Knights' Mausoleum, 12.00p.m.
Concurrently with the events taking place at the keep…
Shoes…
"Check!"
Jojo pats himself on the back after tying his shoes. Unlike the rest, who know him as having a cheerful, bouncy attitude, he is wholly focused on the battle ahead this time. He can hear the commentator greeting the audience, rallying and hyping them for the final match.
"Hmm…I want them to watch my match, too," he mumbles again, breaking his concentration.
"Well, you don't always get what you want. That's what I know from the beginning, right?"
He stands up and regains his focus. After having a great breakfast, courtesy of Solaris, and an energizing morning exercise, Jojo's body felt lighter than usual. Combined with mental state, he thought he could take on the world today. However, he knew from the beginning that it was a challenging task. Although he wished for it, he knew he could not let his guard down nor underestimate his foe. For nearly a month, he had trained, punched, kicked, and beaten his opponents in the ring, all for this moment. No matter how petty people think it is, he is headstrong about it and is determined to get back what was taken from him. As he leaves the waiting room towards the stage and waits at the passageway, he can hear the people heckling, pushing for the fight to begin faster as they sluggishly eat the food they had bought from the market. Some hawkers even closed their shop to watch this match, which slightly fired up Jojo.
"How long until the match starts?!"
"Get this thing started!"
The Underworld King used the temporarily empty seat on the highest balcony. His face looked refreshed, but one can tell he was tired if one observes closely. Why wouldn't he?
After a 6-hour journey from his fight with his friend Hawke, the man arrived an hour earlier. Although Hawke looks more composed, his eyes also show he is tired.
However, if one observes the king, one notices he is happier than usual. Although he is sitting there, tired, he smiles even a little. Since most people rarely see him smile so sincerely, some are creeped out, but a few feel happy for him, especially his old friend, Hawke. The two old men observe from the top while waiting for either opponent's appearance.
Elania, Treyton, Sylvia, and Pearl face the ring on the next balcony to the left. Their faces look uninterested in the fight below. Instead, they eye the crowd, searching for something or someone.
"You look distraught, Treyton. Are you questioning my judgment?" Slyvia asks Treyton.
"No, it was just very odd for me to think that Elania's instinct was off," the man yawns.
"So, since he has no memory of it, we can remove him from the list," Pearl suggests.
"Yeah. Since there is no point in pursuing it further, even Hawke agrees that there is nothing suspicious about him other than he is protecting a princess and a bounty hunter," Sylvia nods.
"If it were Alward, he would've suggested we hunt him down to get the bounty on them. Who knows? He might've had a bounty of his own," Treyton reminisces.
"That would be profitable, but our job now is to guard this event. Anything else should be reported to the Big Boss," Pearl reminds them all.
"Even that maniac downstairs suggests we should leave him alone, at least physically. Seeing his spirit, I figure he would want a fight with that man after winning," Sylvia reveals.
"Really? So we can see him fight for real today?" Treyton smiles.
"…"
"…"
"No, not yet."
The four of them turned and looked at the person who said that.
"I'll investigate it a bit more," Elania suggests with a perplexed expression.
"Hoh, I thought you were a bit silent in this conversation. It's good to know you're back," Treyton smirks.
Elania clicks her tongue in irritation and continues.
"Why?" Sylvia asks.
"Maybe she is annoyed because it was off," Pearl jokes.
"Look, I'm telling you, there is just something about this man-."
"-I can't put my finger on it," Elania mutters.
"Sounds like you put much more than your finger on it," Treyton jokes again.
"Having a drink together, classic."
Elania scoffs and looks at the arena, along with some final words…
"Well, no dinner for both of you tonight!" she declares.
"…Hrngh!"
Meanwhile, on the balcony on the other side, the reverend is still standing there, observing the ring with his hawk eyes. However, another person, one of the guards, is behind him this time.
"New missions from the Church, rendezvous with the rest at the far side of the harbor at 6," the guard reports to him.
"Good, I was getting bored analyzing this place. Everyone here deserves to be smitten anyway," Isaac answers and continues to watch the match.
In an instant, the blaring sound of the drum roll, specifically used only during the finals, can be heard as the percussion musicians play their tune, meant for the two clashing contenders. Even the loud gong sound hums around the coliseum for a few seconds before the first contender enters the arena for all to see.
"Joe Johannesburg is the first to arrive!" the commentator announces, and the crowd cheers as the kid approaches the ring.
"In the premier rounds, he won 5 matches straight without losing a round and this season's quarter and the semi-finals. He is on a roll!"
"You can do it, Little Joe!" he heard someone in the crowd cheering for him.
"Don't you get caught by that jester!"
"You won't match against Roland even in a thousand years."
Jojo is steeling himself from all the positive and negative comments, focusing on only one thing as he approaches the ring.
Then, the second drum roll comes in, along with the sound of the gong crashing, as the second contender enters.
"And next, with a fiery display…"
"Roland appears!" the commentator announces.
The jester is standing there with a creepy, psychotic smile that reaches from ear to ear. Then, his expression turns back to a more professional look as he approaches the ring.
Jojo is already on the stage, looking at the jester with focused eyes. Although slightly angered, he manages to restrain himself so that he will not make a mistake in the soon-to-come fight. The jester stretches as he approaches the ring and does a quick warmup.
"His battles are still fresh in everyone's minds."
"His record is still solid, with no losses ever since his first debut."
"Our little Joe shows much promise, but Roland himself is yet to lose when he steps into the ring!"
As Roland steps into the ring, he zeroes his eyes on Jojo, who is looking at him without lowering his guard. The jester smirks and stands tall in the ring. The two contenders are three meters apart, and the crowd cheers and roars excitedly. Due to the loudness of the cheers for this particular battle, their cheering could be heard from the ocean. Roland smiles as he sees the attentive opponent in front of him.
In an instant, he releases his energy into the surrounding environment, creating a sick, sinister, Magical Presence that the audience has not felt before in this season. Although some fear his presence, they overcome it and cheer louder.
"Jojo, don't overdo it," Solaris mutters as she watches from the front-row seat.
Jojo then activates his energy, releasing his own Magical Presence.
"Hoh, that kid's energy flows cleanly. No doubt he has trained hard," Sylvia analyzed Jojo.
"Huh, if it were you, you would've given up on the fight if it was a kid," Pearl teases her.
"But…we all can agree that his amount of energy, not to mention his physical prowess and experience, is far behind that clown of ours," Treyton deduced.
Elania remained silent, rubbing her somewhat yearning eyes when she saw Jojo on the ring.
"You know the rules. I want a clean fight."
"KO system. No time limit!"
Jojo entered his stance while Roland took two steps backward, one foot standing straight and the other relaxed. The crowd cheered louder as the referee began counting from 3.
Meanwhile, at the seats, a man politely tries to push himself through the crowd.
"Excuse me."
"Sorry."
"Coming through."
The two contenders were prepared and already in their stances, zeroing in on each other without looking around them. Now, there are only two fighters on the stage, and then…
There will only be one.
"BEGIN!"
The referee quickly backed up to the side of the ring, taking a viewpoint to observe the two fighters. Meanwhile, the two fighters were still looking at each other; not even one was making a move.
"Now, this is the match you all have been waiting for!"
"The die has been cast!"
"Who will make the first move?!"
Jojo's feet twitched slightly, with his right leg subtly moving. Roland's eyes focused on it the instant he did that and twitched slightly. The two of them continued to do this without exactly making a direct move, which puzzled the crowd.
"Hey, what's happening here?"
"It has been 5 seconds already. Why aren't they moving?"
Then, after those 5 seconds, Jojo quickly circles the jester, looking for an opening as Roland turns around, not letting Jojo out of his line of sight.
"Damn, I thought they would already duke it out."
"That Jojo ran away without doing anything at all!"
"What are you doing, kid? Go at it already!"
The crowd began to turn its back on Jojo, but the ones watching were all impressed.
"Listen to all these fools running their mouth," Treyton mutters, glancing sideways at the crowd and turning to Elania, focusing on the fight.
"It seems you understood the situation," she responds.
"Yeah, kind of. Close combat is not exactly my banter," he chuckles.
"To a layman, it might have looked like Jojo has fled direct combat-."
"But in those few seconds, a high-level mind game was taking place between them, with only a subtle movement with Jojo's legs," Elania utters.
"It looks like that kid is also at a high level since he predicted Roland's movements realistically," Hawke praises Jojo.
"Their skill is high enough to assess their opponent's strength accurately," Owen adds.
"Individual skill is not the only factor that he had to take into for a direct approach, but also the situation he is currently in," Reverend Isaac thought to himself.
"Considering all those facts, Jojo determined he would lose if he took a direct approach," Sylvia finalizes.
On the other hand, Solaris is just looking at him with a sad and troubled expression.
Roland is smiling even more comprehensively as Jojo continues to circle him.
"When we met in the last Homeland Exams, you would've blindly run in, but I guess you must have matured as well," Roland mumbles.
Jojo moves subtly again; only he charges in for a direct attack. Using every strength in his legs, added with some energy, his dash looked more like a storm than a run, dazzling the crowd. However, once he jumps and aims for the head, Roland quickly dodges to the left and smacks him down with a chop. Jojo lands on the ground but quickly rolls to the side, evading Roland's kick. He lunges forward and attempts to kick him, and again, the jester dodges it by blocking with his arms. Jojo instantly twists his body and tries to kick with his other leg, and Roland dodges it. Roland then attempts to land a punch, to which Jojo dodges mid-air. Using that opening, Roland kicks the kid to the side with his right leg, launching Jojo away. Despite managing to block it with his forearm, the pain from the kick stings Jojo's arm.
Jojo lunges inside again, and both attack with a volley of barrages, each getting dodged and blocked by their opponent. However, after several attacks, Roland found an opening once Jojo blocked his haymaker with his left hand. He quickly retracts his hand and chops Jojo's side with a karate. The pain delays Jojo's reaction time, and Roland quickly kicks Jojo's right posterior knee and then kicks him away. Although Jojo was thrown off-balance, he promptly stood back up and landed a volley of punches. Jojo managed to grab Roland's hands only this time, leaving a direct opening to him. Jojo instantly lunges forward with the attention of kicking Roland's face with his knee, but Roland quickly blocks the kick by cushioning the kick at his forehead with his gripped fist. He again chops Jojo downwards, but this time, he lands multiple punches at Jojo's chest and hits Jojo with his elbow, blasting the more profound to the floor.
As cracks began to form on the ring, Jojo managed to endure the pummelling pain by blocking it with the added energy in his arms and quickly kicked Roland aside. Roland attempted to block the first kick, but he didn't see the second kick aiming at the bottom of his chin. The jester was launched backward away from Jojo but was not knocked out. Instead, he shakes his head to stop the dizziness he is feeling from getting a clean hit to the chin.
Now, Jojo launches his counterattack. While Roland is dazed, he twitches his eyes, analyzing the perfect way to try and knock Roland out. After finishing in a split second, Roland jabbed but quickly evaded it. He instantly uses his tiny body and agile reflexes to land bullets of punches to Roland's ribcage. Front, sides, and center. He took advantage of Roland's dazed state the best he could to land solid, critical hits and kicks on the side of Roland's right knee, knocking him off-balance.
Nevertheless, Roland managed to pull his arm back and backhand Jojo's face. Luckily, Jojo managed to block the attack with his arm. Taking advantage of the jester falling, Jojo instantly lunges towards him…and kicks the clown's face with his knee, launching Roland to the edge of the ring.
After that, Jojo stands there, looking at Roland as he rises back into his stance, his expression showing that he is impressed with Jojo's recent improvements.
"…Wh-what an intense exchange between the two…"
"How many times that I cannot sneak a word between fights this season? I don't know!"
"And I love it!"
"What an amazing battle! The two managed to hit each other without even flinching! Amazing!"
"However, it looks like Jojo's punch didn't deal much damage to Roland," the commentator adds.
Roland and Jojo stood there, not moving as they gazed at each other.
"-How much do you know about Ki?" Roland asks politely, for some reason, despite his sadistic expression.
"?!"
"…"
"No response?" Roland murmurs, trying to pry something off Jojo.
"…"
"Hmm, all of the basics, then," the jester states, which surprised the kid.
"…!"
"I see. You're so adorable-."
"You should do a better job keeping your secrets," Roland says.
"H-How did you know?" Jojo asks.
His statement did catch Jojo off-guard. The jester chuckles as he infuriates Jojo even further.
"…Shut up! It's not funny!"
"How did you know?!" Jojo repeats irritatingly.
"Hah hah…"
"Overall, your offense and defense are balanced, and you excel at close combat. Your punches and blocks are enhanced, but energy traces envelop the entire body, so you have learned and are adept at all three principles.
"Strength, Control and Balance."
"…Yet, you did not show any of your assigned categories."
"Considering the amount of power on those punches, even the amount of stress during that fight, you should've known how to use one of the basic categories," he adds.
Once Roland said this, for some reason, Jojo's expression changed. Almost as if he is standing on the edge, about to break into pieces. Without warning, all of a sudden, Jojo lashes out and lunges towards Roland. Although it was a bold, brash move, the kid is smart enough to know that it is his only option, as is Roland, as he looks at the kid, brimmed with admiration. However, Solaris, who was sitting there in the front seat, quickly stands up instinctively and shouts,
"Don't do it, idiot!"
Despite this, very few could hear her amidst the crowd cheering.
* * * * *
Somewhere in Atlis, one year ago…
Jojo jumps and stomps the ground, but his opponent quickly rolls to the side, evading his attack. The opening that Jojo had made amounted to nothing, and instead, he remained wide open. He could hear the crowd laughing when it did, and then, in an instant, his opponent punched him. With just one hit, he shouted in pain while he was blasted to the edge of the ring, with the sound of several of his ribs cracked. Once he hits the wooden barrier, the barrier is smashed to pieces, and Jojo smashes through it and then crashes onto the floor, bloodied, unable to move. He was weakened to the point that he could not even move his arms in that dazed, severe state. He could hear the bell ring, announcing his defeat. The crowd cheered his opponent and booed him. Some of them even splashed their drink at him, treating him as a lower lifeform instead of a human. Then, he could hear footsteps echoing towards him.
"We're done here," his opponent states condescendingly.
"I'm glad we finished this before lunch," he chuckles.
After that, he could see his opponent walking away, but immediately, he grabbed his opponent's leg, stopping him from leaving.
"Wait!" Jojo states.
The opponent did not speak and remained silent.
"I said that this was the showdown-."
"-We fight until the very end!" Jojo declares as he desperately pushes himself to stand back up.
"You mean until one of us dies?"
"…"
"Huh, not happening," the opponent answers.
"Stop trying to act like a grown-up! You're still 13," he adds.
This statement enraged him. Jojo's eyes zeroed on his opponent, filled with rage. Despite his vision still blurry, he could pinpoint his opponent's eyes as he looked at him, filled with hate.
"What did you say?!" Jojo groans.
"You are being illogical. I have no more reason to fight you. It is by my blessing that I joined you in this…act of petulance," his opponent answers.
"I have no obligation to finish you," he adds.
"I have a reason. I hate you!" Jojo hisses.
"That's not reason. That's pure human instinct."
"You're just a shadow, not a fighter. I don't recognize you as a fighter, and so do the others," the opponent adds, pointing his hand at a group of aristocrats sitting from a balcony above the crowd.
Although he could not see, Jojo could feel the group's disgust, which further infuriated him. No, it was one of the reasons he agreed to this fight despite the odds against him.
"I don't feel like being burdened with taking the life of someone who is not a fighter," his opponent states before punching Jojo in the face.
Jojo was knocked to the floor, and his vision slowly faded.
"Once you finished this immature act, come home for dinner, little brother…"
* * * * *
"Wonderful. Just wonderful…," Roland smiles.
"W-what is happening?" the commentator stammers.
"…Can't...break…free…," Jojo puffs.
"…Ah, he's already at it again, and it is a kid this time," Pearl pouts.
There, among the silent crowd, Jojo is seemingly levitating mid-air or instead gripped. His body looked like it was getting crushed as he struggled to break free. Meanwhile, his opponent had his arm raised, with his fists gripped. He even moved his arm from left to right, and Jojo levitated the same way, from left to right.
"…T-T-Telekinesis?" Reverend Isaac mutters, shocked.
"Tch. He's trying to end this season the same way as last," Owen utters, a bit displeased.
"What'd you expect? Remember that you took his job away from him?" Hawke joked.
"Well, I'll give you that one."
"Compared to your nephew…"
"That Homo Ferox hasn't even changed a bit, even when he joined us," Hawke states.
Meanwhile, at the ring, the jester is sadistically smiling as Jojo struggles to break free from his telekinetic grip.
"W-Why?" Jojo utters as he struggles.
"Hmm?"
"Why didn't you just…kill me back then?" Jojo asks, looking at Roland.
For some reason, Roland sighs once he hears that. It is as if he had been bored hearing that word repeated over and over again. However, when Roland looks at Jojo's eyes, he is surprised to see not despair…but rage — rage and determination — in Jojo's eyes.
…..
One year earlier…
As the crowd disperses, Jojo's brother stops in front of Jojo. He had already changed back to his regular clothes. There, he stands, looking down on his little brother.
"W-Why?"
"Why do you keep saving me?" Jojo asks, lying on the ground.
"I wouldn't say I saved you. I prevented the family from grieving unnecessarily-."
Jojo clicks his tongue in irritation as he stands up to face his older brother.
"Joseph, I hate you! I hate our family!" Jojo yells.
"-And you know it!"
"So why do you all always follow me everywhere?" Jojo asks, enraged.
Jojo then falls to his knees, still in pain after his fight with Joseph. Joseph chuckles as he walks and approaches the door. He holds the door open and looks at his brother one last time before stepping out. Their eyes meet, and he answers;
"-Because…"
"You're the weakest of us," he stated simply without empathy. He walked out of the room, leaving Jojo there in pain, alone.
Once he does, Jojo punches the floor. He punches and punches until his knuckles are bleeding.
"…The hell I am!" Jojo screams at the top of his head.
"Everyone dumps their pity on me!"
"They have no idea how much it hurts!"
"It's like stomping on an open wound!"
* * * * *
In present time…
"They'll be no mercy from me!" Jojo states inside his head.
"-I don't care if they're strong…"
"Or weak…"
"Or a kid younger than me…"
"Or a mindless beast…"
"I'll kill them all!"
"So that they will not stand back up again!"
"I'll be…"
"I AM THE STRONGEST!" Jojo screams inside his head.
"…"
"Because look at where you are standing now," Roland says, breaking Jojo's silence while answering his previous question.
"…"
"…"
Jojo instantly stopped screaming and looked at Roland, puzzled. Without even realizing it, Solaris was already there, standing outside the ring with her flames fully lit. Some guards were trying to prevent her from passing through, but without a scrap of empathy, she burned their legs. Although all the guards survived the attack, none dared confront her, despite the crowd shouting and screaming at them, specifically at Solaris.
"You've made incredible progress, but you still lack experience," Roland adds, acknowledging the strength Jojo had gained compared to when they clashed in the previous Homeland Examination.
"…Add another year, and you should stand a better chance."
"If we're here, at least," Roland smiles.
"Therefore, after this, I will not fight you here again," he adds.
Roland chuckles alone and brushes it off.
"Okay, that's enough talk."
"Let us prepare for battle…"
"Although I could easily crush you into bits right now," Roland states, gripping his fists tighter.
Jojo groans in pain, attempting to endure it until he can escape. However, he continues looking at Roland, who is filled with determination and without hesitance.
"Huh…" Jojo smiles.
"…"
"I give up," Jojo announces, loud enough for everyone to hear.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
Once, he said that the next three seconds were filled with silence, and everyone's faces were filled with the same expression, including Solaris's and Roland's.
"…"
"Hmm?" Roland mumbles, slightly puzzled.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Jester Roland," Jojo looks him straight in the eye.
"…With all my strength now, I cannot defeat you. Not yet," he adds.
"So, I'll train harder and win more battles, and I will…"
"…Beat you!" Jojo declares, even in his captive state.
The crowd is booing Jojo, disappointed by the lack of a climactic battle. Meanwhile, Roland is just looking at him. He smiles despite being surprised by Jojo's admission of defeat.
"Good…," he praises in his head.
"You're so good…"
"Those eyes."
"That look."
"That spirit…!"
Roland releases Jojo from his telekinetic grip and lands on the ground. He grips his chest, trying his best to lessen the pain, but he is smiling for some reason. This surprises Solaris; instinctively, she even smiles before realizing it. For the first time since she met Jojo, she sees a smile brighter than the last time Jojo smiled. She feels pride and joy but also…sadness.
"I'm glad you have made a wise decision, Joe Johannesburg," Roland praises as he walks away from the ring.
Jojo was about to fall, but Solaris quickly grabbed him. However, despite seeing her smile before, that smile was overshadowed by the presence…of tears. Tears rolling down Solaris's cheeks and falling on his face made him feel…regret. Despite this, she put her arm under his knee and cradled him, carrying him away from the ring. The cheering and booing seem to have stopped for some reason, as the crowd is enveloped in silence as the pyromancer carries Jojo to the exit.
"Solaris…I'm…" Jojo wheezes, trying his best to arrange the words.
His body seems to have given up on moving, probably because the endorphins pumping from his system have already calmed down. He could even barely speak properly.
"We can save that for later, Jojo," Solaris answers worriedly.
When Jojo heard that, he felt guiltier than before but also felt…relieved.
"Look at you, even when you cannot outfight your opponent…"
"You're still determined more than ever…"
"What a fool," Solaris teases, trying her best to cover her worry through that joke.
"Jojo…" Solaris weakly calls him.
Jojo turns his eyes to Solaris; this time, he can see her worried expression.
"If you do that again, I think I'll flip…"
"My heart can't take it anymore," she states.
"…"
Then, after 2 minutes of silence, the referee finally raised his hand and announced,
"The victor is Roland!"