Crowned

Arc 1, Chapter 24: Time is Running Out.

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Power is not good nor evil.

It is a tool.

The evil one is the person wielding it.

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Life is like a flame.

One that can go out at any moment.

Fan clenched his fists tighter, the energy building up rapidly. He began running towards Balloon, Nickel, And Paintbrush as fast as he could. He jumped into the air and his scarf ruffled out into his wings again, he then took flight.

Paintbrush wiped the sweat from their face and readied themselves.

"Balloon... Now would be a good time to do that power thing you did!!!" Nickel yelled as he focused his energy into his claws, making them bigger than before.

"I— I don't remember how!" Balloon cried in a panic.

"HOW DO YOU NEVER REMEMBER HOW TO USE YOUR POWER—?!! AGH—!" Nickel yelled as Fan tackled him first.

They tumbled across the ground, grass dying beneath Nickel in the process. Nickel tried to kick fan off of him, but Fan punched him straight in the side of his head. A loud explosion rang out along with Nickel's scream.

"NICKEL!!!" Balloon screamed, his eyes sparked a brighter yellow.

Paintbrush backed up, they couldn't do anything without potentially dying. Luckily they didn't need to because Balloon went running towards Fan.

Fan was standing above Nickel. Nickel's face was melting, and the molten metal had caught part of the dead grass beneath him ablaze. Fan chuckled until he heard the footsteps in the deceased grass behind him. He turned and was about to fire an attack.

Balloon however channeled his energy as best he could, causing an ice attack to fire from the palm of his hand. Which caused Fan's hand do freeze and rendered it useless.

Balloon then tackled fan to the ground. And punched him in the side of his head over and over again. His punches weren't significantly powerful... But they still hurt Fan and disoriented him momentarily. Fan eventually kicked Balloon off of him. Balloon yelped as he tumbled backward and fell flat on his back.

Balloon groaned and winced as his bleeding fists from punching Fan began to regenerate.

Fan slowly stood and saw Paintbrush approaching, he blasted the ground in front of Paintbrush which sent them flying back from the shockwave. Their fire sparked purple through the deep red.

Fan chuckled at what he had managed to do. All three other objects were still recovering from what happened.

The crowd near the front entrance were panicking. What could be done?! How could they stop Fan?! OJ glanced at Paper, who seemed worried and scared...

OJ felt the ache in his back and grumbled angrily, as he stepped forward. Paper swiftly grabbed his arm.

"OJ!!! What are you doing?!" Paper squealed in a fearful tone.

"Helping... What else?!" He said in an aggravated, and angry tone, as he walked towards the battle. Grabbing the bandages that were wrapped around his torso...