Weakness

The four fighters walked out of the room and into another, huge room. It had a large ring in the middle and a spot for six judges on the side, who eagerly awaited the battle.

"There's no doubt about it, you're the weakest out of us." Senko whispered to Ace.

"H-Huh? What are you talking about?" Ace responded, his eyes widening.

"You barely have any Core Energy, and to top it off, it feels like you have more than one Core, which means your Core is just so weak it's split into three."

'Ah, it seems he doesn't know I have multiple Cores.'

"Oh, really?"

"Don't worry though, if we're in a team together, we'll win." He smiles, issuing a thumbs up.

'Man, this guy is really up there when it comes to ego.'

"Yeah, sure!"

And so, the four enter the ring, staring one another down before the speakers once again sound out loudly.

"Ace and Senko versus Takeda and Taru."

'You've got to be fucking kidding me. You're pairing me up with mister "I'm him" here?'

"This'll be a piece of cake." Senko mutters out, stretching his joints.

Their opponents backed away to a corner as they began to plan out their attack.

Senko and Ace also backed away to a corner.

"Here's the plan, you stay behind me, I'll deal with them. Kay?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Ace shrugs.

'If he wants to get his ass beat, fine by me.'

"And….go!" The referee sounds out. Just as he did that, however….

"Switch." Senko sounded out as he pointed at Ace and Takeda.

Suddenly, they switched positions as Senko capitalized by slamming Takeda's face into the ropes, squeezing on it.

Ace, however, was caught just as surprised as Takeda.

'That asshole! Would've helped if he told me about this beforehand…'

However, Ace instinctively threw a punch forwards, which Taru dodged around as he struck his gut.

'Huh? What's going on…why can't I activate my Speed Core?'

Taru continued the offense on Ace, kicking him backwards onto the ropes.

'Come to think of it, I don't even know how to go back to that world…looks like I need to relax, but that's gonna be impossible in the middle of a fight…'

"Fight back!" Senko shouted out to Ace.

'Seriously? HE's telling me to fight back?'

"It would've helped if you told me about this beforehand!" Ace yelled back, as he blocked Taru's attacks.

'This guy…he's strong. Like, really strong. How the hell is a single punch from him already weakening my guard?'

Ace jumped up, before aiming a kick down towards Taru. However, Taru swayed to the side and grabbed his legs, before flipping him around and tossing him towards Senko.

'He's really fucking strong!'

"Looks like you're strong." Ace commented, maintaining his outer calm demeanor.

"Could it be that your Core is super strength?"

Taru tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"What do you mean? That's the average strength of an E Grade hero…"

Ace's eyes widened. Is what he just said true?

"In fact, I'm the weakest one here. My Core just allows me to create toothpicks."

'Th-There's no way I'm that weak! I stopped that robbery!'

"However, the association still takes most heroes, since an E Grade hero is just as strong as a D Grade sorcerer, and could probably take on a C Grade too."

'Holy shit…I'm still weak?'

"Ah…my bad." Ace responded, his feet avoiding Senko and stepping on the ropes, which he used to rebound towards Taru.

'Shit, I'll lose really easily if I don't figure out why my Core isn't working right now…I need to think.'

"Come at me, then!" Taru taunted Ace.

'This isn't even a question anymore, I NEED TO GET STRONGER!'

'STRONGER, STRONGER, STRONGER!'

Ace let out a war cry as he dashed right towards Taru, sliding down the ring and rising up at Taru's side, as he let his right fist collide directly with his Stomach, staggering Taru.

'So I'm WEAK, huh? WEAK? NO, FUCK THAT!'

"HRAAAAH!"

Ace continued by raising his left fist to Taru's face, aiming to strike him with all he had.

"....That's it?" Taru asked, effortlessly blocking the left fist from his face.

"Are you really that weak?" Taru continued.

'Weak? No, I'm not weak!'

"Heh, I'm just holding back." Ace lied in order to save face.

"That's not gonna get you anywhere. I want you to go all out!"

But suddenly, just as they were clashing with Ace on the losing end, the roof exploded as a single human floated down the falling debris.

"An exhibition between heroes?" The person commented, their cloak flying along the wind.

'Who's that?' Ace paused as he looked above. All the heroes followed suit.

"All four of you are weaklings. Though, I'd expect nothing less from rookies."

The man floated down to the middle of the ring. Just then, the speakers blared out as the judges ran out of the room.

"Heroes, you must escape now! This is an S Grade Sorcerer!"

'A-An S Grade? What the fuck?'

"S-Grade, huh?" Ace said, maintaining his outer calm demeanor despite fearing everything inside.

"We can take him." Senko comments, a grin growing on his face.

"Originally, rookies like you weren't my goal, but…I guess I could spare a minute."

The man opens his phone, sets a timer for one minute, and stretches.

"I'll give you one minute."

'If he's that confident, then we stand no chance!'

"One minute…" Ace spoke out.

"Hah, I only need a single second." Ace spoke out as he pointed at the S-Grade and Takeda, the nearest between them.

"Switch." Senko spoke out.

But…something was wrong. The S Grade remained in his place.

"Your Core won't work on me, boy. I'm leagues above you."

Senko's eyes widened at seeing his ability fail.

"The strength difference…it's huge…" Takeda commented.

"Thirty Seconds." The sorcerer stated his hands in his pockets.

'That bastard…I'll show him!' Ace thought to himself.

Suddenly, Ace sprinted directly towards the sorcerer, jumping into the air and pulling his fist back, aiming directly for his head.

"I'll take you down!"

But just as he lowered his fist, the exact moment he was about to connect his strike…

His arm disconnected with his body and fell to the floor, blood pouring out of Ace's arm like a fountain.

'My arm…'

Ace fell down to the ground, holding the hole in his arm, trying to stop blood from pouring out.

"Two…one." The man spoke.

"It seems you're already gonna die, no need to take care of you." He spoke to Ace, kicking him backwards. 

That weak kick sent him flying out of the ring and into the ground.

'Weak…that's right…I'm weak…' Ace thought to himself.

He used his other arm to bring himself to his knees, his mentality and fighting spirit destroyed.

He crawled back to the nearest wall, blood falling out of his arm at a drastic rate as he tried his best to stop it with his other arm.

'This death…dying like this…that's what I deserve for my weakness. Of course it is…'

He began to take quicker breaths, in and out.

'Weak…huh? Dying all alone, forgotten by everyone…'

"That's my fate." Ace spoke out with his rushed breaths.

'An S Grade…why did he come here…'

Ace's eyes widened further at the sight of the massacre ahead of him.

Taru had been dismantled into bits and pieces, his head ripped off his body.

Takeda had been struck directly through the heart, creating a large hole in his body.

Senko had all his bones annihilated, as Ace sat down, blood pooling out of his hand.

'Was it all a lie, then?'

'The promise of a better life…'

'It was all just bullshit.'

His vision began to fade away as his eyes blurred.

But just then…a light came. He felt a change in his body.

'What..What's this?'