Chapter 6 : Crystal

She shoved him away and leapt off the platform. As she soared through the air, she twisted her body and noticed the man had also jumped and was closing in on her. Suddenly, she disappeared, leaving behind a trail of energy, and reappeared on the rooftop of the building next to their headquarters.

The structure was dilapidated, with a worn and dusty exterior, like the majority of the other buildings in the deserted urban area they were in.

"Instant Reverse!" she heard the man shout from below, she quickly turned around and blocked the kick aimed at her head with her arm. With her other arm, she charged up her fist with energy and swung it with all her might.

It hit Hayden square in the stomach, sending him flying over the tops of multiple buildings, before finally crashing into a taller one. The impact was so powerful that he broke through the concrete wall, tumbled and smashed into a table, flipping it over.

Pain radiated throughout his body and he knew he had sustained multiple fractures.

He also knew that he would be able to fix himself if he could hold on for five more seconds, but judging from the look he saw in Crystal's eyes, he knew she would not let him go so easily. She suddenly materialized in front of him, releasing a trail of energy as she did so. Without hesitation, she charged her leg and kicked him in the chest before he could react. The force sent him crashing into several lined-up tables before crashing through a window and falling through the air once again.

Suddenly, his body froze before he could fall any further. A moment later, he was sent flying upwards, back into the room the way he fell. The window repaired itself behind him, and his body healed itself, and the pain was gone in an instant.

He climbed onto a table and unsheathed his sword. "Snap out of it Crystal!" He shouted and charged towards her, leaping from one destroyed table to another. She fired a barrage of energy blasts at him as he closed in on her. He reflected some of the blasts at her while disintegrating the others within the range of his ability, the power to undo any action.

It came with two skills; true reversal and instant reversal.

True Reversal allowed Hayden to undo one or more actions at the same rate as it took to complete those actions. He used this skill the most as it had no cooldown on his ability and used less of his charge. It was what allowed him to dissipate energy blasts by undoing the construction of the blast. Sometimes he would send the blast back to Crystal instead, this time reversing the flight of the blast. He also used the skill to reverse his fall and mend the broken window.

He then used Instant Reversal to restore his body to the state it was in before she attacked him. Which effectively healed him completely.

This skill allowed him to instantly revert any action regardless of the time gap. He is also able to quickly and easily transport himself and others to locations he had previously been to. Like when Hayden used this power to take himself and Crystal to the platform outside headquarters.

However, this skill has the lethal side effect of putting his entire ability on cooldown for 15 seconds and a heavy drain on his charge. But despite his overcautiousness, he was willing to take the risk and make the gamble with his moves.

His ability greatly enhanced both his combat skills and mobility.

Crystal was determined to take down Hayden, so she formed an energy blade in each hand and lunged forward. The blades clashed, sending out sparks and energy traces in all directions. Hayden was pushed back by the sheer force of her blades, so he disintegrated them, causing her to lose her balance in the process. Seeing this opportunity, Hayden dropped his sword and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to Crystal's stomach, sending her flying a few meters away.

Crystal was in shock, unable to believe that Hayden had managed to overpower her so easily. She was determined to fight back, so she quickly regained her composure and formed an energy shield to protect herself. Hayden, seeing this, picked up his sword and charged forward, but Crystal was ready this time. She used her energy shield to deflect his attack and followed up with a powerful uppercut with a charged fist that sent him flying back.

Hayden nimbly landed on a table, quickly rolling away as Crystal appeared above him. Her foot, crackling with energy, came crashing down where he had been standing, obliterating the surface. Hayden quickly regained his footing and leapt backwards to avoid the force of the impact. As she slammed into the ground, Hayden couldn't help but notice the intense anger etched on her face, making him question what she was perceiving him as in her hallucination.

The force of the impact sent her tumbling through the tiles and concrete and into the room below. She groaned in pain as she hit the floor, having been thrown off the table she had landed on.

Hayden finally thought of a plan to put an end to Crystal's rampage. He knew that if he reversed the state of her body, it would return her to her previous state of being in stasis. He jumped into the hole and soon found himself on the table that she had fallen on. As he uttered his skill one final time, Crystal slowly started to drift off to sleep.

Now, as she lay soundly asleep, Hayden knew that everything would be alright. He swept her up into his arms and vanished.