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Megalodon lowered his hand slowly. Faint strands of dark energy trailed from his fingertips before dissolving into the air like smoke losing heat.
"That should restore most of your stamina," he said, voice steady and clinical. "Not all of it. You can stand, can't you? That's enough energy to fight at a fraction of your earlier peak."
Black Mentis drew a long breath through his nose. His chest expanded fully, then settled. Blood still traced a thin line down the side of his face, but the tremor in his shoulders was gone. He rolled one shoulder back; the joint clicked into place. His stance dropped lower, weight balanced evenly between both boots.
Across from them, Oblivion rolled his neck lazily until something popped. He clicked his tongue and smiled under the hood.
"Awww, that's adorable," he said. "You two are teaming up now? Sharing energy? Should I feel left out?"
Cloaked Figure 2 pushed himself upright several meters away. Broken concrete slid off his back as he rose. He brushed dust from his cloak with a firm sweep of his forearm. Blood dripped steadily from his jaw, striking the ground in dark droplets.
"This mission is dragging longer than anticipated," he muttered, irritation clear in his tone. He spat a line of blood to the side, eyes narrowing toward Megalodon. "I underestimated that false king. I hate wasting effort on clowns."
Oblivion cracked his knuckles one by one, stretching his fingers like he was warming up for a spar.
"Relax," he said lightly. "We're having fun right?"
His gaze slid toward Mentis. "Besides, if he's still breathing after what that monster did to him… imagine what our king looks like at full strength."
He let out a low snicker.
"Terrifying. Right?"
Cloaked Figure 2 ignored him.
The wind shifted. Embers from burning wreckage drifted sideways between them.
The air snapped inward.
He vanished.
A shockwave of displaced pressure rolled outward as he reappeared directly in front of Megalodon, fist already extended.
Their strikes collided mid-motion.
BOOOOM!!
The impact tore outward in a violent ring. Roof tiles lifted off nearby buildings and shattered mid-air. Windows imploded inward. Asphalt fractured in a spiderweb pattern and sank slightly under the force.
At the same instant, Oblivion materialized inches from Black Mentis' face. His breath brushed Mentis' cheek.
"Sike."
He disappeared before Mentis could react.
FZZZT!!
A razor-thin beam of condensed energy sliced through the air and punched straight through Megalodon's knee.
Flesh split open. Bone flashed white for half a second before muscle knitted back together, fibers snapping into place with a wet pull.
Oblivion reappeared a few steps away, hands in his pockets.
"You owe me one."
Black Mentis lunged before the words fully registered. Boots crushing loose debris beneath him. His hand clamped over Oblivion's face, fingers digging into hood and bone. He drove his fist forward with everything he had left.
CRASH!!
The impact detonated across the street. Oblivion's body shot backward in a straight line, smashing through the façade of one building, then another, then a third. Support beams snapped like brittle sticks. Concrete exploded outward in thick clouds. He finally came to rest buried beneath collapsing rubble, dust pouring into the street.
Behind Mentis, Cloaked Figure 2 reappeared and seized Megalodon by the throat. His fingers sank deep, tendons standing out along his forearm.
"Didn't need your help asshole," he said flatly against the Demon King's ear. "What a fool letting his guard down."
He leaned closer, studying Megalodon's eyes through the mask.
"So tell me. Who are you really?"
A pause
'Was it the Almighty who sent you? Or perhaps someone named Omnithon?"
Megalodon's eyes widened for half a second.
Then they hardened.
His hand rose and wrapped around Cloaked Figure 2's wrist.
Bones fractured instantly. A sharp crack echoed between them.
"Really?" Megalodon's voice lowered into something colder. "You think too highly of yourself, worthless nobody. Remove your hand now."
The air thickened, gravity pressing inward.
He twisted.
Skin along Cloaked Figure 2's forearm began to crumble. It did not tear. It slowly disintegrated into fine ash-like grains that drifted downward before touching the ground.
"If I am exposed," Megalodon continued quietly, "I will not just erase you. I will unmake your understanding."
Cloaked Figure 2's eye twitched violently. Panic flickered across his face.
"What the hell? Sh- shit—"
His free hand glowed. An energy blade formed along his palm.
He slashed downward.
CHOP.
His own forearm separated cleanly.
The severed limb hit the ground and dissolved into drifting particles before it could bounce.
He staggered backward, clutching the stump as dark blood streamed through his fingers.
"Aaaaahhhh, Ughh."
A guttural sound escaped him. Bone forced itself outward from the exposed joint. Muscles wrapped over it in wet strands. Skin sealed in seconds, though fresh blood soaked through the cloak as a new arm formed beneath it.
Megalodon stepped forward. Each step cracked rubble under his heel.
"My fight is not with you, human," he said. "You already know what I am after."
He studied Cloaked Figure 2 closely.
"You serve under the one I seek. You and that other one. Both of you reek of his power."
His aura intensified, heat radiating off him.
"Why is he hiding? Why does he not face me himself?"
Cloaked Figure 2 straightened despite the lingering tremor in his fingers.
"Too bad, false king," he replied. "Our king is in hibernation. He does not waste his time on insects."
He adjusted his cloak with a deliberate motion.
"While he sleeps, we are more than enough."
Megalodon rolled his shoulders. Dark steam lifted off his arms.
"Then I will kill you both," he said calmly, "and correct what should never have been altered."
"Try it," Cloaked Figure 2 answered. "If you can."
Across the broken street, Black Mentis rotated his neck once, then flexed his fingers. Lightning crawled faintly across his forearms, snapping against the air.
"I'm not at my best," he admitted, voice rough but steady.
He inhaled slowly.
"But I can move at least."
The air compressed violently around him.
He moved so fast.
He reappeared directly in front of Oblivion just as the rubble above him shifted.
Oblivion's head jerked up from the debris, blood running down the side of his face. His lips split into a grin.
"Heh. You think you can touch—"
Black Mentis' fist was already in motion.
Oblivion swung left.
Mentis tilted his head just enough for the strike to graze his cheek. The skin split but he did not slow.
A kick came from below.
Mentis dropped low, shoulder scraping against dirt. He drove his fist upward into Oblivion's abdomen.
WHAM.
The impact lifted Oblivion clean off his feet.
Before gravity reclaimed him, Mentis stepped in and delivered a rising uppercut that snapped Oblivion's head backward. Teeth scattered from his mouth.
CRACK.
Mentis twisted mid-motion and brought his heel down hard against Oblivion's neck.
CRUNCH.
Bone cracked audibly.
Oblivion's body slammed into the ground head-first. His skull buried halfway into dirt and fractured asphalt. His limbs jerked once before going still.
Black Mentis remained standing above him, chest heaving.
He wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't want it to end like this."
He exhaled once.
"That should be enough."
He turned toward the other battlefield where Megalodon and Cloaked Figure 2 stood facing each other through drifting dust.
"Now the other one."
The night did not respond.
The fires around them continued to burn.
And Oblivion's body did not move.
Yet.
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