Bubble Boy

New York City – Eden vs. Korrith

Times Square was no longer a place of billboards and tourists. It had become a crucible.

The ground trembled with every clash.

Eden floated above the cracked streets, his red bubblefield rotating like gears of a cosmic machine. Across from him, Korrith, The Infernal Spark, hovered, arms outstretched, cloaked in fire and laughter.

"You're strong, Earthborn," Korrith said, strength crackling with each syllable. "But strength without fury is wasted."

Eden replied by hurling a dozen razor-thin bubbles forward, each spinning with condensed heat. They collided with Korrith mid-flight detonations erupted, glass shattered for blocks.

Korrith emerged from the smoke, laughing harder. His chest was scorched, but his power didn't dim.

He answered with a geyser of heat vision so intense it bent the color of the air. Eden countered, expanding a dome of red energy, forcing the laser's upward into the sky where it exploded like a second sun.

Buildings collapsed under the pressure.

Helicopters spun out of control.

Ash blanketed the sky like snow.

Eden didn't flinch.

He closed his eyes and released.

The red bubbles changed.

They multiplied.

Expanded.

Forming rings, spears, chains, shields. An entire ecosystem of power orbiting his body.

Eden launched himself forward, and the real fight began.

They crashed through the shell of a museum, exploded out the side of a collapsing subway station, and soared above Manhattan's skyline, their powers lighting up the storm-darkened sky.

Global Newsfeed – Real-Time Comments

@CitySpecterNYC: My cousin just texted, Eden just saved his entire building from collapse. HERO.

@FireWatch911: The sky literally turned red. Is this guy even human??

@StarmanLegacy: The way Eden moves… it's like he's dancing. Like he's meant for this.

@KorrithProphet: Yes. YES. The gods have returned to cleanse the filth. Kneel before fire!

@JustAnIntern: There's no city left to fight for… what are they even protecting anymore?

@BubbleBoyFan1997: I know Eden trained under Troy. He can win this. He HAS to.

Back to the Battle

Eden slammed Korrith through the hull of a grounded ferry, the water around them instantly boiling. Civilians on the shore screamed as molten steel erupted from the wreckage.

Korrith surged up from the river like a phoenix. "Yes!" he roared, laughing through cracked teeth. "Now you BURN with purpose!"

Eden's expression never changed.

He thrust both hands forward and his red bubblefield condensed into a singularity between them. One perfect, humming orb.

He whispered, "Forgive me, city."

And launched it.

The orb struck Korrith dead center.

Time seemed to stop.

Then...

BOOM.

The resulting explosion turned the East River red.

Tidal waves crashed into the boroughs. Entire blocks lost power. And both combatants vanished beneath a cloud of steam and light.

For a moment, no one moved.

Then one news drone, barely functional, zoomed closer.

Through the mist...

A figure rose.

Smoke-scarred. Bleeding.

But standing.

Eden.

Breathing hard. Eyes burning.

Floating with one arm limp, but still defiant.

And as the world watched, he raised one hand in a trembling fist.

Global Newsfeed Comments Resume:

@MyCityBleeds: EDEN!! HE'S STILL STANDING!!

@KorrithCultist: That was only round one. Fire never dies. You'll see.

@NeonRanger77: Did anyone else see that?! He hit him with a star.

@VoiceOfHope: This is what heroes look like.

The moment of triumph was too brief.

Because beneath the river's surface, Korrith moved.

Not just moved.

Shifted.

The boiling tides parted around his glowing body as he rose again, unharmed. His scorched skin peeled away like old bark, revealing molten red veins and a body pulsing with borrowed divinity.

Similar to Starman's power.

"I've tasted your light," Korrith hissed, his voice deeper now, less human. "And I've remembered what it means to be a god."

Eden's eyes widened. "What…?"

Korrith vanished from sight, reappearing inches from Eden with a thunderclap. A blistering fist slammed into Eden's ribs.

Crack.

Eden coughed blood midair.

Another strike, this one to the jaw. Then a third, a backhand across the skull, sending Eden tumbling through the hollowed remains of a skyscraper.

He hit the ground in a crater of glass and steel.

Korrith descended slowly, arms raised like a messiah.

"All your training. All your hope. And still, you fall."

Eden tried to stand.

He couldn't.

His red bubblefield flickered, desperate, sputtering around him like a dying ember. Korrith walked forward and raised one foot, stomping on Eden's chest.

"Starman once burned a sun barehanded. Now I carry his legacy."

And then came the fire.

Not flame.

Judgment.

A torrent of burning light erupted from Korrith's eyes, vaporizing the street and turning cars to ash. The scream Eden made was lost in the roar. His bubblefield collapsed.

Global Newsfeed – Real-Time Comments (Live)

@NYCTears: He's…he's killing Eden. Somebody HELP HIM!

@XenoSurvivor_: Korrith's power just jumped. This isn't just heat anymore, he's rewriting the laws of matter.

@StillTeamEden: PLEASE. Troy. Jace. ANYONE. Don't let him die.

@KorrithProphet: The Fire King ascends. The gods burn their blessings into him!

@OrbitalViewCam_13: I'm zoomed in from above, Eden's not moving. Oh no. Oh no.

@HopeFails: We needed a miracle. We got a massacre.

Back to the Streets

Eden lay broken.

One eye swollen shut.

Fingers twitching.

Breathing, barely.

And then even that stopped.

Korrith stepped back, as if admiring a painting.

"Tell your people," he said to the nearby drone. "Their strongest are ashes. Their cities, candles."

He opened his glowing red eyes wide and flames spread down the avenues of Manhattan like rivers, controlled, deliberate. A demonstration of power.

Helpless civilians watched from rooftops, hiding behind ruined walls, cradling loved ones.