We hung over the moon, orbit drifting beneath our feet, gravity barely pretending it still mattered. Energies screamed around us, clashing so violently it sounded like a storm made of broken universes.
KRRRRRSHHHHH— ultraviolet fire rippled off me.
WHUM–WHHHMP! Ultrawhite lunar power surged from Dark Don like a star on the brink of detonation.
Our eyes locked.
Neither of us blinked.
"Dark Don," I said, forcing my voice steady, "I'm trying to help you. Why are you fighting me like I'm the enemy?"
For half a second—just half—his breath hitched.
Then something inside him snapped.
CRACK!
"I'M PUSHING IT AWAY FOR A REASON!" he roared.
The sound ripped out of him raw and furious, like a supernova screaming as it collapsed.
"Silicia is gone! GONE!" he shouted. "I don't care about prophecies, destiny, or the stupid CL War!"
His aura detonated upward—
FWOOOOOOOM!
—a towering column of blinding white fire that split the dark.
"I ONLY CARE ABOUT DESTROYING THE CELESTIANITES!" he screamed. "THEY MADE ME LIKE THIS!"
The force of his grief slammed into me harder than any punch.
"You didn't cope," I snapped back, bracing myself. "You collapsed. You let revenge hollow you out."
His head jerked toward me.
"YOU DON'T LIVE IN MY PAIN!!!"
The moon screamed beneath us—
KRA–CHAK!
—fissures tearing open as his power spiked violently.
"I WASN'T BORN HERE!" he snarled, voice cracking between rage and exhaustion. "I didn't grow up under your moons. I was trained to survive extinction. Orphaned. Rebuilt into a weapon."
He took a step forward.
The ground shattered under his heel.
"I built things to keep worlds alive," he spat. "BIOHAZARDS. SYSTEMS THAT WORK WHEN EVERYTHING ELSE IS DEAD."
Another step.
"I didn't meet her until Avangard," he said, teeth clenched. "After the crash. After the running."
Silver lightning tore up his arms.
"She laughed," he growled. "Like tomorrow was promised."
His voice dipped, just for a second.
"She stayed."
Then it hardened again—sharper than before.
"And your people dragged us apart."
His Ultra Form ignited fully—ultrawhite luminance whipping around him in violent spirals.
SHHHHHHH–VOOOOM!
"I burned Moonforge down!" he roared. "Freed everyone!"
His fists shook.
"And it still wasn't enough."
Silence cracked between us.
"They put a gun to her head," he said, quieter—but deadlier. "Told me to choose."
A bitter, broken laugh ripped out of him.
"So I dropped the weapon."
His eyes locked onto mine, blazing.
"She said my name," he continued. "Said something else too."
His aura flared uncontrollably.
"I DON'T REMEMBER WHAT."
The shockwave blasted outward, forcing me back.
"That's what you don't get!" he shouted. "Not that she died—"
A massive lunar blade began forming in his hand, silver energy screaming into shape.
"—that I forgot her last words."
My heart slammed against my ribs.
"She was everything to me!" he screamed.
I clenched my fists.
"Fine," I muttered.
Ultraviolet flames roared off me, markings igniting across my body.
VMMMMMM!
"I'm warning you—"
His blade finished forming. He raised it, shaking—not with weakness, but with restraint pushed to its limit.
"So be it…."
The moon trembled.
He burst forward with a
WHIP-CRACK!
— but I was already moving.
My first hit smashed into him —
THOOM!
— sending him skidding across the lunar surface.
He twisted midair, grabbed my arm, and
SLAM!
— swung me around and hurled me like I was nothing.
A barrage of ultrawhite bullets shot at me, each one slicing space with a piercing
TZZZ-TZZZ-TZZZ!
I threw up a barrier.
SHING! SHING! SHING!
The impacts popped across it like miniature supernovas.
"You're starting with cheap shots?!" I snapped.
I blitzed forward —
FWIP!
— striking him with a spinning kick.
BAM!
He recovered instantly.
VSHHHT!
Appeared above me and slammed down with a thunderous
KRAAAM!
His fists hammered my face and chest —
THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD!
— each punch cracking the air with
KSHH! KSHH!
The final strike sent me flying.
BOOOOM!
I crashed through a moon spire —
KRSHHHHH!
— and rolled across the ground.
Dark Don fired another volley.
TZAAA! TZAAA! TZAAA!
I rocketed upward —
FWOOOSH!
— swinging ultraviolet whips that sliced the beams into glittering stardust.
SHRRAK! SHRAK!
He teleported —
VMMT!
— right in front of me.
His uppercut detonated the space around us —
KRA-BOOOOM!
His backhand sent me spiraling across the stars —
WHOOOOOOOSH!
Two comets — one white, one violet — streaking across the void.
I snapped my fingers.
TIK.
A rift split open. He shot through it, stumbled —
THMP!
— and I snapped again.
TIK.
An ultraviolet shockwave blasted outward —
BWAAAAAM!
I chased him down — a violet blur — and slammed him into the moon with a crushing
THOOOOM!
The crater rippled outward —
RMMMMMMMM!
He fired upward —
HZZZZZZZAAAAA!
Ultrawhite beams slicing through dust and debris.
I weaved between them —
WHIP-WHIP-WHIP!
— then fired blasts down like divine artillery.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
He twisted between the explosions and unleashed a massive beam.
SKRAAAAAA!
I blinked away, landing as it detonated behind us with a cosmic
KA-THOOOOOM!
And then — silence.
We stood across from each other again. Breaths sharp. Auras flaring. Ultraviolet and ultrawhite crackling so violently the void itself shivered.
The air hummed with tension.
VMMMMMMMMM…
Round two was waiting.
***
Dark Don slowly turned toward me, ultrawhite energy coiling around his fists like living lightning. Every ripple crack‑CRACKED through the air, lashing out like glowing whips that SHHHRIPPED clean trenches through the moon's dust. His spiky white hair blazed brighter, swaying like it was caught in a cosmic wildfire as he marched forward with that low, gravelly whisper.
"Once I'm done with you… there will be no survivors left in Celestia. And I promise that…" I looked away for half a second, eyes burning ultraviolet. The moon stretched endlessly around us — cratered plains, jagged spires, distant chasms — all trembling under the pressure of our power.
"DARK DON! REASON WITH ME!" He dashed in instantly — FWSSH — uppercutting me so hard the moon's horizon bent. He grabbed me mid‑spin, slammed me sideways with a brutal KRAK, and his ultrawhite streak blasted skyward with a clean FWOOM as he twisted around me, heat peeling off his aura. Teeth grinding, he screamed in my face as he locked me in place.
"I'VE ALREADY REASONED! THIS IS REVENGE, DON! AND THEY WILL PAY FOR KILLING HER!" He blink‑jumped — ZIP — then again — ZSH — then again.
A punch slammed my ribs with a solid THUD, then a teleport strike blasted me upward. A wide lunar beam erupted from his palms with a rising VRRRR-KOOOM, crescents spinning through it like bladed saws, launching me higher into the black sky. He appeared above me, flipped, and dropkicked me down — WHAM.
I cratered the moon, bounced off the surface, and he lunged forward, whipping me with his tail — SWAP — sending me tumbling through the vacuum until I steadied myself.
"STOP FIGHTING! I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL BUT FIGHTING ABOUT IT WON'T CHANGE A THING!" I yelled. But he was already gone — orbiting me in a deranged blur, firing ultrawhite blasts that shredded the sky like meteor shrapnel, PEW-PEW-PEW erupting in rapid bursts.
I slapped the blasts aside — KSH, KSH — twisting through the onslaught until I caught one, crushed it — KR-TCH — bursting it into stardust. I spun through the chaos — but a white fist suddenly came down from above with a KRRAAACK, cracking space itself. The ultrawhite streak surged forward, uppercutting me hard enough to twist my vision.
"HOW DO YOU SAY THAT?!—" He elbowed my nose — TOK — then my forehead — THMP — before flashing around me — ZIP-ZIP-ZIP — "WHEN ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS HAVE NEVER BEEN SLAUGHTERED!" he yelled, ramming his skull into mine with a brutal KRA-DOOM that launched me straight down to Venus. I slammed into the planet with a BOOOOM, shockwaves ripping across the burning plains.
I looked up — and a colossal ultrawhite beam carved through the orange sky, SCREEEEEE‑ing toward me like a divine spear. The beam slammed into me — WHOOOOOOOM — swallowing me whole.
A gigantic white explosion tore outward, ultrawhite lashes whip‑CRACKING across the planet, carving valleys in seconds. Inside the beam, my celestial barrier barely held. Ultraviolet cracks snapped — KRRK-KRRK-KRRK — as I forced the blast back, deflecting part of it… but not all. Dark Don flashed in front of me, twisted behind, and back‑kicked my face so hard I flew as a violet streak, smashing straight through a volcanic mountain. Lava GLOOPED over me, but I exploded from the molten rock, blasting toward him with both fists glowing — FWOOM-FWOOM.
The violet blur tore through the thick Venusian sky, twisting through heat distortion until I appeared right in front of him. My fist cracked against his head — THWAK — launching him like a fired bullet. He flipped out of control, smashing through a mountain peak, rubble raining down like burning meteors — KRSSHHH.
I skidded across the ground, shouting up, "BECAUSE I UNDERSTAND YOU! YOU'RE A KID WHO LOST SOMEONE YOU RELIED ON! SOMEONE IMPORTANT TO YOU!" My glowing feet dug through the sand. "THAT MUST HURT A LOT AND NOBODY SHOULD FEEL THAT WAY! BUT PUTTING YOUR ANGER ON OTHERS WON'T GET YOU JUSTICE!" I kept on shouting, more energy ripping. "IT'LL GET YOU MORE PAIN!!"
Then I froze. Dark Don hovered above the shattered mountain, ultrawhite light surging so violently it speared the sky, splitting clouds and bleaching the horizon. The air dimmed. His eyes warped into twisted pits of soft, glowing white as he let out a howl drenched in rage, grief, and madness — HRRAAAAAAAAH! Then he tore downward like a divine missile — FWOOSH-BOOM — coming straight for me.