It Begins (3)

An insurmountable pain overwhelmed Sebastian's senses. The desire to vomit overpowered his common sense, forcing him to retch violently across the balcony as he stumbled onto his feet.

Bile and blood decorated his lips in a disgusting manner, prompting him to wipe them away as the pain began to slowly subside.

Even still, he was dizzy, his vision blurred and his lungs struggling to take in air. He was certain a few of his bones were broken as well. He tried to utter something, but his vocal cords were scalding, as if someone had taken a branding iron and shoved it down his throat.

"I didn't expect a pipe to burst! All I did was knock on the wall! Wonderful, my dear!"

Somewhere in front of him, a strangely appealing voice called out. Unlike anything he'd heard before. 

As if even the world refused to hide his visage, both the dust and Sebastian's vision began to clear. Allowing him to witness his attacker in his full glory.

The man was likely only slightly older than himself, wearing an elegantly designed slick, black suit. The look was completed with a gold and red tie that perfectly complimented his blood-colored eyes. Eyes of which carried a sense of charming superiority.

His hair, of course, was just as commendable. Blonde and short, yet perfectly styled as if he were attending some event exclusively for royalty.

The man flashed a smile, unveiling two rows of spotless, sparkling teeth as he spoke.

"Awestruck? I tend to have that effect on people."

Sebastian didn't know what to say, he was just filled with an inexplicable and staggering bitter feeling.

Actually, it wasn't inexplicable at all. The bastard just got him flung out of his own home! And worse than that…

'Urgh! Why did he have to be born attractive too? This isn't fair!'

Sebastian thought about his injured, malnourished body and sighed.

"That's enough staring, my friend. I'm not an exhibit, though I may as well be."

The man glanced down at the golden watch wrapped around his wrist and shook his head.

"Ah, let's get introductions out of the way, I'm tight on time. You can refer to me as 'Your Lord, Joshua Saint', I'll refer to you as maggot until you're dead. That fine with you?"

Before Sebastian could force a noise from his injured throat, Joshua spoke again.

"What am I talking about? Of course you're okay with it!"

By now, Sebastian was fed up. His lips already had begun to form into a resentful scowl as he allowed Joshua to continue to ramble. For someone who said he was tight on time, he seemed to be quite chatty.

'The Fool? So he's a hero? I don't think I've seen him around before though…ah!'

Suddenly, Sebastian thought back to his sister's birthday just a day prior. On the screen they were going on about the diplomatic efforts of a trio of heroes — this one in particular stood out as especially memorable.

"...and that's how I single handedly took out a human-trafficking ring with nothing but a toothpick!"

Rolling his eyes, Sebastian forced out a hoarse comment.

"What are you waiting for? Didn't you come here to kill me?"

Joshua's smile seemed to wane a little. Putting up two fingers, he explained:

"One, do not refer to me without first saying 'Your Majesty'. Two, I was just biding time for my dear friend to act."

Just as Sebastian began to speak, a sudden rumbling caught his attention. No, was the entire building…shaking? Amidst his confusion, there was only one thing he was given time to see. And that was his attacker's absolutely infuriating grin.

A mere instant later, he fell through the floor. The concrete beneath his feet gave out before he could even discern the rumbling's origin.

Falling through the ground was an unpleasant experience, to put it lightly.

Rebars collapsed onto him, alongside pound upon pound of thick concrete. He could feel his organs on the cusp of rupturing, mere seconds away from being torn apart by the immense weight relentlessly crushing him.

But he wasn't dead.

Why wasn't he dead?

There was absolutely no way a human should've been able to survive what he could only hope to be dozens of pounds of weight collapsing onto them. Yet, even despite the immense pain and pressure attempting to render apart his flesh, he held.

[You feel strong, don't you?]

[Then why are you still sitting so pathetically?]

Far too stunned to feel offended, Sebastian began to contemplate the panel's words. 

Had the strange Tarot Game actually made him stronger? By how much?

Too many questions began to flood his mind, none of which he could properly find the answer to in his current situation. Unless he wanted to risk giving Joshua a bigger advantage than he already had.

'Damn it all! Fine!'

In a sudden act of desperation, Sebastian's muscles strained. What was once no more than the malnourished body of a commoner had long since been enhanced. Far beyond what it'd been prior, at that.

Like coils, his musculature began to collect energy. Waiting for the perfect moment to release everything it'd stored.

"Hm? What are you doing down there—"

Right as Joshua spoke, the opportunity had at last arrived. The debris and rebars both immediately shot into the air, launching them from Sebastian directly into Joshua's direction at devastating speeds.

Joshua, on the other hand, wasn't even the least bit surprised. Rather, he simply narrowed his eyes at the rapidly approaching concrete as if it were a pesky gnat.

"Was this your solution? Goodness, this game's participants truly are hopeless."

Sneering, Joshua snapped his fingers. 

In an instant, everything seemed to have slowed to a halt. A bright flash of luminescence spawned directly in front of him, encompassing the surroundings in beautiful light.

The light shifted and churned, forming itself into a strange, yet almost hypnotizing shape. Until finally it created…a dog?

"Friend! You can deal with this, no?"

The strange, anthropomorphic dog creature glared at Joshua. Albeit, the adorable thing was hardly taller than Joshua's ankle, making the scene quite humorous.

With a faint growl, it began to speak?

"You call me out here for a bunch of rocks?! Are you kidding? Do it yourself!"

Its voice was…ironically really raspy. As if an elderly veteran had been forced into the strange body. Nevertheless, Joshua didn't seem nearly as entertained.

"My Arcana, I use it as I wish. If you will."

He gestured toward the slowly moving rocks, prompting the dog to grimace.

"Fine! But don't blame me if you screw up!"

A cackle left Joshua's lips, sending shivers down the pup's spine as the blonde-haired 'hero' commented:

"I assure you, failure is a word that doesn't even exist in my reality."

The dog scoffed, but listened anyway. Waving its hand in the air, strange golden dust left its paw, slowly covering each individual piece of debris heading in Joshua's direction.

Once it seemed suitable, the dog scowled.

"...Jackpot."

Joshua snapped his fingers once more with a smile, dismissing the dog and allowing time to return to its usual speed. But by then, the trajectory of his 'luck' had already cemented itself into Sebastian's desperate maneuver.

Every stone immediately began to hit one another. The largest stones shattered smaller ones, in turn the largest stones were shattered by clusters of rebars, which in turn were bent and contorted by the force.

Inevitably, Joshua was left with only pebbles and shattered steel which had lost all its force. Leaving him completely unharmed with nothing but a grin on his face.

"It was a commendable effort, Wheel."

He shook his head.

"Actually, what am I talking about? No it wasn't!"

Sebastian couldn't only frown as he slowly forced himself onto his feet. Unfortunately, it seemed Joshua wouldn't be a very easy opponent to beat, and he hadn't even seen what he'd done to get rid of debris. Only its effects.

'Is his ability like mine? What does the Fool represent, again?'

Almost as if he'd read his mind, Joshua interrupted Sebastian's thoughts.

"I assure you. Your Arcana and mine are very different. The contrast between Fortune and Luck is very apparent, if you have at least the intelligence of a child."

Scowling, Sebastian picked up one of the remaining steel rebars.

"Why do all of you speak in riddles! Just tell me these things, damn it!"

Sebastian lunged forward, leaping into the air and grasping hold of the upper floor's balcony. Almost mockingly, Joshua didn't even make an attempt to stop him, simply backing away from the hole.

Adjusting his tie, the man didn't even seem entertained with the battle. Yawning briefly as he checked his phone. Unfortunately for Joshua, his callousness was the very reason his pride would be shattered.

Concealed behind Sebastian's back, the Sphinx swiftly spun the wheel. The instant before Sebastian managed to land, a euphoric voice echoed in his ears:

[Good Spin: Fortune looks upon you with adoration!]

Joshua's eyes lazily drifted toward his determined attacker, but in the next instant that pompous grin was replaced with a pained grimace.

As Sebastian's soles made contact with the surface, he rolled onto his feet and lunged forward. His target — Joshua — attempted to move to the side, but unfortunately for him, Sebastian's Fortune was faster.

When he moved, the ground beneath him crumbled. Destabilized by his prior attack on the Wheel, it no longer held the structural integrity to support his actions.

Sebastian on the other hand was doing just fine. Peachy, in fact.

Leveraging his weight on the reinforced concrete floor, he took advantage of Joshua's loss of balance before it could be regained. The rebar instantly makes contact with the bastard's handsome visage.

A disgusting crunch pervaded the usually quiet apartment, somehow overpowering the other results of their battle.

Flung downward, Joshua could do nothing but be thrown helplessly through the shattered concrete, collapsing onto the lower floor and being crushed by the debris soon afterward. 

Dust and dirt flew through the air as if to reiterate the impact of his fall. Providing Sebastian with a sense of incredible relief.

'That was…easier than I thought it'd be…'

With an exhausted sigh, Sebastian fell backward onto the concrete. Usually he'd have cried in agony, but right now it felt no different than being in bed.

He glanced toward his figure, seemingly just as malnourished and frail as it had been before. Yet, a new sense of strength coursed through his muscles, filling them with a comfortable yet subtle warmth.

Clenching his fists a few times, his mind began to wander.

The enhancement to his body wasn't anywhere near the level of actual heroes, but he imagined he was likely stronger and more capable than a professional athlete — which in and of itself was already a massive bonus.

Additionally, it seemed he was more resistant to the biting cold of Pluto's atmosphere. He imagined it'd be possible to traverse without his jacket for at least an hour, which would explain why most Heroes he'd seen never wore one.

'Are people like that going to be trying to kill me for the rest of my life? Who even was that guy, damn it!'

Not only had Joshua managed to locate him through whatever method, but he had an immensely potent ability as well. 

He wasn't sure of Joshua's place in the pecking order, but if there were even stronger people tracing his location, he couldn't even begin to fathom the amount of danger he was in.

And then there was Liz…

"You!"

Before Sebastian had the chance to collect his thoughts about what to do with Elizabeth, the hole Joshua had fallen into erupted into a cloud of dust and concrete.

Debris was flung every which way, collapsing several portions of the building as small stones were launched from the opening like bullets. Even Sebastian barely managed to evade some of them, resulting in more than a few shallow wounds.

To be honest, the apartment they lived in wasn't very full, but Sebastian was no less shocked that no one had come out to check what was going on. Maybe they'd just been too scared to do so?

Snapping him out of his concerns—literally and figuratively—Joshua spoke with a resentful scowl.

"You, you defiled me! Do you know how much this suit costs? More than you'll ever be worth in your entire life, maggot!"

Joshua, who'd just crawled out of the hole, seemed completely unscathed. The only issue was his suit had been sullied and torn. His hair and skin both were caked in dirt and small pebbles, making him appear more like a hobo than a hero.

Of course, Joshua was more than aware of this. He'd practically turned red with fury just thinking about it.

"I was just going to let you off easy. Pummel you, make you forfeit. But now? Now I'm just going to kill you."

Sebastian's eyes widened, but he couldn't even react before Joshua stepped into action.

The hero's fist clenched, emanating an oppressive sense of power and devastation. The outline of his enhanced musculature pressed against his flesh, as if the inhuman strength he was hoping to release was never meant for the human figure.

It was completely and utterly supernatural. 

In the next moment, Joshua's fist launched forward. The world was encompassed with a flash of brilliant light as everything around Sebastian was completely obliterated. 

The walls were rendered into dust, the floor almost entirely collapsed, the roof had a massive portion of it blown apart. It didn't take long for Sebastian to realize the light which encompassed the building however, was the Sun itself.

'...Huh?'

Sebastian felt his body, realizing that not a scratch was on it. Soon, his gaze turned to face Joshua…only to find that a massive barrier of stone and steel divided the two.

"You shouldn't have done that, Vulcan. You know my backers."

With his scowling growing even more hostile, Joshua turned to face the reason for the strange defense. A young woman with frizzy orange hair which completely obscured her eyes. Donning a thick, white lab coat which fell to her ankles.

The patter of her black boots seemed to be the most powerful sound in the area. Domineering the attention of the two combatants as she spoke.

"So? Have you decided, Sebastian?"

An impish grin spread across her face.

For a second, time itself seemed to stall. Several thoughts rushed through Sebastian's mind as he questioned whether or not this was reality. But soon, confusion turned to relief, and relief turned into bitter vengeance.

With a powerful laughter, Sebastian turned to face his savior.

'In order to make sure Elizabeth gets out alive…'

Was that really it? Yes, it had to be.

Yet somehow, for the first time in several years. Sebastian felt as if he wanted to pummel this bastard into the ground purely for his own gratification.

He wanted to be selfish.

"Yeah. I'll do it."

Vulcan's grin widened as she turned to Joshua. Even though he couldn't see it, the hero felt as if her gaze was one of ridicule.

"Good to hear!"

[The Star has requested to join the duel!]