A few moments passed as Nijimideru’s body was cleaned up and the announcer regained his bearings. After correcting his tie and fixing his face, the announcer once again spoke in his happy-go-lucky cadence, welcoming the next four contestants. “Will the next four fighters please step to the stage!”
“Looks like we’re up.” said Mania, looking at Novacaine who gave a simple nod before the two walked side by side to center stage. On the opposite end of the stage, there were two men. Unlike the twins that came before them, they wore costumes that concealed their identity, similar to Team New York.
One of them wore what appeared to be a strait jacket, his arms were tied across his own body and his face was covered in bandages as if he were a mummy. It was as if he and Mania were having a competition to see who could look the creepiest, though the audience would have surely given that award to the mummy in the strait jacket.
As for Japan’s second representative, he looked strikingly similar to Novacaine, wearing what was nearly an all-black, skin-tight suit. He lacked the tactical gear that Novacaine wore over his bodysuit, but to make up for it, there were yellow lines that converged from his limbs to the middle of his chest, connecting to the yellow symbol of a double-sided arrow. 'Awe man... This guy stole my look... Maybe I should change.' Novacaine thought.
“THIS ONE IS GOING TO BE HYYYYYPE!” the announcer’s voice exploded throughout the arena, compelling those watching to rise to their feet and cheer on the next victims of the bloodbath. “We have Mania, who holds the record for the FASTEST match in Hero X Villain Online Tournament history! And right beside him is the mysterious Novacaine, who we have yet to see in action!”
The crowd's roars caused the entire stadium to shake as if the Earth itself was experiencing a tremor. They were big fans of Mania after what he’d done to his first opponent. His ability was shrouded in such mystery and his costume design was quite appealing to fans. Mania, of course, couldn’t care less about his popularity, but he was unknowingly one of the favorites from Team New York. Of course, they were also excited to see what Novacaine had in store for them.
“And from Team Shibuya, we have Penance, who has yet to free his own arms from that strait jacket of his! And right next to him, we have Flipside! Just like Novacaine, he has yet to show us all his unique abilities! What do you guys think they are!?” the announcer held the microphone toward the audience as they began spewing out their own theories in an unintelligible manner.
Mania, with his arms folded as usual, stared directly at Penance from across the stage. What interested him was his name. ‘Penance.’ he thought. Mania chose his name because his powers originally caused those around him to become manic. ‘Reparation for wrong. That is the definition of penance. What exactly do you do?’
“Novacaine.” said Mania. Novacaine’s slouching posture corrected itself as he stood up straight and faced his partner without saying a word. “You can fight your doppelganger over there. Penance is mine.” Novacaine nodded three times before grabbing a knife from his utility belt and holding it in a reverse grip.
“Begin!” said the announcer. Immediately, Flipside and Novacaine dashed toward each other with the intent to kill. Flipside was completely unarmed, defending against Novacaine’s knifeplay with a textbook demonstration of martial arts. Novacaine was no pushover, his skills with knives, or any weapon really, were top-notch due to his military background. Though Novacaine was completely silent, it was evident by the way his brows were scrunching the upper half of his mask that he was growing frustrated. 'No fair... he's dodging all of my attacks... And his punches hurt... This sucks.'
Swift as a fox, Novacaine dropped to the ground and performed an effortless sweepkick, knocking his opponent on his back. Novacaine then stamped his boot onto Flipside’s chest and raised his knife high above his head. 'Awe man... That's it? This sucks...' His mask was similar to Tempo’s, having glowing, emotive eyes; though his eyes looked as if he were a few seconds from falling asleep. Like a boxer, Novacaine exhaled and began driving the knife toward his opponent’s throat!
However, Novacaine suddenly found himself with his back on the ground with Flipside's foot on his chest and the knife plunged into his throat. 'What... did he just swap our positions? This sucks...' Novacaine's assessment was correct. Flipside had the ability to switch places with anyone within a certain range, effectively becoming unkillable so long as he reacted fast enough to the attack.
'I guess it's a good thing I have a healing factor... heh.' Despite having a knife driven into his throat, Novacaine was still kicking. As the wound closed, the knife was spit back out. It was evident through Flipside's eyes, which were also part of his mask, that he was shocked. 'How many of these guys have healing factors!?' thought the body swapper.
Meanwhile, Mania and Penance were walking toward each other slowly. Mania’s hands were in his pockets while Penance’s remained tied across his own chest. Neither of them said a word until Mania was close enough to activate his checkmate ability. “Tell me, Penance. What is it that you fear!?”
However, Penance failed to show any sort of reaction to Mania's ability being activated, he simply tilted his head as a dog would in confusion. This confusion was feigned, as he knew exactly what he’d just done. Mania frowned beneath his mask, clenching his fists which were still hiding in his pockets.
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Mania blinked, and as if he were transported into another dimension, he found himself reliving a memory of his own past. ‘What the hell!?’ Mania, or rather, Thomas thought to himself as he looked down at his own body. He was then around ten years old, sitting at the dining table in his childhood home. His mother was there, sitting across the table with him reading one of her romance novels as the two shared breakfast together.
“Mom…” he whispered. She glanced up from the novel she was reading and smiled sweetly at him.
“Yes, honey?”
Hearing his mother’s voice nearly brought him to tears. It’d been so long, it was as if he’d awoken from a decade-and-a-half-long nightmare. “You’re alive!” Thomas’s voice was almost breathless. However, that light in his eyes, which wasn’t present within his adult self, began to fade when he heard the front door’s lock click.
“Maniaaaa.” His mother wore a distorted smile on her face as she spoke to her son, one that was impossibly large, showing every single tooth in her mouth. Her voice– it was completely unrecognizable and masculine. “What is it…” Upon hearing Mania’s own famous words being said to him, the child’s eyes widened, trembling in fear. “...that you fear.”
The thunderous sound of a boot striking the ground jolted the child, compelling both him and his mother to rear their heads toward the front door. A man was entering, one they both recognized as the man of the household and a monster.
It was Mania’s stepfather.
Like his mother, Thomas’s stepfather had a grotesque, nightmarish grin adorning his face. As he stepped toward them both, that grin somehow grew larger and he spoke the same words as Mania’s mother in the same unrecognizable, demonic voice. “What is it that you fear, Thomas!?”
His stepfather held a broken bottle in his hands, looking directly at Thomas’s mother as he continued stepping into the kitchen. “No! No!” Thomas got out of his chair and sprinted toward his stepfather. “Get away from her!” the child screamed as he began punching the man who towered over him. In reality, his stepfather was of average stature, but in this distorted version of how Mania saw his world, the man was over ten feet tall.
He could try all he wanted, but the child would never be able to prevent what was inevitable. Thomas’s inference, or lack thereof, had no effect on what was about to transpire. Every punch, kick, or grab was ignored and nullified as his stepfather stepped his way towards Thomas’s mother.
It wasn’t long before he’d reached the dining table, grabbing her by the hair and forcing her to face her son. The two of them still wore those distorted grins on their faces as the stepfather caressed her neck with the broken glass bottle. “What is it that you fear, Tommy.” Both his mother and stepfather spoke in unison as the boy gave one last attempt at saving his mother.
“No!” Thomas screamed, running down the hallway toward his mother and her killer. However, it seemed that every step elongated the hallway, bringing him further and further away from her. “What...” Thomas muttered, rearing his head to see that the end of the hallway was suddenly behind him. He began running in the opposite direction, this time closing in on his mother and her killer.
“Please, don’t!” Thomas reached out his hand, his fingertips were just mere inches away from his mother’s arm. However, before he could touch her, her throat was slit and he body faded into a cloud of black smoke
Thomas fell to his knees and shrieked so loudly, that the house began to tremble. However, his stepfather was unaffected, stepping toward the boy with the same weapon he used to kill his mother. “That’s right. I am what you fear. Isn’t that right, Thomas?”
His stepfather picked him up by the hair and lifted him off of the ground. Thomas’s feet hung and swayed beneath him as his stepfather then held the bottle up to his eyeball. “I’ve always hated the way you looked at me as if you were above me, you little shit! I’ll start by removing these ugly little eyes of yours.”
The bottle began inching its way toward Thomas’s trembling eye. The child was far too weak to overpower the man, all he could do was let nature take its course. “That’s right. Fear me.” his stepfather whispered, the bottle was an inch or two away from Thomas’s face.
“No.” Mania spoke. He blinked once again, and he was no longer that scared child he once was. He was Mania, the Harbinger of Fear itself. “I fear nothing. Not anymore. It’s about time I kill you a second time, 'Father'.”
Mania pulled a handgun from beneath his trenchcoat and shot his stepfather in the face. The moment the bullet made contact, Mania found himself back in the real world, seeing Novacaine standing over him, protecting him from both enemies. Novacaine’s own knife was plunged into his chest, as he looked back at Mania with pleading eyes, which transformed once Mania had regained consciousness. 'He's awake... yay... Please help me.' he thought.
Swiftly, Mania pulled the gun from his holster, aimed directly at Novacaine, and fired. He knew of Novacaine's abilities, they were training partners after all. They even discussed this exact strategy. 'Please don't... this is going to suck.' thought the mercenary in black as the bullet traveled through the barrel and then through Novacaine’s chest before going directly toward Penance’s forehead.
However, the bullet was then seen traveling through Novacaine’s skull instead as if it's just transferred from Penance's head to his. “What!?" Mania exclaimed, watching as Novacaine’s wound healed itself.
‘Penance.’ Mania thought once again. ‘Reparation for wrong. Any damage, physical or psychological, is returned to his enemy!’
This was Penance's power, returning whatever damage that was done to him back to the closest enemy. It was how Mania's own power was used against him, and how Mania's bullet was directed right back at Novacaine. Lucky for Mania, Novacaine was closer and took the hit.
Both members of Team New York were confident just moments prior, but that confidence was all but erased as they found themselves facing two formidable foes.