Fighting The Shadows

Ane casually ran through a barely lit corridor to then stop suddenly. "What a pain." he said; panting. "I've been running for several minutes now. Where the hell does this path end!" he complained.

"Just give up and turn around." a voice called out lazily. Ane readied himself for a fight.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" he exclaimed.

"What a pain." the masculine voice called back; yawning. Ane squinted ahead and saw silver eyes and a faint shadow.

"I can barely tell there's a shadow there but his eyes are crystal clear? What in the world?" Ane thought; gulping.

Lana and Eina stared at one another; Eina perplexed and Lana surprised. "W-why?" Lana asked.

"It was my mission." Eina replied bluntly as she dove at Lana. Trees barraged Lana with blows  but she didn't move an inch. "Don't just stand there!" Eina scolded as she fired a kick at Lana who just held the attack to then push Eina back. Eina spun into the air and sent another kick which Lana dodged to then knee Eina in the face to then follow up with another kick which Eina ducked to then grab Lana by the waist. Eina attempted to slam Lana headfirst into the floor but Lana held Eina's head with her legs and flipped; slamming Eina into the ground causing spit to fling from the girl's jaw. Lana then spun onto the girl and held down her arms and legs using her own limbs to then slam her own head into Eina's.

"You idiot! I asked you a question!" Lana yelled angrily. Eina's eyes were shielded as blood drippled down their foreheads.

"And I answered." Eina stated softly.

"Mission? That's a crap response! That's no reason to betray Ane's trust." Lana remarked with a frown. Eina remained silent and tears then trickled down from her eyes.

"It's not my fault. I had no other choice. S.O.I.T is everything to me. I can't juts betray them. If I did...what'd I have left?" she cried.

"You'd have had friends. Do you think Ene and Ane would approve of all of this?" Lana asked as she sat up; releasing Eina's limbs. Eina blocked her teary face.

"Of course not." she remarked. "B-but if I betray S.O.I.T; they'll come after you all." she continued; sobbing.

"If these "SOIT" people ever attack us; we'll just have to protect you and ourselves by beating the crap out of them." Lana replied as she stood up. She smiled and offered Eina a hand which Eina took with little hesitation.

Ene stood up and stretched to then eye False Ene who was staring. "It's about time we end this." Ene remarked calmly cracking his neck.

"I was about to say the same thing. I ain't got time to dance around no more." False Ene added; dancing around.

"It's insulting you called yourself the Prince Of Flame." Ene said while wiping his mouth. False Ene glared in response.

"Oh? Why's that!" the man yelled. Ene's body set on fire and he seemed to thrust towards False Ene instantaneously; elbowing the man in the stomach causing spit to fling from the fraud's mouth. False Ene flipped to his feet as he soared through the air to then land on another bridge.

"Fire Clone!" Ene yelled as fire formed into himself besides him. He held the clone's leg and sent it after False Ene who simply stepped aside. "Fire Style: Fireball!" Ene thought as he spat a ball of fire.

"That won't work!" False Ene yelled as he spat a ball of fire also to then be blasted from the back from a fireball. "What in the world?" he thought as he turned to see the clone soaring through the air before evaporating into flames. False Ene turned towards Ene quickly to receive a fistful of flames in the face from Ene who then barraged the man with attacks.

"Flaming Fists!" Ene yelled as he continued barraging the man with blows to then stop as the man fell back. Ene stared coldly at the fraud. "The reason is because I'm the Prince Of Flame!" he shouted as he punched the man onto a bridge. False Ene bounced up from the impact; eyes rolled up.

"The actual Ene, huh. That's rather interesting." he thought before passing out completely. Ene landed on another bridge; his aura subsiding.

"I wonder how Ane's doing." he thought before staring at the darkness Ane had progressed into.

Ane was being hit from all directions but the assailant wasn't visible to him. "Damn it." the boy thought as he watched the eyes in the distance.

"Go back. You can't defeat me." the voice remarked. Ane frowned.

"Just watch me!" he yelled as he shot forward at the eyes to be hit back before he could even get close. "I'm not done yet!" he shouted as he rolled back to his feet the instant he hit the ground. "Red Elemental Style: Speed Adjustment X2." he remarked to then flash to the top of the room.

"What a pain." the voice complained; yawning. Ane shot at the eyes; firing a kick to see the shadow that was there temporarily vanish.

"It was a shadow...with eyes?" Ane thought surprisingly to then be hit by an uppercut which sent him soaring into the air. He landed on the floor and lay there silently. "How the hell am I supposed to fight a shadow!?" he thought; clenching his fists.

"Come on; go away man." the voice called. Ane frowned and shot to his feet.

"No way that's happening. I'm gonna save Lana no matter what." he shouted. The voice yawned and Ane stood there thinking. "Previously when I used my superspeed he could have kept up with me but his constant attacks stopped. So in other words if I keep moving about using my speed I won't get hit by his barrage of blows. Plus I'm beginning to get a sense of a pattern between his strikes." he thought to then duck; a blow striking above him moments after. "Again, Speed Adjustment X2." he thought to then pace all across the area; constantly dodging and ducking strikes accurately.

"This is becoming more of a pain." the voice remarked dryly. "I guess I should stop making my weapon do all the work." he continued as the glowing eyes closed. Ane scoped the area where it used to be to get struck in the face. The boy spun to the ground and then punched up. "Now!" he thought. His eyes widened and he pulled back his fist quickly but it got slashed; blood spraying from it. Ane jumped back. "How in the hell did I know?" he thought panting.

"You're so persistent. Go away." the male voice called as the eyes reappeared with a  now visible shadow as its body. The figure was unclear but it seemed to be made of flames which weren't emitting any sort of light. Ane frowned at the shadow.

"This guy is really annoying." the boy thought as the enemy yawned. Ane shot across the room with his fist raised and the shadow blinked before casually falling asleep. Ane grinned to then spin into the air and a striking sound was heard from beneath where a shadow of a rod appeared there faintly. Ane fired a kick at the man-like shadow which backed up and opened it's eyes.

"Get lost!" it roared striking Ane with a hand of dark flames. Ane screamed in pain as he flung backwards where he fell onto his knees; holding his stomach. Spit seemed to fling from the boy's mouth onto the floor but when Ane lifted his head it was revealed to be drool. He had an insane grin on his face and only one of his eyes was visible and it was glowing full red.

"What is this mixed up emotion?" Ane asked himself as he held his head; chuckling.

"That isn't good." the shadow remarked sighing. Ane eyed him. "It's about time we end this." the shadow said as dark flames appeared just before it slashed at the ground. "Shadow Strike." it said dryly. A blade of darkness spat at the ground. There was a faint delay before the ground gave way under Ane and fell back with him. Ane was launched out of the darkness by a kick from the shadow; back into the room where he  had left Ene. 

"Ane?" Ene thought with a frown as he eyed his best friend falling backwards.