Chương 28: Episode 25: Two Business Men

The two walked through Scarletsville like corporate mercenaries on a lunch break—calm, casual, and completely out of place in a volcanic wasteland. Crimson clouds hung overhead while smoke drifted through the air like black ink in water. Rivers of molten lava churned below the narrow rocky path beneath their feet. Overbrawl glanced over.

"Why are we searching for them again after hiding them?" Krane groaned and rubbed his forehead.

"The Gems can't survive forever without protection. Scattering them kept them away from Incarceration, but if they're left out here, they'll eventually sink into the lava or get destroyed. Better we recover them before they're gone for good." They continued forward, eyes scanning every ridge and crevice.

"We're close." Behind a jagged rock formation twisted at an unnatural angle, they found it. A glowing orange Power Gem. The Fury Gem. Violent energy radiated from the hexagonal crystal, causing the air around it to ripple.

"Bingo." Krane snatched it up in one fluid motion, turning it over in his hand. Overbrawl eyed it carefully.

"Looks angry." A sudden roar split the sky. Both Zeniths tensed at once. Krane lifted his watch. Overbrawl's body surged with unstable, explosive pressure, like something inside him was waking up wrong.

"COME OUT AND CATCH THESE HANDS!" The roar rolled across Scarletsville like a breaking sky. Above them, thrusters screamed. A neon-green streak punched through the clouds, cutting straight down like a falling star. Krane's eyes narrowed.

"What is tha —" Overbrawl tightened his grip on the Fury Gem. Then recognition hit Krane like a delayed alarm. Duke. Jetfire State. Krane moved first. BOOM. They collided midair. Mountains nearby evaporated into molten dust, shockwaves ripping through the volcanic ridges. Duke reacted instantly, catching Krane mid-impact by the leg and whipping him through the landscape. Krane tore across stone and magma like a broken meteor skipping the planet. Overbrawl charged next. His fist dropped like a collapsing tower.

Duke slipped it clean. Then he started dismantling him. Right hook. Left hook. Knee. Elbow. Spinning backhand. That was a perfect chain of violence that ended with Overbrawl getting launched across Scarletsville like a burning shell. Krane reappeared in a flash. Duke was already there. A neon punch detonated across Krane's face, lighting the whole valley in green-white glare. Krane slid back, grinning through it.

"No flashy entrance?" No reply. Only the pulse in Duke's chest, like a neon heart refusing to slow down. They clashed again. Fists met. Energy burst outward in violent rings. Krane dipped under a kick and drove a Spirit-charged punch straight into Duke's chest, launching him skyward.

"SHOULD'VE THOUGHT SOONER!" Overbrawl dropped in from above, slamming Duke down into the valley floor. The impact detonated the ground into a crater wide enough to swallow terrain. Duke bounced out of the explosion anyway. No hesitation. He tackled Krane and drove both of them straight into Scarletsville's molten depths. Inside the earth, everything turned red and screaming. Stone exploded. Lava split. The core of the world groaned as they tore through it.

"ZENITHS WERE NEVER A CHALLENGE TO ME!" Duke broke off a strike, accelerated, grabbed Krane, and launched them both upward in a violent burst. They shot out of the ground and back into the sky, trading blows so fast the air couldn't keep up.

"THEY WERE ALWAYS PITIFUL!" Krane answered with a brutal combo—straight punch, side kick, axe kick. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. The final strike sent Duke crashing down like a falling comet.

"You're a TEENAGER!" Overbrawl rushed again. Duke vanished. Then reappeared behind him. Neon strikes erupted from every angle, Overbrawl got hit from directions that didn't even feel physically possible. The final blow launched him into the sky like debris. Duke grabbed him mid-air and threw him away like broken armor. Krane came back in glowing violet speed. Duke answered with missile fire from his arm. Krane weaved through the explosions, threading between them like he'd memorized the sky. One. Two. Three.

The blasts chased him while he returned fire with spiritual shots of his own." RAAGH!" Duke flared neon again. The sky turned into a war zone of light and impact. Every collision cracked the clouds above Scarletsville. Krane finally broke through—his fist buried into Duke's stomach. Duke folded, then hit the ground hard enough to fracture the terrain in layers. He coughed blood. Krane descended slowly.

"Your time has come—" Duke vanished. Krane's eyes snapped wide. Suddenly—he was everywhere. Afterimages flooded the battlefield. Neon silhouettes attacking from every direction. Krane blocked one. Then another. Then another. But Duke slipped behind him.

"NEON INSANITY!" A single aerial kick bent the air itself. It connected. Krane launched like a cannon, blasting through a mountain before slamming directly into Overbrawl. BOOOOM. The collision detonated the landscape. Lava erupted. The earth folded upward in broken layers. Silence. Dust drifted over Scarletsville like falling ash. Krane and Overbrawl lay buried in rubble. Duke stood untouched. Unmoving. Unshaken. The neon heart in his chest pulsed faster, brighter—like it was feeding on the silence. Two Zeniths.

Down. For the first time recorded in Avangard history. Duke walked forward and pulled the Fury Gem from Overbrawl's hand like it weighed nothing. A grin formed.

"You two did great." He examined the gem.

"Thanks for collecting these for me." His jets folded back into a compact pack as he returned to his base form.

"Consider it tribute." He turned away.

"Two down. Seven to go." A twitch. Krane moved. Barely. His trembling hand rose toward his watch.

"Wait…" The device suddenly glowed red. Spiritual energy. Fire energy. Both spiraled together violently. Duke looked back.

"What are you gonna do? Hit me with your puppy wa —" BOOOOOOOM!! A cataclysmic explosion swallowed Scarletsville. The air warped. Lava erupted from the ground. The earth shook as if reality itself had been struck. For a moment, everything disappeared beneath fire and smoke. Then the dust cleared. Krane lay on the ground, barely conscious. Breathing. Bleeding. Broken. Footsteps echoed through the flames. Slow. Steady. A silhouette emerged. Duke. Untouched. Krane's cracked eyes widened.

"No… way…" Neon light glowed from Duke's eyes. His exposed heart continued to pulse inside his chest. One arm cannon was gone, the damage left behind by Demaurion. But from his remaining arm, darkness gathered. A black sword materialized in his grasp. Its blade shimmered with glowing green energy. Duke stared down at the fallen Zeniths.

"Weaklings." His grip tightened around the sword.

"You really thought that would stop me?" Rufty Mountains — Flatlands The sky above was a blanket of stars, untouched by clouds or rain, the silver-white moon watching in silence. The battlefield was still—quiet, except for the occasional pained breath or shuffle. Lonnie Mae used her vines to heal the group, wrapping them just tightly enough to stabilize wounds. It worked, mostly. Cuts remained, bruises still colored their skin, but the pain had dulled. Emely sat down with a tired exhale.

"He's really—done." Kai peeked out from behind a rock—he'd been knocked out early and missed most of the fight. Javier scanned the area with tired eyes, then paused.

"Didn't anyone else see Overbrawl? And that other Zenith—the one with the watch?" Mason nodded.

"Yeah. They were here… and then they vanished with Don." Lonnie Mae and Anhia helped Ryan to his feet. His chest was still aching, but he was alive. Barely. If Don's strike had landed just inches closer to his heart, he wouldn't be. Kayson's phone buzzed. He pulled it from his pocket—cracked and scorched—and blinked at the screen.

"Olsen's calling." Jocabed grabbed the phone and answered before he could finish. The screen lit up with Olsen's face, flanked by Prince, Demaurion, Archie, Eli, and Ella.

"You guys good?! What happened?!" Olsen's voice cracked through the speaker. Kwa'asja stepped in.

"We tried to bring Don back. Again. But he attacked us—he almost killed Ryan."

"And Overbrawl wasn't alone," Lonnie Mae added.

"There was another Zenith. They vanished with Don." Olsen paused, then rubbed his head.

"Wait… who was the other Zenith?" Javier leaned in.

"He was purple. Wore a watch. Controlled fire and spiritual energy at the same time."

"That's the one who captured us!" Olsen exclaimed.

"You guys got captured?!" Emely hovered over the phone in shock.

"And imprisoned," Archie added, dead serious.

"We're calling to warn you," Olsen continued.

"There's someone else—his name's Duke. He's hunting Power Gems. After our fight, he didn't finish me. He just took the Gem and left." Everyone exchanged uneasy glances.

"Don had Power Gems too," Jocabed said.

"One pink. One black." Olsen's voice sharpened.

"Then it's real. He's going after all of them. And if he collects them… it could be catastrophic. We have to get them to Celestia. Seal them away before any of these maniacs—Incarceration, Dreadixz, Overbrawl, Duke, that unknown Zenith, Dark Don, even Scourge Don—gets their hands on them." He hung up.

"That's another crisis added to the list," Keyler muttered, checking off a spider-thread notebook. Jocabed stared at the ground.

"Don said something about free will."

"Incarceration manipulated him," Sophia added.

"Maybe… he didn't choose this. Maybe he was forced."

"You're right," said a voice—low and familiar. Everyone turned. From the shadows, a figure emerged. Silver scales shimmered faintly beneath the moonlight. It was Dark Don. His suit was cracked, caked with dried mud.

"How are you—not—paralyzed?!" Mason shouted, tension coiling through him. Weapons ignited, energy crackling in the air.

"Relax," Dark Don said, raising his hands slowly.

"I'm not here to fight. I'm here to talk." Everyone hesitated, then lowered their weapons. Dark Don nodded toward Jocabed.

"He didn't turn on you willingly." He stepped closer, voice steady.

"I tracked him after the Grolian Forest incident. Planned to stop him myself if I had to. But what I found… was him tied in vines, hero suit shredded, clutching a Power Gem." He looked up at the moon.

"The Incarceration Gem. One of the darkest. It doesn't just corrupt—it amplifies fear, shame, doubt. Twists it into anger. If you don't know how to fight it, it changes who you are… violently." Keyler stepped forward.

"Then why did he call us 'friends'? He sounded… confused." Dark Don's gaze was sharp.

"He meant it. He always did. But the Gem doesn't let you think clearly. It magnifies every fear you have about yourself. Every failure, every awkward moment, every time you felt small or judged. It screamed at him that he wasn't enough. That he would never be enough." Gasps rippled through the group. Emely swayed. Lonnie Mae's voice shook.

"What did we do?" Dark Don's eyes softened, still calm.

"Nothing malicious. You laughed. You teased. He made mistakes around you. But the Gem twisted those normal moments into a narrative where he thought he was disposable, unworthy of belonging." He paused, letting the weight settle.

"He didn't turn into Scourge Don because he hates you. He turned because he was terrified. Terrified of failing, of being judged, of letting everyone down. The Gem amplified it. It showed him a world where he belonged nowhere… and he fought that fear by becoming stronger, more violent, more untouchable." Dark Don stepped closer, voice like distant thunder.

"And I know this because I tracked him, felt the change in his aura, studied the way the Gem warped his energy. I know the real Don—the part that still cares, that still fights for you." Sophia whispered, softly.

"So he didn't betray us. He just… doesn't believe we're on his side anymore." Mason crossed his arms, frowning.

"Then how do we fix it?" Dark Don turned, shadow stretching across the ground.

"You don't fix fear. You face it. You show him that even when he feels small, even when he doubts, he isn't alone. That's the only way to pull him back." He glanced over his shoulder.

"Come along. The longer you wait, the harder it gets."