REAWAKENING OF SHADOW

"Enough chit-chat, kid. I'm devouring you before the Shinras arrive," the Alpha darkside spirit snarled, looming over the girl.

"Then come try it," she snapped back, charging with both swords drawn, purple Renshi glowing in her grip.

Steel clashed as her twin Renshi blades collided against the darkside spirit's forged arms. The forest echoed with the ring of battle as the two locked into a furious contest of strength. For fourteen seconds, they exchanged blows—fast, brutal, relentless.

"You're impressive… for a kid," the darkside spirit hissed. "But it's not enough to put me down!"

In a flash, its tail wrapped around her leg. With monstrous strength, the darkside spirit swung her overhead and slammed her into the ground. Her armor shattered. Her swords flickered out of existence.

"I'm done playing around," the darkside spirit growled. "It's snack time."

With a brutal lunge, its sharp tail pierced through her stomach.

"Aaaahhhh!" Her scream echoed through the forest—raw, piercing, and filled with agony.

That cry tore through Alfie's unconscious mind like a blade. Inside his dreamlike haze, he saw her suffering—visions of her being tortured, twisted by her fear and pain. And then a voice echoed in his head, deep and eerie:

"Come to me. I will lend you my power… Power greater than any Alpha darkside spirit."

Alfie opened his eyes—not in the forest, but in a strange, blackened castle. Shadows loomed across the obsidian floor. A towering statue of a figure resembling a Shinra, darker than any night, stood watch over the silent hall.

"Where are you?" Alfie called out, walking deeper. "If you're real—lend me your power. I have to save my friend."

"You just met her, and already she's your friend?" the voice mused.

"She's a good person. And good people… they're my friends," Alfie said firmly.

"Foolish. Being 'good' will only make you weak—just like them."

Suddenly, another voice echoed—softer, coming from the direction he had entered.

"Don't listen, Alfie… come back."

Alfie turned around—but the path behind was gone. Only endless blackness remained.

"This place… it's wrong. I can see where I'm going but never where I've been," Alfie whispered to himself, unease crawling over him.

"Make me a promise, kid." The first voice returned.

"What kind of promise?"

"Swear to eliminate the Alpha spirit… and the girl. Then I'll give you my Renshi."

"What? No!" Alfie snapped. "If you won't help, then shut up! I don't even know who—or what—you are. I just remember getting knocked out. So take me back. I have to help her!"

The voice hesitated to itself.

"I can't afford to lose you to my other half… I must win you to myself. To eliminate the light…"

"…Fine. Take a little of my Renshi. Save her if you must," the voice relented, almost reluctantly. "I hate sounding like the light."

Dark Renshi, thick as smoke, flowed into Alfie's chest, seeping into his skin and pulsing with raw power. It wrapped around him, lifting him from the ground in the dream.

---

Back in reality, the Alpha darkside spirit grinned cruelly. "Stop resisting, kid. Let me devour you."

The girl winced, barely clinging to consciousness. "I… won't give up. So many people… fought to protect me…"

"Then I'll do it the old-fashioned way," the darkside spirit sneered, dropping her like a ragdoll and opening its jaws wide.

She screamed.

Suddenly, the ground beneath them erupted.

From the shattered earth, Alfie rose, cloaked in a dark aura so powerful that the forest wilted around him. His skin was laced with black markings like tattoos. A horn—half-buried in flesh—jutted from the side of his head. His eyes were pitch black, soulless.

"What… what the hell is this?" the Alpha darkside spirit gasped, stepping back. "A minute ago… there was no Renshi in this boy. Now… this… this aura is stronger than mine!"

"Let her go," Alfie said quietly, voice cold as stone.

"And if I don't?" the spirit challenged.

Before the sentence could finish, Alfie vanished from sight—reappearing directly in front of the Alpha darkside spirit with blinding speed—and drove his fist into its chest.

CRACK!

The impact shattered the spirit's ribcage and sent it hurtling across the forest, crashing through tree after tree.