Being pinned underneath a literal Goddess wasn't as painful as he'd been expecting. 

It was much worse. 

Jake felt his lungs flattening, but he forced himself to stay calm. Freaking out and dying really wouldn't help the situation. There had to be some way to reach Alexa. The blackness pressed harder and, for a moment, he couldn't breathe. He rolled painfully onto his front. Choked on nothing.

Alexa! He shouted down the link, hoping with all his heart that she could hear him. Nothing. No answer. Not even a hint that she was still in there somewhere. He let his own power seep through, wincing as it left his body. The protons met Alexa's electrons and they circled each other. He could see it happening. If he'd been more of a chemistry nut at school, he would've been thrilled. At least the reaction gave him time to sit up. Alexa's Halve-self – the Goddess – turned its head. He tried again.

Alexa, can you hear me? It's Jake. Again, nothing. It was like listening to a wall of static. Ashes curled around his fingers, his toes, starting to drag him backwards. Gripping with his hands, he pulled himself up. Crawling forward on his hands and knees, he made his way back into the darkness. The harder he pushed on, the harder the power tried to force him back. Unfortunately for Alexa, he wasn't planning on giving up any time soon. Electrical currents ripped through his body and he was flung back into the door.

"You'll have to do better than that," he coughed. A metallic tang entered his mouth and he spat blood onto the floor. It was almost black. Halve Alexa backed away, slowly moving its red crown over to the other side of the room. Silently, it rose up, out of sight. Unstoppable energy flowed toward him, and he let it rip through his body. His shirt split open, blood spattering the ground beneath. The tiles he'd been standing on began to crack. He jumped left, fell flat. His legs were too weak to support him, so he yanked himself forward onto his stomach.

I'm not giving up on you, he sent through the link. Having expected no reply, he was all the more surprised when he got one.

You should. Halve Alexa's voice vibrated through the particles, shaking the buildings foundations and sparking up flashes of red. An eternal force slammed into him, but he gripped onto the tiles, so hard two of his fingernails were torn off. Biting back the pain, he started to crawl again.

I'm not giving up on you Alexa. I made a promise. I'm not leaving you like this. No answer, nothing. Not even a spark of power to hold him back. He supposed he should think of that as an improvement.

Come, on. We're not done yet. We had a deal! Growing desperate, he moved faster over the tiles. Blackness instantly curled around him, blinding him. He couldn't see his hands or the tiles or anything.

I know how you feel, he tried again. Lost and alone and...and you feel like you don't belong anywhere. But you don't have to feel like this, Alexa. You can stop. You can let go. In turn, her mind closed off from his and his head smashed into the floor. There was a ringing in his ears. But he was never going to stop. No matter what she did. His own pathetic energy ran up to his broken fingers, failing to escape. He couldn't let it. If he used his power anymore he'd probably pass out. Then,

"Don't come any closer". Alexa. Or whatever she'd become. He replied by shoving his body another tile closer. Closer to what? He didn't know. But he could feel. And he felt that something, in the middle of this darkness, was important. The key to Alexa's heart.

"Stop!" said the monster. A huge, masked Goddess swooped down through the ceiling. Dark Matter dripped from its eye sockets.

"Make me," he croaked. "Because unless you kill me, I'm not going anywhere". The Goddess edged around him in a circle.

"What are you?"

"I'm Jake. Do you remember me? Jake?"

"What is a Jake?" The wolf mask titled to one side.

"It's my name. You have one too. You're Alexa, remember? Alexa Frostbite!" A tile rose up, smashed into tiny little pieces. He winced as black energy swirled around his ankle, faster than a bullet. It had probably twisted it. Instead, he fought back the pain and kept going.

"Why won't you stop?" asked the monster.

"Why won't you? You're Alexa. You don't do this. You're supposed to insult me. You're supposed to get annoyed at the modern world. You're supposed to get angry and passionate when bad things happen. This isn't you. You're supposed to save people, including yourself. Come back to me," he pleaded.

"She is gone". The monster smoked back into the ceiling, taking him with it. When they touched the upper floor, it let him go. He crashed through the tiled ceiling and back onto the floor. Right where he'd started.

"It doesn't matter how many times you shut me out. Or hurt me. Or lie to me. Cause' I'm just going to keep going," he called and rolled once again onto his stomach. His ribs moaned. The fall must have broken one. Or several. That would explain the pain.

"Alexa, please. You're not the bad guy". He took a step forward.

"You're more human than anyone I've ever met". Ashes and lightning cloaked his view and he was thrown sideways into the wall. The landing more than jarred his ribs. This time, he didn't get up. Instead he whispered,

"It doesn't matter to me what you are. Whether you're a Goddess, a Halfblood or a monster"—

"My parents named me monster. They kept me hidden from the rest of the world because of what I am. What am I, Jake? Look at this, look at me and tell me what you think I am. Tell me!" It was the first time he'd heard her voice coming from the Magik. Not the echoing rumble of the monster, but her voice. Alexa's.

"You're Alexa Frostbite," he told her. "And you're my friend".

"So, you can flatten this place to the ground," he continued. "You can beat me, break me, lie to me". His body trembled. "But you will always be my friend, Alexa. Always". He stood up, casting the ashes to one side when they crashed towards him.

"Even if I die from this, or from your brother, there's no one I'd rather have with me at the end. Because you are my best friend and I love you. I love the insulting, perpetually awkward person that's you and I love the monster that's tearing me to pieces just the same". Another step. Another step. His feet burned, his ankle was killing him, and his ribs ached with every breath, but he was still moving. He prayed for her to listen, to understand. Suddenly, a whimper made him glance up. Through the ashes and through the darkness, he could see a light. A white light. Despite the pain in his ankle, he ran forward and reached out. The noise was being made by a little white heart. It floated in mid-air, like it was waiting for someone to touch it.

"Jake," the monster loomed over him. "You're my humanity". He lunged, his fingers brushing against the heart's left ventricle and then the rest of his body closed the distance. As soon as his hands closed around the heart, the blackness started to recede. The monster's voice dimmed and the Dark Matter that had been nipping at his heels vanished. The particles in the air disappeared and the red sparks fazed out of existence. Slowly, but surely, the ashes began to shrink. They bunched into a black mass, before reconfiguring into... Into Alexa. He felt himself being wrapped into the cage of her arms, and he felt her tears on his cheek. The heart he'd been holding sunk into her chest, so his hand was holding onto the small of her back.

"What took you so long?" he said. 

The monster wept into his shoulder.