Amari and Daniel were still catching their breath when the mysterious man started talking again.
"I'm somebody who is here to give you a request," he said.
Amari and Daniel both froze.
Daniel stepped forward, eyes narrowed.
"Who are you?"
The man smiled, calm and confident.
"My name is Jacob. Jacob Dark."
As soon as he said it, Amari and Daniel went on full guard.
Amari's voice was sharp.
"What are you doing here?"
Jacob looked at them like they were nothing.
"Remember I said I had a request? Okay… spit it out."
Daniel's voice was cold.
"Come on. Say it."
Jacob's smile turned into a cruel grin.
"Come join us. With you two, we can rule the world. We can rule everybody."
Amari stepped forward, anger building.
"No. Why would we want to rule people? Take their freedom from them? We're not like that."
Daniel's voice hardened.
"That's why we came to stop your evil."
Jacob laughed, loud and dark.
"You really think you can stop us? We're the strongest on Earth. Nobody touches us."
Daniel's voice went icy.
"Didn't we already beat one of your men?"
Jacob scoffed.
"He was weak. He was holding us back. He needed to go."
Daniel shook his head.
"See? We can never be that cruel. Kick someone out just because they're weaker."
Jacob's face twisted with rage.
"Well since you decline the offer… I've got to kill you now."
Sam's voice exploded in their earpieces.
"BE CAREFUL!"
Amari and Daniel nodded.
"We know," they said at the same time.
Amari could feel Jacob's essence.
It was massive.
It was powerful.
His voice was calm, but his energy screamed WAR.
Daniel looked at Amari.
"I don't care. Life or death. He was going to kill us."
Amari nodded.
"Right."
Daniel launched first.
He slammed his fist into the air and charged toward Jacob.
The ground cracked as rocks flew up from the force.
Daniel swung his fist, but Jacob dodged easily.
Then Jacob grabbed Daniel's arm and pushed him away like he was nothing.
Amari fired a green beam toward Jacob, but Jacob blocked it like it was nothing.
Jacob laughed.
"If this is all y'all got… this will be easy."
The two boys powered up again.
They charged.
They attacked with rapid speed.
Punches. Kicks. Non-stop.
But Jacob blocked everything with ONE hand.
Amari tried to hit him with a beam again.
Jacob kicked him.
Amari flew back, hitting the ground hard.
Daniel rushed forward and punched Jacob hard in the side.
Jacob jumped back.
He stared at them like he was bored.
Then Jacob spoke.
"It's time to stop holding back."
He screamed.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Amari and Daniel looked at each other.
Jacob's essence kept rising higher and higher.
The air around them shook.
The ground trembled.
Then Jacob moved.
He dashed so fast it was faster than a blink.
He punched BOTH of them in the stomach.
The wind was knocked out of them.
They fell to the ground.
Daniel got up first.
Jacob kicked Daniel in the arm.
Daniel yelled in pain.
While Daniel was distracted, Amari sent his Green Dragon attack.
But it didn't even scratch Jacob.
Jacob grabbed Daniel and knocked him out.
Then he dashed toward Amari and punched him in the face.
Amari blacked out.
⸻
AMARI WAKES UP IN THE CAVE
Amari woke up in a dark cave.
His vision was blurry.
He looked up and saw a green dragon.
Not real… but still powerful.
Amari whispered.
"How… how are you here? Where am I?"
The dragon's voice echoed inside his mind.
"We're inside your mind… your essence."
Amari's eyes widened.
"My essence?"
The dragon continued.
"When Jacob knocked you out, I connected with you through your essence."
Amari shook his head.
"That makes a little bit of sense… but how are you real? You just move."
The dragon said:
"When you made me into the Green Dragon move, you pushed so much focus and essence into me, you made me into a being inside your essence."
Amari stared at the dragon.
"Wow… that's a lot to take in."
The dragon replied calmly.
"I know."
Amari stood up.
"Why am I here? I have to get back out there and save Daniel before he dies!"
The dragon's voice was serious.
"I know. Calm down."
Amari's heart raced.
The dragon continued:
"I can lend you some of my power."
Amari's eyes widened.
"You can?"
The dragon nodded.
"Remember when you and Daniel were training and you made the armor with me? That's when I was created. When I swallowed you and formed the Green Dragon armor."
Amari stared at the dragon.
"I can let you do that again… but only for one minute."
Amari frowned.
"Why only one minute? Why can't you give me all your power?"
The dragon's voice grew serious.
"Because if I give you all my power, I will fully take over. You would lose control of your body."
Amari's face hardened.
"So you're telling me… if I take too much, I lose myself."
The dragon nodded.
"But if I lend you a quarter of my power, you can control it."
Amari took a deep breath.
"Okay. Now let me out. I have to save Daniel."
The dragon replied:
"Okay."
⸻
BACK IN THE REAL WORLD
Amari woke up in the field just as Jacob was about to finish Daniel off.
Amari screamed:
"GREEN DRAGON!"
The dragon emerged from Amari's hands and swallowed him.
Green armor covered Amari's body — shiny, scaly, powerful.
Amari dashed toward Jacob.
He punched him in the face.
Jacob flew back.
But he was still standing.
They stood face to face.
The battle was far from over.