beat down was daydream. You wondered… "No!" Eduard yelled as he started to fight against his whole body.

Christain turned around as soon as he heard Eduard yell. He had thought that he won the battle and was getting ready to help out the others but… Somehow Eduard refused to stay down. At this point Eduard was struggling at extremes to even breath. "What is keeping you from staying down?" Christain asked as he watched Eduard barely manage to get up to his feet. "You wouldn't understand…" Eduard said. Eduard regretted even just speaking at that point because it felt like even just talking was starting to drain him to extreme points. Though just as Eduard barely managed to stand up on his own two feet his body gave in on him again. Eduard fell down to his knees as he somehow managed to half catch his fall. Looking at the pool of blood underneath him Eduard could see his reflection looking back at him. He started to wonder why he ran into this battle in the first place. The punches that Christian landed hit so hard that some of his memories started to feel fuzzy. Still his reason for fighting seemed to be the part of his mind that would never let go. "Seems like you didn't understand. You wouldn't understand is not the answer I wanted to hear," Christain said as he started to find the situation funny. "Like I care. It's because of the DPHC that I can't live my life in peace…" Eduard said as he started to try and pick himself back up again. "That's right…" Eduard thought to himself. As he managed to find the strength to finally stand on his own 2 feet. Eduard couldn't help but think back…