Ace's heart stopped. His body froze as he listened to the mysterious voice piercing his soul.
"Who's there?" His voice trembled in the terrifying silence.
A tall figure stood on the building behind Ace.
Wearing a short, dark reddish-brown hooded cloak.
Moreover, a logo of a large, slashed closed eye was formed on the back of the cloak.
He muttered, "Aren't you all curious about our existence." The wind crept, causing his somewhat long gray hair to sway gently along with that soft voice.
Ace muttered with a terrified face. "Ou... Our?" His voice trembled desperately.
His face was sly, manipulative. His sharp eyes.
Slightly narrow, black, with a thin star shape beside his right eye, and his light brown skin, he grinned instantly.
Before he murmured into the air. "Your pale face, those deep blue eyes as beautiful as your hair."
"Thick eyebrows and the harmonious proportions of your face... Ace." The man exclaimed, full of threat beneath his deceptively calm tone.
"Now, calm yourself and look over there." Suddenly... This man's body was behind him, his hand pointing right beside Ace's head.
That finger pointed toward a dead body far off in the rubble.
Ace looked at the corpse. He was confused, full of wariness—this man's touch truly felt like it was tearing his soul apart with every moment.
He whispered into his ear. "What if, in some life... You could end up like him?"
"A foolish death." These words made Ace half angry, half afraid. He was sure no one died foolishly.
"A foolish death... You're wrong." His voice trembled. The man felt the powerful tremor in Ace's body.
Quickly, Ace spun around, a fist ready to prove the man wrong. "CAN YOU JUST STOP THINKING?!" His face was tear-streaked with fear, cloaked in the anger in his soul that felt humiliated.
The weak fist swung toward the man's face. "Smack." The tearful, furious cry instantly fell silent.
The moment he saw this man catch his punch with a strong grip.
"Arghh..." Ace was in so much pain he gritted his teeth to keep holding on. The man was silent with his grip, his face flat.
"Why do weak people like you never realize." Ace's eyes widened in shock hearing the man say that.
The man instantly threw, hurling Ace so his body slammed into a gym on the edge of the sidewalk.
"THUMP!" The gym shattered, turning chunks of concrete into scattered dust.
The man looked on with satisfaction, finally walking over to Ace.
. . .
Ace lay sprawled near the edge of the bathroom area, with barbells and scattered rocks everywhere.
He sat up, his face bloody, his hands covered in wounds. Full of vulnerability, he looked ahead—the man was already in his shadow.
Each approaching footstep haunted the helpless, hurting Ace. His weak gaze saw the man now standing before him.
Then, this man grabbed Ace's shirt and lifted him into the air with immense strength. Ace was powerless. His body, brain, and soul could no longer feel anything.
Weakly, Ace whispered. "Your brain isn't... isn't far from an expired bottle of soda—" Ace closed his eyes.
. . .
From behind, someone shouted. "HEY YUNO." The man immediately shifted his gaze to that person with a surge of irritation.
His eyes were full of arrogance, seeing Reiko who was already quite battered, especially his torn clothes from fighting him earlier.
Reiko slowly, gently squeezed the trigger, then aimed one of his pistols emitting purple plasma. Full of confidence, he fired immediately!
"BANG!" As Reiko released the plasma bullet. Yuno instantly reacted by throwing Ace's wounded and despairing body.
At first, Reiko was full of resolve and was about to attack from another angle.
However... His eyes saw more clearly as he moved. Ace, he saw Ace staggering and about to be hit by his own shot.
Without thinking, he sprinted at incredible speed! Trying to save Ace from his own bullet. "ACE... NOOO!"
He felt so fragile, as if his soul had already surrendered to fate, which had turned into a bullet.
The world seemed to stop in that moment, just to witness his death, which turned out to be sheer foolishness.
"Damn... Is this it? My body's gone numb." Ace whispered in his heart, still trying to grasp hope but...
The spinning bullet was already so close, right in front of him. Ace shut his eyes, surrendering.
(DIVINE STEP).
Yuno's eye was shot, blood spurting out as the bullet pierced his head while he was mid-air, "shhhh..." Just as it was about to hit the gym building where Ace had stumbled and swapped positions with Yuno.
Reiko, full of hope, immediately jumped and fired at that bullet with a trembling hand. "BANG!" The bullet went wide... "Shhhh...." Reiko's face was panicked as the bullet seemed to miss.
But in the end, the bullet struck the tip of the first one.
Causing a collision like a flash of dark purple light, "TING!"
The two bullets shot off in opposite directions, forming a V. "BOOMMM!!!" The two bullets soared silently and blew a massive hole in the building.
. . .
On the other side, Yuno, who had just been shot in the eye because he was swapped by Ace's power, Divine Step.
His body lay sprawled, only one eye seeing the blazing sky. One arm slowly moved to check his gouged eye...
When he touched it, it was true. There was only blood. His left eye was completely gone, even leaving a hole in part of his skull.
. . .
"ACE!!" Reiko ran, he himself was seriously wounded, but his heart was terrified of losing Ace, who lay sprawled in the gym. "My god... Did I fail again?!" He cried but tried to hold it back.
Seeing Ace so severely injured, blood everywhere, his body limp, made him ache even more and afraid to touch an innocent person.
Soon, he decided to carry Ace on his back. As he turned...
He saw Yuno lying wounded and weak, conversing with a shadow of a single, large, echoing black eye.
So large and terrifying, it made Reiko shiver all over. That eye was truly bizarre and horrifying.
As the eye transformed into a mouth ready to devour Yuno's body.
With courage and humility, Reiko carefully laid Ace's body back down and ran toward Yuno.
"Damn it... " He leaped, then hugged Yuno's body and rolled, carrying him away from the creature's maw.
As he succeeded, the creature turned back into a single eye and glared at him with full fury.
"ARGHHH!!" Reiko was hit by an immense pressure from the creature, feeling as if his soul was being torn from his body!
But finally, the creature vanished and left, leaving a trace that would make anyone lose consciousness.
Reiko let out his breath, immediately grabbed Yuno's body and hoisted him over his left shoulder—ultimately carrying both Ace and Yuno on his back.
. . .
"Wee-oo! Wee-oo! Wee-oo!"
After a long journey.
He saw ambulances and police already at the scene where civilians were affected and buildings had collapsed earlier.
Reiko fought his exhaustion to keep walking, carrying both of them toward the evacuation post.
When one of the nurses saw Reiko, she immediately tried to help by calling other personnel.
"Look! It's Mr. Reiko! Hurry, he's carrying a victim too!" The female nurse rushed toward Reiko.
Followed by other personnel who brought three stretchers to immediately take all three to the hospital due to serious injuries.
. . .
Once Ace and Yuno were loaded into ambulances, Reiko instructed they be taken to different places.
He ordered Yuno to be taken to the government defense system for treatment there.
As for Ace, Reiko instructed he be taken to the Hero Council Federation building to be treated there.
As the scene in Shin Osaka grew quiet, leaving only massive destruction behind.
A woman in a cloak similar to Yuno's sat on the edge of the rooftop, swinging her legs.
Then muttered with vulnerability. "That boy... Ace, my goodness, I'm starting to like you..." She smiled while biting her finger with her soft, delicate pink lips.
End.