//------------------------------//
// Confrontation 
// Story: Mages of Etheria: The Infinity Matrix 
// by Nova Arc 
//------------------------------//

"... Uuuuuuuuuuh..." The entire of Team Sparks was staring at Digit. Zest had suggested another sleepover at his place (and by Digit's place he meant his sister's place). Sunset and Amethyst could do nothing but gawk, Trixie had a twitch, and Nox had a facial expression that seemed to resemble a mixture of shock and trauma.

Then, it happened. "BWAAAAHAHAHAHAAAA!" Zest burst into laughter, rolling on the floor and holding his sides as if to prvent them from ripping apart. "Dude, she's been in school for, what, three days?"

"Hey, she asked me."

"AND YOU ONLY AGREED FOR ONE DATE?!"

"Weren't you just complaining about-" Amethyst started, but was interrupted by Digit.

"It was a mutual agreement. And Amethyst, you should know Zest  by now." Amethyst shrugged. "Besides, she's not really  my type."

"Dude, she's cute, she's available, for now, and she's got a hot sister and cool brother for anyone else on this team that's interested," Zest said, eyeing Amethyst.

"What?" she asked.

"I saw you today, ogling him in class like he's the hottest thing to happen in Etheria since Spitfire did that magazine cover." Amethyst punched him in the shoulder.

"Anyway," she said, "How was it? What did you do? Where did you go?"

Digit processed the answers in his head. "Good, sightseeing, Eclipse Obelisk," he answered plainly.

"Oooooh."





"Yeah, it was great." Lavender was still daydreaming about her date with Digit last night. "He's cute, he's funny..."

"Why are those two words always used to describe a guy a girl likes?" Descent asked, confused.

"Wow," said Nightshade, "He really did a number on you." Descent stared at her. "What?" she asked , smiling sheepishly.

""Number"? Really?"

"... And he took me to the Obelisk..."

"He never took me to the Obelisk," Nightshade thought. "So, one time affair, huh? How'll you cope?"

"He's cute and all," Lavender said, getting up, "But he isn't exactly grade-A cider... he's more on the lines of an B plus."

"How so?"

"He seemed a bit... distant. Like his mid kept on wandering off, even if he looks like he's paying attention, you can tell he's thinking about something else."

"Maybe past dates?" Nightshade suggested.

"He is a bit of a playboy," added Descent.

"I wouldn't use playboy," said Lavender. "More on the lines of... naturally attractive beyond his own control." She was practically drooling now.

"Did you kiss?"

She shot Nightshade a look, who smirked back. "Um, no," she said, frowning.

"That's unfortunate." "That's good. At least his magic essence wouldn't tip her off... and this moment would be a bit less awkward." "Well, there's plenty of fish in the sea."

"Bleah," Lavender gagged. "I hate fish."

"Does it have anything to do with the time a dolphin slapped you when you tried to ride it, or when that old lady slapped you with the wet fish when we went shopping?"

"They were both very rude!"





Digit was up until almost three in the morning trying to put it all together. He knew Lavender was familiar; her name, her hair, her voice... but he couldn't put the pieces together. Zest and Nox had both fallen asleep, leaving him to ponder on his own... almost. "Y'know, that Nightshade girl seems pretty familiar to me to. If we could get memories of either one, we may be able to find out if you really know them. Should we try the thing?"

Digit pondered. He knew what she meant, but was it worth it? Delving that deep into memories he had locked away for a reason? "Hmm... okay. But if I don't break the connection in ten seconds, you do it." Sparks nodded. She held his hands in hers and clapped them together. There was a high-pitched screech and images began flashing epileptically in his eyes. He could hear voices melded together, difficult to make out. The images were pretty clear though. There was a girl with long,  purple hair who pushed him away, another with dark blue hair that tried to leaned in to kiss him. Suddenly, he was on the ground, breathing heavily. He raised his hand and saw it was covered in blood. The blue-haired girl stood over him, pointing an arrow at his chest and said only one thing before firing: "Sleep well, cutie."

Digit jolted back and broke contact. He was breathing as if he had just run a marathon. He looked at Sparks, who had the same reaction. He closed his eyes and tried to force back the anger. Sparks crawled up to his shoulder and nuzzled him affectionately, calming him a bit. He smiled at her and laid down. "I'll have to deal with that tomorrow."





On Monday morning, the Sparks (or that's what Zest was calling them, anyway) met in front of the school. But no one said hi; they were all watching Digit, who was deeper in thought than usual. "Something wrong?" asked Sunset.

"I have no idea," he replied. He turned to see Lavender, Nightshade, and Descent arrive. Lavender waved. He waved back. "I think... nah," he said, shaking his head, "Maybe I'm just being paranoid."

"About what?" asked Amethyst.

"Don't worry about it. Building something'll probably take my mind off it."

Conveniently, he had metal shop class that morning and the student where assigned to make any electrical device of their choosing. "Hey there, Digi." Unfortunately, he had it with the one person he could barely stand. He had black hair with gray highlights, bright periwinkle eyes, and wore a yellow t-shirt, black trousers, and brown boots. He also wore his academy cloak zipped from the middle-up and wore a pair of shades to reduce glare if he was working with bright materials.

"What do you want, Fixit?" Fixit Tech was as obnoxious and arrogant as cocky technomages get... and beyond. He constantly competed with everyone, especially Digit, and would never let the latter back out of a challenge. "I'm kinda busy," he said, welding to metal rods together for his transformer. He had hoped his headphones would keep out Fixit's annoying voice, but he could still hear the mage ranting. Thanks for trying, Vinyl, but your upgrades still need some tweaking.

"Oh, come on, man," Fixit replied, leaning on Digit's desk. "Can't a guy just say hi to an old friend." He dropped his tools, grabbed Fixit by the shirt, and pulled back a fist.

"Don't you ever... EVER call me your friend you-"

"Okay, okay," he said, raising his hands in defeat, "Sorry. Didn't know that nerve was still so touchy."

"Really? Would you like a demonstration on how touchy?" Digit's fist glowed with blue energy. He looked up and saw the teacher, Professor Metalwork, was going round to check on the students progress. Digit released Fixit, straightened his goggle over his eyes, and went back to welding. "Don't you have work to do?"

"Nah, I finished like five minutes ago," Fixit replied, pointing to his generator model. Digit sighed and turned on the headset. He had installed a memory chip in it with all his favorite songs so he could play music without having to bring his phone in, although he still did. But his phone was for... other things.

After that, Digit only saw Fixit as they walked passed each other in the hallway. Sunset knew something was up when he passed Fixit and branched off to change for gym. She, Amethyst, and Trixie went to the girls locker room to change too. "So, anyone know what's up with Digit?" she asked.

"No one talks about it," Amethyst replied. "They risk setting him off."

"I though nothing could set Digit off."

Amethyst gave a deadpanned stare, then forced her self not to burst into laughter. "Wow, Sunny. Have you heard anything about him? He's been at this school for almost as long as you and Twilight."

"Well, I did spend a good portion of my time here breaking everyone apart and trying to take over the school," she replied, downcast.

"Yes, yes you did," Amy deadpanned. "But that's in the past. And so is Digit's history."

"Oh, oh! I know this one! I think it had something to do with a lot of really, really, really bad luck. Then there was the fight, the detention, the break-up, the other break-up, something about a traitor..." Sunset and Amethyst looked back to see Pinkie, wearing nothing but her underwear (pink, obviously), sitting on top of the gym lockers, babbling.

"PINKIE!" Amethyst yelled.

"Huh? Oops. I said too much didn't I?" Pinkie asked innocently.

"Pinkie Pie, get your butt down from there. And get changed for heaven's sake." There was no mistaking that was Applejack. Not just the voice, but the force with which Pinkie was dragged off the lockers to the other side.

Rainbow said, "Actually, I'd love to hear this one."

"Rainbow Dash," Rarity said, "You are the last person a secret like this gets out to."

"Whadoyou mean? You sayin' I can't keep a secret."

"No, I'm saying that if you hear anything, you would go to confront the person immediately. You lack-"

"Discipline? Reasoning? Common sense?" Applejack interjected, smiling.

"I was going to say either finesse, restraint, subtlety, or all  the above, but..."

"Why you!"

"Gah! Rainbow Dash! Give those back." Sunset saw Rainbow running away from Rarity, waving a black and purple bra in the air. "Yes, yes. Very mature. And what of Applejack? Wouldn't you like to steal her underwear as well?"

"Are you kidding? I don't wanna die! Besides, she's got no class."

"Good to see yer brain's still... wait, WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"





Today, Digit was in a mood. Everyone tried to keep a minimum safe distance of four feet from him, which wasn't a problem since the game of the day was the one game dreaded by most, feared by many, and loved by bullies: dodgeball. But this is a magic school, so instead of using the standard red, they were each given a glove that created a ball of kinetic energy; more convenient and just as painful. "Great," Sunset said. "Of all the sports Coach Will had to come up with, it was this." She looked around. Iron Will had organized a team battle royale: all able students were in play: fourteen-on-fourteen. About twelve were out due thanks to a note, record of health problems, or visible ailment (Iron Will was either too blind to separate the real from the fake, or he just let them go).

"BEGIN!"

Red bolts went flying the moment he signaled the start. At the same time, Twilight, Sunset, and Rarity were hiding behind barricades (these were set up to protect the less... athletic students. "So, what's the plan?" asked Rarity. "We wait it out?"

"Probably," replied Twilight. "Problem is, I doubt Coach Will will let us go on a forfeit."

"Yep, he has that reputation," deadpanned Sunset. In about ten minutes, it was down to eleven against eight, in favor of the opposition. "Well, taking a hit from that team isn't an option," Sunset said as she saw a student sent flying by a bolt that slammed into her stomach. Two more knocked down a boy trying to get behind a barricade. "Wait, who's on that team again?" She peered over the barricade and came back down almost immediately. "Crap."

"Who is it?" asked Twilight.

Sunset looked at her. "Here's a hint, she's a fairly small tomboy with multicolored hair."

"I thought so," said Rarity. "It was far too quiet on this end and we actually got to hide in peace and quiet.

Rainbow was throwing bolt after bolt, aiming to hit whoever was hiding behind the barricades. "Come on out! The weather's fine with a mild chance of my awesomeness hitting you in the face!"

"No thank you, Rainbow," Rarity said from behind the barricade, "I like my current appearance just fine, thank you very much."

Wildfire, a crazy competitive girl, nudged Rainbow. "One more." The remaining eight players starred at the last opponent not hiding behind a barricade - actually, he was sitting on it. Digit had avoided getting hit throughout the game, but hadn't even broken a sweat.

"Hey, Digit," Rainbow called. Digit looked up. He didn't look as angry as before, but he wasn't smiling either. "Let's make things interesting."

"Oh, boy," Twilight said. Rarity face-palmed.

"They're in for in now, huh?" asked Sunset. They both nodded.

"We win, you answer any three questions I ask you, no matter how personal."

Digit looked around. "Hardly seems fair, but okay. And if I win?"

"I doubt that'll happen, but if you do, I'll..." she thought for a moment, "Give you Rarity's underwear."

"WHAT?!" Rarity was held back by Twilight and Sunset, barely. "RAINBOW DASH! I'LL KILL YOU MYSELF IF YOU EVEN-"

"What am I supposed to do with that, exactly?"

Rainbow froze, a bit confused. "I don't know. Whatever boys do with a girl's underwear. Brag about it, hang it up like a flag, wear it if that's your thing..." Rarity was ready to rip off the barricade and beat Rainbow to death. Then Digit answered.

"Deal." At that moment, his assailants unleashed a storm of projectiles at him. Eight shots flew... eight shots missed.

Rainbow Dash was stunned. "What the what?"

"Good effort," Digit said. "Try again. Maybe you'll see it this time." They attacked again without a second thought. Digit dodged the attacks like it was a dance, hopping, side-stepping, hand-standing, and rolling out of the way. Wild Fire threw her last bolt, which Digit caught. He looked up at them and smiled. "My turn." His first shot sent one student crashing into another and tumbling out of bounds. As two more came he caught one and blocked another with it, then sent it flying at another student. "Four down, four to go." He watched them. He had two projectiles in his hands. He threw the first one, which went high.

"What the hell was that?" mocked Wildfire.

Digit smiled and threw the next bolt with a spin. It hit the one already flying and deflected it down. It hit one student in the face, while the second one flew towards Wildfire. She grabbed the last student, a slim girl with a thick mop of pink hair. Digit threw another bolt that stopped the one aiming down at them. "ARE YOU NUTS?!" Rainbow dragger the girl away from Wild. "You okay, Flutts?"

"A bit scared," Fluttershy replied, "But yes, I'm fine."

Rainbow looked up at Wild. "What is WRONG WITH YOU! You don't use people as shields!" As Wildfire was about to retort, a red bolt slammed across her face. Rainbow turned to see Digit; he was angry, anyone could see it. His calm aura had changed to one of near-tangible rage. Then suddenly, he vanished.





School was over. "Finally," said Rainbow. "Now, I can claim my prize."

"And I get to keep my panties," Rarity said with a sigh of relief. "Although, I do feel sorry for him."

"Why's that?" asked Rainbow.

"Because he has to answer your questions. And let's be honest, you don't exactly ask the most comfortable questions."

"Hey, he agreed to it."

"Technically, he didn't lose, he forfeited."

"Same thing in my book. I'm surprised Pinkie got knocked off."

"I did that on purpose," Pinkie said. "I really wanted to see what would happen if I got knocked off the team."

"I... never thought that was possible," said Rarity, "with your Pinkie Sense and all..."

"My Pinkie Sense is a warning. I can choose whether or not to pay attention... sometimes... I think..." she spaced out in thought.

"Am just kinda worried," said Applejack. "Ah ain't no expert on magic, but Am pretty sure his aura ain't supposed to change the way it did. Whadoyou think, Twi?"

Twilight snapped out of her daze. "I'm... not sure." She looked at Rainbow. "I know you're not going to let this go, no matter how many logical reason's I give, but please, for the love of Faust, be careful what you ask. Okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Gotta go." Rainbow flew off in search of Digit.

Sunset and Amethyst came up behind them. "Is she going to look for Digit?" asked Amethyst. The five nodded in harmony. "Anyone wanna tell nurse Redheart to prepare a therapy session?"

"No- Wait, why?" asked Twilight.

"Just I case."

Rainbow had no trouble finding Digit. He was in the middle of the school field, testing a solar-powered generator. "HEY DIGIT!"

Digit looked up and saw Rainbow descending towards him. "Great."

"You promised me answers. I want them... NOW!" she demanded with a smirk.

Digit put down his equipment started packing up the generator. "Three questions. Shoot."

"First off, what had you in a bad mood today? That was kinda out of character for you... like Pinkie going goth."

"Someone annoyed me. I got upset. Next," Digit said blankly.

"Well, that wasn't really an answer-"

"You didn't say I had to be detailed."

"Well I'm telling you now."

Digit clenched his fist. He relaxed after a few seconds. "Whatever. Next?"

"Did you go on a date with the new girl?"

Digit froze. After his vision last night, he suddenly felt uncomfortable talking about any of the new students. "Lavender? Yes. Last question, be careful what you ask."

Rainbow thought. What was the one thing she wanted to know about Digit? Then it hit her. "Have you always been this much of a jerk in secret, or is everyone just blind to it?"

Digit stopped. He gritted his teeth. No, they were just smart enough not to set me off. He continued packing. "Tell me something, did you have friends before meeting Fluttershy and the others? Or were they your friends from the start?"

"Hey, I'm the one asking the que-"

"Just answer the damn question," he said in a firm tone.

"No need to be rude."

"No need to be nosey."

"That's it." Rainbow brought out her wings "You wanna go, jerk?"

Digit finally powered down the machine. "I remember now. You did."

"You didn't answer me." She grabbed his shoulder as her walked past. He shot her a glare that even she couldn't act fearless against. She felt like a million ice daggers were drilling their way through every fiber of her existence. He grabbed her hand and aimed a punch at her. His fist stopped inches from her face, but the force was enough to send her hair into a frenzy. She could practically feel his rage.

He let her go and said, "You almost remind me of..." He stopped and thought. "Word of advice Rainbow," he said as he walked passed her, "If there's any bad blood, any grudge, and rift in those friendships, fix them now. Otherwise, you'll regret it. But don't let it affect your current friendship."

"What are you, an expert?" she called out to him.

He turned to face her, then he smiled. "Nah. Just attentive and experienced." With that, he disappeared.





Later that night, Nightshade was talking to Descent. "So, you just found it in your locker?" he asked, holing a not Nightshade gave him.

"Yeah. Kinda freaky," she replied.

"Secret admirer?"

"Does that look like a love letter to you?"

Descent read the letter:


I know you. You may know me. We need to talk. School field. 10:00pm. Bring no one else. Tell no one else.
Like I said, you may already know me.


"Sounds more like a stalker. And didn't he say, "Tell no one,"?"

"Whatever. He won't know. Besides, I need you to help me keep Lavender away. If it is him, she can't know he survived."

10:00pm that night...

Nightshade stood in the middle of the field wearing a long fuzzy jacket. "Sheesh, way to keep a girl waiting," she thought. "If you're who I think you are, you were always punctual for your appointments."

"Sorry, there was a typo in that letter." Nightshade looked up to see a boy with snow white hair and blue highlights. The rest of his face was hidden under a white cloak.

"You mean the time?" she asked.

"When I said that I know you..." He jumped down to meet her. she was about half a head taller than him, but he was not in any way intimidated. "... I meant to say "remember" you." Digit removed his hood and stared at her. Nightshade froze momentarily. "Shocked? So was I when I woke up with what felt like a hangover that lasted another week."

"So you had a headache, boo hoo. What do you want? Apparently, you can't die right, so do you need more help with that? How the hell did you even survi-" She didn't expect him to punch her. The surprise attack sent her tumbling.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" She got up, holding her face. "Did you just punch me?"

"I never paid you back for killing me. Still not done."

"A warning would've been nice."

"I don't remember you saying, "Brace yourself. I'm about to stab you, then shoot a chunk of ice into your heart." Or did you?"

"... Touché. No hard feelings?" she asked, smiling innocently.

"No hard... seriously? No hard feelings? FOR TRYING TO KILL ME?"

"It wasn't that big a deal." Digit stared blankly at her. "Well, I tried to make it quick and painless, but you kept struggling. Besides, you're still alive, so everything turned out fine... for you."

"Yeah. Peachy. Except for the thousand and one problems that came as a cost of my survival!"

"Calm down will you," Nightshade said, agitated. "Look, the date, your... assassination..."

"Assassination?" Digit asked.

"It was all just a job. I didn't get the details. All I was told was that I had to kill you."

"Really? Did your other friend tell you to do it?" Nightshade fell silent. "I'll take that as a yes. Was it revenge for going out with you, or was it for something different?"

"Like I said, I didn't get a lot of details. A bit of both, I think? Look, sorry, okay?"

Digit shook his head. "Sorry? For what? Killing me, or breaking my heart?"

"I don't know. Can we just call it even?"

Digit lowered his head and clenched his fists. "Call it even... CALL IT EVEN?!" At that moment, a powerful telekinetic blast sent Nightshade flying back. Before she hit the ground, she felt something grab her shirt and carry her into the sky. She saw Digit, covered in a bright blue aura, holding her jacket. As she reached for him, he flung her down to the ground below. As she got up, he floated down and asked, "You remember this place?" She looked around. There were trees, grass, and a bench... with a small patch of red on the seat.

"So, do you have a thing for nostalgia, or-" she was cut off by another blow to the face. She tumbled into the chair. As she got up, Digit kicked her back into the chair, then kicked her over it. She moved away just in time to dodge his follow-up punch. As he removed his fist from the ground, she pulled out a knife from her jacket. He recognized the toothed blade, as well as the heart-shaped keychain with a lightning bolt across it.

"And you talk to me about nostalgia," Digit said as he sent a ball of blue fire at Nightshade. She dodged and charged towards him. The aura on his arm thickened and took the shape of a blade, about twelve inches long and four inches thick, attached to the top of his arm. The blades clashed and sparked as they took turns attacking and blocking the opposition. Digit began to advance, pressuring Nightshade. Finally, he knocked her back with a powerful slash. As she tried to regain her balance, he turned his glowing blade into a large glowing fist that slammed into her, sending her into a tree. She coughed and could feel the blood building up in her throat. Digit charged at her, his blade back and at least five times longer and three times wider.

"SHIT!" He slashed at her head. She felt the heat of his magic blade as it cut through the tree. She opened her eyes and looked down; she was still in one piece. She couldn't, however, say the same thing for the tree behind her, which was now toppling over. It landed with a rustle and a crash. She looked up at Digit, who was holding the blade to her face, then lowered it to her neck.

"I could kill you where you sit. Right here, right now." She noticed an odd shimmer in his eye as he retracted his blade, like it darkened slightly for a short time. "But revenge isn't justification enough for me. But I will give you this warning: if you come near my friends, my family, or anyone I care about, I will drag you to the gates of Tartarus myself." He teleported to her and picked her up by her torn jacket and held her against the tree. "Am I clear?" Nightshade stared in fear. She didn't know how to respond, especially due to the conflicting knowledge of what she knew about him and what she had just experienced that night. Digit dropped he roughly and walked away. Then he stopped. "As for how I survived..." He turned his head to look at her, "... Let's just say I was lucky to have found a little... treasure... when I did." With that, he teleported.

Nightshade noticed her vision fade as the adrenaline stopped and she began to give in to exhaustion. She saw a winged figure flying towards her. It called her name. "Nightshade! Nightshade stay with me..." The voice faded as she passed out.





"Dude, where were you last night?" Zest asked, as he and Digit left the nature studies class.

"I was... out on a run. Needed to blow off some steam," Digit replied.

"I'll bet. You looked pretty steamed with Wildfire yesterday. And you were already pissed off before that."

"Yeah," Digit said. He wasn't sure if what he did was right or wrong. Confronting Nightshade about what he remembered could be risky, but he knew she wouldn't try to kill him again, not with all the supervision in the school. He saw her walk past in the hall and smiled at her. Her physical injuries had healed, but whatever psychological damage had been done would take days to heal.

Later that day, the team was discussing what they thought the next exercise Pixel and her group would give them.

"We did combat training already," said Zest. "Maybe next will be an agility test."

"Possibly," Amethyst said from behind her phone, "But she could try to test our strength and endurance again."

"Do you ever not use that thing?" Zest asked, gesturing to her smartphone.

Sunset looked around and noticed something off. "Hey, has anyone seen Digit?"

"That's who I'm trying to call," Amethyst said, glaring at Zest. "But he isn't answering."

"I'll go look for him. It isn't like him to be late." She got up and walked out.

"Yeah, that's Trixie's job," Amethyst said to herself.

"Trixie heard that!"

Sunset walked down the abandoned hallway. Everyone had gone home or for team meetings. Then she heard something. "No. Look, I'm not letting you take the reigns. Last time you "took the reigns" you nearly took off a student's arms for looking at you... me..." Sunset looked around a corner and saw Digit... alone.

"Who is he talking to?" she wondered.

"Listen, believe me, if I could find a way to.... What? No. out of the question. You want to... I said... fine, you wanna talk, lets talk." Digit reached into his shirt and suddenly, and outline of an odd Q-shaped mark began to glow. His aura began to form and move away from his body. Then, the aura began to take a form: blue hair with white highlights, pale blue eyes with a black eyeballs, and fanged canines exposed by a smile. Sunset couldn't believe it; it was a negative Digit, right down to the clothes!

"Aaaah, it's good to be out," said the negative as he stretched.

"Good stuff never happens when you're out," Digit said. "But I'm less likely to go insane when I talk to you like this... which is kinda inconvenient."

"Oh, c'mon, Digit." The negative wrapped his arm around Digit's neck. "I'm not so bad."

"You're a nightmare that's trying to take over my body at every given moment and an insatiable and unexplainable bloodlust. Tell me, how are you not, in any definition of the word, bad?"

"Well for starters, I can sympathize. I've been with you throughout your problems, big and small."

"You put three people in the hospital because you thought they deserved payback for rigging my locker with a paint bomb."

"Hey, your thoughts are my actions." The negative now leaned against the wall. "I just have the balls to do what needs to be done when your niceness complex makes you soft."

"I'm not soft," Digit said, a bit hesitant.

"Dude, your a bigger marshmallow than the fashionista, what was her name again? ... Ah, yes, Rarity. Speaking of which, dude, how have you not hooked up with a fine piece of ass like that?"

Digit shook his head. "Sometimes, I wonder how you are supposed to be a part of me." He looked up at the negative. "Just... stop interfering, okay. You've made things bad enough for me as they are."

The figure stopped smiling. "Me? You're blaming me for the shit that happens in your life?" He was now face-to-face with Digit. "If it wasn't for me, people would still treat you like a trash."

"I was fine before you-"

"Fine? Dude, you were a complete fucking doormat. Even the nerds could've picked on you. I mean, let's look at the shit that's gone down. You wanna blame me for your failed past relationships?" Digit just stared. "Or are you going to blame me for the fact that you were always manipulated? Or the fact that your best friend used you, dumped you, and when you needed your other friends the most, threw you to the fucking wolves to save their own asses?"

With that last statement, Digit tackled the negative into the locker he was lean on. "Don't you ever... EVER bring that son of a bitch Fixit into this." Sunset stared on, terrified at the negative energy she could feel flowing from Digit at such a long distance. "He was a coward and a traitor-"

"And yet you still let him walk, unpunished? He left you for dead, then left you to face trial alone for a team effort."

"He'll get what's coming to him! I'm pissed, but I'm not above the law, and neither are you!"

The negative pushed against Digit and rammed him into the lockers. "Me? HA! Your "laws" don't apply to me. I can do whatever I want and you're the one that has to pay. Another indication of your fucking weakness."

Digit was livid. In a fit of rage, he grabbed the negative and furiously banged him against the lockers and the ground like a rag doll. Sunset watched the display of brutality in horror. Why wasn't anyone hearing this and running over to stop it? She looked around and saw it behind her: a series of runes etched into the ground. Silencer runes, she thought, Only people inside the rune can hear what's going on. She looked back at the scene, where Digit was now brutally beating the negative like a punching bag. One punch slammed his head into the locker. The negative used a powerful telekinetic force to pin Digit.

"You'll always be weak," he spat.   "You'll always be pathetic. I'm the only part of you that has the guts to do what's necessary, and you want to get rid of me? FUCK THAT! You need me! Without me, you'd still be nothing more than a pushover with no conviction to do what needs to be done to survive in this world. Forget that dumbass sun bitch's words about harmony and getting along. In a world like this, where people are so different, shit doesn't work like that. Look at your damn team. They're a perfect example."

Digit screamed and teleported, taking the locker he was pinned to with him. He reappeared behind the negative, with the locker over his head. He brought it down on the negative and used it to continuously beat him into the ground. He tossed the locker aside. The negative was bruised and its clothes were tattered, but it wasn't bleeding (it would if it could). Digit landed on its chest with his knees. He formed a blade from his magic and placed it at the figure's neck. "Listen to me you piece of shit..."

"Wow, can't even swear right," the negative said, smirking, earning him a violent shake, his head getting slammed into the shattered ground behind him.

"If I had any control over those events, you think I would've let them happen?" Digit's voice was now one of rage and untamed fury. "You don't think a day goes by when I don't want to just kill anyone and everyone who has ever so much as bumped into me on the sidewalk? Do you know why I don't do that?"

"I don't know... because your a pussy?"

"Because, unlike you, I have morals, I have a conscience."

"You have a dumbass hero complex and it's turned you softer than sheep's wool in humid weather."

"You don't get it. You don't have a heart, or even a soul. You're just an embodiment of rage and frustration."

"No, I'm an embodiment of your true nature, the side that no one you don't want people to see because you're scared of what they might think; the side of you that isn't afraid to do what he needs to do. Newsflash: everyone already thinks you're either a freak, a monster, or a doormat. So get with the program! No matter what you do, you'll never be accepted and no one will give a shit!"

"Did you forget the reason those people got hurt? The reason that town was nearly destroyed? It was because of YOU!" Digit pounded the negative's head into the ground with his other fist. "All I wanted was to scare off the kids that picked on me. All wanted was for them to leave me alone... and I was dumb enough and blind enough to believe you when you said you could help me."

"Well, they stopped bothering you when I was done with 'em."

"You put nearly a hundred people in the hospital in the course of a ten minute rampage! You turned me into a monster with enough anger to hurt his own sister! You're the reason they see me as a freak! You're the reason they see me as a monster!"

"But at least they're smart enough not to mess with you... most of them, anyway."

"They're not smart, they're scared witless! They don't respect me, they're terrified of me! They're not trying to be friends with me, their trying to make sure their not in the line of fire in case I decide to go ballistic! You took everything from me." Tears rolled down his face. "You took her from me."

"She made you weak and naïve. The moment she filled your head with all that "just be yourself," shit, you got even softer. I did you a favor." The negative was now smiling.

The fire in Digit's eyes were burning more and more furiously. Sunset couldn't move, not because she wanted to watch, but because she was paralyzed in fear; the shear killing intent resonating from that area was enough to drive a demon mad. "I should destroy you right now." He brought the blade up, aiming it at the negative's chest. Bright blue flames, tinged with a white aura surrounded the blade. "All it takes is one hit from these flames to extinguish you from existence." After what felt like hours, the flames slowly died down. "But I won't." He dematerialized the blade. "I won't cross a line like that; I won't become like you."

"You dumbass, I am you," the negative said with a mixture of confusion and disgust. "You just haven't embraced your true nature yet."

Digit got up and pulled down his shirt. "If you're my true nature," he pulled down his shirt to reveal the seal, "Then I think I'd rather look for a new image."

As the negative faded and merged with Digit, he said, "And all the crap you keep telling people about being themselves?"

Digit glared as the negative faded. "I never encouraged any of them to become monsters."

"And if that's their destiny?"

Digit thought for a moment. "No one is truly destined to become a monster. We make our own destinies and even if we can't change the way people see us, we can change the way we see ourselves in the past, present... and future."

"Sappy dumbass," the nightmare said as it faded and the mark began to fade as well. Digit slumped down against the lockers. Sunset tried to get up, but fell from shock due to a loud bang when Digit angrily slammed his fist into the locker next to him. Then Sunset heard something. She looked around to see Digit, his head buried between his knees... crying. Digit... was crying.