Azazel watched as Ace dashed ahead, jumping near the end of his initial sprint and throwing his leg forward. The Crow ducked under the incoming kick, instead of driving his fist from below to target the ginger's chin. Wilder squinted in mid-air and covered his face with both arms, unfortunately getting struck at both limbs by the thunderous attack. The ginger uncontrollably launched upward, immediately regaining composure and pointing his index finger toward the idle Detective.
"Bloody Individual!"
Still amid the sky, the Scarlet King invoked one of his many techniques and thereby switched places with his black-haired rival. Manifesting against the street, Ace threw out his right arm—his fingertips cracking red lightning. The Crow recognized his aerial surroundings and shot out his left limb, unraveling a chain from his wrist that soon attached to a nearby building's rooftop. Azazel pulled himself toward the higher platform, eventually rolling onto the terrace following his mid-air venture. Following his quick rising, Detective Karlo ran along the summit momentarily, only to leap off the end and ready his fist, descending toward Ace on the street. Following his decision to act, Ace aimed his open palm toward the falling Crow.
"Corrupted BOLT!!!"
The crimson bolt expressed itself from his hand, twirling through the air and eventually, colliding against Azazel's open chest. He was sent into the air a second time, but not without aid. Ace appeared right behind him amid the sky and dug his foot into his adversary's back, thus launching him into another portion of this abandoned city. The Crow crashed through an apartment's rooftop and slid out from the structure's entrance. Flipping onto his two feet from flat on his back, Karlo carefully surveyed his environment, only branding his bare knuckles.
"I'm not done with you yet, old man."
The Detective was yanked once the ginger's fingers tightly sunk into his uncle's spiky hair from behind. Ace then threw the Crow over his left shoulder and into another building awaiting behind them both. He peered over his shoulder, eyes marked with Eternal Sight's advanced perception. Fleeing the infrastructure through the hole his flailing body formed, the Crow glared from within, sunlight enlightening his dark-blue pupils.
"Is your power-up over yet?! How many times can you use that technique, anyway?!" Ace loudly asked his uncle.
'I don't think it matters if I win or lose during this fight. Regardless if I do or don't, he'll join our alliance. But why? What're you hiding… Ace Wilder?'
The Crow stood tall. "As many times as I want. That a problem for you, kid?" answered the Detective.
"No. I think it makes things much more interesting," Ace replied, smirking with his hand on his chin.
"I'm glad you think so."
The overhead clouds were decimated upon the invocation of 'that' energy, seemingly arriving from the heavens. However, whether that advancement was a blessing or a curse remained to be seen. Then again, as Azazel bathed in those sparks of black and red, it started becoming clearer than ever. What he was witnessing was none other than the curse of the Karlo family fully manifested into unbridled destructive potential.
"You're gonna die," Ace said, still smirking.
"I'm gonna KILL YOU!!!" yelled the Crow.
They both vanished. Dancing around the city's deserted outskirts, their arms and legs occasionally clashed. Ace went for an overhead kick, but before he could, the Crow jumped back. Soaring backward through the air, Azazel revealed numerous shurikens and then threw them toward the ginger. Once landing, Wilder's right arm raised; easily blocking the imminent projectiles.
Then, the stars detonated, leaving him dismembered and disoriented from the blast. Despite recoiling from the explosion, Ace turned back, allowing Eternal Sight to peer through the eruption's following smoke and spot the Crow's entering fist. The ginger caught his relative's intercepting knuckles, opting to pull him forward.
Azazel stumbled closer, noticing from his peripheral the imminent slap headed for his cheek. Swatting the palm away once the time to hit arrived, Karlo grabbed at his nephew's collar and yanked him closer so he could knee him in the gut. Saliva came flying from Wilder's puffed cheeks, his pupils momentarily rolling to the back of his head after such a damaging attack. Ace was then struck in the throat, with two more punches to the face following the chop. With his red-headed adversary thoroughly stunned, he could finally begin to defeat him. By the time he finished blinking, carrying the force of a thousand men's fists, Detective Karlo's hands had rapidly struck Ace multiple times.
Wilder's bloody face temporarily flew back. But, he was pulled back into this madness, and so, he was forced to feel the horrendous pain that accompanied his knuckles yet again. Eventually, the attacks ended. The climax was heralded once Ace stumbled away and Azazel's right leg raised. Uncaringly watching blood pour from every facial pore Ace was born with, he threw his limb ahead and kicked Ace through the city once more.
Having demolished five city blocks, Wilder puked out blood and held his cut-open forehead, wiping away any prohibiting gore staining his face. Rejuvenation's healing energy coursed through his soul, easily regenerating his torn-open flesh. As he carefully began standing, the Crow watched from a nearby gas station's rooftop.
"You did quite the number on me. If you used your Territory, you could've secured the advantage over me!" Ace announced.
Mentioning the soul's Territory wasn't accidental. In fact, upon realizing the ginger referenced the technique, Karlo's eyes widened. He stood upright, flattening his soles against the gas station rooftop. Before he could activate whatever trump card he had hidden up his sleeve, the Detective revealed a pistol and shot at his teenage opponent. But… the Scarlet King was faster than a bullet.
With his fingers interlocked into the Karana Mudra, Ace appeared behind the Crow, arrogantly grinning while peeking over his enemy's shoulder.
"Territory Envelopment: Human Consciousness."
By the time the Crow had turned around, the barrier had already finished developing. There was no escape—he'd lost. But, per their agreement, this wasn't the end. Ace's hand stood atop Azazel's hand, being the trigger for the deactivation of the domain's guaranteed hit. Following the Detective regaining consciousness, he stared at his nephew's face and then looked away, sighing shortly afterward.
Pushing his pointer and middle fingers together, he dejectedly uttered the following: "Peace of Mind: Territory Negation."
The barrier fell, revealing the scenery beyond the sphere. Now standing beside one another after their fight, Azazel turned to stare at his nephew.
"What was the point of that just now?" he asked.
"To see who'd win in a fight. You almost got me so… do with that information what you will," Ace responded.
"You only won because of your damned Territory. It stuns me immediately following my entrance so I don't even get the chance to use Negation once I'm inside," Azazel retorted.
"Tell it to the Judge. You 'and I got a lot to talk about, remember?"
Wilder pointed at him over his shoulder, then pocketed his hands and started walking away. Instead of blindly following, the Detective remembered what the ginger correctly said before their fight began.
"Didn't you say if I won that you'd join our alliance and help us stop Katie and Alex? I didn't win, though. You… did…"
Ace stopped dead in his tracks. Pushing his finger against his chin, he briefly reminisced. "Oh! That's right. I planned on joining you guys if I won or lost," he informed.
"Thought as much. But why? What're you hiding, kid?"
"You ask lotta questions, y'know that?" Ace asked, having turned around completely to stare the Detective in the eye.
"I'm not stupid, brat. Katie and Alex don't plan on slaughtering the rest of the human population, do they? It's… something more than that. Do you plan on telling me or not?" he asked right back at the ginger.
The teen shrugged and sighed, admiring the sky. "Nothin' gets past the Detective Prince." He turned toward him for the last time. "Maybe if you shut up, I'd tell you," he said.
Those words finally shut the Detective's nosy lips. Despite that, Ace tilted his head and snickered.
"I think it's best if we tell everyone. Including… that damned Jester you're allied with."
Back with everyone in front of the destroyed plane, everyone had finished fighting and Rizia was dead.
Natalia wiped her hands clean, finally removing the goggles plastered against her eyes. Staring upon her enemy's beaten body, she sighed. Moving to her knees, she slid her hand against her defeated opponent's chest and silently invoked her all-powerful technique.
'Chimera Virus.'
Reorganizing her adversary's genetic material, they split apart into multiple pink flowers that replaced the stale green of the emerald grass field. Natalia changed her knelt posture following the familiar sound of her accomplices' beckoning voices.
"Hey!" called Kima.
Smith shifted her footing and turned around, now facing her purple-eyed comrade. Now standing before the taller woman, Kim gazed hopelessly through her strands and shakily sighed.
"Now that the plane's destroyed… what're we gonna do?" she somberly queried.
"Who knows? All we can do is wait for Karlo now so we might as well do nothing until he—"
Natalia's pupils effectively shrunk. Mushing through the blades were two men some meters behind Kima: one with red hair, the other with black. Almost instantly did she recognize the red-headed man strutting beside their leader… the question remained, however: would Kima react the same way?
"Looks like your ex's back with our leader," Nat observed.
"Of course he is…" Kim whispered.
Ace and Azazel reconvened with their dark-haired female companions. Wilder waved to Natalia, unfortunately receiving a reluctant wave back. On the contrary, Kima just hid behind Smith while Ace remained in the vicinity.
"Don't pester her," Azazel advised.
"Shut up, I didn't even do anything. Besides, we have more important matters to deal with. Call your idiots over here," Ace ordered the Detective.
"Why? Also, aren't you supposed to be our enemy? What exactly are you doing here with all of us?" Natalia questioned.
Ace faced his former friends after shifting his footing.
"Alexander Amara has made plans for those descended from Requiem blood to take part in a killing game. At the rate you're all going, you'll be ensnared in it, too. So, June and I set aside our arrogance so we could help you solve this. This is the only way so please, everyone.
Lend us your strength."
False Heroes Arc - Fin.