Jorge was among the few that stayed and watched the battle between Tayang and Suruj. The other gangs scattered into the city, disappearing before anyone could see Suruj’s fight. The sweat lathered his face, and it wouldn’t go away no matter how many times he wiped it off. At this point, Jorge didn’t know what to do. If he jumped in to the fight between Suruj and Tayang, then he was sure would only get in the way. They were on completely different levels of skill compared to Jorge, and even Suruj struggled against Hojun’s brother. Tayang didn’t seem to have an ounce of rationality left in him, only coming to slaughter those that came out to this fated street.

The road filled to the brim with concrete rubble and metal. Shattered windows sprinkled the debris in a shiny spice, just like the metal rebar sticking out like toppings. In the main soup of rubble, Kapulisan sirens bellowed in the distance. Did they finally realize the situation, Jorge thought.

It was that moment when Suruj fell to the floor, spasming on the ground. Jorge moved his feet, only for Tvuj to rescue Suruj from Tayang’s clutches. Time was running out. Hojun needed to do something, but she stood restlessly in shock. As Tvuj got up and stood behind Suruj, Jorge crept his way towards him.

“Suruj!...” He brought Suruj’s body up and guided him behind a destroyed buggy. “Are you okay?...”

Suruj winced and had a coughing spell. “I’ve been hit with his stupid blue bullets… I won’t be able to fight for a while.”

“Then what should we do?...”

Suruj went silent and stared up at the gloomy sky. Jorge, unable to differentiate between clouds and smoke, let out a nervous sigh that stole the power in his legs. He fell to the floor, leaning his back against the buggy’s door.

If Jorge didn’t do something, they were going to be killed. Right this second, Tvuj was only stalling for time. If Tayang were to pull off that large beam that Hojun barely deflected in the beginning, they would be vaporized in an instant.

“What should I do?... What should I do?...”

While those thoughts attacked his mind, they immediately scattered at the sound of a meow. Jorge’s eyes darted around, searching for his familiar feline friend. Coming from the midst of a collapsed building, he spotted Borja skipping towards him in graceful hops.

“Borja…” Even with this reality, Jorge kept Borja close, letting his whiskers scratch gently against his hand.

Jorge peeked from behind the broken buggy. Tayang, who’d been so cocky up to this point, breathed ever so heavily. Suruj had ripped his arm off, and damages done with sahar couldn’t be healed with a spell. So at the very least, Jorge knew that Tayang had been largely injured.

“Jorge, can you still use sahar?” Suruj crawled towards him with a face of grimace.

He shook his head. “I’m sorry, I can’t use sahar at all…”

“Putik!...”

Jorge looked down. He knew that he was useless since he couldn’t use sahar.

“Oh crap, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to curse at you.” Suruj quickly read Jorge’s face. ”It’s this situation that’s putik. We can’t get close to Tayang.”

‘No, no, it’s fine. If I could use sahar then perhaps I could’ve been more useful, but since I’m a Bangkaño…” Jorge made an excuse for himself, soon realizing he’d broken the one thing Hojun told him to stop doing in the beginning. Berating himself. While contemplating his thoughts, Suruj grabbed onto Borja.

“What’re you doi-” Before Jorge could finish, Suruj quickly shushed him. Borja squirmed violently, hissing and clawing at Suruj’s arms. Particles around them illuminated as they floated towards the cat.

“Since animals can absorb saharic particles…” Suruj reasoned, “Then that means your cat can too. Maybe if he conjures a spell-”

“Are you crazy?” Jorge whispered loudly, minding his own volume. “Animals can’t chant, let alone speak.”

“If your cat, Borja understands you, then he will most likely understand what you want to conjure.”

Jorge’s sweat ran down his face and into his mouth. “How do you know that?”

“... I don’t know.”

“Then why are you suggesting this?”

“Because we have no choice but to.” Suruj continued holding Borja in place, letting particles transfer from him to the feline. “Tvuj is running out of particles, Hojun won’t act against her brother, and I can’t even feel my legs, but you can still go.”

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“So you want me to sacrifice Borja? I’ll never let you hurt him!” Jorge attempted to pry Suruj from Borja, but the saharic particles repelled him.

“Please Jorge… If we don’t do it, the people you know here will be killed…” Suruj’s voice quivered into a wail. The look in his eyes, Jorge could see the grief that Suruj experienced. Holding back his own tears, he gazed at Borja, who layed confused in the midst.

Jorge softly touched Borja, and began to caress him. “It’s gonna be alright, Borja…”

Suruj got the message, and nervously whispered, “When I’m done giving him the particles, I want you to chant ‘Daigdig’ using a spell modification.”

“Spell modification? I can’t do that… Let alone a spell?”

“Just think of one!...” Suruj answered him quietly, as Tvuj and Hojun’s voice overshadowered their conversation.

Jorge and Suruj held Borja as he tried to wriggle out of their grip. More and more particles flowed towards them, as they entered Borja’s body. Jorge’s fingers trembled. He couldn’t stop thinking about what would happen to Borja. He’d known Borja longer than anyone else here, other than Alejandro.

Borja was with him from the beginning when Alejandro saved him on that day, when Jorge was down in the dumps. When Jorge was paralyzed and didn’t move a cun, unable to process what happened to his parents.

By seeing that same cat be there to comfort him, helped him gain the courage to join the Kamaong Batikan. To be with Alejandro and José. And now… his life led to meet Hojun.

“I want to see Hojun smile, and you wan’t that too, right Borja?” He attempted to calm himself down, while petting his first friend ever so calmly. “I want her to smile in a situation where she can just be herself, without dealing with something like this. Where she can be treated right. We must defeat Tayang.”

“Jorge, it’s done. The spell, now!” Suruj urged him, letting go of Borja. He winced in pain as his arms dropped to the ground.

The Bangkaño still hesitated. He still held that fear of letting go, that fear of uncertainty that grounded him in place. He could hear Hojun and Tayang yelling over each other. Could he do it? What would happen to Borja after? Would the spell even work? Jorge repeated those questions over and over in his mind.

“Do it!”

“...”

“Anong hinihintay mo?! The spell!”

“...”

“Do it! Ilang beses ipapaliwanag sa’yo!”

“...”

“Jorge!... Go!” Even Tvuj called out for his moment.

Adrenaline ran through Jorge’s veins. He tightened his arms as he lifted up Borja, shining bright like a star. He felt the density of the particles all clustered around the two of them. Borja stood on his arm, as he chanted a sahar spell for the first time in his life.

Jorge screamed at the top of his lungs. “Alam Daigdig… Borja!”

Borja leapt off Jorge’s arm. The particles around them activated. His friend glowed a bright luminosity. At first, there was silence. Jorge glared at Tayang head on, all of his frustration converging into a spell.

Then, a great bellow erupted from below. Bursts of fissures parted the street and violently shook the entire block. More buildings collapsed into dust. Jorge barely kept his balance while reeling in shock of what they’d done. Energy fractured directly under Tayang in a circle.

“You Bangkaño!” Tayang pointed at him, before wincing under the pain of his severed arm.

A beam expelled from underneath. Tayang shrieked as the ground cracked. A successful hit. Everything crumbled, sending the street into a cloud of smog.

Silence flooded as everyone drowned in astonishment.

Time seemed to freeze. Jorge couldn’t see far. He couldn’t find Borja, nor anyone else among the dusty fog. Glass stabbed into his hands on the floor, feeling his way through the darkness. He gasped for air, choking on the harsh dust. Jorge’s nose bled to the unhealthy amount of soot in the area.

“Shibal… On second thought, how about I kill you instead to send a message to father.”

Jorge forced his eyes open, and used his ears. He saw the silhouette of someone pointing a gun at another person on the ground.

Jorge knew at that moment that the plan failed. He dashed into the fog and ignored whatever jabbed at him. He didn’t know where Borja was. He didn’t know where Suruj, or Tvuj was. Right now, he needed to protect the one that protected him.

The whole story of his life he’d been protected, shielded by others. The fact that he couldn’t do a single thing for them; Alejandro, Suruj, Tvuj, Mister Gyeong… It made him infuriated with a flaming insecurity.

Everytime someone was nice to him, he just wanted to cry.

“I won’t let anyone important to me… die anymore!”

Jorge shoved Tayang with all his might. They fell to the ground, as Jorge went for his pistol. With one hand he emptied the gun’s clip, while simultaneously slugging him in the face with his gauntlets. Tayang smacked him with the butt of the pistol and stood up. Jorge slapped the pistol out of the man’s hand and sent it flying. He spotted another rifle appearing into Tayang’s hand. His Guizu Arcana. Jorge latched onto Tayang’s wrist and struggled for the weapon. It was too late. Tayang brought it to the floor and cocked it with his foot. Jorge needed to destroy it. He focused all of his attention, his might, his strength into grabbing the gun.

Jorge caught it mid-aim, only to realize that it was aiming at him.

“Hojun… I managed to protect you…” Jorge panted heavily, realizing the mistake he’d made. “Just like you did when I first met you…”

A torrent of bullets entered his body like a thousand javelins. Jorge felt the lead projectiles rip through his skin, tearing into his lungs. Gargling his own blood, Jorge reached out for him one last time.

He dropped to the ground, while Tayang replaced his magazine. Jorge did it. He saved her. So that one day, Hojun would smile. That smile he wanted to see.