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"Of course not. Excused or not, it's still a failure." Arne continued, clenching their fist. "Much like the failure we each faced when you all killed the humans we were asked to protect."

Trevor leveled his gaze back with Arne's, but Arne waved off the animosity that had swelled within.

"Anyhow, of course, when I arrived here, I still took you as a worthless coward. Unsurprisingly, you immediately searched for a way out the moment you sensed I'd gotten stronger. Despite me having not even transformed. Honestly, it made me sick."

Arne spotted Trevor clenching his fists tightly in bottled resentment. Tiny sparks could be seen popping off him.

Almost there, but blind rage isn't what I seek.

Arne held up a hand as a gesture.

"Calm yourself. That was before I looked into your eyes a moment ago. When I did so, I saw that you're not as shallow as you seem. You carry a guilt behind those shades. Is that where your drive to prove yourself stems from? Does it have something to do with your cowardice? If so, why haven't you managed to break past it yet? Tell me, and I'll help you."

Trevor's body relaxed slightly as he responded, "That's none of your business."

So there is something there...but he won't share that with me. I doubt he's even shared it with the others.

"... you're right," Arne shrugged. "Honestly, I just want a good fight, but I'm stuck babysitting you while the other members of your clan undoubtedly will put up a better challenge to the others. I suspect they'll want to end their fight as quickly as possible before things get out of hand, but not me. I want to face someone who can push me to my limits..."

Arne sighed, resting their head on a propped fist.

"But that's not what was delivered to me....Running from Michael, thrown aside by Za'Fia, nearly killed by Michael again, then nearly killed by Tymon, and now you refuse to face whatever trauma is the cause of your pathetic attributes....don't you think the others view you as a burden too? Do you believe Avarice is proud of your repeated blunders? Would you be?"

Two dull orange lights glowed from behind Trevor's shades as his energy steadily rose.

"Didn't take you for a meddler, but I'll prove myself by killing you," he spoke with conviction.

Arne grinned.

"Then do it. Kill me and prove us all wrong," Arne opened their arms, welcoming him to attack.

Without wasting a second, Trevor extended both arms and fired a rapid succession of explosive, baseball-sized orbs at Arne. Several shockwaves caused the ground to shake as he continued firing until he eventually stopped.

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"With no time to react, I bet that burned you even worse than last time," Trevor exclaimed over the rushing wind.

"Did it?" Arne called out from within the cloud of dust. Arne revealed they were still sitting on the stone throne by releasing some power. However, the throne crumbled as Arne stood. Their skin slowly changed from a silvery metal appearance and returned to its normal tan as Hardshatter was deactivated.

"You'll have to do better than that if you want to break through my skin."

Arne looked at him curiously.

"I'm not even transformed yet; I know this can't be the extent of your power. If you can't bypass my Hardshatter as I am now, this battle is already over."

"Fine, you want more power..." Trevor heaved in annoyance. He began to amp up his energy even further, flinging desert rocks into the air before they suddenly combusted.

Arne shook their head as they casually observed his surge in power.

"Blindly increasing your power isn't going to help you either!" Arne called out over the wind. "You need to focus more of it into your blasts instead! They'll be much more effective!"

Trevor stopped raising his power and looked at Arne incredulously.

"You're seriously helping me? Why would you give advice to your enemy?"

"Have you not been listening? I want to fight to my fullest. If that means helping you use your powers more efficiently, then so be it. Now, stop staring at me and apply what I've already told you. I won't dodge until you manage to hurt me."

"Oh, uh, okay, so it's like this, right?" Trevor held his hands out before him. He slowly charged a mass of power between them. When he fired it at Arne, who didn't bother moving, the result was the same as last time.

"It's not enough," Arne coached. "Try again."

Arne stood still, Hardshatter activated, as Trevor charged another attack. When it hit, Arne could feel the impact this time. It packed enough force to push Arne back several feet, leaving dragged marks in the dried desert ground, but it didn't damage Arne's metal skin.

"Hmm...almost, but it's not quite potent enough."

Arne observed patiently as Trevor attempted a third time. He generated an enormous amount of power between his hands. It grew in size the more power he pumped into it until it was large enough to dwarf them both.

Judging from what Arne sensed, that thing held enough power to blow up at least half a city. It was more energy than they'd felt when he self-destructed. Arne felt a prickling sensation spread through their entire body as the hairs on their arm tingled in anticipation.

Then Arne noticed it shrinking. They were confused for a second before realizing that the element retained its power despite shrinking. Perhaps he found it easier to control smaller blasts.

"There. This should do it," he said, tossing it up and catching it. "Compacting that much power together is bound to release an explosion even you won't come out unscathed."

"I have to agree," Arne took a defensive stance.

"Hope you don't plan to renege on your promise now," Trevor said, readying the blast.

"Of course not. I honor my w—" Arne reflexively raised their arms to block their vital organs as Trevor abruptly released the blast. There was a massive explosion the size of a mini-nuke that followed.

Smoke filled the area until Trevor waved it away. The desert landscape had been reshaped; some of the sand that was present was steaming as it reflected the moonlight. The heat had been so intense the sand was melded into glass. Next to Trevor, the plane was also intact still.

Arne looked down at their arms. They, too, were steaming from the heat, but that wasn't all. Their Hardshatter had been severely cracked as well. Arne observed several chips and missing patches in multiple places across their body and smiled maniacally as blood trickled from somewhere on their head.

"Gotta tone down the size a bit. Can't risk the plane being destroyed, plus it's gonna make fighting difficult if the blast is gonna be that big," Arne heard Trevor mutter to himself. "I think I can keep the power but decrease the explosion size..."

"That's the spirit," Arne proclaimed in jubilation as they force-mended Hardshatter until it entirely covered their body again. Arne took a more offensive stance. "Now, then..."