"I was hoping things would go bad and you'd get beat up by those girls but sadly that didn't happen." Merin sighed. I'd wished he'd keep all his hopes and dreams to himself. "Well, good for you I guess?"

"Moron." My voice was roughly a whisper, but I said it loud enough for him to hear.

He only chuckled though.

We were still in the gym. Apparently, my uncle was still here standing in the middle of this place looking all serious and stuff. I couldn't just leave him like his. And I also had a bad feeling about this whole thing.

The gym kind of shrunk down though. Meaning, whoever made this place large had left.

"Anyway, I'm guessing you had something important to discuss?" I asked my uncle. So far he didn't say anything.

He waited for the last of the audience to leave. Only the three of us were now here.

Seeing that Merin wasn't leaving, he finally started. "Yes, I take it was that girl who teleported?" His voice was awfully calm, I guess this was the calm before the storm.

"Oh, so you already knew?" I didn't know how much he knew, but I tried testing the waters first.

My uncle was very carefree. And he didn't really care about love and all that. He did have a family and a loving wife, but he never stayed home for long. Most of his days were spent in the wilderness hunting Mutors and often times creating mayhem for the world. SO, I didn't think all of this interested him.

I was wrong I guess.

He was also a part-time terrorist and the leader of the most notorious terrorist group in the world: Alzana. Did I forget to mention he was also the head of the current Romswell family?

Uncle ripped his shirt off and threw it on the ground. "What do you like about her and what are you willing to get her?" And whenever he was serious, there was no shirt in the world that could stay on his chest.

I took a deep breath and met his seriousness with my own. "I love her and I'm not a hypocrite to say I love everything about her, cause there are a lot of things that bother me. But I'm willing to just roll with them and keep on loving her. And I'm willing to fight the whole Battlesuin family and even the Rodwichs for her."

Somewhere along the line, I'd started using the word 'love.' I wasn't sure if it was love or not but frankly I didn't care anymore.

"Weak," Uncle spoke and turned his hands to blades.

Well, this was about to get ugly. "Merin, you might want to get away from here." This was about to get very ugly.

"Uh-huh," And he ran.

Uncle roared and tried to chop off my hands with his arm blades. I blocked both with my sword and saber, but he was heavy.

My saber nor sword was good enough to even scratch him.

And he was fast. And he didn't give me a warning either. Was this guy seriously, trying to kill me?

"Why? Do you want her!"

"Because I love her!" it was taking my all just to keep his blades away.

This guy was strong. If I didn't switch to blue plasma, I was going to get something chopped off.

"That's weak! You don't have what it takes!" He kept on pushing hard. This guy was definitely on another level

I groaned and freed myself, taking three steps back.

Just blocking two of his attacks nearly drained all my stamina, even fighting for half an hour wasn't nearly enough to get me this fatigued.

And this guy wasn't just messing around.

"I know that! but I won't hand her over." I breathed hard.

"You said you'll fight the Battlesuins, but what will you do if they try to kill you, what will you do if they try to kill your mother, your sister or that girl you're chasing?" Uncle walked casually.

"I-" he charged and hit me hard. I blocked his hands but it wasn't good enough. It wasn't just the blades, he had much, much more strength than me. And he was also punching with his hands, meaning this was bad.

I already had wounds from the fight with Clyde and now I was getting new ones. This wasn't good at all.

"I, what! You're going to stutter there too! I-I love her- so let her go!" The last bit he spoke in a high pitched voice, mocking me. "That won't do shit with that family of fiends!" he kicked me hard.

I nearly flew into the wall. If I hadn't used the barrier, I would have been shredded from that kick.

I couldn't use my powers against him because he was resistant to radiation and I couldn't take damage from him either. This was quite the predicament. "If it comes to that, I'll have to kill them."

He stopped in his tracks. "And then? Run around for the rest of your life? Will your family appreciate that? Do you know what it means to run from everything you love?"

I didn't know why but his words hit hard. I never considered any of these things. What if I kill? Would I really be able to run and stay on the run?

"I-"

"As I said, don't stutter!" He kicked me again. But I didn't fly this time. My feet were perfectly planted on the ground. I blocked his attack and used my barrier while giving him a kick too.

His body was mostly just blades, so I couldn't just haphazardly punch or kick him: I had to use barriers for that. Of course, he didn't fly away either and held his hand near my neck. I held my saber at his. "I don't care if I have to kill them. Of course, I've thought about this. I've agonized about this. I've hated them and I still hate them! Mom suffered because of them and I lost a father. But- but I won't let them take anything else from me. Being on the run? I won't run away! If they come at me, if anyone comes at me, I'll give 'em hell." And it wasn't like I hadn't killed before. I already knew what sort of agony that was. Albeit, at the time I didn't even know what killing was. "I don't want to become a criminal and I don't want to kill, but if I have to, I won't run: I will."

To me, it was just a bad dream. If mom was right, I killed millions. I've had nightmares all my life and I didn't even know why. So, if push came to shove, adding some new nightmares wasn't going to make a difference.

Uncle removed his hand, and I removed my saber. He didn't say anything and kept on walking, stopped by the door. "You know, I'll take care of the Rodwichs, but that bitch's family is quite strong. So if you aren't prepared to kill em' you won't make it out alive." There was a long pause. "Don't die kid."

He left.

What the hell was he even trying to accomplish with this?

I didn't know. But it did feel nice to have someone who had my back.

"You okay?" Merin whispered from across the place poking his head out a little. I guess he hadn't run away.

It was hard to hear him but yeah. "Not so much."

I started passing out. Apparently, I was leaking blood from all over my body. Damn, you uncle!

I fell flat on the floor.

***

"So, what do you think my lady?"

Vana Battlesuin vowed before a woman.

The woman in question didn't even give him a glance and admired the flowers on the table. "If I were to say, at present that family is rather weak. Their glory days are long gone and they're nothing more than an empty husk. The youngsters do seem to have plenty of potential though."

They were in a large room. There was no one else present. There was no noise, or sound for that matter.

"So, you're saying they won't attack us because of that?"

"Hmm… it's hard to say. After all, it's not that the family itself might attack us, it's more like it'll just be one kid: so, it's very unpredictable."

Vana smiled. "Then I'd assume I should continue as planned?"

"No. Though he'll be alone, we can't underestimate him. After all, you know whose blood flows in his veins. And more importantly, I think there's a very good chance we can win him over."

Vana was awfully skeptical about the winning over part. How could a Battlesuin win over a Romswell? The very idea was absurd.

They were enemies and Vana hated the Romswells extensively. So the very idea was vulgar.

"But my lady, what if-" Vana's lips pursed. He sweated. He couldn't move.

"Yes?" Finally, the woman met his gaze.

"Nothing, my lady."

The woman had a nonchalant graceful smile. "Good. Now go and fetch that. This war is as good as over." And her smile only widened. "We'll just have to make an offer he can't refuse."

Perhaps to the world that was one beautiful smile, but to Vana Battlesuin, it was scarier than hell.