Snap.
The sound of his fingers breaking the silence was sharp and clean.
Roy watched as Marie's body jerked, her gaze unfocused for a moment as if clawing her way out of a dream. When her eyes finally settled on him, he could see the fear blooming there: trembling, unsteady.
She looked like a cornered animal.
Roy lowered his hand slowly, pretending to scratch the back of his head, though his fingers twitched.
"Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you."
Her voice came out shaking.
"Wha... why do you want to see me?"
Roy didn't answer immediately. He could feel the pressure building at the back of his skull. The thing inside him was awake again, whispering.
'She doesn't trust you,' the voice hummed. 'Don't let her get the first strike. End this.'
He ignored it.
"I just want to clear up a misunderstanding," Roy said in his calm voice.
"A misunderstanding? What misunderstanding? And what did I see? And why, even though I just met you today, do I feel like I..."
Marie said loudly before Roy interrupted her.
"I will answer all your questions, but first answer me: do you know what the space stones actually do to give you powers?"
She shook her head.
"No...?"
Marie's breathing was shallow. She looked ready to bolt or explode. He could see it in the way her pupils dilated, in how her hands trembled like loaded springs.
Roy sighed softly.
"Before anything, let's deal with that. Attack me."
Marie raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Attack you?"
He began to bounce lightly on his feet, muscles loosening. He needed her to move. He needed her to stop shaking.
"Yes, attack me. Your body's hyperfocused and your fear is turning into anger. Attack me, tire yourself out so you can understand the information I'll tell you. And there's something you need to experience yourself."
'Or she could just die here,' the voice in his head purred. 'She's vulnerable. It'd be easy.'
He ignored it again.
"And don't worry, you won't be able to cause me any serious injury. That is, of course, if you can hit me in the first place."
He saw the moment anger overtook fear in her eyes.
'Good. Anger I can handle. Fear makes people unpredictable.'
She slid into an attacking stance, and Roy let his body relax, hands loose, breathing steady.
She lunged forward fast. A direct punch: simple, clean, no hesitation. But she was still too slow. Roy swayed aside, the air from her fist brushing against his ribs.
Then came the ice bullet. A small flash of light-blue death. Roy melted into the shadows just as it screamed past.
Confused, Marie turned around, expecting him to be behind her.
"Looking in the wrong place," he said.
She spun, startled. Roy watched her movements carefully.
The second punch came. He dodged again, barely a thought in his head.
"You need to find a new way to attack me. Repeating the same thing won't work."
She stepped back, frustration crawling up her throat. Roy could see it. Feel it. The air was getting colder around her, prickling against his skin.
'Oh, here it comes,' the voice in his head murmured, almost excited.
Roy watched as Marie closed her eyes. The air whipped into a frenzy. Her power filled the rooftop like a living storm. He smiled, not because he underestimated her, but because this was the first real move she'd made.
When the burst of freezing wind erupted outward, he ran into the shadow cast by the school's ledge. The moment darkness swallowed him, the world bent, and he slid out through Marie's own shadow behind her.
Momentum carried him upward. He landed lightly on her head like stepping onto a moving stone, then pushed off again and flipped to the ground.
"That was actually strong," Roy said, grinning. "Too bad I'm just that good. You better stop holding back."
'You should too.'
Roy shook his head.
For a heartbeat, the grin on his face faltered.
Marie didn't notice. She was too far gone. An ice blade formed in her hands, sharp enough to split bone. She lunged at him again and again. Roy dodged, letting instinct guide his steps.
The moment he saw her eyes glaze, he understood. She wasn't fully here anymore.
Roy slipped into his shadow, the cold darkness wrapping around him like water. Dozens of him bled out from every dark patch on the roof. Shadows given shape.
Marie didn't think. She attacked the nearest clone, slicing through it like smoke.
'Pathetic,' the voice hissed. 'She's losing control. You should end it now. Before she becomes a problem.'
Roy clenched his fists.
'No,' he thought back. 'I won't kill her.'
'Then she'll kill you.'
Marie's swings grew more chaotic, faster, her power freezing the air solid. The rooftop turned into a battlefield of blades and shadows.
Roy and his clones leapt higher and higher, using each other as platforms. Marie followed with jagged ice steps, her breath coming out in white clouds.
Then he saw it: her eyes. Not Marie's anymore. Something else was looking through them.
And in that gaze, he saw the same look from the memories earlier.
'She's weak,' the voice snarled. 'Do it. Kill her now.'
Roy froze midair. His clones vanished. For the first time since the fight started, he didn't move.
"SHUT IT!"
The words ripped out of him like thunder. A shockwave blasted outward, cracking the rooftop and flinging Marie backward. The voice in his head laughed, low and amused.
She crashed into the ground hard. Her vision flickered between two worlds.
Roy hovered above, the wind whipping around him. Fire licked at the edges of his form, a reflex he barely controlled. His power wanted out.
For a split second, he saw himself not hovering over a scared girl, but over a corpse.
'Do it. Finish it. She's dangerous.'
He gritted his teeth.
"No."
The fire expanded anyway, swallowing her last glimpse of the world before she fell unconscious.
Silence.
Just his heartbeat.
And the whisper in the dark:
'Next time... you won't resist.'
Roy lowered himself to the ground, standing over Marie's unconscious form. His fists were shaking.
A minute passed in silence. Roy sat on the ground beside her, trying to steady his breathing. The voice had gone quiet, but he could still feel it there, waiting, watching. He looked at Marie's unconscious form, concerned that he had been too harsh.
"Agh..."
Marie woke up, clutching her head in pain.
"Hey, sorry about that," Roy said awkwardly. "Is your head clear?"
Marie looked at Roy, clearly unimpressed.
"Yeah, pretty clear. So are you gonna start talking or what?"
Roy, seeing that she was okay, started explaining.
"You see what happened to you when we fought? The voice and the vision. Do you remember it?"
"Yes, I do. Do you know what they are?"
"Try not to be shocked."
Roy waited for a second before continuing.
"They are from your previous life."
Marie looked confused.
"What?"
"Past lives. You know them. You were someone who died and then..."
"Yeah, I know what past lives are, but how? What I saw couldn't be Earth..."
Marie paused for a second before the realization hit her like a train.
"Yeah, they aren't from Earth. In fact, they aren't even from this universe. You could say they are from another universe or dimension if you want."
"Wait a moment."
Marie requested time to digest all of that.
"You're telling me that there are other universes, and I was living in one before my death and being reincarnated here?"
"Yeah, that sums it up."
Another realization hit Marie at that moment, one that made her heart race. The color drained from her face.
"So the reason I was afraid and angry when I saw you was because you..."
"Killed you? Yeah. In my past life, I was the one who killed you."