NOVEL NEXT 95. Breaking Point
The waves crashed against Sol's chest as he dragged Veronica's unconscious form through the surf. His evolved aura flickered off to save energy, leaving him fighting the ocean's pull with just his raw strength.
"Come on, work with me here," he grunted, hauling her dead weight onto the wet sand. His arms trembled as he dropped her with a wet thud.
Wiping saltwater from his eyes, Sol turned toward the distant battle. Hugo's massive silhouette moved like a storm cloud above the waves, three smaller figures darting around him like angry wasps.
"If we could just coordinate..." Sol lifted his wrist toward his mouth, then froze. Where his Crimson Comet gauntlets should have been, only bare skin remained. "Right. My evolution destroyed them."
He dropped to his knees, scanning the sand desperately. Somewhere in these grains were the remains of Angelo and Red's energy work - his only way to reach them.
"Damn it all."
Over the churning ocean, the trio fought for their lives against Hugo's relentless assault.
"Hey, muscle-brain!" Red screamed, unleashing a stream of crimson energy bolts. "Over here! Don't tell me you can't handle one smartass!"
Most of his shots went wide. The few that connected barely singed Hugo's protective aura. Red had to twist mid-air as a jagged ice spear erupted from the waves below.
Blue weaved between Hugo's massive fists like smoke, but the gang leader controlled the entire battlefield. Every wave became a weapon, every splash a potential trap.
"His environmental control is proving quite problematic," Blue observed, narrowly avoiding a crushing wall of water. "We must get away from the water."
Hugo's grin was all teeth and malice. Ice crystallized beneath his feet, forming a makeshift surfboard as he rode the waves like a predator circling wounded prey. His hands carved through the air, launching pressurized water jets from impossible angles.
The three dodged frantically, but slowly found themselves being herded closer together.
"This isn't random," Angelo realized, his orange aura flaring. "He's boxing us in!"
Hugo's aura shifted to ice-blue as he switched to wind. Still surfing his frozen board, he spun around them in tightening circles. Compressed air swirled in his palm like a miniature hurricane.
"Now we've got him!" Angelo shouted. "Quick—Trinergy blast while he's focused!"
Their hands snapped together, energy beginning to merge, when Hugo released his attack. The compressed air detonated beneath them, sending a massive geyser of water skyward. Millions of droplets created a blinding wall around them.
"Defensive positions!" Blue called through the chaos. "Angelo! Behind—"
Hugo's silhouette cut through the water curtain like a blade through silk. His arm sliced through the air, parting the droplets in a perfect line as he moved faster than thought itself. Time seemed to crawl as Hugo's forearm met Angelo's unprotected limb. The crack echoed like a gunshot.
Angelo rocketed sideways across the water's surface, spinning like a broken toy.
"ANGELO!" Red and Blue screamed in perfect unison.
Red shot toward his fallen original, but Hugo's iron grip clamped around his ankle. As Red's momentum carried him forward, his foot simply... stayed behind.
"Might want this back," Hugo chuckled, holding the dismembered appendage. His amusement vanished as the foot dissolved into red smoke and streaked after Angelo. "Disgusting freaks."
Blue pulled Angelo from the water, feeling every spike of agony through their shared consciousness. He climbed desperately, trying to gain altitude as Hugo launched himself in pursuit. "Angelo, stay with me," Blue said, his usual formality cracking with worry.
Angelo's eyes fluttered open, his face pale and sweating. "Agh... shit... shit!" He tried to move and immediately gasped. "Something's wrong with my—Blue, I can't... I can't move my arm!" He cradled the injured limb against his chest, trying to stop it from moving in the wind.
On the beach, Sol frantically sifted through the sand, glancing at the sky battle every few seconds. The fighters were moving away from shore, gaining altitude instead of coming toward him.
"No, no, no...!" He spotted a patch of sand streaked with crimson particles and dropped to his knees. Pressing his face close to the grains, he shouted, "Red! Can you hear me? It's Sol! I can help—we can take him together!"
He watched the sky hopefully, but the battle continued its upward trajectory.
"Of course... Why would he be listening to sand?" Sol muttered, then cupped his hands around his mouth. "RED! GET DOWN HERE NOW!"
Everything depended on getting their attention. And time was running out.
Meanwhile, on the cliff's edge, Joe found himself spinning in complete confusion.
"Where the HELL am I?!" He stumbled backward, his boots scraping against what felt like stone. All around him stretched an endless bridge suspended over a bottomless pit. The wooden planks creaked under his feet, extending into darkness in both directions. "This is some serious mind-bending bullshit!"
He struck a chord, sending visible sound waves rippling into the void. The bridge shuddered but didn't break.
"Nice try, but illusions don't work on—AGH!" An invisible fist slammed into his jaw, snapping his head sideways. Joe swung his guitar wildly, the blade attachment whistling through empty air. "Show yourselves, you cowards!"
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Another punch caught him in the ribs. Then a kick to his knee. He tried to run, but the bridge stretched endlessly ahead, the wooden planks blurring together like a broken record.
"Come on!" Joe snarled, blood trickling from his split lip. The attacks kept coming from his left side, driving him toward the bridge's edge. "Fight me like—"
"JOE! STOP MOVING!" Brian's voice cut through the illusion like a lifeline. "You're three feet from the cliff edge!"
From somewhere in the real world, Joe could hear Brian grunting with effort, the sound of bodies hitting stone as his telekinetic throws sent gang members flying.
Joe's eyes went wide. "You sneaky little bastards!" The invisible punches resumed, each one pushing him closer to what his mind saw as the bridge's railing. "Think you're clever with your light tricks?"
The twins' laughter echoed from everywhere and nowhere, cruel and mocking.
"Real original!" Joe spat, wiping blood from his mouth. "What's next?! Gonna let me have some shrooms?!"
More hits rained down. A punch to his stomach. An elbow to his spine. But Joe planted his feet and refused to budge, even as pain shot through his body.
"You know what your problem is?" Joe's voice dropped to a dangerous growl. His aura began shifting, pulsing like a heartbeat. "You think music is just noise."
He kept taking hits—punches, kicks, what felt like brass knuckles across his cheek. Blood splattered the bridge planks, but Joe closed his eyes and lifted his guitar overhead.
"Let me show you what real sound can do."
His fingers found the strings, and his entire body began to glow like a concert stage. Every hit made him miss notes, his rhythm stuttering as pain lanced through him. But he held on, building something bigger.
One final punch nearly knocked him over. Joe took a deep breath, tasting blood, and opened his mouth:
"We are the light that NEVER fades! A flame that darkness CANNOT break!"
The sound hit like a physical wall, expanding outward in all directions. The bridge illusion shattered like glass.
Reality snapped back—Joe stood on solid cliff stone, with Zack and Zeke suddenly visible just ten feet away. They'd raised their arms defensively, but Joe's sound waves had them trapped like flies in amber.
"Rising higher through the haze! A destiny they cannot take!"
He kept singing, pouring everything into the attack. His voice cracked from strain, but the sound kept building, shaking boulders loose from the cliff face.
"Let our LIGHT shine through the NIGHT! Till every shadow burns away!"
The twins struggled against the sonic prison, their faces twisted with effort and growing fear.
"We're gonna make our own way right! The light that leads us through these daaaaaayyyys!"
Joe stretched that final word until his throat felt raw, the sound waves visible now as rippling distortions in the air. The ground around him cracked like broken glass, and the twins went flying backward like ragdolls.
When the echoes finally died, Zack and Zeke lay motionless on the stone, their light illusions completely gone.
Joe played the last few gentle notes of his song, each one floating away on the ocean breeze. Then silence fell over the cliff like a heavy blanket.
He stood there for a moment, swaying slightly, guitar still raised. His aura flickered once, twice, then went dark.
Joe toppled backward like a felled tree, his guitar clattering beside him on the stone.
Red and Blue flew desperately through the sky, Angelo clutched between them like a wounded bird. Their energy trails blazed behind them as they pushed their thrusters to maximum, but Hugo's massive form kept gaining ground.
"This running away crap isn't working!" Red snarled. "That bastard's gonna catch us!"
Blue's jaw tightened as he calculated their dwindling options. "Our current trajectory is unsustainable. We require an alternative strategy immediately."
Angelo gritted his teeth, slowly wrapping orange energy around his broken arm like a makeshift splint. The forged material held the shattered bone in place, but every movement sent fire through his shoulder.
"There has to be something..." Angelo muttered, then paused. "Wait. Do you hear that?"
Red cocked his head, straining to listen over the wind. "Hear what? You going crazy from the pain?"
Then a faint voice drifted through their minds, barely audible above the rush of air. Red's eyes widened in recognition.
"Holy shit, it's Sol!" Red tried to focus on where his connection to the Crimson Comets should be, but found only scattered particles. "What'd you do to my gear, pretty boy?"
Blue frowned, attempting the same mental reach. "The energy signature is... fragmented. Most peculiar."
Suddenly Sol's voice rang clear in their ears: "RED! GET DOWN HERE NOW!"
"Quit yelling in my head!" Red shouted back, then turned to the others. "Sounds like detective boy's in deep trouble."
Angelo winced as he shifted position, but his voice was firm. "Then we help him. We'll figure out the rest later."
Orange wings burst from Angelo's back even as the three remained bunched together. Energy tethers shot from around him, wrapping around Red and Blue like rope. They immediately understood, extending their own glowing cables until all three were bound together in a chaotic bundle.
Hugo's confusion was visible even from a distance. "What are those freaks doing now?"
The gang leader raised his hand, compressed air swirling like a tiny tornado in his palm. But before he could release it, the trio made a sharp turn that should have been impossible at their speed. All three fired their thrusters in perfect sync, creating a brilliant streak of orange, red, and blue as they shot toward the beach faster than they'd ever moved before.
Hugo's surprise lasted exactly three seconds. Then rage took over, and he thundered after them.
When they touched down on the wet sand, Sol was already waving at them with a huge grin. Behind him, Veronica lay motionless near the waterline.
"You're alive?" Red asked, genuine surprise in his voice.
Sol's grin widened. "Aww, were you worried about me? That's almost sweet."
"I was planning your funeral playlist," Red shot back. "Figured something depressing would fit."
Angelo struggled to his feet, cradling his splinted arm. "We can catch up later! Hugo's thirty seconds behind us! We gotta move!" He winced.
"Actually," Sol said, rolling his shoulders like a boxer preparing for a match, "I've got a better idea."
His silver aura flared around his body, then evolved into silver flames that danced across his skin like he was made of living fire.
Red's jaw dropped. "You evolved?!"
"Yep! About ten minutes ago," Sol replied, bouncing lightly on his toes. "Pretty cool, right?" He turned to where Hugo was approaching. "I'll hold him off for you guys," Sol said, stepping forward.
Angelo stared at him like he'd lost his mind. "Are you out of your goddamn mind?! Do you have a death wish or something?"
Blue stepped forward, his scholarly concern evident. "I understand your optimism, but Hugo isn't an ordinary opponent—"
"Trinergy needs time to set up, right?" Sol cut him off, silver flames dancing across his knuckles. "Then I'll buy you that time. You can pay me back by beating him once and for all."
The trio exchanged worried glances. Angelo could see the determination burning in Sol's eyes—the same look he'd worn when facing impossible odds before. "Don't do anything stupid enough to get yourself killed," Angelo said quietly.
Sol's cocky smirk returned full force. "Me? Stupid? Never heard of it." He turned toward the approaching storm that was Hugo. "Now get out of here and go work some magic!"
As the three hurried away to find cover, Sol settled into his fighting stance. His evolved aura made the air around him shimmer like heat waves rising from summer pavement.
Hugo landed on the beach with enough force to send sand flying in all directions. His ice-blue eyes took in Veronica's unconscious form, then fixed on Sol with murderous intent.
"Another pest to squash," Hugo growled, his massive aura flaring. "Thanks for keeping my right hand alive. For that kindness, I'll make your death quick."
Sol raised his fists, silver flames dancing around his knuckles. "Yeah? We'll see about that, big guy."
The beach fell silent except for the crash of waves. Two auras blazed against each other—one like a frozen hurricane, the other like silver fire made flesh.