As I got close to James and Ness, what I saw was… surprising. James hadn’t even activated his armor, or Power Overdrive. He was dealing with Ness, who was donning his armor, without any issues. For a moment, I questioned whether or not I even had to reveal our plans. That was, until I saw the surroundings.

Around the areas where James was hopping and jumping around, Ness had started to set down knives, encompassing a lot of areas. While James was distracted with dodging, Ness had set a trap.

Once I saw the knives light up with electricity, I knew I couldn’t hesitate. I quickly rushed in, activating Fire Witch, kicking James away. The moment I did, all the knives, instead of impacting James, they impacted me. I felt multiple stabs all around the body. They were absolutely fucking painful, but luckily, I was able to survive due to Fire Witch

-Why did you do that?! I had him right where I wanted!- Ness screamed this at me angrily as he stayed behind me

-Well, I thought you were messing up so much that you needed some help, I wasn’t expecting this!- I tried to stay up as I said this, as I began to pull out the knives. As each was pulled out, they quickly disappeared. They were ethereal creations, probably boosted by Ness’ armor. It still hurts like a real one though.

-Well, you’re just being a burden. Just stay out of the way- As Ness said this, he began to run towards James again. Once I finished taking out the knives, I quickly followed after him. 

-I’m not letting you handle him by yourself, you weren’t even doing anything- I said this to him as I caught up. -Jam- I tried to say James’ name, but Ness quickly cut me off

-He’s 022. You better start forgetting your brother.- He said this in a cold manner, as he reached James and began trying to attack again. James just kept dodging his knives, but now that he saw what Ness could do, he started shooting them with Novas so they would quickly disappear -And now the asshole knows my trick-

James caught a glimpse of me as I caught up to Ness. I just saw him mouthing the word “how”. I shrugged behind Ness, trying to indicate that I didn’t know how this situation came up. I then mouthed “what about you”. He couldn’t shrug due to the dodging, but I guess we would talk after dealing with Ness. 

I quickly began attacking James on the side. I didn’t hit him hard enough, but he pretended to be really affected by the attacks as I did, so he could have a way to get out of Ness’s way. Of course, every time we did this, Ness just got more and more mad. 

Eventually, at some point, he threw a lot of knives around James, hoping to have enough to kill him in one go, while also having so many that James couldn’t destroy them all. I quickly “comboed” off that attack, sliding all around the knives and kicking them at James in quick succession so we could deal with them a little at a time. As I got to the last batch of knives, it seemed like Ness got to his breaking point, and just began shouting at me.

-Why are you doing this?!- He was angry, as he slowly began to walk towards me

-I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m very clearly comboing after the moves you make- I just responded in as serious of a tone as I could manage

-No, you are not! You are ruining every single attack I’m trying to make- As he said this, he got right in front of me. I know he was trying to be serious, but his low height and menacing attitude just made me laugh

-Look, I’m just trying to go with the flow and follow your attacks. What do you want me to do?- I said this while trying to contain my laughter.

After I said this, I could feel something snap in him, as he raised his fist

-Stay out of the way- Once he finished saying that, he quickly charged a Nova in his raised hand, and punched me right in the gut with it, pushing me back quite a bit

-Hey, what’s the deal dude!?- I asked this as I straightened myself out from that hit. While I did have Fire Witch, it still hurt. 

Before he said anything else, Ness pulled out more knives, but, instead of throwing them at James, he threw them at me. As I saw them, I quickly dodged them, but got one stuck right on my knee. I immediately kneeled down after that from the pain

-I was hoping I misheard you. I was hoping I had misunderstood the conversation. I knew getting you back on the team was a mistake- Ness said this in a serious tone, nothing like his usual, as he walked towards me again, creating more knives. 

-Wow, hey, the fight’s with me little man- James quickly ran towards Ness, trying to knock him over, but Ness threw a set of knives right at him too, getting him right on the shoulder and stomach. Since he got two knives in him, Ness quickly charged them with electricity, forming a circuit. 

James fell right in front of him. He kicked him towards me.

He kept walking, as he brought out more knives

-Why are you doing this?- I asked him, as I could see James convulsing in front of me. I quickly put my hand on one of the knives, trying to take it out. As soon as I did, Ness charged the Knife on my knee. As I felt the charge, I let go

-I heard your conversation. I heard your scheming. I heard your betrayal- Ness lifted up the hand with the knives, with them slowly beginning to glow with the elements he had. Light, Dark, Fire, Poison, and Electricity. 

I froze immediately. That’s why I felt something was wrong. He was there when I got out. He heard all of it.

-Why do you think Mark didn’t show up? Why do you think I made you go against Iris instead of James?- He slowly began to laugh as he got right above us -It was all so I could end you traitor- 

-Your brother is just an extra-

After he said this, I just snapped. I quickly focused on that new power I had unlocked before, but I couldn’t get it to trigger. I looked over to my right hand and noticed that the cracks were gone. Did it need to recharge?

I didn’t have any other options. I had to take out the armor…

Or at least, I thought I did. 

James manifested his armor, and slowly began to stand up, pulling the knives out of his body. 

-If you think I’m going to let you hurt my brother, you are sorely mistaken- He said this in the most serious voice I had ever heard coming from him. 

-Oh, so the fabled James is back, bravo- Ness slowly began to clap. -That isn’t going to stop anything, I’m still gonna kill y-

Ness was interrupted as James hit him right in the stomach, sending him flying far away into a building. He had just activated Power Overdrive. As Ness hit the building, Mark quickly charged up a Fire Nova, launching it right at Ness. He quickly kept on charging them and throwing them at him, before charging one last big one, launching it in his direction. 

There was a giant cloud of smoke as the impacts finished. As it began to clear up, the hole that was left on the building was gigantic. It was a miracle that the building was still standing. But, as the smoke cleared up more,  we noticed that Ness was not on the floor or in the rubble. He was up. He was walking towards us, with a serious look on his face.

-You know. I may not have always seen Iago eye to eye- Ness said this, as he kept walking -But if there is one thing he did for me that I appreciate…-

As he finished saying this, he fully got out of the smoke cloud. He was still wearing his armor. But now, a blue aura surrounded him. The same as James’ aura. Power Overdrive.

-Is that he taught me that the Helmet isn’t only useful for analyzing. It’s also good for mimicking- 

In the blink of an eye, he quickly moved right in front of James, punching him multiple times in the stomach before kicking back towards me. 

As he landed next to me, he quickly helped me to take the knife off my chest. 

-So, jig’s up. Ready to kick ass?- James asked this as he slowly got back up, taking out his double sword. 

-I’d rather not, but it seems like we got no better option- I slowly stood up, with not much energy in me. The fight with Iris had drained me, and the attacks I took from Ness had taken a lot out of me. It was make or break from here on. 

Ness quickly created knives in his hands, and began spinning them around him

This would not be fun. 

END OF CHAPTER 37