Death's Lover

"Hahh" Tai let out a melancholic sigh as the repetition of his burdensome and mundane office life washed over him. He had always wished to be a fighter, and the best of them at that. But with his terrible luck, that passion could only stay a wish.

"Ah, Tai isn't your shift over, what are you still doing here?" A small female co-worker in the cubical next to Tai inquired.

"Huh? Damn..... didn't even realize." Tai muttered quietly.

"Sorry, what was that?" The women asked.

"Ah! Nothing. I was just zoning out y'know, thinking about what to eat when I got home." Tai said embarrassedly. As he chuckled and scratched at his head.

"Haha, okay then. Get home safe, and see you tomorrow." The woman chuckled and said, as she packed up her things to leave.

Tai gave her a nod as he began to do the same. Both had worked overtime to finish some project, as per requested by their superiors. And due to this, it was already getting quite late. Relief washed over Tai as his daily job was now finished, and he finally had some personal time.

As he left the building, Tai couldn't help but think of what he was going to eat for dinner. Though he had lied to his co-worker, telling her that he was thinking about what he was going to eat for dinner, he was actually thinking about his life's wasted potential. Though now, he had to face the actual dilemma of his daily third meal.

A grin soon appeared on Tai's face as an enjoyable meal came to mind.

'Some pizza and beer sounds good right about now.' Tai Thought inwardly. (This ' means mentally)

Many average city buildings, streets, citizens, and shops passed Tai's view as he strolled towards his favorite pizza joint. He lived in the outer part of the Aquatic Strafe city. Named after the city founders iconic technique. The inner part of the city was said to have an unparalleled beauty in the country of Yitiro, though the outer was considered quite average. But even though the outer part of the city was considered average in the Transcendent era, it would still be considered an architectural and technological marvel in humanities past.

As the beautiful city lights illuminated the streets, Tai's eyes shone as he walked could now see his favorite pizza place. He subconsciously quickened his pace. Entering the shop, a robot greeted him.

[Hello sir. What would you like to order?]

The robot greeted and asked in a woman's voice, as a slight sense of being unnatural could be heard in it.

Looking at the robots screen like face, Tai replied after deciding on his food "A small peperoni pizza with the hottest wings you got!" Tai said excitedly.

[Thank you for your order sir, that will be 65 Daggons]

Tai almost threw up a mouth full of blood when he heard that. Inflation had hit the outer city hard, and Tai only made an annual salary of 45,000 Daggons. Extending his wrist to the robot, Tai inwardly swore that he was going to make this an every other month thing.

[Ding! Thank you for your purchase sir, your food will be ready in 20 minutes. Is it to go?]

"Yes." Tai replied with a depressed expression. Using the access link in his wrist Tai looked on as his personal spending's account lost a little more.

As Tai waited, he decided to surf the Solar-Net. While waiting he watched videos of Ascender fighting and using their abilities. He was incredibly lucky to be born with the physique he had and with the opportunity that was supposed to come with it. He was an incredible fighter with an incredible talent and incredible body that gave him all the advantages in hand to hand combat. He was even incredibly handsome, donning short wavy black hair, smooth melanated skin, with sharp eyebrows, a sharp jawline, amethyst purple eyes, and a tall but lean build, standing at a rather big 6ft 4in, at only 22. Yet, due to his Chronicle blockage disease he was thrown into a life of mediocracy.

Chronicle energy is what gave Ascenders their abilities, and with Tai's Chronicle blockage disease, it didn't matter how talented he was, nor how hard he tried. He would never be able to manifest an ability. Chronicle blockage was an astronomically rare disease that only 13 people including Tai were ever recorded to have in the history of the Transcendent Era. Everyone else without this issue had manifested an ability, whether it was water conjuring or time control, everyone except those with Chronicle blockage disease had an ability.

Tai could only sigh and lament in envy as this thought faded from his mind.

[Ding your food is ready sir. Thank you for coming to Willi's Pizza, come again.] Said the women voiced robot as it stiffly waved goodbye to the now exiting Tai.

As Tai strolled towards his house, he couldn't help but feel an intense heat exuding from a nearby alleyway. His intuition told him that the mystery was better left unsolved, but his curiosity demanded an answer.

'Hear we go.' Tai thought inwardly as he entered the alleyway. The air was dry, and hard to breathe in. The surroundings were hot enough that Tai could feel the soles of his feet getting uncomfortably warm, and the lack of rodents and insects was enough to make Tai quickly turn to leave. Though just as he was about to leave, a disgusting voice that was reminiscent of finger nails screeching against a chalkboard sounded out.

"Hehe, since you're already here boy, why don't you stay!"

Hearing those words, Tai instantly turned around to see what looked like a mass of flame condensed into a ball quickly flying towards him. Realizing that due to the speed of the fire ball, he wouldn't have enough time to do a complete dodge, he deftly side stepped. Though he successfully dodged the majority of the attack, due to the intense heat of the fire, some of the skin on Tai's chest was burnt off.

"Ugh, what the fuck?! Who's there?!" Tai questioned, clutching at his chest as he felt the searing pain intensify.

"Huhu, you actually managed to dodge that boy? You're pretty good." Said the same disgusting and eerie voice.

"Why are you doing this? I don't have anything to give you!" Tai angerly said to a vague outline of a person within the darkness of the alley.

"No reason in particular, I just like killing weaklings." The man proclaimed.

His appearance was now visible due to the flames that coalesced around him. He had a scarred face with a sinister expression, black scraggily hair, a scrunched up nose, and an incredibly frail figure.

As Tai could now see the man, he started analyzing his opponent. He considered the mans weak frame and confirmed that if he was forced to fight, targeting his temple and liver would be a better option then grappling with the man, due to the mans superhuman strength and fire abilities. Though before he could consider any other option, the man raised his hands in a swift motion and swung them down. As he finished his actions, the fire emanating from and coalescing around him, turned into beams as they targeted Tai.

"Fuck!" Tai yelled.

There were too many projectiles to dodge, and the speed at which the flames were coming towards him was to fast to avoid by running out of the alley. With no other choice, Tai grabbed at a nearby metal sheet. He understood that the metal would quickly conduct the heat, which would burn his hands, but he considered that a better outcome then being burnt to death.

Tai lunged towards the sheet, grabbing it and guarding his body just as the beams fell upon him. Almost instantly, an unprecedented amount of pressure and pain assaulted his body. Nearly causing him to fall, Tai fought back as he was pinned in a crouching position. After what felt like an eternity, the flames subsided and Tai fell back.

"Haaaaaa....Haaaa, ughh." Tai Gasped and groaned from the pain as he got to his feet.

"What the fuck? The report said he had Chronicle blockage. What's up with this kid?" The vile man quietly muttered.

Without a word, Tai began to run at the man as fast as he could. Using all his strength, he leapt into a punch. Striking at the mans nose. The man however, looked on with brief surprise, before his face distorted into one of disdain.

"You, a cripple thinks they can defeat me?" The man sneered as he threw out a fire imbued punch.

Anticipating this reaction, Tai pulled back his punch and grabbed at the mans arm, elbowing it as the flames emanating off of the man burned Tai, breaking the mans arm.

"Ahhh, you little fuck, you're dead!" The man screamed in rage and pain as he pulled away from Tai.

Covering his unbroken arm in flames, the man threw a jab forward.

Seeing this, Tai turned, gazing at the mans missed punch, he side stepped towards him as the man struggled to regain his footing due to his undistributed momentum. It was evident that the man lacked close range combat skills. Turning to face the man once again, Tai threw out a dexterous jab with his right hand to the mans liver, then with his left, a critical hook to the mans temple. Due to his seared off nerves, Tai could not feel the pain to his hands when his punches connected with the man. But he could visibly see as his hands crumbled and broke apart when hitting the mans dense skin.

Never the less, the man fell to the floor unconscious. Tai, fueled by rage and adrenaline, grabbed at a loose metal pipe hanging off a wall. Managing to rip it off, though with a loose grip, as his smashed up hands struggled to close and his consciousness began to fade, he brought the pipe down on the mans head as hard as he could. The mans head caved in after a dozen hits, as a mass of silver energy left his body, and entered Tai's.

Instantly, a plethora of information assaulted Tai's already struggling brain, as he fell unconscious.