“You’re still standing huh? You remind me a lot of my son ya know? And I bet you’ll kneel just like him when I get to your sister.” My father teased.

My knees started to buckle and it felt like my legs were sandbags. The fire that raged inside started to flicker as memories of my mom flooded my mind. Her empty eye socket, her broken wrists, and her bruises. I even started to hear her faint screams like I was there. What should I do? Is he gonna attack Lux if I move? Should I just wait?

Zack and Stryder laid face down on the ground, while my father stood over them. His clothes were ripped and torn to shreds. His diplomatic appearance was now that of a barbarian. Those two idiots managed to do all that, but it still wasn’t enough.

What should I do? If I run in he might act on his threat, or even just kill them. Can I sneak in and assassinate him? No, It’s broad daylight, and they’re in the middle of the street. If I just sit here they both may die! Wait, if I do anything at all he’ll still just kill Lux. Why do I care so much!? I need to just prioritize the mission, she doesn’t matter. I tried to lift my leg, but it didn’t move.

“Ya know for someone so strong, you resort to dirty tricks pretty fast.” I heard Stryder croak. I watched as his mangled body forced itself up from the ground and faced my father. “Leo didn’t bow to you, Zack didn’t bow, and neither did Valentina. You're nothing but a coward, and I’ll never bow to you. We will beat you.”

"You ignorant boy."

As soon as he finished, he immediately slammed his fist into Stryder’s stomach and sent him flying. He crashed and bounced on the ground, flying past me in the alleyway. I stared as Stryder coughed up blood on the asphalt. The weight that held my leg down started to fade.

Am I gonna sit back and let my dad kill more people? Lux will end up just like my mom if I sit here like this. Haven’t you had enough regret?

“I’m the only one who sees things for how they are! I’m the only one who can’t die! I’m the only one who can solve the world’s issues! I was born for this power! You children could never understand! I’ll start by burning you to ashes! Then I’ll make an example of you and burn the entire damn city to the ground!” My dad roared.

I won’t run away anymore.

My dad flung his head back and golden sparks leaked from his lips. Then he flung himself forward and a huge golden ball of fire soared toward Stryder. That’s when I ran. I leaped into the air and blasted the biggest fireball I could at the golden flame. They crashed into each other and exploded. Embers fell around us like rain from the sky. I turned back and looked toward Stryder, who smiled at me.

“You finally came, huh?”

I smiled and nodded.

“Sorry I’m late.”

I turned back toward my father and glared.

“Ah my son, have you-”

“I don’t care what you gotta say, and I’m not gonna pretend like I do. Say what you want, think what you want. I don’t care.”

“Oh? Someone’s gotten cocky."

“You killed mom, you destroyed Vergil, and you wrecked my city. I’m not afraid anymore, and I’m not running away.”

I leaned back and shot a fireball at him, then dashed to the left of him.

“I appreciate this son. Delivering yourself to me on a silver platter.”

I summoned my scales over my body and prepared my claws. Once he blocked the little fire with his arm I leaped in and tried to slice his throat open. He swiftly dodged my strike and jumped back. I opened my mouth and jumped, letting smoke pour out from my lips. When the smoke was thick enough, I moved my hand over my mouth and blasted fire out between my fingers.

“You’re going to die today Leopold!” His voice roared from my left.

I turned toward his voice and watched him burst through the smoke. He was slower than usual. He swung for my face, and I managed to just barely dodge him by ducking.

“Give me the best you’ve got, old man!”

I dashed forward at him and tried to punch his lights out, but he simply weaved his head to the side and dodged me. I jumped and tried to swipe him with a spin heel kick, but he still managed to dodge. I blasted fire out from my mouth and spun around again and connected my kick this time.

He stumbled back and I landed on my feet. Then it felt like a bullet blasted me in the face. I stumbled back and saw my red scales flying in the wind. Then another punch came right at my face, but I saw it this time. I let him strike me and before he could pull back, I grabbed his wrist. My blood seeped from my nose, and I started to feel giddy.

I pulled his hand in and chomped down on it with all my might. Then I simultaneously blasted fire out and punched at his head. Before the fire even really got started he rammed his head into me and my jaw loosened.

"That's the best you've got!?"

I smiled and went to attack, but he beat me to the punch and decked me in the face. I stumbled back and watched my scales fall away. I tried to retaliate, but he just started to beat me over and over again. I gritted my teeth and tried to hold my ground, but it was just too much. I stumbled and tripped over a rock and fell back on the ground.

Suddenly I was blinded by a heavenly light that consumed the area. I sat up and held my hands out. He was gonna erase me!

Before the flames could touch me, something blue exploded to life and crashed into my father. He went flying with the blast and blew a hole into a building.

I rubbed my eyes and looked up, and there stood Vergil. His eyes were closed and he was taking deep breaths.

"Vergil?" I grumbled.

"C-can you hurry up? If we wait any longer. I-I I'll freeze up."

I smirked and stood up.

"Right."

My father pushed himself back up, and his eyes grew wide once he laid them on Vergil.

"Elo, you better think long and hard about this. You know you won't win, and when you fail. I'll tear you apart again."

Vergil took a breath and closed his eyes.

"I-I won't be afraid anymore. W-when mom was scared and shaking, she always stood back up."

His entire body shook as he spoke, and his eyes never left the ground. He really was petrified.

I took a few steps ahead of him.

"Like I said before, just shut up and fight. We don't give a damn about what you have to say!"

I dug my feet into the ground and ran at him, I looked back and I saw Vergil by my side. I turned back around and I saw my dad's glowing gold eyes. He decked me in the face and I fell back. But Vergil came in right after and clocked him, I rolled back onto my toes and rocketed myself forward with my fire breath. While dad stumbled, I came in and kicked him in the chest. He stumbled and Vergil and I went in. I punched him in his jaw to Vergil, who punched him back to me. I uppercutted him and Vergil punched his throat.

Dad would retaliate and hit one of us, but the other just followed up when he was vulnerable. He made an effort to hit me the most, but Vergil's thorny scales made mincemeat of his skin when he did. His blood flew in the air and rained over our bodies, and our scales and blood painted the ground. I could see his movements getting sluggish, and we capitalized on that. Being petty, I went to kick him in the nuts. As soon as he keeled over from that, Vergil leaped in and put his entire body into a punch to the face that sent him flying.

I smiled and held out my hand to Vergil, who looked at it in confusion. Soon his face softened and he high-fived me.

"Let's keep it up, the idiots must've done a number on him. He's moving a lot slower than before. I don't think his body has recovered yet." I added as we started to walk toward him.

"It's just like when he fought Gilda then. My scales are close to not existing though, so we need to be careful." Vergil added.

"Right, one hit in a fleshy part and were done. His right side is the most sluggish. I can play decoy while you attack. Then we both go to rip his head off after he staggers."

"A-alright." He stammered.

Then we both darted.

But we both skidded to a stop as our father started to glow. The wind picked up and rocks started to fly into the air as he flew up into the sky. His body started to grow and his wings expanded out.

"No! No! We have to run, we're gonna die!" Vergil screamed.

I turned to him and he went to run. I grabbed his arm and yanked him back over to me.

"Like hell we’re gonna die! We have to stay and fight!"

"We're just gonna die like the whole damn city! Let's just regroup!"

"If we leave he'll just kill everyone here!"

"So what!? If we die no one else can kill dad!"

"Boys!" Stryder roared.

I noticed a huge shadow above me, we both looked up and saw Dad’s fire coming down. I shoved Vergil out the way and with all my might I blasted my fire at his flame. Which almost immediately got taken over. Then a blue flame came next to mine and it started pushing back. I looked over and saw Vergil next to me. Our flames combined and we fought him with all we had with our purple fire. But his flame just slowly pushed us back. Crap! We're stuck! If we stop we're gonna get fried! And if we keep going we’re eventually gonna get consumed by his fire!

Dammit! Was I wrong? Should I have just prioritized the mission!? Now everyone’s gonna die because of me. Dammit! Dammit!

"AAHHHHHH!"

Something roared from behind me, I turned to the side and saw a blue blur shooting past me. It left a misty blue trail behind it, and that's when it became clear. It was Stryder!

He soared up at my father and punched him in the jaw. His fire faltered and Vergil and I pushed it. Our flame consumed his and blasted into his mouth. Then boom! Our flame blew his head off!

I was silent. Not a breath came out. I just stared at his headless dragon form fading away into dust.

I fell to my knees and let my whole body loosen. It's over, it's finally over. Then, I caught a glimpse of something big falling from the sky. I squinted my eyes and then it clicked.

"Stryder!" I screamed and started running to him.

"Congratulations my child. I'm very proud of you. Your gift for defeating Jormungand, is to spread your wings."

I tried to process what she just said, but my legs suddenly were lifted off the ground. I looked down, and I was flying! I looked back and saw the dark crimson wings. It didn't take long to get used to the feeling before I zoomed off toward Stryder.

I came upon him and I started to get wobbly. I caught him and started going down. Crap I wasn't used to it yet! I crashed through the siding of a rooftop that made Stryder gag and skid on the roof. I lost a lot of strength and flopped on top of him. My entire draconic form faded away, and I felt drained.

"You did it, Leo." Stryder coughed out.

He moved a hand up and ruffled my hair. Then he gave his iconic stupid smile. But for whatever reason, my eyes started to get blurry. I felt the cold streams of tears sliding down my cheeks.

Flashes of my mom came into my mind, the people I killed, Vergil's screams for help. I gripped his shirt tightly.

"It's over, the nightmares over." I cried out.

"Yeah, it's over." Stryder hummed as he wrapped his arms around me.

And then I just cried.