A Little Assistance

"Are you just gonna stand there and let that old man's sacrifice be for nothing?!" Brandon asked.

"No."

"Then do something about it!"

"Precisely why I brought you here."

Brandon looked confused.

"You are the only one who can help. You have an ability that enables you absorb the energy emitted from powerful sources," Krenk stated.

"What?" Brandon had no clue what Krenk was talking about.

'That man... he isn't gonna survive for much longer,' making up his mind, Brandon rushed into the battle field, leaving Krenk in shock.

'I didn't think he would actually do it.'

As the two invaders were about to teleport away, a voice from below suddenly called out to them.

"Hey!"

Turning their heads, they saw a young man shaking his fist at them.

"And who may this shrimp be?" one asked.

"No idea. Let me get rid of him," the other replied.

Charging a ball of fire, he hurled it downwards towards the person on the ground.

"Wow!" Brandon yelled, dodging the attack ad it exploded upon making contact with the ground, spreading itself a few hards before it disappeared.

"This might have not been a good idea," Brandon said, looking at a man hurling attacks at him, g inning through the bottom part of his mask.

Seizing the opportunity, Krenk sneaked his way to the village chief, who laid lifeless on the ground. Arriving just a few feet away, the other Red Raven invader took notice of him, and sent an attack his way.

Before it could make impact, however, Krenk had already reached the village chief, and produced a force field that resisted the force of the blast.

"Get rid of these two already, boy!" Krenk yelled. He was surprised by his speed in outrunning the blast, however, he wasn't sure how long his luck would last.

"Easier said than done, you dwarf! Here, how about we switch places and you fight these de-"

Mid-sentence, an explosion had knocked him off his feet, sending him crashing to the ground.

"Face it, you are nothing compared to my power. Even your precious village chief stood no chance against me," the man yelled, charging another attack.

"Man, don't these guys ever run outta juice? I haven't even paid a finger on them, let alone been on their level. It's like I'm playing the role of a bait," Brandon said to himself.

'Hmm... but what about that stuff the short dude told me about having something called an ability?'

At this point, anything would be helpful in overcoming the current milestone, even if it was the ramblings of a self-absorbed short man.

Clasping his hands together, the ball of fire grew twice as large, and glowed twice as bright.

"I'm done toying with you. Iwill finish you with this attack."

"Oh, yeah, thanks for the insult. Really appreciate it," Brandon replied.

The man paused for a second, but then continued his assault. "You will pay for your insolence, worm."

'C'mon ability, work already,' Brandon was willing to put all his faith in Krenk's words.

As the masked man's fist was mere inches from Brandon, a sudden force halted his descent, keeping him in place. The force inflicted by his sudden stop had forced a large chunk of rock further down, as well as created a strong wind current that pushed whatever was before it away.

'What happened?!' even Brandon was shocked by the sudden stop, and the strong gust of wind, and opening his eyes, he found his right hand gripping tightly the hand meant to deliver the blazing fireball.

"What the f*ck?!"

___________

Kyle was getting tired of trekking across the dry open plane. He was ready to call it quits, only, there was one problem. How was he supposed to go back?

'That short stuff... he brought me here, but didn't tell me how to get back. No wonder he was in such a rush to bring me here,' Kyle sneered, thinking the little guy was just trying to get rid of him, but that seemed unlikely.

'I haven't seen a bloody Phoenix since I got here. I knew this was gonna be a scam. It was all too good to be true. Phoenixes? Those things only exists in mad-made fantasies.'

Although Kyle belief in this was firm, there were many other things he had witnessed that just didn't add up, and for him to think this was also true would only mean he is lying to himself.

'Some black magic he called a magic circle had brought me here. Heck, a portal brought me and Brandon to that planet!"

Kyle wasn't really sure it was a different planet, but considering how his body reacted to the environment, it made him believe he didn't belong there in any possible way.

"I think I'll take a little break," he said as he sat down on the dirt. "I wonder how things are back on Earth. Has mum finally accepted that promotion her boss has been bugging her about?"

"Promotion for what?" a voice replied.

Kyle's eyes widened in shock.

"Who are you?! Come out if you don't want to die!" he yelled as he readied his fists.

"Do you really plan to fight me in your current state?" the voice replied.

"Who are you?"

"Why do you want to know?"

Kyle took a while before replying.

"You know what, I don't want to know," he said as he returned to his resting position.

"Hey! Don't you want to know who I am?"

Kyle ignored the voice.

"Don't you want a familiar? Isn't that what you're looking for?"

He still remained silent.

'A familiar? What's that?' He thought.

After a few minutes of silent, the voice let out a sigh in annoyance.

"My name is Hector the trickster, and I have chose to form a contract with you," the voice revealed itself finally to Kyle Indeed, it was the very being he once thought to be a myth, but glancing at it now, everything man uttered about the creature was true.

The bright orange feathers shrouded in flames, the dual voice that signified power and majesty, the feeling of safety one got when they we're near such a being. Although man's history records it as 'The Phoenix' it seemed like more than one existed on this plane, according to what Krenk told him.

The creature expected the young man to be in awe in his presence, showing respect and admiration for beholding it's glorious self, considering the fact that this person seems to have only entered this plane for the first time. It was the usual response, even towards the weakest of Phoenixes, but this person's reaction was different.

"So you've finally decided to show yourself? I applaud you for taking your sweet time," Kyle showed his 'appreciation' by clapping for the bird with a smile on his face.

The bird was taken aback by the response, and didn't know how to respond.

"Cat got your tongue? The people I met before you don't seem to understand this idiom, but I assume a being of your caliber and grace should, else you're nothing but a dummy just like the rest of them," Kyle continued.

"H-how... dare you!" the bird roared, its flames growing wild as its eyes were covered in them, covering up its yellow spot and dark dark orange pupils.

'Another round of intimation. I hope this heart ache doesn't make things harder than they already are,' Kyle thought as he bent his knees slightly, ready to dodge whatever attack the bird planned to send his way.

__________

Brandon was surprised the condensed flames didn't burn his skin, but was more surprised that he was able to match the man in strength. The latter was also shock, his lips revealing his emotion as he struggled to push forward.

"How are you... so strong?! You were just struggling to not get roasted! How are you going toe to toe with me, shrimp?!" the man complained.

"That's just it. I ain't no f*cking shrimp. I'm the guy who will kick your butt!" Brandon yelled as his grip tightened, and a cracking sound was held, followed by a scream. Brandon didn't stop there, gripping the other hand with his, he crushed those bones as well, stopping the man from conjuring up more flames.

"My body may be immune to those flames, but I can't say the same for my clothes. I can't let you scorched them all off," Brandon pulled the man and slammed his body against the ground.

"Aaaahhhh!!!"

"Scream louder, I dare you!" Brandon demanded, kicking the man in the ribs.

"My brother!" a sudden punch had connected, but did nothing to face Brandon. The other Red Raven invader had his eyes widen in shock as his body trembled in fear. "Y-you're a monster. You are a being on par with our fallen group's leader Hithon."

Brandon grinned as he returned the punch he had received, only with more force that it made the man's mask tear halfway from top to bottom, revealing one hazel eye and half a bloodied lip.

"Che! I... I can't die here! I must leave immediately!"

"Not so fast!" another punch had sent the man hurling further back. Turning back, Brandon walked back and finished off the first guy, just in case he was still alive.

"Not so fast. If you're gonna leave, go with this message and tell your boss the second you meet him!" Brandon quickly covered the distance between he and the last Red Raven invader, gripping his exposed hair as he stared into his eyes, seeming to look through his souls.

"O-ofcourse, I will," the man readily agreed.

Brandon grinned.

"Good."