Back to Present.
The final fight between Job and Phineas had begun. One of the most important battles Phineas' would have to face. Panting and reflecting on his upcoming challenge, he decided not to rely on Ealker's experience but to use some of the experience he has gathered since he met The Senses. As the crowd jeered, the fighters stared at each other, neither one of them attacking the other. Phineas leaped into the air, throwing his fist at Job, although Job avoided it and deflected the attacks with ease. He stared into Phineas' soul, trying to find a way to speak to Ealker.
He landed in Ealker's fortress, built inside of Phineas's soul. He sat on a mountain of corpses, looking down on Job.
"C'mon, we could accomplish so much more together," Job said. "You could do so much better than that weak prick."
He stared down at Job, giving it a little thought before responding.
"I appreciate the offer, although I have other plans." Ealker laughed
After Ealker declined his offer, he escaped Phineas' soul. As scraps of metal dropped from the sky, they wrapped around Job's fist, creating a god-like gauntlet.
"Zing Zang: Mjolnir's Wrath" Job shouted.
"I thought you only manipulated gravity," Phineas asked.
Job sprinted down the slanted ground, attacking Phineas. Although his gauntlet was thrown in the opposite direction of the fight, it went miles away from the palace as he continued to fight using his gravity techniques. He pulled it back to him.
"When you've trained as much as me, you gather a few tricks," Ealker responded.
Job had gathered a crazy amount of static energy by rubbing the steel together vigorously as it flew towards the glove, ready to unleash it on Phineas. As he blasted the energy at Phineas, he saw thunderstorms form behind him. In Job's vision, his thunderstorms began to turn pink; their rough and gruesome lightning became pink and fluffy. The fluff began to wrap itself around Job's neck, strangling and choking him on the verge of death. However, Job began to see through it and provided Phineas with a deadly smack from the gauntlet, which threw him to the ground. His hesitance to finish him allowed Phineas to use Muri and escape the danger.
As Job goaded him, the crowd began to laugh at Phineas, with him being flicked from one side of the palace to the other. Job gathered all the metal and blades and created a tornado by scraping and rubbing against each other. The gust of the tornado shocked the crowd. He put all the energy into one blade and dragged it down from the sky, piercing Phineas' chest.
Hatred, covered in blood from his last fight, spoke to Phineas.
"Prove us wrong," Hatred said.
Just a second before the lightning would pierce Phineas, a cloud formed around his chest, protecting him from death.
Phineas shouted, "I summon Crossair the Cloud Dragon!"
The dragon towered over the crowd. Phineas stood on top of it, finally feeling a sense of superiority.
The crowd looked up in amazement while Job smirked at the clouded monster.
"You really think winning the fight will change anything?" Job asked, "Why do you care so much for these people?"
"If people want to kill each other, they can, but it shouldn't be something that is forced on them!" Phineas responded.
Job pulled the remaining metal towards him, good or bad, and built a mountain he could stand on to face Phineas head-on.
The clouds around him coated Phineas in a cloud-like armour, which he infused with Uri. The thunder sang around him.
So this is Phineas Thobert!" He laughed.
Phineas smiled, Filled with doubt and disbelief, he finally let it all go. He jumped with all his might towards Job, who also replied with his fist, smacking his fist against Phineas'. The skies parted, and the wind blew a few of the crowd away. Phineas had broken Jobs' arm; his bones were fractured in pieces, unable to gather together. Phineas stood over his first proper villain, and Job smiled when he saw the damage that they had caused.
"I name you Phineas Thobert, the Messenger from Hell!" Job shouted, still recovering from the attack.
He tried to catch an equally tired Phineas off-guard by dragging two blades from opposing sides and piercing them through his chest.
But before Job knew it, they had switched places. Phineas' Muri allowed him to trick Job into throwing blades at himself. Although the switch caused blood to flood out of Job's mouth, he dropped to the ground.
The crowd stood in silence, and a giant pause was played. The silence reduced, and people began to clap in the crowd and began to roar with praise for Phineas.
He passed, limping, through the crowd, dragging Job by the neck.
Phineas smiled as he passed through the crowd, with people cheering and chanting for him. This journey was an example of actual exploration for him.
He walked to Formicidae to hand her over to the queen.
The Queen looked in amazement and spoke, "I'm surprised, Phineas; you are something special. Do as you wish with him."
Job was dragged to his cell, cursing Phineas every step of the way.
The two stared at each other from different sides of the jail bars. A guard walked by and provided Job with a glass of water.
"So, Phineas, what do you plan to destroy next?" Job asked.
"We're going to visit the Spades; we've taken down Zelsior, one of their biggest Alxits," Phineas responded.
"Now it all makes sense," Job scoffed. "I used to be a part of the Spades, and they won't go down easy."
"If the rest of us play our parts, we'll do just fine," Phineas said.
The two nodded with a slight respect for each other.
"I should warn you, Phineas." Job began to cough. He grabbed onto the jail bars and held on for dear life.
Job began to cough out blood; he didn't understand what was going on. Phineas used Muri; he didn't realise the water he was drinking was filled with a deadly poison; he died on the spot.
Job uttered his last words, "I'll see you in hell, Phineas."
Phineas returned to Zelsior so he could see Hatred. However, as he returned, the citizens were confused, as for so long they had followed Job's rules.
"Zelsior, the cycle of hatred and anger that has plagued the city enough. This cycle has been pushed and encouraged, fueling conflict and division among you."
There was a silence that muttered through the crowd.
"This cycle benefits no one. It only serves to destroy our community, death after death, and our future. We have to stop it and break free from the chains of hatred that bind us." Phineas preached.
Someone from the crowd stood up and shouted, his face filled with confusion. "What do we do now? How do we stop following rules that have been a part of our lives for so long?"
Phineas continued, sensing the shift in the crowd's mood. "Stay vigilant; stay united. We need to organise ourselves if we share information and prepare defences for our city if necessary. We need to show the Spades that we won't be controlled by hatred and fear.
It won't be easy, but we need to communicate, forgive, and work together to rebuild trust, with each of us committing to end the cycle."
He explained to the crowd that someone needed to step up and hold it down to maintain the peace.
From the crowd, a woman's name began to spread, and strands of her blond hair fell as she coughed and walked to the front of the citizens. These people were in disbelief, like staring at a ghost.
"It's really her," they said. "I thought she was dead."
She spoke, "Many of you will know me as Nika; whether you consider me a rebel or a protestor, I truly did and still do care for our people."
The crowd seemed to be swayed by her words.
She continued, "We've all been through some shit, but if we gather together, we can save each other!"
Hatred and Phineas seemed convinced by her words; the crowd cheered for her as well as additional praise for the two.
As she stared over a cheerful and hopeful crowd, a sense of relief came over Nika. Finally, after a painful and agonising time, she had gotten what she wanted.