A sign attached to the front of a building read, "Attack of the Cursed Unicorns Part 2." Silver, Air, and Garret looked up at it, its luminescence bouncing off their faces even in the daylight. The little girl stood at the ticket booth, gesturing at the employee inside.

  Garret scratched his head. "She lives in a movie theater?"

  Silver scoffed. "Of course not. She's obviously just been messing with us. And if I remember correctly, she was taking coins from Air." He cupped his hands around his mouth. "How are you even affording that?!"

  After being given a ticket, the girl turned around and dangled it at the three boys watching her. Silver gasped when he noticed the familiar brown rectangle in her other hand.

  "Ah! My wallet!"

  Silver tried running after the girl as she skipped into the theater, but the guard at the entrance stopped him. Without a ticket, he wouldn't be allowed in. Air and Garret were close behind.

  "What're you gonna do?"

  Silver placed his hand on Garret's shoulder. "I need you and Air to give me whatever money you've got. The rest of my cash was in my wallet. One ticket costs forty-five mint coins."

  "Oh, sorry."

  Silver turned and saw Air already on the other side, standing behind the guard with a ticket in hand. In the short moment Silver had been talking to Garret, he had managed to get himself a ticket.

  Silver's mouth fell open. "For real?"

  His surprise only deepened when Garret slid beside Air.

  Garret chuckled nervously. "Ah, I... kind of want to see a movie."

  Air gave Silver a thumbs-up as he and Garret started backing away. "Don't worry. We'll totally get your wallet thingy back."

  Now Silver was left outside, forced to wait for the boys to come back. He walked over to a bench and slumped onto it, defeated.

  Inside the theater, the boys followed the path that led them to the room screening Attack of the Cursed Unicorns. They pushed open the red doors and entered the large room. The movie had already started. As they walked up the stairs toward their seats, they scanned the room for the girl.

  Garret pointed toward their row, and coincidentally the girl was sitting right between their assigned seats. She was eating from a popcorn bucket the size of her torso. The boys sat down beside her.

  "Hey, can you give us-" The people sitting behind Garret shushed him.

  Garret leaned closer and whispered, "Can you give us that wallet back, please?"

  "Yeah, Silver really needs that," Air added.

  The girl placed a buttery finger over her mouth. "Shhh." Then she pointed at the screen.

  Soon enough, both boys were absorbed by the bright, colorful characters moving across it. Before they knew it, two hours had passed. When the credits began rolling, Air and Garret had almost completely forgotten about Silver's wallet.

  The girl got up and walked out of the room.

  It took the boys a moment to realize she was gone, but they quickly followed. When they ran into the hallway, they saw her standing at the opposite end, where another corridor branched away from the theater entrance.She stood there as if waiting for them. The moment they spotted her, she turned and ran.

  Air and Garret had no choice but to give chase. They ran through several hallways before reaching a set of doors. When they first saw them, one door was already closing. They burst through and found themselves in an alleyway. They caught a glimpse of the girl's blouse turning the corner.

  "How long is she gonna run for?" Air asked.

  "Hopefully not much longer. My legs are really starting to hurt..." Garret said, nearly out of breath.

  Before they could continue chasing her, Garret suddenly collapsed. Air began turning around to see what happened, but he was met with a flash of purple. The world spun around him.

  Then everything went black.

  ———

  Air's eyes fluttered open. His head still spun from whatever had hit him earlier. As the seconds passed, his vision slowly cleared. Metal bars sat directly in front of him. When he tried to stand, his head struck a metal ceiling. His eyes widened as he realized he was stuck inside a cage.

  A familiar smell hit his nose, but he couldn't quite place it.

  Despite the severity of the situation, his mind was still on the girl and getting Silver's wallet back.

  "Without his wallet, Silver wouldn't be able to eat. And he'd starve to death." Is what he thought. Air gripped the bars and pushed. Nothing happened. He kept pushing until he heard footsteps.

  A faint iridescent light illuminated the darkness as someone approached. The person stopped in front of him and stood there silently.

  Air punched the ceiling of his cage. "Hey! Did you put me in here? Where's Garret?!"

  A chuckle followed as the man crouched down.

  Before Air was a smooth metallic face. No mouth. No nose. No hair. Just a set of glowing golden eyes.

  "What's your name?" the man asked.

  "Air."

  "Do you know how to fight, Air?" Despite the man's covered mouth, his voice wasn't muffled. There was a metallic undertone to it.

  "Uh... what?"

  "Part of you does, even if you don't remember it. I've heard that's the case for every Advent. Why do you think that is?"

  "I think you're confused..."

  "A special kind of violence has been woven into your instincts," the man continued calmly. "There has to be a reason for that. Unfortunately, even I don't have the money or power to find out."

  He leaned slightly closer. "So another question entered my mind. What would happen if those instincts were pushed to their limits? And how much would people pay to witness that?"

  Air stared at him silently.

  "Hey," the man said as he stood up, "you ready to make me some money?" He turned and walked away, laughing.

  Air sat there, completely confused. He would have scratched his head if there had been space. Suddenly his body lurched. The cage was moving. A chain attached to one of the bars pulled him forward, dragging the cage through a curtain and into a circular arena filled with sand. The sound of thick metal doors slamming shut echoed behind him.

  Blinding lights hung overhead, forcing Air to cover his eyes. The awful smell grew stronger. Then he realized what it was. Blood.

  When his eyes adjusted, he saw a massive metal cage surrounding the entire arena. The small cage he was being held in abruptly unfolded like a cardboard box with its sides falling open.

  Air stood up. Across the arena stood a man holding a rusted metal pole stained with blood. The man looked disheveled. His hair was a mess, with patches torn from his scalp. His eyes were bloodshot, and bruises covered his body.

  Despite his battered appearance, Air recognized him immediately. Sebas.

  Giro had shown them what their targets looked like. A man named Sebas, the car he was retrieving, and an object he was moving with that car. And now Air was staring straight at him.

  Air smiled. "Hey! You're the guy! Giro told us to find you." He took a step forward.

  Sebas raised the rusted pole and pointed it at him. "Don't come any closer! You're not even real, are you?!" Despite telling Air to stay back, Sebas limped closer. "Just like before...you're playing tricks on me."

  Air noticed the hardened blood stuck to the side of the man's head. Whatever had happened to him, it was clear he wasn't in his right mind. Sebas screamed for him to shut up and lunged forward.

  He swung his weapon at Air, but the boy jumped cleanly over him. When he turned back around, Sebas was leaning against the metal wall, panting.

  A voice boomed from above. "Aw, poor Sebas. He looks tuckered out." It was the same metallic voice from earlier.

  "This isn't a death match, but part of me is hoping our new challenger puts Sebas out of his misery! Let me know if you agree!"

  The crowd roared.

  Air dodged Sebas's slow, shaky attacks. "Listen. I don't want to fight you! We're on the same side!"

  "No one's on my side!" Sebas shouted. Sebas ran forward, tripped, and collapsed face-first in the sand.

  "Oh~, is Sebas down for the count?" the voice mocked. "Don't pass out now. Do you know how many people bet you'd last five more minutes?"

  Sebas struggled on the floor. Something seemed to be pinning him down. Air stepped forward cautiously. Sebas thrashed wildly.

  Eventually he forced himself up and raised the pole again. Small grains of sand floated around his body. That's when Air remembered Giro mentioning that Sebas was also an Advent in team L.I.T.E. Many of the people who were recruited before Air and his group were also Advents working towards the same goal. Knowing Sebas was in the same situation as him made Air feel a sense of relatability.

  Air tensed his muscles when the pole struck his shoulder and sank harmlessly into his barrier. Air grabbed the pole and walked forward. Sebas backed away, fear washing over his face. The stress triggered his ability again. Causing his feet to stick to the ground. He let out a weak scream.

  Air drove his fist into Sebas's stomach. The man collapsed unconscious. He fell forward onto the boy's shoulder. He gently laid him down and looked up at the crowd.

  "I thought the thing with the birds was already bad enough," he muttered. "But this is just messed up."

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  He looked around at the cheering spectators. Ordinary people. Ordinary people came to watch this? It was hard for him to believe.

  "So what now?" Air called out. "Did I win?"

  "That you did, kiddo," the voice replied as confetti blasted into the arena.

  "Though that was just a warmup match."

  Air frowned. "What?"

  "Sebas had five fights before this one. Won every single one!"

  Air cringed. "With how hurt he was, why did you make him fight?"

  "Well, I was ready to let him rest," the voice said casually. "But the people were so desperate to see two special people duke it out."

  A hatch opened in the center of the arena. "Now place Sebas in there so we can start round two."

  Air hesitated.

  "Tick tock, kid! If you don't turn him in, he won't get treated. He'll die."

  Air clicked his teeth. He carried Sebas to the hatch and slid him inside. The hatch shut, and Air could hear the man sliding away.

  "What now?"

  "Round two! Now hold on to your hats, folks! Our rising star Unicorn Mask is about to face our newcomer here!"

  A figure stepped through the curtain. A familiar blue outfit. It was the little girl. She was now wearing a mask split pink and blue with a spiral horn on the forehead. Two eye holes had been cut out, but you couldn't see her eyes underneath them. Before Air could process what was happening, she launched toward him.

  "A battle between between a rising star, Unicorn Mask, and our very interesting newcomer, Air! Try not to kill him, I want to use him again tommorow!"

  Air hesitated to block. He didn't want to fight this girl. A clean punch slid across his face, carrying a surprising amount of weight. He barely had time to react before her next punch slammed into his chest. Luckily, his barrier activated, and her fist sank into it before bouncing off.

  Air raised one arm to block a downward swipe, then moved the other to stop a kick aimed at his abdomen. His barrier slowed her down just enough for him to keep up with the flurry of punches and kicks, but with the sheer weight and speed behind them, he knew it was only a matter of time before she broke through it the way Kelar had.

  Step by step, Air retreated while blocking each blow. His back hit the wall. The girl threw two quick punches. Instead of blocking, Air caught them and wrapped his fingers around her fists. She immediately drove a sharp knee into his chest. He could actually feel the tip of her knee pressing into his stomach.

  "Cut it out!" he shouted. Energy flowed into his hands, and he pushed outward. A powerful gust of wind blasted from his palms and forced the girl back. "Why are you doing this?"

  The voice on the speaker chuckled. "There's no use trying to talk to her, kid. I hear Unicorn Mask only speaks to those she trusts. Which is no one! Despite being such a small girl, she's got an ice cold heart!"

  That can't be true, Air thought. Even if it was brief, he had seen her smile once while they were watching Attack of the Cursed Unicorns. She was just a normal girl. How did she end up fighting in a place like this?

  "For those who haven't been regularly tuning in, Unicorn Mask has a win record of twenty to zero! She tore through some of our top competitors in just one week! Some believe she's a part of a demon summoned from the underworld. Personally, I'm inclined to agree. Why else would someone fight so hard for freedom?"

  Air leapt away from the wall. The moment he landed, the girl was already beside him. Her fist drove into his right side and a low kick swept his left foot out from under him. As he fell, she pulled her leg back and launched a kick straight at his head.

  Air raised his hand just in time to stop it from reaching his face, but the impact still threw him backward. He rolled across the ground before finally stopping. Her movements were incredibly fast and fluid. Keeping up was nearly impossible. If it hadn't been for his instincts, she would have completely overwhelmed him.

  Air ended up on his stomach.Before he could get up, the girl grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. Her elbow pushed through his barrier and dug into his spine, pinning him to the ground. Air struggled. He didn't know what to do. This girl matched his strength exactly, and she was an actually knew how to fight on top of that. He groaned as her elbow pressed deeper into his back. She leaned closer to his head.

  "Ohh, looks like she's started toying with the poor kid. I wouldn't count him out just yet, though. Regular viewers know exactly what happens when someone like him gets backed into a corner."

  Air's eyes widened. The girl's grip loosened for a split second. Air immediately gathered the strength to throw her off. She flipped gracefully and slid across the floor when she landed. Air pushed himself to his feet and pointed at her.

  "Listen, you! I've had enough!"

  She stood silently, watching him. Unbeknownst to everyone watching, Air had started building up energy in his finger. Since waking up, he'd normally released the energy after only one or two seconds. But while she had him pinned down, the girl had whispered something to him.

  She told him to build up energy in his finger until she give a signal. She had also told him to insult her while doing it.

  "You really are a demon, aren't you?" His finger began to tremble as more energy gathered. "You and your stupid mask. And your ugly clothes!"

  He had never concentrated this much energy into one point before. The strain spread through his entire body. A cold, sick feeling crept into his chest.

  "Look at me, everyone! I'm about... to end... her winning streak!" He was at his limit, but he held on. The confidence in the girl's voice earlier made it clear she had been planning something for a while. What convinced Air most was the desperate undertone beneath her words. He didn't know if trusting her was the right move. But he chose to believe in her desperation. That belief gave him just enough strength to hold on.

  The girl tapped her foot twice. Then she rushed forward. Air's eyes narrowed as he finally released the energy he had built up. Just before it fired, the girl grabbed his arm and pointed it upward. She drove her knee into his stomach as a small ball of compressed wind shot from his finger.

  The recoil blasted Air backward into the wall. To the audience, it looked like the girl had simply kneed him and knocked him away.Air slumped against the wall. The sick feeling had spread through his entire body, and he could barely move.

  The crowd cheered.

  "Well folks-" The announcer stopped mid sentence. Water suddenly began raining down from the ceiling. One of the sprinklers had been shattered by Air's blast.

  The girl raised her finger at a window on the far side of the room and wagged it mockingly. One by one, the remaining sprinklers burst apart and fell from the ceiling. Water poured over the crowd.Groans spread through the arena as people began heading toward the exits.

  "What!? Where do you all think you're going!?"

  A clicking noise echoed, followed by a pause. "Why aren't the doors locking? I swear I'll hunt down anyone who hasn't paid what they owe!"

  No one listened. People rushed out through the many doors leading outside. The girl grabbed Air and dragged him behind the curtains. Somehow, the metal door leading backstage had already been opened.

  She leaned Air against a cage before walking away.

  "Air?"

  Air slowly turned his head. Garret stood inside the cage he was leaning against, gripping the bars.

  "Oh. Hey." Air felt too weak to give a better reaction.

  "Thank goodness you're safe! I was worried something bad had happened to you."

  Air weakly pointed at Garret's cage. "How come you got a bigger cage?"

  ———

  The man with the metallic head slammed his fist down on the dashboard in front of him. He pushed his chair back on its wheels and stood just as someone burst into the room.

  "Grant Jack! We can't shut the sprinklers off. We don't know what's wrong."

  Grant Jack tapped his foot and looked down at the floor. "Of course. I hired idiots who can't even shut off sprinklers. Whoever suggested we use this building for our new arena last month needs to be tied to a chair and thrown into a river."

  The room fell silent when a scream echoed from outside the doors. One of them slowly opened. Silas stepped into the room with his head lowered. He carried what looked like a metal pipe, and blood dripped from its tip.

  Grant Jack pressed his fingers to the center of his smooth helmet as if pinching the bridge of his nose. "Great. Just fantastic, really. And why exactly are in here killing my men? Don't tell me you've forgotten about our deal."

  "Sorry. This is more important."

  "So you finally came to claim your revenge for what I did to Cinder?"

  Silas took a step forward. The two guards already stationed in the room rushed at him. Silas lazily swiped the metal pipe through the air.

  The guards suddenly stopped. Large cuts opened across their stomachs, and blood began pouring out. When they collapsed, a bit of their insides slipped onto the floor. Silas's weapon had never even touched them.

  Grant Jack took off his yellow suit jacket and ripped his shirt off, revealing metallic armor covering his entire body. He raised his fists, ready to fight.

  Silas waved a hand dismissively. "Sheesh. You really think the world revolves around you. Cool your shiny head. I'm not here to kill you, even if you deserve it."

  He stepped past the bodies and pools of blood and continued toward the other side of the room where another set of doors stood. Silas pushed one open and stepped halfway through before glancing back. "Oh, and I suggest we keep our deal intact. You're about to lose a lot of money and power."

  Then he walked into the next room. Grant Jack rose from his crouched fighting stance, confused by what Silas meant. A booming crash echoed behind him. He turned toward the one-way glass overlooking the arena. A figure with blazing hair stood in the middle of it. Pyre.

  She stood motionless for a moment before her head snapped upward toward him. Steam rose from her body as water from the broken sprinklers struck her skin.

  "Eugh," Grant Jack muttered.

  A second later, Pyre burst through the glass and landed in front of him. Grant Jack lunged at her in a half-hearted attempt to fight back, but she caught his wrist and twisted his arm.

  "It was worth a shot," he grunted.

  Pyre pulled her fist back and slammed it into his chest, sending him crashing into the wall. A deep dent formed in his armor as he slid down onto the floor. He looked up and saw the fury burning in her eyes. Her shadow loomed over him as she stepped closer.

  "Where are they?" she asked.

  "I've no idea what you're talking about, ma'am. And I thought you said you wouldn't interfere with my business as long as-" Grant Jack flinched when she slammed her knee into the wall beside his head, leaving a hole in the concrete.

  "The two boys you took. Black and green hair."

  Grant Jack stared at her for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Hold on. They have some sort of connection to you? I didn't know that. If I had, I wouldn't have let them in here!"

  He slammed his fist against the floor beside him. "Damnit. That little brat didn't tell me everything." Realization settled over him. He had been played. For some reason, that girl had convinced him to bring two ticking time bombs into this building. Had she been planning this from the beginning? Their entire deal had been built on trust. She had been so close to getting what she claimed she wanted. Why betray that trust now? He didn't have time to think about it with someone capable of crushing his skull standing right in front of him.

  The door suddenly burst open. "Boss! You-" The man froze when he saw Pyre.

  Grant Jack sighed. "They're in the room just behind the curtains lining the arena. Now could you please get out of here? I'm starting to get a headache."

  Pyre turned and leapt back through the shattered window. The grunt hurried over and helped Grant Jack to his feet.

  "Sir, I have bad news. About two minutes ago, Crystalbacks started attacking our bases all across the city. Our people are fighting back, but they need proper orders."

  "What? Why didn't anyone contact me?"

  "They tried, but all communication was cut off. And until just a moment ago, none of us could get into this room."

  "What do you mean?"

  "I know it sounds crazy, but no matter how hard we tried, it felt like an invisible wall was blocking us."

  Grant Jack rubbed the dent in his armor. "You know what? With everything else that's happened today, I believe you." He picked up his suit jacket and slipped it back on. It was clear he had grown too complacent. While those two street slimes, Silas and Harlan, were probably plotting around Pyre's presence in the city, he had been sitting comfortably in his penthouse. If he ever wanted to wipe out his competition, he would have to step up his game

  ———

  Silver's eyes shot open as an explosion sounded nearby. Dozens of men and women were flooding into a warehouse not far from the movie theater.

  He looked up at the sky and saw the sun already dipping lower. He must have been asleep on that bench for a couple of hours. Silver sprang to his feet and started running toward the explosion.

  If Air and Garret hadn't come back to wake him up by now, that probably meant they had gotten themselves into trouble. He only hoped this explosion wasn't part of it. He didn't really feel like dying today.

  As he got closer, Silver noticed crystals protruding from the attackers' bodies. They were throwing glowing red crystals into the warehouse. Each time one disappeared inside, another explosion followed moments later.

  The ground rumbled beneath them.

  Soon the entire building collapsed, and rubble began sliding outward into the surrounding streets. The debris shoved past parked cars and continued toward the sidewalk across the road. Civilians standing there were seconds away from being crushed.

  Silver swooped in and landed in front of them, the gravity orb clenched in his hand. When the rubble reached his feet, it suddenly became weightless and stopped in place. Chunks pressing against it halted as well, frozen mid-slide by the orb's influence. Silver waved the civilians away. They quickly scattered.

  Once they were clear, he released the orb's power. The rubble crashed down harmlessly. Silver looked around at the street. It was a complete disaster. He turned toward the crystalbacks, who were celebrating their successful attack.

  "You guys need to pay attention!" Silver shouted. "You almost got those people killed!"

  The crystalbacks looked at one another, then back at him. Without a word, one of them raised a hand holding another explosive crystal. A slow, unsettling smile stretched across their face.Silver's angry expression melted into a worried frown. This day might have just cracked into his top ten worst days ever.