With a small blast of fire from his feet, Max initiated a sprint towards Tamashi.

“YOU’RE MINE, SPARKY! I’LL END THIS IN ONE BLOW!”

Max jumped as he neared Tamashi. As Max fell through the sky, Tamashi reached out his arm.

‘Inazuma no Kabe.’

Max slammed head-first into the wall and bounced off, flying backwards in the direction he came from. As Tamashi released the wall, Max recovered and rose to his feet.

“Is that all you’ve got, Sparky?… THAT’S NOTHING FOR ME!”

Max formed an oversized ball of fire in his fist and forced himself back up into the air.

“I’LL KILL ALL OF YOU!”

Tamashi responded by once again reaching out his arm.

“You won’t get through me.”

Max acknowledged Tamashi’s declaration with a grin. A boom could be heard as Max accelerated to three times his previous speed. Tamashi failed to react in time, allowing Max to soar past his hand before a wall of lightning could be formed. Max slammed his fist into Tamashi’s face, sending Tamashi flying back into the wall.

Max landed by slamming his fist into the ground, as if he wanted to portray a stoic hero.

“Man, I thought you would last longer than that, but I guess I was wrong… When things were just starting to get exciting again…”

Tamashi hacked up a copious amount of blood as Charlie pleaded with him to withdraw.

“Hey… Tamashi… TAMASHI… BRO, WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE… YOU CAN’T BEAT HIM!”

Tamashi slowly raised his head towards Charlie.

“Charlie, I-“

Tamashi felt a hand that had landed on his shoulder. He turned his head back to meet Anna’s sun-filled gaze.

“Tamashi, don’t you dare give up now. I believe you can win.”

Tamashi’s eyes widened as he took Anna’s words to heart. In a matter of seconds, Tamashi was back on his feet and facing Max.

“Hey, hothead… we’re not finished yet. I won’t back down until I’ve defeated you.”

Max turned his entire body into a ball of a raging inferno.

“Now THAT’S what I wanna hear! I WAS STARTING TO GET BORED!”

As Tamashi began to fill his body with electricity, he thought about the events of the past month that led culminated in this fight.

‘Wow, it wasn’t that long ago when I was just an average high school student with a couple of friends. Then this all started because I couldn’t watch someone die. Things after that have been a rollercoaster: getting accused of murder, finding out about a society hiding in our shadows, training to use the elements, and now…’

Tamashi lowered his knees.

‘…saving my friends. I will be…’

Max and Tamashi simultaneously lifted off into the air. Max readied his fire-powered fist, while Tamashi simply reared back a bare fist.

‘THEIR SAVIOR!’

As the two opposing users of the elements neared each other, both released blood-curdling battle cries.

Suddenly, a blast of wind rammed through the alleyways, freezing both of the opponents in place. A tall figure appeared from the air and slammed its arms into both boys, forcing them down into the ground.

Max was the first to turn and face his dominator, and his reaction was astonishment.

“It’s… It’s YOU! WHY ARE YOU HERE?!”

Tamashi lifted his head and met the gaze of a tall woman with black hair and glowing hazel eyes.

“Wait… Star?”

——

Savior: Original Story by OneSevenEight

Episode: Framed Perspective - Part 30

——

“I told you before, Tamashi, my name is actually Bri.”

“Oh… anyways, where did you come from?”

Bri released her hold on the boys and stood up, stretching her arm out to Tamashi.

“I was just stopping by to see what all the fun was about.”

“Uh huh.”

Tamashi ignored Bri’s hand and lifted himself up.

“Anyways, Tamashi, I heard you’ve managed-“

“Why… are you here… Bri…”

Bri turned her stern gaze to the brown-haired teen that was still laying on the ground.

“Why don’t you just lay there and stay quiet, Max.”

“I WON’T DO THAT!”

Max sprung up like a toaster and took a shot at Bri. She responded by dropkicking him into a nearby wall.

“Why don’t you learn some respect, dumbass?”

Bri turned back to Tamashi.

“Anyways, my apologies if Max caused any trouble. He’s been rogue for a while now, so I was surprised to hear about him showing up here.”

Tamashi clenched his teeth and squeezed his fists.

“You know… I have some… serious… questions about who you let into Kita, but we have two problems here.”

Tamashi pointed back to the wall where the others were located.

“First, my friends are hurt. They were hurt by your rogue agent, so I assume you’ll take responsibility and help my friends out?”

“Of course. And the second problem?”

Tamashi raised his finger to his sky.

“That guy’s fireball made it all the way up there. People saw that and are probably freaked out. So what the hell are you gonna do about that?”

Bri began to laugh.

“What am I gonna do about that? Nothing! There’s nothing to worry about, Tamashi. The Law of the Elements says that people who are not aware of the existence of the Seishin cannot see the battles of the elements. FYI, the Law has equal weight to the laws of physics.”

‘I want to ask about how the elements would affect people if they’re nearby or involved, but there’s more important things to get to right now.’

“So, uh, we should get everyone to safety. Did you come with a plan to do that?”

Bri smiled as she walked past Tamashi. She stopped and looked back.

“Of course I did. A limo should be waiting nearby.”

——

The patio door opened, revealing Sensei. He walked to the steps into the yard, sat down and pulled out his cigarette box. As he removed a cigarette and placed it in his mouth, he turned his head to the sky and smiled.

‘Good work, Tamashi. You made it out of your first mission alive.’