Early in the year 2080, scientists faced a catastrophic threat when they observed an asteroid larger than the moon heading directly towards Earth. Unsure of what to do, the great nations created an alliance; The United Great Nation (UGN). The alliance devised a plan to destroy this enormous asteroid. Essentially, they decided to bomb different sides of the asteroid to break apart the large comet and hopefully minimize the threat.

As the asteroid got closer, they prepared to launch the missiles, clinging onto hope. If this didn't work...

Well, thankfully they didn't have to face the possibility of human extinction as everything went according to plan. The large mass broke apart into smaller pieces that would cause far less damage if they even touched the Earth at all.

Yet something strange occurred that day. When the comet exploded, it revealed a large, glowing diamond at its core. A diamond that turned out to be pretty durable against the explosions.

When the first missile made contact, the diamond broke apart but it wasn't completely demolished. Rather, it shattered into a handful of shards.

Scientists watched in awe as the shards entered the atmosphere and headed directly towards Earth. The scientists suspected that the crystal shards would disintegrate upon entering the atmosphere but the pieces remained intact, scattered across the seven continents.

Those working on the projected hoped to get their hands on at least one of them in order to study them further. They expected these extraordinary pieces to be valued just by how unique they were. But they failed to realize just how powerful the shards really were.

The shards held energy within them, allowing them to race through the atmosphere without disintegrating. The scientist thought their impact would be minimal. But they caused a lot of damage to cities all over the world.

On the night the diamonds shards fell, Ace and Spark were up on a mountain dueling each other in a battle of strength. Sometime during this fight, Spark paused for half a second to catch his breath. Ducked an attack from Ace and motioned for him to stop, as he noticed a huge asteroid heading directly for Earth.

"Hey Ace, do you see that big light in the sky?" Spark asked. It reminded him of the day he first met Ace fourteen years ago, and he wondered if another friend had come to join them.

"That's awesome!" Ace said, both boys had matching curiosity. "Let's try to get a better look."

The boys paused their duel to climb higher up the mountain, guided by the invasion of light. At the top they started in wonder as the UGN bombed the asteroid and it dispersed into many small meteors. Light shattered, falling in different directions.

"Do you see that?" Spark asked, as he pointed to the shooting stars, unable to believe it himself.

"Duh," Ace replied, with a smile. He was never as surprised as Spark was when something mysterious happened. But this even impressed him.

"It's amazing!" Spark said. "The most incredible meteor shower I've ever seen."

Colors flashed in the sky, so bright that the boys didn't notice the shards heading in their direction.

The wonderous moment was broken when a shard the size of a fist hit Spark directly in the center of his chest. He yelled out in pain, hitting the ground with a hard thud.

"Are you okay?" Ace asked, as he ran to the aid of his friend. Before Ace could reach him, a shard flew directly at his head.

Ace, always perceptive, caught the glimmer of light and jumped just in time. But then the shard stopped. Turned and Ace would swear the thing looked alive. Full of intention.

It aimed itself directly at Ace, and before he could move, it hit him right above his heart and knocked him on the ground too far way from Spark.

It felt like a fire had formed in his chest, tearing through his heart. Up his throat. He looked to Spark for help, but the boy was motionless. Eyes closed. He was either dead or unconscious and that Ace feared he would be soon as well.

"Help!" He yelled, as loud as he could, desperate to save them both. "Grandpa, help!"

Before help arrived, Ace fell unconscious.

The next morning, Spark and Ace woke in their beds, in the cottage.

Master Zo had gone out looking for the boys after the meteor shower and had assumed they scaled the mountain to get a better look. As he neared the top, he heard Ace yelling for help.

When he arrived, he found Spark and Ace unconscious on the ground. Ace was knocked back quite a distance from Spark. Crystals were infused with both of the boy's bodies. And of course, Master Zo was baffled and had no idea what to do about it.

But the boys were alive, and that's what mattered to him. He took two trips up the mountain and carried Spark and Ace back to the cottage to further investigate them.

Master Zo tried removing the shards while the kids were asleep, but every attempt was unsuccessful. He worried about them all night long, and was struck with the greatest relief of his life when the children woke up and appeared to be fine, aside from the new diamonds welded into their skin.

"My shard is bigger than yours," Spark said, as he showed off to Ace.

"Yeah, but my shard chased after me when I dodged it."

"Really?" Spark asked. He made Ace tell him the whole story before challenging him to a duel. The boys were anxious to see if their new alteration changed their fighting skills at all.

They raced outside, and the moment their feet touched the dirt, Ace threw the first punch at Spark.

Spark dodged him and was behind Ace in a flash. Kicked Ace in the side of his stomach before he'd even realized that he'd missed.

"Is that all you've got?" Spark teased.

Ace's wounded pride fueled him as concentrated on the fight and achieved a new power level. The desire to win, to prove himself, gave Ace an increase in agility, speed, and strength.

Ace ran towards Spark and jumped. Landed right behind him and hit Spark's back, sending Spark sprawling to the ground.

"Is that all you've got?" Ace laughed.

Spark laid on the ground, shocked for a moment. He'd seen what'd happened to Ace when he had narrowed his focus, so he attempted the same thing. Silver energy flowed through the air, dancing along Spark's veins.

"Is this what you did?" Spark asked Ace. "It's pretty awesome!"

Ace watched in amazement and began to focus even harder, always attempting to win the never-ending competition between them.

Spark let out a roar of excitement as a beam of light shot out from the shard in his chest. Ace jumped sideways, but the beam hit his arm with a sharp, painful sting. Sent him straight to the ground.

Spark was caught in awe for a moment. Dazed and confused about his new power. But when he realized Ace had been hit, he gathered himself and ran to check on Ace.

When he and Master Zo approached Ace, they saw a large cut on his right arm. Nothing fatal, but clearly painful. Spark offered his hand to help his friend off the ground. Ace wrenched his hand away from Spark.

"This is your fault," Ace yelled. "But payback will be coming. I will get stronger than you one day, just wait and see."

He pushed Spark out of the way and ran towards the forest. Though now twenty-one, he looked like a hurt child. Filled with too much pride.

Spark moved to go after him, but Master Zo stopped him.

"Don't chase him, Spark. Ace needs some time alone, trust me."

"But I didn't mean to hurt him," Spark said. "It was an accident."

"I know," Master Zo said, as he stared at the sunset. "But you two need to be more careful. Friendships can be... fragile."