Carlos muttered under his breath, his eyes fixed on Yugo and Ryuga.
The two fought on without a hint of hesitation, throwing themselves into the fray to liberate the manipulated students. No matter how much Marcos struggled, no matter how dire the situation became, their faith in him never wavered.
He would win. They were certain of it.
Marcos, you aren't weak, Carlos thought. What you mistake for weakness is a trait you only possess because of your strength.
Marcos had called himself a mediocre talent, someone who could never hope to reach the heights of Yugo or Ryuga. Burn had mocked him as a loser for agonizing over his helplessness as a hostage.
Both were wrong. In truth, the very fact that Marcos couldn't see his own worth was the clearest proof of his power.
You’re strong, Marcos. Yugo and Ryuga know that. You might feel pathetic when you compare yourself to them... but that inferiority complex only exists because you’re a man who refuses to break. Even now, you haven't given up on catching up to them. That resilience is your greatest weapon.
Most people reacted to the strength of Yugo or Ryuga in one of two ways. They either accepted them as beings on another level and viewed them as creatures of a different dimension, or they plotted to weaken and destroy them. The majority of the student body, like Misery and Hex, fell into the former category. The Hero Candidates and villains like Burn fell into the latter. In short, people either gave up and looked up at them, or they tried to drag them down.
But Marcos was neither. From the day he witnessed Yugo’s power and recognized him as a rival, he had fought tooth and nail to bridge the gap.
Even when Ryuga appeared—a genius with power equal to Yugo’s—and Marcos felt the sting of his own inadequacy; even when he faced a mastermind and realized Yugo’s strength was beyond comprehension; even when he spent countless hours training only to see the distance between them remain unchanged... Marcos never quit.
How many tears had he shed? How many times had he been dragged through the dirt?
Still, he kept running, chasing the silhouette of the hero he aspired to be. He had stayed the course on an agonizing path that anyone else would have abandoned long ago.
He didn't weep because he was weak. He didn't suffer because he was weak. He couldn't give up because he was strong. He agonized because he was strong. And because of that strength, he had overcome every hardship to keep running until today.
Elena, Yugo, Ryuga, and Carlos—they all knew he possessed a noble spirit. Marcos Borg wasn't weak. They believed in him because they knew he was a man who fought on, transcending the very pain that only the strong could feel.
"A hero who protects everyone, a Shield Who Protects Everything... I like the sound of that. I've certainly seen your resolve," Carlos murmured to the image floating in the air.
He watched with a deep nod, a smile touching his rugged face. But then, a bizarre, out-of-place cry erupted from the video feed of the gymnasium.
"Kani-kani-kani-kani! Kanii!"
"Huh?! What the—a crab?!"
Burn let out a bewildered shriek. A giant humanoid crab had burst through the gymnasium floor with a mysterious war cry, catching him completely off guard. Before the villain could process the sight, the monster slammed into him with a ferocious tackle that sent him reeling.
"Whoa!"
"Poruru! You came for us!" Elena cried, her face lighting up.
"Kani-kani!"
Elena smiled at the arrival of her companion. Marcos, too, felt a wave of relief and joy at the unexpected reinforcement. Poruru used his pincer to rattle a small pouch hanging from his neck.
"What is that...? A delivery for me?" Marcos asked.
"That's right! Marcos, it’s finished! That thing is finished!"
At Elena’s shout, Marcos gasped. Poruru nodded in agreement and began to open the pouch, but Burn had already recovered.
"You damn crab! Get out of my way!"
"Kani?!"
"Guh! Whoa!"
Burn's sudden strike sent Poruru flying. Marcos raised his Giga Scissors to block the follow-up, but the impact separated him from the crab.
However, as Poruru was knocked back, a brilliant light erupted from the open pouch. Marcos leaped high into the air, his fingers closing around the radiance.
"You’ve been a pain in my ass long enough! Just die and shut up already!" Burn roared.
He lunged at Elena, his arm wreathed in roaring flames, intent on ending her life. But Marcos was already descending upon him, swinging down the light as it solidified into a physical form.
"What?!"
Burn hadn't expected an attack from a new weapon. Instead of the Giga Scissors, a different implement struck. He threw his arm up to defend himself, but the force of the blow was overwhelming. He was blasted backward, slamming hard into the gymnasium wall.
"Kuh... What is that thing?"
Groaning, Burn stared at the massive knight spear gripped in Marcos’s right hand. He caught his breath as he sensed the sheer magic power radiating from the weapon. He found himself momentarily mesmerized by the silver-white beauty of the spear—until he noticed a strange sensation in his arm.
"Wait, what is this...?"
The arm he had used to try and incinerate Elena—the same arm he had used to block Marcos—was frozen solid. The very flames he had kindled were trapped within the ice.
Despite only touching the spear for a fraction of a second, the frost had claimed his limb. As Burn stared in frozen horror, Carlos, watching from afar, spoke to the man he believed was the strongest he had ever known.
"The Silver-white Ice Spear Grace Lance... my masterpiece, and your new power. Go, Marcos! Now is the time to become a Hero!"