I am sorry for not dropping a chapter yesterday, so, as an apology, I will drop two chapters today. Today's first chapter(1/2).
I am not sure of how well I wrote this fight, so if it's not to your liking, I already apologized for it.
Anywho, let's get into it.
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The fracture above London deepened as the Warden's rage intensified. Though it had no face, the fury rolled off it in waves that made the air tremble.
Nozomi and Hiro were blurs across the city, bouncing from building to building, taking turns saving civilians and striking at the Warden.
Hiro leaped from a rooftop, dodging a blast of distorted light. He hit the asphalt. In that same instant, he vanished, leaving behind a spiderweb of cracks where he'd stood. He reappeared next to a woman who had tripped on broken pavement, grabbed her, and blurred again.
"Run towards the station," Hiro said as he gently set her down. She nodded and sprinted off.
Hiro turned back to the battle. But just as he looked up, a body slammed into him with enough force to send them both flying. He hit the asphalt hard, pain shooting through his back. He groaned and looked up to see Nozomi on top of him, shaking her head to clear the disorientation.
"Nice catch," she said, getting off him.
Hiro stood, the pain in his back fading as his healing kicked in. "Thanks. I've been working on it." He smirked, but his eyes never left the giant floating figure in the sky.
"With the civilians here, we can't go all out," Hiro muttered. He picked up a pebble and fused it with his soul-flux. "And—" he hurled it toward the Warden with such force that it left white rings in the air.
Crack
The pebble stopped mid-flight. The air between it and the Warden fractured like glass.
"This thing has a barrier up," Hiro said.
Nozomi smirked. "Sounds like the perfect handicap to me."
The Warden, uninterested in their conversation, raised one arm to the sky. Through the red mist, hundreds of thousands of sharp, reflective spears began descending.
"Oh no, Nozomi," Hiro called out in mock fear. "It can summon spears. Whatever are we going to do?"
The Warden snarled. An actual snarl. Then it lowered its arm, and all the glass spears began falling rapidly.
Nozomi dropped to all fours, her tails curling slightly. A smirk that showed her fangs spread across her face as she locked eyes on the Warden.
'Cover me,' she ordered through their link.
The ground beneath her cracked before she even left it.
Hiro smirked and spread his arms slightly. The temperature around him plummeted. The air turned visible as moisture crystallized. Icicles formed from nothing, hovering around him like frozen soldiers waiting for orders.
With a thought, he sent them flying.
The icicles intercepted the glass spears mid-air, each impact creating miniature explosions that lit up the sky like fireworks.
Nozomi surged through the chaos, unbothered by the explosions erupting around her. She closed the distance in an instant and arrived before the Warden. She cocked her fist back and punched with everything she had.
Crack
Glass shattered between her fist and the Warden's face, stopping her attack cold.
"Tch," Nozomi clicked her tongue in annoyance, but she didn't stop. She released a barrage of punches and kicks, each one striking the invisible barrier with enough force to crack the air around it.
The Warden grew visibly annoyed by the pointless assault. It swung its massive staff toward her.
Nozomi, caught off guard by the speed, tilted to the side at the last second. The wind from the swing still pushed her back, but she didn't miss the chance to counter.
Divine Silhouette
Five more Nozomis appeared, surrounding the Warden from every angle.
"Radiant Lance!" all the Nozomis shouted simultaneously. They raised their hands, summoning six giant spears of golden light. In unison, they flung them toward the Warden.
A blinding light covered the sky. The ground shook lightly as all six spears struck the barrier.
Some civilians stopped running to watch the light shining above them, hope flickering in their eyes. But as the glow faded, so did their hope. The Warden floated there, untouched. Not a single scar. Not even a speck of dirt on its clothes.
"Well, what are you waiting for, people, an invitation?" Hiro's shout snapped them back to reality. "Better keep running."
The civilians didn't need to be told twice. They scrambled toward the tunnels, screams echoing off the broken buildings.
The Warden shrieked and raised its staff for another attack.
Then—
BOOM!
A sonic boom tore through the sky as a gold and red object streaked past.
CRACK!
Lightning struck the ground as Thor landed with a thunderous crash.
The Avengers had arrived.
"Alright, kids," Tony's voice echoed through his suit's external speakers as he descended slowly. "S.H.I.E.L.D. said we had a reality glitch, but I didn't expect a cosmic kaleidoscope. Step aside, let the adults handle—"
Tony stopped. His sensors finally registered the two figures standing back-to-back in the center of the destruction. His jaw dropped behind his golden visor.
"Wait. You two?" Tony blurted out. "What the hell are you doing in London? Weren't you supposed to be in Queens?"
"No time for a reunion, Stark!" Hiro shouted, deflecting a stray blast of distorted space with his claws. "Listen carefully. You and the Avengers need to focus entirely on civilian safety. Get every single person out of this plaza right now!"
"Excuse me?" Tony shot back, repulsors humming. "We're the Avengers. We don't sit on the sidelines playing crossing guard while two high schoolers take on a universal threat. I'm taking this thing down."
Thor stepped forward, lightning crackling in his eyes. "The Son of Odin does not retreat to the rear guard while children fight on the front lines! My weapon hungers for this beast's blood!"
"Are you both idiots?!" Nozomi snapped. Her voice carried a dense pressure that made Thor's lightning flicker for a split second. She turned her black eyes toward them, expression dead serious. "Look at it! It doesn't care about you. It only wants us. If you attack, it will ignore you and slaughter every civilian in this plaza just to get our attention."
Hiro stepped up beside her. "If you want to help, secure the perimeter. Get these people out of the crossfire. That's the only way we can fight this thing without killing everyone in London."
Tony's AI flashed warnings inside his helmet. The energy signatures confirmed everything the twins were saying. The Warden's focus was entirely locked onto them.
Tony let out a frustrated breath. "Fine. But we're having a long conversation about this later."
Thor grumbled but lowered Stormbreaker. "If the beast seeks the blood of the wolves, I shall ensure the innocent do not fall in its wake!"
"Friday, map the fastest evacuation routes," Tony ordered. "Cap, Widow, you heard the fox-kids. Move!"
The Avengers pivoted.
Captain America raised his shield and slammed it into a glass barrier, shattering it into harmless chunks. "This way! Move! Keep moving!"
Black Widow grabbed a panicked woman by the arm and pulled her toward the subway entrance. "Go! Don't look back!"
Thor leaped across the plaza, lifting a crushed double-decker bus off trapped passengers. They scrambled out and sprinted toward safety.
Tony flew overhead, blasting falling debris before it could crush anyone.
The battlefield was now clear.
Hiro and Nozomi turned to face the Warden. No more distractions. No more holding back.
'Finally,' Hiro sent through their link.
'About time,' Nozomi replied.
The Warden raised its staff, and the world around them began to fold. Reality twisted, bending and warping like a funhouse mirror. The sky turned upside down. The ground became the ceiling. Gravity shifted, pulling them sideways.
Nozomi planted her feet and pushed back against the distortion with her own aura. "It's trying to disorient us."
Hiro didn't answer. He was already moving.
He shot forward like a silver bullet, his claws extended, purple energy crackling along his fingers. He aimed straight for the Warden's chest.
Crack
The barrier stopped him again. But this time, he didn't bounce off. He pushed against it, his claws digging into the fractured space, trying to tear through.
The Warden swung its staff at him.
Hiro dropped at the last second, sliding under the attack. He swept his leg out, aiming for the Warden's feet.
The attack passed through the space. The Warden floated, unaffected by physical strikes aimed at anything below its waist.
"Right. Floating." Hiro scrambled to his feet. "Should have remembered that."
The Warden's staff came down again. This time, it connected.
Hiro flew backward, crashing through a collapsed newsstand. Wood and metal exploded around him. He hit the ground hard, rolling to a stop. Pain lanced through his ribs. Something cracked.
He forced himself to his feet, spitting blood. The crack in his ribs healed almost instantly, the bones knitting back together with a sickening crunch.
"Nice hit," he muttered.
Nozomi watched her brother get thrown across the plaza. Her tails bristled. Her golden aura flared.
She launched herself at the Warden, ribbons of golden energy trailing behind her. They wrapped around the Warden's staff, yanking it to the side. The sudden pull caught the Warden off balance. It stumbled in the air.
Nozomi didn't let go. She pulled herself up, swinging toward its face. Her knee connected with the barrier—and this time, the barrier cracked.
A single fissure, thin as a hair, spread across the invisible shield.
The Warden shrieked and retaliated. A wave of distorted energy erupted from its body, throwing Nozomi backward. She twisted in the air, landing on her feet, her hands scraping across the broken asphalt.
She looked up. The crack in the barrier was already sealing itself.
"Of course," she muttered. "It regenerates."
Hiro was back on his feet. He wiped the blood from his lip and assessed the situation.
The barrier was strong. Too strong to break through with raw force. But it had weaknesses—it had cracked when Nozomi hit it. It wasn't invincible.
'It lost concentration when you grabbed its staff,' he sent to Nozomi. 'It has to divide its attention between the barrier and everything else it's doing.'
'So we overwhelm it,' Nozomi replied. 'Force it to focus on too many things at once.'
'Exactly.'
Hiro picked up a chunk of rebar from the rubble. He infused it with his soul-flux, watching the metal glow with purple energy. Then he threw it.
The rebar streaked through the air like a missile.
The Warden raised a hand and shattered it with a flicker of distorted light. But in that split second, its barrier flickered.
Nozomi was already moving.
She appeared above the Warden, golden ribbons swirling around her fists like boxing wraps. She rained down blows—fast, brutal, relentless. Each punch sent shockwaves through the air.
The Warden raised its staff to block. The barrier flickered again.
Hiro was behind it.
He stabbed his claws into the barrier at the exact moment of the flicker. The claws sank in. Not through, but into. He had a grip.
The Warden screamed and tried to throw him off. It swung its staff wildly, smashing through a nearby building. Debris rained down.
Hiro held on. His claws dug deeper. The barrier around him started to crack.
'NOW, NOZOMI!'
Nozomi dropped from above, both fists cocked back, golden light blazing around her knuckles. She slammed down on the cracked barrier with everything she had.
The barrier shattered.
For one beautiful moment, the Warden was exposed. No shield. No protection. Just the creature's crystalline body hovering before them.
Hiro and Nozomi struck at the same time.
Hiro's claws tore through the Warden's torso, ripping through crystal and light. Nozomi's fist connected with its face, sending it spinning through the air.
The Warden crashed into a building, smashing through three floors before coming to a stop.
Hiro landed on the ground, panting. Nozomi touched down beside him.
"Did we—" she started.
The building exploded outward.
The Warden emerged from the rubble, more furious than before. Its crystalline body was cracked and bleeding light, but it was still moving. Still fighting. It raised its staff, and the air around it turned to solid glass. Everything—the rubble, the asphalt, the air itself—crystallized.
The twins froze.
"Hiro—" Nozomi's voice was strained. She was surrounded by a cage of solidified glass, her arms pinned to her sides. The glass was growing, spreading up her legs, threatening to encase her entirely.
Hiro tried to move. The glass was around his ankles, climbing past his knees. He couldn't break free.
"Not good," he said.
The Warden floated toward them, its staff raised for the killing blow. Its cracked face glowed with vengeful light.
Nozomi struggled against the glass. It wouldn't budge. She pushed harder. Nothing. The crystal was too dense.
'Help me,' she sent. 'Break me out.'
'I can't,' Hiro replied. 'I'm stuck too.'
The Warden was almost on them.
Hiro looked at Nozomi. She looked back.
They didn't need to speak. They already knew.
Hiro closed his eyes. He stopped resisting the glass. Instead, he let it encase him completely—arms, legs, torso, everything but his head.
The Warden raised its staff.
Hiro opened his eyes.
"You made a mistake," he said.
His silver aura ignited.
Not around him. Inside him. He forced his soul-flux inward, compressing it into a single point in his chest. The glass around him started to crack. His body expanded, muscles bulging, veins glowing silver.
PRIMAL OBLIVION: RAGNAROK DRIVE.
The explosion tore the glass apart.
Shards flew everywhere. The Warden was thrown back by the shockwave, its staff nearly ripped from its grip.
Hiro stood in the crater of his own explosion, steam rising from his body. His muscles were larger, his tails longer, his eyes blazing with silver fire. He was panting, blood dripping from a cut on his forehead, but he was standing.
He turned to Nozomi. "You okay?"
She was already free of the glass, her golden aura blazing. "I've had better days. But I'll live."
'Good,' he sent. 'Because we're not done yet.'
They turned to face the Warden.
The creature was regenerating. Its cracked body was sealing itself, the wounds closing with liquid light. It rose higher into the air, its staff spinning in circles, building power for something big.
Hiro could feel it. The air was getting heavier. The sky was growing darker.
'This is going to hurt,' he sent.
'It always does,' Nozomi replied.
She rose into the air, golden petals spiraling around her. Her five tails split into glowing afterimages, forming the towering silhouette of a celestial fox behind her.
DIVINE ASCENSION: AMATERASU BLOOM.
The weight of the heavens pressed down. The Warden's building attack flickered under the pressure.
Hiro slammed his fists together. Silver and purple energy mingled, crackling like lightning. He dropped into a low stance, his muscles coiling like springs.
"Together?" he suggested.
Nozomi nodded. "Together."
They moved.
Hiro shot forward like a missile, tearing through the air with explosive speed. Nozomi descended like divine judgment, golden light trailing behind her.
The Warden met them head-on.
The collision shattered the sky.
Hiro hit the ground hard. His body screamed in protest. One of his arms was bent at an unnatural angle. He forced it straight, gritting his teeth against the pain as the bones reset themselves.
Above him, Nozomi was locked in a brutal exchange with the Warden. She was fast—faster than she'd ever been—but the Warden was angrier. It swung its staff with wild abandon, forcing her to dodge and weave.
She caught a blow to the shoulder. Spun through the air. Landed on a rooftop, her shoulder dislocated.
She popped it back in herself with a grunt of pain.
Hiro was back on his feet. He threw himself into the fight again. His claws raked across the Warden's chest. The creature screamed and backhanded him across the plaza. He crashed through a storefront, glass raining down on him.
He got up.
Nozomi grabbed the Warden's staff with her ribbons and yanked. The creature stumbled forward. Hiro capitalized. He drove his claws deep into its back.
The Warden screamed. It threw them both off with a blast of energy.
Hiro and Nozomi hit the ground together, rolling to a stop.
Neither of them moved for a moment. Both of them were bleeding. Both of them were breathing hard. Both of them were exhausted.
But both of them got up.
The Warden was hurt. Really hurt. Its body was covered in cracks, leaking light like blood. It was still fighting, still standing, but it wasn't the same creature that had arrived an hour ago.
Hiro looked at Nozomi. She looked at him.
'One more time?' she sent.
'One more time,' he agreed.
They charged.
The battle continued. The Warden threw everything it had at them—waves of distorted light, cages of solid glass, spears of crystallized space.
They dodged. They blocked. They took hits and kept moving.
Hiro's ribs cracked again. He ignored it.
Nozomi's leg was gashed open. She ignored it.
The Warden's attacks grew weaker. Its movements grew slower. Its barriers flickered more often, failing to reform in time.
It was losing.
But so were they.
Hiro couldn't feel his left arm anymore. He kept fighting with his right.
Nozomi's vision was blurry from the blood in her eyes. She kept fighting anyway.
And then, finally—
Hiro's claws sank into the Warden's core.
The creature screamed—a sound of pure, unfiltered agony. Its body convulsed. Its barriers shattered. Its staff fell from its grip.
Nozomi appeared above it. Her fists came down like a hammer.
The Warden hit the ground.
Not floating. Not hovering. On the ground. In pieces.
Hiro and Nozomi stood over it, panting, bleeding, barely standing.
The creature twitched. Its remaining shards of crystal started to glow, pulling together, trying to reform.
Hiro stepped on its main piece.
"Stay down," he growled.
The glow faded. The Warden was silent.
Hiro slumped. His legs gave out.
He didn't hit the ground. Nozomi caught him.
"I got you," she said.
He smiled weakly. "Always."
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