There was a loud clang as blade met bat, sparks flying out as their weapons bounced off each other. Destiny didn't have time to relax, though. Prota immediately sent a volley of spells his way, and they weren't weak, either. She knew very well just how strong an opponent he was. It was blue ice and blue flames from the very start, and even that wouldn't be enough to faze him.

"Cut it out!" Destiny yelled, leaping back.

He raised his hand as a fireball began to form. Another formed. Then another. And another. Soon, he had a whole array of spells all hovering around him, surrounding him like protective spirits.

"That's cheating," John complained.

"I don't wanna hear about cheating from you," Destiny countered. "Not one word."

"What do you mean?"

"What do I- are you kidding me?!"

"What?!" John protested.

"You- no, you're joking. You have to be joking."

John frowned, visibly offended. "No, tell me!"

"Your guns! The anti-material rifle, the grenades, that- that thing with the coins, you don't think that's cheating? John, you do nothing but cheat!"

"That's not cheating!" John yelled, blocking yet another blow from Destiny.

"Yeah? Then what is it?"

"I- uh- improvisation!"

"Bullshit!"

John flinched as his bat was knocked out of his hand. Thankfully, Prota was there to support him. She leapt forward, firing off another volley of attacks, giving her brother enough time to pick his bat back up.

"Bullshit?!" John cried out, back in the battle. "You shoot out fire from your hands! You pull out wind from your ass! How are my weapons any more bullshit than that?"

"Just hand the money over!" Destiny yelled, exasperated.

"No!" John countered, parrying yet another blow. "This is for Briar's old man, you idiot!"

Destiny would've tried to argue back had a dwarf in a black suit not interrupted the fight. He leapt in without warning and delivered a mighty blow to John's stomach, sending him flying into a wall. With no mana reinforcement, the boy suffered multiple broken bones. He didn't feel the pain thanks to [Determination], but he couldn't move.

"Shit…" he groaned, trying to get up. "What the hell?"

Prota cried out, but John was alive. She couldn't rush to his side just yet. There was a more obvious threat here.

"What the- what are you doing here?" Destiny frowned.

"Boss sent me to make sure you didn't fuck up," the dwarf grunted. "Seems like you couldn't do your job."

"But-"

"Kid wants to give the money to the one person that can't get it. Back off, new guy. I'll handle it from here."

Destiny cast a side eye at John, who subtly shook his head. He looked off to the side, trying to indicate that he didn't need help.

The message got through.

"Alright. Good luck," Destiny said, patting his senior on the back.

"No worries, kid. If I couldn't handle something like this, then I don't deserve to be part of the Yakuza."

While the two had been talking, Prota had already used one of her charms to heal John. They watched as Destiny ran off, starting the fight anew.

A giant battle hammer shimmered into existence, a ring on his finger momentarily flashing. Great, he had a dimensional storage ring. If he was rich enough to have one of those, then it wasn't impossible that he had other kinds of gear, too.

There was just one thing that gave John confidence.

"You know, you shouldn't drop flags like that," he sighed, flipping his bat in his hands once more.

"Flag?" the dwarf frowned. "What you talkin' about, boy?"

"I mean death flags, defeat flags, shit like that. 'Then I don't deserve to be part of the Yakuza.' You should avoid saying things like that in the future."

"What're you-"

Now was the best time to strike. John activated [Infinity] to its limits and dashed forward, swinging down with a mighty overhead blow. The dwarf was good, though. Even though John's surprise attack had been sudden, the man had reacted in time, raising his hammer and blocking with the shaft of the weapon.

The dwarf underestimated his opponent's skill, though. John was still in the body of a child. His combat level, on the other hand, was not that of a child. He pushed his bat forward, grabbing the other end with his left hand, using it like a handle. He pulled hard. The dwarf's grip on his weapon was too strong for him to be disarmed, but John had been planning for that.

He swung forward, planting both his feet into the dwarf's face. Pushing off like a springboard, he launched into the air, twisting like an acrobat as he raised his bat once more.

"Prota!" he yelled.

She nodded, firing off the Blossom she'd been preparing. It flew forward, the air around it freezing as it floated toward the enemy.

"What the-"

The dwarf smashed the spell, and to his credit, had a mana reinforcement strong enough that it didn't do much damage. That was fine, though. John came crashing down like a comet, his bat crashing into the dwarf's head like a meteor, a satisfying crack ringing out through the air as metal met skull.

"You bastards!" the dwarf yelled, stomping his foot.

Stones began to gather, forming a shell-like armour. The dwarf hefted his hammer up once more, visibly upset.

"I was taking it easy on you since you're brats. But I ain't doin' that no more."

With a cry, he charged forward. John tried for one more blow, but the bat just bounced off the rocks, leaving his hands with a stinging feeling.

He wouldn't be breaking through any time soon.

"Shit," he muttered, leaping back.

It was easy enough to dodge the dwarf's blows. However, John was pretty sure that a single hit would be the end of him. Still, for the time being, he was faster, and that gave him time to think.

What now?

"Cold," he muttered.

John frowned. He wasn't sure why that word came to mind. Maybe it'd been Prota's Blossom? Yeah, that was it. Just the lingering sensation of frost. But that word continued to echo in his mind.

"New spells," he mumbled, his brain spinning. "Prota's spells. The bullet- no, not enough. Plasma disk? Too hard to hit, too much risk of collateral-"

His eyes widened.

"Absolute Zero?"

Right, that would do it. Well, that made the assumption that these were just regular rocks, and not some kind of magic that turned his skin to stone, but that was just a risk he'd have to take.

[Prota. Quick science lesson. Did you know that rocks turn brittle under cold enough conditions?]

Prota frowned. She'd been providing supporting fire, but with no plan from John, she was hesitant to do anything. Of course, she hadn't been sitting around doing nothing. The whole time, she'd been thinking of a way to defeat this dwarf. She just didn't want to execute the plan in the event that John wanted to do something else.

And it seemed that he had, in fact, come up with a plan.

Still, what was "brittle" supposed to mean?

[Brittle just means its easier to break. More fragile. Like turning something to glass, I guess. Anyway, do you see what I'm getting at?]

Oh. Cold. Brittle. Yeah, she understood what he was getting at, now.

[Ok.]

[Do it whenever you want. I'll follow up.]

Prota closed her eyes as time once again slowed down around her. She could feel the mana, feel the core. This time, though, she could be a little harsher with the spell.

John's eyes widened as he felt the air around him turn cold. His eyes immediately began shifting, looking for any cracks or chips in the armour, but so far, there was nothing.

"Bah, what kind of tricks are you pulling now?!" the dwarf roared. "Fight me!"

"Nah," John said, shaking his head. "I'd lose."

"Then surrender your winnings!"

"Nah." John shook his head again. "Don't feel like it."

"Then you die."

The armour seemed to stop him from realizing what was going on. From what John knew, Absolute Zero was supposed to be a spell that straight up froze the space a person occupied, but it seemed Prota had managed to fine-tune it such that it wouldn't kill.

[Sorry. Armour too thick. Couldn't freeze him. Armour made of magic. Mana couldn't penetrate.]

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

John's eyes widened as he read Prota's message. Prota hadn't been fine-tuning it. She just hadn't been able to make it past the thick layer of armour. Well, the progress she'd made was good enough for him.

Without warning, John switched to offence, delivering a mighty blow to the dwarf's chest. There was a loud cracking sound as the stones were shattered, exposing the suit once more.

"You-!"

Without hesitation, John used the rebound from the blow and spun the other way, turning a complete circle before driving the bat into the man's chest once more. This caused him to double over, slightly winded, but that was all they needed.

"Prota, now!"

The dwarf looked up just in time to see a volley of blue fireballs flying his way. What he didn't see were the gusts of air being fed into said fireballs. He braced himself, but it wasn't enough. The explosion sent him flying back, knocking him into a tree. It fell over, hitting him in the head, knocking him unconscious.

"You… you did it," Destiny said, emerging from a nearby bush.

"You- you were still here?" John frowned. "Prota, did you know he was here?"

A nod.

"You didn't tell me?"

A shrug.

"Wha- why not?"

"John… you didn't know?" Prota said, tilting her head in confusion.

"Wha- no shit I didn't know! How was I supposed to know he was gonna stick around?!"

Destiny sighed, stepping forward. "I was worried something would happen to you."

"To- I mean, I guess," John muttered, looking away in embarrassment. "Just get this guy outta here."

"Will do. But… you're just gonna leave it like this?" Destiny frowned, heading over to his senior Yakuza. "What now?"

He seemed to have no thoughts of fighting John anymore. If anything, he seemed somewhat supportive. John wasn't sure what'd triggered this change, but it was a welcome one.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Don't- You know, every time you say that, that means you have something planned."

John nodded. "Yeah? What're you gonna do about it?"

Destiny sighed. "Nothing, I guess."

"While you're at it, wanna tell me why you're here?"

Destiny considered his options. There wasn't really a need to tell John that he was here to fulfill Lupin's request. He also didn't know why John was here to begin with. Well, that was a good point to begin with.

"Why don't you tell me first?" Destiny said, crossing his arms.

"For fun. Helping out Briar's grandpa," John shrugged.

"That's it?" Destiny frowned.

"Yeah."

The glow in Destiny's eyes faded. John was telling the truth.

John felt a little guilty. Things would've probably been easier for Destiny had he been lying.

"Alright, your turn," John said.

Destiny considered his options once more. Well, now that he thought about it, was there really a reason to do so without information from John?

"It was Lupin," the hero eventually admitted. "He said that the man who made his sword is here. And that he needs help."

"The man who-" John stopped, groaned, and let loose a slow, controlled sigh. "You're also here to help Zuko?"

"Yeah."

"So we've been working toward the same thing this whole time?"

Destiny shrugged. "Yeah. Funny how it works out, huh?"

John nodded. "Alright. Take Prota home with you."

"Take- what? What are you talking about?"

Prota also looked up at John in protest. What was he trying to do?

"Take her. Please. She's not gonna listen to me."

"What, so you're just pushing the responsibility of babysitting onto me!?" Destiny exclaimed. "John, what the hell?"

Prota, visibly offended that she'd been referred to as a baby, threw a blast of cold wind in John's face, but he didn't relent. She paused and looked at him. He had something in mind. She faltered slightly, backing off.

"...will you be ok?" she said quietly.

"Yeah. I'll be fine. It's not fighting or anything. But having either of you around wouldn't be useful."

"John, I agree with your sister. No offence, but are you sure whatever it is you have planned is gonna work? If you go in without protection-"

"Guys! I'll be fine, seriously," John yelled, exhausted with their efforts to keep him alive.

Yes, he didn't have [Resets]. He needed to save his little [Deus Ex Machina] energy for an emergency, and so all he had was a bat, a thousand stacks of [Infinity] and a pill that amplified his power.

That didn't mean he was defenceless.

"...fine," Destiny said, giving up.

Prota gave him one more worried look, but in the end, she gave up and turned to leave. Destiny went to take the still-unconscious dwarf back to the casino, but John stopped him.

"Oh, one thing."

He took out a pad of paper and scribbled something on it, then stuffed it into the dwarf's pocket.

"What did you write?" Destiny said suspiciously.

"Just a note for your boss to read. Don't worry about it."

"John, if you're thinking of provoking them-"

"I told you not to worry about it. How many times do I have to tell you? It's fine. Oh, one last thing. You know where the boss's office is?"

"Yeah. Want me to write it down for you?"

"Yeah, sure."

Destiny took the pad of paper, scribbling down a few instructions. John ripped the sheet off the pad and took a look, then nodded, stashing the paper away in his pocket.

"John. One last time. If you need my help-" Destiny started, but John simply cut him off.

"Thanks, but I'll be fine. Just get outta here."

Destiny didn't like it, but then again, what was he going to do about it? Nothing, probably. He went off, dragging the dwarf behind him.

"You too, Prota. Go home. I'll let you know if something happens."

"John," she said cautiously.

"Seriously. I'll be fine. I just wanna do some negotiating. You, um… you're not really helpful for something like that."

She frowned just a little.

"Come on, don't be like that! You don't talk! What are you gonna do, just stare at them menacingly?"

"Dangerous," Prota pointed out.

"If they attack, then everything's gone to shit anyway. Trust me on this one."

Prota didn't like it, but she had to admit he was right. In a negotiation, the only thing she could do was be his protector. She didn't know how to be menacing, and if John was saying that fighting was off the table, she couldn't strong-arm anyone into doing anything either.

She had her skills, and this wasn't one of them.

"...ok."

"I'll treat you to a meal when this is all over, ok?" John said, trying to appease her.

He put his hand on her head, but she wasn't any less displeased. She crossed her arms and headed off to the portal hub to return to Scholaris.

John, meanwhile, headed right back for Zuko's home. Thankfully, Briar wasn't there anymore.

"Ah. You've returned. Is everything… all right?" the old man said, frowning.

"If you're talking about the money, then yeah."

John pulled a bag out from inside his hoodie and dumped it on the table. Inside was exactly one thousand gold coins. He had another hundred or so stashed away for himself.

"Take it."

Zuko's eyes shone with tears as he stared at the money in front of him. John must've looked like an angel in that moment. A saviour from out of nowhere, swooping in to save the day.

Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy. John grimaced as he braced himself for the next bit of news.

"Keep it."

"Keep it? I'm afraid I don't understand," Zuko frowned.

"They were never going to take the money."

"Then Ryu-"

"Will still be taking your item. Are you sure the story you told me is right, old man?" John asked.

He didn't have time for respectfulness right now. Now that the dwarf with his note had been sent back, he had to hurry. He'd realized something while talking with Destiny, and that meant that he might not be able to get things done in time.

Zuko rubbed his chin. "About the leader of the Yakuza? Yes, it is. Why is that important, though?"

John shook his head. "It matters for what I'm about to do. If there's even a chance that your story is wrong, I'm going to die, and you're going to lose your precious whatever, regardless of the money I just made you."

"I promise I am telling the truth to the best of my abilities."

John grimaced. "Then all you can do is pray for me."

Zuko's bushy eyebrows shot up. "Oh? I didn't take you to follow any faith."

"I don't," John grunted, looking out the window. "Faith is based on trust, not knowledge. I'm asking you to pray because I know there's someone out there who can definitely make this work. So pray for me."

Zuko frowned, confused. "I don't quite understand, but… I pray for your success. For the both of us. For all of us."

"Yeah. Thanks. You got a weapon in this house, by any chance?"

The old man looked a little uncomfortable, but eventually, he got up and shuffled over to a dark corner of the house. He lifted up a panel of the floor and withdrew a long, thin sword.

"Here," he said, passing it over with both hands. "It is all I have."

"...is this some kind of passion project?" John said, raising an eye. "I don't know if I can take this."

He unsheathed the blade. Even in the dim lighting of the house, it shone brilliantly. The double edge was sharpened to perfection, the weight and balance perfect for his wrists, as if it were an extension of his arm.

In this [Story], it was the closest thing to perfection he'd ever seen.

"It is not my greatest work," Zuko said, bowing his head. "But it is a blade I take pride in nonetheless."

John nodded, putting the blade away.

"Well, let's hope I don't have to use it. I don't plan on using it anyway."

"You don't-"

"Do you see my weapon? It's a bat," John grumbled. "I look like a punk. If I had an expertly crafted sword, on the other hand…"

Zuko nodded. "Best of luck to you, young one."

Suddenly, there was a sharp knock at the door. The old dwarf looked concerned, but John just waved him away.

"Well, hopefully I'll be back with good news. If I die… well, that would suck. Let my sister know what happened, ok? And tell her to live as long as possible."

With that cryptic message, he got up and walked toward the door.

"Zero," he muttered. "Are you ok with this?"

"Yeah, I'm ready," the soul said. "Thanks for checking with me first, though."

"I wouldn't put myself through something like this for fun."

He shook out one of Arthur's pills and popped it, the voice in his head disappearing as the effects took place. Opening the door, he was immediately greeted by two burly dwarves who grabbed him roughly.

"You. You think you're all that, kid?" the dwarf growled.

"No," John shook his head.

His left eye began to glow.

"I know I'm all that."

The combination of Arthur's pill and [Infinity] was a deadly one indeed. The stamina [Infinity] provided made it so the consequences of borrowing time were nearly nonexistent. Obviously, there was a limit to how much power he could use, but he had more than enough for what he intended to do.

With a cry, he slammed his bat into one of the dwarves's arm, shattering the bone instantly. The dwarf cried out in pain, loosening his grip, allowing John to crack the head of the other, knocking him out cold.

The borrowed time of one using [Infinity] was not to be underestimated.

"Yo. You good if I leave these guys at your doorstep?" John called out.

"Go," Zuko said, shaking his head. "Do what you must. I can take care of myself."

John nodded, marching toward the casino. Along the way, a message popped up in his system.

[You get a treat, by the way.]

John frowned. "...Zero?"

[Yo, wassup. Pre-recorded message for you. Just in case you took the pill before I could tell you this. Pretty cool, huh? Anyway, you get a freebie. Just this once, we'll age you up.]

"Age me… what? Why?"

[Just… you know. If this ever gets drawn, it would look cooler if an adult went to bargain rather than a kid, you know?]

John just grumbled, but he did feel himself revert to his old body. While he hadn't exactly been uncomfortable in his younger self, this body definitely felt far more comfortable. He couldn't wait to get out of school.

"Alright. Let's do this."

The casino was still open late at night. Good. John barged in through the front doors, not paying any attention to the yelling attendants and rushing security guards. At the moment, they were too distracted to fully understand what was going on, and they weren't paying full attention to him. They weren't prepared.

Good.

He threw out a few swings, knocking a couple of dwarves down flat. The others flinched, falling back, and that was exactly the window of opportunity John was looking for. Now that they were caught off guard, he sprinted forward, dashing up the stairs to the second floor, then up to the third.

He could hear guests yelling in panic, guards yelling for him to come back, security alarms blaring, but none of it mattered. He slid over poker tables, weaved between slot machines, picked up chips and tossed them in the eyes of his pursuers, anything to make it up just a bit further.

Finally, he made it to the "staff only" door and charged through. Inside was a cluster of armed dwarves in black suits, but he didn't have time to fight them. He leapt up, clawing at the mass of bodies, then began running on their heads, traversing the corridors in this fashion only.

"You fools! He's making clowns outta ya!"

"Then do something about it!"

"Yeah? I don't see you being any more helpful, buster!"

The elevator. He just had to make it to the elevator. Reaching into his pocket dimension, he pulled out a flashbang, ripping the pin out with his teeth. With one last mad dive, he dove for the elevator, mashing the up button, then tossed the flashbang on the floor.

"Fuck off!" he yelled, closing his eyes and covering his ears.

This wasn't a flashbang from Earth. Those didn't emit blinding lights or cause ringing ears. No, this was a "conceptual" flashbang, the kind from games and movies, and that made it all the more effective. The dwarves were stunned just long enough for John to make it.

There was soft music playing over the speakers as he felt the metal box rising. A soft ding announced his arrival, and he stepped out to be greeted by a long hallway. A fitting area to what felt like a boss battle.

Well, if everything went to plan, there would be no battle at all.

He walked down the corridor, his heart beating as he took his sweet time making it to the door with the word "BOSS" labelled in all caps. His muted footsteps rang out from the carpeted floor.

Upon arriving at his destination, he kicked the door open, pulled up a chair and sat down heavily. His bat had been stashed away, and he was now carrying the sword Zuko had given him.

"You've got balls of steel, kid."

Ryu was standing at the window, smoking a cigar. He didn't even seem concerned that a potential threat was in his office.

"Yeah? Thanks."

"Your note said you wanted to talk. I don't appreciate that you had to send it back with one of my men knocked out, but I understand the message. So, let's talk."

"You wanna talk while facing away? Look me in the eyes, shitass."

Ryu sighed, taking the cigarette out of his mouth before turning around to face John.

"Speak, boy. What do you want?"

"I heard the story from Zuko. So I want some answers from you."

"You don't know anything," Ryu scowled.

"Yeah? Try me. What, you're telling me you're not Ryu Hi, brother of Zuko Hi, the man who was cast out of his clan for being a failure and a little bitch?"

"You-!" Ryu calmed himself down just in time. "So you know. Then what do you want from me?"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.