Break and Build

The room smelled like mold and wet towels. A flickering fluorescent bulb buzzed above, casting pale light across the cracked wallpaper. Rain tapped lightly against the fogged-up motel window, the only noise in an otherwise still night.

Kai sat shirtless on the bed's edge, grimacing as he wrapped gauze around his ribs. Purple bruises bloomed down his side, and a thin gash ran diagonally across his shoulder. He paused for a moment, catching his breath, then continued.

Zayn sprawled out on the carpeted floor nearby, legs crossed, a cheap chocolate bar half-melted in one hand. The spellbook lay open in front of him — unreadable to him, but something about the glowing glyphs seemed comforting.

"You look like roadkill," Zayn said, breaking the silence.

Kai didn't look up. "Feel worse."

Zayn took another bite of the chocolate bar. "That fire guy hit harder than the last two combined. If you were a Mamodo, you'd be ash by now."

Kai rolled his eyes and stood slowly, limping over to the sink. He poured water over a rag and pressed it to his neck, wincing at the sting. The silence returned.

Then, after a long pause, Zayn spoke again — quieter this time.

"Why do you even keep doing this?"

Kai didn't respond at first.

Zayn sat up. "I'm serious. You're not trying to win glory. You don't like fighting. You're not even trying to be a hero."

Kai still didn't answer.

Zayn stared at him. "Then why?"

The dripping tap filled the space between them. Finally, Kai glanced at him in the mirror — his reflection blurry, his eyes unreadable.

"I don't like the alternative," he muttered.

Zayn blinked. "That's it?"

Kai returned to the bed and slumped down, grabbing the book and thumbing through pages with half-shut eyes.

Zayn raised an eyebrow. "You're really hard to understand, you know that?"

Kai let out a tired breath. "Good."

Another long silence.

Zayn sighed, standing and stretching. "Alright, well… I got food. Kind of."

He pointed to the corner, where a half-crushed vending machine stood with its front pried open. A microwave next to it hummed suspiciously. Inside, some combination of instant noodles and vending machine candy bars melted in a cheap plastic bowl.

Kai stared at it.

Zayn grinned. "It's edible. Probably."

Kai looked at him. "You're not allowed near appliances anymore."

The microwave sparked. They both flinched.

"…Fair."

Despite everything, they shared a laugh — short, quiet, but real.

Zayn grabbed the book and sat beside Kai. "I keep feeling like we're getting better. Stronger. But every fight still ends the same — us bleeding in some dump."

Kai nodded. "It's not just strength. We need better plans. Smarter moves. The others… they're getting more calculated."

Zayn leaned back against the wall, flipping pages. "So what's the next move, then?"

A buzz vibrated Kai's phone. He pulled it from his pocket and checked the screen.

One message.

No name. No number. Just coordinates.

And one line:

"Let's see how clever you really are."

Kai stared at it, then looked at Zayn.

"We've got a lead."

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By morning, the rain had stopped. Mist clung to the pavement as Kai and Zayn stepped out of the motel and into a world that somehow looked more tired than they did.

The coordinates from the message led them to a closed-down train yard on the outskirts of town. Rusted tracks snaked through the fog like veins, littered with old crates, graffiti-tagged storage containers, and the occasional stray cat.

Kai kept his hands in his hoodie pockets, shoulders still stiff with pain. He wasn't fully healed — not even close. Every step pulled on the deep bruises across his torso.

Zayn, meanwhile, walked ahead, his injuries from the last fight already faded. The limp he'd carried yesterday was gone. Mamodos healed fast. Too fast. It made Kai feel even more breakable.

"You good?" Zayn asked, not looking back.

"No," Kai replied flatly. "Let's go."

They moved deeper into the yard.

Then they heard it.

A whistle.

High. Mocking.

A figure sat on top of a stacked crate nearby, legs swinging like a child on a swing set.

He wore a sharp red coat, black gloves, and a bowler hat that didn't quite match the rest of him. His Mamodo stood beneath him, arms folded, flames faintly flickering across his shoulders.

Kai stopped in his tracks.

The boy in the red coat grinned.

"Thought it'd take you longer."

Kai didn't respond.

Zayn took a step forward. "You sent the message?"

"Duh."

The boy hopped down, landing with a theatrical bow. "Name's Henry. My partner here's called Vesh. Pyromaniac with a doctorate in pain."

Vesh's eyes glowed orange. The ground under his feet began to smolder slightly.

Kai slowly opened the spellbook.

Henry tilted his head. "No chat? No handshake? You're all business, huh?"

Kai's gaze didn't waver. "You don't call someone out unless you're ready to back it up."

Henry's grin widened. "Good. Because I've been bored."

With a flick of his hand, the first spell was cast:

"Ignarros!"

A fireball burst from Vesh's palm and rocketed toward them.

Kai dove left, Zayn right. The flame exploded where they'd stood, sending shrapnel and heat in all directions.

Zayn landed in a roll, already shouting: "Kai!"

"Zaker!" Kai called out.

Lightning arced from the book and blasted into Vesh's side — but it barely slowed him. The fire Mamodo spun midair and flung a smaller blast directly at Kai.

It hit him square in the ribs.

He cried out, crumpling behind a steel barrel. Smoke rose from his hoodie.

Zayn's eyes narrowed. "You okay!?"

Kai coughed. "Not even a little!"

Henry watched from a distance, not even reading another spell. Just waiting.

Toying with them.

Zayn gritted his teeth. "We've fought rocks, speed freaks, even water types. Fire's new."

Kai forced himself to his knees, book shaking in his hands. "Fire spreads. Uses oxygen. That gives us options."

"You got a plan?"

"Always."

Another fireball whizzed past them.

"Start drawing him out. Get him to burn things. Everything."

Zayn blinked. "We're going to let him set the yard on fire?"

"Exactly."

Zayn's grin returned. "Now that's a Kai plan."

He stepped into the open and shouted, "Come on, lava-breath! I've seen candles burn hotter!"

Vesh snarled, launching a barrage of smaller flames.

Zayn darted between crates, redirecting shots as best he could. Flames caught on tarps, spilled over crates, ignited old wiring.

Smoke began to rise.

Heat warped the air.

Kai squinted through it all, finding a pattern.

Vesh's movements were predictable — overconfident. That was their edge.

Kai raised the book again.

"Zaker!"

Another bolt flew, striking the ground near Vesh and kicking up debris — enough to blind him for a moment.

Kai turned to Zayn.

"Push him toward the center!"

Zayn rushed forward.

Henry finally read another spell: "Ignarros Blazar!"

Vesh's hands lit like twin torches, and he hurled two massive spirals of flame. Zayn ducked under one and leapt above the other — flipping over a half-burned crate and landing right where Kai needed him.

The fire behind them was spreading now — choking smoke curling into the air.

Kai reached into his pocket, pulling out a small object: a broken compact mirror.

He angled it toward a sheet of metal that reflected the flames just enough — not to redirect fire, but to signal.

Zayn saw the glint.

Time to go.

He surged forward, right into the smoke — and right at Vesh.

Vesh stepped back as Zayn barreled through the thick smoke, just a blur of motion in the choked gray.

"Burn him!" Henry shouted.

Vesh responded instantly.

"Ignarros!"

Another fireball surged forward — but this time, Zayn wasn't in its path.

He ducked left — then twisted behind a scorched crate.

Boom.

Flames roared where he was, not where he went.

Vesh narrowed his eyes. He didn't like smoke. It hid things. Made it harder to see his target. His flames lit the mist around him, turning it gold-orange and warping his vision. His senses were strong — but not sharp.

"Keep him off balance," Kai muttered from behind his cover, flipping to the right page. He coughed again, his chest still burning from earlier. "Don't let him set."

Zayn obeyed without question. He zigzagged through cover, deliberately choosing paths that led near fuel-soaked tarps and old wooden crates. Vesh kept firing — but every missed blast only fed the inferno.

Smoke coiled into the sky. Fire danced across the yard now, creeping along surfaces, devouring everything it touched.

Then it happened.

The ground shifted.

Or rather, the air did.

Hot and cold collided as the fire sucked up all the oxygen in the center of the yard — creating a vacuum.

And Kai, weak as he was, had waited for that.

He shouted: "Zaker!"

This time the lightning struck true — not at Vesh, but at a nearby exposed gas valve.

BOOM.

The explosion rocked the entire yard, sending debris and fire upward like a volcanic burst.

Vesh was thrown backward.

Henry stumbled, nearly falling from his perch.

Zayn darted out of the smoke and caught Vesh midair with a punch to the gut, following up with a sweep kick that slammed the Mamodo into the dirt.

Vesh growled, rolled, and spat flame point-blank — but Zayn dove backward just in time.

"Now, Kai!" he shouted.

But Kai wasn't standing.

He was slumped behind the barrel, face pale, book trembling in his lap.

Zayn's eyes widened. "Kai?!"

Kai forced a breath — then looked up. "I'm here."

He pushed the book open again. The letters glowed brighter, sharper — and for a moment, Zayn could almost see the electricity swirling inside the pages.

Kai whispered: "Jikerdon."

The second time he said it since learning the spell — but now with purpose.

A massive bolt of lightning exploded outward, striking Vesh like divine judgment. It lifted the Mamodo off the ground, arcing through his limbs before sending him crashing down in a heap of scorched earth.

Smoke curled from his body. His coat was in tatters.

But he wasn't down yet.

Not fully.

Henry's smirk vanished. "Time to stop playing."

He raised the book again. "Ignarros Nova!"

Zayn rushed forward.

But before the spell could release, Kai did something unexpected.

He closed the book.

Zayn froze.

"What are you doing?!"

Kai stepped forward, every movement slow and deliberate. "He's going to overcast."

Zayn blinked. "What?"

Henry's eyes flicked up — then down at the page.

The glow was too bright.

Vesh was already wobbling. His energy reserves were low. But the spell had already begun — and now it was too late to stop.

Flames burst outward — not in a clean spiral, but in a wild, chaotic surge.

The attack collapsed in on itself.

BOOM.

An implosion of fire rocked the area, catching Vesh directly and throwing Henry backward.

When the smoke cleared, both lay unconscious.

Silence.

Only the soft crackle of burning wood remained.

Kai dropped to one knee, sweat dripping from his brow. "Told you…"

Zayn walked over, slowly. "You counted on them overcasting?"

"I counted on them being cocky."

Zayn chuckled. "Man, you're scary."

Kai gave a weak grin. "Only when I need to be."

The silence after battle always felt heavier than the fight itself. It didn't hum with danger or thrum with tension. It simply… lingered.

Ash floated like snow across the darkened yard, and the scorched remains of the old industrial lot hissed with dying fire. Somewhere nearby, a car alarm had gone off from the shockwave, but it was distant — like the world outside had no idea what had just happened.

Kai leaned against the side of a bent dumpster, one arm cradling his ribs. Breathing was hard. His skin burned where flames had gotten too close, and every limb felt like it had been wired with iron.

Zayn stood still for a long while, watching the unconscious forms of Vesh and Henry. His fists were still clenched, electricity occasionally snapping across his knuckles.

"They're really out," he muttered. "For real this time."

Kai nodded, though his vision swam.

"You okay?" Zayn turned to him, voice softer now.

Kai didn't answer at first. He blinked, tried to focus. His lips parted, but what came out wasn't a word — just a shallow exhale.

Then he collapsed forward.

Zayn caught him before he hit the ground.

"Hey—whoa, hey, don't do that. Don't black out. Not now." He eased Kai down, supporting his head, trying to keep him upright. "You've done this before. You push too hard."

Kai coughed, barely able to speak. "Worth it…"

"Not if you can't move."

Zayn looked around for anything useful — water, shade, maybe a first aid kit hidden in some forgotten corner of the yard. Nothing. Just burnt wood, twisted metal, and the heavy reek of smoke.

He turned back to Kai, jaw tight. "You need rest. Real rest."

Kai tried to smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. "We don't get rest."

They sat there in silence for a moment, the flickering fire their only company.

Finally, Zayn said quietly, "You know you're not like the others, right?"

Kai gave him a weak look.

"You're not built for this. You're smart — yeah — you think ahead, pull off crazy plans, save us both… but your body's breaking. Every time."

Kai stared at the ruined sky above them. "Doesn't matter. I made a choice."

Zayn swallowed the knot in his throat. "You're gonna die if we keep going like this."

Kai didn't flinch. "Then I'll die."

"Don't say that."

"I'm not trying to be dramatic. I'm just… accepting it. We can't win this thing by playing it safe. Every Mamodo we fight gets stronger. Every battle is bloodier. And if we hold back—if we second-guess—someone else wins. Someone worse."

Zayn shook his head. "That's not good enough."

Kai gave him a look that was strangely calm. "Then make me stronger."

Zayn froze.

Kai continued, his voice raspy but steady. "Train me. Help me survive this. Make me better. So I don't have to break every time we fight."

Zayn was quiet for a long time, staring at the boy who'd become more than a partner — a strategist, a brother, a stubborn fool who kept risking his life for a war he barely understood.

Then he nodded. Just once.

"Yeah. Alright."