The clash was inevitable.
Two boys stood on opposite sides of a conflict neither could understand beyond their own desires. One fought to save his family, driven by an obsession so consuming that he was willing to destroy anyone who stood in his way. The other fought to protect his beloved, driven by a possessiveness so deep that the thought of losing her threatened to tear away what little humanity he had left.
Michael and Yinka.
Two contrasting forces of desperation, each convinced that what they wanted justified what they were willing to do.
Michael launched himself forward. His muscles bulged as he accelerated, his fist drawn back and aimed directly at Yinka's face. There was no hesitation in his movement, no intention of holding back. Every ounce of strength he could muster was concentrated into that single punch.
But just before his fist could connect, Yinka's voice erupted.
"PHOTOCOPY: BLINK!"
The command rang through the air, fractured with anger and desperation.
Michael's fist struck nothing but empty space.
In the brief instant it took him to realise what had happened, Yinka had already reappeared beside Elizabeth. A knife glinted in his hand, its blade positioned dangerously close to her.
Elizabeth's eyes widened.
She was exhausted. Her body had endured far more than it could comfortably withstand, and the energy she had expended fighting Yinka had left her struggling to remain upright. Yet she refused to surrender. Her expression was filled with anger, her gaze fixed on the boy who had brought her to this point.
Yinka smiled.
It was no longer the smug expression of someone who believed he had everything under control. It was the smile of someone who had decided that if he couldn't have what he wanted, nobody else would either.
"So, Michael..."
He tightened his grip on the knife.
"Since I can't have her, why don't we both lose her?"
Michael stopped.
For a moment, the world seemed to slow around him.
His entire body trembled. Not from fear, but from something far more dangerous. A violent desire surged through him, consuming every rational thought he had left.
I want to kill him.
I want to grab his neck and twist it like a screw.
I want to plunge my claws into his chest and rip out his heart.
The thoughts came relentlessly, each one more vicious than the last. His fingers curled, his muscles tightened, and his breathing grew heavier.
He wanted to tear Yinka apart.
He wanted to make him suffer.
He wanted to erase him from existence.
But then Michael looked at Elizabeth.
His hollow eyes, which had seemed so empty only moments earlier, suddenly filled with something unmistakably human. Beneath the anger, beneath the exhaustion and the hatred he carried towards the world, there was still a part of him that could be frightened.
Not for himself.
For her.
"Please, Yinka..."
His voice was barely audible.
"Don't."
Yinka stared at him.
Then he laughed.
It was sharp, mocking and utterly devoid of sympathy.
"PHOTOCOPY: FIREBALL!"
A flash of fire burst from his hand, shooting forward.
And something inside Michael finally broke.
His humanity slipped away.
His eyes began to bleed. Blood trickled down from their corners as his pupils burned with an intensity that seemed almost unnatural. His teeth sharpened, extending into vicious fangs, while his muscles swelled beneath his skin.
His body began to change.
The energy surrounding him surged violently, distorting the air and making the ground beneath his feet tremble.
A voice echoed through his mind.
Low.
Primal.
Unforgiving.
KILL HIM.
Michael moved.
The ground cracked beneath his feet as he propelled himself forward with explosive force. The air erupted behind him, and the distance between him and Yinka vanished almost instantly.
His fingers stretched, transforming into elongated claws.
Before Yinka could react, those claws buried themselves into his neck.
Michael seized him and dragged him across the ground.
The impact tore through the earth as Yinka's body bounced against the terrain. Michael didn't release him. He continued forward, dragging his opponent until he reached a shattered tree.
Then, with a brutal motion, he slammed Yinka spine-first into its remains.
CRACK!
The sound echoed through the area.
Elizabeth could barely process what had happened.
One moment, Yinka had been standing beside her with a knife in his hand. The next, he was lying broken against the remains of a tree.
A red blur moved across her vision.
Then it stopped.
Michael.
Her Michael.
Except the figure standing before Yinka looked nothing like the boy she knew.
His eyes were bloodshot, his teeth had become fangs, and his fingers ended in claws. His body was unnaturally tense, every movement carrying the threat of further violence.
Elizabeth stared at him, momentarily unable to speak.
Michael, however, showed no sign of stopping.
He drove both feet into Yinka's chest.
CRUNCH!
The impact forced the air from Yinka's lungs. His body convulsed as several bones gave way beneath the pressure.
"PHOTOCOPY: HEAL!"
Yinka screamed the command.
His body began to mend. Broken bones shifted back into place, damaged tissue reconstructed itself, and the worst of his injuries started disappearing.
But Michael gave him no opportunity to recover.
A kick struck Yinka's head.
His body snapped sideways, and blood sprayed from his mouth.
"IRON!"
Yinka forced the next command out through gritted teeth.
His body hardened as a layer of reinforcement spread across him. The material strengthened his frame, attempting to protect him from the monstrous strength bearing down on him.
Michael struck again.
The reinforcement shattered.
The impact sent Yinka hurtling backwards, his body tumbling across the ground until he landed near Elizabeth. He coughed violently, blood spilling from his mouth as he struggled to move.
For a moment, everything went quiet.
Elizabeth looked down at him.
Then, to everyone's surprise, she burst into laughter.
It wasn't the laughter of someone who found the situation amusing. It was an almost disbelieving reaction to the absurdity of what she had just witnessed. The boy who had spent so much time tormenting her was now lying helplessly on the ground, beaten within an inch of his life.
Yinka stared at her, confusion twisting his battered expression.
But Michael wasn't finished.
His eyes continued to drip blood. His body had become thinner and paler, his appearance increasingly distorted by the transformation. The energy surrounding him pulsed violently, as though his entire existence had become a vessel for the rage consuming him.
He launched himself forward again.
This time, he intended to finish it.
Elizabeth moved.
She stepped between Michael and Yinka, placing herself directly in his path.
"You're lucky I care about you," she said, her voice calm but firm as she looked down at Yinka.
Michael didn't stop.
He slammed his foot into the ground with such tremendous force that the air seemed to ripple around him. The impact altered his trajectory, sending him sharply around Elizabeth rather than through her.
In an instant, he appeared directly in front of Yinka.
His bloodshot eyes locked onto him.
"YOU HUMANS!"
Michael's voice exploded across the area.
"ALL OF YOU JUST WANT TO TAKE WHAT I LOVE! WHAT I CHERISH!"
His claws trembled.
"CAN'T YOU LEAVE ME ALONE? CAN'T I HAVE JUST HER?"
His voice grew louder, the words tearing out of him as though he could no longer contain them.
"IT'S ONLY HER I WANT! TAKE EVERYTHING ELSE! MY BLOOD, MY BREATH, I DON'T CARE!"
He clenched his fists.
"BUT NO! YOUR GREED WON'T LET ME!"
His expression twisted, and for a brief moment, the rage in his eyes seemed to give way to something even more disturbing.
Desperation.
"WHICH IS WHY MY GREED FOR HER WILL CONSUME YOUR GREED FOR EVERYTHING, YINKA!"
Michael's hand shot downwards.
His claws were aimed directly at Yinka's head, descending with the merciless precision of a guillotine.
The air seemed to still.
Yinka's eyes widened.
Then a quiet voice interrupted the moment.
"PROPHECY: YINKA, DODGE."
Yinka's body moved.
It wasn't a decision made through conscious thought. His muscles responded with unnatural speed, forcing him out of the path of Michael's descending hand just before it could connect.
BOOM!
Michael's claws struck the ground.
The earth erupted beneath the impact, sending fragments of stone and soil scattering in every direction. A shockwave rolled across the area, disturbing the surrounding vegetation and tearing through the ground where Yinka had stood moments earlier.
But Yinka was already gone.
He landed several metres away, stumbling as his feet struggled to regain their balance. His breathing was ragged, his face pale, and his body still carried the damage from Michael's previous attacks.
He looked at his opponent in disbelief.
How could someone move like that?
How could someone who had already suffered so much continue attacking with such terrifying intensity?
Michael slowly raised his head.
His eyes found Yinka again.
"You can't run."
His voice was quieter now, almost serene.
"I've already chosen your ending."
His gaze shifted.
Precious.
Despite her trembling body and the injuries she had sustained, she had somehow managed to gather enough strength to speak.
"You bitch have the audacity to interfere..."
Her voice was weak, but the hatred behind it remained unmistakable.
"Then die with him."
Michael's expression changed.
Without hesitation, he turned towards her. His body coiled like a spring, ready to unleash another burst of violence.
But before he could move, Elizabeth's voice rang out.
"GRAVITY: HEAVENLY CONFINEMENT!"
The force descended.
Michael was slammed against the ground, an invisible pressure pinning his body in place. The earth beneath him cracked as the weight of Elizabeth's ability took hold.
He struggled briefly.
He could break free.
He knew he could.
His strength had grown to a point where the invisible restraints were no longer enough to contain him. With enough force, he could shatter the confinement and continue his attack.
But he didn't.
Because he knew what breaking free would mean.
It would hurt Elizabeth.
And no matter how furious he was, no matter how badly he wanted to tear Yinka and Precious apart, he couldn't bring himself to hurt her.
"Michael, please don't do this."
Elizabeth approached him slowly.
Her voice had softened. The authority she had used to restrain him was gone, replaced by the tenderness he recognised so well.
She lowered herself towards him, looking into his bloodstained eyes.
"Please."
Michael opened his mouth.
Perhaps he wanted to explain himself. Perhaps he wanted to tell her how frightened he had been when he heard Yinka threaten her. Perhaps he wanted to say that he had searched everywhere, that he was tired, that he couldn't bear the thought of losing her.
But before he could speak, Elizabeth placed a finger gently against his lips.
"Shhh."
Then she wrapped her arms around him.
She held him close, drawing his monstrous, trembling body into her embrace as though the claws, fangs and blood meant nothing to her.
For a moment, Michael remained rigid.
Then Elizabeth whispered:
"You big baby."
Something changed.
The blood stopped trickling from Michael's eyes. His elongated claws gradually retracted, and the violent red energy surrounding his body began to dissipate, fading like smoke carried away by the wind.
His fangs disappeared.
The tension in his muscles loosened.
The monstrous figure that had moments earlier seemed ready to tear apart everything in his path slowly returned to something resembling the boy Elizabeth knew.
He leaned into her.
Not because he had been defeated.
Not because he had run out of strength.
But because she was the one person before whom he didn't feel the need to keep fighting.
"I'm tired, Eli..."
His voice was fragile, almost childlike.
Elizabeth nodded, gently stroking the back of his head.
"I know."
She held him a little tighter.
"Now rest."
And with those words, Michael's body finally gave in.
His strength deserted him, his head fell against her, and he slipped into unconsciousness.
Elizabeth caught him and held him tightly, refusing to let him fall.
For a while, she simply remained there, looking down at the boy in her arms.
She had seen his anger. She had witnessed his brutality. She had watched him transform into something that even she could barely recognise.
But beneath all of it, she could still see Michael.
Her Michael.
A boy who had spent days searching for her, pushing his body beyond its limits, refusing to stop even when he was exhausted and broken.
And now she understood something that troubled her more than anything else.
He had been carrying far more pain than he had ever allowed her to see.
All this time, he had been bottling it up.
All this time, he had been fighting.
All this time, he had been doing it for her.
Elizabeth lowered her head slightly, holding him closer.
"Rest, Michael," she whispered.
"For once, let me take care of you."