*The bottom floors of the labyrinth*
A trail of thorns and saws covered the bottom part of the labyrinth; it was obvious how many people had fallen prey to these traps because of the crimson stains all around. The man, Felix, walked cautiously through the tunnels with two others following from behind. He wore a long, black coat that almost resembled a cape, accompanied by majestic golden chain bracelets on each wrist, and a black shirt stretched so tight that you could see his pectoral and abdominal muscles.
"What a joke. The Marked Mercenaries preach about justice and righteousness, yet they have the nerve to set such an unethical test just to join their organization," Felix complained, walking over a camouflaged blade trap as if he'd already known it was there. Behind him walked two others: a young man with bright ginger hair, Rennet, and a woman with dark black hair and an adorable panda beanie, Mei.
"You said it! This place just stinks, doesn't it? Wait, what the hell's that?" Rennet asked as he stopped mid-sentence upon noticing the white asylum Albert had made. "Think this is a trap, Felix? I don't see why an asylum would be down here unless they were holding some criminal or something," Mei asked, rubbing her chin with wonder.
Felix took a moment to inspect the chamber with his eyes. The area around the asylum looked incomplete, disoriented, and many parts didn't fit the architecture of the labyrinth at all. The implications meant there was possibly some sort of battle here, something Felix's sharp mind deduced right away. Without a moment's waste, he opened the door to the asylum to see the roof had collapsed. There were smashed pieces of sharp ornaments everywhere and a destroyed chandelier in the centre.
Robu carefully climbed out in front of Felix, grunting. He had multiple wounds covered with blood, something that noticeably put off Mei. "Hey, what the hell happened here? Who did this to you guys?" Rennet asked as he carefully helped Robu stand. Felix looked to his side and reached in below the shattered ornaments to drag out Robu's two other teammates, bruised but clearly alive.
Robu coughed for a moment, trying to catch his breath, and thought back to Albert's attack.
*10 minutes ago*
Albert smiled and closed the door behind him to the asylum as he and his team continued walking; the ceiling was plastered with sharp ornaments that slowly broke off as it collapsed downward. As Robu's teammates cowered and shook, in a moment of desperation, Robu grabbed his pickaxe as his mark glowed white. He smashed the floor and manipulated the tiles to form a protective barrier around him and his teammates to reduce the damage. "Mineral barrier!" he yelled as the roof collapsed.
*present time*
"And that's how it happened. I swear I'll pummel that bastard's skull in when I next see him!" Robu declared as Mei carefully bandaged him. Felix listened to the full story and couldn't help but scoff at the idea of letting someone so devious as Albert become a Marked Mercenary.
Rennet's ears twitched for a second before he looked up and then back at Felix. "Hey..Felix, do you..?" he said before being interrupted. "I feel it too. Quite a few strong marked ones in one location; a strong fight's gonna happen above us," Felix answered as his face grinned with excitement as if watching an action movie.
*Up in the mid levels of the labyrinth, within the large chamber*
Riko shifted his arm into a huge metallic iron ball, suspended by chains and electricity. Albert's worry was obvious as he dodged the blow; the weapon shattered the foundation of the flooring before shifting back into Riko's arm.
"That's a unique power you hold. I would've been in the hospital awaiting a year-long recovery if I had failed to dodge that attack in time. By the way, how rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Albert, the user of the Mark of the Architect," Albert commented as he jumped back to gain some distance, still wearing a condescending smile.
"The name's Riko, and I'm gonna become a Marked Mercenary," Riko said, his confidence and optimism clear as he smiled.
"A pleasure to meet you, Riko. I must say, my ability seems to be similar to yours. You have a mind for creating things, don't you? I do too, but only for rooms and places for people to be in," Albert said before clicking his fingers. Suddenly, walls emerged from each side of the flooring, encompassing Riko and Albert in a large, flat, rectangular room.
"Wow, what the hell's happening?" Riko demanded as the tiles of the floor shapeshifted. The texture of the walls smoothened out and finished rising, completely separating them from the outside as a huge glow emanated inside, momentarily blinding Riko.
Maddeline stood outside of the chamber, now boldly sitting on Albert's teammate she had handled a few moments ago; he was knocked cold and couldn't object. "Albert Erecus, his passion mark seems even weirder than Riko's. How rude of him to block everything out; I would've loved to watch these boys fight over me, hehehehe," Maddeline joked in her head as she chuckled, even in this dire situation.
She looked to see Jetore walking toward her, carrying Albert's other teammate on his shoulders, who was clearly knocked out. It seemed Jetore had dealt with him while Maddeline was too focused on Albert. "What a sorry excuse for a fighter. This punk went on and on about how pissed he was that I hit him and how he'd get revenge but didn't do shit about it. He didn't even stand long enough to use his ability; what a little punk," Jetore berated as he roughly dropped the man down on the hard, rough floor.
"Good job, blowhead. Looks like you can fight and aren't just talk after all. Anyway, see that room? It materialized out of nowhere and I'm guessing it's tied to that silver-haired guy's ability; Riko's fighting him inside. I don't have a good feeling about this," Maddeline remarked. Jetore would've yelled at her for mocking him, but he couldn't help but agree that Albert looked like a potential threat.
*Inside the room Albert had made*
As the light dimmed down, Riko carefully opened his eyes, wanting to still remain vigilant. What he saw was almost more shocking than Maddeline's earlier showcase of fighting capability. The room they stood in, fashioned from the amalgamation of minerals in the tunnel, looked like the living room of a wealthy individual. The texture of the walls looked smooth, as did the intricate designs and pictures. There was a neatly tucked sofa next to a large table, a huge grandfather clock, and a display of jewelry accompanied the room to the side, as well as a fine red carpet. Elegantly placed stairs led to a clear second floor where Albert stood.
"Executive room," Albert said, naming this technique. Riko backed up against the wall before asking, "So I'm guessing this is your passion mark's power, eh? You're an architect. Judging by what I've seen so far, I'm guessing you can design a relative area to look however you want, right?"
Albert smirked. "Wonderfully deduced. You're as stupid as you seem."
Riko grew jet propellers from his back as he took flight up above near a golden chandelier; his right arm turned into a robotic metal prosthetic that seemed like it weighed two tons. The back released explosive exhaust as he charged toward Albert with a smash; however, a tile below suddenly popped out and blocked Riko's attack. This served as confirmation for Riko that Albert could manipulate any and all things inside the room.
Albert then leaped into the air and delivered a spinning kick to Riko's jaw, sending him crashing into the wall. As he jumped down, a smirk was plastered on his face as if he'd won; the tiles came undone and floated around. "Give up and submit already; your inferior mind can't possibly stand up to me," he taunted.
Riko managed to stand up, now noticeably dripping blood from his mouth. "Nghhh, you bastard. Heh heh, you're pretty strong. Looks like I'll have fun wiping that grin off your face," Riko said as he stood up.
The comment irritated Albert, who couldn't stand the thought of being talked down to. The tiles flew toward Riko in a fury as he was forced into a defensive state, dodging the tiles. The blow from earlier made his head ring, which slowed him immensely. Five tiles knocked into him as he grunted and jumped away onto a table.
"Uh uh ah! I wouldn't recommend standing on a dinner table; wouldn't you say that's rude?" Albert remarked. Before Riko could answer, he quickly leaped off as deadly spikes came out of the table.
"You tryna kill me or something? They won't allow you in the organization if they found out you killed one of the contestants," Riko yelled.
"Oh, don't worry. I make sure my attacks are always well thought out. You see, I fight with strategy instead of brawn, and I've made sure you won't die from any damage you take. That said, you can still get seriously injured by this room's deadly architecture I've designed. For example, look behind you."
Suddenly, the grandfather clock in the room opened its glass container as the golden bell within changed shape into a spiky iron ball that furiously swung towards Riko. In the split second he had, Riko's legs turned into a strange contraption that looked like a mechanical umbrella attached to wiring. It managed to block the blow from the ball without taking damage before he aimed it toward the confused Albert.
"Meet the M-16, a new invention of mine I pulled from scrap metal I found in the junkpit outside town. It absorbs the pressure and blows into special cells before releasing them explosively at a target; it's practically an air cannon," Riko declared as the M-16's flap opened up.
Albert's face twisted in worry as it fired a blast of air pressure, colliding straight into him and knocking him into the wall behind the platform where he stood. Albert choked on his own saliva and coughed out a bit of blood as his unprotected back dove into the wall.
Before Albert could retaliate in any way, Riko propelled himself up, turning his arm into a minigun before launching a full-scale barrage of shots toward Albert. These shots would kill any normal person, but to a superpowered marked one, they felt more like children's Nerf bullets, yet still strong. The relentless fury of the shots made several holes in the foundation as combustion caused smoke to fill the area.
Riko was convinced he'd won until the smoke cleared, revealing Albert had disappeared. "The hell? Where did you go?" he demanded before turning in shock to see Albert emerging from the floorboards on the opposite side of the room, coughing. "How dare you strike me, you bastard. I'll make you pay for that," he declared angrily.
Riko wondered if Albert could also shift around his architecture but had no time to dwell on it as, in a moment, the armored soldier displays on the side of the room broke out of their glass boxes as if come to life. In truth, they were part of the architecture that Albert had created, so they were to be manipulated too. One by one, they swung their steel blades as Riko dodged and rolled in the air.
The sofa behind him shifted as the cushion moved away, revealing a secretly hidden turret that fired in an explosive, unmatched fury of rounds that destroyed half the living room—clearly a reflection of Albert's irritation. Riko had barely managed to dodge but had sustained three shots to his leg, which was now bleeding. He tried to stand but dropped to his knees from the pain as he grunted.
Fortunately for him, the gunshot rounds had finished off the walking armor set displays, but that was of no consequence to Albert, who slowly regained his composure. He asked himself why he was enjoying this so much, perhaps because this was the first time anyone had put up such a fight.
Riko thought to himself, "I need to think before I move. Every object in this room is under his control. His power's pretty similar to mine. Wait, that's it—fight innovation with innovation." Riko smiled as he stood up, now with a plan to combat Albert. He knew his main issue was not being able to get close to Albert, so he focused on that first.
"What's wrong, having second thoughts?" Albert taunted as he clicked his fingers. The golden chandelier grew sharp blades as it morphed into a spinning saw that hurled towards Riko.
Riko calmed his mind and focused on his surroundings—what Albert could control. He jumped and morphed his hand into the laser hand cannon he'd used to kill the clawroo half an hour ago, only this time it was larger. He fired a beam of scarlet brilliance that collided with the blade as a bright explosion occurred.
"Do you even know what it's made of? Your puny laser couldn't possibly destroy it!" Albert proclaimed. In truth, Riko's laser technology he could create was indeed strong enough to do so, but that wasn't his goal. Albert was caught off guard as he realized the saw had been redirected and was now flying toward him. Reacting fast, Albert pointed at it with his hand as it stopped moving and ground to a halt.
This was a distraction for Riko to close some distance as he flew up with a strong punch, destroying the platform Albert had been standing on. "What?!? So his plan was to use my own attack to get to me?" Albert thought as Riko kicked him down to the hard floor.
He slowly hovered down, panting from exhaustion, to the fallen Albert while grinning. "For an architect, you really don't pay attention to the architecture of your setting," Riko boldly taunted as his mechanical parts shifted back to his normal limbs.
Albert willed himself up, now bleeding, yet he wasn't looking as irritated as before; now he was softly smiling as if having enjoyed the thrashing from Riko. In an instant, he delivered a kick aimed toward Riko's stomach. Riko reacted fast and blocked it as the two began a twisted clash of combat.
The floorboards, or what was left of them, came undone into blades that flew at Riko; he dodged them while blocking Albert's attacks as if having adapted to his circumstances. Both engaged in a flurry of kicks and jabs, exchanging blows; curiously, they both smiled as if enjoying every moment of this twisted dance.
Albert dodged a punch before twisting in the air and kicking Riko in the chest; he coughed blood and jolted back before retaliating with an uppercut, all while the room rotated and changed shape, throwing its furniture towards the exhausted Riko. As Riko dripped blood, he thought of a promise he made to someone a while ago which seemed to have become hazy.
*A distant memory from 7 years ago*
A figure stood beside a junk pit, overseeing young Riko when he was merely eight. "What are ya building this time, Riko??" the figure asked mockingly as they slid down. "None of your business, old man! Go away; I can't focus with you here!" Riko replied with a tone that would be rude if it weren't for his squeaky voice at the time.
"Haha, listen Riko, you wanna be an engineer, right? Then why not start working on winning, huh?" the figure asked, to Riko's confusion. "You calling me a loser, old man? I'll knock your tooth out!" Riko yelled. "Oh, calm down. What I mean to say is that your talent with making things can do so much for you, make you a winner. Many people in the world aren't as well off as some of us, you understand? So what say you make me a promise: keep winning so you can one day engineer a bright future for them," the figure said as it gently knelt and offered a fist bump.
"Your puns are as stupid as you, old man, but that doesn't..sound as stupid as what you usually say," Riko replied as he fist-bumped the figure.
*back to present*
Riko's eyes flashed with the memory as he pointed a determined gaze toward Albert after jolting out of his thrashing. He was bleeding and panting. Riko shot the ground with rounds, creating a smoke screen. As Albert coughed, even he knew his victory chances were gone.
Within the next second, Riko compressed his full might in his fists and uppercutted Albert on his chin, sending him flying upwards as he coughed blood. Soon after, Riko's foot gave way from exhaustion as both of them collapsed to the floor, beaten.
Riko chuckled as they were both unable to get up. "No! I can't lose like…like this…I need to join the organization…or people can never live safely again!" Albert wailed as tears slowly fell from his eyes.
Riko was caught off guard by what he heard and asked; "What do you mean?"