A black robed figure quickly darted in between Kyle and Mancer, moving very quickly for them to not be able to notice the figure out it had already dashed past. The figured skidded to a stop a few feet behind them, spreading his large black and silver bat wings. "So, we meet again," The figure a dit in a voice that sounded quite close to Devin of the Dark Horses.

"Devin?!" Kyle quickly turned to face Devin, though he was quite surprised that he moved that quickly; he didn't think the bat could déplacer that fast.

"What's up, hedgehog?" Devin asked in a voice that sounded plus flat instead of the normal, somewhat higher pitched voice that Kyle was used to him speaking with. "You do know that Vice is still wanting toi back, right?"

"Does he really want my powers THAT badly?" Kyle asked with a frown on his face as he prepared to fight Devin if he had to. He did notice, however, that the sirens seemed to have stopped once Devin first ran up.

"I would say that it seems he does..." Devin replied in a voice that almost sounded less than confident. He also kept his head down towards the ground, which kept his face completely from view.

"Seems he does?" Kyle asked in confusion. He was trying to figure out why Devin seemed to sound unconfident in what he was saying. He was about to say something else, until Mancer quickly stepped vers l'avant, vers l’avant towards Devin, appearing as if he was ready to attack.

"Let me guess, toi set off those police siren?" Mancer asked in a fairly flat voice, clenching his fists together as Rasoul energy began forming around his hands.

"Who else would?" Devin asked in a voice that sounded rather sarcastic. A small snicker was heard from the bat before he spread his wings as if ready to fly. "Some little petty criminal? Oh no, I'm much better than that. I'm hard to catch, I'm airborne, and I'm smart."

Mancer released what sounded like a snake's hiss before quickly raising his hands and shooting a large blast of Rasoul energy at the robed bat. The bat, however, only used his wings to quickly fly out of the way of the blast.

"Come and get me, hybrid. I dare you," Devin a dit with a laugh as he turned in the air and took off flying at fairly surprising speeds, just barely flying above the ground.

"After him, Kyle!" Mancer a dit in a commanding voice as he took off running to try to catch up with Devin.

Kyle followed after Mancer as quickly as he could, but he soon began falling behind the black and red hybrid. "Mancer, I can't keep up with you! I'm not a track runner ou something like that!"

Mancer, instead of speaking to Kyle, simply just slowed down in his running until he was running beside the yellow hedgehog. He grabbed Kyle firmly par the back of his clothes and lifted him up off of the ground with fairly surprising strength before shooting off after Devin in chase.

Kyle's eyes widened as Mancer continued picking up plus and plus speed as he closed in on the bat. Kyle could only let his body be carried par Mancer and par the wind as the hybrid continued picking up plus speed. "How fast can toi actually run, Mancer?!" Kyle asked in shock due to the hybrid's speed.

The hybrid didn't respond to Kyle; he just continued running quicker and quicker, quickly beginning to gain on Devin. He remained silent, preparing to attack the bat with a quiet surprise attack.

Devin continued flying forward, not seeming to know that Mancer and Kyle were right behind him. He continued flying, gaining plus and plus speed as he continued going. Mancer, who was gaining very quickly on Devin, let go of Kyle before throwing himself onto Devin in a tackle. He was quickly brought down on the hard pavement of the road. He released a yell of pain as he hit the pavement hard with Mancer and rolled, getting scraped and cut on the rough road.

Kyle flew backwards a bit, before a nuage of Rasoul energy formed behind his back to keep him from hitting the pavement. The nuage formed around his body almost like a hand, preventing him from falling ou flying back. "Mancer!" He was worried that the black and red hybrid could have broke something due to the speed and angle that he hit the pavement at.

Mancer rolled across the road at quite some speed a few plus times before coming to a stop. He released a hiss before trying to get up using his arms, but he fell back down slightly as a sharp pain came up in his right arm. "Gah...!" He winced in pain before raising his head to see Kyle, who was quickly running towards his location. "Get Devin, Kyle! I'm fine! Don't let him get away!"

Kyle quickly looked over at Devin, who was laying a few feet away on the ground. Devin was laying on his left wing, which appeared to be very bent and scraped from hitting the pavement. The bat was attempting to get up, but seemed to be struggling with a lot of pain due to his damaged wing. Kyle quickly charged vers l'avant, vers l’avant towards Devin, preparing to attack while his guard was down.

Devin winced in pain, clenching his teeth together tightly as he slowly began getting up, oblivious to the fact that Kyle was quickly approaching. He kept his head low, the black capuche, hotte that he was wearing covering his face completely from view.

Kyle raised his hand and fired a sphere of Rasoul energy at Devin, attempting to knock the bat back down before he got up completely and attempted to run off; Kyle didn't think that Devin would be able to fly with that damaged wing. "Stop right there, Devin!"

Devin released a gasp of pain as he fell back down onto the ground due to the force of the Rasoul sphere striking him as he attempted to get up; he was feeling slightly weak in the legs due to the impact of the tackle and the concrete, though, so it didn’t take much force to knock him back down onto the ground. “Gah!” Devin attempted to recover from the blast as quickly as possible, preparing to fight back when Kyle attacked again.

Kyle quickly shot another Rasoul sphere at Devin as he approached. However, he found himself having to quickly canard as the bat raised his leg up quickly and kicked the Rasoul sphere back at him. Kyle, not really being that quick, was able to dodge the sphere, but wound up falling backwards onto the ground due to ducking down so quickly. “Ow!”

“Kyle, get back up!” Mancer called to Kyle, trying to tell him that he needed to try to get up before Devin attacked. The black and red hybrid attempted to get up himself, but a sharp pain that continued coming up in his arm prevented him from getting up right away, though he was trying his best to raise himself up.

Kyle quickly raised his head up as he climbed up off of the ground, looking up just in time to see a Rasoul sphere, fired par Devin, come flying directly at him. He didn’t have enough time to react, however, as the Rasoul sphere flew at him and slammed into his body, sending him flying backwards with quite some force. Kyle released a scream as he hit the pavement hard, feeling a strong pain shooting up and down his back from hitting the pavement. “One Rasoul sphere can do THAT?!” The hedgehog thought to himself in shock. He didn’t have much time to think, however, as Devin charged towards him, preparing to attack with a blade of Rasoul energy.

Kyle released another scream, this one of fear, as he rolled to the side to avoid being hit par Devin’s Rasoul blade. The bat did indeed miss, and wound up slamming his blade down roughly onto the ground where Kyle was once laying. Kyle quickly got up once he rolled away, and then began shooting as many Rasoul spheres as he could at Devin, just attempting to attack in any way that he could. He was able to feu about thirty spheres before he felt like he had run out of energy and had to take a break from the firing.

Devin was forcefully knocked down and out of the way slightly due to all of the Rasoul spheres pelting his body in a rapid succession. He did seem to be in pain from the pelting, though it didn’t seem to faze him too much as he quickly brought himself back up to his feet. “You annoying little hedgehog…” Devin a dit in what sounded like an angry tone, though his face was still hidden from view, so toi couldn’t tell if his face showed a look of anger ou not. Before Kyle was able to attack again, Devin quickly dashed towards the yellow hedgehog with his Rasoul Blade raised, ready to attack.

Kyle quickly dodged to the side once Devin came close and took a swing, just barely missing the bat’s blade. “How am I the one that’s annoying here?!” Kyle asked just out of habit, due to he normally found himself taunting villains without realizing he was doing so. He did, however, realize what he a dit this time, but he was obviously unable to prevent himself from saying it as he did say it. He jumped backwards as Devin took another balançoire, swing at him, preparing to attack himself as small amounts of Rasoul energy began forming around his body.

Devin quickly jumped to the side when Kyle fired a larger sphere of Rasoul energy at him, just barely being able to dodge. The bat then immediately swung his blade at Kyle, but the golden hedgehog fired a Rasoul sphere to knock the blade back before it was able to hit. “Gah!” Devin jerked his arm away in pain, attempting to recover from the Rasoul sphere hitting his arm with force.

Kyle, hoping that he had a chance to attack Devin, quickly charged vers l'avant, vers l’avant and swung his fist towards the bat in a punch. The coup de poing landed hard against Devin’s head, sending the bat staggering back a bit, appearing slightly dazed. Devin recovered quickly, however, and quickly charged towards Kyle to attack as well. The bat and the hedgehog quickly ensued in a fight between their Rasoul powers and their own physical attacks.

Mancer, who was attempting to get up this entire time, was finally able to push himself up onto his knees, even though a large pain still remained in his arm. He then brought himself slowly up to his feet, attempting to focus on the fight that was going on between the bat and the hedgehog in front of him. “Be careful, Kyle! He seems to know quite a bit about using his Rasoul powers against you!”

“Why can’t toi help me?!” Kyle called back to Mancer as he ducked, managing to dodge a coup de poing that Devin had thrown at his face. Kyle jumped back up, bringing his fist up into the bat’s chin in an uppercut punch.

Devin’s head snapped backwards due to the force of the punch, and he fell backwards onto the concrete with quite some force. He released what sounded like a hiss, appearing to be in quite a bit of pain due to his head going backwards all of a sudden, and then coming back; in other words, he was in pain from the near whiplash he had just gotten. He stayed silent, however, not really being able to speak due to the fact that he felt quite dazed. He also didn’t have time to react as Kyle came running towards him and kicked him, sending him flying back onto the pavement.

Kyle clenched his fists together, attempting to stay on guard. Devin was knocked back onto the pavement, but that doesn’t mean that the bat wouldn’t get up and attack quickly. Kyle quickly charged towards Devin again as he formed Rasoul energy around his fists, preparing to try to attack the bat once again. The hedgehog swung his Rasoul charged fist at Devin once he had started getting up, but the bat was able to bend back far enough and quick enough to where he went under Kyle’s fist.

Devin grabbed Kyle’s arm, and then flipped him over his body and onto the concrete. Devin then blasted Kyle with a sphere of Rasoul energy as he got up and jumped away from the hedgehog. “What’s the matter? Running out of steam?”

Kyle’s body froze with pain as he lie on the ground, not knowing what to do next. He tried to move, but felt a sharp sting of pain run up and down his body from the Rasoul energy that stuck him. He did manage to get up, however, but he had to fight back a lot of pain that shot through him as he made his movements. par the time he managed to get up on his feet, however, he didn’t have any time to react as Devin’s fist came hitting hard into Kyle’s stomach.

Kyle released a sharp breath as his eyes went wide. He felt almost like something had been crushed inside his stomach, sending a large amount of pain through his stomach and the surrounding areas of his body. Kyle wasn’t even able to speak, due to the fact that he had the breath knocked right out of him during the punch. The coup de poing sent him flying, causing him to fly over the pavement, over the sidewalks, and onto one of the front yards of a nearby house. He stayed where he was in the grass, clutching his stomach tightly in pain as he took quick breaths, attempting to recover from that powerful punch. “W-Why did that hurt… so much…? A… coup de poing to the stomach has never hurt that much before…” He also noticed that with every breath he took, small amounts of black Rasoul mist were leaking out of his mouth as he exhaled.

A grin spread across Devin’s face, however, like before, toi were unable to see his face due to the fact that he was keeping it hidden. “So, are toi done now? Giving up? ou have toi taken too much damage already?” The bat asked as he began making his way over to Kyle, who was still lying in the grass. Devin’s grin spread wider as he turned his arm into a Rasoul Blade, preparing to attack Kyle once again.

“Devin!” A serious voice hissed through their teeth as footsteps running across the pavement was heard. The voice was revealed to belong to Mancer as he came crashing into Devin in a tackle, knocking him away from Kyle and onto the ground.

Devin hissed at Mancer, attempting to get out from under him. He raised his head and glared at Mancer, allowing the hybrid to see his seemingly very angry face. “Get off of me!”

Mancer grabbed Devin’s arms, including the blade arm, and held them down on the ground roughly, managing to cut his hand in the process due to holding the blade down. He released a hiss, staring straight into Devin’s eyes. “You might want to get out of here while I give toi the chance. Otherwise, you’re going to have to answer to ME instead of Kyle.”

Devin released another hiss as Mancer as Rasoul energy began forming around him, as if he was ready to try to attack the hybrid. “Let go of me!” He tried to déplacer his arms, but Mancer held them down firmly.

“Not a chance,” Mancer a dit in a flat tone as he tightened his grip on Devin’s arms, cutting his hand plus on Devin’s blade as he gripped tighter. He then began lifting Devin off of the ground, as if he was about to pick Devin up ou possibly throw him.

Kyle attempted to look past Mancer’s back so he could see Devin and what was going on. He was surprised to see that Devin’s Rasoul energy and Rasoul Blade disappeared suddenly, as if his energy had been blocked ou cancelled out. It was also very hard for him to notice during the bright light of the day, but he was able to notice that Mancer’s arms underneath his veste seemed to be giving off a very, very faint red light. “Mancer?” Kyle started to ask Mancer about the light, but he stopped himself as soon as he saw the light disapdisappear. The light seemed to disappear almost as quickly as it came.

“What is it, Kyle? I’m busy!” Mancer a dit to Kyle in a flat tone as he lifted Devin off of the ground, and then threw him vers l'avant, vers l’avant with an incredible strength and speed.

Devin’s body flew backwards for quite some time, and then he came down hard on the ground with a loud thud. “GAH!” He released a yell of pain, feeling pain shooting all throughout his body. He tried to move, but a rattling pain shot all throughout him whenever he tried to déplacer even an inch.

Kyle just stared in shock at what had happened, surprised that Mancer seemed to have that much strength. “Wow!”

Mancer ignored Kyle’s comment, and charged towards Devin once more. He swung his leg hard upon getting close to the bat, sending him flying again. “Now leave!”

Devin flew back again and fell to the ground, feeling even plus pain shooting through his body. It took all of the strength that he had to pull himself up to his feet. “Fine… toi win for now…” He hissed through his teeth as he struggled to gain his balance. He then turned around, and quickly began running away, struggling with the pain that was shooting around in his body. He also couldn’t fly due to his damaged wing.

“You’re not going to go after him?!” Kyle asked as he tried to get up slowly, but a stinging pain rose up in his stomach where he had gotten punched, causing him to fall back down.

“Not right now. Devin’s taken enough damage, and Vice might come after us if he knew that Devin was missing,” Mancer replied flatly. “Plus, I don’t have anywhere I could hide Devin from Vice if we knocked him out ou tied him up to restrain him.”

“Couldn’t we at least try to capture him since we have a perfect chance due to the fact that he’s injured?” Kyle asked in a tone that seemed maybe just a bit confused ou angry, maybe both.

“Kyle, just… leave it alone. Really, just leave it alone for right now and let’s just go back to your home. Both of us have gotten hurt,” Mancer a dit as he walked over to Kyle. He held his arm somewhat tightly, which was the arm that he had fallen on when he first tackled Devin and they both went down on the pavement. “I don’t believe I’ve broken my arm, due to the fact that I can still déplacer it, but I might add that it very hurts when I déplacer it. I could have damaged a muscle ou something such as that. Plus, I’ve cut my hand fairly deeply due to when I was holding Devin’s Rasoul Blade to the ground.”

Kyle slowly tried to get up, but once again felt that stinging pain running through his body, starting at his stomach. However, he tried his best to ignore the pain, and slowly managed to stand up. “You’re hurt? No, wait, of course you’re hurt… Are toi going to be okay?”

“I’ll be fine, ou fine enough,” Mancer replied. “Your stomach took damage, right? toi were punched?”

“Um, yes, I was…” Kyle replied as he slowly made his way over to Mancer. He looked at both of the hybrid’s hands and arms, attempting to find out where he had been hurt. He focused on Mancer’s left hand, which is what had the very deep cut on it. Kyle, however, released a small gasp of surprise when he focused on Mancer’s cut; he saw no blood around the cut, only a thick black liquid. The liquid also seemed to be following out of Mancer’s veste sleeve on the same arm, so perhaps that was the arm that Mancer had fallen on and possibly scraped ou cut. “Mancer, what’s that…?”

“What’s what…? What are toi looking at?” Mancer asked as he used his non-hurt arm and hand to brush dirt and herbe off of him from the fight. He looked back up at Kyle, waiting for the hedgehog’s answer.

“I… thought you’d be bleeding if toi got cut,” Kyle said, attempting to point out the black liquid that seemed to be coming out of the cut itself.

“You thought I would be bleeding?” Mancer asked in confusion. He looked down at his hand, and realized that the black liquid was coming from the cut. Mancer seemed quite surprised at the sight of the liquid, but instead of saying something right away to Kyle, he just quickly held his cut hand and turned his back to the hedgehog. “It’s… It’s nothing.”

“What is that?” Kyle asked as he slowly walked a bit closer to Mancer. “Is that… your actual blood? It’s black?”

“I a dit it’s nothing,” Mancer replied, still keeping his arm hidden from view. “But, let’s not say anything about that now. Why don’t we go back to your house so I can get a bandage to emballage, wrap my hand in, perhaps?”

“A bandage…? Oh right, to stop the bleeding… if toi are actually bleeding,” Kyle said, referring to the black liquid once again.

“Kyle, please stop pressing. I’ll answer toi another time,” Mancer replied in a slightly flat tone. “Right now I just want to get back to your accueil before one of the other Dark chevaux members decides to come attack us. I’m sure Devin would go tell Vice what happened, which would lead to him sending his team after us, ou himself coming after us.”

“True, it could be a good idea to go back inside before they come back, if they come back,” Kyle a dit with a small nod of his head. Kyle started to turn back towards his house, but stopped when another wave of pain went through his stomach. “Ow…”

“Is something hurting you?” Mancer asked as he looked over his shoulder slightly to look at Kyle.

“Well, I am in pain considering I got attacked,” Kyle began as he slowly walked up beside the black and red hybrid. “But, my stomach is what’s really hurting me right now.”

“Your stomach is hurting?” Mancer questioned. “Hm… Did toi get hit in the stomach during the fight? I thought I remember toi being hit there.”

“Yeah, I did… He punched me right in the stomach. Oh, it hurt really badly,” Kyle said, rubbing his stomach gently.

“Did he coup de poing toi after toi had used your Rasoul powers against him?” Mancer asked, as if curious.

“Yeah, he did. …Um, is there a reason why toi asked that?” Kyle asked as he tilted his head to the side in confusion. “I also think we should be heading back to my house now,” He added as he started walking back in the direction of his house.

“Yes, there’s a small reason why I asked that,” Mancer a dit as he began following Kyle. The hedgehog gave Mancer a questioning look, as if asking what the reason was. “You see, there’s a special organ inside people who have Rasoul energy.”

“A special organ? toi mean, people with Rasoul energy have completely different organs than people without Rasoul?” Kyle asked as his eyes widened slightly.

“They have the same organs as a person without Rasoul energy, but people WITH Rasoul energy have an extra organ, which is located in their stomach,” Mancer explained. “That organ basically holds the fuel for your Rasoul energy, and it connects to a special seconde nervous system and vein system that moves your Rasoul energy throughout your body to allow toi to be able to shoot your Rasoul energy, such as out of your hands ou out of your leg during a kick.”

“Huh… I see. That’s cool!” Kyle said, his face giving off a look of amazement. “But, wait. Does that have something to do with why my stomach got hurt that badly due to the punch?”

“Yes, it does actually; or, well, it sort of does. toi see, that organ is very sensitive, so it can really cause a lot of pain if it’s struck during a fight ou just struck in general,” Mancer explained. “I guess it’s like hitting your funny bone, except usually worse.”

“So that’s why my stomach hurts so badly,” Kyle said. He looked up, noticing that they were back at his house. “And here we are.”

“True, here we are,” Mancer a dit as he walked up to the front door of the house and walked in with Kyle.

Kyle was about to just walk into the living room and sit down onto the canapé to just relax, but he stopped himself when he thought of another thing that he had seen while they were fighting with Devin. “Mancer, I have another question.”

“You have another question…?” Mancer asked as he started off towards one of the nearby bathrooms to get a bandage from the medicine cabinet.

“Yeah. During the fight, I thought I saw some kind of red glow coming from your arms,” Kyle said. “And then after that, Devin’s Rasoul suddenly disappeared. Did I really see that?”

Mancer suddenly froze in his walking, almost seeming like Kyle had asked him a shocking question. The hybrid stayed silent for a long time, before decided to speak to Kyle. “That’s… a story for another time. toi don’t need to hear that right now.”

“I don’t need to hear about that right now? Mancer, just what exactly are toi hiding from me? First that black liquid, and now what I think were your arms glowing?” Kyle asked. “Why are toi hiding stuff from me?”

“I’m not trying to hide anything from you,” Mancer replied back in a slightly flat tone. “You simply just don’t need to hear these things right now.”

“And why can’t I hear about these things now?” Kyle asked, crossing his arms together. “I’m not trying to whine ou complain, but really. Why can’t I hear it? Is there an actual reason?”

“In some ways, there is a reason,” Mancer a dit as he sighed through his teeth. “It’s something for toi to learn about in your training later on.”

“It’s something for me to learn about in my training?” Kyle asked in confusion. “You mean I’m going to learn why your arms glowed and why your blood is apparently black just through training?”

“Look, it’s just difficult to explain,” Mancer a dit with another sigh. “I’m just trying to say that it’s not time for toi to learn about it yet. It’s something that’s supposed to tie in with your training at another time. Just… trust me. It’s not time for toi to hear it yet.”

“But…” Kyle started to say something else, but paused when he decided that he didn’t know what else to say. “…Okay then, I’m just… going to stop asking then. Since I apparently can’t know that right now.”

“Like already said, just trust me. I promise, it will tie into your training at some point,” Mancer said. “Anyway, speaking of your training, I’m almost glad that toi fought with Devin.”

“You’re glad? Is there a reason why?” Kyle asked in confusion as he sat down on the couch, preparing to relax.

“Yes, I would say there’s a part of a reason. It did allow me to see what toi can do on your own right now with your powers and strength,” Mancer pointed out. “That should help me know where toi currently are now in your skills, and that should help me know what I need to work on with toi and where I need to start.”

“Oh, right! I bet that does give toi a place to start, doesn’t it?” Kyle a dit as his ears stood up slightly.

“Exactly,” Mancer a dit with a nod of his head. “Now, we may have to postpone your training… again.”

“Due to your injuries?” Kyle asked.

“Yes, ou so I think. I might be able to help toi with your training, such as watching over what you’re doing, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to montrer toi much without hurting my arm worse than it already is,” Mancer said. “Using that arm without giving it plenty of time to heal might just make it worse.” He then disappeared into the bathroom to look through the medicine cabinet.

“True, I agree with that. It probably would be best to let your arm rest,” Kyle agreed with a nod. “So I guess that means no plus training for today?”

“Just let me rest for a short time,” Mancer said. He was now wrapping his hand in a bandage that he had gotten from the bathroom medicine cabinet. “Then we can try with your training again. I’ll tell toi what to do, and then observe and give toi pointers.”

“Alright, that sounds like that would work for me,” Kyle a dit with a nod of his head. “When are we going to get back to training?”

“Eager, are you? We can get back to training in a few hours ou so, depending on how I’m feeling later, and depending on how you’re feeling, okay?” Mancer asked.

“Alright, that sounds okay,” Kyle a dit with a nod of his head. He sat back in the couch, releasing a sigh as he attempted to relax. Mancer walked to a recliner in the room and also sat down, preparing to relax as well and try to rest his hand. Kyle, however, had quite a few thoughts swimming around in his head, as he thought about the battle with Devin, and what Mancer seemed to be hiding. He could only wonder what other surprises that Mancer might have in store for him later on down the road.