Silence lingered over the ruined battlefield.
The city had long since vanished beneath shattered streets and fractured earth. Great scars stretched across the land where previous clashes had torn apart the terrain. Dust drifted lazily through the air as two figures stood opposite one another, neither making the first move.
Gene rested one hand inside his pocket while watching the man before him with an almost lazy smile. Champ stood perfectly still, his expression unreadable. For several long seconds, only the wind spoke. Gene finally broke the silence.
"So did you guys really came here to wage war because Lord Arata refused your invitation to work with you guys?"
Champ's eyes never left him.
"I'm just following order none the less…but the Soul Circuit is too powerful. If not with us, then it's a threat."
Gene slowly tilted his head backward before letting out a quiet laugh.
"You guys are just afraid."
The words echoed.
Something in Champ's expression hardened. His calm disappeared instantly. The ground exploded beneath his feet. BOOM! He vanished. Gene's smile remained.
Champ appeared directly in front of him, his fist already driving toward Gene's face with enough force to cave in mountains. Just before impact a strange wave rippled outward from Gene's body. It spread like invisible water across reality itself. Champ's punch passed completely through Gene.
The shockwave alone blasted apart the ground behind him, sending countless slabs of earth soaring into the sky. Champ's eyes narrowed. A voice came from behind him.
"Why are you so overly angry?"
Gene stood several meters away, hands still in his pockets, smiling exactly as before. Without hesitation, Champ spun around and rushed him again. This time he threw a devastating right hook. Gene met it with a straight right punch. Their fists collided. BOOM!
A violent shockwave blasted outward. Champ instantly redirected his arm, turning the collision into a flowing chain of strikes. Gene adapted just as quickly. Left jab, Right straight, Elbow, Palm strike, Low kick and Feint.
Each attack flowed naturally into the next, changing rhythm every second. Champ blocked every one of them. Gene's eyes sharpened. He changed tactics. His shoulders dipped.
He threw another feint. Then another. Then three more. Each one was designed to draw a reaction. Champ ignored none of them.
He matched every movement perfectly. Then he began doing the exact same thing. The same rhythm, same angles, the same timing. Gene's smile faded slightly.
"Is he copying my attacks?"
Before Gene could adjust Champ suddenly accelerated. His fists became a relentless storm. One, Two, Five, Ten. Gene blocked several. Dodged others.
But Champ continued adapting with frightening precision. A heavy right cross slipped through Gene's guard. CRACK! It slammed directly into Gene's face.
Gene flew backward before skidding across the broken earth. Champ was already above him. He descended like a falling meteor. His foot crashed downward.
BOOOOM!! The ground collapsed beneath Gene as the impact created a massive crater. Gene coughed blood. Champ looked down at him coldly.
"You don't have any right to be apart of this war. You are weak."
For a brief moment…Gene simply smiled.
"Is that so…"
His figure vanished. Everything disappeared. The battlefield, the crater, the shattered sky…Champ himself. Everything dissolved into darkness. Then reality returned.
The ruined battlefield reappeared exactly as before. Gene and Champ were once again standing several meters apart…Untouched. As though the previous exchange had never happened. Champ stared at Gene.
His eyes narrowed.
"…Mental ability…The annoying types."
He slowly exhaled.
"Since when was I under your illusion?"
Gene's smile widened.
"From the moment we got here…You were always under my illusion."
A faint silence settled between them. Then black energy erupted from Champ.
The pressure rolled across the battlefield like an endless tide.
"Circuit Embodiment — Mirror."
The energy surrounding his body twisted violently.
His appearance began changing. His face, physique…Even his posture. Within seconds another Gene stood before the original. Same black hair, face and eyes. Even the same relaxed smile. Gene looked at him before sighing.
"Seriously? You have such a low self esteem you change into other people all your life?"
Champ merely smiled.
"Provocation won't work anymore. My circuit allows me to mirror anything you do."
Gene chuckled.
"Let's see about that."
The instant the words left his mouth both disappeared. BOOM!! They collided in the center of the battlefield. Gene closed his eyes briefly. The Gift of Dreams activated.
Within his consciousness…He dreamed of another reality. A reality where he had lived as the greatest master knight ever known. Black steel emerged from thin air. Piece by piece. A magnificent suit of jet-black armor wrapped around his body.
A dark helm concealed his face.
A long black cape fluttered behind him. Finally a perfectly forged black sword materialized in his right hand. Across from him Champ's Mirror Circuit responded instantly. Black armor formed over his body. A matching helm appeared.
An identical black sword settled into his grasp. Even the flowing cape mirrored Gene's exactly. Gene slowly spun the sword in his right hand. The blade hummed through the air before he stepped forward. One clean slash. Champ met it immediately.
CLANG!!
Brilliant sparks exploded between them. Steel screamed against steel. Gene continued pushing. Instead of pulling away after the clash, he allowed his blade to glide along Champ's sword.
Metal scraped violently. SCREEEECH! The pressure forced Champ's grip open.
His sword slipped free. It spun high into the air but before it could fall Champ calmly caught Gene's blade between both palms. The sharpened edge stopped inches from his face.
Blood trickled from his hands. Gene's eyes widened slightly. In that tiny opening he pivoted, his hips rotated sharply and his right foot whipped across.
THUD! The kick struck Champ square in the chest. The mirrored warrior was launched backward through the air.
He flipped once, then twice before landing perfectly on both feet. Without even looking he extended one hand. The black sword lying in the distance trembled. SHING! It shot through the air and flew directly back into his grasp.
Gene lowered his own sword.
"You can try and mirror what I'm doing…but you're not me. You don't think like me."
His crimson eyes sharpened.
"Dream Collapse."
A dull cracking sound echoed across the battlefield.
Crack…Crack…Crack…
Champ's body began splintering like fragile glass but the fractures were not physical. Inside his subconscious…His dreams and childhood aspirations…The very foundation of who he once wished to become…Began breaking apart. Tiny fractures spread through those treasured memories. Just before everything shattered Champ's eyes widened.
With overwhelming force, he expelled Gene from his own mind. The invisible connection snapped apart. Champ steadied his breathing.
"That ability is annoying…Your death won't be painless."
Gene smiled without the slightest hint of fear.
"It is you that won't survive."