Jae Rin woke up with a start, her insides knotting violently. Vomit threatened to head north as she ran to the toilet just in time for the bile to spill out from her lips. The ground shook as she emptied out her stomach, pieces of last night’s dinner floating amongst the musky substance she immediately flushed away. Rinsing out , she brushed and washed up with much difficulty as the building rocked with the shockwaves of the earthquake. Internal tremors rattled her bones as she stumbled into her bedroom, hastily throwing on her clothes before rushing out of her apartment.

            Outside, the city was in chaos. People ran blindly, frantically searching for a safe place away from danger. The asphalt around the building was split in some areas already and new cracks began to form as another wave shook the city. Towering trees crashed down onto parked cars as buildings began to tilt dangerously on their foundation. Random objects fell from the sky, injuring unsuspecting innocents. Mutants were everywhere, rescuing people from burning buildings or sifting through piles of rubble for any trapped souls. Firemen, police, paramedics, every sort of emergency aids were on the streets, attempting to calm the citizens and direct them to safety as efficiently as they could. Yet, people still ran like chickens with their heads cut off, screaming at the top of their lungs and flailing about.

            Jae Rin doubled over as nausea hit her and tremors twisted her organs about. A massive migraine began pounding away at her skull, hammering against the wall of bones like a jack hammer on concrete. The throbbing increased and she tugged at her hair in effort to relieve the pain. It didn’t recede and she collapsed as a shock knocked her over. She had difficulty isolating whether it was a wave from the real quake or the ones inside her body that was attacking her. Whatever it was, it was crippling, rendering her into a useless pile of flesh and bones.

            It was then that her phone rang. An unknown number flashed upon the screen as she pulled her phone out of her pocket with shaking hands. She accepted the call and felt her blood run cold with the voice that greeted her. It was him. Hoya.

            “So, Jae Rin-sshi, you’re still here. Even after the little two week notice. Brave of you, my dear, very brave.”

            Jae Rin flinched at his mockery. The malice dripping off his voice was enough to stun her into silence, even if he was miles away.

            “How did you find me? How do you know my name? Where did you get my number from? What do you want from me?” she managed to whisper. Her voice cracked in fear. Keep it together, Jae Rin.

            “Scared now are we?” he sneered, obviously teasing her for her small hiccup.

            “Hardly,” she spat, sneering at her phone in anger. “Now what is it that you want? What do I have of yours that you so desperately need? Even going as far as to stalk me for five long years?”

            “Me? Stalk you? Please, don’t be so full of yourself. I was tracking you more than anything,” he scoffed. Jae Rin grimaced at his degrading tone, biting back the haughty response that threatened to slip out. He chortled at his own psychological blow before continuing his verbal attack. “Hmm, what do I want from you? It’s too complicated for your little mind to comprehend over the phone, so why don’t we meet up, get all buddy-buddy. Meet me at the waterfront park. Ten minutes. Don’t be late.”

            “Wait! You haven’t answered my other questions yet. How did you get my name and number?” she asked, overlooking his ist comment. Now wasn’t the time for her to be a feminist, although her mind was already shooting out retorts. She was more curious as to how he managed to acquire her information and whereabouts.

            “Let’s just say, a little blue bird sang.” With that, he hung up. She listened to the monotonous dial tone, feeling her heart drop to the pit of her stomach.

            Dongwoo told him? But, why? Why would he tell him my name? Give him my number? This shouldn’t be so surprising, Jae Rin! They’re best friends! But, he’s my friend too, isn’t he? Well, they have been friends long before I came along. But, it shouldn’t matter, should it? Is this Dongwoo’s way of telling me that he supports Hoya? When the time comes...if the time comes...will he back him up? In the end, will we have to fight on opposite sides? Ah, stop over-thinking everything, Jae Rin. Just concentrate on your task at hand.

            “And what is this task?” she wondered aloud, stuffing her phone into her pocket. The sound of her wristwatch marking the hour brought her back to reality. Crap, I’ve got five minutes to get there. She her heel and began to run through the natural obstacles created by the quake, catching her footing from time to time as the ground rocked violently. A dark grey cloud loomed overhead, casting an imposing shadow over Seoul, masking the Heavens from the bleak disasters dawning upon the unfortunate city. Jae Rin squinted up at the grey veil, catching a glimpse of the sun before it was obscured by the thick clouds. Hopefully nature takes my side because it seems like I’ll be on my own in this fight.

--

            “Sir! We have an emergency!” a worker called out from his station. All around him phones were ringing, machines were beeping, and numerous windows were flashing on the monitors. A seismograph was recording wave lengths that were off the charts, numbers that were higher than anything written in that century.

            “What is it? What’s going on?!” the boss called from his office. He squinted out into the bustling workroom, watching his employees rush about. He stood up to go help them only to stop and grab onto a falling stack of files. The ground shook for the umpteenth time that day. Even though their headquarters were below ground, the Seoul Earthquake Center still felt slight tremors from the waves. Cushioned by the tens of feet separating them from the surface, the weak waves were still felt, defining the severity of what those on the surface must be experiencing                             

            The worker furiously typed away at his keyboard, printing out charts and stats, all the most recent information of the earthquake that kept flooding in. He tapped the desktop impatiently, muttering at the printer to hurry up before prematurely ripping them from their tray and running quickly to the boss’ office. He shuffled through the papers, ordering them in terms of significance. He placed the pile onto the overflowing desk, a graph measuring the quake magnitudes sitting on top.

            “Sir, it’s strange. I’ve been searching through the readings, measuring all the waves. I followed all the procedures, but I can’t…I can’t locate the focus.”

            “What?” the boss dropped the stack, mouth agape. “That’s geologically impossible. There’s no way an earthquake can occur without a focus. Where is all this energy coming from then?”

            “I…I don’t know, Sir? I’ve contacted the North American Earthquake Center and they haven’t a clue of what is happening.”

            “This isn’t good. We can’t release this information to the public. We’ll lose all the credibility that we have.” The boss ran a hand through his hair, releasing a tense breath. What was going on? What was this extraordinary disaster? Never had he encountered such a…a… what could he call this?

            “There’s another thing, Sir. This may sound crazy, but I’m pretty sure nothing will be normal after what I’ve seen today.” The worker paused, frowning. He didn’t know if this was something appropriate to say.

            “Well, what is it?”

            “You see, even though I couldn’t find the focus, I kind of, sort of discovered the epicenter.”

            Speechless. The boss and worker both were speechless. How could it be? An earthquake cannot be an earthquake with just an epicenter. It just couldn’t happen, logically, physically, geologically.

            “A miracle…” the boss murmured.

            “What’s that, Sir?”

            “This earthquake…it’s a miracle.”

            Little did he know that this was far from being a miracle. In fact, it was just as it seemed. It was a disaster, a disaster with an unforgiving ending.

--

            “Commander, White Haze has located her, he has located Black Mist,” the agent gasped breathlessly, having run down several levels to get to his boss. The Commander chuckled from his chair, smirking at the enormous world map hanging behind his desk. Tiny red flags tacked upon the board marked every country, every city the two mutants were sighted.

            “Oh? So soon?”

            “Almost a month earlier than usual, Commander. We believe he was tipped off.”

            “I see. What’s the reaction? Have they met face to face yet?” His eyes slowly scanned over the flags. They were his work of art, his masterpiece in the making. And, this day was probably the day he waiting for. He was finally able to paint that last, final of his Mona Lisa.

            “Earthquakes are raining down on Seoul, Sir. They’ve been recorded as high as magnitude nine on the Richter scale. Water levels are rising, and it looks like a typhoon is gearing up. Nothing peculiar has occurred yet, so it’s safe to say they haven’t seen each other.”

            “Excellent. Find out where they are meeting and tap into any nearby security cameras. After all these years, I can finally see them live in action and I want front row seats.”

            “You want to see them fight, Commander?”

            He laughed darkly, turning his chair to face his Agent. An evil smirk forming on his lips as he replied, “I wouldn’t miss it even if I’m on my deathbed.”

--

            Jae Rin skidded to a stop, grabbing onto anything stable as the ground shook. It was the strongest wave, by far. Trees were toppling over while cars sunk into liquefaction. The tremors subsided slightly and she stood back up. She brushed off some debris on her clothes and scanned the park for her opponent.

            A surge of power radiated from her left and nausea overtook her. She collapsed from the unexpected sensation, head whipping to the source, searching for her summoner. It didn’t take her long to find him within the mess of fallen debris.

            His eyes…they’re black, as black as my own powers. She flinched and stood up, eyes locked with his. Any feelings of sickness disappeared in the millisecond it took for them to meet eyes. She couldn’t look away. Even if she wanted to, she just couldn’t. There was just something about him that pulled her in, luring her closer towards him. It was as if the last five years hadn’t even existed, like she hadn’t been running away from him like her life had depended on it.

            My life did depend on it. I ran for survival, to live. Snap out of it, Jae Rin! Stop where you are! She shook off the strange spell he cast upon her and broke away from the staring contest, stopping just ten meters away from him. She didn’t even realize she was walking towards him in her trance. He’s just that dangerous…

            “You finally made it! I thought you were having second thoughts seeing how it took you so long to get here,” he sarcastically remarked. Jae Rin uncomfortably shifted her weight and glanced down at her shoes.

            Wait, why do I feel guilty? There’s no reason for me to be. Oh, that sneaky bastard. He’s trying to get to me. Her realization of his sly tactics showed through the grimace that adorned her face. Her anger brought him amusement and a wide smirk pasted itself onto his lips.

            A ray of sun broke through the cloud, casting a medallion sized patch of light onto the grass. It flickered dimly against the turf, the grey clouds threatening to snuff out its existence. But, that wasn’t what it should be afraid of. Not in the slightest.

            Hoya reached out and immediately the energy dry. The light disappeared without the aid of nature, under unnatural circumstances. He let out a satisfied sigh as the light rejuvenated his diminishing strength.

            “Ah, that’s the stuff. Want a taste?” he asked, conjuring up an energy ball and tossing it around. The orb hovered slightly, a white gas-like substance smoking off of it. As innocent as it may have seemed, the gas looked dangerous, deadly even. It sent shivers down her spine and her hairs stood on end. A tingling sensation brushed past her arms and she flinched as the ball flew just inches away from her ear, the energy so hot it singed the ends of her hair.

            Jae Rin didn’t blink. She forced herself not to. She couldn’t make herself look weak now, especially when her life was on the line. And her slip on the phone hadn’t helped her much either. If she let her guard down, he could attack her just as quickly as he had done seconds ago. Then, all would end, and easily at that. She couldn’t give it up to him so simply; she had to fight. And fight was what she was going to do.

            “You said something on the phone earlier, something about your reason for stalking me. So, what is it, Howon?” She held up her chin, bravely facing the dark scowl that shadowed Hoya’s face.

            “Don’t call me that. You have no right to call me that name. Only friends can.”

            “And victims of your stalking escapades don’t count as friends? Or acquaintances, at least. They aren’t just strangers if you keep following them,” she teased. It was risky, trying to weaken his defenses, but it was a risk she was willing to take. Anything she could do to get to him, she was going to try it. Besides, she liked seeing him annoyed. It just showed that he still was human, or had human characteristics at least.

            “Don’t try to outsmart me, you fool. Or else there will be dire consequence, consequences that you probably won’t live to see after I kill you for stealing from me.”

            “What have I stolen from you? What did I take that you so desperately need? And, how come I don’t even remember taking anything from you, let alone recognize you at all.”

            Hoya squinted at her, confusion masking his dark eyes. He could clearly remember the day, the time, the location, everything single annoying little detail that plagued him constantly in his nightmares of the unfortunate day. How could she not recall it? She was the criminal, so why couldn’t she remember?

            “You…you don’t remember anything?” he asked hesitantly.

            “What am I supposed to remember? I honestly can’t think of any situation where I took something from someone, not even in my childhood.” Puzzled, Hoya’s anger began to falter. He took a step back, overwhelmed by the confusion of their predicament. “You still haven’t told me your reason yet. I can assume that it has something to do with this “thing” I supposedly stole from you.”

            “Well, yeah. It has everything to do with that! I don’t see how you can’t remember! You ruined my life!”

            “How?!”

            “You stole my powers! You stole my Umbrakinesis, damn it!”

            “What?”

--

            “Commander! We’ve located the mutants and have taken control of all available cameras in the surrounding area.”

            “Excellent. Where have you set up?” The Commander swiftly got up from his seat and was out the door, his messenger trailing not far behind.

            “We’re in the control room. It was the only place with ten monitors.” The messenger was gasping for breath trying to keep up with the Commander. He sighed as they finally reached the room, his rigorous chase coming to an end.

            “Ten monitors? Oh, this fight will be worth the wait then. Come, the show’s about to start. I can feel it.”

--

            Jae Rin stared blankly at Hoya who was staring darkly right back at her. Did I hear him correctly? Stole his powers? He can’t possibly be serious. She sifted through her memories, desperately trying to recount the events that led to the discovery of her powers. There were no recollections of a heist, nor were there any memories of Hoya at all. The only thing she could remember about her Umbrakinesis was that it mysteriously showed up one day. The day she turned sixteen. The day that marked her graduation into mutant adulthood. Could that have caused something?

            “Your silence is reassuring. Do you remember now?”

            “The only thing I remember about my powers is that it appeared when I turned sixteen. On its own. I didn’t ask for it; I didn’t take it from anything. It just came to me without warning, without time for preparation.”

            “That’s…that’s not possible. How can you not remember killing my parents and extracting my power? HOW?!”

            By now, his head was spinning rapidly, as was hers. His simmering anger finally exploded as he screamed in rage, releasing a small explosion of light. Benches nearby blew up, raining splinters of wood in Jae Rin’s direction. She dodged the wooden shrapnel and ducked behind a mailbox. Miraculously, it was still intact and upright in the chaotic, earthquake ridden city.

            “What do you mean? I know I’ve gotten into quite a number of fights, but I’ve never thought of killing anybody, nor have I tried. I’ve left them comatose, maybe, but alive still. Are you sure it’s not your memories that are a bit fuzzy?” she yelled from behind the metal shield.

            “Positive! These images, these visions, they are too real, too painful. They can’t be an illusion.”

            She peeked out to see where he was only to pull her head back quickly as a light spear flew by. His angry cries echoed into the air as he showered more light energy in all directions. He aimed at nothing, mercilessly blowing up everything he could see.

            Broken objects poured down on Jae Rin and she tried to protect herself as best as she could, curling up tightly into a ball. Hoya continued on his rampage, tearing out trees from across the field and blasting craters into the dust covered turf. He caught sight of her shadow behind the mailbox and began attacking the metal container with everything he had. With each attack, he grew angrier and angrier. How could she not remember?! What is this madness?!

            Jae Rin squeezed her eyes shut, blocking out the blinding flashes of light attacking her from behind. Even with the mailbox protecting her, the light energy blasting past her still burned her vision. Pressing her palms against her ears, she took labored breaths, trying to calm her senses, trying to drown out the loud explosive sounds created from light energy colliding against metal. Her back grew hot as the balls of energy finally started breaking through the first layer of her metal barrier, heating it up rapidly. It began to glow orange under his relentless attacks, slowly turning into a dark red.

            Unconsciously, Jae Rin leant back to dodge a falling branch, only to let out a painful scream that was music to Hoya’s ears. She had touched the mailbox burning a fierce crimson. Just the slightest brush against the heated metal had seared her skin, bubbles immediately rising on the raw pink patch. A spot of shirt disintegrated from the contact, leaving her speechless as to what it would’ve done to her skin if her shirt wasn’t separating the two.

            “Aw, sounds like somebody was a bit careless of their surroundings. On a scale of one to ten, with ten being really bad, how’s the burn? I got you good, didn’t I?”

            How is it on a scale of one to ten? Is he freaking kidding me? Jae Rin winced as shocks of pain pulsed from her burn. She scanned around her, frantically searching for another hiding spot. It’s useless. He has already ripped everything up out of the ground within a hundred meter radius. I probably wouldn’t even make it past five meters anyway. What do I do now? Something dark in her peripheral vision caught her attention and a glint of mischief flickered in her eyes.

            The searing pain on her shoulder wasn’t helping her in any way as she carefully reached under the now blazing mailbox with a trembling hand. The burn stung horribly, tender to even the slightest touch of a breeze as it grew in surface area with each passing second. Just before her fingertips entered the casted shadow, she stopped, hesitant whether her crazy idea would work. I saw him do it earlier with that patch of sunlight, so I should be able to do it too, right? Well, there’s no time for questions now. Here goes nothing…

            Hoya was thoroughly enjoying this. The pain he inflicted upon her, it made him feel powerful, limitless. He was in control of their situation, playing hard on the offense and leaving her no chances to attack him. I have the upper hand, and I can’t let go of it yet. No, I can’t lose control of it ever. I have to win. He hurled more light energy at her, a maniacal laugh escaping his lips and getting louder with each orb he threw at her. Flashes of light exploded into the air each time the light grenades landed, blowing gaping holes into the ground.

            “Enough of this hide-and-seek. Come out here so I can destroy you once and for--”

            A beam of dark energy exploded from behind the blazing mailbox, knocking Hoya square in the gut. The force threw him several meters back, knocking the air out his lungs. The energy burned a hole clean through his layers of jackets and shirts, charring his unblemished skin. A large red welt began to form on his midsection and became sensitive to the touch.

            Jae Rin peeked out from behind the mailbox, a triumphant smirk spread across her lips, amusement gleaming in her eyes. The tables had turned and now, she had the upper hand for the first time in their match. And, it felt good. To be able to stand above her opponent and see the fear in their eyes, it made her feel invincible. Don’t get too conceited, Jae Rin. You only hit him once. Shaking off the budding arrogance, she conjured up some shadows and began advancing towards her fallen foe.

            Hoya pulled himself towards a fallen tree, hoisting his aching body up onto unsteady feet. He groaned as the burn throbbed, twinges of pain emanating from his injury and rapidly spreading throughout the rest of his body. He leaned against the tree and watched Jae Rin slowly advancing towards him. Another groan escaped his lips as another wave of aches rippled from his abdomen. What just happened? Where did she get that power from?

            “How…how did you do it?” He barely managed to utter those words when another wave, another tremor pulsed from his wound.

            “You can say I picked up a few tricks in the past hour. Who would’ve thought I could learn something from an enemy like you,” she jeered.

            “What? You mean…” Gibberish sputtered from his mouth as Jae Rin mockingly nodded her head.

            “That’s right. The little show you put on earlier, the one where you soaked the energy from that patch of sunlight, gave me an idea. So, being injured and desperate, I gave it a shot. And whaddya know? It worked.” She snapped her fingers and a cloud of dark smoke engulfed her hand. She gazed at it, impressed at how such a meager amount of shadow could rejuvenate her energy tenfold. There’s still so much for me to learn, so many mysteries to unlock. Too bad I won’t get the chance to discover them.

            “You’re smarter than I made you out to be,” Hoya scoffed. He winced from another wave of pain. “But let me ask you this, how were you able to find the shadows? I thought I eliminated all the factors, all the objects that could cast any darkness.”

            “The mailbox is elevated. It doesn’t take a genius to know that there’ll be a shadow under.”

            “But, it was on fire.”

            Jae Rin chuckled. He really doesn’t get it, does he? “Well, genius, if there’s a light source, there’ll always be a shadow. The box was lit, but it hadn’t collapse yet. Therefore, I got my shadow.” With a smirk, she hurled an orb of dark energy at him and watched it explode against the tree trunk next to his head. He stared at her, wide eyed, confused.

            “You just had the opportunity to kill me, but you didn’t. What the hell?”

            “I play fair. If we’re going to duel, we do it the right way. Fix yourself up and meet me at the beach in half an hour. I don’t want to cost anymore innocent lives. Battling in the heart of the city doesn’t really help that.” Saluting, she ran into the city, weaving her way through the rubble and debris that now covered the streets. Hopefully I gave us both enough time. She jumped over some more obstacles, ducking out of the way of a burning branch. Eyes scanning, she frantically searched, glancing left and right for something, anything that would be of any help to her. She checked her watch, panicking as the timer flashed red. 10 minutes. She turned left at the next intersection and raced past abandoned stores and down a small street when finally she made it to her destination.

            The alleyway was cluttered with upturned garbage bins and shards of jagged glass, but it was the perfect place. Checking her watch one last time, she entered the dark, narrow alley, basking in the pitch black shadows.

So...I'm well aware of the fact that it took me over two months to update...It also took me two months to write this out.....The chapter is actually supposed to be significantly longer, but I had to split it into two parts. Which means, there'll be two more chapters! Yay, or nay? 

My classes this term are very time consuming, so I have little to no time to write. It depresses me, not being able to complete this story faster...But, in due time....It'll be complete.....

Huh, AFF has some new features. I especially like the comment replies because now, my replies will actually make sense hahaha keep an eye out for any replies below!

Thanks for reading and I hope all of you have a good day/afternoon/night~~~~!

See you in the next Chapter!

-greenninjapanda GNP-