Both Anna and Tsuru expected a fiery rampage from Max, but instead, he closed his eyes and grew quiet.

Tsuru began to worry that he was going to blindside Anna.

“Hey, please be careful, Anna. Don’t get yourself-“

“It’s fine. I know he’s up to something.”

As Anna cautiously waited for Max to make his next move, he reopened his eyes and formed a conceited smile.

“Wow, you truly are a worthy opponent. I haven’t had to fight this hard since I trained with my brother and the boss. You are one truly special person.”

Max began to make his way towards Anna with a slow walk. His hands were in his pockets.

“Huh, so you respect me as a worthy opponent now? No more ‘girl’ insults?”

“I had my doubts, but you truly seem to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I have to acknowledge that fact and offer some respect to you. Let’s properly begin this battle as equally-worthy opponents. What do you say?”

Max stopped in front of Anna and began to pull his righthand out of his pocket, seemingly preparing to offer a handshake.

In a split-second, before he could pull his hand all the way out, Anna lunged out with her right hand and grabbed his arm.

“How stupid do you think I am? Drop the knife.”

“Or what? Do you really believe that I’ll just drop my weapon because you told me to?”

“I can force you.”

“HA! I wanna see you try without getting stabbed.”

“I wanna see you try to stab me without getting the shit kicked out of you.”

`As the next round of the fight began to unfold, Tsuru looked up to the cloudy sky. Rays of sunlight began to shine through, perhaps indicating that there was hope that the whole group would escape without anyone dying or getting hurt too badly. At the same time, the wind began to pick up. The alleyway acted as a long and narrow wind tunnel, causing the cold wind to gain tremendous speed and force.

As her brunette hair was blasted by the monstrous wind, Tsuru’s bottomless brown eyes teared up.

“ANNA! DON’T DIE!”

As her neck-length jet black hair also flowed in the ferocious wind, Anna responded by closing her eye and giving Tsuru a face of joy that lacked regret.

“I’m going to win this. Stop doubting me, Tsuru.”

“Someone’s still being excessively cocky. This battle is far from over.”

Anna slowly reopened her right eye, her yellow iris glowing with determination.

“True, the battle’s not over yet. I still have you take you down.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Anna suddenly felt a burst of upward pressure on her arm. Max had begun to overpower her and lift his knife out of his pocket.

She responded by grabbing his arm with both of her hands and lifting Max up above her. Before she could slam him down, Max wrapped his legs around Anna’s head.

Anna ran to the nearest wall as fast as she could. When she reached the wall, Max sprung his legs out and jumped off the wall, completing a backflip. Anna pushed herself off the wall with her left arm, spun around, and threw a punch with her right fist, connecting with Max’s jaw.

“GAH-“

Max seemingly entered himself into blind rage, throwing wild punches at Anna. She reformed her boxing pose and dodged each punch.

‘There.’

During Max’s tirade, Anna noticed that he war rearing back his left leg, preparing to kick her legs out.

When he released his leg, Max was met with a block from Anna’s right leg. Max then attempted to wrap his arms around her leg and lift her.

Anna pushed herself into the air with her left leg and shoved her left knee into Max’s face. As Max was forced to let go of her leg, Anna landed on behind him on her hands, balancing herself with a handstand.

Max spun around and attempted to throw a punch, but Anna blocked it with her right leg. She then proceeded to release the block and quickly spun herself while extending her left leg, aiming for Max’s head. Max ducked the swing and and ran towards Anna’s torso, aiming to tackle her. Before he could reach her, Anna wrapped her legs around Max’s head and pulled herself over, landing on her back with Max in a chokehold.

After spitting up blood, which was mostly caused by the hard back landing, Anna let a sigh of relief escape her mouth

“Tsuru, I think it’s over now. Give it a minute, then go check on Charlie.”

“O… Ok.”

“Lighten up a bit, this isn’t your fault.”

After attempting to console Tsuru, Anna focused closely on Max.

‘He kinda looks like he’s out, but I can’t see his eyes.’

The clouds overtook the sun rays that were leaking through, and the alleyway’s atmosphere descended into a dark gray tone.

“Sorry, bro. Sorry, Bri. I’ve gotta break my promise.”

As he spoke, he slowly shifted his head back, directing his view to the sky. Anna managed catch a glimpse of his eyes, which shocked her.

“Wait… who’s Bri? And why are you eyes…”

The red in Max’s eyes had begun to fade away, revealing a layer of bright orange. As his eyes converted, Max formed a faint smile.

“Faia.”

Instantly, the lower portion of Anna’s pants caught fire.

‘WHAT THE-‘

Instinctively, she released the chokehold on Max and got up, processing the fact that she was on fire and needed to put the fire out.

She looked down at the site of the fire. She was baffled to find that the fire had completely disappeared, almost as if It had never happened.

‘Wait… What’s going on here… Is this some kind of weird power he has?’

Anna looked back up to find that Max had also risen from the ground. He stared at her with his now-orange, fiery eyes.

Immediately, flames appeared before Anna, blasting into her as if they were an angry mob that was trying to torch her.

She shielded her face with her arms, but that didn’t stop the flames from completely engulfing her.

“GAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH”

All of a sudden, the rampage stopped, and the flames were gone. Anna slowly lowered her arms to find that Max was gone.

“Sorry, I’m cheating a bit, but it’s necessary.”

Sharp pain engulfed Anna’s body.

She looked over her shoulder to find a knife sticking out of it.

“Sweet dreams, An-na!”

——

Savior: Original Story by OneSevenEight

Episode: Framed Perspective - Part 11

——

Charlie looked up, to find a woman standing on the water.

“It’s time to wake up, you wimp.”