Hitsu The Boy and Vansu The Hero

Two pairs of eyes locked for the last time as the deadly battle neared its close. Hitsu's determined eyes stared into the shadow's anger-filled eyes. They were so different but at this moment they had one thing in common, they both wanted to survive. Despite its legs being held in place the shadow refused to back down. It let out a roar that challenged Hitsu to attempt his attack. Hitsu responded with a battle cry of his own.

"AAAHHHHHH!" Hitsu cried out as he planted his right foot and threw his arms forward. From the space between his hands, a blinding beam of pure neon fired into the shadow's face. Filled with determination and rage the giant shadow threw its head forward as far as it could to block. The neon beam slammed into the shadow's head with so much force and intensity it instantly assaulted the surrounding area with raging wind and pressure.

"GAAHH!" Enai cried out as she was nearly pushed back by the force.

"Don't give up!" Sel commanded.

"Stay strong!" Jinsuke encouraged as he endured the dirt and rocks crashing against his body.

"Do it for Hitsu!" Nox shouted as she refused to lose control of her ice trap.

Hitsu's hands shook as overwhelming energy left his body and shot towards the giant shadow. His eyes opened wider with shock when he realized that despite the energy the shadow was withstanding his attack. Through the blinding light, Hitsu could see the corners of the shadow's mouth turn up as it smiled a sinister smile.

"I get it," Hitsu thought, "I'm not using this energy in a single burst like before. If I did that the shadow wouldn't have a way to survive. If I don't want to die I have to space out how much of my neon is used at once and the shadow is able to survive. If I want to beat it I have to die... But I can't... Not now."

The shadow's smile only seemed to grow as if it could read Hitsu's thoughts. It knew that it was only a matter of time until Hitsu's energy ran out. Once that happened the battle would be over, it would win.

"Is this it?" Hitsu asked himself aloud as he left more and more of the stored energy leave his body through his hands. "I lose? I tried and I failed? I wasn't strong enough?"

Hitsu's smile had faded and his dejected eyes slowly drifted to the shadow's legs. He studied the faces of his friends, the only friends he had in years. Their faces were filled with pain and fear, but they battled on. They refused to give up on the battle, on themselves, on him. Hitsu was alone no more.

...

...

...

"No!" Hitsu shouted.

As if his neon was powered by his words the beam of energy suddenly increased in power causing more pain to cover the shadow's face. Immediately the shadow tried to push back harder but it quickly found there was little more it could do to fight back.

"I refuse to lose!" Hitsu screamed. He could feel the energy continue to leave his body, no matter how much he refused he would still soon run out. "I don't care if everything says I can't beat you! I won't lose! I won't let my story end here! I won't let you take my dreams away from me!"

The giant shadow roared back in protest as it tried its hardest to hold out. The flesh around its face had started burning away due to the neon beam but it still continued to fight. Both sides cried out as they did everything in their power to win, to succeed, to survive. Hitsu pushed further, drawing power from somewhere within him, the shadow pushed back, drawing from its instincts to survive.

"I am Hitsu! I am Vansu! I am a hero! And I will beat you!"

More and more of the shadow burned away as Hitsu's energy reached its last.

"I will beat you!"

Hitsu's friends held on, refusing to break their holds.

"I will beat you!"

The giant shadow let out one last defiant cry.

"I will beat you!"

BOOM

Once again, everything changed in one single moment. The next thing Hitsu knew he was falling. He fell and fell and fell down to the ground below. As he fell he stared up at the dark could above him as they began to part allowing the orange sky and lowering sun to peek through. The neon was gone, the tower of rock was gone, and anyway for Hitsu to defeat the shadow was gone.

Hitsu was surprised to find that instead of crashing into the cold hard ground below he was caught gentle by a soft and furry creature. He lay on its back as it landed on all fours and looked back at him. Hitsu looked over to see the familiar face of his feline companion.

"Juno?" Hitsu said surprised.

The currently giant cat meowed happily in response.

"What are you doing here?" Hitsu asked as he tried to make sense of the current situation. "Wait a minute... Here?" Images of the battle just moments before flashed in Hitsu's mind. His eyes shot open as he realized he didn't know who the victor was. He forced himself up and scrambled to climb up onto Juno's head.

"The shadow!" Hitsu said in a panic, "is it gone?"

The sight before Hitsu filled his heart with a flurry of emotions. His mouth hung open in disbelief at what he saw.

The giant shadow was gone, not a trace of it left beside the rubble and damage it caused in its attack. In its place stood the guild master of the Future Veins with his back turned to his pupil. His right fist hung in the air with a trail of steam flowing steadily off of it. Nox, Sel, Jinsuke, and Enai lay on the ground exhausted around him. Their efforts had not gone to waste, the heroes had won.

"M-master?" Hitsu said softly.

Takeshi casually took a large swig of the bottle in his left hand before he turned his head and looked over his shoulder.

"Hey, kid..."

"...I'm back."

...

End of Episode 49