"We can't be that unlucky right?" Angel_Heart asked.
Kai checked the time and saw that only an hour had passed after midnight struck.
"Maybe we are. They wouldn't come after two useless roles unless they figured out yours." Ryker cracked his neck.
"Or maybe it's something else entirely." Kai objected.
"Heh, want to make a bet little bro?"
"You two... why don't we take this a little seriously—!"
Angel_Heart was worried but when she looked at the two she considered newbies, she took three steps back.
"What is going on with the two of you?" She asked as if something was very wrong with them.
Kai and Ryker were smiling.
It wasn't an average smile, it wasn't a happy smile, it wasn't a sad-fake smile.
It was a genuine smile filled with madness.
Spades madness... She gulped, reminded of the stories she heard of Spades Handlers.
Spades Handlers were said to be a bunch of madmen. They only lived for the games and died for the games.
Whenever there's a big battle occurring in the vast universe they would include themselves in it and break the balance by fighting both sides.
They were considered bullies, but not ones that were hated.
The players in fact were afraid of them.
To Spades Handlers nothing mattered more than a good battle.
"How many are there?" Ryker cracked his fist.
"Just two."
"Two? Lame." Ryker was clearly disappointed.
"Which means you lost the bet."
"They haven't even arrived yet!" Ryker growled.
"Suit yourself." Kai shrugged.
Rustle
As the two were talking the sound of bushes moving was heard.
The three were immediately alerted.
Rustle
The sound got even louder, bushes swaying about growing more aggressive.
Then they stopped.
The sound ceased at once.
It was silent once more.
However, the sounds of the night creatures could not be heard.
Ryker who was close to the front door moved from it to a nearby window.
His movement got Kai and Angel_Heart prepared for the worst.
But nothing happened.
Angel_Heart grumbled to herself.
"Are you sure there's anyone out there?"
"..."
She whispered, unsure, but there was no response.
"You two are worrying over nothing...!" As she was about to reassure them, Ryker moved again.
This time it was as if he was dodging out of the way of something.
Before Angel_Heart could finish a hand forced itself into the window.
CRASH!
The window was shredded into tiny shards that rushed at Ryker as if it was a planned-out attack!
Ryker unable to predict this, could only hold his arms up to block them.
Right after, the front door was blasted open to reveal another hand in a grabbing motion at Kai!
Kai moved away from the arm as quickly as he could.
But the hand was quicker.
The hand realized it couldn't grab Kai and instead swung itself at him.
A hard, brutal strike.
Kai was sent flying into the kitchen.
Meanwhile, the hand that smashed the window was already on Ryker whose arms were filled with blood from the tiny glass shards.
The hand was aiming for the neck ready to end Ryker's life.
That's when a dull knife blocked its line of sight.
It was only for a split moment, not even a single second.
And yet, the hand came to a forced halt as its owner was sent tumbling to the ground with Ryker's arms holding its owner's head in a twisting motion.
The other hand did not expect Kai to still be alive much less watch Ryker take its ally down with such precision and teamwork.
All it saw was a knife flying at itself. The hand dodged it of course but how could it have thought that the knife wasn't aiming at it but its partner!
The hand roared and focused its attention back on Kai.
Kai and Ryker understood its intentions right away.
Get up!
The hungry sheep who was a furry wolf on the ground's body twitched and Ryker stabbed the knife at its heart.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
The wolf roared and got up in one full motion as it sent its claws at Ryker.
Ryker used the knife to block the claw but still took damage.
"That's more like it!" Ryker shouted, completely ignoring the recoil that shot through his arm from the block.
The wolf growled and cracked its neck back into place.
Its eyes locked onto Ryker.
Then it moved, its fist shot forward at Ryker chest.
The wolf expected his chest to be blown right open or at the very least hear some broken bones.
Instead—
Boom!
Ryker's fist met its own.
Fist met fist! One hard, one soft—creating a balance that couldn't be broken.
The wolf let out an annoyed growl.
Ryker laughed.
They collided again.
Boom!
Fist met fist.
Boom!
Again.
Boom!
Again, again, again.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Each clash sent a shockwave through the room.
At first, the wolf thought Ryker was somehow matching its strength.
But as the exchanges continued, it realized something was wrong.
My overwhelming strength should have crushed him by now.
Yet every collision ended the same way.
Then it noticed it.
Ryker wasn't actually blocking its punches with his own strength!
Every time their fists met he manipulated the surrounding air, forcing it between them to soften the impact.
The explosive shockwaves weren't coming from the wolf.
They were being created by Ryker.
Cold sweat formed beneath the wolf's fur.
This newbie is insane!
Without hesitation, it jumped backwards to reassess the situation.
"Stepping away from battle is how warriors meet their end!" Ryker shouted.
The moment the wolf retreated, Ryker surged forward.
The wolf instantly realized his mistake of jumping backwards made it lose its momentum.
Ryker's fists slammed into the wolf one after another, forcing it back even more.
All the wolf could do was block as frustration built inside it.
The second wolf wasn't having an easy time either.
"You're just as slippery as those Mirefangs!" it shouted.
Kai dodged another swipe and raised an eyebrow.
"You can talk?"
"Of course I can!" the wolf snapped.
Its claws continued to slash through the air, searching for an opening.
Murderous intent flashed across its eyes.
Little did it know, Kai had been following those eyes the entire time to predict its attacks.
"Your voice is rather deep," Kai said while sidestepping another strike. "Probably a side effect of becoming a wolf."
The wolf's expression twitched.
"Still, I doubt a woman would sound that bad." He continued, dodging another attack.
"Which means you're a man."
Kai slipped past another one.
"That makes my odds of finding you much higher."
The wolf snorted.
"Let's see how long you can keep running before you can figure it out then!"
It suddenly swung its arm to the left.
Kai's eyes narrowed.
He dodged instinctively only to realize that he had been cornered.
A trap? Kai's expression changed.
The wolf grinned.
Its body stretched higher, blocking every possible escape route.
"You're done, boy."
Its claws came crashing down.
Then—
"You... what?"
The wolf froze.
Confusion spread across its face as he stumbled backward.
Blood dripped from his claws.
Down from his hand and his shoulder.
The wolf stared at his arm and saw that it wasn't Kai's blood.
A second later, pain exploded through his arm.
Blood burst from dozens of wounds at once.
The flesh split apart as objects embedded deep beneath the skin revealed themselves.
Spoons, forks, knives, and every other broken kitchen utensil littered his flesh.
The wolf's eyes widened.
"You're alive..."
The words came out more as a question than a statement.
To a player whose genes were manipulated by the games to become a wolf those wounds were nothing that it could not heal.
However, the sight of Kai frightened him.
Kai still in the corner dropped his arms down—unable to move them.
The strike he invested all his strength into was useless for both his arms had sustained too much damage.
They were a mangled mess.
His neck down to his waist was a wound so deep you could see his bones.
His blood flooded the kitchen, his skin gone cold, his eyes a bloodshot red.
And yet... he was still alive.
His same bloodshot eyes shone with an emotion that instilled fear into the wolf.
Just like Ryker, he was overcome by madness.
And his was far worse.
"This is entertainment!" Kai burst into laughter.
His laughter echoed through the kitchen, filled with a joy that few could understand.
Even with injuries that threatened his life, he couldn't stop laughing. The pain, the blood loss, the possibility of death—none of it mattered.
At that moment, he understood what Hearts symbolized.
It made him sympathize with Amore.
It made him admire Sapphire_Maid892903.
Pleasure comes in many forms but all that really matters is how you gain the most out of your pleasure—and my kind of pleasure is doing the impossible!
That feeling of overcoming something that should never be overcome.
That feeling of turning defeat into victory.
That feeling of standing at death's door and refusing Death the satisfaction of claiming another life.
A grin spread across his blood-covered face, his eyes shone with mad determination as his mind spun both fast and slow.
At the same time, he secretly activated the King of Diamonds and King of Spades cards.
A faint black-red aura spread across his body. His white hair lifted slightly, and the madness in his eyes only deepened because of it.
The wolf watched him cautiously.
For the first time since the battle began, it felt uneasy.
Kai's body was on the verge of collapse, yet the excitement in his eyes only continued to grow.
His grin widened.
"Get ready, little puppy," he said.
"Because daddy is about to give you back twice the pleasure you inflicted on me tonight."