On a moonless night, the sky was filled with thunder and the clouds rumbled like lions in a conflict. A loving couple was stumbling into the city’s alley. Both of them were tipsy from their night out in the city, they were carrying each other as much for support as it was to show their affection for each other. As they made their way into the alley, litter, rubbish, and other byproducts of society filled the air with the sickening smells of the weeks before.

The man was skinny but well-built, his black scruffy hair almost shrouding his eyes. He was holding onto the hip of the woman passionately and belching. “Nice but gross Bob,” the woman chuckled into his ear. Her breath reeked of beer, and her speech slurred. 

Bob rolled his silver eyes and pinched her hip. She winced in pain and glared at him. She was twirling her silky but curly purple hair as Bob spoke and nibbled her ear. “Thanks, but do you know what hones it, Fiona?” 

Fiona shook her head as Bob kissed her neck and whispered into her neck. “You.” She snorted and sighed softly. Fiona drew Bob’s head closer and placed her lips near his ear. She whispered back “Bad, you might receive nothing later.” Fiona giggled and whispered again “We still need to get back to Francis University.”

Bob exhaled and grumbled. He stared at the dull sky as it gushed a crisp, blistering shower onto them. “You’re perhaps correct…”

They went to a cross-section of the alleyway. One alternative was properly illuminated, and the other was occupied with darkness and ghostly cries from the generators. “Successful…” Fiona blurted with anguish. Bob clutched his unstable hand, struggling not to unleash his worry about which path to continue. 

Bob smirked, let go of Fiona’s hip, and stepped into the middle of the midsection. He stuck out his arms, fingers pointing to the different ways. “Fiona, push one of my arms down with your Aqua elemental magic and the arm that gets pushed down first will be the way we will go. Choose carefully because if you can’t push the arm that you chose then we go the other direction.” 

Fiona chuckled at the challenge. She bent down in front of him and touched the dirty water. “Are you sure that your arm will be fine? Water is quite damaging when it's focused in one place” 

Bob chuckled and nodded. He laughed “Bring it!” Fiona shook her head and moved her arm up. giant water pillar came up underneath her fingers. She stood up and waved down as a dark blue circle covered both of them. “tsunami!” She shouted. The wave of water hit Bob’s right arm, the one that was pointing to the well-lit path. Bob strained his arm, keeping it still as the barrage of water kept hitting it. 

Bob spoke with a strained and pained voice and counted down from ten to one. To Fiona’s surprise, Bob’s right arm was still stationary. “Great…” She sighed

Bob put his hands on his waist, looked at the murky path and hummed “That’s the winner to get back.” 

Bob’s hand made a wet patch on his grey shirt, and Fiona laughed with a devious tone in her voice. “Have you pissed yourself?” Bob rolled his eyes and pushed Fiona forward towards the darkness. 

Fiona shouted as she hit the wall and grazed her hand. “Hey, what was that for?” She hissed at him and got off the wall, staring daggers at him. “Your right to touch me is revoked.”

Fiona pointed forward. “You going first!” Bob groaned and walked in front of her “I just touched you, not even roughly, how did you get splattered on the wall?” Fiona responded, “One thing is it’s raining, and it’s slippery!” 

Bob’s eyes changed from silver to gold and he whispered “Luminous” A bright ball of golden light lifted from his hand and hovered above them. 

Fiona sighed and nuzzled him as he slipped but saved himself. The ball faded but regained its light. “Fiona! I need to concentrate to keep this light. Do you want to be left in the dark?” 

Fiona frowned and shook her head as she gently gripped his shirt from behind “No…” she spoke softly with dread in her voice. Bob chuckled as they continued to walk through. 

The cold rain made their clothes stick to their bodies like glue. Fiona shivered and sneezed. “Bob, how far till we get to the exit? I’m fucking freezing and soaking wet.” 

Bob shrugged and whispered, “Baby, it’s not that cold”. Fiona growled and overtook him, walking faster. Her footsteps echoed as she stepped on shards of glass.

“Gross” Fiona groaned and walked back behind Bob as he snickered. “That’s what you get for going ahead.” Fiona grumbled and slapped his back “bitch!”

A laughter echoed throughout the alley. They shivered and stopped moving. “What was that?!” Fiona gulped and clung to Bob’s back, digging her nails into it.

“It’s probably the wind.” Bob pointed to the sky and Fiona nodded while softly sighing. She released her grip. 

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” 

Echoes of footsteps were bouncing off the walls. They grew closer and closer. Fiona and Bob froze in fear, their bodies shivered upon hearing a voice.

“Well, well, well.” A man’s voice spoke, grave and angry but damaged. “We have good ingredients for my master” he chuckled as he got into view. 

His cloak dragged across the floor and the hood hid his face from their sight. “Who are you?” Bob shouted nervously as he pushed Fiona behind him.

“That’s cute, hiding your lady,” the cloaked figure said sarcastically. The gloves that he wore burnt off as his hands burst into flame. 

“But I need both of your imaginary cores.” He waved his hand up and a pillar of flame rose behind Bob and Fiona. Their eyes widened with fright, and their bodies couldn’t move an inch. They looked on as the cloaked figure slowly walked closer to them. 

The air became more and more difficult to breathe. “Now, who’s going to be first?” he whispered, then winked at them. 

Bob conjured another sphere of light, by drawing the light off the ball he made previously. Then he started to squish it like a stress ball in his palm. It extended across his whole hand.  

He looked at her with a sorrowful expression “I’ll be right back” Then he ran towards the cloaked figure and shouted at them “I’m going to make you regret this choice” 

The cloaked figure smirked and then gestured to Bob to punch him, “come here, you little piggy” The cloaked figure said. Something broke inside of Bob. He screamed and threw a punch towards the cloaked figure, as it connected the cloaked figure grinned underneath his hood. “that was weak. Do better.” The cloaked figure smiled. His stare was like a black abyss. 

Bob gulped and jumped back, “W-who are you?” The cloaked person shrugged his shoulders. “No one to you.” Bob gritted his teeth and his eyes glowed with a yellow hue. He put his hands together, then pulled them apart to reveal a massive ball of light. “Woah there, you’re using a lot of magic! It’s better to reverse it.” 

The cloaked figure smirked and clapped his hands as sparks flew. “Fuck you” Bob retorted and then put his hands behind the ball. The ball reverberated more and more until it was so unstable it made burn marks on the walls “radiant beam!” 

Bob shouted as the ball became a bright yellow light that went towards the cloaked figure. Fiona covered her eyes from the brightness. The only thing she could see was Bob’s shadow. Smoke encapsulated the alley as the beam dispersed. 

As the smoke cleared, Bob’s eyes widened. The cloaked figure wasn’t there anymore. Bob breathed a sigh of relief. He turned around to face Fiona and pressed his palm onto the sphere, shattering it like glass. 

Fiona smiled and placed her palm on his cheek. The softness of her skin gave him shivers and he smiled gently. “Thank goodness you're safe”, he said, then kissed the back of her hand. She giggled “You dumb ass, but at the same time, thank you.” 

Bob blushed and nodded.

A burst of sickening laughter echoed, and the cloaked figure was standing on the fire escape staring at them. “Really… did you not look at your surroundings?” 

The cloaked figure jumped down, smirking as he walked slowly towards Bob. “I’ll bet you out of either aren’t you.” His hand burst into flames. “You see what makes the Lux element different from the Inferno element?” 

“The heat when it produces light” He dashed towards Bob, and before he could react the smell of ham stenched the alley. “Flash ignite,” the cloaked figure whispered into the burnt corpse of Bob.

Bob’s soulless eyes were staring at Fiona. The cloaked figure pulled out a sphere that radiated sparks of light like fireflies. Fiona’s eyes widened and tears fell down her cheeks as they hit the ground. “Y-you monster! No, that doesn’t suit you at all. Plague suits you.” 

“If I’m a plague then you’re the antibodies.” He stepped closer to Fiona who retreated, looking for a water source. “Then I must have to get a pass to infect people, right?” he asked. 

His hand was still lit, and he kept walking until Fiona was close to the pillar of fire that blocked the way out. “I would like to give you a moment to look at how close you are to the uni that you go to.” 

He quickly grabbed her by the neck and turned her to face the fire pillar as she screamed in agony. The fire covered her mouth, smothering her screams. “Sorry, I can't have that” he chuckled as he made the pillar of fire disappear. The university, which was a cathedral, and its coloured glass shone brightly. As well as the connecting towers.

“See how pretty it is, memorize it because it’s the literal last thing you will see.” He turned her to face him as he let go and she fell on her knees, her mouth shut with the flames. “Before I plunge my hand through your chest, your body will burn like sausages on a barbecue. Or roast chicken. Mind you, I love roast chicken!” 

He knelt and smiled as he pulled her towards him, then plunged his fiery fist into her chest. Her eyes turned dull and empty. He pulled a sphere out of her, like he did with Bob. 

He chuckled, placed it next to the other and whispered “Perfect pleasure doing business with you students”. He picked up both of the spheres and walked away, leaving the dead bodies to rot. 

While this was happening, a girl in her early twenties hid against a wall of the alternate path. Her blue eyes were frozen as she looked at the bodies. She was covering her mouth, trying not to make a sound. 

Her red hair was drenched from the rain. She gagged and swallowed, trying desperately not to be seen. The bag she was carrying was on the floor next to her.   She whispered under her breath “What the fuck did I just witness?”