Ace's Past, Part 2

Darius brings a balled hand to his mouth, clears his throat, then begins his speech. "Lance, do you ever think that the world is unfair? That people are cruel? How are animals so much better than humans?" Darius asks.

"Yes. All the time," Lance answers.

"Well demons aren't like that. Demons follow their instincts, their nature. Demons live simple lives, where the strong survive and the weak die, that is all. As for humans, I believe that we are naturally good, but the greed and harshness of society is what twists the human mind to have such disgusting thoughts like hurting others or discrimination. Racism, sexism, homophobia, slavery, none of these concepts should exist. But unfortunately, they do," Darius explains. "And the only way to make these things go away is the reset button."

"And where are you going with this?" Lance asks.

"You see, I want to amass a following. A following of people who despise other people. People who hate other people, who were wronged by other people," Darius answers. "By amassing these followers and committing them to Demonology, I will have a way to press the reset button."

"And how will you press that button?" Lance asks.

"There's a legend that -by opening the portal to Hell- one can unleash the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse into this world, bringing the dawn of a new age,

 Darius answers. "A demon ruled age. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse will bring the world into ruin, where humans will need to work together to survive. Humans will be so busy working together that they won't have time to worry about racism, sexism, homophobia, or any other issues. It will be glorious!"

"And what brought you to this point?" Lance asks, causing Darius to sigh.

"My family was poor. We didn't have much growing up, so my dad turned to the mafia for help, unbeknown to our family. When he couldn't pay back the money he owed…they killed him. And when my mom couldn't pay either, they did…terrible things to her, right before my eyes. And then my elder sister, too," Darius sadly explains. "All I've seen in life is the ugliness of human beings. Demons never harmed my family. Only people did."

Lance is silent.

"What about you, Lance?" Darius asks. "What brought you to a point where you are not welcome in hospitals?"

"Just like you, I was poor," Lance apathetically explains. "I made some wrong decisions and got involved in the wrong crowd. The lowest point of my life is when I got my brother arrested. I caused him to kill a man. Not that I don't have my own blood on my hands. My life is ruined. I have no motivation to live for myself anymore. I just… want to find someone that I can use my body for."

"What do you think about my ideals, Lance?" Darius asks.

"I think…that they are swell," Lance answers.

"Are you a religious man?" Darius asks.

"No," Lance answers, tempting Darius to extend his hand towards him.

"Then join me!" Darius booms. "You are strong! Devote your life to me so that I can achieve my ideals!"

Without another word, Lance reaches out and takes Darius' hand, who helps hoist Lance out of bed and to my feet.

"I will be the King and you, Lance, will be my second in command, my right hand man, my Ace," Darius continues.

 Lance nods. "I will dedicate my life to recognize your ideals, my King. A Utopia where humans need to come together in order to survive," he says.

"That sounds...perfect."

Lance Ashford, age eighteen and Darius Raven, age twenty two. Two men who had experienced the ugliness of the world ever since birth. Two men who seek change and revolution, who want to bring forth a Utopia where all humans can work together and flourish, even if it needs to be brought about by bloodshed. Over the next couple of years, these two men worked to build up their religion following, eventually becoming a recognizable group with a large media presence.

Darius Raven soon became known as 'King' and Lance Ashford as 'Ace,' casting aside their former names. The two men also discovered Cursed Power, and taught that power to their followers. King awakened his demon kin Cursed Ability called Black Prism and Ace developed his own Cursed Ability, Blacksmith, one that worked well with his superb fencing and sword fighting abilities. Soon, the King got married, and his wife became known as the Queen. Ace was the best man of course.

Over the years, the two men amazed more loyal members. Joy Quinn; a child exiled from a family of wealth for not confining to traditional gender norms, Cliff and Kaythlyn Brooks; twins abandoned by their parents for being "bad luck," Shade Miller; a Pro Slayer who was attempted to be assassinated for using his Cursed Power for his own desires rather than the norms, and Skylar Henderson; a woman tormented so badly by those around she attempts to sleep all day to escape the world.

Joker, Clover, Diamond, Space, and Heart respectively, became leading figures of the Church of Demonology and were known collectively as the Cards of the King.

***

"OW!" I cry as Ace tosses me to the ground of the forest floor, after carrying me over his shoulder for a little while. "Where are we?!" I ask as I pop back up to my feet and look around frantically, observing the area. Ace has carried me to a large open clearing in the forest. Well…not exactly. Right now we're standing in a clearing, but the hundreds of toppled over trees, or trees sliced in half suggest otherwise.

"I prepared this spot for our battle a while ago," Ace answers. "It's poetic, is it not? Us being one of our final battles. It's almost like destiny, Luis Tramontana."

"I don't want any sort of destiny tied to you!" I shout.

"You know, Luis Tramontana, the two of us are very much alike, more alike than you would think," Ace continues, ignoring my diss. "Both of our fathers left when we were young, and so we both grew up suffering from depression. But at one point, we both found a man who was like a father to us, who guided us and gave us a reason to keep fighting in life. You found Nicholas Boras and became Slayer Fūjin of the Slayer Organization while I found Darius Raven became Ace of the Cards of the King. Even the person we each found is similar. Both Darius Raven and Nicholas Boars were strong, charismatic men who harbored positive feelings towards the demon race. And leaders, Darius raven became King, leader of the Cards of the King while Nick Boras became Slayer Hachi, leader of the Staten Island Squad of the Slayer Organization. The only difference between the two of us, Luis Tramontana, is our age. But know that if our ages were reversed, that you would be standing right where I am standing and I would be standing over there where you are standing.

"Where are you going with this…?" I ask.

"So now…I must strike you down, Luis Tramontana," Ace answers, causing my entire body to tense up. "I need to prove to myself and the world that I made the correct choice by following King instead of Slayer Hachi."

"Keep Nick's name out of my mouth…" I growl.

"Am I wrong, Luis Tramontana?' Ace asks.

"I'm nothing like you…" I answer. "And Nick…is nothing like King?"

"Oh, but you are!" King replies. "King doesn't turley care about me. I've long since realized that. But in the same way; Slayer Hachi cared not for you, but for your power. We were both only used by the men we admire, Luis Tramontana. We're just broken men who became tools for the ones who stand on top of the world, since we had nothing else to live for."

My entire body begins trembling.

"That…that's not true…" I stammer. "Nick cared about me…he was like a dad to me. You and I are nothing alike! I'm not a murderer…I don't kill people, and I certainly don't worship demons!"

"Maybe not," Ace replies. "But you can't deny the simple fact that Nick only recruited you into his Squad thanks to your latent potential at the time. You are nothing without your demon powers. You are more "Blue Demon" than "Luis Tramontana"."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!"

"THEN COME AT ME AND PROVE I'M WRONG, LUIS TRAMONTANA!" Ace bellows with a psychotic grin and an evil laugh. "STRIKE ME DOWN AND PROVE I'M WRONG, THAT IS, IF YOU CAN! THE TWO OF US WERE FATED TO MEET AND FATED TO FIGHT WITH OUR CLASHING IDEALS! KING'S PAWN TO DESTROY THE WORLD, AND SLAYER HACHI'S PAWN TO CREATE A NEW SLAYER ORGANIZATION!"

With a roar, I draw my katana and charge Ace, who -in response- draws the holt of his bamboo sword. I notice that the bamboo "blade" of Ace's sword has been snapped off, but that doesn't matter, as a line of light blue Cursed Power extends from the broken-off handle of Ace's bamboo sword, before molding itself into the shape of a katana. Our two swords then collide, sending shockwaves of air and Cursed Power flying out in every direction, and the blowing whichever trees still remaining standing around us to the ground, and flying hundreds of feet away. My steel katana against Ace's Cursed Power blade.