The Asian kid locked eyes with Thomas.
A cold stare.
Everything was a blur around them, even time.
With the slightest of movement from Kaito,
Thomas knew what was up.
"GET DOWN!!" he shouted.
In an instant, a shockwave tore apart the lady with the tray of drinks,
heading towards the trio.
Leo nor Autumn could react in time.
Leo only turned his head when he heard a pressure-like sound,
almost like a missile or rocket.
A bone-crushing pressure hit them all,
which sent them flying in different directions.
An explosion happened where the impact had hit,
which caused even Alwich to retreat.
The music stopped playing.
People began running in distress and confusion.
The Asian kid slowly walked over towards Alwich,
while flashing his right hand.
...
"Watch it, Kaito. You almost hit me."
Kaito looked at Alwich for a few seconds before nodding.
"Mmm."
Alwich walks off in the direction where Leo got hit.
"Remember, capture, don't kill," he says.
..
Kaito went for the other two.
LEO'S POV
He found himself crashed inside a building,
with people panicking inside.
Groaning, he sat up.
Blood streamed from his nostril.
He noticed and wiped it away.
There's no way Thomas fought this guy by himself earlier on.
It was like four trucks hit him at the same time, at max speed.
Leo looked at his hands, trembling.
Suddenly, he heard boots stepping on concrete and glass.
He looked up.
Alwich was there, smirking,
with a weird-looking energy gun aimed at Leo's face.
What? Where did that come from?
Leo barely reacted in time.
He was just lucky.
A burst of energy fired past Leo, destroying the wall behind him.
Leo ran off and smashed through a wall to escape.
Alwich smirks and reloads the rifle before chasing.
THOMAS POV
He fluttered awake, groaning.
He found himself in an upper-level building,
crushed in wooden chairs and tables.
"Agh, shit!"
The pain in his head moved rhythmically like a heartbeat.
Blood was also leaking from his forehead.
There's no way his shockwaves were this powerful.
Thomas got to his feet while holding his head.
His vision swirled.
One second it's a blur, then the other it's darkness.
He sat down again for a few.
His ears were ringing.
While trying to recover, he heard someone coughing.
When his vision got better,
he saw Autumn in front, a spill of blood leaking from her lips.
"Autumn?" Thomas called.
"Yea- yeah?" she answered.
"You don't look so good," Thomas said.
Blood also leaked from her ears and nose.
"Heheh," she coughs. "No shit."
Autumn forced a smile.
What if she wasn't behind Leo when the impact happened?
...
Thomas smiled too.
But their face got way serious instantly.
They could hear a missile-like sound again.
Immediately, they reacted.
Autumn took flight quickly,
bursting through a window in the ceiling.
And Thomas ran and jumped through a window.
The shockwave rattled the building, and it all came crashing down.
Thomas hit the ground hard and rolled a few times.
But he was fine. Kinda.
AUTUMN'S POV
From above, Autumn floated and watched.
She looked at Kaito in a pose,
where both his hands were aimed outwards to the building.
Smoke slowly rose off them.
He then starts flashing his hands again.
She looked down and saw Thomas lying on the ground.
She was gonna help him when
something painful grazed past her.
She winces and holds her arm.
When she looked,
she saw the people had some type of musket-like gun aimed at her.
But they were in some type of armor.
They seemed to be the city's defence.
They all opened fire this time.
But Autumn was too fast.
She evaded them and flew off.
THOMAS POV
He watched as the armed men fired shots at Autumn.
He stood up, groaning.
His hands ignited in flames.
Before he could act,
he saw Kaito blast through the soldiers with one punch.
Some of their body parts going all about.
....
Kaito then locked eyes with Thomas.
...
Thomas, trying to find a way out, realized he's trapped.
He raised both his fists.
"Fine, rematch!" he shouted.
LEO'S POV
An explosion rattled behind him as he jumped off a roof.
The laser beam shot past him.
When he landed on the floor,
he made one big dash across the street.
Slamming into another house,
Leo exits through the other wall.
He then stops to rest a bit, panting.
Why are they here?
How did Alwich find us?
"There!" someone shouted.
When Leo turned, he saw armed soldiers pointing at him.
Shots started to fire at him.
Leo covered his face with his hands as the bullets hit him.
They stung.
Leo started running towards them.
He smashes through them,
causing them to fly all about.
Leo starts to rub his body,
trying to stop the weird stinging sensation.
But then—
BAM.
One of the soldiers shot Leo in the back of his head
with a revolver.
Leo growled.
In less than a second, he grabbed the soldier
and rose him off the ground by his throat.
Leo then began to squeeze.
The soldier began to shoot Leo in his face,
but that made Leo squeeze tighter.
Before the soldier took his last breath,
an energy beam slams Leo into a fountain.
The ground pavement was destroyed.
Alwich walked out of the house Leo jumped through.
He walked closer while resting his smoking rifle on his shoulder.
He smirked.
Leo twitched before stumbling to his knee, panting.
He was looking at the ground.
"What?" Alwich asked in surprise. "Useless junk."
He throws away the rifle.
"Why did I run?" Leo suddenly asked.
Huh?
Alwich looked at him.
"This is 'CROSS' after all."
He stood up further.
"What I'm going to do to you...
isn't half of what I'm going to do to Ryan."
Leo then looks up.
Blood poured from his head down to his face,
even reddening his left eye.
Drool leaked from his lips.
Alwich smirks.
"Oh my... you're even better than I thought."
But Leo didn't answer.
He dashed forward at immense speed.
Even Alwich was shocked for a split second,
but he ducked at the right time.
He just dodged one of Leo's heaviest swings.
He watched as his fist passed over his head.
But suddenly, Leo followed up by punching downwards.
Alwich rolled to the right.
The earth gave in and cracked
as Leo's fist shot through it.
Alwich then flips upward,
trying to make some distance.
But while he was midair,
Leo threw a vendor stall towards him.
It crashed into Alwich, sending him into a wall.
The wall behind him cracked.
Alwich then started to fall.
But before he could land,
Leo rammed him through the wall.
And it all came crashing down.
THOMAS POV
BOOM.
A huge explosion happened after Kaito's shockwave
collided with Thomas's fire.
Thomas was on his knees, panting,
one eye shut.
He watched as Kaito ran to cover
from shots that Autumn fired with a musket gun.
Kaito then threw three punches,
and the shockwave followed.
Autumn maneuvered them easily
before continuing her assault.
We got to get out of here.
Thomas looked around,
until he spotted two soldiers on their motorcycle firing at him.
Thomas hid behind a wrecked building.
Soon, the shots started penetrating the building.
Thomas used the flames to boost his movements.
He dashed towards them,
punching one in the gut.
The other flipped out a knife,
trying to finish it quickly.
But Thomas dodged and grabbed his arm,
pulling him closer.
Thomas grabbed the soldier's chin.
A wave of flame burst out of his hand,
setting the soldier's face aflame.
The soldier screamed and rolled.
But his cries were no more after a few more seconds.
"I'm sorry," Thomas says softly while looking away.
He hops onto the bike.
"AUTUMN!" he shouted.
Autumn looked and saw what Thomas planned.
She then fires two more shots before flying over.
Thomas blazed up his hands
and shot waves of flame all around him.
The flames got so violent and tall
that the bike started heating up just from the heat.
"There, he can't follow us," Thomas said.
The two then began to ride,
dodging debris, falling buildings, and soldiers.
Where the hell is Leo?
LEO'S POV
Leo was on top of Alwich,
punching his face repeatedly.
He was surprisingly tough.
Very tough.
Leo punched and punched,
while he punched, Alwich just seemed to laugh harder.
He punched
until a piece of Alwich's face came off.
And what Leo saw made him stop instantly.
He looked at Alwich properly before
tearing off the rest of his face.
"A fucking robot?!" Leo shouted.
The robot's laugh got more creepier,
and suddenly its eyes began blinking red.
A beeping sound could be heard.
Shit.
Leo then started running at top speed.
He ran till he reached the road.
But flames were everywhere.
Suddenly, a bike stopped at his feet.
"Get on!" Thomas shouted.
Leo hopped on immediately.
And the two biked raced in the city.
Everything was burning.
Just ahead was the gate.
But suddenly, a huge explosion happened.
The blast radius was getting closer.
But they raced on.
They crossed the gate,
but the blast still hit them.
They were sent
rolling with the bikes.
...
Slowly, they got up.
Looking at the flames roaring in the city.
Suddenly, Thomas laughs.
"We did it," he says with relief.
Autumn smiles.
"Fuck Alwich... an-and you too, Kaito!!" Thomas shouted.
But then, while he was cheering,
a yellow gas-like substance was spreading from the city.
"What the hell is that?" Leo asked.
...
"Luminex..." Autumn says softly.
"Huh?" Thomas stopped cheering.
...
"Let's go," Leo says.
They then get back on the bike
and rode off in the desert.
Smoke and dust rising off their trails.
End