The wind Auron's fist missed Sol's face by inches as he ducked, the rush of air tousling his silver-white hair. He countered immediately, his arms crackling with silver energy that looked like captured lightning.

  "You're not half bad," Sol grinned, dancing back to avoid her next strike. His confident smile never wavered, even as her punch shattered the tree behind where he'd just been standing.

  The woman's eyes narrowed. Unlike Sol's playful demeanor, her focus was absolute. "I don't need your approval," she said, the air around her fists swirling like tiny tornados.

  Sol took a deep breath, studying her movements. "She's stronger than me—raw power-wise. Need to change tactics." He thought.

  He shifted his stance, bouncing lightly on his toes. "Don't think you have the upper hand!"

  "That's exactly what I think," she replied coolly, her eyes tracking his every movement.

  Instead of responding, Sol charged forward with a new strategy—quick, precise jabs infused with darkness energy. His fists connected several times, but each impact felt like hitting stone. He jumped back, shaking out his hands.

  "Let me guess... Auranium under-armor..." Sol muttered, impressed despite himself. "Not bad."

  A slight smile crossed her face—the first real emotion she'd shown. She threw several air punches, sending invisible blasts toward him. Sol weaved between them, grimacing as one caught him square in the stomach. The hit knocked the wind from his lungs, but he pushed forward, determined to close the distance again.

  Meanwhile, Angelo faced his own opponent. His orange energy formed gauntlets over his hands as he dodged the metal Auron's blades. Their weapons clashed in a shower of sparks until one clean slice cut his scythe in half.

  "Why does this always happen?" Angelo groaned, looking at his broken weapon. Annoyance flashed across his face as he tossed the pieces aside.

  Choosing a new approach, he rushed forward with just his glowing fists. He ducked beneath her blade and threw a powerful right hook that she blocked with her forearm. The impact sent vibrations up both their arms as they locked in place.

  "Oh? You're pretty weak for an evolved Auron," she taunted, her smile sharp as her blades.

  Angelo's jaw tightened, but he didn't take the bait. Instead, he dropped low and swept her legs with a quick kick. Though surprised, she recovered with a graceful backflip, launching several metal blades at him mid-air.

  Angelo twisted his body, avoiding most while deflecting others with his energy constructs. A few still got through, leaving shallow cuts across his arms.

  "She's no easy opponent—easily Adept rank," Angelo thought. "I don't think she's evolved though."

  "I concur," Blue's scholarly voice answered in their shared consciousness. "Furthermore, I believe she is aware of Red and me." He recalled how their opponents had claimed to know everything about Angelo.

  Angelo focused on dodging a flurry of attacks while formulating a strategy. "Yeah, I bet she's waiting for you to make your appearance. That's why she isn't going all out yet."

  "Astute observation," Blue replied. "We could use that to our advantage. First, you'd need to charge that gauntlet of yours, similar to how you did against that ice Auron back then."

  "Easier said than done," Angelo thought back. "It's hard dodging as it is, to split my focus to—"

  His internal conversation cut short as he barely avoided a blade, only to catch a powerful kick to his chest. The impact sent him flying through the forest, splintering trees as he crashed through them.

  "Ah..." Angelo groaned, slowly getting to his feet. Through the settling dust, he could see the metal Auron crafting something new. "Case in point..."

  "It is essential for the plan," Blue insisted. "So... I wish you the best of luck."

  "I'm starting to think you're the one who doesn't care for our survival," Angelo grumbled as he began channeling energy into his gauntlet. The orange glow intensified with each passing second, like a star building in his palm.

  His concentration broke when two metal disks cut through the air straight toward him.

  "You," Angelo twisted left, avoiding their first approach, "got to," he jumped as they made a U-turn, "be," he ducked their pincer movement, "kidding me!"

  "It seems long-distance combat would actually put us at a disadvantage," Blue observed with irritating calm. "I believe you would fare better in close combat again."

  Frustrated but knowing Blue was right, Angelo ignited his energy wings and shot forward like a comet. The metal Auron dropped control of her disks, raising her blades to meet his charge. Just as he reached striking distance, she twisted aside, aiming to slash him from an unexpected angle.

  Angelo barely managed to change direction, the blade missing his arm by a hair's length.

  "Hey!" he shouted, genuine anger in his voice. "I thought you wanted me alive! You almost cut my arm clean off!"

  She met his glare with cool amusement. "Yes, alive. Not in one piece."

  While Angelo and Sol battled below, Red hovered high above the treetops, one glowing crimson tendril wrapped around Neiva's waist to keep her safely suspended in mid-air. His face twisted with frustration as he watched the fight without being able to join.

  "I can't believe they did this to me!" Red drifted back and forth in the air, his hands tugging at his hair. "I should be down there throwing punches, but here I am playing babysitter! This is so unfair!"

  Neiva crossed her arms, trying not to look down at the dizzying drop beneath her feet. "Sorry that me being useless is such a burden on you," she muttered, annoyance mixing with genuine hurt.

  Red didn't even seem to hear her. He was busy having his own meltdown, gesturing wildly as he ranted.

  "They want me to be the hero? The protector? Give me a break!" He threw his hands up dramatically. "I'm the villain of this story! I shouldn't be up here protecting some—"

  He suddenly caught himself, glancing at Neiva's face. For a brief moment, something softened in his expression before he started smacking his own forehead.

  "Yet. I. Can't. Bring. Myself. To..." He trailed off, staring at Neiva again. A flash of memory crossed his mind – Miriam's kind smile, her motherly concern. Red gritted his teeth, the conflict visible on his face.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  "All I need to do is be up here AND down there at the same time," he said, his wild grin slowly returning. "That's it! I can keep this kid safe AND be down there showing my enemies what real terror looks like!"

  With each word, his voice grew more excited. Neiva eyed him warily, like someone watching an unpredictable animal.

  "Um, are you doing alright there?" she asked, trying to sound gentle instead of terrified.

  "That's it!" Red snapped his fingers, eyes widening with inspiration. "I can split myself! No one really knows how this whole three-in-one thing works anyway! Who says I can't make another Red – Red Junior!"

  His laughter echoed through the forest canopy, high-pitched and unsettling. He spread his arms wide like a conductor about to lead an orchestra.

  "Brace yourself, world! You're about to welcome another Red! Get ready for double the chaos!"

  Neiva pressed her lips together, deciding that saying anything more might just make him crazier. She glanced down at the battle below, hoping Angelo and Sol would finish quickly.

  Red's manic laughter suddenly cut off. His face went still, eyes growing wide.

  "Yes... that's it. I'm a genius."

  Without warning, he flew to a distant treetop and secured Neiva to a thick branch with glowing crimson ropes made of energy.

  "W-what's the big idea? What are you doing?" Neiva pulled against her restraints, panic rising in her voice.

  When Red turned to face her, his smile had transformed into something hungry and wild. It stretched across his face unnaturally wide, like a predator about to pounce.

  He chuckled softly, then turned away, spreading his arms. The air in front of him began to glow as a small ball of crimson energy appeared. It pulsed like a heartbeat, growing larger and stretching outward like a an overly aggressive bubble.

  Down in the clearing, Angelo got distracted by Red's odd actions. "What are you up to, Red?" he thought – then barely dodged a metal blade that whistled past his ear.

  "Focus on your task at hand," Blue's calm voice reminded him. "Don't let his antics distract you."

  Meanwhile, Neiva's fear gave way to wonder as she watched Red work. His hands moved like a sculptor's, molding and shaping the crimson energy into something recognizable – a human figure that looked just like Angelo.

  Tiny cracks appeared on Red's gray-tinted face as he worked, leaking soft crimson light. He was pushing his powers too far, but he didn't seem to care or notice.

  "Now to finish my masterpiece..." Red held out one palm where more energy gathered, hardening into what looked like a mask. With careful movements, he placed it on his creation's face. The mask was nightmare fuel – a twisted clown face with a star carved above the left eye socket, an oversized red nose, and a wide grin filled with pointed teeth.

  Red turned to Neiva with a showman's flourish. "Ladies and gentlemen... I present to you – The Puppet of CHAOS!"

  "Red?" Neiva's voice wavered as she stared at the floating mannequin. "What is that thing?"

  "This is my latest creation!" Red announced, spinning through the air like a demented ringmaster. "This little piece of art will make us question who's the puppeteer and who's the crimson marionette!"

  The wings on his back transformed into glowing strings that attached to a nearby branch, making Red himself look like a puppet dangling from the tree. All the while, his energy creation hovered silently in the air, waiting.

  Red's usual manic grin faded as his face settled into deep concentration. "The concept is simple," he muttered to himself. "When I'm smoke, I can still see, hear, and move. I'm basically no different than this lump of energy."

  His focus intensified, eyes fixed on the puppet. "So why can't I do the same with this doll, huh?"

  For several long moments, nothing happened. Then, slowly, the puppet's head twitched. Its mask-covered face turned slightly, jerky like a broken toy. Neiva watched in fascinated horror as the creation's movements became smoother, more natural. Finally, through the puppet's eyes, Red began seeing a blurry image that got clearer and clearer.

  "Yes! It worked!" Red's excitement bubbled through his entire being as he controlled the puppet from afar. "This is better than I thought it would be! It's like my mind jumped right into the puppet!"

  Red tested his creation, making the puppet punch the air and shift its limbs into different shapes. When he turned the puppet toward Neiva, two glowing red dots appeared in the mask's empty eye sockets, like tiny flames in a dark cave.

  Neiva glanced between Red's limp body hanging from energy strings and the eerie puppet hovering before her. "Red? Is that really you in there?"

  The puppet tried to speak but no sound came out. After scratching at its mask where a mouth should be, it simply nodded and held up one finger in a 'wait a moment' gesture before dropping limp in midair.

  Instantly, Red's actual eyes snapped open. "Yes! It was me! How cool is that?" His voice practically sparkled with pride. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a battle to attend." He tried to rub his hands together gleefully, but the energy strings holding him like a marionette kept his palms from touching. "Your job is to watch for danger. If you see anything, just yell and I'll move us away. Ta-ta!"

  His body went slack again as the puppet sprang back to life, shooting toward the battle like a crimson comet.

  "Hey!" Neiva shouted after him, pulling against her restraints. "Don't just leave me tied up here like this!"

  But Red was already gone—well, his puppet was. His actual body remained hanging beside her, unresponsive as a rag doll.

  As the puppet raced toward the fight, Blue's voice filtered through their shared consciousness, filled with disbelief: "I honestly cannot believe that worked. The implications—"

  "Yeah, yeah," Red cut him off as his puppet soared past Angelo and delivered a powerful kick straight to the metal Auron's head. "I know I'm awesome," he thought as his puppet landed in a dramatic battle pose.

  The metal Auron stood up, shaking her head. "What the hell was that?" She stared at the strange clown-masked figure, confusion evident on her face. "We weren't told about whatever this is!"

  She raised her blades and charged. Her slice was clean and precise, cutting the puppet in half at the waist. But instead of falling apart, the puppet's mask seemed to grin wider, as if enjoying the attempt. The severed upper half simply floated upward, and the detached arm flew forward to punch her square in the face.

  "Why you—!" she growled, charging again with renewed fury.

  "This is your chance!" Blue urged Angelo through their mental connection. "Use this window to finish charging!"

  Angelo nodded, focusing his energy into his glowing gauntlet while Red's puppet kept her distracted.

  "Good job, Red," Angelo thought as he gathered power. "Once I'm charged up, go help Sol. He's struggling." He glanced to his right where Sol was desperately dodging invisible air punches that sliced through trees like they were made of paper.

  A few moments later, Angelo's gauntlet glowed like a miniature sun. "It's ready! Go now, Red!" he commanded.

  "Fine, this one's on the house!" Red's puppet—now floating in several separate pieces—pulled itself back together like water droplets merging and zoomed toward Sol's battle.

  Angelo dashed forward to face the metal Auron, his powered-up gauntlet lighting his path. The metal Auron crouched into a defensive stance, ready for him. But her attention split when she noticed azure smoke slipping from Angelo's body and drifting toward the tree branches above. The smoke moved behind her, and she waited for the exact moment Blue would take physical form.

  "Now!" she shouted, spinning around and slashing at the spot where Blue's smoke was thickest, expecting him to materialize.

  But Blue remained in smoke form, as she was slashing uselessly against mist.

  The metal Auron realized too late she'd been tricked. As she spun back toward Angelo, his glowing gauntlet connected with her cheek.

  "Golden Punch!" he shouted as part of his energy exploded on impact, sending her flying through several trees like a human cannonball. The force of his own attack knocked Angelo backward too, leaving him with bruises but otherwise okay.

  "Nova!" the wind Auron called out, momentarily distracted from her fight with Sol and Red's puppet.

  Nova sat up among splintered wood, shaking her head to clear it. "Ugh... you little..." she muttered. Through double vision, she saw azure smoke approaching and taking human form. Despite her ringing ears, she leapt up to defend herself from Blue.

  He jumped toward her, and she raised her arms to block—but at the last second, he darted past her instead of attacking directly. Confused, she lowered her guard for just an instant. Blue had counted on exactly that moment of uncertainty. As he passed, he attached glowing blue energy strings to her body and used his momentum to yank her forward, slamming her head-first into another tree.

  Angelo thought they'd won. He walked forward, ready to give her one final chance to surrender—but Nova rose up again with a high-pitched scream of frustration. A tornado of metal blades erupted around her like a deadly shield, forcing Blue to retreat.

  "Smart," Blue observed. "She can't control her abilities precisely while dazed, so she's creating this wild defense to give herself time to recover."

  "To me, then!" Angelo called mentally, extending his arm. "We'll take her down with a mixed energy bomb!"

  Blue nodded, leaping back to Angelo's side and extending his own arm. Where their energies met, orange and azure swirled together, creating what looked almost like liquid silver between their hands.

  As her vision cleared, Nova could finally see what was happening beyond her spinning wall of blades. She bit her lip—then smiled as an idea formed in her mind.