"Why would Sanita start a fight with you?" Pablo tried to make the Zweihander fit comfortably in his hands, eventually he gave up and gave it to Tsuyoi. "Could you carry this for me?" Tsuyoi picked up the blade without thinking too deeply about it. "Sure."
Tsuyoi checked out the blade, clearly impressed even though he doesn't use weapons himself. "He wasn't the one to start it. I saw him standing over your unconscious body and I just started throwing hands."
Pablo quickly turned around to face Tsuyoi in disbelief. "Huh?! Why the hell would you do that? He was protecting me! I mean sure, I was thinking of turning against him eventually. But he wasn't the one that got me unconscious!"
Hearing footsteps, Pablo dragged Tsuyoi into the Janitor's room. Tsuyoi was surprised by the sudden move. "I mean, does it really matter if you were gonna backstab him anyway?"
Pablo scoffed and looked around to see if there was anything worth taking. "...Yeah? He was useful."
Tsuyoi went quiet after Pablo's response. He watched Pablo look around the room, realising what kind of a person Pablo is. "Oh… so you're that type of person."
Pablo was intrigued by this, but he did not face Tsuyoi and was too busy looting the boxes. He notices a bottle of Hydrofluoric acid. Even though he doesn't really know what it is, the label on it tells him that this can be really harmful in contact with skin. "What do you mean?"
Tsuyoi cautiously leaves the room after he realises there is no danger. "Forget it. We should meet up with Kori."
Pablo throws aside the boxes in frustration. "I hate when you do that." He mumbles under his breath, low enough so Tsuyoi doesn't hear it. He gives up and follows Tsuyoi.
"If what Sanita said is true, there is some fucked up stuff going on here. Experiments that-" Tsuyoi cuts in before Pablo finishes his sentence. "I know. I heard it too."
Pablo raises an eyebrow but doesn't dig too much into it. "I also heard the mention of an 'anomaly'. No idea what's that about."
Tsuyoi lights up with the mention of that. He looks at Pablo. "I might know something about that!" Pablo smiled, maybe this could be the lead they were looking for. "You do?"
Tsuyoi nodded. "Back in my glory days when I used to sail with Infamy, he told me the United Government had a superweapon they dubbed 'The Anomaly.' He told me it was capable of defeating threats that are comparable to Nasaki Ryuko if it ever came to that. We gave it our all to look for it, but it was futile. Maybe that's what Sanita is after?"
Pablo's eyes widened at the mention of Nasaki Ryuko. He wasn't too knowledgeable when it came to the world of Treasury. But everyone knew who that was. "That can't be true. I doubt they would hide something that can defeat the likes of Nasaki in Eldoria of all places."
Tsuyoi hummed in acknowledgement. "That's a fair argument." Even though the subject at hand seemed more important, Pablo couldn't help but think of what was going on here. "...What are we going to do about the Magiborns here?"
Tsuyoi did not respond and kept walking, it seemed like they were getting closer to their objective even if they could not confirm it. Eventually Tsuyoi caved in and answered. "What do you mean?"
Pablo raised his voice slightly in anger, not intending to. "You know what I mean. The stuff going on here is inhuman. We gotta do something about it."
Tsuyoi stopped walking and carefully handed Pablo his Zweihander while turning around to face him. "I know what you meant. If you wanna do something about it, here."
Pablo was left speechless and even more confused. "What's the matter with you?" He did not accept the sword and pushed it back. Tsuyoi insisted and almost shoved Pablo. "There is no 'we', dude. If you want to do something about this, don't pull me into it."
Pablo didn't grab the blade, and let it fall on the ground. "Don't you even care in the slightest? Is that what this is about? Are you mad because I yelled at you a moment ago? That's low, even for you. You're letting people die just because you're mad at me."
Tsuyoi ignored Pablo and waved his hands in dismissal, he knows projection when he sees one. "If that makes you feel comfortable, you can think whatever you like. But this isn't about me."
Pablo scoffed and furrowed his brows. "You're such a manchild." he kept walking, ignoring the sword that was on the ground.
After all that walking, they finally encounter rooms that seem to lead up to even higher ranks. Tsuyoi looks to his right and sees the room used to store files. "Hey, you might wanna look into this." He looks at Pablo, but Pablo deliberately refuses to face Tsuyoi. He enters the room while ignoring Tsuyoi.
Tsuyoi rolls his eyes in annoyance. "Whatever." He keeps walking until he sees the Doctor's office. He barges into the room only to see it empty, almost like it's evacuated.
"Huh. I guess I was kinda expecting him to sit over here." Tsuyoi shrugs and goes onto open every drawer in hopes of finding something. He throws papers aside, looking for anything that could help them.
When he moves on from the drawers and opens the closet, he finds a man in a trenchcoat, wearing a hat that fully shadows his face. Tsuyoi's fight-or-flight instincts kick in as he opens his hands to throw flames out of it.
But the man reacts quicker, a shotgun appears out of his chest and shoots Tsuyoi in the chest; sending him flying towards the wall. Luckily the bullets don't go through his body.
"Ugh!" Tsuyoi yells out in pain as blood gushes from his mouth. Pablo flinches at the sounds of gunshots and calls out for him. "Tsuyoi!"
Pablo's hand reaches for his blade, but he remembers that he left it in the hallway. "Shit." Pablo peeks out the door only to see a gun right in his face. The man in the trenchcoat has his face fully covered in darkness, as if that's all he is. "Your friend can survive bullets into his dome, but can you?"
Pablo freezes and refuses to move. His hands tremble lightly as the cold metal is pressed against his forehead. He notices Tsuyoi regenerating behind the man, intending to do a sneak attack.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. I know these bullets don't really mean anything against an immortal like you but this girlfriend of yours looks pretty mortal."
Through the shock, Pablo speaks out nervously. "I-I'm not a girl." Like that changes anything.
The man scoffs, facing Pablo with a grin that cannot be seen. "Oh my bad."
Tsuyoi stops moving and watches the man threaten Pablo. He realises what he says is true. Pablo gulps in fear. His eyes scan every corner in the room but it's hard to think of a plan when death is right in front of his face.
"This fellow is coming with me. Ketsui, you're free to go for now. This isn't about you. Dr. Blessing doesn't care who escapes as long as his diamond in the rough is in good hands. By that, he means his own hands."
Tsuyoi clenches his fists. "No way. You're not laying a finger on him!"
All 3 watch each other in silence, a true standoff even though only one of them is armed.
Pablo can barely speak, but he came up with a solution. "...4 meters. The distance between me and Tsuyoi is 4 meters. If you shoot me in the head, I die. But if I try to avoid it and end up getting shot somewhere else, he can close in that distance and heal me."
Tsuyoi grins after hearing Pablo's plan. The man is impressed by how quick he thought of this, but more importantly, impressed by how much he is willing to risk himself.
But he doesn't falter.
"Do it then."
Pablo gasps as the man doubles down. "When it comes to talking, everyone can risk their lives."
Tsuyoi realises what the man says is true, and wonders if Pablo is willing to go that far. Pablo stares at the man in despair, rage and shock all at once. "What's so appealing about Dr. Blessings anyway? Why do you serve him?"
The man cocks the gun in response. "I don't get paid enough to answer that question." Effectively answering it anyway.
Tsuyoi puts a hand on his chin, thinking too casually despite the tension. But amidst the chaos, realization dawns on him.
"...Wait, why would he kill the only thing Dr. Blessing really cares about?" He thinks out loud.
Both the man and Pablo gasp and face Tsuyoi as their eyes widen. Even though the man's face isn't visible, his shock is felt. "..."
Pablo swallows his fear, and punches the man in hopes of damaging him enough to have him drop his gun. But the punch doesn't do anything. "I can leave you on the verge of death, where even he can't heal you!"
The man shoots Pablo in the leg, Pablo yells out in pain and falls on the ground. "Argh!" Tsuyoi doesn't hesitate and charges in to attack the man, he delivers a right hook to the man's stomach.
But a shotgun appears from the man's stomach where his fist landed, blowing his arm off. Tsuyoi grunts in pain but is able to move despite it. The man steps back and creates a distance between him and Tsuyoi. He transforms his left arm into a gatling gun and rapidly fires bullets against him.
Pablo crawls towards the document room, trying to avoid the bullets while Tsuyoi creates a flame barrier in front of him, intending to melt the bullets before they even approach him. "Healing is more costly than just using flames! I must save up my energy, I might have to face Sanita again." He pondered.
Pablo makes it and rests his back on the wall as bullets fly past him. He clutches his leg. The wound seems deep. He focuses on it in hopes of 'healing' like he healed before.
But nothing happens. Thinking about it too hard feels like his very existence is being damaged. He tries to think of something, anything, but the sounds of rapid gunfire makes it very hard to think. It's almost suffocating.
The flame barrier Tsuyoi set up seems to be working, but it's not what he expected it to be like. The flames don't fully melt but they are slowed down enough to make them less threatening against his body. He notices the shift in his regeneration the bullets are causing.
The man stops shooting. His arm returns to normal. "The name is Meursault. My Treasure allows me to transform my body into a firearm. The bullets allow me to hit your very soul. Soul damage isn't the same as body damage, your Treasure will have a lot more trouble healing them."
Tsuyoi scoffs in annoyance, he catches his breath as Meursault pauses to explain his Sorcery. "Why are you telling me this?"
Meursault smiles in response to Tsuyoi's question. "I'll let you know what you're up against. Let me remind you that you can leave this fight any minute you want, and I won't chase you. You're not what I want."
Pablo hears all of this, and comes up with a plan. He pulls out the bottle of Hydrofluoric acid he pocketed before. He stares at it in fear, he starts to breathe heavily. "...I can do this."
His ring glows.
Pablo collects courage and chugs the entire bottle. The pain is excruciating. But the fluid is quickly transferred to his Treasure Storage before it fully destroys his mouth. He tries to get up, holding in the acid.
He notices he can't really step on his leg without feeling even more pain. So he decides to give it all and leap using his healthy leg. He leaps out of the room, and lets go of the acid he stored.
The Hydrofluoric acid is shot from his mouth like spray. Tsuyoi reacts quickly and dodges it, but Meursault notices it too late. "What the hell is that-"
The acid makes contact with his body. The moment it does, the trench coat can't protect him. It destroys the clothing very quickly and moves onto his skin. Meursault screams in pain, so does Pablo as he vomits blood. "That fucking hurts!" Pablo yells.
Meursault tries to wipe the acid from his body, but it spreads to his hands and starts to destroy it too. Tsuyoi sees the opportunity and dashes towards Meursault. Even under pressure, Tsuyoi thinks consistently.
Meursault desperately turns his finger into a handgun as a last resort. But before he can shoot, Tsuyoi grabs his arm and tries to take control of it. "Why didn't you… LEAVE?! You could've left!" The pain in Meursault's voice is very noticeable.
The two struggle for a while as Pablo just rests on the ground, trusting Tsuyoi to end it. Meursault tries to shoot him but Tsuyoi manages to redirect the finger towards Meursault's dome. The bullet that was intended for Tsuyoi, pierces Meursault's head instead.
Meursault's head blows up. Blood scatters on Tsuyoi's face. Tsuyoi starts breathing heavily, that was way closer than it needed to be. "That was- how did you even come up with that?!"
Pablo can't find it in him to stare at Meursault's dead body. He speaks through the pain. "Something-something fluoric acid. I've read on the label that it could easily destroy the skin when it came in contact. He wasn't close enough for me to just throw it on him, so I used my Treasure." His voice comes out gargled, the damage on his throat is very obvious.
Tsuyoi stares at Pablo in disbelief mixed with awe. "...You could've throwed the bottle, I would light it up in the air. I know what acid is."
Tsuyoi helps Pablo get up and puts an arm around him to help him walk. "There you go."
Pablo thinks about Tsuyoi's question. He did think of that. So why didn't he? Why did he risk his insides being destroyed?
Pablo decides to be honest.
"I guess…"
He looks at Tsuyoi, blood rushing down his mouth.
"...I wanted the win for myself."
Hearing Pablo say that outloud, Tsuyoi can't find anything that expresses how he feels. The only words that come out is: "You're batshit insane."
Tsuyoi chuckles, Pablo cackles but grunts in pain because the adrenaline is wearing off. "We'll need to get the bullet out. I can't heal you for now, I need my energy for later. But I know that you can heal, somehow. Hold on for a bit, 'kay?"
Pablo nods, respecting Tsuyoi's choice to save his energy. "Y-Yeah. That's fair."
Each step Pablo takes feels like hell, each breath he takes feels like punishment. Is this the cost of a 'win'? Is he happy? Satisfied, maybe?
Pablo doesn't know what to feel.
He looks behind him, looking at the Zweihander he dropped. But he doesn't intend to go and pick it up. "It's too heavy for me to carry."