Chapter 26:The Final Part2
Recap]
"You see? Simple. Cause – I extend my arm. Effect – I hit."
One imitated the gesture, but clumsily, too stiff, too slow. His fist stopped mid-air.
The crowd snickered.
"— He doesn't even know how to throw a punch!
— Is this a joke?
— How did he make it to the final?!"
Kotobe clenched his teeth.
No. It's not possible. He's messing with me.
He charged again, attacking with new, desperate rage. His blows rained down, fast, precise, vicious.
One dodged them. Again. Always.
"HIT ME, DAMN IT!" Kotobe screamed. "HIT ME FOR REAL!"
One hesitated. He looked at his own fists. Then at Kotobe. Then at the crowd.
"…Okay."
He took the same stance Kotobe had shown him. Fist back. Arm extended.
He threw his straight right.
Clumsy. Slow. Almost ridiculous.
His fist stopped a few centimeters from Kotobe's face.
And then…
——
Kotobe didn't move.
He couldn't.
A blinding white light had just exploded before his eyes.
When it dissipated…
An empty lot. Tall grass. An orange sky.
And in front of him, a familiar silhouette.
Kanata.
His childhood friend. The one who had died. The one he was fighting for.
Kanata smiled at him, arms crossed, imitating Captain Man.
"What are you doing here?"
Kotobe tried to speak, but no sound came out.
Kanata approached, placed a hand on his shoulder.
"It's not over yet. You still have so much to accomplish."
His eyes were gentle, but firm.
"You'll join me one day. But not now."
He pushed him.
The white light returned, more violent than ever.
Kotobe blinked.
He was embedded in the stands.
His entire body screamed in pain. Blood flowed from his forehead, his nose, his lips. His arms, already broken, hung uselessly at his sides.
He looked at the arena, far below.
One was still there, motionless, watching him with a strange expression. Worried. Perplexed.
The crowd was silent.
One's punch had hit Kotobe in the chest, but within a centimeter.
Yet it had been enough to send Kotobe flying. One had thrown his first punch of the tournament, and it was devastating.
Kotobe spat blood and understood.
That day… I saw death.
The medics evacuated him on a stretcher. He didn't take his eyes off One for a single second.
I will never fight him again.
---
THAT WAS THE END OF THE FIGHT
The referee, after checking that Kotobe couldn't return, raised his hand.
— TECHNICAL K.O.! WINNER OF THE ACOLYTE TOURNAMENT… OOOOOONE!
The Dome exploded.
"ONE! ONE! ONE! ONE!"
But One didn't seem to hear. He looked at his hands, then at the hole in the stands where Kotobe had been thrown.
I won? Was this really what I wanted?
He shrugged and left the arena.
"I'm too hungry. I could really go for some lasagna today, hmm…"
Hands in his pockets, under the cheers of a delirious crowd.
---
AFTER THE MATCH – THE MEDIA STORM HAD BEGUN
For a few hours, One was the number one subject on all networks.
#OneChampion: 60M views.
#IncomprehensibleKO: 45M views.
#OneThePhenomenon: 40M views.
Then, at the end of the afternoon, a scoop exploded.
BLACK MONKEY, 14TH OF S-CLASS, SAVES HUNDREDS OF PASSENGERS FROM A TRAIN DERAILMENT.
Headlines changed overnight.
#BlackMonkeyHero: 70M views.
#HeroicRescue: 65M views.
One was forgotten within hours.
Then, the next day, a new earthquake.
THE S-CLASS RANKING HAS JUST BEEN UPDATED.
The lists exploded on every screen.
NEW OFFICIAL RANKING – S-CLASS:
N°1 – Zero (always, that will never change)
N°2 – Silver
N°3 – Angel
N°4 – Pink Buster
N°5 – Captain Man
N°6 – Shadow G
N°7 – Erasered
N°8 – Titan
N°9 – Mercy
N°10 – Iron-Tank
N°11 – Nano-Banana
N°12 – Black Monkey ⬆️ (rose thanks to his exploit)
N°13 – Joke ⬇️ (former N°12)
N°14 – Fire Blast ⬇️ (former N°13)
N°15 – Saskia
N°16 – Mecha Knight
N°17 – Sonic Ninja
N°18 – Beast
N°19 – Fast Track
The tournament, One, Kotobe – everything was swept away.
No one talked about the final anymore.
That was the hero industry. Today's champion, tomorrow's forgotten.
---
SOMEWHERE IN THE CITY – END OF DAY
One was sitting on a bike, watching the sunset.
Next to him, Kotobe, his body covered in bandages, pedaled painfully, but with a smile on his lips.
"You're not too disappointed about losing?" One asked.
Kotobe thought for a second.
"No. I saw death today. It puts things in perspective."
One nodded, without really understanding.
"…Tonight, lasagna?"
Kotobe burst out laughing.
"No. Pizza."
They pedaled in silence, under the city lights that were turning on one by one.
---
THE NEXT MORNING
An official envelope, stamped with the Hero Association emblem, landed in every participant's home.
Inside, a letter.
"Congratulations. You have been selected to become acolytes. Your referring hero will contact you within a week. Prepare yourselves. The real training begins now."
But someone was missing. Kotobe hadn't received a letter.
The tournament was more of a test than anything else – to see how the public connected with heroes.
And against Viper, Kotobe had shown a savage side that the Association hadn't appreciated. It was dirty. It didn't fit their code.
Their policy of polishing the image to sell heroes to the public.
For Kotobe, it was a crushing blow. He pretended not to feel anything, but it was a tear in his mind. All that effort for this. He was about to get angry when he remembered Kanata's face.
"It's okay, we're used to it, aren't we, Kanata."
The other participants received theirs, each with their own reaction.
Pinky, in her room, held it against her heart.
Viper, in a dingy bar, folded it and put it in his pocket.
Luna, in the shadows, read it once, then burned it.
One, sitting on the floor, looked at it for a long time, then put it next to his bowl of noodles.
[They didn't have money for pizza or lasagna after all, so they decided to make noodles 🙃]
"…Acolyte?" he murmured. "What's an acolyte?"
He shrugged and went back to his noodles.
---
END OF THE ACOLYTE TOURNAMENT.
---
[BONUS]
AT THE SEIJIN CLAN TEMPLE.
The SEIJIN CLAN was there in full force. Every clan member stood in the temple under the chief's urgent summons.
Tamura Seijin, the current clan chief, entered.
His demeanor was cold and serious, but a small dose of pride could be felt.
His entrance was charged with a sovereign aura.
Everyone immediately stood up and bowed their heads in greeting and respect.
"Raise your heads."
"Good. You may sit."
"Today is a special day. We have received the Association's letter concerning our prodigy, Dante."
Everyone started applauding.
"Our dear boy has made progress. He is the clan's renewal. He cannot tolerate failure."
Dante, by the temple door, watched with utter indifference, mocking this cheap ceremony.
"It's just a letter. Why is he making such a big deal out of it?"
"Well, let's toast to Dante's name! Cheers!"
— CHEERS! 🥂
Everyone drank, partied, got excited over nothing.
Except for one of Dante's brothers, who saw him leave and followed him.
"DANTE, wait! Where are you going like that?"
"None of your business, Maruo."
Maruo followed him and grabbed Dante by the arm.
"Hey, wait! I'm your big brother. You know you can tell me anything."
"Let go of me. You're my half-brother. We don't have the same mother, remember?"
"Doesn't matter. We're family. In this family, we support each other. Tell me what's wrong. I'll support you no matter what."
Tears streamed down Dante's face as if he were about to be freed from a prison.
Maruo stared at him. He didn't look away. He thought he was ready to hear anything. But this…
"Maruo… you say you'll support me no matter what."
"But will you still support me if I tell you I plan to kill Dad to become chief and then exterminate the entire clan?"
BAM.
Those words hit like a bullet in Maruo's head.
"What did you just say…!"
The two stood there, staring at each other.
Dante was finally free. He had confessed to Maruo, to see how he would handle the information.
---
TO FIND OUT HOW ONE AND KOTOBE WILL HANDLE THE AFTERMATH OF THE TOURNAMENT, HOW THE HERO WORLD WILL EVOLVE, AND HOW MARUO WILL DEAL WITH THIS ANNOUNCEMENT – FOLLOW ONE: NO LIMITS. NEW CHAPTER COMING IN STRONG.