My tears fell freely now, streaking my soot-stained face as I clutched the glowing vial in my trembling hand. The faint light of blue and purple flickered against my skin, so delicate—so fragile—compared to the storm raging inside me.
I gritted my teeth, forcing back a sob, my gaze locked on the figure hovering in the distance. The woman I loved… or rather, the cruel, warped reflection of her.
"Izumi…" I whispered, her name barely escaping my lips. My throat tightened. My grip on the vial did too. "I'm sorry… but I'll save you. Even if it costs me everything."
The vial's seal broke with a faint hiss, the luminescent liquid swirling inside like a living entity. No hesitation. No second-guessing.
I brought it to my lips and drank.
The instant it touched my tongue, it was as if I had swallowed fire. My body recoiled, rejecting the foreign energy invading me. The empty vial slipped from my fingers, shattering against the cracked pavement as I collapsed onto my knees.
"Aghhh!" A scream tore from my throat as my veins ignited with unbearable heat, glowing like molten lava coursing through my flesh. My muscles spasmed violently, as if trying to tear themselves apart.
I gasped, my vision swimming between white-hot light and suffocating darkness. Every nerve in my body burned, my fingers clawing at the shattered ground beneath me. The agony was indescribable—like being ripped apart and rebuilt over and over again in an endless cycle.
Then, suddenly… it stopped.
I inhaled sharply, my chest rising and falling as I struggled to steady myself. My limbs trembled, but the pain was gone. No, not gone—transformed. Something else had taken its place.
I felt it—an overwhelming power coursing through me, surging in my veins like a living pulse of energy. My skin shimmered faintly, my hands trembling as blue and violet light flickered beneath the surface.
When I opened my eyes, the world itself seemed… clearer. Sharper. And then, I noticed the reflection in the broken glass beneath me.
My irises… they were no longer the same. They shone with the same vibrant hues as the serum, like flowers blooming under starlight.
A deep hum filled the air as raw energy radiated from my body. Small fragments of debris lifted from the ground, caught in the invisible current of my power. I slowly rose to my feet, my heart pounding with a mix of resolve and sorrow.
"Izumi…" My voice trembled, but my fists clenched with unwavering determination. Energy rippled from my fingertips. "I know you're still in there. No matter what it takes, I'll bring you back."
Across the ruined city, Alter Izumi hovered like an untouchable goddess of destruction. The black sphere above her palm pulsed with ominous energy, its darkness swallowing the very light around it.
Her crimson eyes—so unlike the warm, gentle ones I once knew—burned as they met mine. And then… she smiled.
"So, you chose to take it," she mused, her voice carrying an eerie, almost amused lilt. "And now what, Daichi? What do you hope to accomplish with that borrowed power?"
I stepped forward, the ground cracking beneath my foot as my aura flared in response. "I'll stop you," I said, my voice steady, despite the storm in my heart. "No matter what."
For a moment—just a moment—her expression faltered.
It was subtle. The slightest flicker of something behind her crimson gaze. Doubt? Hesitation? A ghost of the woman I loved?
But then, it was gone.
"You're a fool," she said, her tone sharp, cutting through me like a blade. "I'm doing this for you, Daichi. Everything I've done… everything I'm about to do… it's all for us." Her voice softened, almost tender. "Why can't you see that?"
"Destroying humanity isn't the answer!" I shouted, my voice breaking under the weight of my emotions. "This isn't you, Izumi! I know the real you would never—"
"Enough!"
The black sphere in her hand pulsed, sending ripples through the air. Her crimson eyes narrowed, her lips twisting into a cruel smile.
"If you're so determined to stop me…" Her fingers tightened around the dark energy, its core crackling with violent red lightning. "Then show me, Daichi. Show me the strength of your convictions."
My breath hitched as the space between us became charged with unbearable tension.
And then—she moved.
Faster than a streak of lightning, she closed the distance between us in an instant. I barely had time to raise my arms before her strike landed. The impact sent a shockwave outward, shattering what little remained of the ruined buildings around us.
"Izumi, stop!" I yelled, my voice straining against the roar of our collision.
But she didn't stop.
Her attacks came faster, more relentless, each movement executed with lethal precision. I dodged, countered, fought back—driven by desperation rather than intent to harm.
Every time our energies clashed, the earth trembled beneath us.
"You're hesitating," Alter Izumi sneered, catching my wrist mid-strike. Her grip was firm—painfully so. "You can't win if you're afraid to hurt me."
I gritted my teeth, raw energy crackling in my free hand. "I don't want to hurt you!" I shouted, my voice breaking. "I just want you back!"
For the first time, she hesitated.
Her expression wavered—only for a second—but I saw it.
"Daichi…" she murmured, her voice no longer filled with venom. For the first time, I heard something else. Pain.
But then, as if she caught herself slipping, her eyes hardened. She shoved me back with a burst of force, sending me skidding across the rubble.
"You're too late," she whispered, the black sphere above her hand expanding. Its energy grew darker, more chaotic, crimson lightning arcing from its core. "This world… these people… they took everything from us. I'll end it all, Daichi. And then… we can finally be free."
I caught myself, panting, my heart hammering against my ribs. My gaze locked onto hers, searching—pleading—for the woman I once knew.
"Izumi," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "You're wrong. Freedom doesn't come from destruction. It comes from fighting—for ourselves, for each other. That's what you taught me."
Her hand trembled.
The black sphere flickered, unstable, as if reacting to my words.
For a moment, her crimson eyes softened, her lips parting as if she wanted to say something.
Then—
"Stop it!" she screamed, her voice breaking.
The black sphere crackled violently, its energy distorting the air. The pressure around us became unbearable, the ground splitting apart as Alter Izumi raised her hand higher.
"Don't make me hurt you, Daichi," she whispered, her voice trembling. "Please… don't make me do this."
I clenched my fists, my aura surging in response. I stepped forward, ignoring the burning ache in my chest.
"I'll fight you, Izumi," I said, my voice steady despite the tears streaking my face. "Not because I want to… but because I have to. I'll bring you back. No matter what."
Her eyes widened, raw emotion flashing across her face.
Grief.
Anger.
Fear.
"Then you've already lost," she whispered.
And with a final, heart-wrenching cry, the black sphere above her hand surged, its energy ready to consume everything.
The air was suffocating, thick with dust and the acrid scent of burning metal. Each breath I took felt like inhaling the remnants of a world that had already crumbled. My chest rose and fell rapidly, my heartbeat pounding in my ears as I stood amidst the ruins of what was once a city.
And there she was.
Hovering above me, wrapped in a storm of dark energy that crackled and twisted like a living beast. Her long hair whipped wildly in the wind, her crimson eyes glowing—cold, unrecognizable. She looked like a specter of destruction, an avenger born from the ashes of despair.
But I knew the truth.
No matter how much darkness surrounded her, no matter how distant she seemed… she was still Izumi.
My Izumi.
"Izumi…" My voice was barely more than a whisper, shaking with desperation yet firm with conviction. "I know you're still in there."
For a moment, there was no response. Just silence. A silence so deep it felt like a void stretching between us.
Then, she smirked.
A cruel, twisted smirk that didn't belong to her.
"Still clinging to that delusion, Daichi?" Her voice was sharp, cutting through the ruins like a blade. But there was something beneath it—an imperceptible hesitation, a crack in her confidence. "The woman you knew is gone. She died the moment humanity betrayed us."
"No!" I shot back, my voice breaking against the emptiness around us. "You're wrong! This isn't you! The Izumi I love—she wouldn't want this!"
For a fleeting second, her glowing eyes flickered. A tiny shift. A shadow of something familiar.
Hope.
But then, like a mask snapping back into place, her gaze hardened, and her smirk disappeared.
"Love?" she scoffed, her tone laced with bitterness. "Do you think love can undo what's been done? Can it erase their sins? Their lies?"
I clenched my fists, feeling the pulse of energy beneath my skin, the warmth of my power rising. "It doesn't have to erase anything, Izumi! We can move forward—we can heal! But this… destroying everything… it won't bring peace!"
She laughed. A hollow, broken sound that sent a shiver down my spine.
"You're naïve," she murmured. "You always were."
I took a step forward. The ground cracked beneath my feet, a reminder of the fragile world we stood upon.
"Maybe I am," I admitted. "But I'd rather be naïve than give up on you."
Her breath hitched. I saw it.
"You told me once—back then—that even in the darkest moments, there's always a way to keep moving forward. Do you remember that, Izumi? Do you?"
Her crimson eyes darted away for the briefest second.
"I…"
Her lips parted, uncertainty flickering in her expression. The black energy swirling around her wavered, pulsing unsteadily, as if even it was unsure of its existence.
But then she shook her head violently, her hair lashing through the air.
"No," she hissed. "Don't do this to me, Daichi. Don't make me doubt."
My heart clenched. She was fighting me. But more than that… she was fighting herself.
"Izumi," I said, softer now, letting my voice carry every ounce of emotion I had left. "Please. You don't have to carry this alone. You don't have to fight anymore. Let me help you. Let me save you."
Her hand trembled. Just slightly. The dark sphere forming in her palm flickered, as unstable as the conflict in her eyes.
"Daichi…" she whispered.
For a moment, she looked like she might reach out. Like she might let me pull her back from the edge.
But then—like glass shattering—it was gone.
"No!" Her scream ripped through the air as her aura erupted outward. A shockwave tore through the ruins, sending debris flying in every direction. "You don't understand, Daichi! I've already made my choice! And you… you'll hate me for it, but I'm doing this for us!"
"For us?" My voice cracked, raw with anguish. "How is this for us, Izumi?! Destroying everything we've ever fought for—everything you believed in—how is that for us?!"
Her lips trembled. She hesitated.
"Because… because it's the only way," she whispered.
I gritted my teeth. "No, it's not! You're just scared! Scared of what happens if you let go of this anger—this pain!"
"Shut up!" she roared, her crimson eyes blazing as she hurled a bolt of black lightning at me.
I barely dodged in time. The spot where I had stood exploded into a crater of shattered stone. But I didn't stop. I couldn't.
"You think I don't know what it's like to be scared?!" I shouted. "I've lost everything, Izumi! My family, my friends, my home… even you! But even so, I refuse to give up! Because that's what you taught me!"
She froze.
Mid-air, with the storm raging around her, she faltered.
"I… taught you?" she murmured, her voice barely audible.
"Yes," I said, taking another step forward. "You were my light, Izumi. Even when everything fell apart, you were the reason I kept going. And I know—deep down—you're still that same person. You're still my Izumi."
Tears welled in her crimson eyes.
Her grip on the dark sphere weakened.
"Daichi… stop." Her voice was fragile, barely holding together. "Please. Don't make this harder than it already is."
I shook my head.
"I won't stop," I said, reaching out. "Not until I bring you back."