Axel and Heinz move with a speed and precision that border on the inhuman, their attacks and counterattacks creating a spectacle of shadows and gleaming steel across the rooftop. Dave watches, body taut with tension, torn between intervening or letting the conflict unfold.
Axel lunges at Heinz with terrifying speed, and Heinz barely manages to dodge the blow with his blade. The two are locked in a savage battle—a dance of hatred and resentment that goes beyond words. Every strike from Axel is a silent declaration of his intent to destroy, to annihilate anyone who dares get close to Dave.
Dave steps forward, ready to intervene, but something inside him holds him back. He knows this fight transcends him. Heinz isn't just fighting *for* him—he's fighting for his right to make his own choices, for the freedom to love Dave in his own way, in this broken world.
Despite his composure, Heinz is clearly at a disadvantage. Axel's attacks are relentless, every blow a demonstration of strength and dominance. Yet even in the heat of combat, Heinz retains his signature calm, his movements deliberate, as if playing some infernal game of chess.
"Is this what you want, Axel?" Dave shouts, unable to contain himself. His voice slices through the rooftop air, a sharp interruption between the clashes of steel. "To destroy everything—even those who try to help me?"
Axel halts. He turns to him with a gaze so intense it borders on the supernatural.
"You don't understand a damn thing, bastard," he replies, his voice glacial with fury. "This isn't about you. This is about principles. About keeping order in this world. And him…"—he gestures at Heinz with disdain—"he's just a distraction. A lie. A delusion that keeps you from seeing the truth."
Dave feels a chill crawl down his spine. His brother's words are so resolute, so filled with conviction, that for the first time, he hesitates. This Axel isn't the one he knows, but there's something—something still authentic in him. And that unnerves him.
Heinz takes advantage of the pause to catch his breath, his eyes fixed firmly on Dave.
"You don't have to listen to him, Dave," he says, voice steady. "This version of Axel only wants control. He destroys what he doesn't understand. But you… you have the power to choose who you are, no matter what dimension you're in."
Axel lets out a bitter laugh, shaking his head.
"And who the hell are you to say that, Heinz?" he spits. "You're nothing but a pawn. A spectator pretending to matter. A shadow—just a reflection of someone stronger."
Heinz doesn't answer. He simply looks at Dave, and in his gaze is a sorrow so raw, so quietly resigned, that Dave's heart stalls in his chest.
The clash ends as suddenly as it began. Axel—perhaps shaken by Heinz's words—lowers his katana, suspicion flickering in his eyes. He begins to sense the truth: that this Dave may not belong to this dimension at all. He steps back.
"You haven't changed, Dave," Axel mutters, casting one final look over his shoulder. "You're still just as weak."
With that, he vanishes into the shadows, leaving behind a silence more oppressive than the chaos that came before.
Dave turns to Heinz, who offers a faint, guilt-tinged smile. He knows Heinz came here for him, risked everything for him. And yet, he remains torn between two worlds—two clashing realities.
"Heinz, I… I don't know what to say," he stammers, his voice thick with uncertainty as he tries to make sense of everything.
Heinz smiles again, but it's a bitter smile, laced with sadness Dave can't fully grasp.
"You don't have to say anything, Dave… I know that deep down, you're still searching for someone who isn't me."
Dave winces at the words. He wants to argue, to tell Heinz that he *does* matter. But he can't. His mind keeps drifting back to the image of *his* Axel—to their words, their shared memories from another world.
After a long moment, Heinz turns to leave. But before disappearing into the night, he glances back one last time.
"If you ever decide you want my help… if you choose to trust me… I'll be waiting, Dave."
And with those words, he vanishes, leaving Dave alone—caught between the shadows of two loves, two worlds, and a thousand impossible choices.
Dave realizes that finding the way back to his world might not solve anything. Deep down, in the darkest corner of his heart, he begins to wonder if the real challenge isn't going back—but facing the conflicting emotions this dimension has awakened in him.