The figure wore a purple suit, with a single piece of darker fabric covering half of his torso as if a designer cloak. His hair was a dark onyx, and as he turned to face Izzy, it became clear that he was likely a similar age to him.
Izzy was about to say something but was quickly cut off by more kunai slicing towards him. He was forced to dash to the side but backed into a wall instead. It was clear the mystery boy wasn't going to give him any room to breathe. Before he could be cornered, Izzy dashed towards the stream that laid past the boy, who continued to rain kunai down on him. A few of which grazed Izzy, causing him to yelp in pain.
Reaching the stream at least opened up his options in terms of dodging. Yet, in doing so, he'd sustained way more injuries than he thought he would. Had he not been avoiding as many kunai as he thought? No time to think, the boy in front of him held up his hand, with three more kunai materialising between his fingertips.
Izzy ran, down the stream, vaguely following the stone pathway alongside it. Narrowly evading the hail of kunai that followed him like a storm. He lost track of the boy, who seemed to be keeping up yet striking from awkward angles as well.
"Help!" Izzy shouted out. Yet he saw no one around, and no voice greeted his pleas for assistance. He eventually made his way to an opening, clearly where the water had been streaming to. It was an arena-like setting, but atop the ground sat about two or three inches of water. The gentle hills that surrounded it had random handrailings on them, as well as the occasional park bench. Izzy struggled to take it all in, but he recognised that he'd hit a deadend. The sun was setting.
Behind him, the boy landed gracefully, weapons in hand. Izzy turned to face him, scared out of his mind. A few tears escaped his eyes, dripping into the water below.
"Cmon man, don't be such a baby! Fight him!" Nat's voice blared across the arena. Izzy yanked his neck to look towards her, seeing her leant up against one of the handrails.
More onlookers appeared, some sitting down on the grass, others choosing to stand with their friends at the handrailings. Everyone was buzzing and talking as if the situation was typical. It was unlike anything Izzy had ever seen. He was about to be publicly executed, and no one was going to save him.
"Nat! Please! I wanna leave, I wanna go home!" He screamed, close to losing it altogether.
"I watched the way you dodged his first attack. You and I both know there's something deep inside you. Use it!" Nat chuckled back at him.
Izzy shook and snorted his nose, turning back to face the boy. He seemed reluctant to attack Izzy, maybe due to the state he was in. This did, however, give time for Izzy to process things. He took a deep breath. There was something in him pushing him. The day had spiralled so far out of control that, at that point, he was willing to hand himself into it. He wiped his tear away and forced a smile onto his face. A facade of confidence that anyone could see through, but it helped him.
"Contract Battle! Izzy Sparks Vs Jax Proud!" A voice boomed through the arena, like an announcer through an intercom. A massive 'VS' sign manifested between Izzy and Jax, accompanied by a small flourish of special effects. "This one's gonna be a match to remember!"
The two stood still, with Izzy actually growing with excitement.
"Fight!"
Jax jumped back, flinging a handful of his kunai into the sky, before quickly throwing more at Izzy. His intention was clear, to manoeuvre Izzy against his will, to place him in a position where he could not dodge. But he was caught off guard, as this time, Izzy darted straight towards him, closing the gap at a worrying pace.
Nat pursed her lips, impressed at the battle that was now transpiring in front of her. She looked up, spotting a shadowy figure high in the sky, observing from far away. It was vaguely in the shape of a serpent. Still, that vague silhouette was seemingly more than enough to annoy her, causing her to prioritise her attention back on the match.
Izzy was trying desperately to catch Jax, who could barely keep the distance up. They danced around the arena, with Izzy sustaining more and more cuts and grazes. The blood loss would usually have spelt doom for anyone, but it didn't slow Izzy even a little bit.
This got Nat curious. She opened up her smartphone and searched up Izzy on a Mt. Victory branded app. He appeared at the top of a list of possible matches. She clicked on his face and scrolled down on his mostly blank profile. At the bottom of his page, a large box was titled:
'Work Ethic:'
She clicked it, which made a loading bar appear. She waited with anticipation until it revealed the text box once again:
'Work Ethic: Endless Optimisim'
More people showed up to watch the match. The eyes were on Izzy. He felt their gaze, piercing him as spears. He felt like he needed to perform. Like he needed to put on a show. The beholder demanded entertainment, and his job was to provide. His feet glowed with an ethereal, white-yellow light. The next step he took, he crouched lower.
Pause.
He launched forward with triple the speed he had before, travelling towards Jax like a projectile. Moving mid-air, he pulled back his fist in order to land his first blow and, given his wild grinning face, potentially the last one needed to end the match.
Jax was caught off-balance, causing him to trip. He had a single kunai in his right hand. He could tell the danger the next strike presented. It was all or nothing. Within the precious milliseconds that he had, he pulled his arm back, ready to send one last jab out from the depths of his heart. His eyes pulsed, their purple irises shifting like liquid. A black ring of fluid burst forth from its edges, creating spike-like appendages that reached towards his pupils. He simply would not miss.
With one fluid motion, his eyes locked onto Izzy. He flicked his arm, and the kunai cut through the air. Dead on.
It pierced and impaled Izzy's jugular. Time felt like it sped up again; Jax hit the ground from his fall. Izzy slammed into the water face first, sliding right in front of Jax's feet. He didn't move.
Nat snorted with a smile and turned to leave, the rest of the crowd following suit. Jax breathed a sigh of relief, closing his eyes to take a moment to relax from the battle. But he was rudely awakened when a pain shot through his stomach. He was sent tumbling back, only stopping when he hit the incline of the hills surrounding the arena.
He coughed and gagged, winded from the attack. He couldn't look up in time, Izzy had already planted his foot into his stomach once again. The force of the kick was intense, causing Jax to cough up blood. His eyes bulged before falling backwards and passing out.
The crowd buzzed with excitement, making Nat stop and turn to see the true outcome of the match:
Izzy stood tall over Jax, bleeding heavily from all over. He slowly put his hand up to the kunai sticking out of his neck, yanking it out without hesitation. A daunting grin plastered his face.
"That's enough! A winner has been decided!" The same voice from before announced the end of the match. A floating contract manifested above Jax's unconscious body, at the same time as all the wounds on Izzy's body seemed to magically peel away. He went to instinctually grab the contract, still in some sort of daze signalled by the vacant look in his eyes.
He was about to claim his first contract.