Day 028.3: Coexist

Day 028.3: Coexist

"Damn, you really fucked up, huh?" Ryan opened his eyes to be in the eternal void that was his mindscape. He turned to his right to see Edhas, just as he remembered him. The same black hoodie and sweatpants, the same hood covering his messy black hair, the same glowing amethyst and the same crass voice. Well, this version of Edhas reminded Ryan more of when he first met him, naturally. His voice was more aggressive and his stance more defensive.

"Edhas?" Ryan asked, forcing himself to hold back tears. He wasn't sure if this was his Edhas or not.

"I'm surprised you even know who I am," Edhas chuckled dryly. "I thought I was supposed to get my mind wiped. It's actually really weird. I'm supposed to be able to read your mind, but I'm not able to."

"Huh, I guess I've been getting better at that," Ryan shrugged, confirming that this Edhas wasn't the one he had gotten to know. "I'll give you access once we come to an agreement."

"An agreement?" Edhas tilted his head, scowling as his brow furrowed. "Bro, you got your head blasted off. There's no agreement in there."

"I got shot so I could see you," Ryan said. "Well, I don't know if there was another way to get to you, though."

"Meh, I didn't think I could come back unless Storm and Shade wanted it to happen," Edhas said, shrugging. "Those asswipes probably wouldn't have let me out anytime soon though."

"Huh, they've mellowed out since you've gone, or at least I think," Ryan shrugged. "Brianna's alive too. Along with Reporter and Grimm, but then again, they're not your sister, so I don't know if you care as much."

"Really?" Edhas asked, dropping his aggressive demeanor for a second before putting his guard back up. "That's good to hear. I guess I better get out there. Still gonna destroy the fuckin world, though."

"Sorry, bud, can't let you do that," Ryan said, talking a step forward. "I've got my own family I have to look out for."

"I see you've been living a good life," Edhas smirked. "I wouldn't lie if I told you I wasn't jealous, but I'm kind of happy that you got a better life than I did."

"I was by no means perfect. The universe sent me its fair share or dick punches to me," Ryan shrugged, "but there's a chance for a better life. Just give it a shot."

"Maybe," Edhas said, walking up to Ryan. "Well, it seems we've come to an impasse."

"I guess we have," Ryan said, taking his hands out of his pockets.

"There's only one way that we're going to resolve this conflict," Edhas said, tensing his muscles. "You think you can beat me?"

"You? Hell no," Ryan said as he raised his fists, sliding his right foot back, "but I can try."

Ryan raised his left arm to his face just in time to block a roundhouse kick. Ryan bent his right leg, attempting to kick him in the chin, but Edhas jumped back. "Tch," Edhas scoffed before dashing back, attempting an uppercut. Ryan blocked the hit, aiming a knee at Edhas's gut, but Edhas grabbed his knee. The two jumped back, putting a few meters of distance between hi,

"You're doing a lot better than I expected," Edhas said. "If you were just a normal person, I would have just been kicking you while you're down."

"Don't remind me," Ryan chuckled as he got into a fighting position. Ryan slid forward, performing a roundhouse kick, which Edhas dodged by dashing backwards. As soon Ryan put his foot down, he spun on his heel before jumping and doing another roundhouse kick. Edhas ducked under the kick and uppercutted Ryan, hitting his gut and sending him sprawling.

"Alright, enough warm up," Edhas said as his fists started to glow purple. He threw a punch at Ryan, a magical blast shot from his fist, flying towards Ryan at blinding speeds. Ryan narrowly dodged, the blast giving Ryan a small cut on his cheek.

"That was kind of cheap," Ryan grumbled, wiping the blood from his face with his sleeve as his fists started to glow a similar color, albeit a bit brighter. "Two can play at that game, though."

"I see you've developed your own magic," Edhas said. "At least you're not a fuckin freeloader. Now come here so I can pummel your ass to the ground."

"You can try!" Ryan shouted as he dashed for Edhas, throwing a punch. Edhas deflected the blast the punch that was shot with a roundhouse kick. He did another roundhouse kick, launching a slash of energy. Ryan jumped, doing a front flip over the slash. He continued running as he handed, doing another front flip into an axe kick, propelling his foot with magic. Edhas crossed his arms, blocking the attack. A shockwave occurred in the resulting hit. Edhas threw Ryan off by pushing his arms upward, Ryan landing after doing a couple backflips. Edhas dashed for Ryan, doing a roundhouse kick. Ryan did a back hand-spring to dodge him, kicking Edhas in the chin.

"Huh," Edhas wiped the bit of blood dribbling down his chin. He pointed to Ryan and an honest to god laser fired out of his finger. Ryan enhanced his legs with magic, narrowly dodging the attack.

"Now that's just not cool," Ryan said. "Don't bring lasers to a fist fight."

"Fair enough," Edhas shrugged. "Shall we finish this?"

"Yeah, this is getting tedious," Ryan said, sighing. He funneled magic into his right leg as Edhas funneled magic into his right arm. The charged at each other, Ryan doing a roundhouse kick as Edhas did a straight punch, creating a large explosion that engulfed the both of them.

-

"Ow," Ryan opened his eyes, sitting up, wincing in pain as he sat up. "How long was I out?"

"Not too long," Ryan turned to his left to see Edhas sitting next to him.

"Weren't you going to take your body back and destroy the world?" Ryan asked. "Why are you still here?"

"You subconsciously unlocked your memories when I kicked you unconscious," Edhas said. "You were pretty fucking pathetic back then, weren't you?"

"You know, I don't like to remember when you kicked me while I was down while you berated me," Ryan said.

"Man, don't say it like that," Edhas chuckled, hitting Ryan in the back of the head playfully. "Man, I was actually a good person there. I never thought I would get there."

"I still don't know what happened back then, but you are a good person," Ryan said. "You were just dealt a shitty hand."

"You know, I might just tell you about it someday," Edhas said, looking up. "It would be nice to open up to someone."

"Yeah, I understand that," Ryan said, looking at his hands. "Man, it feels like yesterday when I was just a normal person. It also feels like yesterday when you died in front of me."

"Yeah, I'm surprised I went out like that," Edhas said, chuckling dryly. "The people you've met… they must have changed something in me."

"Yeah, you were a fucking pervert," Ryan laughed. "You know, I think Roboco-san was your favorite."

"After sifting through your memories, I can see why," Edhas chuckled. "Man, I really need a hug right now."

"Get over here," Ryan smiled, pulling his other half into a hug. "It's nice to see you."

"I meant a hug from a girl, you gay fuck," Edhas said, "but thanks."

"No problem," Ryan said, pulling away. "So, you want to go kick some void ass?"

"Of course," Edhas said, standing up. "I have a few bones to pick with that ass."

"By the way," Ryan extended his hand, summoning a black sword. "I think this belongs to you."

"Thanks," Edhas said as he grabbed onto the hilt of a sword, the space starting to light up around them.

"I'm just happy to have you back," with those words, their world went white.

-

"Ryan!" Suisei and Kiara yelled as the void threw Ryan's corpse aside.

"I'll kill you!" In an instant, Suisei was in front of the void, her axe colliding with its head. A large shockwave was created due to the force of the blow. The void seemed to wince in pain but was wholly undamaged.

"Pitiful," the void said, slapping Suisei aside.

"Are you alright?!" Kiara asked, catching Suisei.

"I'll be alright when he's dead!" Suisei shouted, tears freely flowing down her face.

"Same here," Kiara said, brandishing her fire sword. "Let's go."

The two flew down. As Kiara let go if Suisei, she strafed to the left using wind magic while Kiara flew to the right. The two swung their weapons, aiming for the void's neck. The void just sighed, grabbing both of them and crushing them in his hands, slamming the two of them together.

"You two will be the first casualties in this war, but you will not be the last," the void said, charging an attack. "Now die."

As he brought down his fist, something deflected it, causing him to recoil. He was then hit in the face by an invisible force, sending him sprawling. "What?!" The void stood up, angrily shouting. "Who is capable of hurting me?!"

"Hey," to everyone's surprised, it was Ryan's voice that responded, but there was something off. It was as if the voice was layered or as if there was two of Ryan speaking at the same time. With a gust of wind, Ryan appeared in between Suisei, Kiara and the void. His right eye was purple while his left eye was his normal brown color as he held a black sword in his right hand and his usual white gun on his left. "Ya miss me?"