Chapter 77: Battle of the Suns

The Seekers continued to go through the tunnels at a brisk march. This was interrupted by the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. In a streak of bright red, Ryan bolted in front of them, blocking their paths. He held up a hand, as if motioning them to stop simply by his will alone.

"C'mon, I'm needing a good fight..." he panted. He was still battered from his fight with Maleficent, but he still found that he had the strength to continue.

"Oh goodie, it's THIS kid." Xoral said, "Hey, how about I deal with him? It's bad enough that he's trying to steal my thunder..."

"I hope he ends you." Lorux hissed, malevolently, as the Seekers left, quickly followed by Sora and co.

Xoral pulled his chain pendulum out and began swinging it.

"You're at a disadvantage here, squirt." He said with a smirk, "No sunlight, which means I've got all the power and you-"

BLAM!

Ryan threw a sun ball into Xoral, hitting the Sun Prince in the face and sending him into the wall.

"Guess what?" Ryan asked, summoning another solar ball, "My powers have evolved since the last time we met. NOW, all I've gotta do is absorb sunlight for long enough and I can retain the energy."

"In THAT case..." Xoral said, getting to his feet and rushing up to Ryan, thrusting a burst of sun energy into the superhuman's chest, sending him flying back, "Guess all I have to do is wait until it runs out!"

Ryan jumped down and sped at Xoral, who hurled his chain at him. Ryan ducked out of the way and began firing energy blasts at the Nobody. The Sun Prince dodged them all before running at high-speeds himself. The two began running around so fast that, to the naked eye, they became nothing but a vortex of red and black, occasionally broken by white flickers. The flickers were energy blasts, fired from the two as they came across each other.

This spiral was ended when Xoral hurled his pendulum at Ryan, who flew up and sent another blast of energy at the Nobody. The Sun Prince dodged and began swinging his pendulum around over his head. The blade came around and Ryan was a second too late, the pendulum raking his chest, tearing through cloth and skin. The sudden blow shocked Ryan long enough for Xoral to shoot him down with a burst of energy. He then sped over and punched the younger solar-powered fighter to the ground in a heap.

"You thought you could beat ME, shrimp?" Xoral sneered, "You needed that blue freak to help you last time. Here, you've got nothing!"

"Well..." Ryan panted, glaring at Xoral as his eyes began to glow, "I've got THIS."

Twin bursts of energy burst from Ryan's eyes and hit Xoral, full in the chest. He then sped at the Sun Prince as his fists began to glow with a bright light. He then began delivering a series of blows in rapid succession. Xoral then pulled out his pendulum and a burst of energy erupted from it. However, Ryan caught it with his glowing hands.

"Looks like I'm still getting stronger." Ryan said as the sun energy began to expand. Xoral's eyes widened, "Hey, betcha can't do THIS."

Ryan hurled the energy ball at Xoral. The minute it made contact, it expanded, engulfing Xoral, who screamed in pain.

"HOW'D I GET BEAT BY HIM?!" he screamed as he was consumed by the light.

With a sigh, Ryan, fell to his knee, panting for breath.

"Kid, you've been through WAY too much today." Said a voice. Ryan looked over and saw Mark Damon with Scott, April, and a girl he recognized.

"Oh...hi, Karen, when'd you get here...?" Ryan panted.

"Nice to see you, too, Ryan." Karen said with a friendly smile.

"I take it you beat one of those Seekers as well?" Mark asked, looking over the room and seeing gauges in the room and a large scorch mark. Ryan, too tired to answer, simply nodded, "First the witch, then one of the Seekers."

"Never thought he'd do BOTH." April commented, sounding somewhere between teasing and being impressed. Ryan half-expected Scott to give him a hearty compliment like "Good job, li'l mate!" or "Nice goin', Ryan. Knew ya could do it!". This time, however, the Aussie superhuman was looking rather...well, ashamed.

"I think you need a sleep." Mark said, "Just lay down and relax. Scott will look after you."

"Yeah." Scott commented, sounding distant.

"Good...idea..." Ryan said with a yawn, slumping down as he closed his eyes.

Scott stayed behind and looked at the kid he viewed as the younger brother he never had. Mark, April, and Karen ran off after the rest of the group.

"Never thought I'd cause someone's death, huh?" Scott asked, sitting down next to Ryan, "Well, you blew up Maleficent an' a Seeker, but you KNEW what they did..."

Ryan's brows furrowed for a second, but relaxed. Scott wasn't sure if the solar-powered superhuman heard him. If he didn't, he'd explain the whole thing when he woke up.

Not a long chapter, but hey, it's still something, isn't it?