Jacob wiped the dust from his face and smirked.
"Nice punch, kid," he said calmly. "But that was a lucky hit."
Before Amari could respond, Jacob vanished—then reappeared, dashing straight at him. Amari reacted instantly, launching forward as well. The two collided in the center of the field, fists crashing together at rapid, lightning-fast speeds, shockwaves ripping through the air with every blow.
Suddenly, Amari broke away and rushed to Daniel's side.
"I only have thirty seconds," Amari said fast. "Then this armor disappears. I'll explain later—but we have to finish him now."
Daniel shot upright, cracked his knuckles, and gave a confident grin.
"Alright," he said. "Let's do this, bro."
Amari nodded.
"Yes."
Daniel powered up with whatever essence he had left, his aura flaring weak but fierce. Together, the brothers charged Jacob, all three of them throwing punches at blinding speed, the ground beneath them cracking under the pressure.
Jacob suddenly jumped back and raised a hand.
"Enough games," he said coldly. "Time to show you what I'm really made of."
Amari and Daniel froze as they sensed it—Jacob's essence skyrocketing, surging like a mountain collapsing inward.
Without warning, the ground erupted.
Stone shot up around Amari and Daniel's arms, forming massive rock handcuffs that slammed them into the earth, anchoring them in place.
"What the—what is this?" Amari shouted.
Jacob smirked.
"This is my power. I control rock."
Daniel clenched his teeth.
"I don't care what you control," he snapped. "We're still going to beat you."
With a roar, Amari and Daniel forced their essence outward and shattered the stone restraints, rock exploding in every direction.
Amari turned to Daniel, breathing hard.
"I only have ten seconds left. This is it. I'll send the Green Dragon. When I do, hit him with your strongest punch."
Daniel nodded without hesitation.
"Okay."
Amari stretched his hand forward.
"Green Dragon."
Green essence flared wildly as Amari began counting.
"Ten…
Nine…
Eight…
Seven…
Six…
Five…
Four…
Three…
Two—
Go! Green Dragon!
One!"
The massive green dragon roared forward—but Jacob dodged at the last second.
The light around Amari shattered. His armor vanished.
Jacob laughed.
"Nice try. Looks like your armor disappeared too."
Suddenly—
"TAKE THIS—RAHHHH!"
Daniel appeared out of nowhere and slammed his fist into Jacob's face with everything he had left. The impact sent Jacob flying, crashing across the ground.
Amari smiled weakly.
"Good job, Daniel."
But Jacob slowly stood up.
"Nice try," he said.
Small rocks crumbled and fell from his face where Daniel had hit him.
Daniel stared in disbelief.
"What… how? I hit you with my hardest punch."
Jacob chuckled.
"I don't just control rock from the ground," he said. "I can turn any part of my body into rock. Right before you punched me, I made my face stone."
He laughed.
Amari's knees buckled.
"I don't have any essence left."
"Me neither," Daniel said quietly. "I put everything into that punch."
Tears filled Amari's eyes.
"I'm sorry, Daniel… I couldn't protect you."
"No," Daniel said firmly. "You didn't fail. We just weren't strong enough."
Jacob raised his hand.
"What? I was just about to kill them."
He paused, then clicked his tongue.
"Ahh… fine."
Amari and Daniel exchanged confused looks—
Then everything went black.
⸻
Amari found himself back in the cave.
The Green Dragon stood before him.
"I need to master your full power," Amari said desperately.
"That will take time," the dragon replied.
"What happened?" Amari asked. "Everything went black."
"Jacob knocked you and your brother out."
"So… we're not dead?"
"No. You're alive. But Jacob is taking you somewhere."
"Do you know where?"
"No."
⸻
Amari jolted awake.
Cold stone. Darkness.
His hands were bound in cuffs.
"Daniel," he whispered, seeing his brother chained nearby. "Wake up."
Daniel groaned.
"Wha—what happened?"
"We're in some kind of prison cell."
"How are we not dead?"
"I don't know," Amari said. "All I know is the Green Dragon told me Jacob knocked us out and brought us here."
Daniel blinked.
"Green Dragon? What are you talking about?"
"Oh… right," Amari said. "You don't know."
He took a breath.
"I put so much focus and essence into creating the Green Dragon move that it became an actual being inside my essence. When Jacob knocked us out, I met him. He explained everything."
Daniel listened silently.
"He can only lend me thirty seconds of his power—the armor. If he gives me more, he'll take over my body, and I won't be able to control myself."
Daniel shook his head slowly.
"Wow… that's probably the craziest thing I've ever heard."
"I know," Amari said. "And there's more. When Jacob knocked us out just now, I talked to him again. To master his full power… it's going to take time. Training."
He looked around the cell.
"So we have to get out of here."
Daniel nodded.
"Yeah. I don't know how yet. Looks like we're underground."
"I know," Amari said, tightening his fists despite the cuffs.
"But together… we'll figure it out."
"Yeah," Daniel said. "We will."