Father and the Fool

The sound of clashing steel echoed violently throughout the streets of the Eastern District. Yet despite how loud and close these clashes are to the innocents walking nearby, no normal person could perceive them. To the average joe, the area is just one big void, as if the void had always been there from the start. This spell is used by the nanomass wielders to ensure their confidentiality when executing their missions. It works by not hypnotizing the people but just altering their memories for a few minutes.

"Hehe, now this is some action." A strange girl said while carrying a shoulder-mounted camera. "With this, I can finally gain an internship at the news station." She hulled the camera over her shoulder and started recording. Upon doing so, she heard a cracking noise around her and looked up while keeping the camera locked on the two men fighting in front of her. "What the heck?" The cracking noise came from a weird white pattern that stretched across the area in a dome-like shape. When the cracking stopped, the barrier came down like glass. "Eek," she shouted in surprise, noticing that the glass-like shards were phasing through her. She looked around her and noticed the passersby walking towards the fight. 'Huh? Why are they gathering now? This has been happening for a while now.' She thought to herself. As passersby moved their way to witness the unnatural event happening in the heart of the Eastern District, the strange camera girl continued to broadcast the fight live to everyone on the internet.

"Ngh!" On the nearby rooftop stood two people, a tall, young-looking man and a young, much smaller girl. "Ngh, let me go Apollo." Apollo held Renne in a headlock as she tried to squirm her way out.

"Not happening, princess, we can't intervene. This is a fight between Father and Son." Apollo then looked at a girl with pink hair off in the distance with a shoulder-mounted camera. He rolled his eyes and held Renne tighter.

Renne was dumbfounded by his statement. Noticing his grip getting tighter, she struggled more. "What do you mean between father and son?"

"Looks like he never told you, I guess I can tell y-" Before he could finish, a cracking noise filled the area. "That damn bitch." Apollo walked over the edge with Renne in his arms.

"Too...Tight…" A red mist engulfed them, causing them to vanish from sight.

~~0~~

"HAAAA!" Alan swung his blade at full force at the opening Arthur had given him. Small embers flew from the swing, igniting the surrounding area. A solid breeze of chilling air threw Alan off course, allowing Arthur to parry his son's attack. Just before Arthur's blade collided, an enormous grin grew on Alan's face and time froze. Using his same momentum, Alan swung at his father's chest. "CHECKMATE!" Alan's blade successfully collided with Arthur's body. However, the desired outcome did not happen. "What the?" Time unfroze and Arthur, unaware of how his opponent got so close to him, performed a spin kick and sent Alan flying into the street sign that held Evangela. Upon landing, Alan coughed up a little blood. "Chronos!" He said out loud as Arthur took a small breather while also coughing up a little blood, "What the hell happened?"

"It's called physics, dumbass." Chronos responded with a chuckle, "Did you honestly think you could do that while time was frozen? Well, news flash, friction is a thing that produces heat, and heat needs TIME to spread. No time? No heat? No cutting! The pendant's power is meant for protecting others and yourself. Now get your ass back up and attack him. He's weakened."

Alan attempted to get up but fell back to the ground. A sharp pain roared across his back. "Damn it...not now..." Alan staggered to get up while ignoring the sharp pains coming from the scar on his back. "I'll…end...this…" Alan fully got up and took a deep breath. He held his weapon sideways and charged at Arthur.

"Dumb child, who the hell fights like that?" Arthur took a defensive guard against Alan's last stand. However, when Alan got close, Arthur sensed something off and instinctively kicked Alan away rather than blocking his attack head-on.

*BANG*

A bullet whistled right past the two fighters as they were about to make contact. "Man, am I getting rusty? I only hit one of the three targets." A man walked out of the shadows carrying a large sniper, and behind him was a drone equipped with a small blade. "Howdy there, lads." He said while cocking back his sniper.

"..." Arthur investigated his surroundings and sighed. "Hate to say this, but you gotta go back to school and relearn how to count, you damn dog. I don't know how you got into the barrier, but you got no backup in here."

"Oh, whatever do you mean?" The man formed a smile. "I see a large ego, aqua-colored man, a boxer wearing weakling and bloodied cute girl." Alan and Arthur turned to look at Evangela. A thick trail of blood came pouring out of her. "Not to mention that your 'barrier' collapsed because of a stroke of luck."

"Evangela!" Alan ignored the man and ran towards Evangela, who was currently suffering from a bullet hole in the lower-left area of her stomach.

"You do know that she is the daughter of a big, rich man with influence, right?" Arthur turned and asked, annoyed.

"Oh, I know, but her father has given me permission to write her off, so I'm not worried." As he finished his statement, the sound of multiple footsteps was heard approaching. Multiple heavily armored police officers surrounded the three of them.

Shortly after the police officers arrived, a red mist circled the area. "Looks like you're having a blast down here." Apollo and Renne both jumped out of the mist. "Need a hand?" Arthur grunted as he cut down Evangela from her bindings.

"I'll also help." Renne said while pulling out her weapon.

"No Renne," Arthur said while walking toward Apollo. He aimed his blade at the man with the sniper. The man winked and Arthur scuffed at him. "Things have completely backfired. Take those two to safety. Apollo and I will handle things here."

"But-"

"Not buts little girl." Apollo said, pulling his weapons from his mist. "I'm sure you have noticed as well, but there is a reason that the kill order was revoked. So quit your complaining and help get them outta here."

Renne swallowed her pride and ran towards Alan, who was currently performing first aid on Evangela. "Don't you think that's a little perverted?" She asked while summoning a purple mist around them as Alan ripped off Evangela's shirt, leaving her in only her bra, in order to use it as a makeshift bandage wrap.

"Not like I have a choice here. It's either see her almost naked or watch her die." Alan finished wrapping her wound up and vomited blood.

"Al...an..?" Evangela weakly said.

"Don't speak. Everything will be fine." He threw Evangela onto his back, "I'm ready when you are." He said to Renne, looking pale.

"You act just like him…" She mumbled. "Anyway, you better not drag me down, or I'm leaving you behind, you got that?" She said arrogantly as she ran into the purple mist.

"Why do all the cute girls have to be such assholes?" Alan said while running after her.