Forgiving Light

Chapter 4

That night, I tell Yuma where we are going. He insists on coming along, but I deny. It will be dangerous. Black Mist is unpredictable. Who knows what he will do?

Dark decides to come with us. He gets bored easily, so he told us that some "fun" will be good. I do not get why he would find this "fun," but to each his own way.

"When are we going?" Dark asks. He seems especially hyper. "Is it night yet? Is it? It is?"

"Can you calm down?" Justice demands. "You're giving me a huge headache."

Dark stops bouncing around and goes right up to Justice. He pokes his nose playfully. "Can you cheer up? You're making me depressed." He laughs.

"You don't seem that depressed, Dark."

"Well, I'm in too good of a mood!"

"Well, spar with someone to douse that energy of yours."

"Okay, since you suggested it, let's spar!" Dark gets into a battle stance, and he beckons to Justice in a mocking way. "Come on, Warrior. That is, if you're not afraid."

Justice glares at Dark and pulls out his silver sword. "Is that any way to talk to one that is of a higher Rank?"

"Oh, please! I'm stronger than 24! You said so yourself."

They advance toward each other and circle around, searching for some kind of opening. None of them make the mistake of making the first move. They know better.

Dark feigns an attack, and Justice falls for it. As soon as he swings his sword, Dark swiftly twirls out of the way. He uses that momentum to swing around and deliver a roundhouse kick to the curve of Justice's back. He then goes forward and punches his abdomen, which is then followed by hitting Justice with his knee upward then kicking him downward. Justice lands and falls face down on a gear.

"Who's next?" Dark smirks and cracks his knuckles.

"Not done yet!" Justice comes back up and kicks Dark's jaw with his heel. He slashes through his chest and hits Dark on his temple with the butt of the sword, leaving Dark disoriented and unbalanced. Justice knees him in the abdomen and elbows him between his shoulder blades. Dark falls harshly, and he is unlucky enough to hit a few gears before landing on his side. His chest wound overflows with dark purple blood, which mixes with the black blood from the scar.

Yes, the blood is still there.

Dark gets up painfully and curses.

Justice grins arrogantly. "Let this be a lesson. Don't you ever turn your back on me."

Dark looks up and giggles. He gets up and rams into Justice's side, and they both fall over. They wrestle in the air to see who gets the fall, and Dark dominates. Justice crashes into the gears. They come up a few seconds later, throwing punches and kicks and jabs. They fight viciously with fire in their eyes. The pumping adrenaline causes them both to ignore their quickly growing injuries. Finally, Dark pins Justice down and smirks.

"Pinned ya," he giggles. He gets up and flexes his muscles. "Well, I'm good and warmed up now. I say we go."

I get up. "I agree. Night has fallen. Let's go."

Dark brightens up. "Alright!"

"Oh, no you don't!" Nebula scolds. "I've got to see to those wounds right now. You two did a great deal of damage to each other."

Dark huffs. "No need to worry," he pouts. "I'm perfectly fine."

I clear my throat and point to his heavily-bleeding wounds. He looks, and he pouts. Nebula tends to both of their wounds quickly and efficiently. We set off as soon as he is done because of Dark's impatience. We all make ourselves unseen by humans as soon as we exit the Key. Well, all of us except Dark. He seems to think it is a game. He jumps across the rooftops like a prominent, white and black beacon. He is especially bright since it is a moonless night.