Who would make the first move?
Though none of their lips dared to part for they all silently agreed that was their collective thought. The tension was sharp, so sharp you could use it as a knife to initiate a beginning attack--none of them were bold enough, though. They continued to shiver, their heartbeats rapidly accelerating, and their breaths increasingly staggering. The silence of the coming battle was all any of the three had to cling onto for maybe five minutes. That was until...
Ace started inhaling. In any other situation, it'd be normal, but here, now, it sent both his ally and his enemy to raise an eyebrow, unintentionally revealing their interest. The abnormal breathing was cut short once Wilder grunted, leaving dust in his wake, for only red lightning jumped off his joints as he began moving. Despite being a few seconds late, ironically, Alex followed the kid's lead with the same movement.
Needless to say, from where the Jester stood, the battle had begun.
Icarus swatted away Ace's incoming kick, then directed his eyes upward after Wilder was slapped away. Alex came crashing down, entangling his fist wholly in the whip burning with determination, then slamming it into the ground. Detonating a chain of destruction erupting through the ground aimed toward Chrollo, instinctively, the Jester reacted with a backward leap.
At the same time, Ace recovered after the disregarding slap, rolling into a crouch upon landing. Afterward, he immediately spotted Icarus's helpless body while he soared through the air, and launched himself from the floor. Unleashing a shockwave upon his lunge, the Jester's smirk widened once he noticed the incoming ginger pouncing from below.
Ace's reckless punch just barely missed Icarus's descent, for once the ginger fell, as did Chrollo. Crouched on the ground and surrounded by debris, Wilder slapped away the smoke to spot his goading figure. From the way he beckoned him with that hand, not to mention the smug grin and his raised eyebrows, it all sent him further down!
"YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!!!"
Ace charged for a second time, but for some reason, with the way he was sprinting, Icarus realized there was something wrong. His posture was different—he carried his arms abnormally. From where Icarus was standing, through his pure-dark eyes, it was obvious: he couldn't dodge this one!
His arm subconsciously raised in the time it took an eye to blink, and there it was. The incoming fist connected with the limb. Before it was too late, the arm exploded in a blinding splash of blood, leaving Ace to smile at his genius' outcome!
"Ace!" yelled the Judge from unknown whereabouts, "you have my gratitude!"
Appearing from behind the Jester, aiming to single-handedly behead, there magically appeared the Judge! Leaving Ace stunned with a gaped mouth and wide eyes, Alex's hand had seemingly lost its momentum! This one-in-a-million chance—would it go to waste before his eyes? Unfortunately, like all things, it wouldn't end so easily, for just before Icarus could get beheaded, Icarus vanished.
Grabbing Ace by the cheeks, he charged his head to the ground, attempting to slam his skull right then and there. Restricted by his hand, the Scarlet King's moans turned muffled, Divergence unleashed its unrivaled potential. Alex, still in shock at his incompetence, prepared to make another attack—but before he could… he noticed that Ace had abnormally nodded.
'Is that a signal?' he asked himself.
But he had no time to think any further. The Unlimited barrier was spontaneously strengthened once Divergence's potential was fully discharged. Uncontrollable red attacks sparking all around roasted at his skin, invisible scarlet tendrils composed of lighting tearing apart his flesh. Despite how much he wanted to squish his skull, Icarus was forced to tumble back while mercilessly being sliced apart by unpredictable blurs.
Abruptly, the assault halted, leaving the damaged, steaming Chrollo to collapse to his knees. As usual, he regenerated flesh, but the result remained. What Ace observed with his scarlet Eternal Sight was music to the ginger's ears.
"Alex!" Wilder called to his instructor.
"Right here—that was some crazy shit you just did, are you okay?" Alex asked, seconds after suddenly appearing to Ace's right.
"Fine. I only did what I just did because I had a working theory. You witnessed it for yourself, as did I. Icarus can recover from anything physical, whether it be your Requiem attacks or Divergence's unwavering offense. On the other hand, however, what about his soul? He has to fall at some point, whether it be we destroy his heart or the brain, it's gotta be one or the other," commented Ace.
"If we're going for his soul, we need Hana," Alex reminded him.
"Exactly. She's recovering Katie, and from the looks of it," Ace looked to the distance; the Storm had fallen. "she succeeded. Look around the battlefield for her and the other three. Return to me with them! That's the only way we have a chance at beating him!"
Alex was reluctant. One glance at Ace's bloody face and then Icarus's recovering form only enhanced that worry. Whether or not they had a chance, whether or not they'd live or die, there was one thing the Judge could never do.
"I can't abandon you. I promised myself long ago that I never could. We either bring him down here with some miracle or we die together on the battlefield," Alex said.
"No." This denial garnered the Judge's eyebrow-raising. "I… can't accept an end like that…!"
As Ace said this, Alex thought back to his Old World memories. This withstanding desire to continue fighting despite the odds against them—where had he seen it before? And then it hit him: Ace was no spitting image of his old man, rather, he took after his New Allfather grandpa. Whether or not that was a good factor about his personality remained to be seen, but at this moment, at this time, Alex smiled.
"Right, guess I misjudged you then. I'll follow your lead for now but… a word of advice, Ace," Amara placed his hand upon the young man's shoulder, "don't die, okay?"
Inhaling sharply after hearing him, Ace moved his eyes from Alex's face to the burning skeleton. The thunderous roar from his instructor's lightning production sent his ears ringing, regardless, he wasn't so deaf he couldn't hear his thoughts.
'You're really funny, old man.' Ace tilted his head barely an inch behind, 'Acting like I'll die when we both know I'm going to live.'
By the time Ace had finished that thought, Icarus had already fully regenerated. It was a miracle his signature black coat didn't burn from the blaze, as it swayed in the wind in tandem with his hair. Despite having just been easily annihilated from Divergence's unleashed offensive, he continued to stand proud and tall. Icarus Chrollo wasn't human, no. He was anything but.
However, in this very moment, gazing upon the Jester's Incarnated into that hollow form, Ace couldn't shake the feeling. The feeling that the assumption of the Jester's demonic bloodlust fueling him was wrong. What Ace saw, with his very own advanced pupils, was a human. Persevering in the face of adversity with dark determination glistening at the center of his blackened eyes.
'I can't help but wonder what you think you are, you goddamn demon lackey. You killed your creators and altered the shape of the world—now nobody has any professional leaders because Retly was a worldwide secret until you usurped its hidden throne. Why would you do something like that? Is it for the same justice I strive for, when I abandoned everyone so long ago? Tell me, Chrollo. What is it you're fighting for..?'
Ace and Icarus spent the last few seconds before their eventual battle glaring. After realizing how different their lives were, urging them to settle their differences and prove their justices, they zipped ahead, beginning to exchange blows.
Ace was the one to take to the skies, clasping both hands together, interlocking all ten fingers. Coursing Vita through his veins so it could spew out his cuticles, he crashed his conjoined hands against the ground upon his landing. Only leaving a miniature crater where the Jester previously stood, his head snapped to Icarus's location. He hadn't jumped far, no. Instead, he stood some mere feet away from the epicenter, forming a symbol with his fingers instead of remaining idle. Conveniently, smoke wandered to cover his body.
Firing off Divergence's Red at him, not only did it obliterate the prohibiting smoke, but it revealed that Chrollo had vanished. Not just anywhere, however.
'Behind me!'
Ace Wilder immediately turned around, prepared to block his face from any projectiles. And there he was. Falling upside-down with his feet to the sky, Icarus unleashed two fireballs from his mouth via a single breath. They soared past his wide-eyed face. For some unexplainable reason, he was motionless yet he couldn't figure out why? Was he frightened? NO! It didn't matter if he was scared or not, whether or not the future was wrong, it was all meaningless if he didn't endlessly fight right here and now! So, despite the flaming projectiles descending upon his anatomy, he jumped!
Emerging from the flames while they singed his clothing, he branded a crackling fist, intending to decimate his opponent's flesh with a singular blow. Chrollo remained offensive from the way he adjusted himself in mid-air--awaiting Ace's attack. Raising his palm to catch the incoming fist, his smugness dropped once the attack continued despite the trap. Wilder drilled his knuckles against Icarus's palm as hard as humanly possible, and thus launched his enemy back toward the ground. Icarus bounced and tumbled momentarily before readjusting his posture, beginning to stand up before he noticed his demolished hand.
'Just one punch from Red and it's gone, huh? Looks like Ace's--' Icarus, amidst regenerating, was interrupted.
Still in mid-air, Ace held his hands like a slingshot. Then pulling back the imaginary bow, a thunderous boom erupted from the source: the Scarlet King. There was no single red thunderbolt--there were also many of them! The Jester gritted his teeth and then waved his hand, manifesting a doorway right behind him to enter. The thunder grazed the land but not the intended target.
Reappearing behind the shooter from a new doorway, Icarus swiftly lunged, now bearing new claws to behead the ginger with. Just as he pounced, a grip appeared over Chrollo's ankle, and he was abruptly halted. Somehow, Ace had appeared in two places at once--but HOW?
"You...!"
Ace punched him in the face, sending him back to the ground once more, but not alone. Icarus quickly restabilized himself, beginning to stand only seconds after having been knocked down. Raising his hands, bearing his fists, he looked up to find Ace standing over him. For the first time, not only did Ace have the upper hand, but he was beating the Jester. For the first time, Ace Wilder was beating the Jester!
Icarus instinctively decided to roll back, clasping his fingers to make another symbol. Before the spell's activation, he noticed a rope entangled around one of his fingers. Not just any other rope, though, no. A black thread that only one person could use. The rope was tugged, not even with that much strength but despite that, somehow, Chrollo came flying ahead without control over his own body.
Just by pulling on these darkened threads extending from his fingers, Icarus had all but flown toward him. Ace branded another fist—and soon enough, it connected with Chrollo's face, detonating a deafening sonic boom, leading to an even larger shockwave. Sinking his knuckles deeper into his handsome features, Ace's fist eventually carried Icarus's face, and by extension his whole body, into the ground.
Once the dust settled, revealing Ace's hunched posture while rapidly panting with a bloodied face, it became clear. The Jester had been defeated, or at least, he'd been knocked unconscious somehow.
"I… did it. Wow, I… I can't believe it! I beat Chrollo! I beat the Jester!" Ace felt tears of joy stream down his cheeks as he jumped to the air with extended arms.
After she'd finished cheering, he could spot something in the distance. A silhouette—a male with long hair. From the way the attire was settled over his skin, Ace assumed it was Alex.
"Oi, Al! Over 'ere! I beat him, ya see! Bring over Hana and Katie quickly so we can kill—"
But things don't ever work out as happily as that. After recklessly announcing his location to the battlefield of lurking enemies, Ace got what he deserved. The future he'd glimpsed was seemingly mistaken, for what he saw when he looked down was a blade piercing his stomach. Turning his head, he recognized the perpetrator. None other than the resurrected Founder, Callum Rivers dug the blade deeper just to hear his redheaded enemy's organs squelch further.
"So… you're still alive..?" Ace asked through agonized moans.
"You should be grateful. I'll be the one to properly succeed your bloodline… imposter."
To Be Continued!