CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

BLOODLUST

Out of the corner of his eye, Dang noticed a flash of green in the sky.

He turned and looked through the hole in the ceiling that he'd thrown Kai through, trying to make out what was happening in the distance.

“Oh, am I boring you?”

Dang's attention was dragged back to the situation in front of him, where he and Caden were facing off.

“You are, but don't worry about it. Most of the bad guys I fight tend to do the same.”

Caden smiled. “Funny, most of the so-called ‘good guys’ I fight tend to do the same.” He raised his fists, “Come on Dang, show me what you got!”

Dang's muscles tensed as he felt a familiar surge of power, flames flickering at his fingertips. Across from him, Caden's fists were already wrapped in a swirling mass of black energy, his eyes locked on Dang with malicious intent.

Without a word, Dang sprang forward, closing the gap in an instant. He launched a fiery punch at Caden, the flames roaring to life as they shot toward his opponent.

“BLACK SHIELD!”

Caden reacted quickly, raising a shield of black energy to block the attack. The fire splashed harmlessly against the dark barrier, dissipating into sparks.

Caden countered with a burst of energy from his hands, tendrils of black snaking through the air. Dang dodged to the side, flames trailing from his hands as he moved. He retaliated with a sweeping kick, his leg igniting in a blaze of fire. Caden met the attack head-on, his fist enveloped in black energy as he blocked the strike.

The force of their clash sent shockwaves through the ground.

Dang pushed forward, his fists a blur of fire as he unleashed a series of punches. Caden parried each one, his black energy forming into solid constructs to deflect the hits.

“Not bad! Not bad! Impress me more!” Caden shouted.

“Shut up.” Dang replied.

In a swift motion, Caden thrust his hand forward, a beam of black energy shooting out. Dang twisted his body, narrowly avoiding the blast, and used the momentum to hurl a fireball at Caden.

The black energy manipulator swatted it away, but the explosion forced him to take a step back.

Dang charged again, his hands blazing with intense heat. He closed the distance and aimed a powerful uppercut at Caden. The impact was like a thunderclap, and Caden was sent backwards.

With a grunt, Caden skidded to a stop, his fists crackling with power, his eyes beaming, and a smile plastered across his face.

He took a deep breath. “That…was intense.”

Dang said nothing, walking forwards as the fire in his fists trailed in the air.

“Unfortunately, I’m taking you seriously now.”

Caden narrowed his vision, and he summoned a massive wave of black energy, sending it crashing toward Dang. Dang crossed his arms in front of him, flames roaring to life to form a protective barrier. The two energies collided, creating a dazzling display of light and darkness.

Dang took a deep breath, his body steaming.

“I just got chills, did you?” Caden asked, “Well, you're on fire so I don't know how much chill you could've felt.”

Dang looked down to see what he was talking about, and quickly saw why. His shirt had caught fire and had burnt itself out, leaving him mostly shirtless. The only thing left was his signature jacket, with the tassles that hung from the epaulets singing at the ends. The shirt he’d worn underneath had been completely burned off. The flames he was emanating had also started to catch on the hairs on his skin, singeing them. He'd also greatly underestimated how much steam his body was releasing.

It was like someone had doused a boiling hot metal plate.

I guess I'm not as used to handling intense heat as Dante is, he thought.

“Are you okay?” Caden called out, “Do we need to take a break, or are you ready to go?”

Dang raised his fists, “I'm ready.”

“Good.”

They shot at each other once more.

Dang's fiery attacks clashed with Caden's black energy again. The ground beneath them shook with each impact, the air thick with the scent of smoke.

The dark energy around Caden’s fists pulsed. He began to move with a new fluidity, his strikes becoming faster and more precise. Dang swung a flaming fist, but Caden sidestepped effortlessly, countering with a solid punch to Dang's ribs.

The force of the blow knocked the wind out of Dang, causing him to stumble back.

Caden saw his opportunity and took it. He launched a series of blows, each one backed by the growing strength of his black energy.

Dang struggled to keep up.

Caden's strikes became more powerful, the black energy wrapping around his fists like dense, unbreakable armor.

Dang realized he was losing, and tried to retaliate, flames surging from his hands, but Caden swatted them aside with ease. He ducked under a wild swing from Dang and delivered a crushing uppercut that sent Dang reeling. Dang hit the ground, but he quickly rolled to his feet, flames licking his body as he prepared to fight back.

Caden, however, was already upon him. He delivered a brutal kick to Dang's midsection, lifting him off the ground and sending him crashing into a nearby boulder. Dang groaned in pain, his vision swimming. He tried to summon his strength, flames flickering at his fingertips.

But Caden was relentless. He approached with measured steps, his black energy crackling ominously. He grabbed Dang by the collar and lifted him effortlessly, slamming him into the ground. Dang's body hit the dirt, the impact sending shockwaves through his limbs.

Caden's fists rained down on him, each blow more punishing than the last. Dang tried to defend himself, but his fiery shields were not enough. The black energy tore through his defenses, leaving him battered and bruised.

Finally, with a powerful blast of black energy, Caden sent Dang flying across the battlefield. Dang skidded to a stop, his body aching and covered in dirt. He struggled to rise, but his strength was nearly spent. Caden stood tall, his black energy swirling around him.

He laughed.

“You were never any match for me.”

***

Dante raced across the quickly emptying cave, his frustration mounting with each passing second. The portal machine had to be around here somewhere, but it almost seemed like it wasn’t.

Daedalus’ words replayed in his mind,

There’s a good chance that Caden and Kai are trying to bring more armies here. We did a pretty good job of taking out a huge portion of their assault force earlier, so be on the lookout for anything that resembled a portal-opening machine.

Dante’s heart pounded as he mentally replayed every detail, struggling to remember anything he could’ve missed on the way. He needed Daedalus’ plan to work, more than ever.

He’d already missed one chance to go home today, he could not afford to lose another.

The guilt gnawed at him—a part of him thought that he should have taken the portal home when he had the chance. Anthea’s voice flashed through his mind, her words a comforting echo in the chaos.

‘Promise me you’ll find a way back,’ she had said.

Dante made a silent promise to himself and her that he would get home as quickly as possible, but for now, his friends needed him.

Dante's sprint came to a sudden halt as he stumbled upon a group of murderbots standing in a tight circle. They were poised in a protective stance, their metal bodies gleaming ominously, but the space they guarded seemed empty.

“That’s weird…” he muttered to himself. Before Dante could fully grasp the situation, the murderbots' detected him, and they immediately sprang into action.

Dante's muscles tensed as the murderbots lunged at him.

The first one swung a bladed arm towards him, but Dante ducked with ease and countered with an uppercut. Another bot closed in from behind, aiming a laser at his back. Dante twisted his body just in time, the beam piercing the air where he'd been a split second before. He grabbed the bot's arm and yanked it forward, using its momentum to throw it into the path of two others, knocking them down like dominoes.

He summoned a ball of flame and threw it, causing all three bots to explode.

A bot slashed at Dante, who narrowly dodged and retaliated with a powerful kick to its chest, shattering its core. He spun around, catching another bot's punch with his hand, then thrust his elbow to its torso, breaking it apart.

The last murderbot stood, brandishing dual saw blades. It advanced, its blades spinning with a high-pitched whine. Dante waited, watching its movements.

As it struck, he sidestepped and grabbed its arm, wrenching it sideways. The bot’s own blade severed its power conduit, and it fell to the ground.

“Easy.”

As the last robot collapsed, Dante noticed a strange shimmering in the air where the murderbots had been standing. The area seemed to distort, creating ripples and waves in the air.

With a deep breath, he reached out and touched the barrier, feeling a strange energy pulse through his fingers. Slowly, he peeled back the barrier, revealing a massive, swirling portal that seemed to grow larger with each passing second.

His eyes widened. The portal was huge, its edges flickering with an odd light. A beam stretched from the portal downwards, where an egg-shaped capsule stood. The sheer size and power of it left him speechless.

He quickly realized how serious the situation was.

This was the portal designed to bring reinforcements from another world.

“Holy shit…” he pushed aside his shock and concentrated hard, summoning his flames to form a shield to act as a seal over the portal. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he focused, his hands trembling. The seal began to take shape, covering the portal on both sides but it still continued to expand, forcing Dante to constantly adjust the seal to keep it contained.

"Daedalus," Dante called out through his communicator, his voice strained with effort. "I found that portal thing you talked about. You were right, it looks like Caden’s trying to bring Bellum here."

Daedalus' response crackled through the communicator. "Good work, Dante. My scav bots are on their way with the device. Just keep it contained."

Moments felt like hours as Dante struggled to maintain the seal. The portal pushed against his energy, testing his limits. Each time it grew, he had to pour more of his strength into adjusting the seal, his body shaking with the effort. He could feel the portal's power, a force that threatened to break free at any moment.

As he battled to contain the portal, Dante noticed something. The machine connected to the portal was draining energy from the surroundings. Nearby lights flickered and dimmed, and the air seemed to grow colder.

It was like a black hole, sucking in everything around it.

Finally, the scav bots arrived, carrying with them the mini Waymaker. Daedalus’ voice came over his comms again.

“Dante, the Waymaker needs some time before it’s primed. I need you to keep up that seal for as long as you can. I’m on my way.”

“That’s fine, but Daedalus? There’s something off.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, the portal seems to be coming from a capsule of sorts and it’s almost like, it’s drawing energy from its surroundings. I can actively feel it draining my power the bigger it gets.” Dante called over the comms.

Daedalus was silent for a while, “If that thing draws energy from around it, then we might be in more trouble than we thought. But let’s take it on one thing at a time, you focus on keeping that portal sealed up. Nothing comes out, and nothing goes through.”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

We’ll worry about the rest later.

***

Caden's trying to open a rift to Bellum.

Dante's voice came over the comm in his ear, as Dang struggled to keep himself conscious. An image of Anna flashed through his mind, weak and frail from surgery, lying on a hospital bed, and he found the strength to push himself into his feet.

“You can still stand? After that? You truly are impressive.”

Dang spat out blood, and focused his vision as Caden walked towards him.

“You…you're trying to bring Bellum…here?” He managed to say.

Caden smiled, “That was always the plan, Dang. I'm the advance team, it's my job to make sure that all possible threats to Bellum’s invasion are eradicated. Even before he gets here. That means you. And your friends too. After I'm done here, I'll go after them, take them off the board as players.”

Dang took a deep breath and raised his fists, “I won't let you.”

Caden regarded him with a raised eyebrow, “Let me?” He scoffed, “Sure.” Then he lunged.

Time slowed to a crawl as Dang watched Caden advance on him. He tried to force himself to do something, anything at all.

Move out of the way! Call the fire back! Resonate! Use resonate!

But nothing happened at all.

He was helpless…

Caden inched closer and closer, a sinister smile spread across his face, baring his teeth. His power of black engulfed his fists and spread, all over his arms and down the length of his body. With each step he took, waves of his power radiated, sending out massive bursts of energy around the cave.

He laughed, in the most maniacal way he possibly could, bringing his fists up.

Dang’s thoughts raced through his mind, but he barely had time to react before the first of the onslaught began.

A black-laden fist was sent into his gut.

The impact knocked Dang some paces back, but he remained standing. Hopefully, he could keep up that level of toughness. At least until he found the strength to fight back or until he could think of something.

‘Come on,’ his thoughts raced once more, ‘Do something!’

Caden dashed forward, closing the distance between them in an instant. He pulled his fist back for another attack.

RESONATE

Dang felt relief as the skin on his body hardened to match the texture of the earth beneath his feet. It spread all over him, covering his hands and head and enclosing him in some kind of…rock armor. Caden laughed still and threw another punch.

The fist connected with his rock skin and Dang was knocked back again, but he remained standing and the rock armor held together.

Shit! He has me on the ropes. I have to do something.

“Oh? You think you can take the hits?” Caden, ever the opportunist, dashed forward again, not allowing any time for rest, “Let’s test that plan out.”

He roared and his power surged, but Dang didn’t falter. Caden drew nearer and nearer, fist raised.

I took the first two hits, it’ll be fine, The armor will hol-

Caden threw his fist forward and Dang braced himself again, expecting his rock skin to take the brunt of the force. If he could keep this routine up, then maybe he’d have enough time to recover some of his lost power-

CRACKKK

Caden’s fist broke straight through the armor, and landed square in Dang’s chest, the force of the impact so great that Dang was lifted off his feet and sent flying…but Caden won’t let him. He grabbed Dang’s feet – midair – and twisted, slamming his body into the ground.

The rest of the rock armor broke away.

Caden then lifted Dang by the feet and threw him up in the air before jumping after him. He clasped his hands together, raised them above his head, and sent them down, punching Dang back to the ground.

Before Dang could recover, Caden was already on the ground, a fiendish smile plastered on his face, and fists doused in a black so dark that it looked like the physical representation of ‘nothingness’.

‘Damn it,’ Dang thought, ‘This guy won’t give me a chance to do anything! At this rate…’

Caden punched.

‘…at this rate, I’m going to die!’

The punch landed in his face and the world dissolved to black…

“Dang.”

His eyes flew open and suddenly he was in a different room. He had been here before, but the unsettling strangeness never faded. Mirrors stood on all sides, some stacked high, others positioned at odd angles, but none reflected him as he was.

Instead, each one showed a version of him wearing different clothing, or they had differing hairstyles and hair colors, or even body types. The room was still, unnervingly quiet, as if frozen outside time itself, a place cut off from everything he knew. He could feel the isolation deep in his bones.

“Dang?” The voice said again.

He’d heard this same voice before, the last time he’d been here.

“Yeah?” He answered. His different reflections mirrored his actions, creating an echo across the space of the room.

“You're on the verge of death.”

Dang took a second to process what he'd just heard. “Yeah…thanks for the heads up.”

One of the mirrors in front of him cleared and a new scene played out in front of him. In it, Caden had his blackened, bloody hand pierced through Dang's body on the floor, a smile on his face. Dang's eyes were wide, but without life. He was dead.

“Do they at least stop him after?” He asked, trying to get the mirror to show anything else, and it did, but he still didn't like what he was looking at. More scenes flashed in the mirror, scenes of dead bodies. First, Dante's, then Daedalus' dismantled body. Next, Tiger and Wombat, dead while holding each other.

“Oh..”

That was it. That was how it all ended. His story and theirs. He only hoped that the next Dang to take his place would succeed in defeating Bellum.

Dang let his eyes wander and, for the first time since he’d been here, he noticed the true extent of the room. The mirrors stretched out in all directions, into darkness. He assumed they went on until infinity, or at least until the different versions of him stopped making sense.

It would be weird if there was a version of him with his facial features reshuffled or one where no color existed and everything was just an outline of a shape. He imagined a world where, maybe everything was a liquid including the human body, or another where they were all robots.

He chuckled at the thought, as he sat on the ground. The multiple versions of him depicted in the mirrors did the same.

Surprisingly, this moment was filled with a sense of serenity. Maybe it was the fact that he’d made peace with his death. He fought as hard as he could, but in the end, he was no match for Caden.

He’d have been angry if there was any point to it.

In fairness, Caden had been doing this a lot longer than he had – which was a couple of months ago. Caden probably fought hundreds of people much stronger than he was, and won. Dang was doomed to lose from the start.

Soon, he’d probably die, and his consciousness would fade away into nothing, leaving everyone behind. Anna, his friends, the kids…

He wondered if this place would be where he spent his afterlife, doomed to watch over the other Dangs for eternity. At least he wouldn’t be alone, he’d have someone to talk to.

“Hey…uhhh…voice?”

“Yes, Dang.”

“Are you a real person or are you just a voice?”

“I’m very much real.”

“Cool…cool…so do I like, stay here forever after I die or…”

“This place is a part of you, Dang. If you die, it dies too.”

“Right…figures…”

Okay, change of plans. He was going to the actual afterlife.

“Does it frustrate you?” the voice asked, “Knowing you lost? Knowing that your death ultimately means the end of your universe and another battle that Bellum has won?”

Dang thought about it for a minute. Why was he fighting? The short and simple answer would be that he wanted everyone on Earth to live their full lives without the intervention of some world-eating, multidimensional monster. A more complicated answer would be that he just really hated losing, or generally being forced to accept an uncomfortable reality. Did achieving neither one of these frustrate him?

“Yeah…” he replied, “I am frustrated…but at the same time, maybe this was how it was meant to end.”

Saying it out loud, putting it into words, sealed how he felt about it. This was his fate, to die while trying to save the world. A hero’s death…

…but a small feeling still lingered in the deepest pits of his gut.

He received no answer from the voice but his thoughts kept him company.

Would it be a hero’s death, if nobody knew he was one? After all, he’d gone through so much trouble to hide his identity from the public, so of course, no one would know who he was. Even if they did know, would they care? Would they even be alive to care?

The feeling in his stomach grew and he shut his eyes in response, trying to ignore it.

According to the mysterious voice, his team would fail. They were the last group of people that even knew who he was. Some of clients could remember him, but they never truly knew who he was. They didn’t even know the real color of his hair.

The feeling was climaxing now and his body trembled, unable to ignore it anymore. He realized one infuriating truth:

He hadn’t made any difference in the world.

The only people who knew who he was, and what he’d done, were his team and Anna. He wasn’t satisfied with that.

“Voice.” He tried to steady the tone of his voice to hide the emotion underneath. Screw all that nonsense about making peace with his death. There was still plenty of unfinished business he’d be leaving behind.

Villains to beat. Planets to save. People to take care of.

No way was he ready to let it all end like this.

“Voice,” he said again, throwing a bit of power to his tone. He got up, fists clenched, and roared again. “VOICE! I’M CALLING YOU!”

“Yes, Dang.”

“I changed my mind. I’m not dying.”

“Dang, you realize that you’d be going back just to face Caden again.”

“I do, but it’d be a cold day in hell before I let some loser take over my planet. They’d have to stop me from ever being born for that to happen.”

“You can’t win. Not as you are now.” The voice reminded him.

Dang hissed. The voice was right. His plan was to go back and just keep punching and kicking until Caden recognized his resilience and left of his own will. If it works in anime, why not in real life, right?

“But …it doesn't have to be this way.” The voice said enigmatically.

“What?”

“You're still far too weak now, but I can lend you power. You just have to ask for it.”

“Just like that?

“Just like that.”

“What’s the catch?”

“Do you think you have time to ask questions when the life of you and your friends is at stake?”

As much as he wanted to argue against it, the voice was right. He had no choice. Right now, he was out of the game, with his friends at risk. He knew what he had to do.

“Alright. Give it to me.”

“Of course, Dang. It's yours anyways.”

Dang felt something shift within him.

Caden stared at the unconscious body sprawled out before him, with smoke emanating from where his fist had made contact with. He got closer, his black power gathering around his hand and forming a blade..

“You tried yout best, but in the end…I was simply better.” He said, stopping at Dang’s feet, “Now, I get to enjoy this.”

He lunged at the body, aiming to pierce Dang’s heart and confirm his kill.

Then, Dang’s body exploded outwards with a radiant golden energy, forcing Caden to blast away from him. The light was bright and blinding, and Caden was forced to shield his eyes. When the glow faded, Dang stood tall, his eyes blazing with a golden hue, his arms coated in a swirling, golden aura.

“What the hell?!” Caden said, “Where did this power come from?”

Dang rose a few feet off the ground, the power swelling inside him. It was as if the last couple of hours never happened. All the fatigue in him dissipated, and he was born anew. He suddenly became aware of everything and everyone in the vicinity.

Power like this…was his?

Caden hissed and attacked, his black energy swirling around his fists as he shot forward again. He aimed a powerful punch at Dang's chest and thrust…but the golden energy absorbed the impact, leaving Dang unfazed.

Dang’s new golden power seemed to render Caden's black attacks useless.

Caden tried again, unleashing a flurry of punches and kicks, each one backed by his black energy. But no matter how hard he hit, Dang didn't budge. The golden energy around him acted as a shield, absorbing every blow.

Caden's frustration grew.

He poured more power into his strikes, hoping to break through Dang's defenses, but it was no use. Dang's eyes glowed with golden light, and he watched Caden try many times to land a powerful punch but fail.

Caden backed away, “Maybe this will jog your memory on how strong I am.”

He clapped his hands together.

“BLACK NIGHT STREAM!”

Dang smirked, and raised a finger, the golden energy around it pulsating with immense power.

“I didn’t forget how strong you were. I just grew stronger.”

With a flick of his finger, a shockwave of golden light erupted, hurtling towards Caden. The beam of golden light and the stream of black energy collided.

A brief struggle of power between the two energies happened but Dang’s power came out on top. The golden beam of light absorbed the black energy, shooting straight into Caden.

He was lifted off his feet and shot through the air, crashing into the wall.

Caden shot out and straight at Dang, and Dang responded, shooting forward himself. The golden power rushed through his entire being, and an electric feeling, accompanied by exhilaration, flowed through him. Fatigue was being replaced as soon as it appeared, making him feel on top of the world.

He cut across the arena, feeling lighter than air himself. The speed at which he was moving was shocking. Never in his life did he think he’d ever move this fast. In a mere instant, Dang and Caden clashed, pressing their forearms against each other. A wave of energy escaped, black and gold lights dancing around them.

Caden had a smile on his face, “Okay then, let’s see just how powerful you’ve become. Try not to give out too early.”

“Same here.”

Caden twisted, bringing his feet up to kick Dang, but Dang saw it before it even happened. He pulled his head back, the kick missing him narrowly, and replied with a kick of his own. Caden crossed his arms in front of his face to block the attack, pouring out a ton of his energy to cushion the impact.

BOOM

His plan worked, and he remained standing, despite facing the attack head-on. He brought his guard up and Dang did the same.

Dang swung his golden fist, narrowly missing a ducked Caden, who was already throwing a punch into Dang’s midsection…but Dang saw it. He grabbed the fist, catching the attack, and fell forward, forcing his weight down on Caden.

He jumped, flipped over Caden, and landed behind him, still holding his fist. He turned and threw with all his might, launching Caden through the air.

Caden twisted midair, a black tendril extending from his hand and shooting into the floor, bringing him to a stop. He then thrust both of his hands into the ground.

There was a rumbling noise and snakes made of his black energy erupted from the ground, and roared before diving back into it. They emerged again, before diving back, repeating the motion while making their way to Dang.

Dang spread his feet and concentrated, conjuring up a long blade, made from the golden energy. As the snakes emerged from the ground in front of him, he swung, slicing all the snakes at once. A ray of golden light ran the length of the snake, chasing its body back through the path that it had come through, straight for Caden.

He dived out of the way at the last minute to avoid getting hit by the golden light and rolled to a stop, but when he looked up, Dang wasn’t there anymore.

He frantically scanned around. “Don’t go running now!”

The hairs on the back of his neck stood, and he swiveled around to see Dang there, golden sword in hand.

“Who’s running?”

Dang brought down the sword with all his might and it connected with Caden’s shoulder, generating a shockwave. Dang roared as he pressed down on the sword.

If I could just drive it through Caden’s body, I’d win.

Wisps of black energy poured out from the point of contact and exploded, Caden’s attempt at a last-minute defense. He roared too as he forced his power out, repelling the sword that had already made a deep gash in his skin.

The sword’s golden light flickered and Dang reacted accordingly, abandoning his original plan, and delivering a kick to Caden’s stomach, sending him flying. The sword dissipated and the energy gathered around his fists, forming golden boxing gloves.

Caden hit the ground, the wound on his shoulder closing up. His black power flared from his fists too before consolidating and forming his own black gloving gloves.

In an instant, Dang crossed the distance between them, giving Caden no time to react. He threw a punch at Caden’s face and it connected with a boom. Next, he went low, landing one square in Caden’s chest.

Blood escaped from Caden’s lips as he tried to block Dang’s attacks but failed. Dang was simply too quick for him. He managed to put his arms up to block his face from another hit but Dang’s thinking was quicker.

He aimed a punch for the gut and Caden moved to block again but at the last second shifted his weight till he was slightly leaning, then changed the trajectory of the punch to Caden’s side, pouring all his strength into it. Caden grunted and tried to retaliate with a punch of his own but Dang was too fast for him.

Dang weaved and sent a hook into the side of Caden’s face that he’d left exposed. Caden tried to jump back and give himself more time to react, but Dang was there again; a wolf that smelled blood.

I have to finish this!, he thought to himself.

The anger that he’d felt earlier came back and he pulled his fist back, ablaze with a golden light.

Use everything! Every single drop of energy!

He forced all the energy into the gloves and proceeded to rain down a furry of blows, each targeted, each with as much power as he could muster.

Caden’s reaction slowed as he was being overwhelmed; his blocks arriving half a second too late. All of Dang’s punches connected and he felt more and more helpless in the face of Dang’s powers. They were a direct opposite

In the middle of his onslaught, Dang saw his golden power flicker again; a sign that he was nearing the limit of the power. He sent one more punch into Caden’s face, breaking his nose and drawing blood, before spinning and sending the heel of his foot into the side of his face.

Then he put his hands together.

“You’re done.”

The power from both hands combined, forming one huge ball of golden energy. This was the finishing move, so there was no need to hold any power back. So he forced every ounce of the borrowed power and concentrated it in his hands.

“Finishing move…GOLDEN FLASH BOMB!”

Then he thrust the ball into Caden.

His ears popped as the attack created a small vacuum at the point of contact, slowing time down for a moment before…POP!

A brilliant flash of golden light enveloped the cave as pushed forward with the attack, forcing out all the strength he could muster. He roared under the strain of it, silently praying that this would be enough. It had to be.

There was nothing left after this.

Caden was blasted backward and into the ground but the force was too much so tunneled out again and flew straight into the wall with an explosion of debris and dust.

Caden was down.

Dang won.

He scoffed, “Not bad for a comeback win.”