CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

HOLD TIGHT, DANG!

Dang stood, guard raised as Grimm and Caden positioned themselves on either side of him. He looked between them, trying to decide which of them would be the easier target, opting to go after them first. Grimm heaved, steam puffing out of its nostrils as it exhaled. Its armor remained cracked where Dang had broken it, but apparently, that hadn't been enough to kill it. Caden on the other hand, had barely a scratch on him. His face was bruised from where Dang had hit him earlier but aside from that he was spotless. Not to mention his problematic power.

Black, he called it. A vacuum that absorbs everything, including qualia…

Grimm it is, no question.

Dang turned and sprinted towards Grimm and away from Caden, each step boosting his speed. If he could only finish the job from earlier, and completely break the armor, maybe he could put Grimm completely out of commission.

Grimm saw his advance and roared, breaking into a charge of his own. The two charged at each other, with intent to duke it out, but Caden intervened.

“Don't forget about me.” He appeared suddenly in Dang’s path and punched, too fast for him to react. Dang caught the punch with his face and got sent flying through the air.

He twisted, landed on his feet, and retrained his focus on Caden. Maybe he's the more pressing matter right now. Grimm begged to differ, slamming its body into Dang from the side.

Dang skidded back, his metal skin taking the brunt of the attack. He took a deep breath.

Caden shot at Dang, matching his speed with Grimm's. They went after Dang together, giving him no time to react to any one of them.

As Dang was about to attack Grimm, Caden would interfere, delivering an attack of his own and forcing Dang into a defensive stance. And then Dang would turn his attack on Caden, at which point Grimm would interfere.

This was how they went for a few minutes, Caden and Grimm laying a beating on Dang, and he was forced to take it all and do nothing.

The consecutive hits from Caden's black were starting to accumulate and the accompanying pain was becoming unbearable. His entire skin went numb every time he came into contact with Caden. His vision unfocused and refocused, a sign that his body was doing all it could to keep him upright. It just couldn't match the damage from Black.

Caden himself had noticed that his power was doing damage and had taken it upon himself to unleash as many hits as he could at every opportunity he had.

“COME ON DANG!” Caden screamed, “FIGHT BACK!”

Dang obeyed, sending a fist his way, but Caden dodged backwards.

“Not this time.” Dang muttered, as he pushed himself forward, employing the speed that he'd used to defeat Kai. Time slowed down and he maneuvered his way behind Caden, fist raised and ready to do damage.

He unleashed the punch with all his might, aiming for the spot between Caden's neck and the base of his skull. A quick blow there would knock anyone out, or at least paralyze them. That way he could focus on taking Grimm out once and for all.

His eyes widened when his fist connected with nothing but air.

“Be serious, did you think that would work on me?” Caden said, from behind him.

Dang turned just in time to block a punch to the face.

Grimm roared and a wave escaped him, and Dang got hit with it for the second time tonight. A familiar feeling washed over him, draining him of strength and replacing it with pain. His hand went to his side as the metal on his skin faded away, leaving him defenseless.

“Honestly, I had fun.” Caden said, advancing on Dang with a fist engulfed in his black energy. “But I guess good things have to come to an end sooner or later.”

Dang eyed the black energy on Caden's fist, wondering how he was able to keep his power when his power was affected by a paralyzing scream.

“Hm?” Caden followed his gaze, “Oh this? You're wondering how I'm able to keep the qualia in my veins even after being in range of Grimm's paralyzing scream?” He smirked, “Where do you think his power comes from?”

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Grimm appeared then, landing behind Caden and kneeling.

“I created him, using my Black's ability to absorb qualia as a base in his DNA.” Caden, with his free hand, rubbed the top of Grimm's head, “it didn't quite turn out as I wanted, but I'm not mad at all. You wouldn't believe how many worlds he's played a major role in conquering.”

He fingered the cracks in Grimm's armor. “You're the first person to do this to him actually. But no worries, it'll heal in time.”

“I don't know about that,” Dang smirked back, “the marks I leave tend to stay.”

“It's good that you can still have a sense of humor at the end. Countless of lives that I've taken spent their last moments begging, or crying. A lot of times, both.”

“If you want me to beg or cry you're going to have to ask nicely.”

“Cute, but I think I'll stick to beating it out of you.”

Caden lunged forward, planting a fist in Dang's stomach, and he doubled over, coughing and gasping. Caden brought his knee up, slamming it into Dang's face, forcing him back up. He then delivered a flurry of blows, alternating between Dang's face, chest and gut. Each punch connected, with Dang being too tired and slow to react. Pain seared through him, obscuring his thoughts and crippling him.

Dang had his back against the wall, but he wasn't giving up. Not yet.

He had one last trick up his sleeve.

Caden formed a fist and engulfed it in black, aiming to finish Dang off once and for all, but Dang wanted this to happen. He saw the punch come, and he grabbed it.

“RESONATE.”

There was a light, and Dang felt the power rush into him, just like it had on so many occasions. With this, he could turn the fight around. He could beat Caden.

But just as it started, it stopped.

Dang’s confusion was spread over his face, prompting him to explain, but not before he laughed. “You're confused on why your power didn't work?”

Dang let go of his hand and jumped back.

“Black is the name of my power, but it's not my power. My power is different. My power is nothing.”

When Dang's confusion didn't clear away, he continued, “In space, between the planets and the stars, would you say there's ‘black’ there? You'd say there's ‘nothing’ there. Not the same thing. Not at all. That's why your power can't work on me. You can't resonate with nothing.”

Caden dashed and maneuvered behind him, grabbing him and tossing him up.

“Good night, Dang.” He outstretched his arms, summoning his power, “BLACK NIGHT STREAM!”

Black energy shot out from his hands, heading for Dang. Dang watched helplessly as the stream of black pierced the air and made its way towards him.

From above, a stream of bright orange flames emerged, colliding with Caden's attack, exploding on contact.

Dang felt hands grab him out of the air and land, dropping him on his feet. He turned to find out who it was and was met with himself. Two himselves.

“Dante…Daedalus…” he managed to say through the pain.

Dante grabbed his shoulders and smiled, “Dude, you look like crap. We leave for, what? Two seconds? And look at the state of you.”

He laughed, filling the air with a warmth that Dang didn't know had been missing.

Daedalus joined in, “Yeah, since when did you struggle against monsters. You're bleeding all over the place.”

Dang laughed too, and his sides hurt but he still laughed. “Oh man am I glad you guys are here. I've literally just had to fight hundreds of murderbots, a weird force field guy and dumb and dumber over there.”

He pointed at Caden and Grimm. Grimm growled in response, while Caden just smiled.

Dang turned back to the doppelgangers, “Wait, what about your home worlds? The portals? What happened, did they not show?”

“Oh, they did.” Dante answered, “I could see my world on the other side, still intact. Well, as intact as I left it.”

“But you didn't go?”

“Nope. Right before I stepped through the portal, Dante stopped me. Convinced me to hear him out.” Daedalus added.

“If I had gone home, I probably wouldn't have been able to rest easy knowing you were getting your ass kicked by kids with weird tastes in fashion.” He glanced over at Caden. “Although, I guess that would be considered normal in this dimension.”

“He's right. Well, I don't know about fashion, but he's right about everything else. Bellum already ravaged my dimension, and his too, how could I live the rest of my life knowing let it happen again.”

“Guys…” Dang trailed off. He stumbled forward, his knees momentarily giving out. Dante caught him.

“Woah, buddy.”

“Sorry sorry,” he waved them back, “it's just getting harder and harder to do anything without unimaginable pain shooting through me.

“Hey, I gotchu.” Dante raised a flaming hand and placed it on Dang's shoulder.

At once, he felt the energy coursing through his veins and momentum returning to his body. His wounds and bruises started to heal, responding to the boost that Dante was giving.

Grimm took a step towards them, attempting to disrupt the healing but Caden put a hand out to stop him. “Let them.”

Dang drew a deep breath, and this time, it didn't hurt at all. “I think you fixed my ribs. I didn't even know they were broken.”

Daedalus spoke up, “So what's the deal here, and why are there so many murderbots? Are they waiting for something?”

“So basically,” Dang started, “the murderbots listen to that guy, Caden,” he pointed at Caden, who waved, “he's also the one that threw Anna through a wall so, he's all mine. The monster is Grimm. Don't be rude, say hi.”

Dante and Daedalus waved at the monster and it growled back.

“Don't mind him, he's still sore from when I broke the armor on his chest, and lastly, our company; the murderbots. Annoying as hell.”

“I choose the murderbots!” Dante shouted.

“Then I guess I'll handle Grimm.” Daedalus sighed, “I always get the big scary monsters.”

The three of them stood then, and faced their opponents. Dang murmured a quick thanks to Dante and raised his fists. Fire exploded from them.

“Let's take care of these guys quickly,” Dang said, “I'm starving.”

“I did tell you to eat before we left base but you were being all broody and mysterious.” Daedalus responded.

“Last one to beat their bad guy is a rotten egg!” Dante shouted, and the three dashed off in different directions.