REBORN HERO: THE ULTIMATE SYSTEM

CHAPTER 001: VALOR AND DUSK

The wind whipped through the skeletal remains of the skyscraper, bearing with it the acrid smell of smoke and ruin. Valor stood near the edge, his cape torn and fluttering, his mask cracked and showing a sliver of his weathered face. Opposite him, Dusk leaned against a jagged steel beam, his dark armor streaked with dirt, his helmet tucked under one arm. Flickering orange light from fires below cast long shadows between them.

"You let this happen," Dusk said, breaking the silence. The wind whipped around fluttering their coats. "You stood by while the world rotted. You watched as the vultures picked it apart, and you did nothing."

Valor's eyes were level with his: "I have done what I could, Dusk. I saved lives; I gave them hope."

"Hope?" Dusk snorted, wrenching himself off the beam and starting to pace as the heavy boots crunched on broken glass. "Hope is a coward's word. It's something you hang onto when you are too afraid to act. Hope was not what the world needed from you, it needed change!”

Finally, Dusk turned to him, face contorted in that grimace of anger and pain. "The only language corruption understands is chaos, and I did not do it for the sake of destruction, Father; it was to bring to its knees the rot-the politicians, corporations, the people who for decades have lived on the suction of the weak. They had to go.".

"And what gave you the right to decide?" Valor said, "Who appointed you judge, jury, and executioner?

"You did!" Dusk's voice rose, echoing off the broken walls. "Every time you chose to stand aside. Every time you refused to cross the line. You let me walk this path because you were too afraid to admit that sometimes good isn't enough. You always said the world would find its balance, but balance doesn't just happen. It has to be made."

Valor sighed, and seemed to have the years bite deep into his face. "I taught you to believe in justice, not vengeance. There's a difference.”

"No, there isn't," Dusk growled. "Justice is just vengeance in a nice suit. You call it peace, but all you ever did was keep the status quo. You thought you were saving lives, but all you did was preserve a system that lets the powerful crush the powerless."

"I believed in the good in people," Valor said softly. "I believed they could rise above their worst instincts."

"And that's why you failed," Dusk said now, his voice softer, yet full of venom. "Good people like you always stay behind. You keep your hands clean and tell yourself you've done enough. Meanwhile, the evil people step in and take what they want. I didn't want to be like them, but I couldn't be like you either. So I became something else. The evil that destroys other evils."

Valor stepped a pace closer, his voice unyielding and, at the same time, saddened. "And when there is no evil left to tear down? When the only obstacle before you happens to be like me?"

Dusk stuttered to a halt a moment; his jaw clenched. "Then I will stop. I do not want to fight you, Father. But you've been fighting all your life- you’ve been fighting the wrong fights. Perhaps, you should lose this one."

Valor's face softened; lines dug deeper into his face. "This is not about victory or defeat; this is about what kind of world we're going to leave behind. You think by demolishing it, it will be better? It won't. Violence only breeds violence, all you are creating is the cycle of pain, a path of revenge and unending anguish.”

"And inaction breeds despair," Dusk shot back, turning away out at the burning city. "You always told me to choose my own path. Well, I chose. And now, finally, the world will see change."

Valor stepped closer, his voice firm and full of quiet determination. "Your mother would have been heartbroken to see what you've become."

Dusk's hand fisted as he jerked; he didn't face him. "Don't bring her into this."

"She believed in you," Valor pressed on. "She believed you could be better than both of us.”

Dusk's shoulders went rigid, and a moment of hissing wind later, in a low strained voice, he said, "She believed because she could not see the truth. But I did. And I won't stop until the world sees it too."

Valor reached out and laid his hand upon his son's shoulder. "It is never too late yet, you may return. Together we can put this right.”

Dusk flashed on him, a blaze of rage and sorrow all in one. "You are wrong. For both of us, it's already too late."

The rooftop became silent again, save for the wind howling through the cracks of the ruined skyscraper. Valor stood still, his shadow stretching unnaturally long across the broken floor. Dusk stood opposite him, his armor glowing faintly as light began to swirl around him.

“You’re leaving me no choice,” Valor said, his voice heavy with regret.

Dusk’s eyes narrowed. “You never had a choice, Father. Only the illusion of one.”

Saying nothing more, Dusk merely lifted his hand, and a shaft of golden light shot at Valor. The older man sidestepped as blazing light went past him, crashing through multiple buildings. Valor’s shadow flickering unnaturally as it grew thicker and darker. He stretched his hands forward and the shadows surged around him, boiling forward into a wall of blackness.

Dusk plunged forward, too fast for the eye to follow, his hands ablaze with fierce light. He struck at Valor, who dove beneath the strike. As Dusk spun to strike again, Valor's shadow lashed out like a whip, wrapped around Dusk's arm, and yanked him back.

"You have let your anger blind you," Valor said in a dry and unyielding tone. Around them several other heroes flew around trying to save people from the aftereffects of their battle.

“And you’ve let your fear weaken you!” Dusk snapped. He clenched his fist, and the light around him flared, burning away the shadow like mist in the sun.

Dusk sprang into the air, his hands coalescing a spear of light. He flung it down at the ground, and Valor barely reached the ground in time to dodge out of the way as the spear struck, exploding in a flash of blinding brilliance. The rooftop shook underfoot; large chunks of concrete crumbled over the edge into the abyss below.

Valor stood, and his shadow billowed around him like smoke. "I don't want to fight you, but I will if I must."

Dusk charged, his fists blinding like miniature suns. He swung wildly; every punch created an arc of light that seared through the air. Valor dodged and weaved with precision. He thrust his hand forward, and his shadow erupted in a wave that slammed into Dusk, sending him backward in a skid.

"You have grown strong," Valor said, his tone tinged with pride and sadness in equal measure. "But strength without control is dangerous."

Dusk wiped a streak of blood from his lip, smirking. “Then you’ll love this.”

He raised both hands, and the entire rooftop was bathed in a golden glow. Beams of light shot out in every direction, slicing through steel and stone. Valor’s shadows writhed and twisted, forming a dome around him to block the onslaught.

The light faltered for a moment, and that was all Valor needed. His shadow surged forward like a living tide, wrapping around Dusk’s legs and pulling him to the ground. Dusk struggled, his light flaring brighter and brighter, but the shadows held firm.

“You can’t win this,” Valor said, stepping closer. “You’re fighting yourself as much as you’re fighting me.”

“Then let’s see who breaks first,” Dusk growled.

He roared, bursting with light in such an intensity it shattered the shadows binding him. Valor stumbled back, covering his eyes, as Dusk rose to his feet, shining like a star.

Dusk cast his hand forward, firing a beam of pure light at Valor's chest. The older man crossed his arms over his chest, and his shadow thickened into a shield that barely managed to keep the attack at bay.

The two powers met, and light and darkness wrestled in a desperate struggle of wills. The rooftop creaked under them, groaning as the structure could not take the strain. Cracks shot across the floor, and pieces of debris tumbled into the chasm below.

"You can't keep this up!" Valor yelled, his voice strained.

"Neither can you!" Dusk retorted, his face twisted in determination.

The wavering of the beam of light proved to be the signal for Valor. He let the shadows that covered him collapse, allowing the light to strike him, but only for a second. In that very second, his own shadow sprang forward, wrapping itself around Dusk's torso and pinning him in place.

Valor reached out to him, the writhing of his shadow closing in. "This has to end, son, before it destroys us both."

Dusk's glow dimmed, his breathing rough. "You don't understand. I have to do this."

"No," Valor whispered. "You don't.

Dusk smiled and raised his two hands; “Platonic Configuration; Hail O The Wisps!” He growled and a beam of light formed an alchemical equation on the ground, as chains of light shot from the ground binding Valor to the center of the building, erasing the darkness of the particular area. 

“You don't understand do you?” Dusk began. “Power is the only thing that can free us, good people sit back way too much, and yet you suffer under oppression, I will not allow it. That is why I became powerful to root the deep cause of evil from this society, to bring Justice!” 

“Halo Configuration; Hail the Myriads!” The entirety of the area was suddenly covered by wings of light as multiple harmonic waves began to pulse, golden light simmering along the entire cover of wings aiming to blast at the chained man. 

Valor could feel his darkness being sapped away, he knew he had to admit, his son had grown stronger and the only way to put an end to him was to kill him. He cursed fate under his breath and damned fortune for dealing him this hand. “Stop son! Stop!”

“No!” Dusk yelled. “Halls of Justice! All Ending Star!” The entire area of land was suddenly covered by beams of light as the wings all bombarded Valor with streams of existential erasing light. 

“Demonic Configuration! Body of Man!” Valor yelled as an alchemical configuration formed on top of them and a shadowy form appeared within it, opening its mouth to pour out endless streams of shadow. 

Dusk’s eyes fluttered as he saw his father's greatest moves being brought to life and he knew at that moment he wasn't as strong as this man. 

“Harmonic Configuration…” Valor said but then paused as streams of memories rushed into his head. “When did I get it wrong?” he muttered under his breath. He couldn't kill his own son, he would never do that, so then he decided to try something else. “Sacrificial Configuration; Eldritch Ritual!” He yelled and another formation appeared that reached the entire city. “A soul for my power!” He yelled. 

Dusk bulged his eyes as shadowy tentacles sheared into his chest, dissipating his wings and chains, Valor began to feel himself being drawn from within too. 

By the time the configuration was done, Valor laid on the floor, near powerless and his son, Dusk was lying beside him unconscious, his soul sealed behind a dark box beside him. “He’d exchanged his power to cage his son’s soul for a while to keep him alive.” 

It probably was two hours after when the Association of Warriors and Warlords (AWW) landed in their location with a helicopter, all of them pointing their weapons at the barely breathing Valor. “You are under arrest for aiding and abetting with your son and causing countless to lose lives…”