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"Copy?" Arrel said, sounding a little confused, but then he realized what Darren's other side meant. He laughed. "Oh, you mean all that stuff I did with your one of a kind Crystal Element."
Darren's vision cleared and he sat up rubbing his jaw and stared at Arrel. Again, Arrel seemed to be able to hear Auren. But that was impossible. Auren and Darren shared the same body, and only they could hear what the other said. So how could Arrel hear what no one else could?
Arrel read the dumbstruck look on Darren's face and knew what the boy was thinking. "We're alike in many ways Darren. The way we talk, act.... our taste in women." He nodded over to the entrance where Aya and the others were trying to break in to no avail, letting his eyes linger on Aya.
Darren's face burned as he remembered finding the elf for the first time since he returned to the EDC. Finding Aya and Arrel. "Shut your damn mouth!" he shouted, wind whipping up around him violently. He whipped his arm at Arrel and a powerful gale shot out at his opponent.
Arrel brought his arms out to shield himself as the gale hit him, knocking him back a few feet before he could gain some footing. "Nice breeze," he said, lowering his arms. "But. I. Was. Talking!" He swung his own arm at Darren, sending him crashing into the opposite wall as a violent blast of wind hit him.
Darren fell to his knees, vaguely awar that Arrel was saying something.
"As I was saying, you and I are a lot alike Darren. We even have our own alter egos, and that's how I can hear what you and Auren say." Arrel walked slowly towards his opponent. "But I'm afraid that's where our similarities end. You see, there are two reasons why you can never beat me. First, unlike you I've accepted my other half and made him mine, leaving only me in control of every Element at my disposal."
Darren got to his feet, fire winding its way over his arms from his clenched fists. He ran at Arrel, letting Auren take over out of habit. Auren shot the fire at Arrel, following up with an onslaught of razor-sharp crystal needles.
Arrel knocked aside the flames and held out his palm, stopping the crystals in midair. He turned his hand into a fist and the crystals started to change. "The second, and most telling reason is..." They shattered then reformed; the light hit them in a different way than before.
Darren's eyes widened. "Diamond?"
"...Is because I'm on a whole different level than you!" Arrel snapped his fingers and the diamond needles shot at Darren.
Darren didn't even have time to move. The diamonds hit him before he could even blink. His cheek was cut as two went past his head, his arms were torn up by dozens of them, his legs got the worst of the attack. About twenty of the diamonds shot into his legs. Darren cried out in pain and fell to his knees, reaching down to yank them out violently, ignoring the pain and blood.
Arrel laughed. "This is rather fitting, a half-assed loser with nothing, kneeling before his superior."
"Funny," Darren grunted, tossing aside the last of the needles. "You don't look like you're kneeling in front of me."
Arrel scowled. "Cute. Roln was right, you do need to learn respect." He swung his leg out and slammed the side of his foot into Darren's head. Darren was knocked to the side and saw stars. Arrel kicked him hard in the stomach then grabbed him by the back of his jacket. He lifted Darren up and rammed his knee into his chest. "What's the matter?" he said, pullind Darren to his feet. "I thought you said you were going to end things!" He slammed his fist into Darren's gut. "Where's all that cockiness from earlier!" he shouted, tossing Darren aside.
Darren couldn't breathe, Arrel had knocked the wind right out of him.
What are you doing! You're getting your a** handed to you! Auren shouted.
I know! Shut up! Darren replied in his head.
Shove over, I'm taking control.
What? No! I can do this on my own!
"Tough," Auren replied, taking over the body. "My turn now."

Arrel snapped. "What did you say?!" he shouted, violent gales of wind whipping up around him as the air around him crackled with electricity like the pre-sparks of within the clouds before a blast of lightning came to earth. "What did you ******** say?!" He held his arms away from his body as balls of fire formed below his hands, condensing until they formed semi-solid balls of molten lava. Arrel narrowed his eyes as the ground around him erupted in spikes of ice while his body was coated in steel and diamond armor, which flowed like water witht he movements of his body.
Auren, he's lost it!
"I can see that Defective!" Auren shouted angrily, throwing the sword aside as he covered his body in spiked crystal armor. "It doesn't change the fact that I'm about to gut him like a fish!"
"Don't get cocky!" Arrel snarled and flung the magma at Auren, snapping his fingers and pointed them at his opponent's chest. A roar of thunder rocked the room as super-charged lightning shot out and straight at the target.
Auren swung up an arm and instantly a crystal wall rose up to block the magma. The molten balls exploded against the barrier, melting foot-wide holes in it Auren quickly raise two more walls between him and Arrel. He heard the roar of thunder and closed his fists tight, making the crystal denser and thicker until they were as strong as the walls the Defective threw up to keep the trash he called friends out. He knew how strong the bolts of lightning Roln used were, and there was no way this punk's could be stronger.
He was wrong.
The lightning shattered the crystal like glass in an explosion of power and continued, unhindered, straight into Auren's chest. He was knocked back all the way to the crystal barrier at the entrance. Everything went white with pain; Auren could swear his heart stopped. I refuse to lose to this childish punk! He fought against the pain and his vision came into focus just in time to see Arrel launch another salvo of magma. He pointed his arm at them and blasted a burst of Silence -the Artificial Element developed by the EDC to cancel other Elements- at them. The magma burst apart and molten globs scattered everywhere. Crystal shards formed around Auren like floating shields and kept him safe from any harm.
"That does it!" he snapped, getting to his feet, only faintly aware of the scorched hole in his shirt over his heart. "You're dead meat!" He snapped his fingers and the remainder of the crystal shards shattered into small, sharp needles "Skewer him!" he snarled and pointed at Arrel. The needles, as if they understood his words, shot straight at the boy.
Arrel turned the steel covering his arms into two halves of a giant shield, and brought his arms together just as the crystal needles reached him. They hit the steel and ricocheted off it, falling harmlessly to the floor.
Auren ran forward, reinforcing the crystal gauntlets on his hands and brought his right fist into the shield. The fist smashed through the steel, the crystal around it shattering. Quickly pulling it back, he slammed his other fist through the broken shield and into Arrel's face.
Arrel grunted, raising a small diamond barrier between his face and the fist. It took the brunt of the punch, but he was still knocked to the floor. As soon as he hit the ground, he slammed his palms against the floor. Steel spikes shot out at Auren, splitting apart to wrap around his arms and legs.

Where am I? I feel like I'm floating. I can't see anything. What happened?
-Arrel seemed to vanish for an instant, then he reappeared behind Darren. Darren started to turn when the blood spurted out of his chest and back-
That's right... Arrel cut me... So then, am I dead? This sucks... What about Aure- oh yeah... Arrel killed him... My body... feels heavy... What happens when you die?
"Darren...."
Whose voice is that?
"Darren, sweetie."
It's a woman's voice... It sounds... familiar...
"Darren, honey, it's time to open your eyes."
M-mom?
Darren slowly opened his eyes, wincing at the light. He was in a bedroom; sunlight shone in from a single window. A brown-haired woman sat next to him. When she saw that his eyes were open, she smiled warmly at him.
"Morning sleepyhead," she said. "What are you doing here?"
Darren was speechless. That hair, those eyes... "M-mom...?" he asked tentatively.
The woman smiled and messed up his hair. "Who else?"
He couldn't believe his eyes. Here was Arianna, his mother, who died when he was little! Darren sat up and hugged her tight, tears falling down his cheeks.
Arianna held her son like she had when he was a child and waited until he had finished crying, reaching up and wiped his cheeks. "Well now, my little boy's grown up. Last time I saw you, you were a cute little three-year-old, and now you're a big, handsome young man. How old are you now?"
"Nineteen," Darren replied, his voice cracking a little.
"Nineteen!" Arianna said, feigning shock. "My, how time flies."
Darren cracked a small smile.
"Are you doing well? Have you made any friends with the other children?"
"Uh-huh," he nodded.
"Are any of them girls? I remember there was one of your nurses that you had the largest crush on."
"Mom!" he groaned. "Knock it off, that was-"
"I know it was years ago sweetie. Can't a mother tease her baby boy?"
"I'm not a little kid anymore!"
"Well fine then, Mr. Grouchypants," Arianna said, puffing out her cheeks and crossing her arms as she pretended to be mad.
Darren laughed. "You look like a blow fish!"
"Hey!" his mother laughed, smacking his shoulder lightly. "Not nice!"
Darren laughed again.
Arianna smiled. "You never answered my question. Are any of your friends girls?"
"A few"
"Any cute ones?"
Darren's thoughts turned to Aya and he blushed.
"Ah-ha! I knew it!" Arianna said. "Tell me about her. What's her name? Is she your age? Is she nice?"
"Aya. Her name's Aya Flett."
"Elvish, huh," Arianna smiled. "She must be very beautiful then." Darren's blush told her all she needed. "Is she your age?"
Darren nodded.
"Have you two, er-" Arianna fumbled for a good word. "Had, um-."
"Wha-? No! Nononononono!" Darren said, his face as red as a tomatoe. "Nothing like-. I-It's not like that mom! We've kissed, and held hands, and stuff like that!"
"Oh, well, that's a relief," Arianna replied, flushing a little. "I'm too young for grandchildren."

"Don't try to change the subject young man. Listen to yourself! Are you honestly believing all this? Do you honestly think that she would have gone through everything she did and not still love you? Or that you can just stop loving her, as if you could flip off a switch? I saw the way you lit up when you first talked about her, and I've heard the way you speak of her. Love like that doesn't just end. You still love her, and she still loves you."
"But Arrel-."
"Your brother was always adept when it came to his particular Element. It's called Sleep, and it's a very powerful form of Illusion. He can make people believe whatever he makes, and they'll think it's their own thoughts or memories, or what they see and feel and hear is real. If your Aya cares as much about you as I think she does, he wouldn't have been able to erase that love. He would have made her believe that he was the object of that love, but he could never have gotten rid of that feeling. You and he were always competing with each other like that."
"Back up a second," Darren said. "It sounded like you said Arrel was my brother."
"You and he were twins. And let me tell you, raising you both was like trying to get your father to stop working and eat with us at dinner. I swear, at times it was like I had three children to take care of. Heaven knows what things must have been like after the accident."
"What are you talking about? What accident? I've never had a brother in my life."
"You most certainly did. Always fighting over the silliest of things, always trying to outdo the other. But you two were also the best of friends, even if neither of you would admit it," Arianna said, a faint smile lining her lips as she remembered raising her two boys.
"No! I'd never seen Arrel before I saw him and Aya! I don't know what you're talking about. I don't remember him or any accident."
Arianna looked confused, then it hit her. "Roln! I should have figured he'd mess up without me, poor man would have blown up the EDC fifty times before your first birthday if I wasn't with him. Now I think I understand things, reckless knucklehead." Her words were soft, as if she pitied Roln. "It had to have been because of the accident."
Darren stared at his mother, not understanding her.
"We were working on a new Element; highly unstable. You and your brother were with us in the lab, fighting as usual. Your father and I argued over what should be done with subparticles and the placement of certain protons-."
Darren lost her there. Arianna cntinued to talk about whatever mechanics were behind Elements, but Darrent stopped her when she got into Quantum Physics; his head hurt from too much science. His mother may be beautiful, but she knew way more scientific stuff than all of the EDC staff, even Roln. "Mom! Enough, just continue. I'm getting a headache."
"Sorry honey. I get carried away sometimes."
"Ya think?"
Arianna stuck her tongue out at him and continued. "Anyway, while we were busy, you and Arrel started to show off with your Elements. The next thing we knew, diamonda and crystals and whatever else you two had shot everywhere around the room. Roln went to stop you two while I tried to make sure the Element sample was safe. I must have knocked some of its unstable matter together because all of a sudden it exploded. I woke up a week later; I was in bad shape. Most of whatever was in there hit me, but your father got some bad radiation too. You and Arrel got the lightest doses but Arrel was still unconscious, and you had just opened your eyes and were being taken to the ICU because your Element was going beserck. Roln came to visit me when I woke, but there was something off. He seemed different, like a man possessed by a darker half, or one who had succumbed to it. You lost your arm and a third of your torso in the explosion, he said, and something about two personalities but no recollection of anything. Days passed and my condition grew worse. Arrel woke up on my last day. Poor thing didn't even know who I was. I asked your father to take care of you both after I was gone."
"Oh trust me, he 'took care' of me," Darren said, and rubbed his right arm, the one made of some special metal Roln had put in him. The metal grew with his body like bone and had some weird flesh-like covering that looked and felt like real skin and a real arm.

Darren's eyes opened. His chest felt soaked, and hurt like he had been cut clean through to the other side, which, as he remembered, was true. He heard Arrel laughing and lifted his head. His brother had his back turned.
"He seriously thought he could win?" Arrel laughed, a disturbing cackle that sent shivers down Darren's spine. "Ahahahahahahahaha!"
Darren's eyes started to blur, he was losing too much blood. "Not yet..."
Arrel stopped mid-cackle.
"Not yet..."
No. Impossible...
"I can't... die here..."
Arrel turned around slowly.
"I... can't lose..."
His eyes widened in shock.
Darren's body began to shudder. His vision flickered again, but he didn't notice it. A chant began in his head. Fight. Fight. Fight. Fight. Crystal spread over his body, covering him in armor. Fight. Fight. His hands and feet became crystal claws. Fight. Fight. Fight. Sharp spikes jutted out of the crystal on his back. His wounds were barely sealed by the armor, but at least the flow of blood had slowed. Fight. Darren's head was covered by a demon-like mask; it, like the rest of the crystal armor, flowed with the movements of his body so that it seemed as if the crystal was alive. Fight. Two sharp crystal horns jutted out of his forehead; sharp, jagged, crystal spiked teeth lined his jaw, opening whenever his own mouth did. FIGHT!
Arrel stared at what Darren had changed into. For the first time in his life, fear ran through him. "I killed you. Th-there's no way you could be alive! I killed both your personalities! What are you?!"
Darren stood up, his breath heavy and rasp. He looked around as if he didn't know where he was.
Arrel clenched his teeth. "Whatever you are, I've killed you twice, and this time..." He held his palms upright, balls of magma forming in his hands. "...I'll make sure you stay dead!" He threw the magma balls at Darren's face. There was an explosion and black smoke hid the destruction. Arrel smirked. There was no way that-
Crystal shards shot out of the smoke at his neck.
What?! Arrel barely dodged the attack. The smoke was blown away in a powerful whirlwind. He had to steady himself with his Steel to avoid being blown into the wall.
Darren stood, unharmed, his clawed hand pointing out at Arrel; a broken crystal wall lay in ruins around him. The magma had hit the wall instead of its target.
Arrel narrowed his eyes. "You are starting to annoy me!" He pointed his arms at Darren and shot diamond and steel spikes at his opponent.
Darren swung his other arm around and a blast of Element-stopping Silence knocked Arrel's attack away as though they were leaves in a tornado.
Arrel snarled in rage and ran at Darren, covering his arm in diamond and steel armor, changing it to form a single-edged blade. He lined it with magma and brought the weapon crashing down into the ground, cleaving- nothing but air. He barely had time to register this before a foot slammed into his face, knocking him back into the wall.
Darren stood right behind where Arrel had been, lowering his leg. He looked right at Arrel, wind whipping up around him. His eyes were glazed over, as if he wasn't even there.

Arrel's shot went wide, missing Darren completely. Darren's hit its mark, piercing Arrel's lung and heart. Arrel's hand fell to his side as he fell to the ground, the gun clattering away. He felt his shirt turn wet with blood. Arrel coughed, blood trickling out of his mouth.
Darren tossed his gun away and walked to his brother.
"Why..." Arrel said. "Why won't you just stay dead... You've got nothing left to live for.. You pushed them all away.. like I planned... So why do you keep fighting..."
Darren stood over his brother. "There's something I have to do, you were in my way."
Arrel laughed weakly, more blood spilling out of his mouth. "Simple as that eh? Heh... you've changed... from how you were when this began..."
"Don't get the wrong idea. I fought you because you were in my way. I killed you because you took something important from me."
"Aya..."
Darren nodded.
"Remember what I said... at the beginning... About you and I being alike?"
"I know. You don't need to say it."
Tell her... I'm sorry.."
Darren nodded again.
"Heh.. if you and I met under different circumstances..."
"Can it. I'm here only because I can't stand to see someone in pan. I'm not here to pretend like we could ever hace been friends."
"Fine then... Finish it... Crystal head," Arrel laughed weakly again.
Darren pointed his hand at Arrel. "Goodnight, brother..." A crystal pillar formed around Arrel, every bit of air becoming solid crystal. Arrel died instantly, a faint smile on his face. Darren allowed a few tears to fall in mourning before he looked to the stairs at one end of the room, those led to where Roln was, then he looked back to the entrance where his friends were sealed off by the crystal wall. He looked at Aya. He couldn't tell what her expression said. "If I come back, we need to talk... There's a lot I need to know, and I need to hear it from you..." Darren knew the crystal was too thick for her to hear him but he didn't care. He turned his back to her and shattered the crystal blocking the stairs and ran up them before letting the wall at the entrance to shatter. Two of the shards fell at Aya's feet, one was the deep blue color of the EDC's trademark earings, the other was the soft red color of her old ribbon. Darren hoped she would understand the crystal's meaning.

Darren reached the top of the stairs and the door leading to the EDC's power reactor when he heard the ceiling start to crack. He slammed his hand into the door's control panel, shooting his crystal into it. The panel sparked and burst, the wiring destroyed. The door slid open and Darren dashed inside just before the ceiling collapsed and crashed down, blocking the entrance. "Guess I can rule out backup," he muttered and turned to the center of the room. The main power reactor room was the center of the entire EDC, and the machine was the largest he had ever seen. Attached to it was a massive data processor which connected to the main power core. The core was nothing like he expected. It was a fluctuating mass of some sort of energy that shone with every color of the visable spectrum. The core grew and shranka over and over again as he watched.
"Fascinating isn't it?"

Roln had the look of a madman now as he threw back his head and laughed maniacally. "I've succeeded where no one before could even dream of! The ultimate Element is complete, and soon, I will be its master!" He pressed some keys into the control panel and the core slowly started to lower.
"What the hell are you yapping about!" Darren said, struggling to move in order to use his Elements, but no good.
Roln looked at him with utter disinterest. "It would be a waste of breath to explain it to you, so I'll just show you." The core had now lowered enough for Roln to reach out to it.
Darren knew instantly what his father was about to do. "No! Don't! You don't know what you're doing!"
Roln's hand reached out and touched the strange mass, then his arm slid in up to his elbow. The core constricted, entering his arm as if he were absorbing it. The Element shone so bright Darren was forced to look away, squeezing his eye shut. He heard Roln laugh, then a blast of energy shot through the room. The steel around Darren dissintegrated and he was sent flying across the room into a wall. The pressure from the blast pinned him to it and threatened to crush him flat against it. Then suddenly the pressure vanished and he fell to the floor. He heard Roln laughing and raised his head, even that took a lot of energy to do
"So this is what Infinitia is like. Amazing. I feel like a god!" Roln looked at his hands in awe. "No, I don't feel like a god... I AM a god!"
"Do you have any idea what you've done!" Darren shouted, struggling to his feet. "You just got rid of the power core to this place! Without it, this place will collapse before being blown apart when the other reactors melt down! You've gone and killed us all!"
Roln turned his eyes on Darren. "Maybe you insects, but I can't die- nothing can kill a god!"
"You're insane!" Darren ran at Roln, crystal covering his arms, turning his hands into claws.
Roln narrowed his eyes. "You dare speak to your new god with such insolence? You need to remember your place!"
Darren was suddenly slammed into the wall again. What? He struggled to pushe himself away, but he might as well have tried to move a mountain. Steel wrapped around his arms and legs, binding him completely. He clenched his fists and slammed them into the wall. Crystal blades shot out and siced through his restraints. Without pause he flattened his palms against the wall. "Skewer him!" Dozens of crystal spikes erupted from the wall and shot at Roln. He pushed off it with a blast of wind and caught the side of one of the spikes, covering his arms in flames before flinging the fire at his father.
Roln didn't even bother to move out of the way. He whipped his arm at the boy and a blade of wind flew at him. The fire blew out and the crystals shattered.
Darren let go of the crystal he was clinging to and dropped to the ground, the blade of wind barely missing his head. Before he reached the floor, a pillar of earth shot out of it and slammed into him. He was sent flying into the air, the wind knocked out of him. What?! Roln doesn't have control over that Element! HE barely had tiime to register this when a blast of fire connected with his back. He shouted with pain, feeling the flames searing his skin. A wave of water hit him in the back and slammed him down into the ground. He heard Roln snap his fingers, then a roar of thunder erupted above him and a bolt of lightning crashed into him. Darren's mind went blank as his father continued to electrocute him. He was vaguely aware that the crystal sealing his wounds had shattered. Everything went black for a few seconds. When his mind kicked back into action he felt his already blood soaked shirt grow heavy as more blood poured out of him. He forced himself to stand but his knees almost gave out.
Roln looked at his own hands curiously. "It appears I need more practice. Those were more powerful that I intended. But the power... It's amazing! More, I need more!" He noticed that Darren was once again on his feet. "You don't know when to quit. Look at yourself, you can barely stand. What hope do you think you have?"
"I... can't lose here...." Darren panted, sweat covering his body. His breath was shallow. "I... refuse... to lose..."
Roln pointed at him and a wave of pressure forced Darren to his knees. "You have been a thorn in my side for too long!"
Darren grunted and struggled against the pressure to get to his feet. "I won't... let you beat me... I'll...-"
Roln narrowed his eyes. "Kneel before me!" Lightning rained down on his son, knocking him down again.
Darren grunted but forced himself to try and ignore the pain. He got back to his feet and staggered towards Roln, weak flames forming around his fingers. Roln's eyes fell to the fire and he pointed at it. "Give me your power!" he said.
Darren stared as his flames grew in intensity then flew into Roln's outstretched hand, sinking into his open palms. He tried to form the fire again, but found he couldn't. Roln had absorbed his Element!
"More...." Roln said hungrily.
Darren stumbled, catching himself with his wind. Again, Roln stretched out his palm, and again Darren's Element was stolen from him. I need to end this fast. I need to take him by surprise and shut off my Element as soon as I use it! Darren staggered again and tried to throw a shard of crystal at his father's neck, but it crumbled to dust before it even left his hand. D-dammit.. I'm too weak!