The Fated Battle Between Rivals, Part 4

With a roar, I thrust a hand forwards, firing off a mighty beam of dark-blue Cursed Power towards Mikey. The wind spiraling around my wrist then flies outwards as well, following the path marked out by my dark-blue emission of Cursed Power, like a double layered attack.

In turn, and with his own roar, Mikey squeezes the triggers of both of his pistols, firing off his giant fireball, which streaks through the air towards me, like a phoenix.

Mine and Mikey's attacks collide in a grand explosion of Cursed Power, the brightest and strongest explosion of Cursed Power I've seen to date. Our two bursts of Cursed Power battle it out against one another for a little bit, before merging together, forming a giant explosion of bright purple Cursed Power.

"PIERCE THE HEAVENS!"

"BURN OUT!"

Same with my wind and Mikey's flames. My wind struggles against Mikey's fire for a bit, before the two fuse, merging into a spiraling, flaming tornado, which swirls around Mikey and I.

Mikey and I struggle back and forth, my Spirit Storm and his Star-Core Cannon exchanging turns as to who's pushing whom back. Our two attacks seem almost completely matched.

With a roar, Mikey and I both up the pressure of our two attacks, pouring in even more Cursed Power into our attacks than before. But yet again; our two attacks seem evenly matched.

I know I've said this time and time again, but as our two attacks collide, they cause a giant explosion of wind and fire, of dark-blue Cursed Power, and flame-red Cursed Power.

But this time…I truly mean it.

The sheer heat and power radiating out of the explosion of mine and Mikey's attack is enough to literally burn the nearby area to crisp. If anyone else was within the radius of this battle, they would have instantly burnt alive. Every last cell in my body is screaming with pure and utter pain.

It feels like I'm about to die.

In one last explosion of wind and fire, of dark-blue and flame-red Cursed Power, Mikey and I are sent flying dozens of feet away from each other.

But that doesn't deter us.

I'm not out yet...MIKEY!" I cry as I summon the final bit of strength I have left in my body, and push myself off of the ground.

"I wouldn't have it any other way...LUIS!" Mikey cries as he pushes himself off of the ground as well.

Mikey and I slowly begin hobbling towards one another, soaked in blood, littered with wounds, and filled with broken bones.

But still…we keep pushing on.

Desperate for victory.

Mikey and I then begin walking, which evolves into a run, until eventually, Mikey and I charge one another with our full might, our bodies reinforced and radiating with our respective colors of Cursed Power.

As I run; I take my two fingers and drag them across the blade of my father's katana. "I wish I could have gotten to know you better, dad…" I softly say to the katana. "Thank you for defeating Conquest. Thank you for everything."

I then bring my dad's katana high into the air above my head, reinforcing its blade with my dark-blue Cursed Power. The blade of my katana then extends outwards, but not just lengthwise; width wise, as well. I then wrap my wind around my katana as well in the form of a tornado then condense it, my wind taking shape around my katana like an extra layer, an extra dark blue sword of wind, like my Sky God's Katana, but placed upon my Extend-o-Blade. I keep extending the blade of my katana outwards until it stands as a giant sword.

As for Mikey, he brings his right fist up, engulfing it in both his regular orange flames and his black Flames of Destruction, so bright and so hot that Mikey's fist appears to be the very sun itself, shrouded in a black, evil darkness.

But as I form my Demon God's Katana, something strange begins to happen. Lime-green Cursed Power begins leaking out of my dad's katana, which turns into poison gas and merges with my wind, shrouding my Demon God's Katana in a lime-green tornado of wind and poison.

"I can feel you, dad…" I softly say with a small smile. "The last remnants of your Cursed Power…I can feel your soul in this blade. Thank you…for helping me out 'till the very end…"

And then…I swing my dad's katana downwards, as Mikey launches his fist towards me.

"WIND CONTROL: DEMON GOD'S TOXIC KATANA!"

"FLAMES OF DESTRUCTION: DEVIL'S PALM!"

With a roar, my dad's katana and Mikey's fist clash, in one final explosion of wind and fire, of dark-blue and flame-red Cursed Power. But this time; poison gas and lime- green Cursed Power is mixed into the explosion.

My dad's power…which will help me to defeat Mikey at last.

Mikey and I struggle back and forth, my Demon God's Toxic Katana and his Devil Palm exchanging turns as to who's pushing whom back. Our two attacks seem almost completely matched.

With a roar, Mikey and I both up the pressure of our two attacks, pouring in even more Cursed Power into our attacks than before. But yet again; our two attacks seem evenly matched.

"I won't let you…DEFEAT ME!!!"

I'll stop you here…MIKEY!!!!"

With one final roar, my Demon God's Toxic Katana overpowers Mikey's Devil's Palm, and this time…I begin pushing Mikey back!

"Just…a little more…" I grunt, my teeth clenched so tightly that it feels like they're about to snap. "JUST A LITTLE MORE!"

But then…the unthinkable happens.

The dark-blue and lime-green Cursed Power reinforcing the blade of my dad's katana as well as the wind and poison gas wrapped around it dissipates.

My eyes widen.

"Uh-oh."

Mikey says nothing at first. He just stares at my naked katana, his eyes just as wide as mine. But then…Mikey's eyes and lips curl up into a hideous smirk as Mikey lets out a bellowing, witchy cackle.

"YOU RAN OUT OF CURSED POWER, BLUE DEMON!" Mikey cackles. "IT LOOKS LIKE I-"

But before Mikey can finish that line, I let out a battle cry, one so loud and so passionate that it overshadows Mikey's laugh, the winds of Hell howling around us, and even the wicked thunder booming up above.

"I don't need…CURSED POWER TO DEFEAT YOU!"

With a roar, I launch my right fist forwards, a naked fist, one not bubbling with even a single ounce of Cursed Power.

My fist cracks Mikey straight in the face, causing blood to begin gushing out of Mikey's nose as his eyes roll into the back of his head.

The force of my punch even sends Mikey flying a few inches off of the ground, before he violently slams down onto his back on the floor.

In my first fight against Mikey; the fight ended with Mikey's knee on my chest, his gun pointed to my forehead. Our second fight ended the same, as well.

But this time; as I drop to the ground -with no strength left to stand- I land on top of Mikey, with my knee pressed into his chest, as I dig the blade of my dad's katana into Mikey's throat…

I've won.

Mikey's eyes widen as he peers up at me, frantically gasping for breath.

I gasp for breath as well as I stare down at Miket, my sweat dripping down upon him.

"So what now…demon…?" Mikey asks with a weal smirk. "You gonna kill me?"

"You…stupid…DUMBASS!" I roar as I slam my dad's katana down, the blade piercing the ground directly by Mikey's face, and forming a small crater in the floor.

MIkey's eyes widen

"I'M NOT GOING TO KILL YOU OKAY?! SO LISTEN UP, DAMMIT!" I snap as I aim an accusing finger at Mikey. "You're my friend, whether you like it or not! And I don't know what happened to make you this way, but you better get over yourself! I killed Nick, okay? I fucking killed him! You think that hurts you, well what about me, asshole?! You think I enjoyed that?! You think I enjoy the target placed on my back just because of who my father is? You think I enjoy my friends and family being in constant danger? No! I'm the Blue Demon and I hate it! And If you want to hate me for killing Nick, that's fine! But humanity isn't worth destroying!"

"And why…is not…?" Mikey weakly scoffs.

"Because...because…" I stammer, at a loss for words, thanks to Mikey's stupidity. "Nick!" I cry at last. "Because of Nick! And Ella, and Grover, and Jamie, and Austin, and your parents, and so many people that you don't even know, like my family, and Daniel, and so, so many others that I don't even know! There are so many good people out there! So many people are not worthy of your stupid anger! I really don't understand sometimes, Mikey! You say you want to kill every demon but then you join their side? Then you help open up the portal to Hell to kill both humankind and demonkind? There's no method to your madness! At least make up your mind! Nick told me that I should be able to understand you, to reach out to you. But now, I'm not too sure. So… JUST GET OVER YOURSELF!"

I peer back down at Mikey, panting heavily. Tears are forming at the edges of Mikey's eyes. "I'm in…too deep…" he softly replies. "At first…it started out simple. I wanted revenge on the Pro Slayer Organization, for not coming to save them when War attacked my parents. There are so many others like me, and it hurts, it really hurts. I went on my journey as a demon hunter, killing the demons that the Slayers couldn't kill. The Pro Slayers were incapable in my eyes. My parents died without their help. And so, I figured that I could do a better job. But I was stupid. In my journey of killing demons, I neglected everything else, harming innocent people and attacking Pro Slayers in the process. But then, I met Nick. He told me that I was strong and that I could become great. I looked up to him, and Nick...he seemed to care about me. The only person who ever did, after my parents died. And soon, I saw Nick as my father figure. And then…you killed him. You took the only person who cared about me away from me. You killed my dad, a second time. And for that…I hate you, Luis. But deep down…I know it's not your fault. I know that I was taking out the anger for the demon who killed my parents on you, the demon closest to me."

"I needed to become strong, strong enough to take revenge on the demon who killed my parents, without any help! But then you came along, and the man who I saw as my father figure was paying as much attention to you as he was for me. And then I saw you -a weakling who I destroyed in our first fight- surpass me in strength. And I couldn't forgive myself for that. In the search for strength and revenge, I lost all control. I can't...take this anymore. But now, I'm in too deep. And all that's left of me, MIchael Hakan...is anger…"

Slowly, I get off of Mikey. "You…you said that Nick is the only man who cared about you, but that's a lie," I begin to say as I extend a hand out to Mikey. "I care about you too, Mikey, as embarrassed as I am to admit it. And Ella, and Grover, Jamie, and Austin too, and all the allies we've made as Pro Slayers…we all care about you. So please-"

"Be my friend again."

Mikey wipes his eyes.

Slowly…Mikey pushes himself off of the ground and up to his feet.

And then…Mikey takes my hand.

The two of us stare each other in the eyes, not saying a single word, until I break the silence.

"Mikey, do you know for sure that War killed your parents?" I ask.

 "All I saw through all the blood was a demon with striking red hair, so I couldn't tell if it was her or first," Mikey answers. "But when I saw War again after all those years -when Daniel kidnapped you- it all came back to me; War it the demon who killed my parents."

"And I have a theory that War used her Emotion Manipulation to control you," I continue. "I mean…you saw War's reaction towards you when she revealed her second Cursed Ability. And War's the one…who turned my dad into Conquest, too. I haven't wanted to kill anyone this badly…not since Ace…"

"While I don't want to shrug off all of the blame for my actions, it is safe to say that War had a role in what I've done lately," Mikey answers. "I'm assuming since she rescued me after my fight with King. Or maybe since I saw her at the abandoned house. Hell, maybe even since she killed my parents! The Four Horsemen needed the Flames of Destruction wielder, afterall."

"Well then…it looks like we're on the same page," I reply with a smirk.

"Right," Mikey nods as he smirks back at me.

"LET'S GO KILL WAR!"