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darks-ink · 5 years ago

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Absurdism Chapter 5

This chapter was absolutely cursed and I am glad to finally post it and never have to worry about it ever again. I have maybe an hour of sleep in me and I’m full of very exhausted hate.

Rating: Teen/K+ (a lil swearing, because teenagers, man) Warnings: - Genre: Family, Hurt/Comfort Additional Tags: Sibling Bonding, Family Bonding, Alternate Universe - Halfa Jazz AU, Jazz makes friends

[AO3] [FFN] [more Absurdism on Tumblr] First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

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Chapter 5: Bitter Reunions

“So, kids…”

Jazz looked up from the dinner she was definitely not shoveling into her mouth—she might be starving but she wasn’t an animal—and up at her mom. Beside her, Danny hummed an acknowledgment.

“This weekend an old friend of ours is hosting a college reunion,” Maddie continued, having successfully grabbed the attention. “It’s all the way in Wisconsin, so we’ll be on the road for a few days.”

“Okay, and?” Danny asked, raising a questioning eyebrow. “We’re old enough to take care of ourselves for a few days.”

Maddie frowned. Disappointed? Oh, of course. She was hoping to bring them along, make it a family thing.

“Sounds interesting,” Jazz said. “We wouldn’t miss any school if we come with, right?”

Danny shot her an offended look but, well. She’d tried to do more stuff together, just recently, and he’d left her alone at the Swap Meet. By now, she was spending more time with Danny from a different universe than her own brother, and honestly? That couldn’t continue.

“No, it’s a long weekend. We will have to spend one night in the GAV— the RV, Vlad gave us permission to arrive early, so we can sleep the other two nights there.”

“And we’ll drive home in one go!” her dad cheerily added, a bright grin on his face. “Ah, I can’t wait to see Vladdie again!”

“Well, I would love spend more time together as a family! And meeting your college buddies sounds like fun, too! Right, Danny?” She turned around, offering him her biggest, teariest eyes. Just because she was usually above begging didn’t mean she didn’t know how to do it. So sue her for pulling out the big guns, this was important!

Her brother grumbled and huffed a little longer, trying to dodge her eyes, but finally caved. “Yeah, sure. Sounds… great. Can’t wait.”

Their parents didn’t hear the reluctant tone—or completely ignored it—because both shot them grateful smiles.

Now she just had to talk to Phantom to make sure he would keep an eye on Amity for her.

---

Danny stretched out, lazily, staring up at the emerging night sky. He appreciated Jazz’ help, letting him sleep in her room while she was away, but as a result he’d become practically nocturnal. Not that he was that far off, back home, but still…

At least he got to enjoy the night sky while waiting for night to pass. And there were plenty of ghosts out at night—something he already knew from experience.

A light flashed, and Danny wrenched his head towards it, surprised. His core thrummed, picking up on an increase in ectoplasm. Had Jazz shifted to her ghost form? Why?

She became visible next to him on the roof, and Danny pushed himself up into a sitting position.

“What’s up, Jazz?” Surely nothing could be wrong? He didn’t think there were any major ghosts happening right now, but, well. It wasn’t like he’d kept a close record of when he’d fought which ghost.

“Nothing much,” she assured him, shooting him a soothing smile. Clearly she’d already caught onto his instant protective paranoia. “But Mom and Dad are planning on taking us on a road trip this weekend, and…”

“And you didn’t want to assume I could keep an eye on the city? Sure, Jazz, I can handle it for you.” He shrugged easily, grinning at her. “I handled it for two years back home, I can handle it for a weekend here. What’re you guys gonna do?”

“Some college reunion,” she said, and, oh. Was that now? Good lord, and he hadn’t even done any research on Vlad. How could he have screwed that up?

Jazz narrowed her eyes at him, the gold flaring brighter. “What’s wrong with that? Is something going to happen?”

“I… don’t know,” he admitted, slowly. “Who’s hosting it? Vlad Masters?”

She nodded. “I believe so. Why?”

He considered his options. He didn’t want her involved with Vlad, with his mess, but… well, he couldn’t protect her forever. Even if he wasn’t sure if it was Vlad in this universe, better safe than sorry, right?

“He’s… In my universe, Vlad Masters is also a half-ghost.”

Jazz stilled, eyes big and surprised. “What?” she managed, after a long silence. “How— What?”

Danny laughed, a little, humorlessly. “Yeah, I know. He was part of the ghost hunting club in college, together with our parents. When they built the Proto Portal, it blew up in his face. Gave him terrible ecto-acne, and later, made him half-ghost.”

He shook his head. “But I don’t know if that’s true for this universe as well. I know there’s another half-ghost around, equivalent to him. I’ve run into a few ghosts they hired, but none of them told me if they were hired by Plasmius or not.”

“Plasmius?” Jazz repeated, cautiously. “Let me guess, that’s his ghost name? What does that even reference, plasma?”

“Don’t know, don’t care.” He flapped a hand. “If Vlad is half-ghost in this universe, he’s bad news, Jazz. He’s obsessed. In my universe, he’s in love with Mom—has been since college. And he blames Dad for stealing her away, and for the accident. After he discovered I was a half-ghost, during the reunion… Well, let’s just say it wasn’t any good.”

“I… see.” Jazz seemed to contemplate all this new information for a moment, then straightened her shoulders. “Well, I’ll just be ready, then. Tell me everything you remember.”

“Are you sure?” He frowned, meeting her eyes. “Things might be different in this universe.”

“That’s fine.” She stared back, determination clear in her eyes. “I’ll keep my family safe.”

---

Jazz woke up in the middle of the night, cold pouring from her core and misting from her mouth. She groaned, but somewhere, she’d already expected it. Danny—Phantom—had told her that it had happened during his first night in Vlad’s mansion. And even if he had doubted that things would play out the same between their worlds, she had expected it.

But that also meant that Vlad Plasmius, half-ghost, had sent vicious vulture ghosts after her dad, and that really couldn’t be borne.

She let her core take over, energy pouring over her body as she shifted to her ghost form. The room around her came into sharp and clear relief—she could see in the dark as Specter. Turning herself invisible, she flew through the door, easily spotting her dad lumbering through the halls.

The vulture ghosts, hovering around him, were even more noticeable. Their glows weren’t particularly bright, but in the dark they were plenty clear.

Channeling energy into her fist, she shot off a blast of golden energy at the first. There was no point in capturing them, she just needed to scare them off.

The other two took offense, but instead of waiting for them to attack, she dove through the floor. She needed to take this fight away from her dad, especially if Plasmius was going to show up.

One of the vultures dove after her, talons reaching out towards her. She dodged it, barely, then sent a blast after it for good measure. The other came up from her side, likely hoping to catch her off-guard. Instead it caught an ecto-blast as well.

The three vultures regrouped in front of her, blocking the hallway in its entirety. They loomed over her. Then, suddenly, they glanced past her and darted away.

“Oh boy,” she whispered, turning to look behind her as well. Must be Plasmius, if the vultures fled.

In the hallways hovered another ghost, humanoid with blue skin. His eyes were blank and deep red, his black hair swept up into two—somewhat ridiculous—points. His outfit was a mix of white and crimson red, bar his black gloves and shoes. His cape flapped, stirred by a non-existent wind.

His glow was bright enough to light the direct area around him.

Phantom really hadn’t downplayed how strong Vlad Plasmius was.

The half-ghost cocked his head at her, narrowing his eyes. Then he grinned at her, revealing vampire-like fangs. “My vultures were supposed to bring the big idiot to me, but you’ll do! A little intruder, aren’t you?”

Cold crept down her spine. “I don’t want to fight.”

“No,” he said simply, still grinning. “No, you don’t.”

Magenta ectoplasm burst into existence around his hands. He fired a blast at Jazz, too quickly for her to dodge.

She slammed against the wall, grunting. “I’m serious! I don’t want to fight!”

“Should’ve thought of that before you broke in, hmm?” The grin had disappeared from Vlad’s face, but the ectoplasm hadn’t gone. He fired another blast, quickly followed by a third.

Jazz swore, dodging the first but getting hit by the latter. She rolled over the floor, hitting the wall harder than she’d hoped.

Vlad was coming closer again, the charged ecto-blasts casting sharp lights on his face. “I’m not big on trespassing little ghosts, you see,” he said, the threat clear in his voice.

“Yeah, well—” She pushed herself up onto her feet again, meeting his eyes. “I’m not just any ghost!”

And, against all common sense, she loosened her grip on her ghost core. Bright lights swam through the hallways, leaving her standing there in her pajamas. Human once more.

The other half-ghost halted in his steps, clearly startled. He opened his mouth, closed it again, then shook his head.

Without saying another word, Vlad suddenly dissolved into pink smoke.

“Oh,” she said, simply. Poked her ghost core a little, but she wasn’t picking up on any traces of ghosts anymore. He must’ve left.

She shifted back into her ghost form, coasting back to her bed. Somehow, she’d made it through the confrontation with Vlad without getting the stuffing beat out of her.

Tomorrow, she would have to confront him anyway, she knew. If she didn’t, he would come to her. Maybe she could talk to him, show him the right way?

---

“Vlad,” she said when she saw Vlad, the next day.

“Jasmine,” he greeted back, inclining his head slightly. That seemed to be the end of it, however. No attempt to reference last night, even though no one else was around.

Instead of pushing him, however, she took a bite of her food. Vlad acted uninterested, but she caught him glancing over at her, repeatedly. What, did he not realize she knew who he was? Was he trying to find the best way to approach this?

“What are you looking at?” she asked, finally, tone carefully polite. “Do I have something on my face?”

Vlad looked startled—at being addressed?—but his expression smoothed over quickly. “No, my dear, there’s nothing.”

She hummed, a note of disbelief clearly audible. Took another bite. Would he comment on his own, or was she going to have to take lead here?

Apparently so, because Vlad remained silent. Man, were all adults this dysfunctional or something?

“Would you mind not staring, then?” She took another bite, chewing quickly. “I’m not stupid, you know?”

“Ah…” He shifted, clearly uncertain but trying to cover it up and appear suave. She hadn’t been able to see how the Vlad Masters might’ve spent time with her parents, in college, but she was starting to see it now. They shared that same disastrous way of dealing with people. And an interest in ghosts, apparently. “It is nothing, Jasmine.”

“Stop calling me that,” she scoffed, turning to him instead of her food. “My name is Jazz, or Specter. And your name is Plasmius, isn’t it?”

He stiffened, clearly caught off-guard. “Excuse me?” he tried, feebly. It wasn’t very convincing.

“Oh, come on.” She shook her head, abandoning her meal. “We ran into each other last night. I shifted back to human form, you left, and now you’re pretending you weren’t that half-ghost I ran into. But I’m not an idiot, Vlad.”

Vlad grumbled, his eyes flashing red for just a brief moment, before he composed himself. Straightened his clothes, put on a whole show and everything. “Yes, clearly I underestimated your intelligence. I apologize, my dear girl. But, as you’ve likely discovered already, our kind are rare beyond words.”

Well, that much was true, at least. The only one she knew besides the two of them came from a different universe altogether.

“Yeah, I’ve noticed,” she allowed, mellowing herself out a little. He was aggravating, yes, but if she could get him to not be a huge ghostly villain…

He was looking at her, eyes narrowed. Like he was thinking about something, or eyeing her up. Or both, who knew?

“You are young still, Jasmine,” he finally said, and darnit. Again with the ‘Jasmine’ thing? Couldn’t he just use her name like everyone else? “Just fourteen, aren’t you? Too young to drive, and not even in college yet?”

And there were the alarm bells! Hello, what did it matter?

“So?” she bit back, not as venomously as she wanted to. “So what if I’m just fourteen?”

Vlad clicked his tongue, giving her a disappointed shake of his head. “What does it matter? You want me to let you run off all alone, stumbling through your adolescence, desperately trying to get control of your powers? Powers, by the way, that I’ve had for twenty years.”

He flashed his eyes red, meaningfully. Jazz didn’t budge. What was he trying to prove?

“I have experience, my child.” Vlad’s eyes faded back to their usual blue, and he folded his hands behind himself. Set himself back into that stoic posture he kept showing. Like he had to show off his big mature adult-ness to convince her. “I could train you, teach you everything I know. And all you’d have to do, is renounce your idiot father.”

The gaze he set upon her was expectant, heavy.

She snorted.

“Yeah, as if.” Jazz stood up from her seat, flashing her eyes at him. “I already have a teacher, and his price is far more reasonable than yours. Stay away from my family, Plasmius, and I’ll keep your secret.”

Apparently this had been the wrong thing to say, because he hissed, sharp and inhuman. His eyes went red, and this time, they didn’t fade easily.

Jazz could feel the increase of ectoplasm in her core before it became visible to her eyes. Energy sparked over Vlad’s skin, coalescing in crackling rings of energy. They managed, somehow, to simultaneously be pure black and lanced through with white lightning.

Plasmius had grabbed her before she could even seriously consider shifting as well, phasing her through several walls. She struggled in his grasp, but his black-gloved fingers were like vices. There was no getting out.

He dumped her on a hard metal floor. She took the moment of respite to investigate the area. Metal floors, walls, ceiling, tables… a lab? It made sense that Vlad had one, too, but still. Why would he take her here?

An odd sound, like metal scratching metal, drew her attention back to Vlad. She scolded herself inwardly for getting distracted so easily, looking at the other half-ghost.

“Why—” she started to say, and then the cube he’d slid over at her activated.

The metal expanded, suddenly, locking her in the now-hollow cube. Only her head remained free, and no wrenching seemed to loosen the plates again.

“You can wait here,” Vlad said, his voice flat and cold. “We’ll see how you feel about my proposal once your father is out of the way.”

Her eyes snapped back up to his face, and he looked… he looked deadly serious.

“You can’t!” she shouted at him, grasping for her core even when she knew it would be futile. “Vlad, you can’t! If you kill him— everyone will know! They’ll know, and they’ll never forgive you! Not me, not Danny, and definitely not my Mom!”

“Oh, what do you know,” he scoffed, grabbing the edge of his cape. He swept it over himself, his body dissolving into pink smoke in the same motion.

Gone. He’d left, just like that.

Now they were really in for it.

---

Energy poured from her core, down her arm, and into the palm of her hand. The ecto-blast that formed was bright, casting golden light over the steadily darkening clearing.

“I’m just— frustrated, you know?” she said as she fired the blast. The rock she was aiming for shattered on impact, debris scattering throughout the clearing.

“You did fine, Jazz.” Phantom floated up next to her, sending her a soft look. “Seriously, Vlad is a jerk. There’s nothing you can do about that, not really. I mean, I made a deal with the guy, and he didn’t bother to stick to that, either.”

She huffed out an annoyed breath. “I know… I’m just— Ugh.”

Phantom laughed, his glow flickering briefly. “Yeah, he has that effect on people.”

“I guess I just worry.” Jazz lowered her eyes, watching her boots scuff the ground. “I mean, I turned down his offer just like you did, but what if that still changes things? The reason for turning him down, and stuff?”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it.” Phantom nudged her, drawing her eyes back up to him. “We’ll handle whatever he does next, okay? Besides, the Dairy King freed you, and you fought Plasmius. Sounds like things played out pretty much the same as they did for me.”

Jazz hummed, watching Phantom’s hair drift in the wind. She’d known him for a few weeks already, yet his appearance remained unusual to her. But, then, her own ghost form was still odd to her, as well.

“Really, Jazz, don’t worry so much about it,” Phantom continued, landing on the ground next to her. “I had kind of expected it already. You can’t change every ghost’s mind, and Vlad is unusually stubborn. Besides…”

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, suddenly, drawing her in closer. For a moment she considered resisting, but then she melted against his side. He was a little cooler than her actual brother, but that was just the effect of his ghost form, she knew.

“It’s not your fault that Vlad became a bad guy, okay?” Phantom told her, quietly. “You’re just fourteen, Jazz, no matter how mature you are. You can’t be responsible for the whole world—no one can. Hell, no one should be, either. Don’t put that sort of burden on your shoulders, okay?”

“Okay,” she echoed. It felt like the vice around her chest—the vice she hadn’t even realized was there—had loosened a little. “Sorry.”

Phantom scoffed. “Don’t be sorry about having emotions, Jazz. Seriously, if you ever have trouble—ghost-related or not—come talk to me. I care about you, you know?”

She felt the corners of her mouth twitch up.

“I know.”

The moment was then promptly interrupted as blue mist wafted from both of their mouths.

“Oh, come on!” Phantom grumbled, ruffling her hair as he pulled away. “Really? Now, of all moments?”

“These ghosts have no manners,” she quipped back, grinning a little. “Should we go teach them some?”

“Yeah, let’s.” He pushed himself off of the ground, and she rushed to keep up.

#danny phantom #dp fanfic #phanfic #dp fanfiction #phanfiction #danny fenton #jazz fenton #jazz phantom #jazz phantom au #halfa jazz au #vlad masters #vlad plasmius #dark writes #absurdism #i wonder if posts with links still dont show up in the tags #that would be really unfortunate

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ohgoddard · 5 years ago

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Fist of Fire.11.Arc-1-end.

Cloaked bodies huddle in the dark, in the time before sunrise. In the middle of an empty parking lot in a part of the city that no one goes to in any regularity, the meeting was clandestine and secure. From a corner covered in shadows, a man wearing a three piece suit and a tophat emerges, brandishing a cane. He looks quite pleased with himself, overlooking the group.

“I assume,” the man spoke with smug satisfaction, “all is ready for the big event?”

“Yes, Lord Emesh.” A voice came from one of the taller cloaked people, a dry gravely tongue. One by one they all took off their hoods, revealing themselves. A teenaged boy with golden hair, three huge lizards, and a simple old man with spectacles. The old man spoke, in a southern drawl reminiscent of a slave owner, “Although we are very confused as to why you are not appearing in person. Is this not the perfect time to unveil yourself to the world, Lord Emesh?”

Emesh clicked his tongue and slowly tilted his head towards the old man, who quickly bowed his head. “ Phantom, now is in fact not the time for me to appear. My precious has not finished growing, and I fear that a premature opening would bring unwanted attention from abroad. I do not want both Omegaman and All-Might attacking me, do I? It's not a fight even I could win.”

The mention of Omegaman shuddered the three lizard people, and the old man now known as Phantom bowed his head deeper. “My deepest apologies, Lord.” Emesh gave a single hmph before turning to the boy with the golden hair. “Now, you are the lynchpin of this operation. The others will run interference along with the other nobodies I recruited to distract the other heroes. But you? You will carry out the job.”

The boy bowed his head. When he looked up, he wore a smile upon his face.

“I will not disappoint you, father.”

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Jade was not expecting the venue for his tournament to be as large as it was.

“WELLLLLCOME EVERYBODY TO THE SOUTH-EAST HERO CONFERENCE!” A voice roared from loudspeakers placed all around the largest stadium Jade has ever set foot in and thousands of voices screamed from packed seats. There were people wearing jerseys, people wearing hero merch, music blaring from speakers all over the place. Confetti was being shot into the air as three heroes flew at sonic speeds over the stadium, creating a huge boom. The crowd only got larger.

And Jade stood there dumbfounded. Riley walked up to her, and put her hands up to her eyes to see better. “Damn, turnouts a bit big this year. Was only about 90% this last year. Must be a champ coming.” A marching band was on the field playing a tune that was loud and inspiring, and acrobats were jumping into flaming hoops made by pyromancers below. It was an experience completely foreign to Jade. “Why..Why are there so many?!” “You don’t know?”

The students were standing in a box room above the rest of the stadium with a huge glass window looking down at the rings and fields below. Ricardo had just walked in on RIley and Jade talking and had overheard Jade’s plea for help.“This is one of the three hero conferences before the championships. It's like a college football game, but bigger. Scouts from all over the country come here to recruit people they see from the games, and the games only get more intense when you get out of the highschool circuit and into the college. Some people even go professional and go onto the HCL and play the sport as a living.” Jade was gobsmacked; she did not know of this beforehand. “Most people don’t watch the Highschool circuit, except for one bit.” And just as he speaking-

“ATTENTION AUDIENCE! IT IS TIME FOR THE FIRST EVENT OF THE HIGHSCHOOL CIRCUIT!” A voice sounded off from the loudspeakers and the crowd roared, screaming and cheering. The band on the field started peeling out, the acrobats following suit. The crowds started to chant, “Coaches! Coaches! Coaches!” The loudspeaker rang out once more, “Can the coaches of the highschool circuit please take the field.” The crowd cheered, and from a distance Jade could see five people walk out of a corridor. The announcer started reading off the names, “Representing New Orleans High, it’s Bayou Queen! From Nashville Academy it is Bluegrass! From Chattanooga Academy its Lakeside! From..” as the names were read off, sections of the stadium would cheer accordingly. The biggest cheers thus far came for the Little Rock High coach, Jungle King. However everyone was starting to notice something. “Where is Reverse?” Jade started to ask, but was once again interrupted by the loudspeaker. “AND! Making their first appearance in the circuit it is the Atlanta Hero Academy with their coach,” and as he spoke a streak of blue and white whizzed into the stadium creating a huge boom. Dust clouds flew everywhere, and when cleared the crowd saw standing in the middle..”REVERRRRRRRRRRSE!” The stadium exploded. Cheers and chants carried throughout all sections of the crowd. Reverse was dressed in bright white, red, and gold. He looked like a titan carved of marble, and his posing did nothing to dissuade the notion.“That’s right ladies and Gentlemen, Reverse! Savior of the President’s Daughter, the Knight of Mt. St. Helens, the defender of Boston!” The crowd was chanting his name and only died down when Reverse did a motion towards them. “Folks, this coach fight is going to be a doozy! Now, for any newcomers out there, let me explain the rules.”

The coaches started to go into seperate corners of the stadium, each doing small stretches. Reverse was just leaning against the wall. “To decide which school goes first in choosing the brackets, the coaches must duke it out! In order of who goes down last to first is how it goes. Normally, the games are set before they even begin but this time it's anyone's bet. We only have one returning coach from last year in Lakeside, so we need to see how well he holds up!”

The coaches were all eyeing each other. Ricardo continued explaining,”It is no secret that coaches for the school must be trained in hand to hand combat on a professional level before they can coach. It's so the school does not lose face in the ring. So they hire coaches more for punching other coaches than teaching the kids proper. However, the AHA decided that Reverse needed no supplementary coach for this part of the match.” Ricardo chuckles. “The coaches are now in place, and are waiting for the mark to go!” Jade and the rest of the AHA crew, even Emily, were pressing their face to the glass in anticipation. Then, a loud buzzer sounded and the coaches were off. Reverse did not move however. What’s his game plan? Jade thought.

Lakeside rushed in and summoned a large stream of water from the grates on the stadium floor and shot it at Bluegrass. Bluegrass ducked and weaved away from the blast and punched the earth, causing ripples of vines and plants to follow in a jagged pattern to the feet of Lakeside. The vines shot from the floor and lashed at Lakeside, who fell over. He sent another splash of water at Bluegrass who thought he could take it. But the water had small rocks in them and went at high speeds all around his face and neck, causing small but oozing cuts everywhere. Meanwhile, Bayou Queen and Jungle King had just finished their fight. Jungle King had jumped over a beam of darkness shot from the Queen’s hands and delivered a strong hook into her jaw, causing her to crumble to the ground like a wet paper bag. Jungle King’s gaze turned towards Reverse, who was still leaning against the wall. He shook his head at Jungle King, who made no advances towards him. The king was instead blindsided by the coach from Birmingham PowerSchool, Kintay. She grappled onto him like a child riding a bear, bolts of electricity jolting out of her and going into the King. He jumped in the air and fell on his back, nearly crushing the coach had she not jumped off at the last second. The King turned to fight her only to be hit in the face with a stream of water, temporarily blinding him. With the combined water and electricity now, King was being electrocuted. That is, he would have had Kintay not also shot a bolt of electricity at Lakeside and gotten him too, making him out for the count. His body fell to the side of Bluegrass, who he had taken care of earlier. King, now no longer being soaked, leveled his shoulder and charged Kintay, who was unfortunately not lucky enough to dodge him this time. She was thrown against the wall and fell to the ground unconscious. Which left only Jungle King and Reverse in the stadium.

Reverse walked forward, and took off the helmet of his coach uniform, letting his face and short cut hair show to the whole crowd. Jungle King gave a low chuckle and readied himself against Reverse. “Never thought I’d get a chance to fight you again, after you put me away six years ago.” Reverse’s face was stone, making no reaction. “I’m surprised,'' he said as he tossed his helmet to the ground, “they hire convicts as teachers in the state of Arkansas. Especially convicts who’ve killed.” The crowd was so loud, not a soul could hear what they were talking about to each other. All they could see were the two men circling each other. Jungle King was a huge, 7 foot 3 inches 360 pound man of muscle in a wife beater. His skin was a golden bronze and his hair was in a mohawk. One could describe his face as a wild boar with no tusks’.

“Well, it was easy for me when it happened then, now there should be no different this time.” Jungle King charged Reverse and delivered a mighty left hook into his body which .. did nothing. Reverse stood there, unmoved. The crowd went silent. Even Jungle King took a step back, in surprise.

“You just don’t learn.” Reverse simply walked forward and within a second delivered an uppercut to the behemoth’s body and he went flying into the air and outside the stadium walls. The crowd once again exploded.

“I CAN’T BELIEVE IT! NOT SINCE THE DAYS OF OMEGAMAN HAD WE SEEN SUCH POWER IN THE SPORT!” The band was now in the stands and was now playing a tune to hype the crowd up as Reverse retrieved his helmet, turned around to face the cameras all along the stadium edge, and gave a little wink. And as the stadium was cheering he walked into the corridor he came out of. Jade stood still in their room, speechless as the rest of them. “He went so easy on us in practice…” John muttered under his breath. Not even two seconds later, the man himself appeared in the room.

“Man, that was some fight. I'm pooped yall. I ran here from the hotel after sleeping in jeeeeez.” Reverse sauntered over to a couch in the box room and crashed down on it, putting his feet on the armrest on the other side. Riley walked up to him, sat in a chair next to the couch and put her hands on her knees. “So, who’s gonna go first?” Reverse yawned and scratched his face. “Jade. She’s gonna fight this telekinetic kid. So uh, good luck kid. All of you go change into your gear.” In just a few seconds, Reverse had shaken Jade twice.

A few minutes later, Jade was down in a corridor leading out into the field, facing another corridor across the way from her. Standing with her was Reverse, who stood rather mightily. “All you have to do is throw fire at em, he can’t concentrate on more than one thing. Just don’t get caught in his grasp and you should be good.” Jade was shaking a small amount, the nervousness getting to her. She had already vomited in a nearby trash can, her nerves running rampant. “Don’t worry, you won’t get hurt too much. If anything, this is great practice for you. “ Jade gave a sideways look at Reverse. “That doesn't help my nerves.” “Well, don’t say I didn’t try.” A buzzer sounded from outside the corridor , and it called for the contestants to take the field. Jade gulped and Reverse pushed her out of the corridor, to the sound of screaming and cheering.

There would be three fights this round, so that they can get through the fights faster. Jade saw three giant concrete platforms on the field, with their contestants approaching them. Jade didn’t pay much attention to the other contestants, instead focusing on the boy approaching her. He was slim, smug faced, and jauntily walking teenager with a short dollop of golden hair on his head. He was dressed in the purple and green on black suit of the New Orleans School, with a popped collar. “CONTESTANTS! TAKE THE PLATFORM!” Jade stepped up to the platform, and was now mere yards away from her opponent. The boy is about her height, and his hands are in his pocket. His face is plain, spotless and essentially featureless aside from his golden yellow hair atop his head. His teeth were a shining pearly-white. Reverse was looking at the large screens around the stadium, and was hit with a hint of familiarity when looking at the boy. His hair, why does it look so familiar?

“CONTESTANTS! ON YOUR MARK!” The competitors took their fighting stances, except for Jade and the golden haired boy. Jade was far too taken aback by his non-chalantness to take form. What did Reverse say about his power? Her mind was racing, trying her hardest to remember his words. Only pulling up memories of the bus ride with Riley and coach fight.

“GET SET!” The golden haired boy spoke, in a voice that sounded like a love song.”Don’t worry, you won’t have to fight very long.” Jade’s blood ran cold. “GO!”

Then the stadium exploded. This time not with the cheers and screaming of joy, but with shrapnel and cries for help. The contestants run for cover, save for Jade, who just stands there in shock. Reverse sees this and starts to run towards her, him realizing what's going on.

But he was too late. The golden boy raised his hand at him and, miles away he was still only a few yards away, was forced into the ground by an unseeable force. Jade started to run towards him, her arms glowing with the sun energy within her, but soon found herself wrapped in the same bands that held Reverse.

“Oh no, that's not going to happen. You’re going to stay for the show. And I'm leaving with the girl.” Reverse was livid, his body heaving with anger and the energy within him. Jade was dripping puddles of burning energy and could only watch in anger and desperation as all around her explosions happened. The box rooms were on fire, the stands were frantic with other explosions. The heroes who were on guard are seen being easily bested by huge lizard people. An old man is seen floating in the middle of everything, pointing at locations and explosions happening. Heroes would rush in only for another lizard man to appear out of nowhere. The crowds were halted from leaving the stadium by the fallen rubble collapsing the exits.

Then, a voice echoed throughout the whole stadium. “IT'S BEEN FAR TOO LONG, REVERSE!”

The large sports casting screen at the end of the stadium lit up, baring the face of a man in a suit and tophat, smiling cruelly. He sported several scars across his face, with a notable dent in the right side of his head. His evil grin was accented by disgusting yellow teeth and his eyes with heavy bags under them shone with red evil fury. A strand of dirty blonde hair dangled down his crooked nose, between his eyes. The whole stadium was held still by an invisible force. “I would not try to escape civilians. You will find yourself cubed, No, no I do not come here today to kill. Although, I might make an exception.” While he was speaking, the boy in golden hair walked up to Jade, grabbed her arms , and started pulling her like a balloon at a state fair, away from Reverse. He was seething with hatred, a faint light coming off of him now. “Emesh…” Reverse muttered underneath his breath. The man on the TV gave a hearty laugh, as by driving the civilians who were in his clutch began to pull from their stopping points, now circling above in the air in varying poses of escape. “Reverse, I thought you finally bit it in Boston, after I let loose that plant beast. But no, you always had a penchant for survival. Did you run away again?” The faint light around Reverse was now growing brighter. “I am frankly surprised you are knowledgeable of my new name. You never were the smartest of the group.” Jade and the golden boy were out of his sight. He would have to deal with that later.. He has to save all these people now. “I think a punishment is in order. For daring to live after I tried to kill you, I will now drop all these people from the sky. A fitting exchange, isn't it?” He started to cackle, as the people began to slowly stop spinning and then.. Fall.

Then an earth shattering explosion was heard, causing a huge dust cloud to appear in the middle of the field. “Phantom! Did you kill him?! THAT WAS FOR ME!” The old man was whipped in front of the screen, and was babbling. “Nonono-no. I did not do that!” “I did it.”

The dust was split down the half as a cyclone of air shot from its origin, a bright light standing tall. Around the light were the thousands of people who were in the air, and the unconscious bodies of the lizard men. In the four seconds after the explosions, Reverse grabbed all the people out of the air and took out the lizard men. And was still raring to go, the bright white light still beaming out of him. “Where are you Emesh? Are you too afraid of being beaten twice? Of being broken and humiliated within the decade?” Emesh screamed into the screen, causing earthquakes.”hHOW?!” The beam of light that was Reverse stood there, stalwart against the man on the screen. The ground around Reverse was slowly decaying, turning grass into dust.

“I could always break your chains, Emesh. When you were still Planeteer. You were never stronger than me.” Emesh laughed. “ Oh really? Care to wager?” Suddenly the stadium started to shake and the giant screen caved in, creating condensed points of iron and television screens. The old man floating nearby was also sucked in, screaming that he was suddenly silenced as he was crushed in the mess of mass until the ball exploded.

In its place was a floating man with a three piece suit, a tophat, and a cane.

“Would you wish to put your life on the line?”

Reverse leapt from the stadium at lightning speeds and delivered a punch into the face of Emesh, traveling hundreds of feet in the air doing so. Emesh flew backwards and slammed into a concrete wall of the stadium. Reverse landed on an exposed girder from the scoreboard, standing resolute still. “I have ten years of regret in me, ten years of what ifs. Because of you. I would put my life on the line if it meant you don’t get to have yours.” Emesh shot from the hole he was thrown into, and launched a part of the stadium with him. Entire rows of seats and concrete chunks slammed against Reverse, only causing him to glow brighter.

Emesh was floating still, a look of fear creeping across his face. He knew he could not win against Reverse.. Why had he let his ego bring him out here? A drive to wipe away those we wronged him? Whatever it was, he could not die now. He was so far away from his goal.

Emesh spread his hands wide and the ground shook, creating a great tear in the earth where pillars of molten rock started to pour out. “Look familiar?” The cries for help reached Reverse’s ears as he remembered the tons of civilians down at the stadium floor. He was torn. End Emesh and cause thousands to be killed, or let him go and allow millions to die. Just as he was about to decide, a voice came from the field. “Don’t worry! We got this!” He turned to see Riley and his class carrying people to the corridors in the stadium side,along with other competitors and the coaches moving rubble to carry to injured and moving people out.

Emesh hated the community that he had to fight. While Reverse was distracted, he launched a pillar of lava at him from the crack in the ground, hitting him straight in the back. “Just like Victor! The same trick carries such great merit!” He began to cackle, but was stopped when a bright white glowing fist struck him in the chest. Emesh was thrown hundreds of feet into the air before righting himself. Standing atop the wall where Emesh was floating was Reverse, still glowing bright white. The space around his body was dark because of his presence,he illuminated so much light. “This ends today, Emesh.” The sky begins to turn red and dark clouds start to roll in from nowhere. “I would have no other way, you mistake!”

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Jade ws being pulled down a series of hallways in the stadium, each one echoing with the sounds of explosions and shakes. The golden boy was holding her arm and moving through the labyrinth of tunnels. I need to get out of here, and fast! Jade had been struggling the entire time in their mental grasp of the golden boy. She had been unable to get out, but she noticed something. His brow was becoming more and more tense, and the sweat was pouring off of him. His concentration is waning.. If I can surprise him I bet I can break his will! Jade began to concentrate on her right arm, the arm that the golden boy was holding, and tried to focus all her power on it. She steadied her hasty breathing , then -

“FUCK!” the golden boy yelled as his hand caught fire with solar energy and he let go of Jade, her hitting the floor. He turned to look at her with vitriol in his eyes. “You burnt my hand you BITCH!” He pointed at her and the pipes on the wall of the utility corridor he was pulling her down began to bend and pull from their place. Jade, however, tapped into something. In her concentration and desperation to escape, a latent power clicked. Her eyes glazed over in gold and she lashed her arms as if whipping someone, a beam of light shooting from her hand and creating a rope. The rope went around the golden boy and he screamed in pain as the rope began to burn his clothing. He jerked his head to the side and a pipe flew from the wall, steam pouring out. Jade let go of her rope in surprise, and had to dodge another pipe being thrown at her head. She raised her hand again and shot a bolt of light from it, its radiance illuminating the steam as it sailed down the hallway. And also giving away the position of the golden boy. The golden boy lunged at her, scratching her face. He punched Jade in the gut and she fell to the ground. Jade turned over and grabbed his head in both of her hands, and summoned her flaming arms. He began to cry out in pain as the sides of his head burned. He shoved her off and stumbled away. He turned to her.

“You’re not worth it… my face.. My hair! I don’t care if my dad wants you for his dumb plan! It’ll work anyways. Just you see!” Jade raised her hand to shoot another bolt of light but was halted when the boy raised his hand and collapsed the ceiling in front of her, separating them. He then turned tail and ran, his hands still clutching his face. Jade was about to pursue, but the shuddering corridor reminded her of Reverse and Jade started running the opposite way to try and find a way back to him.

It took her a while, but she came back to the corridor that led into the stadium, and was shown a devastating picture. Competitors were guiding people out of the stadium which was now a huge tear in the ground with gushing lava pouring out of it. And in the air, a glowing ball of energy was fighting an increasingly erratic moving flying man. Jade was watching a fight for the ages.

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Reverse lunged at Emesh and finally made contact. He grappled onto his legs and started climbing up the three piece suit. Emesh raised his cane to smack him, but as it got close to Reverse’s body it disintegrated. Reverse raised his right fist and punched Emesh into the ground. His body went flying towards the Earth, Reverse not too far behind. As he was falling, Reverse raised his arm in the air. Emesh hit the ground, and was struggling to stand when he looked up. He saw the rapidly approaching Reverse and raised both his hands to stop him in the air. Reverse’s descent did not cease, only slow. Flames started to form around his forward fist, like a meteor entering the atmosphere. “Must...not….let.you..win!” Emesh shouted as blood started to pour out of his eyes and nose.

“This is for Victor.”

Reverse kicked his legs into the other and a force propelled him into Emesh, who screamed in fear as he approached.

Hikers along the Appalachian trail would report seeing a bright light appear on the distance. The people of Charleston would say they thought a nuke dropped. But what happened was that Reverse delivered one kiloton of energy into the body of Emesh. The explosion was immaculate, the stadium now gone entirely. A crater now stood where it once stood.

And at the center of the crater was Reverse, on his stomach, unmoving.

End Arc 1.

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