The radio's crackle shattered the dusty silence of the archives, making Angelo jump. Through the static came a panicked voice: "The situation is getting out of hand! We need more reinforcements!" The dispatcher's words tumbled out fast and afraid. "Another water Auron has emerged on the other side of the city, taking advantage of our forces being focused on the current incident."
Angelo stood frozen, his parents' murder file still clutched in his trembling hands. His orange aura flickered to life like a pilot light catching flame, casting weird shadows across the metal filing cabinets. "Let's move," he said, his voice tight with barely controlled emotion.
Rain drummed against Angelo's face as he raced across Novaria's rooftops. The city felt wrong tonight - where there should have been crowds and neon lights, there was only emptiness and the lonely wail of distant sirens. His feet barely touched each rain-slick surface before he launched himself forward again, moving like a stone skipping across water.
The preparations for the New Light Festival made everything feel even stranger. Colorful paper lanterns hung in wet chains between buildings, swaying like ghost lights in the wind. Half-built stages and party tents dotted the parks below, their unfinished frames looking like abandoned playground equipment in the dark. The festive decorations only made the night's chaos feel more unsettling, like finding party streamers at a funeral.
As Angelo got closer to where the trouble was reported, Red and Blue emerged from his body. They looked like wisps of colored smoke, barely visible against the stormy sky - one blood-red, one deep blue. Without needing to speak, they split up to search, moving like fog pushed by the wind.
Red spotted it first - streams of water shooting out from around a building's corner, followed by people running and screaming. Through the broken window of a jewelry store, Angelo could see the water Auron at work. The criminal was taking advantage of the chaos to rob the place, festival banners reflecting in the shattered glass like twisted party lights.
Red, always acting before thinking, didn't wait for a plan. He streaked toward the criminal like a red comet, his smoky form almost invisible in the dark.
"Red, wait!" Angelo's thought-voice echoed in their shared mind, but it was too late. He and Blue raced to catch up, already knowing Red's recklessness would cause trouble.
Red materialized behind the water Auron like a shadow coming to life. His body became solid just long enough to charge and blast the criminal with pure energy, hitting him out of nowhere. The force sent the water Auron flying into the nearest wall hard enough to crack bricks. Festival posters rained down around him like confetti.
"Ha! Too easy," Red's laugh bounced off the wet buildings. "How do you like me now hahaha!"
But his victory party didn't last long. The water Auron pushed himself up, face twisted with rage. Stolen jewelry scattered around his feet, catching the light from nearby festival decorations as if they were fallen stars.
"You little shit," the criminal spat, wiping blood from his lip. "You have any idea who you're fucking with?"
Red fired back with his own insults. The two of them traded curses back and forth like kids throwing punches on a playground, each trying to outdo the other with curses that would make the most hardened of criminals blush.
Then something changed in the water Auron's eyes reflected a look that spelled trouble. He raised his hands, and suddenly the rain around Red wasn't just falling anymore. It changed, becoming tens of water jets, each one as thin as a pencil but moving faster than bullets. They shot through Red's body from every direction at once.
Red never stood a chance. His form popped like a balloon at a carnival, turning back into red smoke that rushed toward Angelo's body on the roof, running home to safety.
The water Auron tracked the retreating smoke up to where Angelo stood. Even through the darkness and rain, he could see Angelo clearly - orange light flickering around him like a flame in the wind, eyes burning through the darkness like hot coals. Behind him, a huge New Light Festival banner snapped in the wind like a war flag.
The criminal's face twitched with annoyance. He moved his hands in a quick motion, and suddenly he shot dozens of ice arrows that gleamed like glass knives in the festival lights.
Angelo leapt above to avoid them. He jumped down to street level, landing light as a cat. Now they faced each other across the wet pavement, while puddles around them reflected festival colors like tiny mirrors.
Angelo used his energy vision to look at the criminal's energy - kind of like checking the fuel gauge on a car. The reading wasn't accurate since Aurons didn't store energy inside themselves like batteries, but it gave him a rough idea about their capabilities. This guy was strong, but not too strong. Angelo could take him.
Standing tall, Angelo stared the criminal down. "You are now staring at the face of death," his voice carried easily over the rain. "Change your heart and surrender, or attack and face the consequences."
The water Auron laughed without any real humor. "Well, well, looks like the legends are true. The stuck-up, overly dramatic asshole known as the Angel of Death is real." His laughter grew louder, echoing off the buildings. "I honestly thought they were making it up to scare people off."
Inside Angelo's head, Red cursed. He was still recovering, like a battery needing to recharge after shorting out. Angelo's eye twitched at the criminal's mockery.
"I advise you to take me seriously," Angelo's voice went cold as ice. "You have two choices: surrender now or strike me."
Blue's calm voice floated through Angelo's thoughts. "Come to think of it, what if they do neither? What if they don't surrender but don't attack us either? Do we attack them then? Will the laws protecting Aurons in the line of duty protect us if he is killed as a result? Hmm..."
"Blue, this is really not the time," Angelo thought back, getting more irritated by the second.
"WELL?" The water Auron's shout bounced off the wet buildings. "What's it gonna be? Come and get me, ANGEL OF DEATH!" He planted his feet wide, rainwater streaming down his face.
Angelo took a step forward, his boots splashing in a puddle. Inside his head, Blue's voice was like a teacher warning a student: "Angelo, calm down. If you attack first, we could be in legal trouble."
Red, still smarting from getting popped like a balloon earlier, wasn't having it. "Kill that son of a bitch! I want revenge!" His angry thoughts felt like a headache building behind Angelo's eyes.
Angelo pulled out his handcuffs, the metal catching the festival lights as he walked closer. Rain dripped from his hair as he called out, "If you don't attack me, I'll take it as a surrender." He tried to keep his voice steady despite Red and Blue arguing in his head like kids fighting over a toy.
Red's fury hit like a punch to the gut. "What are you talking about, you pussy! Don't you have the balls to give this bastard what he deserves? He mocked us!"
"That's enough, Red." Blue's calm cut through the rage like a cool breeze. "We both know you're just embarrassed because he beat you."
"Shut. The fuck. Up." Red's thoughts burned hot as a furnace.
Angelo got close enough to see the water droplets beading on the criminal's jacket. "You're under arrest—"
The water Auron's face twisted with rage. "Under arrest? NOT ON YOUR LIFE!" he roared, charging forward with ice daggers gripped in his hands.
Angelo jumped back smoothly, water dripping from his coat. "In that case, you have chosen death," he said, his voice turning hard and cold.
Red's voice surged with excitement in their shared mind. "Give him hell! Avenge me!"
Through Angelo's energy vision, Blue spotted the enemy shifting his stance. His warning cut through their thoughts: "Careful, Angelo. He's going to try what he did to Red. Wait for my signal, then charge forward... Now!"
Angelo burst forward just as streams of water shot past where he'd been standing. They smashed into the festival stage behind him, sending splinters flying and paper lanterns spinning through the air.
"On my mark, move left just as you get close to him," Blue instructed. Angelo nodded slightly, keeping his eyes on his target.
Angelo rushed straight at the water Auron, making it look real. At Blue's signal, he dove left while Blue appeared on the right. The water Auron's head snapped between them, thrown off by their split attack.
Angelo and Blue unleashed a storm of energy blasts, orange and blue streaks hammering their enemy from both sides. Each blast alone wasn't much, but together they started breaking through his defenses.
The water Auron let out an angry roar. "Your circus tricks won't save you, Angel!" His hands shot up, and the falling rain froze in place before spinning into a shield around him. The water twisted everything behind it out of shape.
Angelo and Blue stopped firing, watching as a nasty grin spread across the water Auron's face. His watery shield hardened to ice with a sharp crack. A thousand needle-sharp icicles hung in the air for a heartbeat, then shot outward in every direction.
They dove for cover behind chunks of broken stage and wall. Ice shredded through the air around them, tearing into concrete and wood.
"I'll freeze the blood in your veins!" the water Auron snarled, catching Angelo's reflection in a puddle. He formed a deadly ice spike behind Angelo faster than blinking.
But Angelo had already started moving. Through Blue's eyes across the street, he saw the attack coming. He twisted away as the ice spike smashed into concrete. At that exact moment, Blue's blast caught the criminal in the back of the head, making him stumble.
"What?!" The water Auron spun around, rage twisting his features. "How dare you, you fucking cockroach!"
He started advancing on Blue, water writhing around his arms like serpents. Then a shout from above made him freeze.
"ENERGY BOMB!"
The criminal's head snapped upward to see Angelo hanging from the wall by ropes of smoky orange energy, holding a blazing sphere above his head. The blast crashed down with earth-shaking force.
The explosion rocked the whole street, setting off car alarms in every direction like a bunch of angry robots. When the dust settled, the water Auron lay in a smoking crater, his power flickering weakly around him.
"H-HOW?" Blood trickled from his mouth as he stared up in shock.
He tried to get up but collapsed like a puppet with cut strings, his glow fading to nothing. Blue turned back to smoke and zipped into Angelo's body. Rain kept falling, washing away broken wood and torn festival banners.
"Spare me..." the criminal's voice shook, all his tough talk gone.
Angelo looked down at him, cold as winter midnight. "You looked into death's face, and your heart was unwavering. You are beyond redemption."
"Wait! I... I can still—" An orange beam cut straight through his heart, silencing him... forever.
Angelo stood in the rain, his mind racing from today's events, thinking about the file he'd found about his parents' murder. This was just the start of a much bigger story. Around him, torn festival decorations fluttered like wounded birds, a reminder that under all Novaria's celebrations, darkness was always waiting.