Lulled awake by rays of moving light, Kist’s eyes fluttered open, if not for a moment, taking in the gentle rhythms and sights of being carried through the dense forest before succumbing to fatigue.

Grimacing, even in his sleep, Kist awoke after a heavy thud passed through him as his unconscious body was tossed to the ground.

Shooting up in a panic before wincing as he was forced to ease himself back down from pain, Kist watched through groggy eyes as the man he’d just been fighting waved his ringing phone in his face.

“You gonna answer it?” The man questioned.

Looking around for something near to brace himself against, Kist saw that he’d been dragged to the forest edge outside the city as he made do with the thick shrubbery of a thorny bush to hold himself up before taking the phone.

“I thought you said you were gonna kill me?” Fiddling around with the shattered screen as he spoke, Kist’s voice hitched as he saw his sister’s name on the device.

“My plans changed, plus with how many times that phone has gone off, I think leaving you alive will bite you worse.”

Looking up at the man with confusion, Kist huffed out a laugh before answering the phone, “Hello?”

“WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU!” Screaming so loudly, her voice seemed to mirror the man’s distorted cadence while using his power, Skyler roared with anger.

Pulling his head away from the phone in a dramatic display, Kist looked at the man with eyes that almost begged to be put out of his misery, which was met with a dramatic display from the man who walked away wanting nothing to do with the situation,

Slowly drawing the phone closer, Kist spoke meekly as he desperately lowered the volume in an attempt to save not only his hearing but his dignity, “Uh…with a uh…friend?”

“GET YOUR ASS TO THE HOUSE, NOW!”

Hanging up the phone shortly after, Skyler left Kist confused and embarrassed as her yelling was still clearly audible.

Dropping his hand in defeat, Kist whispered, “Well, that’s embarrassing.”

Letting out a laugh, the man said, “Yeah! Don’t feel bad; my mother is the same way.”

Shooting a confused look at him, Kist retorted,” That was my sister.”

“Oh,” Pausing for a moment before laughing even harder than before, the man barked out, “That really is embarrassing!”

“Fuck you! You stu-” Yelling out in superficial anger, Kist paused mid-sentence, dismissing the man’s comment before squinting his eyes as a thought accrued to him,” Who are you?”

Tilting his head, the man looked at him disdainfully, “Why the hell would I tell you my name?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Sitting up in an attempt to remove the pressure of the thorns from his back, Kist hissed in pain before settling himself to suffer all the same. “Well, man with a terrible plan, what now?”

Tisking, the man looked at Kist before smiling, mocking Kist, “Yeah, alright, you’re one to talk, ‘this might increase my chances of passing my evaluation’ yeah right, I was there for the damn evaluation! You’re crazy if you think you passed, you know that right?”

Flexing his jaw, the anger Kist just dismissed returned with a vengeance, forcing his words to spill out without thought, “Says the man who only talks about places he wants to be, while I’m actually going! I can tell from how you moved before, you’ve never even fought a star’s reflection let alone stood before a star!”

“Cope however you want…I just wonder whatcha gonna say when you’re no longer on my level and finally fold.”

“You’re level? You actually think you are gonna defeat a star with that flawed plan?”

“Flawed by design…If you truly believe you or I could stand up to a star unprepared you’re the one who’s delusional,” Crouching down in a low squat, the man looked directly at Kist for the first time. “Sorry, not sorry, stupid. I’m cheating.”

Taken aback by the man’s words, Kist’s face contorted with confusion, “The hell are you talking about?”

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Allowing a devious smile to stretch across his face, the man leaned back, sitting on the ground directly across from Kist, “A star that just so happens to linger longer than it should, and a man who’s already fought it…”

Furrowing his brows as his eyes darted from side to side, Kist’s eyes widened as he finally put the pieces together.

Silent in voice but not thought, Kist’s mind raced with thought after thought. However, one fought to outshine the others, “When are you gonna realize you just aren’t made to do this? Nothing has changed, not you, nor the outcome!”

His sister’s words cut him deeper than any other; he’d tried to ignore them. However, they’d planted themselves deep within the furthest depths of his mind and quickly began sporting doubt and descent within him.

“I need a moment,” Taking a deep breath after he spoke, Kist leaned back, as he was all too prone to do, further into the thorny bush, taking several long moments before continuing.

“I hope I’m making the right choice,” Leaning forward, Kist reached out, grabbing the man’s hand firmly. “Alright, I’ll join you, and hell if all else fails you’re taking the fall for this.”

Smiling widely, the man jumped to his feet, pulling Kist onto his own, “That’s fine because if we don’t succeed, it’s a guarantee at least one of us won’t live to see the consequences. We’ll make sure that one of us is me.”

Throwing the man’s hand away from his own, Kist shook his head in disbelief before smiling, “Of course, now who the fuck are you? I can’t exactly be partners with someone who’s name I don’t even know.”

Smiling In response, the man spoke simply, “My name is Nue.”

Feeling all the emotion drain from his face, Kist stared blankly at the man who’d revealed himself as his worst enemy for a long moment.

“Everything oka-” Cut off by the hardest strike Kist could manage, Nue flew to the ground.

Crashing to the earth below, Nue held his hands in protest as Kist stood over him, lifting him by his collar.

“What the fuck? What did I do?”

“You bitch!” Shouting out a curse, Kist vented his frustration.

“WHAT?” Kicking Kist off of him, Nue scrambled to his feet before taking his horrid fighting stance, sending Kist into a laughing fit.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Lowering his hands, Nue questioned Kist.

Picking himself up off the ground, all the while wincing from the pain of his abused body, Kist let out a breath of relief, “I’m gonna kill you.”

Throwing up his hands in defeat, Nue screamed, “For what? I thought we just became friends!”

“You wiped me from the entire fucking score board!”

Looking more confused than ever, Nue thought hard about what Kist was so passionate about before laughing in his face, “Oh! Yeah that was me.”

“You bitch!” Lunging at Nue, Kist felt his body seize halfway through his stride and collapsed to the floor.

“Not my fault you suck.”

Pushing himself off the ground, Kist glared at Nue before a thought reappeared, “You talk a lot for someone who lost their top spot to a child.”

“The hell are you on about?”

“When you took everything from me, I obviously fought for it back. And I’ll admit it, I couldn’t, but someone could, a little damn boy took the top spot in one round, I saw the whole thing!”

Taking a sharp breath, Nue was about to scream until something stopped him, seemingly remembering something troublesome.

“What is it?”

“Didn’t you say there was a child who led you here?”

Jumping to his feet with widened eyes, Kist looked out toward the city, “Yeah, I sure they should be over here somewhere…wait no I told them to go home.”

Scratching the back of his head as he scanned the area, Kist flinched as Nue placed a hand on his shoulder, “Whoever that kid was, they listened and didn’t stick around. Though, I am concerned how they even found that building.”

Shrugging his shoulder, Kist waved it off, “I’m too tired for this.”

Pocketing his phone, Kist looked at Nue, who started toward the city, “Seventy hours.”

“Huh?”

“We have about seventy hours until that star drifts too far away to be distinguishable through the firmament, so that’s when we’ll make our move.”

Looking up at the sky, Kist saw that the star was a few inches past its highest point, “How did you even figure that out?”

“Don’t sweat the details, that’s my job. Right now you need to focus on recovering for the battle to come.”

Following after Nue, Kist walked toward the city.

“That’s funny,” Kist said as he walked past Nue.

“What?” Nue questioned.

“It’s funny you’re more worried about my recovery than the fact you don’t even know how to fight.” Kist laughed, shaking his head.

“Fine, then you’ll be the one to teach me.”

Turning to look at Nue, Kist raised his eyebrows as the man walked past him.

“You’re the one who knows how to move and fight Star’s, even if it’s just their reflection, remember? You show me how to fight and I’ll show you how to actually use your power in expressions that will actually finish the job.”

“Woah, do you think you’re funny? I know how to use my power, and there’s nothing wrong with the expressions I use.” Racing to catch up to Nue, Kist fought against his body’s protests.

“Yeah and there isn’t anything wrong with how I fight.” Nue retorted as he rolled his eyes.

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

Sharing a laugh, the two men made their way into the city, heading in separate directions but only after exchanging contacts.