Blue Nexus #70 - Once in a Blue Eclipse!

Previously in "Blue Nexus": The Sentinel of Pacific City fought hard against Axel, the Pillar of Combat, but was ultimately defeated. Kyle, dejected, tried in vain to convince himself that he could avoid the fight ahead. He went to Brenda to check on her when an ethereal form of the Grand Elder appeared and inspired them to fight back, sending them toward John and Axel, starting the final battle against the Six Pillars!

Smoke rose from the beautiful Orlando skyline, and Kyle could hear the cries of terror and the police sirens already. Gunshots popped all around them, even as they soared across the sky, zeroing on their target. Their rampage started from a large convention center and headed further into the city, taking them nearer toward the metropolitan area, a high-density population spot.

                And through it all, Kyle could sense Axel’s power growing and growing. He pulled back a hand when he saw them, standing in the streets. A large shadow dwarfed over several cars. Kyle gritted his teeth.

                “Hey Axel!” he shouted, and launched the ball.

                It shot across the sky. Axel dodged it, easily. Kyle powered up and launched himself again. John stepped between them and tried to block Kyle’s attack with a shadow, but it only partly absorbed his punch and he still connected with Axel’s face. Axel crashed back, tumbling along the ground.

                Kyle landed and saw a large shadow coming right for him. A red barrier appeared between the shadow and Kyle before Brenda came swinging down and kicked John in the side, knocking him away.

                Axel wiped the blood from his face and opened up his hand, allowing a bow to form. This one was much larger than the one from the camp. Kyle clenched his fist but did not create the lance from the Nexus just yet.

                “I missed you in Pacific City,” Axel said. “But I’m glad to see you again. And this time, thank God, I have permission to kill you.”

                “Good,” Kyle said. “I’d feel bad if I beat you and you held back.”

                Kyle felt some chills run down his back, but didn’t afford John the glance across the shoulder. He and Brenda braced their backs against each other.

                “He’s not holding anything back,” Brenda said. “Not that I’m surprised.”

                Kyle did observe their immediate area. They were near a lake, but still with quite a few buildings near them. Hopefully they’d been evacuated already, but Kyle couldn’t take that risk.

                “Do you think you could bring him out onto the water?” Kyle asked. “I’ll contain Axel.”

                “I’ll try,” Brenda said. “But I’m thinking he’ll try to pull similar tricks as Alucard, and spread his shadows all over the city.”

                “That’d be less than good,” Kyle said. “Want to switch, then?”

                “No,” Brenda said. “I’ll just have to try and literally contain him. Besides, I wouldn’t want to spoil your rematch with that one.”

                Kyle smiled. “Thank you, Shindari. And good luck.”

                They tapped hands and then burst forward toward their opponents. Kyle stopped short, letting the gust of wind from his sudden blast catch up and shoot passed him. Axel was buffeted by it a little but tried to pass it off as if it were nothing.

                “You should’ve taken her help,” Axel said. He raised the bow. “She’d be able to block my attacks, at least.”

                “Trust me, she knows how to take down a Demon mage,” Kyle said. “Unless you don’t think you’ll be able to take me for a third time, when I’m actually ready for you?”

                “You attribute your losses before to simple sneak attacks?” Axel asked. “You’re an idiot, I completely whooped you those last two times.”

                “You sure did,” Kyle said. “Try it again.”

                Axel drew back an arrow and released. Kyle dodged, despite the arrow changing course. It nicked his leg. Kyle blasted forward. Axel pointed the bow right at him and released, this time even faster.

                Kyle swung his arm, infusing much of his power into it, and punched the arrow away, then followed with his right arm for a cross. Axel blocked it, but Kyle’s sheer strength knocked him away. Axel managed to hold onto the bow.

                Kyle balled two pieces of energy and dodged another of Axel’s arrows. He leapt up, avoiding it, and cast one ball into the ground. The little explosion knocked him into the arrow and sent Axel back, but also created a nice cloud of dust. Kyle launched the next ball and dropped down, clearing the dirt. Axel blocked the ball and had the intuition to predict Kyle’s next punch. He blocked, with the bow, but Kyle followed up by grabbing onto the bow and pulling hard, slamming Axel onto his back. Axel was forced to let go of the bow.

                Kyle squeezed and tried to infuse the Nexus. Axel opened his hand and the bow dissipated. He remained on one knee, glowering across the street at Kyle.

                “You’re not any faster,” Axel said. “And you’re not any stronger, so what the hell was all that about?”

                Something buzzed on Kyle’s back. He grinned, spotting the opportunity. Of course, it was just the communicator going off, but now he had an opening. He reached behind his back, slowly, keeping his gaze solely on Axel, who squinted at Kyle in confusion.

                He tapped the button on that would allow communication through his earpiece, and heard Phoenix loud and clear, “Finally, thank all your gods! The teleporter is back in business, baby. Those of your fighting in Orlando, I’m about to send someone itching for a fight your way, just hold off for a few more seconds.”

                “What’s this all about?” Kyle asked. “Change. I’ve adapted to you, Axel, I know what your gimmicks are.”

                “You still can’t beat them,” Axel said. “Right now? I’m the best fighter on this rock. You could know every style of fighting there is, master every combat skill, and I’ll still toss you around the block.”

                “True,” Kyle said. “But that’s all you are: fighting. What about your mind?”

                Kyle filled his hands with energy balls and launched several at Axel. They flew at him, but most of them missed, instead continuing on. Axel had to dodge a few. Kyle kept his left hand open, but with his right hand strumming his fingers and felt out for the energy of several other balls. When he gripped all the ones he wanted, he clenched his fist and the energy balls came crashing down toward Axel.

                Axel leapt away, dodging all of them. He was certainly correct, he was incredibly perceptive in combat. But even then, he had a weakness.

                Kyle leapt toward Axel, coming in from the side to flank him. Axel noticed, smiling, and pulled back his arm for another weapon.

                “You think a like that’s gonna do something?” he asked.

                Kyle clenched his left fist and the few remaining energy balls headed right for Axel, whose attention was still squarely on Kyle.

                “Yup!” Kyle exclaimed, and pulled up. Once again, the gust buffeted Axel, and this time, put him right into the direction of the energy balls. They rammed into his side and blasted him toward Brenda and John’s battle.

                John reached out with a shadow arm and caught Axel. Kyle turned and prepared to beam for Axel but John unleashed a giant wave of dark Demon magic right for Kyle. A red barrier flew up and cut it in half, forcing it to disintegrate. John also fell back when Brenda pushed the barrier toward him.

                Kyle followed through with his move, propelling toward John. Axel reached out and grabbed John’s arm when he prepared another strike. This time, John himself moved forward, easily dodging Brenda’s next barrier and moving straight for Kyle. He had a thin purple aura around him.

                Kyle blocked the attack, and barely dodged Axel’s ensuing attack. John shoved Kyle back while Axel pounced.

                Another purple light filled Kyle’s vision and a boot came flying across the way, followed by a feminine body, and crashed against Axel, knocking him back into John’s shadow pillow. Both the Six Pillars groaned as they stood straight up again.

                “Glad to see you guys are just getting started,” Sandy said, decked out completely in her Violette gear.

                Brenda and Kyle joined her. John rolled his eyes. “You? Really? Some new, weak Combat mage?”

                “Oh, Shindari, I think I know which one I want to fight,” Violette said.

                “The help is welcome,” Shindari said.

                “Heh, pathetic, it takes two girls to challenge you, John,” Axel said.

                Brenda glared across the way and without moving a red barrier came up from the ground and hit him underneath the jaw, sending him airborne and dropping him back to the ground.

                “I don’t care that they’re women, I care that they die,” John said. “They’re in my way of destroying the city and corrupting the magic here.”

                “You won’t get close,” Brenda said.

                “Not even,” Sandy said, holding out her hands and letting them glow with all her magic.

                Axel recovered. “You’re dead!”

                “Keep the focus where it’s supposed to be,” Kyle said. “Axel, you’re with me. You don’t have the privilege of fighting those two, sorry.”

                Sandy nodded, and then sighed. “Oh, God, this is literally insane.”

                Brenda reached out and gripped Sandy’s shoulder. Kyle saw a little spark of red leap from Brenda’s hand, and Sandy sighed once again.

                “It’s what we do,” Brenda said. “Shall we, Violette?”

                Sandy nodded. “Blue Nexus, good luck. Holler if you need some help.”

                “I’d say the same,” Kyle said, and nodded his head to Brenda. “But she’s ten times the help I’d ever be. Stay safe.”

                The three nodded, and took off. Axel dove to the side, separating himself from John. Good, Kyle thought. No more impediments. Kyle stomped down with his foot to change direction, just as it seemed Axel would have wanted. Kyle dodged a wayward punch and tried to retaliate, but Axel blocked with ease and chopped at Kyle’s side. Kyle blocked and shouldered Axel away.

                “Maybe I’ll just keep messing with you for now,” Axel said. “Hopefully more of your Zanderia friends show up so I can just kill you all right here, right now, and spare Rafael the trouble.”

                “The only trouble Rafael’s going to have is finding a new Pillar of Combat,” Kyle said, falling into his fighting stance. “Maybe he’ll pick me.”

                Brenda’s barrier protected Sandy while she stormed toward John, who bathed himself further in the shadows and became practically invisible to either of them. Not even the light emanating off of Brenda’s shields could reveal him when Sandy dove headfirst into his large shadow. Brenda called out for Sandy but her voice got drowned out by darkness.

                Sandy swung out with her arms. Nothing there. It was like some sort of void. John’s physical body had to be around somewhere, and it was just a matter of finding it to defeat him. He could shoot out his Demon magic all he wanted—Brenda was just on the otherside making sure that it didn’t get far.

                Something passed by Sandy. She looked all around, not noticing anything. She was practically blind, and freezing.

                “Alucard gave you your powers, correct?” John asked. His voice echoed all around the darkness. Sandy held her hands up, providing light to absolutely nothing.

                “He’s got nothing to do with this,” she said. “Show yourself and fight me, unless you’re just a coward like your master, who prefers to have his little henchmen fight for him.”

                “My master has singlehandedly destroyed Magus Forest and killed the two strongest mages on the planet,” John said. His voice deepened. “And he controlled Alucard, the one who gave you your power. So, I ask you, what hope do you have of beating him? Clearly you’re weaker than Alucard, who must have been substantially weaker than Rafael.”

                “You’re right,” Sandy said, whispering. The coldness passed by again. Sandy shivered. “You’re totally right. But you know what’s something you’re overlooking?”

                “What’s that?” he asked. “I’m curious what your tiny mind things will be intimidating.”

                “Alucard was indeed serving under Rafael,” Sandy said, again as a whisper. This time she felt the cold, but it was a wave, coming from her right like someone just stepped by. “And as strong as he was, you’re still just his replacement.”

                Her hand shot through the darkness and connected with John’s ribs. Sandy quickly stepped into action, crushing her elbow against his elbow joint and then bashing her head against his. She heard his footsteps, finally, as he tumbled away. Sandy kicked out, knocking him free of the shadows.

                John got back to his feet, blasting her away with dark magic. Sandy fell through but was caught in some sort of dark web. She held her hand out and conjured a knife, cutting through one part of the web before John could attack again, punishing her arm. She heard a crack and felt a sharp pain before cutting herself loose and being blasted back once again, but the shadows rolled with her.

                John landed in front of her. She held her hand up like a flashlight to him. He cracked his knuckles, but a wave of darkness came instead of a fist. Sandy rolled away, giving John the opening to kick her in the fractured arm. Sandy’s arm fell back and stars filled the void of darkness.

                Her magical instincts kicked. She ducked away from a punch but couldn’t block the attack on her left side, the one with the broken arm. John brought another force of darkness against her and knocked her free. She landed, and pushed herself away from the shadow, finally snapping free and back into the warm outside.

                She skid against the ground on her knees, leading a small trail of blood while the rash started to form. Her shoulder felt off, too, and Sandy couldn’t help thinking that one of his attacks must also have dislocated her shoulder.

                Sandy glowered up to the tower of darkness that stood trapped within several red barriers. It grew higher and higher as Brenda combatted it from the sky. Sandy checked behind her, and saw Kyle and Axel exchanging complex blows, though Axel clearly had the upper hand, landing two strikes for each of Kyle’s one. When the wind shifted, she looked back to John, who walked out of his shadows, trying to look cool. In reality, he looked like little more than a man in his mid-twenties with a serious ego problem, wearing all black clothing to be edgy. Or match his magic, either or.

                “So your arm is broken,” John said. “Great. Now you can only fight at half power in a fight you couldn’t even win at full power. I’m curious how you expect this to go.”

                “Poorly for you,” Sandy said.

                “I honestly don’t get it with you heroes,” John said. “Like, you heroes. The ones that stand up against insurmountable odds. What do you expect?”

                A shadow shot out of the darkness and would’ve rammed through Sandy had she not dodged it in time. Another reached out and wrapped around her, binding her and squeezing her fractured arm. Sandy clenched her teeth together in an effort not to scream.

                “Now you’re gonna die,” John said. “It isn’t that complicated.”

                A red barrier formed between them again, and Brenda flipped away from her floating square and kicked John in the chest, blasting him back into his shadows. Brenda landed and grabbed Sandy’s broken shoulder.

                “Sorry,” Brenda said, and squeezed the shoulder tightly.

                Sandy couldn’t hold back the scream anymore, but relief started to sweep over her arm instead of pain. The mix felt strange, and quickly, irritation more than pain or relief settled in. Sandy felt the bones in her body reconnecting. She shook from the sensation, and her body locked up.

                A dark eruption forced Brenda’s attention back to John. He slammed his fist on the ground, and three pulses of dark magic rang out, but each one just ran through Sandy and Brenda as if they were intangible. Sandy watched as the rings ran beyond the barriers as well, rushing through the city streets.

                “If you don’t hurry, my magic will corrupt everyone it touches, Shindari!” John shouted. “I dare you to try and stop it!”

                Brenda tensed. “No!”

                “What?” John and Sandy asked.

                Brenda smiled. “I’m not falling for that trick. After all, it’s just like you said, this is all about Alucard. All about how you can’t live up to him.”

                “No, this has nothing to do with him,” John said.

                “Alucard did the same thing to me when we fought,” Brenda said. “He tried to divide my attention, just so he would be able to take us on one-on-one. Not today.” Brenda shrugged. “Besides, I don’t think you’re strong enough for it.”

                Sandy felt her arm suddenly lock and then relax. Back in business. She flexed her muscles and curled her fingers around. Magic poured like a waterfall from the shoulder down through her fingertips as the magical circuits in her body lit up, and her thin aura appeared around her. Brenda blasted her own aura.

                “Not strong enough?” he asked.

                “Listen to me, Sandy,” Brenda said. Sandy would’ve looked to Brenda, but John was raising his shadow higher and higher, bracing it against the walls. “I’m going to drop the barriers when he makes his attack. The sudden release should shock him. You’ll have about a second to attack, understood?”

                “And then?” Sandy asked.

                “And then I will have to chase the shadows,” Brenda said. “That dark pulse was indeed a bluff, but when that magic gets loose, it won’t be.” She placed her hand on Sandy’s shoulder again, and Sandy felt some sort of barrier around her, but couldn’t see it. Instead, her aura shifted from a pure purple to one mixed with some red sparks. “I’m doing all of this to give you just one second. If you can hit him, then you’ll be in the clear.”

                “And then?” Sandy asked, again. “I’ll have to get close.”

                “I know,” Brenda said. “Don’t worry about that.” Brenda sighed. “You ready?”

                Sandy opened up her palm and prepared an arrow on her bow. She pulled the string back, and then concentrated on her target. There was John, standing amidst a great wall of shadow, letting it expel from his body. Sandy couldn’t help but feeling its overwhelming power, but yet she didn’t sense much fromhim. Not like Brenda when she prepared her magic or like Axel as he fought Kyle. John, the body, was nothing compared to the demon magic that he poured out.

                One clean hit would be all it took. Forget the shadows, forget the darkness. Strike the core, the soul beyond all of it, and Sandy would have defeated one of the Six Pillars of Magic. Sandy pulled the string back, then shifted her glance to the bow. She exhaled and relaxed her muscles, keeping the arrow nocked on the bowstring. A second arrow, much smaller and invisible to anyone not keen to it, appeared just below the first arrow.

                “Ready,” Sandy said.

                “Don’t miss,” Brenda said, and though Sandy couldn’t see her face, she knew she said it with a smile.

                The barriers dropped, with Brenda giving the illusion that they shattered. Sandy quickly redirected her gaze back to John, and watched as she lurched forward. Not yet.

                The magic poured like black ooze, toppling from the barriers and crashing against the streets, flowing and racing out an incredible speed, and with the force of a rapid river. Brenda shot into the sky, following the magical energy as it made its way toward the heart of the city.

                Not yet.

                John still recovered, and then looked to Sandy while the shadows remained around him. He’d kept some near him. He pointed to her.

                NOW!

                Sandy loosed the arrow, and let the second arrow come right up on the bowstring. She mocked having fired it and turned away from John.

                The Demon mage caught the arrow, laughing. Sandy leapt into the air when he attacked, just as she knew he would, and loosed the other arrow.

                “What!” he shouted, and the arrow sunk into his shoulder.

                Sandy, still in the air, felt the demon magic that’d missed her start to turn as he reacted to the pain. She pushed back as the magic kicked forward, and she launched toward John. She swung once with her fist, missing as he fell back.

                Sandy slid, on her feet, and dodged his next attack, which came with another mass of Demon magic. However, he now stood in daylight. John swung his arms out to try and summon more, but only thin black mist appeared. Sandy ducked under his attack and jabbed him three times in the gut before she upper-cut his chin. John stumbled back.

                He cursed Sandy under his breath and more Demon magic exploded from beneath her. Sandy dove away, diving nearly headfirst into one of his attacks. She saw the desperation in his eyes as she rolled away from that, too. She’d seen it before, when Kyle was low on Nexus energy during their training. Good.

                She spun around and kicked his heels, bringing her elbows right down onto his chest. John slammed against the ground, but blasted her away as well. Sandy took to the skies, holding her arm out and preparing three arrows on the bowstring. She pulled it back farther than normal, and launched all three into the sky.

                “Idiot!” John exclaimed, and waved his hand. Demon magic shattered all three arrows, but his attention was once again misguided. Sandy tossed the bow, end-over-end, right at him, crashing it against his thick skull.

                John tumbled back, looking for the cushion of his Demon magic, and not finding any of it. Instead, he swung his arms back and a part of the massive wave of magic came rushing toward Sandy.

                She had no time to dodge it in the air, and could only cover her body. The magic slammed against her, and just kept going, as it were moving around her. Sandy opened her eyes and could see the red sparks of the magic Brenda bestowed upon her lighting up her path.

                “That’s my girl,” Sandy said, and dove forward, bursting from the shadows. She delivered her first blow to John’s chest, knocking the air out of him before spinning around and elbowing him in the back of the head.

                John barely recovered and lashed out at her, but he was just too slow. Sandy caught his arm before the magic could respond and twisted, fracturing it. She kicked back, knocking him into the air, then swung him down and slammed him to the ground. He spat blood when his body crashed against the cracked pavement, and his head lolled to the side as his whole body relaxed.

                The darkness around Sandy faded, disintegrating into little black particles all around her. A surge of red magic knocked them all from the sky. Sandy looked forward, and saw Brenda flying back toward her, with a fist raised. Sandy raised her fist as well, and shouted back at Brenda.

                “Got him!” she shouted.

                Kyle dodged Axel’s four attacks, all the same fighting style, and countered by blasting him away with the Nexus’s energy. Axel spun away, like he had each time Kyle had, and chuckled, rubbing the sweat from his brow.

                “You sure like abusing that energy,” Axel said. “And maybe you won’t run out, but eventually I’ll land enough hits that you’ll be too slow-minded to use it.”

                Kyle sighed. Axel was right. All Kyle could effectively do against him was land one or two punches, dodge several more, and then use a force of energy to make some room between them…which Axel would promptly make useless, with his incredible ability to close the gap and dodge all of Kyle’s attacks.

                The Nexus kept Kyle’s body from collapsing, but he was sustaining quite a bit of damage from Axel’s periodic attacks.

                “I’ve got stamina for days over here,” Axel said. Kyle sneered when he flexed. What a tool. Axel pointed across the way to Kyle, then beckoned him to attack. “Come on, let’s make it three for three.”

                No. He had time to think. He had Axel right where he needed him: focused solely on Kyle. There was nobody else around that he could directly hurt; Sandy and Brenda were more than capable of taking care of themselves. Nobody was in direct danger from Axel except for Kyle. Time was finally on his side.

                But that didn’t mean he could sit around all day. The more Kyle strategized, the easier it would be for Axel to predict any of Kyle’s moves. Hell, he probably had every single move Kyle could make planned out. Axel had no weapons conjured, but how long would it really take him to make throwing stars and chuck them at Kyle with incredible aim?

                Kyle still hadn’t used his lance in fear that it would be used against him. He could use it momentarily as a means of deflecting any projectiles that Axel threw at him until he could close the gap between them and then mount his own offensive strike, but he would also have to ditch the spear before Axel could get to it and use it against Kyle.

                Of course, Axel had probably thought about that possibility and accounted for it. Or, maybe not. There was only one way of knowing. Axel was a master of combat as far as his magic was concerned, but so far Kyle noticed that he was unskilled in both masking his techniques as well as mixing them up. He stuck to one style, and executed it better than any martial artist Kyle had ever fought, including Phoenix. Therein was his weakness, but the problem was exploiting it.

                Kyle held his hand out and the lance formed, gaining power when Kyle squeezed his hand around it. He would have only seconds before Axel started a defense that would steal the lance from Kyle, and microseconds to block the projectiles that Axel might throw. With the lance out he may not…

                He shook his head. No, too much thinking, not enough fighting. Kyle lowered himself, swelling power beneath his feet and in his quads for a powerful burst. He glared forward, and Axel once more beckoned him forward.

                Kyle rocketed forward, swinging the lance and blocking two of three throwing stars that were coming for him. The third dug into Kyle’s shoulder. Kyle took another step, pivoting, and dropped the lance to once more gain ground on Axel, who ducked under what he assumed would be a kick. Kyle quickly changed it up, midway, and punched down at Axel, who must have accounted for that as well, since Kyle’s attack missed.

                Kyle landed in the middle of one of Axel’s attacks. He kicked out, then recoiled his leg when Kyle almost caught it. Axel stepped forward, leading with his right foot and right fist, punching at Kyle. Kyle blocked once, but missed the opportunity to avoid Axel’s kick to his leg and then Axel, with his arms up, elbow Kyle across the face. Kyle recovered and jabbed twice at Axel, then bounded forward for two steps and feigned a punch that led his body forward into a kick, slamming his leg into Axel’s side. Axel absorbed it and stepped back only a few feet.

                He held his hand back and a dagger appeared. Axel charged Kyle, swinging the blade like a master would. Kyle could only dodge, and even then, he was getting scraped up left and right. Kyle swung his arm out and blocked the blade with enough force to seemingly make Axel dropped it. Axel caught the blade with his lower hand. Kyle caught his hand before Axel could stab him, but Axel head-butted Kyle and then tossed the blade into Kyle’s side before ramming Kyle into a car.

                Kyle bounced off the car and ducked under a kick and blocked a follow-up uppercut. Axel moved with fluidity back into his regular fighting stance while Kyle ripped the dagger from his arm, and most of his shoulder sleeve went with it, folding part of his costume over on his arm. Kyle clenched his left fist and a ball of energy formed in it.

                “You’ve already tried that,” Axel said. His eyes flared purple. “It won’t work.”

                “Oh, what, now you can see the future?” Kyle asked.

                “No,” Axel said. “But I saw how your muscles twitched there. A curveball, coming from the right and then up to try and hit me in the face.”

                Kyle kept the energy there. “You think you’re so cool, right? Able to try and predict people’s moves?”

                “Try?” Axel asked. “I’ve predicted every single one of your moves.”

                “Even the ones that landed?” Kyle asked.

                “Even the ones that landed,” Axel agreed. “I can’t move at the speed of light. Sometimes you’ve just got to take the hit. But it’s not like I haven’t gotten my fair share of licks in on you. All the attacks I’ve wanted to land on you have hit their mark. And they’ll continue to, because I can read you like a children’s book, Blue Nexus.”

                “Am I really that obvious?” Kyle asked.

                “Yeah,” Axel said.

                Kyle threw the ball of energy, letting it scrape the ground before directing it up at Axel’s face. He dodged it, but Kyle kept his left hand tied to its energy, as if with an invisible tether. Axel charged Kyle while Kyle also moved in on him. Kyle pulled back with the energy.            

                “Already tried that as well!” Axel said. Kyle glanced, for just a second, up at the incoming ball of energy. Axel must’ve noticed and moved out of the way.

                Kyle caught the ball and absorbed it, but was too slow to dodge Axel’s attack. He took the chop full-force to the neck but remained standing, barely. Axel punched Kyle across the face with his most powerful attack yet. Kyle spun.

                Axel reached out and grabbed Kyle’s arm, then yanked him forward. Kyle remained limp until he got close enough, and elbow Axel right in the kidney. Axel leaned forward, allowing Kyle to punch him across the face. Axel flipped back and landed perfectly on his feet. Kyle took a few steps back, panting, gathering as much tired breath as he could.

                “Nice,” Axel said. “Didn’t expect you to play possum.”

                “What happened to all that precognition?” Kyle asked.

                “Don’t be an idiot,” Axel said. “It won’t work again.”

                Kyle lowered himself, but a shiver ran down his spine. He looked around, spotting the continuing efforts of Brenda and Sandy against John’s giant shadows. There was a familiar presence near him, but he couldn’t actually feel anything.

                Blue Nexus!

                Oh! Kyle thought. Eclipse!

                 I believe I know how to defeat him, Eclipse said. His voice rang in Kyle’s head with a bit of an echo. He sensed Eclipse as if the psychic super were standing right next to him.

                Go for it, Kyle thought. Wait, have you been watching all this time?

                Yes, from the Moon base, there’s a camera crew nearby. Don’t go looking for them, you may expose them to Axel.

                Then how’s about I just finish him off and get them to safety? Kyle asked. He clenched his fists, pretending to be thinking about a move.

                That’s the plan, Eclipse said. But I’ll need a great favor from you.

                What kind of favor?

                I’ll need to take control of your body.

                Another shiver, but this time it was natural to Kyle. He tried not to express the shock on his face and tip any hands to Axel, but it was quite difficult. He opened and closed his fists.

                That’s, uh, quite the favor.

                I understand the hesitation, but think of it this way: The Pillar of Combat has mastered all the fighting styles of Earth, and can predict your every move, correct?

                Correct?

                Then how do you think he would fare against a foe that knows techniques from beyond Earth? Moves that you don’t even know you’re making.

                Kyle nodded. Taking a backseat in his own body tripped him up, but Axel would have no idea anything were different at first. He wouldn’t even be able to predict Kyle’s movements at all—not read Kyle’s body language, watch for muscle spasms, any of that. Still, the idea of surrendering his body and allowing another to inhabit him?

                It is the only way you will defeat him, Eclipse said. That we will defeat him.

                Hang on, Kyle thought. I have another idea…actually, it’s more like an add-on. We’ll have to time it just right. I don’t think Axel will struggle too much against the alien techniques once he realizes something’s up, but when he does…

                Oh! I see. I understand.

                Great. Alright, Eclipse, do your thing.

                Kyle shut his eyes and sighed, then felt some sort of pressure within his head as if he had a major headache before his whole body locked for a brief second and when Kyle opened his eyes, he could see but not move his body. He’d felt it before, in sleep paralysis. He wanted to shudder and feel weird but he felt nothing.

                He simply thought.

                Are you ready, Blue Nexus? Eclipse shouted, and swung out Kyle’s arms. A power, an unfamiliar one, blew out from them. It wasn’t the Nexus, but Kyle could feel some latent power within his body.

                What is this, Eclipse? Kyle asked.

                I’ve used the Nexus as a catalyst for your body’s natural energy, Eclipse said. All humans are capable, but thus far, only the beings on Cataron IV have mastered the technique.

                Kyle’s arms swung out, and his power flared. Kyle, the thought, opened his mouth, and found that he could. He was still breathing.

                I’ve left you your voice box, Eclipse said. Make sure we breathe properly.

                Can do!

                The blue aura exploded around them with some white sparks from the energy of Kyle’s body. He fell into an unfamiliar stance, one that Kyle knew would be awkward, as the power continued to charge. Axel tilted his head, confused.

                “Alright!” Kyle shouted. “Let’s end this!”

                “Getting right to it, then?” Axel asked, opening his hand and allowing the bow to form. “Fine. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane.”

                Axel loosed an arrow that Kyle caught and broke in half before moving, ducking beneath one of Axel’s attack and releasing energy on the ground between them. He feinted one way then leapt into the air, keeping his legs tucked in while Axel prepared another arrow.

                Kyle vanished, moving much faster, and reappeared behind Axel. Axel swung and missed, hitting only an after-image of what was left behind. Kyle hit Axel across the face with a right cross before following it up with a left uppercut turned slam into the ground.

                He stepped back, folding two hands over one another, then opening them up, cupping them, and releasing a powerful force of energy at Axel. Axel dodged it, still on his knees, but Kyle had followed it, riding the back-lash of the power and using the momentum to swing and kick Axel across the head, knocking him back into the ground.

                Kyle flipped and landed on his feet, once more getting into an unfamiliar stance. “Tastes good, right?”

                Axel pushed himself up and threw himself at Kyle, launching into a series of attacks that Kyle dodged, but could sense that Eclipse didn’t fear a one of these. Kyle reached out, grasping Axel’s fist just as he dodged it, and leaned in with one hand, and blasted Axel away, releasing him and letting him fly back.

                It’s all about energy management, Eclipse said. How’s about we try the Tri-Headed Gorgon technique from New Telebar?

                Kyle folded his arms across his chest and slowly pushed them out, summoning all the natural from his aura into his arms. When he brought his arms out, visible white energy formed between the two hands.

                Axel reached out and grasped a small sword, holding it aloft. “What…what are you doing?”

                “And there it is,” Kyle said, before his body stepped forward and punched, thrice, at the energy line. Each blast got successively larger, and Axel could only dodge the first two before the final hit him across the chest.

                Axel recovered fast and sprinted at Kyle, still with the sword in hand. Kyle lowered himself as Nexus energy started to take root in his arms and legs, ready for a powerful burst. Axel attacked and was unsuccessful. One large blast knocked his head back, almost jarring him, before Kyle snaked around him. Axel attacked again and Kyle dodged to the side, still keeping power stored. Axel swung up with the blade and with his free hand punched with a dagger.

                Kyle dodged the first blade and used the extra blast to avoid the jab, knocking the dagger free. Axel leapt into the air to meet Kyle in combat, and the two locked into close-combat before gravity brought them. Kyle punched Axel away and followed in pursuit, once again using some sort of after-image technique and reappearing behind Axel, who must’ve seen it coming.

                “Eclipse, now!” Kyle shouted, vocally, and with a sudden jerk was back in his own body. He blocked the elbow and shouldered Axel away, summoning up more power and crushing a small ball of energy in his hands. “It’s over, Axel, I can see you getting desperate!”

                Wave Two activated and Kyle’s aura exploded around him, knocking Axel back and leaving him on his back legs. He couldn’t even move when Kyle’s next attack hit him straight in the chest, crushing him into the ground.

                Axel bounced up and spun around with incredible coordination, almost hitting Kyle. However, Kyle was just too fast, and moved in almost a complete circle around Axel. Axel just missed him, and Kyle could see the fear in his eyes when he realized what Kyle had done. Axel attacked again and immediately followed with a parry to an attack that never came.

                “Now I’m two steps ahead of you,” Kyle said, from above, holding an energy ball.

                Axel tossed a blade up, exposing his chest to the energy attack that Kyle left behind from where he stood. The ball exploded on his chest and sent him flying against a building across the street. Kyle dropped right in front of him, and exited Wave Two more relieved than ever. Axel’s unconscious head dropped from the building face-first, and he lay limp on the ground.

                He heard Sandy shout across the way while Brenda approached her. He cupped his hands around his mouth. “You good?”

                Sandy looked over to him, with her fist still raised. “Hell yeah!”

                “Yes!” Kyle shouted, and leapt over to her in a single bound. Brenda dropped and the three embraced in a tight hug, one that seemed to hurt Sandy and Kyle way more than it did Brenda.

                They separated. Kyle looked over his shoulder at Axel, and Brenda quickly put up a thick cube around him, locking him in place.

                “You as tired as I am?” Sandy asked.

                Kyle laughed. “I could probably go for one more, right?”

                “Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Brenda said. “We’ve still got four more of them to fight, and Rafael.”

                “Yeah but you have no idea it is to see him like that,” Kyle said. “Let me just bask in this for a second.”

                “How’s about after all of this is sorted out?” Sandy asked.

                “Fine,” Kyle said. He clapped her on the shoulder. “Thanks for coming in as backup.”

                “Thanks for coming back,” Sandy said. “Both of you.”

                Kyle felt the heat rising in his cheeks and he looked away to avoid blushing. Brenda did the same, though her face was a bit more naturally red than his. Sandy beamed at them. Kyle sighed to try and wipe the blushing away, then shook himself off.

                “Alright, where’s the next one?” Kyle asked.

                Static filled his ear. It shocked him, making Kyle wince. He tapped his ear while Sandy and Brenda pulled out their communicators.

                “Phoenix?” Kyle asked.

                “You guys won’t believe what’s going down in the Cube right now,” Phoenix said.

                “Teleport us there right now, then,” Kyle said.

                “Can’t, it’s being shut off,” Phoenix said. “This is insane, I can’t believe he’d do this!”

                “What are you talking about?” Brenda asked.

                “It’s Boomer,” Phoenix said. “He’s taking on one of the Six Pillars in the Cube right now!”

               

Next time: Vivian of the Six Pillars has invaded the Cube and is looking to free the prisoners the Zanderia want nothing to do with right now, and all that stands in her way is the former villain himself, Dr. Boomer in “Blue Nexus #71 – Man With Machine”