Henry looked between them, realization creeping in.
Henry: "Wait… this is your son?"
Ronnie didn't answer. His eyes never left Elion's.
Ronnie: "I… I told them you were being held. That the Soul Reapers took you. But…" his voice cracked just slightly "… I knew you were one of them."
Henry's expression hardened—the lie cutting deep.
Henry: "You lied to us."
Ronnie swallowed hard, his voice low.
Ronnie: "I had to. You wouldn't have agreed to help me otherwise—."
Henry interrups
Henry: "How would you know?"
Elion's voice was calm, almost cold, but his eyes flickered with something unspoken.
Elion: "So all of this… was just to get me back?"
Ronnie stepped forward, fists trembling.
Ronnie: "Don't call me that like I'm a stranger to you."
Elion: "You are a stranger to me. I am nothing like the boy that had lived with you."
The silence after those words was heavy, crushing—until the floor shuddered from above. Rai's golden cloud blotted the sky, and Joren's laughter echoed from the far wall.
Elion (quietly, to Henry): "You're the one they really want. And I'm the one sent to take you."
His hand drifted, and flames emerged from his palm.
Elion: "Don't resist. It will only make things more difficult."
Henry: "Do you know what we have done just to find you?"
Elion: "I heard the news; you guys have been busy."
Elion's fingers curled around the flame, the quiet hum of its energy filling the ruined penthouse.
Ronnie stood rooted in place. Every instinct screamed at him to act. His jaw clenched, his breath shallow.
Ronnie: "Elion… don't do this."
Elion: "It's already done."
The moment shattered—a golden blur crashed through the ceiling, Rai riding his cloud down like a comet, staff whirling. The shockwave from his landing threw Henry and Jack back, while Joren surged into the pit, detonations rippling from his fists.
Joren (laughing): "Looks like it's our lucky day!"
Lenny staggered to his feet, raising a plasma shield, but Joren's next blast punched straight through it, sending him tumbling into Emilia's arms. Ichiro lunged to intercept, only for Joren's feet to slam him aside with casual precision.
Henry rolled to his feet, blue Heavenly energy already sparking across his arms.
Henry (to Ronnie): "If you're not going to move, I will."
Before Ronnie could respond, Henry blurred into Shooting Star, streaking forward in a flash of blue light. His fist—wrapped in roaring Heavenly energy—collided with Rais's forearm, the impact exploding outward and forcing the Soul Reaper back a step.
Henry (to Jack): "Get up! We split them—now!"
The order snapped the group into motion: Jack shot toward Rai, lightning blazing; Lenny flanked Joren with smaller plasma bursts from his mouth; Emilia's mist turned into floating blades, and Ichiro attacked Joren up front.
Ronnie still couldn't move.
Jack (to Rai): "You're not taking him."
Rai's grin widened.
Rai: "We'll see about that."
Jack's wings tore through the smoke, lightning curling down his arms, pushing Rai outside of the building into the night's sky. Rai turns his legs into giant monkey legs, kicking Jack away. Underneath him emerges his golden cloud. He stood balanced on it, staff spinning so fast it blurred. The two collided mid-air, every clash of claw and staff sending shockwaves through the city.
Rai (grinning): "You hit hard for someone who's still going to lose!"
Jack: "We'll see who is still standing."
Jack ducked a staff strike, whipping Rai's legs with his wings—but the Wukong tail held the cloud, swinging Rai towards Jack and giving him a combo of kicks before rebounding onto the cloud in one fluid motion.
The golden cloud split into multiple copies, each carrying a Rai-clone, all diving toward Jack at once.
Joren spun into a crouch, slamming his palms to the floor—a chain of explosions raced toward Emilia, forcing her mist to part. Lenny hurled a plasma sphere, the impact erupting into light, but Joren punched through it, detonations spiraling off his arms.
Ichiro dove in from the side, wind swirling around his blade.
Ichiro: "Now!"
Lenny fired a wide plasma beam while Emilia's mist wrapped around Joren's legs, binding him in place—the blast hit, filling the room with blinding light.
When it cleared, Joren was still standing, smoke rising from his scorched coat, his grin wider than before.
Joren: "Finally, a challenge."
Henry's blue Heavenly aura roared to life, his eyes locked on Elion. The younger man's stance was calm, fire dancing on his palm, expression unreadable.
Henry: "I don't want to fight you."
Elion: "Then you'll lose."
Elion blurred forward, his flames meeting Henry's glowing fist in a burst of sparks. Henry countered with a Shooting Star dash, appearing behind Elion and swinging, but the Soul Reaper pivoted just in time, the two locking into a tight exchange.
Every strike Henry threw met with burning hot fire from Elion's hands, the balcony shuddering beneath their movements.
Ronnie stood at the ruined entryway, his Lightning Awakening crackling faintly around his arms—but he didn't move. His eyes were locked on Elion, watching his son's powerful attacks, the boy he'd raised now fighting on the opposite side.
He didn't hear Joren's laughter, Jack's roars, or the crash of plasma against steel. All he heard was Elion's voice in his head from moments ago:
"You are a stranger to me."
His fists clenched—but his feet stayed rooted.
Henry's body glowed blue. Blue shining silhouettes of him attack Elion. But each of them is met with a cut of flames.
He pushes himself towards Henry with a burst of flames—meeting his stomach with a punch covered in flames.
Henry throws a punch but only hits flaming air. Elion creates a hand out of flames, holding Henry and slamming him into the wall.
Elion: "You are no match for me, kid."
Henry coughs a little.
Henry: "Kid? You don't look that much older than me."
Elion: "I can see why he took you in."
Henry: "Yeah?"
Elion: "You were just like me back then. Weak and begging for help."
Henry appeared in front of him with Shooting Star, clashing his heavenly fist with Elion's fire fist.