[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

"That was exceptional. I'm glad the pressure didn't get to you." Nikusa complimented.

Au contraire, Syn was on his hands in knees, panting profusely. He had no idea simply singing would exhaust him so much.

He'd been through hell and high water but one song can do that to him? Just what the hell did he sign up for...

"Please... my friends need help. I have to be stronger for them." Syn pleaded, trying to stand up.

"I don't believe I can make you stronger. You really do underestimate yourself. Your control over your power is almost immaculate. You haven't even tapped into the nature of it, though that's a problem of will power." Nikusa ranted.

"The nature of it?" Syn asked.

"Didn't you call it Synchronoise because you can keep up with any artist. Think about how you kept up with me, matched my pace, withstood the pressure."

Syn thought about it, but the concept was farfetched. Did she mean that he could copy other's abilities? Was that the nature of his powers— literally matching his opponents?

Nikusa watched Syn look at his hands, but focused more on his eyes, that began to glow blue.

"I believe we can handle the much more financial support after you go help your friends." She said with a smile, trying to pay his head, but it felt more like someone dropped a dumbbell on it.

"Thank you... even if I didn't understand, I enjoyed the song. I'll be sure to repay you!" Syn said with determination.

Slapping his cheeks and thrusting his arms down, Syn ran to the same window he crashed through, leaping out without any regard for his health.

Nikusa walked over after his descent, squinting her eyes at the scene below.

"He's dangerous." She said with an ecstatic grin.

•

Agoti slammed his fist into a soldier, leaning away from a slash of one's knife.

A grenade landed near his feet, but Blaze kicked it away, the explosion dispelled immediately after.

The numbers of the black and white army were overwhelming, but without any way to take them out in one fell swoop, the battle seemed endless.

A sonic boom burst from the street as Syn landed with a glare.

Before anyone could react, Syn snapped his finger, letting it echo out, in an unfamiliar manner, similar to a heartbeat.

Slowly, every soldier began to clutch their ears and hearts. Dropping to their knees, the ringing of the heartbeats became too much to handle as it slowly defeated them mentally.

Within moments the soldiers keeled over, all unconscious from stress alone.

Syn smiled seeing as the fight looked over, and Alexa saw him standing around the plethora of the unconscious. Seeing the aura of confidence around him, his eyes flaring with energy.

This was noticed by all of his comrades, but it wasn't taken as victory.

Syn looked at his hands, the familiar sight of countless bodies reminding of when he first realized he wasn't normal. He began to question whether his struggle for survival was humane if it brought such inconvenience to others.

Syn suddenly looked up in time to dodge a kick aimed at his head, leaning away and flipping back.

"So... you're the one causing trouble in town..." A young man with short, wild royal blue hair said with a scowl.

Syn stared at the man with a blue vest with a beige section from the chest to the bottom of the neck, black baggy shorts with blue on the outer half of the legs, white combat gloves, and red shoes with white Velcro.

"First it was a shooting on a train, then a restaurant got blown up, then some sort of laser fight on the freeway, and don't even get me started on the raid on this building..." The blue-haired man ranted.

"I am a victim of everything you just listed." Syn replied with a shrug.

"Yeah, hard to believe. Even though people paint you in a good light, you endanger everyone's lives by doing what you want. You have to be stopped." The man said with a glare.

"I'm trying to survive... and who are you to stop me?" Syn asked rebounding the glare.

"Sonic." The blue haired man answered, clenching his fists.

The two stared down each other as everyone else spectated, indifferent to Syn's scenario despite having previously helping him. Alexa looked at them all in confusion, irritated they'd let him get bashed for doing what he must.

"Why aren't any of you defending him? You all have seen what he's been through..." She asked, and Shadow was quick to respond.

"There's almost no use. He's not wrong. Your boyfriend has put countless lives in danger ever since he showed up. While he may not have killed anyone himself, the actions of those pursuing him have killed thousands." Shadow replied.

"The restaurant." Blaze added, glaring at Tabi.

"The car chase." Pico added, all the cars crushed and crashed leading to many losing their lives.

"And today. In his search for protection or power... plenty of people have fallen. He's far from the hero he's made out to be." Solazar said with a sigh, not content with the truth of the matter.

Alexa stared at Syn, but only saw his confident smirk sent towards Sonic.

She recalled what he called her after leaving the void.

"The root of my problems..." She heard over and over.

She bit her lip, gazing at his wounds and yet another adversary that he'd have to face to get by in life, all because she was interested in him.

The only picture she couldn't get out of her head was the assuring smirk Syn sent her.

"I hope you're ready. I'm most dangerous when I'm backed into a corner." Syn said with a grin.

Sonic scoffed, "You just don't know when to quit it seems."

"I'll do whatever it takes to strive." Syn said with his fists up.

Both disappeared.

•

Nikusa stood at the shattered window and saw only sparks and small trails of blue blurs.

Humming to herself, she was intrigued to see what the nature of his power could do, and watched intently as their speed only grew faster, even to speeds she was struggling to see.

With a small wave of her hand, a field of space was oriented around the battle below, showing their battle in play at a much clearer rate.

•

Kicking each other's faces, Syn and Sonic crashed back before keeping the momentum, rolling on their backs, before sparking forward like balls of energy.

Slamming into each other and racing around over and over, the two were still blurs unless they clashed for contact.

Sliding back against the pavement, Syn laughed as he lightly hit a car.

"Oh, so, this is what I've been missing out on!" Syn shouted with a smile.

"He's having fun...? Risking everyone's lives?" Sonic muttered with a glare.

"Hey, we're not done yet! Keep it up!" Syn laughed, hopping up and down, before the two met half way and slammed their fists into each other's.

Sliding back from the force, the two rushed back in only for the same result, two tenacious souls raced around, clashing at equal speed and power— unrelenting attacks dished by both ends displaying their indomitable wills.

Syn leaned away from a straight punch, rolling his back and avoiding a left hook the same way, his smirk irritating Sonic to a massive degree.

Sonic watched as Syn laughed at his failure, before punting his chin, shutting Syn up—

However, Syn used the momentum to slam his foot into Sonic's jaw the same way, flipping back and landing in a crouch, smile plastered on his face.

"Why don't you... chin up!" Syn joked, earning groans from his crowd, but a giggle from Alexa. He sent her a thumbs up, before using the same hand to catch Sonic's fist headed for his face.

"I've had enough. You're no better than the one's doing the harm if you're willingly ignorant to the root of the problem. You need to be detained..." Sonic threw another fist, but Syn caught it again, leading to a struggle for leverage.

"I heard ya' the first time. But... what are you gonna do about it?" Syn asked, breaking away and spinning on his heel, kicking Sonic back and leaping away himself to gain distance.

Sonic slid back and tucked his arms in, before hopping up as five different colored emeralds began to coil around him.

Shadow and Blaze gasped as the emerald gem shadow once held flew towards Sonic, and across the city, another one flew into the mix, making the seven gems shine as he erupted with power.

In a flash of light, Sonic's hair was swaying a golden hue, his eyes red with anger, his clothes were now black and white completely, giving an ominous air to the transformation.

Sonic levitated in the same spot, glaring down at Syn.

"Last chance." Sonic declared, but Syn only sighed with a smile.

"I could say..." Syn clenched his fists and reeled in his arms, before his eyes sparked blue, his hair bursting into the same golden hue, making everyone gasp as he flared with the same power. "...the same to you."

Sonic grit his teeth seeing the mockery before him, the fake illusion of Supreme Ascension being used by a childish brat unwilling to do the right thing.

"So be it." The two spoke simultaneously.

Disappearing from their positions, the two clashed fists twice over, before their attacks became blurs beyond comprehension— the shockwaves from each punch cracking the ground below them.

Opting to rely on his own power alongside his inept knowledge of the power, Syn teleported behind Sonic, feinting an elbow thrust— Sonic, in turn, turned to block, but saw the small glimpse of a fist crash into his face.

Flying away from the attack, Syn raced after on foot, his arms reeled back and charging light in his hands as he slowly discovered what he could do.

Sonic stopped his flight with a simple thrust, before placing his hands forward, his wrists clamped together. With no warning, Sonic unleashed an array of golden blasts, the diversity of each projectile giving almost no sign of evasion.

Syn disregarded that sign, and made things happen. That was his life now.

Syn slid against the pavement, lifting his feet as he got used to flight to narrowly avoid lashes of plasma crashing down around him.

Twisting his body, he scrapped his hand against the street and spun his legs around to deflect several orbs of energy, before propelling himself into a flip to dodge a beam that erupted the concrete below him.

Syn came out of the flip and landed on his toes, before bursting forward and leaning back, appearing as after images as he dodged a bullet hell of smaller orbs, then hopped over another beam, grazing his hand along it as he flew towards Sonic.

Sonic threw his head down, building more and more power as Syn drew near, before a small sparkle of white came from his heart.

Calling for just a small spark of power from a form even further beyond— just seeing it Syn felt the same spark within himself, surging in his right hand as flew faster.

Sonic held an orb of light, radiating all colors as he reeled back his hand. Syn cocked his fist back, landing on the ground and lunging for Sonic with a battle cry, his fist shrouded in the same rainbow glow.

As the two took their final steps forward, they plunged their attacks straight into each other's stomachs, making time freeze.

What felt like an eternity passed, before both of them collapsed, back to normal. The seven emeralds fell around Sonic, and he glanced at Syn in disbelief.

"He holds the power... without the emeralds... impossible!" Sonic muttered, standing up despite the exhaustion and fatigue.

Syn did the same, but there was no signs of giving up on his face. He wiped his brow of sweat and put his fists back up.

"You had enough?" He asked, despite the weight of his body getting to him.

Shadow appeared between the two, and gave Sonic a blank stare.

"It's futile... let it end here." He ordered.

Sonic grit his teeth and glared at Syn, but the guy just couldn't be bothered. Syn nodded, waving to the two before trotting away.

Sonic sighed, before taking a deep breath.

"You know this isn't right— he isn't right. That shouldn't have happened." Sonic stated. "Of course... but what can you do when someone can use it without the limit... we have to accept that he's different. We need to look out for him." Shadow agreed.

"Synchro..." Sonic whispered to himself, looking at the back of the carefree spirit with jealous eyes. He recalled the days he was the same, but grimaced at the thought.

Syn stopped right before his friends and placed his hands in his pockets.

"I guess you could say I got the deal." He revealed, making Agoti and Solazar shake their heads in disappointment. "You've been duped and she's been charmed. How unfortunate." Solazar frowned.

"Well, with..." Seth motioned to the field of unconscious Tankmen, "out of the way. You guys wanna grab a bite to eat?" Syn asked with a smile, as if nothing ever happened.

"Of course." Alexa was first to reply, giving him a warm smile as she took his hand.

Pico and Aldryx were quick to follow the two as they began to take their leave, making Agoti hurry along after them, and Solazar in response. Tabi was about to walk the other way, but Blaze shrugged and pulled him back, following the group as well.

•

Up above, Nikusa's grin grew wider seeing him triumph, revealing his power of syncing with another's. It led for a disastrous future... one she wanted to be a part of.

"I could eat." Nikusa mused to herself, before teleporting down below and walking beside Syn— scaring the shit out of everyone.