"One day... you'll be better..."
...
Set's right arm rises, his amber eyes locked on Vincent whilst the painter was soaking his paintbrush with paint from his palette. A maniacal grin forms as Set brought his arm down, his fingers making contact with his guitar's strings, thus creating a rift that blasted into everyone's ears.
"Better fucking hide, bozo! Run! Thrash! Flee!" Set laughs madly as he begins playing his instrument, making the deities cheer as his music pumps them up even more.
A sandstorm that engulfs the entire arena prevents humanity from seeing what is happening but the deities have no such problems. Vincent, on the other hand, watches as sand around them shake violently before rising and forming spears that launch themselves towards him.
"It is quite good that our partnership allows me to have better capabilities, Miss Reginleif," Vincent utters as his brush, Reginleif, goes to work.
Black and violet paint circulates around Vincent as his hand does its best to react quickly to the incoming attack, and milliseconds later, his paintings are done.
"Bring forth life, Reginleif!" Vincent laughs warmly, his eyes glimmering with satisfaction and adoration as his paintings start glowing along with his brush.
Dark arms with purple markings manifest from the paint in the air and rush to grab the incoming spears of sand before swiftly chucking it towards Set's general direction, with Vincent basing it on the sound of the god's instrument.
Set who was just toying with Vincent, sees the incoming spears, making him scoff before another rift makes the spears redirect back to Vincent.
The spears whistle through the air and Vincent merely chuckles as his painted arms do the same thing, grabbing the spears once again but this time, the arms now holding the spears rush towards Set.
"Nah, fuck this," Set clicks his tongue before various of weapons form from the sand around him. "Dodge this, you colorful bastard!" Set cackles madly as the weapons fly towards Vincent.
Then, another rift resonates as the spears turn to sand once again before engulfing the arms and crushing them, making paint dribble down the crevices of the uneven spheres of sand.
"Vincent!" Reginleif's voice manifests, a worried tone present which Vincent acknowledges immediately. "A myriad of weapons, all around you!"
"How troublesome, indeed it is," Vincent whispers, nodding before painting blades of energy into life and sending them toward the weapons in quick succession. "There's too many!" The painter shouts.
Vincent has no choice but to try and dodge some of the thrown weapons but he is a painter, not a warrior.
"Curses!" Vincent grunts, his hand still trying to paint whilst dodging the weapons flung at him from all directions.
In his busy state, a blade made it through his focus and cut his right blue sleeve, leaving a laceration on his arm, thus making Vincent growl under his breath.
Seeing that there is no way to finish his painting, he instead painted a black circle on the ground below him before using Reginleif's power to give it properties.
Set, who is just jamming and enjoying his music and the chaos he is creating in the arena, suddenly feels that Vincent's presence leaves the arena. This prompted the god to disperse the weapons of sand, along with the sandstorm around them.
"After a game of 'hot potato' but with deadly weapons, it seems like Set sent endless amounts of weapons towards Vincent, drawing blood from the painter, but the artist seemed to vanish!" Heimdall narrates to keep humanity updated, knowing that they did not see the exchange unfold.
Set's eyes roam around, in search of Vincent, only to find the black circle on the ground with an unfinished painting floating above it.
Not a moment later, Set's vision is seeing the ground as a sharp pain strikes the back of his head.
"Is that what I think it is?!" Heimdall roars, getting everyone's attention for good measure. "Vincent has the power to create portals! What else can this man do?!"
A similar black circle has opened behind Set, it was instantaneous to the point that the chaotic god did not perceive it quick enough. Out of it came Vincent, his left heel drilling onto the god's nape, his legs now donning metallic armor which made his strike more painful for Set.
The painter landed behind the god, immediately leaving the black portal there as he painted another one beside him before going in it and jumping out of the first portal, away from Set.
This gives Vincent enough breathing room to formulate a new plan.
'I simply cannot fight this one head on. I will surely die if he takes this to a face to face confrontation and I for a fact know that he has that ax not just for aesthetic purposes,' Vincent's thoughts run fast as his hand instinctively begins painting himself a full set of armor, one that is strong and will not impair his movement. 'Maybe I can use the portals even more... now there's an idea!'
Set growls as he picks himself up, his left arm gripping tightly his guitar as his amber eyes show a glint of malice in the form of a purplish aura rising out of them.
"How dare you interrupt my music-"
Set's offended growl was cut short as a black circle opens right in front of his.
The god acted quickly by stepping back and swinging his guitar upwards, completely shattering the crystalline spike that emerges from the portal.
After its destruction, Set used the momentum of his swing to spin counterclockwise before grasping his guitar with both hands and slashing the portal in half, returning it into its liquid paint state.
"I hate it when people fucking cuts me off!" Set roars loudly before creating a guitar rift that shook the space around them. "Congratulations, you fucking sorry excuse for an artist! Here's your fucking prize for that stunt!"
Vincent hears everything but his paintings are completed and he only needs to activate them.
The dutchman feels something and he looks down to see sand encasing his legs, making him unable to move as they try and crush his lower limbs.
The armor helped slow down the process as they creak under the pressure, giving Vincent enough time to counter.
"Fuck, fuck! You and your annoying fucking portals!" Set curses as dozens of portals open around him.
The Egyptian god has to abandon crushing Vincent's legs in favor of protecting himself from the different types of elements that came out of the portals.
Wind, fire, water, earth, vines, and many more came out of each portal but they were ineffective against the force of Set's music as they were blasted away, their specific portals breaking as the soundwaves brought them back to paint.
As the music goes on, Vincent blinks and steps back as he sees Set is in front of him in an instant but upon hearing that the sound was farther away, "Hallucinations...?" Vincent frowns as he watches the real Set grin at him from a distance.
"Is the music too hard for your tiny brain and weak ass soul to handle?!" Set cackles, now walking forward with his guitar still playing. "I saw that reaction! You're seeing stuff now, eh?! Fucker didn't even last three minutes!"
'It is true... I cannot resist such power for I am simply not strong enough. I am nothing but a failure of a painter, never was a fighter,' the thoughts linger in Vincent's mind. 'But right now, I fight!'
Vincent watches as the hallucination of Set rushes at him with the guitar ax raised high.
The clang of metal scraping together is unpleasant to the ears of many as the real Set phases through the hallucination and swings his ax from the right.
Vincent, who paid attention, raised his armored arm and blocked the attack but Set is stronger than him physically and thus sends him flying to the edge of the arena.
As the painter sails through the air, he flicks his paintbrush and paints a portal behind him, opening a portal behind Set.
The god of chaos takes a full body hit from the back as Vincent crashes onto him, but Set swiftly creates a rift that blasts Vincent back.
The soundwaves rattle Vincent's insides, making the painter cough up blood as he sails through the air once more.
Set turns around and sees Vincent airborne and so he plays his instrument, summoning a twister of sand — a dust devil of terrifying size that towers over the coliseum.
Seeing this through the brewing sandstorm, Vincent clicks his tongue and paints another portal.
Set, seeing this happen, turns around in anticipation only to find himself falling as a portal opens underneath him.
Vincent's flying figure collides with the rockstar god's legs, making Set wince as the force makes the bones in his lower body creak.
This sent them flying up in the air, interrupting Set's music once more and making the arena settle down.
"You fucking waste of space!" Set curses at Vincent who smiles sadly.
"I know," Vincent gives a sad chuckle before pointing his brush, Reginleif, at Set who growls. "But today, I fight! And thus you must fall!"
Paint erupts from the brush, changing into energy that shoots towards Set with unprecedented speed, akin to a laser.
The laser is strong, but Set is faster to react as he plays a tune, manipulating sand to move himself out of harm's way before rushing at the airborne Vincent.
With a frown, Vincent paints once more and the soles of his armored feet shoot out energy, making him fly out of Set's way.
The god is quick to react as he maneuvers around to chase Vincent, a maniacal grin blooming from Set's face, a manic glint present in his amber orbs.
"Whatever you fucking create will return to oblivion! It's futile resistance!" Set roars, ax already positioned and ready to swing at Vincent who is only a few meters away.
"Perhaps," Vincent nods in acknowledgement.
Without missing a bit, quick flicks of the wrist brought massive magic into the arena in the shape of a white tiger with black stripes, rushing towards Set upon creation and giving the god little to no time to react.
"DAMN IT!" Set curses as he strums his guitar in a fit of rage.
Sand encases him and solidifies into a cocoon as Vincent's attack rams itself with full force, sending Set crashing down the arena.
Bits and pieces of his protective cocoon fell onto the ground, revealing an angered Set, brandishing his ax.
"No one is fucking better than me... No one! This means nothing!" The god of chaos roars in defiance as he runs towards Vincent.
Set leaps, cracking the ground beneath him as he grips his weapon with two hands and raises it over his head.
Seeing this, Vincent sighs as he paints a set of gigantic dark purple hands beside him which caught Set's weapon and suspends the god in the air.
"I've stumbled through days," Vincent starts. "My head hung low and I was afraid to look at the sky, fearing it was the same shade of gray."
"What the fuck are you onto?!" Set spits at Vincent's face, but the painter merely brushes it away.
The hands swing up before throwing Set down, creating a small crater that did nothing to the god.
Set stands up and uses his ax to block one of the hands from punching his body into the ground before plucking a string and making the hand coming from behind him explode into black and purple paint, sand mixing with the liquid.
Vincent, using his boots, maneuvers around Set, sending long range attacks but Set is quick to close their distance.
The god of chaos finally grabs Vincent out of the air before slamming the painter onto the ground, drawing blood from Vincent's mouth.
The dutchman did not waver though as he paints more whilst down.
Set frowns as a box manifested below him, obscuring his vision of Vincent, and thus he raises his ax and brings it down only for the lid of the box to open, sending confetti straight to his eyes.
A boxing glove springs into life and knocks out Set's ax out of his hands, sending it flying to the gates of the deities.
"But then I picked up a paintbrush, and it flipped a switch and brightened up my darkest days," Vincent grunts as he rises from his position, placing the box gently next to him. "Life seemed to want me to experience darkness, but through a paintbrush and palette, I made my clouded days into delightful ones," he goes on, only to click his tongue. "But all of that was only through paintings, as if paint and some brush can change my life."
Set glares at Vincent, his eyes shifting momentarily towards his ax only to spit and rush towards the human, sand trapping his ax as it flies towards him.
"You're making no fucking sense!" Set snarls as sand rises, but this time, it was wilder.
The raging sandstorm threatens to encase Vincent, he feels each grain of sand pressing onto his body in an attempt to crush him, making him chuckle.
"But that was the past, I'm better now," Vincent smiles sadly as his hand moves once again. "Now, I can see some of those bright days manifest. Maybe I'll see them all if I were to survive. But for now, they shall come alive!"
A bow and arrow manifests even as sand tries to break them apart.
An arrow with a dripping tip, laced with a liquid that glows faintly with a hue of darkened scarlet.
The wooden bow creaks as the string pulls itself back before letting the arrow whistle through the air and strike the rash god.
The arrow pierces Set's left bicep and the god's entire being goes on overdrive upon realizing what is happening.
'Hydra blood?!' Set's mind races as his entire arm goes limp and he feels it creeping up to his shoulders. 'Fuck this! This bastard is definitely dying for this!'
Without hesitation, in order to save himself, Set grips his left arm before gritting his teeth.
Blood spurts out as he pulls his left arm clean off his shoulder, making Set grunt and growl as the sandstorm settles down.
Angered ambers stared down at Vincent who was making distance, his lone arm shaking in anger, his teeth threatening to shatter as he grits them forcefully.
"That's... that was the poisonous blood of hydra!" Heimdall says, shaken by the fact that Vincent can create it out of thin air. "One wrong move and Set lost his arm through Vincent's incredible use of his artistic skills! How the tables have turned with this one! What else can humanity's fighter do with his weapon?! Does the possibility ever end?!"
Hearing Heimdall's words, humanity cheers loudly, completely shutting the deities who glared at Set for letting such a thing happen to himself. Whilst they are cheering, Vincent, on the other hand, chokes on a sob.
"If only good things last, but they do not. I'm sorry, Miss Reginleif," the man stops a sob as he watches Reginleif manifest in front of him.
What is left of her, to be specific.
Bits and pieces of Reginleif's feet are missing and only those so far, but if one were to look at her face, her right eye is now a hollow socket after the last stunt Vincent pulled.
"It's okay, Vincent, don't be a dummy," Reginleif comforts the painter, a smile forming on her lips. "I signed up for this, I know the risks. An eye for his arm? That's a good trade. No matter how much of me gets sacrificed for you to bring out anything, I give you consent. We aim to win, never to hesitate."
...
"Finally, Vincent went for a risk! And it paid off!" Freya cheers from the platform whilst hugging Göll and spinning the little sister around. "Our little painter used Set's rash behavior against the god! Now he's an arm down!"
"Don't you think it's too early for a celebration, sister Freya?" Brunhilde chimes in from the railings, her eyes glued on the arena as Set lets Reginleif and Vincent talk whilst he uses sand to recall his ax once more. "Set hasn't pulled any of his trump cards yet, and they are more devastating than anything that Vincent can create."
Hearing Brunhilde's words, Freya frowns before dropping Göll who yelps upon release.
"Yes, I am aware of Set's trump cards but without an extra arm, he will have a hard time playing his guitar to control his power more precisely," Freya says, now standing beside Brunhilde who scoffs.
"One arm made out of sand is enough to neutralize the damage Vincent created. Set just needs to never stop playing and it looks like he's doing it now," Brunhilde points at Set who does begin playing his guitar with one hand.
Freya watches as Set uses sand to form another arm, his hands now never stopping from playing as a sandstorm brews once more.
"Yes, I know that, but Vincent completely shuts off most face to face combat. If Set fights with his ax, he wouldn't be able to play enough to concentrate on his abilities. This means Vincent can play now using long range attacks or overwhelm Set in face to face confrontation because of the disadvantage now."
"Hmm, good point," Brunhilde chuckles. "But I think Set doesn't mind fighting in long range. It's more his forte if we're being honest here," the second in command adds.
"Good point as well," Freya hums, patting Göll's shoulder when the youngest walks and stands beside her. "I guess we just need to hope that Vincent exploits face to face confrontations from now on."
"He will," Göll enters the conversation, surprising Freya with the confidence Göll just gave. "Sister Reginleif knows this and will advise mister Vincent."
"Wow, we're making points now," Freya giggles before sighing, arms now over her sisters shoulders.
They stayed quiet after that, their eyes surveying the battlefield below.
...
"Imbecile," Jupiter scoffs, not amused at Set's lack of awareness. "I saw that coming before the arrow was even shot. That rabid god was too rash with his decisions."
"He's paying for it, is he not?" Amaterasu giggles, eyes now watching another scene unfold before them as the raging sandstorm starts reaching a size that engulfs the entire coliseum. "He is quite angry, he's blocking everyone's view. That's not too nice."
"What do you really expect from them?" Loki chuckles, floating in a relaxed position just over the railings. "Those two idiots are different sides of the same coin. Both of them are clowns in their own rights. Both of them are delusional. I wouldn't be surprised if they end up in a draw."
"Set requires discipline," the Jade Emperor sighs, arms resting on his staff as his eyes oversee everything that is happening inside the sandstorm. "He lacks it, almost abysmal. That will be his downfall if it continues."
"Why say 'if' when we all know it will happen anyways?" Huginn laughs, holding for his dear life as the sandstorm threatens to take him away from Odin's shoulder.
"That idiot would not change the way he acts just because of something," Muninn shouts, in a similar situation just like Huginn.
Horus, who decided to stay, heard the words of those around him. His arms are crossed, a frown present on his chiseled face.
'They couldn't be more wrong,' Horus says inside his mind, eyes locked as Set begins playing his chords faster and wilder. 'Set is a god of chaos, never to remain the same. He lives to destroy balance and the norms, including himself.'
...
"Sharp twelve o'clock! Rush at him! He can't stop playing so use this opportunity!" Reginleif informs.
Vincent nods, paintbrush flicking and painting himself a pair of goggles and a mask before sending himself forward using his boots. The two massive hands follow suit, leaving purplish trails of smoke that dies against the raging winds.
"Sand constructs are above! Move faster!" Reginleif gives a warning and Vincent heeds it.
His boots let out a huge amount of energy which propels him forward with greater force and speed.
Enormous swords of sand, reaching twenty meters in height imbed themselves deep into the ground, missing Vincent by the skin of his teeth.
One after another, blades of massive sizes kept on falling, following Vincent as he advanced with great speed.
Upon reaching a distance, Vincent paints a blade connected to his right heel before changing position, using the inertia as he plans to impale Set using the blade on his heel.
The blade strikes its mark, making Vincent let out a sigh of relief but Reginleif screams.
"Out of the way! Boost out!" She warns with a panicked tone.
Heeding the warning once more, Vincent grunts as his boots propel him away as what he thought was Set turned into sand and tried crushing his leg.
"I sense him everywhere!" Reginleif announces with a growl. "He is messing with our perception! I sense..." Reginleif's voice shook at the end, "...hints of Chaos! Everywhere!"
"May I request you to explain to me what that means, Miss Reginleif?!" Vincent shouts due to the loud sound of music and the raging sandstorm along with the muffling of his mask.
"Chaos is one of the building blocks of reality itself! One of the elements that brought the primal deities into life!" Reginleif's astral form floats behind Vincent, a troubled expression etching its way as each second passes. "He is currently using small amounts of it to mess with our perception! Chaos can decimate any normal beings even in its simplest and rawest form! It's currently distorting our senses, so, brace yourself for more of it!"
"How would I brace for something like that?!" Vincent asks in a troubled tone. "I cannot simply paint immunity! It needs to be physical, I know you're aware of that!"
"I know! That's why you must prepare yourself for this because it will destroy our senses — shift to the right!" Reginleif shouts in a worried tone.
As Vincent shifts to the right, a lance made out of sand impales his abdomen and sends him flying before pinning him into a wall.
"Vincent!" Reginleif panics. "I'm sorry!" She cries out. "Quick, remove the lance and paint your abdomen back!"
"B-but it will-"
"I don't care if it takes away parts of me! You need to live and win this!" Reginleif shouts at Vincent without backing down.
"Fine," Vincent grumbles as the hands beside him pull out the lance, making him curse in pain.
His wrist flicks once again, restoring his abdomen as Reginleif's entire left hand's pinky shatters in an instant, making the valkyrie wince in pain.
"Apologies-"
"Attacks! Everywhere! Don't trust my word, they may be incorrect! Follow your instincts!" Reginleif shouts.
Not knowing what to do, Vincent grunts before painting more hands before using all of them as shields from any incoming attacks.
Bits and pieces of Reginleif's feet shatter upon painting ten more hands, but it was worth it for Reginleif as they begin doing their jobs.
One by one, the hand caught different sand constructs, crushing them swiftly before moving onto the next one before repeating the cycle.
Vincent, now protected, moves towards the center of the arena or at least its general direction in an attempt to locate Set.
"Under!"
"Curses!" Vincent gasps as a giant spike of sand nearly impales his skull through his chin. If he were a second lacking, he would have been killed.
The two fighters of humanity felt their surrounding quake as spikes began protruding out of the ground, attempting to skewer Vincent.
With distorted senses, Vincent is having a difficult time keeping up and dodging every single spike that threatened to end him.
"He's attacking from every direction! You need more protection!" Reginleif announces as a pyramid of sand comes down from above them.
"Sorry for this!"
"Go for it!"
Grunting as the hands around him protect him from incoming projectiles, Vincent paints and then manifests a towering vacuum cleaner, its height surpassing the coliseum.
The equipment blocks the sand pyramid and it the sand shatters upon the impact against metal. Soon, the vacuum cleaner was positioned above the entire arena, making the deities laugh at the attempt only for the equipment to immediately turn on.
The suction was strong but not strong enough to pick out humans but it was enough to eliminate the raging sandstorm and the sand around Vincent.
The dutchman looks at Reginleif, the valkyrie now without half her right foot. Seeing this, she merely smiles at Vincent and gives him a thumbs up which he returns with a small laugh, mouthing an apology that Reginleif waves off.
...
Set seethed, his hands still playing as sand keeps on manifesting around them, only for it to be taken away.
He sees the gazes of everyone and it makes him seethe even more.
'Never again...' The thought echoes inside Set's mind.
The god watches as Vincent rushes at him, paintbrush ready along with the dozen of giant hands.
'Never again... You promised yourself... Never again would anyone look down on you... You are better than them... Better than anyone here...' The echoes became louder as Set's mind races.
Set's eyes would bore holes into Vincent if they could, but for now, they watch as Vincent strikes air along with his hands.
The hallucinations that Set has given Vincent is distracting the painter and keeping him away from Set, but Set felt nothing about it.
'Look at their gazes... Disappointment... Disgust... If it were Osiris here, they would've cheered even if he fucks it up... That god...' Set's eye twitched, his forked tail whipping the ground and breaking a chunk of it. 'You promised to yourself to never experience those gazes again and yet here you fucking are, dumbass... You will never live in someone's shadow again... NEVER!'
A snarl escapes Set's throat, memories of the past flooding his mind as his anger rises.
'BREAK THE NORM! DISTORT IT! DESTROY IT! BE CHAOTIC, YOU FUCKING ANIMAL! LET THEM SEE THAT YOU DESERVE TO BE RECOGNIZED!'
Set takes a step towards Vincent who is still fighting hallucinations.
One step taken, and then another.
"And Set finally rushes in even though he can't stop his music! Unpredictable as always!" Heimdall roars with excitement.
The god of chaos never realized he was rushing at Vincent but he saw the man catch on and see the god.
'BREAK THE NORM, YOU FUCKER! BREAK THEIR EXPECTATIONS! BREAK THEIR SPIRITS TO NEVER DOUBT YOU AGAIN! DON'T FUCKING LET THEM SHUN YOU AGAIN! NEVER AGAIN! YOU'RE BETTER!'
Set gives an animalistic roar, his voice turning into a cacophony of animal sounds which sends shivers down Vincent spines.
'REMEMBER YOU'RE FUCKING PROMISE TO YOURSELF!'
And with that final thought, Set bashes his body, shattering the hands that tried to stop him.
Soon enough, he finds himself face to face with a frowning Vincent but he merely roars.
His fingers switched chords as the entire arena shook violently, the vacuum cleaner above them twisting into a misshapen form until it was no longer usable. The sky became painted dark violet as dark smoke rises from the ground, walls, everywhere. The space around them seemed to ripple, vibrating violently as their surroundings twist, distort, and sometimes disappear entirely.
"Everyone! Hold on tight! I'm bringing you further out!" Heimdall shouts, panicking as he uses his powers to move the seats and platforms away from the arena. "Set is using Chaos! A lot of it! Brace yourselves for side effects such as hallucinations or worst case scenario, getting twisted, distorted, and reduced to nothingness!"
Vincent raises both hands to block Set who rams his head onto the painter's arms, shaking them violently.
'WHAT WAS YOUR FUCKING PROMISE?! WHAT THE FUCK WAS IT, YOU FUCKING ANIMAL?!'
Set raises his head, his amber eyes locking with Vincent's for a second as his fingers play a rift that blasts the painter away.
He then rushed at Vincent without any wasted time, his voice haunting the ears of those who heard him through all the Chaos.
"ONE DAY! YOU'LL BE FUCKING BETTER!"
{•===To Be Continued===•}
Hello there! I love Vincent and Set as characters. They are my current love children and the ideas just kept on flowing until it finally manifested into words. I like how this chapter turned out.
I've shown bits and pieces of what is going on with my love children and that is what matters to me the most.
Thoughts? Feedback keeps me going!