"Steven..."

"Ryder, please stop all of this," Steven pleaded. "This isn't you!"

"It's too late, anyway," Ryder shook his head.

"It's not! You don't have to do this!"

"Please, leave me be. I'll willingly die to protect all of you from Mayor Humdinger..." Ryder pleaded.

"Arresting him will end it all, Ryder. You're 17, you can do whatever you want," Steven said. "Trust me, it'll be so disorienting but you will make it. I just know you will."

"It's too late," he looked away, and held Galaxy Weapon 6 as he said, "If you won't let me kill him, then I'll have to take you down."

"I'll have to take you down first if that's the case," he frowned while gripping his own sword tight. "Let's go Ryder."

"Alright," his eyes steeled over, and the two lunged at each other.

They clashed, aura and magic and power just oozing out as they lunged, blocked and parried the other. Despite being overpowered, Steven was not about to give up on Ryder, and kept up the pressure as he parried and swung.

Ryder himself was no pushover too. He was a bit slow at first, but caught up real quickly and was soon fighting at his own pace. The two were evenly matched now.

"You don't get it Steven! You never will!" Ryder angrily snarled. "He made our lives miserable! He did so many bad things! How can you expect me to let him live!? Especially with what he did to Carlos and the others right in front of me!?"

"You don't have to forgive him! We just have to put him behind bars!" Steven blocked the swings.

Ryder lunged again, and Steven stumbled, "Try living in a world where your life was basically helping the person who destroys you inside out! He made my life even more miserable just as I was thinking I was free from him! He threatened me if I didn't listen to him!"

"It doesn't mean you killing him is justified!" He argued.

"Your mom is dead! Of course you would think that!" Ryder snarled as he tackled Steven and held the sword to his neck. "I had to live with this nonsense all my life! So shut up!"

Even if his life was being threatened, even as he felt the fear paralysing him, he knew something wasn't lining up. Steven KNEW Ryder was saying something that wasn't what the real Ryder would say.

The answer came to him soon enough, and Steven yelled, "Since when did you not care about what the pups thought about all this?! Since when did you grow so... so self-centered? You're not the Ryder I fell in love with!"

The sword stopped just an inch from his neck as Ryder's eyes widened. For a few moments, the scarlet red faded off, turning back to the brown he loved. The brown that shone bright, that always helped other despite their own struggles.

For a minute, Steven thought his crush was back.

But then the scarlet rushed in, and Ryder threw him to an ice structure, "Shut up!"

Steven's shoulder exploded in pain, blood oozing out as the other grabbed his jacket, "YOU KNOW NOTHING! AS LONG AS HE IS ALIVE I'LL NEVER REST EASY! STOP LYING TO ME, STOP GIVING ME FALSE HOPE!"

"R-Ryder..." Steven choked, and their eyes met for a brief second.

His grip loosened, and Ryder backed away, fear in his eyes, "S-Stay away! I-I..."

His eyes shifted color, making him scream in pain, "What the heck?! Who are you!? What do you want with me?!"

"Ryder!" Steven reached forward, grabbing his arm-

Suddenly, his vision swam, and Steven was falling... falling into darkness again.

Like how he had when he was corrupted by his own feelings.