1st CARD › “Wild Card”

Black smoke billowed upwards, spreading throughout the skies above the once luxurious city block. What was once a pristine piece of paradise filled with shops and homes was now a pile of wreckage stained crimson with the blood of its patrons. Bodies of those who had fallen victim to the apparent attack were gathered up along what remained of the street, each laid to rest in the most respectable way possible at the time.

They were all citizens of this amazing city of paradise – New Eden – but after such an event a lone white sheet was all the city could give back to them. A simple sheet to shield them from the carnage around them on their way to the afterlife.

Perhaps if a House and its Espers had arrived sooner to protect them, as their job was meant to entail, more innocents could have been spared.

Unfortunately, no House arrived in time and no Esper carried out their duty.

As such, the beast bred for chaos – A Chaotic – was allowed to run rampant. The monster that craved only chaos carried out its purpose and had his fill. Though, such a being was hardly one to ever have its appetite sated. Chaotics were capable of running wild for potentially eons. The more destruction it caused, the more it consumed, the stronger and thus hungrier it would become.

No House had arrived while the beast attacked and decimated the small piece of District Five, so what had become of the Chaotic? It should have still been out continuing to consume, but instead the arriving House of Diamonds found the monster no more.

A darkened carcass lay hunched over in the middle of the street, at what was surely ground zero for the attack. The body was large but had been larger. Its shape was much like a giant ape creature, but one could not be certain – before anyone could have examined it the corpse was crumbling to dust and fading into the air.

Someone else had taken the glory of victory a mere minute, maybe two, before the arrival of the local House. Victory was stolen from the clutches of the Diamond King; Victor M. Ferris.
“What is taking you so long, Duo? Must I hold your hand?” A hoarse, grainy voice, passed through the ears of the men and women rushing to survey the area. It seemed to put everyone on further edge.

The voice belonged to a much older gentleman, with a lean build and long slicked back ashen colored hair tied neatly in a ponytail passing the entirety of his back. Perhaps his hairstyle served as a symbol of his status.

His gear was clearly formal, much like military officer garb ill-fit for field work, drowned out in nearly all black. The minor details of the uniform were dark blue trimmings lining the shoulders, the sides of his top and bottom, and just over the front where his jacket buttoned.

It was the typical uniform of a King dressed to the nines and the blue colors signified it was none other than Diamonds.

Behind the King stood the target of his drilling tone, dressed in far less impressive clothing albeit with the same blue hues.

“N-No, Sire!” The young man was clearly over excited, barely old enough to tie his own boots. He stepped forward. “My King, the Chaotic was designated as exterminated approximately three minutes prior to our arrival, Sir. It was reported as growing from a middle B-Rank to a low A-Rank within only ten minutes, but even with its growth it appears to have been eliminated by an unregistered elemental, specifically a fire—”

“Enough!” The Diamond King was fuming.

He clearly no longer needed nor wanted his Duo’s report in order to grasp what happened here.

The Chaotic consumed the life force, or rather energy, of those it killed. This ability, in conjunction with its rapid growth rate the more it fought and destroyed, allowed Chaotics to evolve. B-Rank was powerful, at the level an average Esper could not beat, and this particular one had evolved to an A-Rank.

Powers of an A-Rank were so monumental that it meant only an Esper with strength akin to a King would be able to handle such a beast. Such a high ranking Chaotic was a rare sight, but should it ever appear, it was almost assured to cause mass death and destruction. A scale far beyond what lie before the groups on the scene now.

The last such A-Rank Chaotic on record killed nearly a thousand citizens before being subdued over one year prior, but this newest threat had only claimed the lives of a few in comparison.

No other House – not Hearts, Clubs, or Spades – had been anywhere near the scene. Houses were absolute in their power but they could rarely be everywhere at once in a city as vast as New Eden.

Victor was certain there was only one possibility. A report that an elemental ability had been used wasn’t even necessary to prove his hypothesis.

“Enough of these hide and seek games, Jaeger. I know you’re there. Why don’t you and your little assistant come and face your fate like a good criminal?” The old man’s voice was cold, sharp like a knife.

 

“I told you!” The soprano of a young girl, full of spice and plenty of vinegar, failed to keep her annoyance – and voice – in check. “You’re such an incompetent moron, Gio!”

“H-Hey! It’s not my fault. You’re the one who freaked and hid when you heard them coming.” A man’s voice, sounding a bit older and weathered but not too deep, responded. Much like his female companion he failed to keep especially quiet.

Whomever the duo in hiding were, they seemed a bit lacking in proper social cues. If they were in fact ‘criminals,’ they were certainly not the best.
“.. If you’re incapable of making up your minds, I’ll be happy to make them up for you.” Victor stepped forward, his platoon of Espers rushing back behind him where they reformed their ranks.

There was no doubting just how serious the situation was becoming.

But as the tension in the air thickened, a sudden screech – or rather prolonged squeal – took everyone off guard.

A figure was sent flying from out of sight, propelled by unseen forces, screaming all the way as it finally hit the middle of the street with a thud and yelp of pain.

Stunned onlookers were momentarily treated to the sight of a sunglasses clad man lying sprawled out in the street on his back, unknowingly being flung there by a much smaller and younger girl.

Luckily just a couple moments later he was sitting up, pushing himself up to glare back in retaliation.

“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing, Sera?! That’s dangerous, you know?!” The man shouted to his attacker, but it was then he realized that Victor was already walking towards him with a rather menacing look on his older, wrinkled face.

He couldn’t help but swallow hard as he saw that the Diamond King was coming for him. He tried to scoot himself backwards along the ground, his black fingerless gloves becoming covered in a thick layer of dirt and dust. He then pushed off the ground in a hurry, leaping up to his feet.

From there the onlookers finally got a decent look at him.

His darkened, chestnut hair fluttered a bit as he moved back. Shaggy hair, unkempt and coming all the way down to his shoulders, gave off a rather immature impression. At the same time his attire hardly seemed one of a fighter, as he wore a casual black jacket over a plain white tee. Together with some khaki pants and dark red tennis shoes, not to mention the aforementioned black sunglasses, he hardly seemed a threat.

He looked more like he crawled out of bed from his parent’s basement and rushed to get himself presentable for a last minute interview.

The only bit of him that seemed even remotely mature was his facial hair, unshaven for at least a few days. He didn’t seem to care much for keeping up appearances.

 

Back at the rubble the man was launched from, the young girl had inadvertently made herself visible as well during their spat. The desire to quarrel amongst themselves seemed the prevailing sentiment.

Interestingly enough she at least seemed more like the fighter type, sporting a roughed up red t-shirt and jean shorts that were equally battle tested. Underneath her tee shirt appeared to be a type of muscle shirt, perhaps used for training or added protection. A few scrapes and bruises showed she wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty and keep going.

Though what would throw off those laying sights on her for the first time was her unexpectedly fair skin and pretty face, complemented by her practically glowing, ultramarine eyes. She was clearly younger.

The most visually stunning part of her ensemble, however, would have been her hair; her practically bubblegum infused pink hair that fell casually down her back, just past her shoulders.

She was obviously athletic and built like a warrior, but her looks could be quite the red herring. Such was the so-called assistant; Sera.

Fortunately, the wishes of these two ‘criminals’ to continue their in-fighting seemed to be pushed aside. Sera’s attention rested solely back on Victor, the approaching King. She was realizing their situation had become quite problematic.

“F-Forget about that now, Gio! How about you use some of that mumbo jumbo and just get us the hell out of here?” She hid her nervousness with a dash of her domineering tendencies.

 

Gio could only shrug towards Sera, his sunglasses sliding just enough to reveal the chocolate coated hues hidden behind them. Despite the sudden heaviness that permeated in the air, he seemed to be taking this all in rather carelessly. His eyes seemed to echo the fact he wasn’t quite taking things seriously.

It took another glance to Victor for his demeanor to slowly begin ticking over. Reassessing the situation in that moment had his carefree persona fading into a far more serious one.

He knew full well just how bad things were getting.

After all, they were facing off against the longest reigning and most powerful of all the Kings in New Eden.

Victor Maximus Ferris; Diamond King for the last sixty years.

 

“Giotto Jaeger and Sera Noel… Oh, how I’ve longed for this day. It’s been a long time coming.” Victor continued stepping forward, slowly removing the bleached white glove from his left hand. “It was decided to leave you be for a time, to learn what you had become, to perhaps uncover the truth. Your records have you as KIA and it was by the sacrifice of your friends that you were not pursued… but even if no evident crime had been committed your existence is a sin.”

Victor’s already chilling tone seem to reach a new low in terms of temperature. To him this seemed clearly personal and he made no effort to hide that fact. For the Espers behind him, those serving under him in Diamonds, they knew that what they witnessed here would never leave this battlefield.

Gio’s existence, specifically that he was alive to this day, was a secret that very few highly-ranked Espers knew. Those who were present wouldn’t dare repeat what was happening before them. To betray the trust of one’s King was akin to signing your death warrant.

“.. But, here you are at the scene of a horrific Chaotic attack. No longer do I let cheapened deals bind my hands from taking action. Now, it’s of no consequence to take you into custody. For interrogation, of course, but let’s say if you were to resist such pleasantries… I would do my duty as King.”

 

Gio managed a slight smirk. Such words from the old man were amusing, since that bit of sarcasm of his was the closest thing to a joke Gio had ever heard from Victor. The Diamond King lived up the ‘diamond’ bit of his title rather well – meaning that he was stubborn and extremely hard headed in just about everything he did. It meant talking or negotiating his way out of his wasn’t in the cards for Gio.

“Come on, gramps. You know that’s not right. We did just help clean up your mess.” Gio’s voice held a casual, cocky tone, but he stood ready for what was inevitably coming. “That Chaotic was rampaging, you know. If we didn’t step in to stop it… things would have gotten a lot worse. You know I’m right. You want the blood of those civilians on those silky smooth hands of yours? The same hands pledged to defend this city?”

“.. Yes, you’re probably not wrong, Giotto Jaeger.” Victor stopped pacing towards him, standing just about twenty or so yards from Gio. It seemed a setup for an old fashioned duel.

Gio was sure it wouldn’t work, but he gave talking one last try.

“If that’s the case then how about we call it a day? You guys can handle cleanup and we’ll just—”

“I don’t think so, Giotto. You may have saved lives today, I commend you for that, but it doesn’t change the fact you’ve surely cost many more in your past. You’ll cost many more in your future. This situation simply serves as an opportunity for me to apprehend you as a King of Eden before further destruction follows you.”

 

Victor wasn’t in the mood to talk any further. Gio could notice a faint azure glow beginning to appear around the King’s left hand. That meant that his spirit energy, what some would call an aura or simply energy, was gathering. That meant his supernatural ability as an Esper was about to be unleashed.

Like most Espers in New Eden, Victor bore a mark atop his left hand. This Mark of the House activated either when one’s ability was triggered of the wearer channeled their own aura to manifest. The mark took a different shape depending on the House and one’s rank within said House. Each of the four Houses held a unique mark and each rank a specific title.

In Victor’s case the mark was of a Diamond shape – covering most of the top of his hand – with various crisscrossing ornate patterns around it. In the center of the diamond was the letter ‘K’ which represented his rank. This was the brand that he and he alone, the Diamond King, possessed.

 

It spelled certain trouble when a King stepped into battle, as their power was said to be capable of wiping out the entirety of the city. It was so great in fact that the mere act of unleashing even a portion of their power typically called for widespread evacuations.

Such was the problem when fighting in a massive super-city with twenty million citizens living in it.

For this time there wasn’t going to be a chance for evacuations. Besides, most in the area were long gone – either through having already fled or falling victim to the beast.

Victor’s mind was made up. His unnatural emotional response to Gio, fueled by their complicated past, had this confrontation set in stone long ago.

“I would suggest, Giotto Jaeger, that you come quietly. We can avoid causing wanton destruction that way.” That condescending tone was one that only he could pull off. It would also be the one and only offer from Victor to apprehend Gio quietly.

 

“So you’re tellin’ me that’s that, huh? Geez, gramps. You can be a real prick sometimes… not to mention always using my full name like that gets me all embarrassed. Long are gone the days we were pals, huh…” Gio’s right hand, rather than his left, soon began to glow with a swirling mix of white and black lights. His expression seemed to finally show the gravity of the situation. “Sera, you’re going to need to get back for this one. I can’t really guarantee this will go over too smoothly.”

“I can take care of myself just fine, Gio!” Sera was defiant as ever, but even her resolve began to waiver when watching Victor. She wanted to protest further, but instead she took a step back and to the side, away from what was soon to become a battleground once again. Her partner’s tone was one she didn’t take lightly. “.. Don’t go doing anything stupid! If you end up dead, it’s going to hurt business.”

He couldn’t help but slouch with a heavy, exasperated sigh.

“You care about money at a time like this? You really know how to make a guy feel needed. Heh.”

Their somewhat turbulent relationship at least appeared to have a grain of genuine concern; an understanding for the other.

He waited until he could clearly see Sera leaving his field of view before finally stepping on the gas a bit. Gio’s own aura began to expand outwards, his energy levels beginning to climb. At that precise moment the swirling yin and yang glow around his right hand gave shape to a mark like Victor’s only different in both design and color.

The difference was instead of a diamond, his mark displayed as a combination of various shapes swirling as they came into view. They then combined and formed a somewhat more elaborate design – a tilted jester’s hat. There were no elaborate patterns in the space around it, either. There was also no letter or even word that appeared, implying that there was no rank to whatever his symbol of a jester hat represented.
Victor was visibly disgusted at the sight of the mark forming atop Gio’s hand. His face contorted like he ate something he’d be regretting for the next few days.

“Not taking the gentleman’s way out and surrendering? I have to admit I’m not the least bit surprised. To think that you, Giotto Jaeger, the once so-called hero of the people would come quietly… it does sound rather ridiculous. As such I shall happily give no quarter.”

Victor’s words were like the hammer snapping forward on an old fashioned revolver.

Blue, electric-like bolts of energy soon streaked outwards from his body, ripping through the air and causing loud cracks like thunder that shook the foundation. The rubble beneath his feet and the nearby concrete all around him burst apart at an atomic level as the energy made impact. His aura he emitted was so brilliant, so bright, that onlookers from behind him had to momentarily shield their eyes.

The energy, which took the obvious form of lightning, continued to crackle all around him and multiply. Such a sight looked amazing and fantastical, but it was a fraction of a fraction of Victor’s power.

He was just starting up.

Despite that fact, both normal citizens miles away and Espers city-wide could feel the force of his power being unleashed. That was the devastating force of a King.

“I’m sure you remember this sight, Giotto Jaeger! The power of the Diamond King – my power – Adamant Charge! Now then, En garde!”

 

Victor was right – Gio remembered the ability well.

Adamant Charge was hailed as one of the greatest Esper powers in New Eden. Thanks to its incredible offensive capabilities to create lightning attacks and its defensive prowess to supercharge objects and form barriers, many believed Victor to be the most powerful of the four Kings. He held his position longer than any other King in history and he did so by seemingly getting even stronger with age.

Now, this historic powerhouse was charging right at Gio.

One wrong move would surely spell certain doom for most anyone. In fact, few in the world would be able to survive a single attack from Victor – let alone actually beat it.

Gio was hopefully one of those few.

The swirling energy around the mark of the jester hat soon erupted, the mixing light and dark energies engulfing Gio for a brief moment. The winds whipped and swirled around him, affected by the sudden surge in power, and Gio dug his left foot deep into the ground.

His body then lunged forward in a superhuman level dash to meet Victor head-on.

“Remember you brought this on yourself, gramps!” Gio called out as his right hand was raised.

A flickering ember, faint and small, appeared within that same palm.

“Fiery, Release!”

His voice had become intensified, shedding his sarcasm and calling forth the very power that the Diamond King had expected.

The flame in his palm grew, engulfing his hand and then his entire arm. The flames of mixing reds and yellows were wild. Like an inferno they raged but not once did they burn their master. The magical flames were under Gio’s complete control. Instead, their target was the old man.

 

“Giotto!” Victor’s left hand gathered the energy immediately around him, forming a spear of erratic lightning that Victor slammed downwards in an attempt to skewer Gio from head to toe.

But the flames focused at the point of impact, focusing in Gio’s hand alone. They became compact, matching the point of the spear with a crimson flicker. It was then that concentrated flames and lightning clashed, the might of the meeting sending shockwaves through what had just a few hours ago been a busy shopping district.

The fragile ground beneath them was ruptured and the pulsing energy blew back debris in all directions.

Neither man backed down.

Victor was visibly upset, a rarity for the King, but he used that frustration to focus and gather a second spear in his right hand. He then slammed the mass of electricity towards Gio, aiming for his side this time, but Gio was aware and back stepped at the last possible instant in a move that looked more like a teleport.

The two spears of lightning met at the point where Gio had once stood, causing the King to spit in annoyance. A second later and Gio would have been skewered – a second sooner and Victor would have had time to alter his attack and strike him down.

What looked like a simple move in an average battle between two foes was one expertly calculated by both parties. It just so happened that Gio had the slight edge for that first clash.

“Running won’t save you anymore!” Victor stepped forward, dashing to match Gio’s sudden retreat, but things suddenly took a turn.

Flames had appeared on both sides of Victor, manifesting along the ground where Gio dashed back. They grew tall in an instant and surrounded their mark.

“You’re too eager, gramps!” Gio’s voice triggered the flames to collapse in on Victor, but much like Gio before him, Victor dodged.

The Diamond King propelled himself upwards, climbing into the air, while still propelling himself forward and towards Gio. He refused to be caught in a trap, but the hard headed Victor was indeed far too eager. He was uncharacteristically flustered, and thus mentally at a disadvantage.

He was also out of his element.

A tiny flame, barely the size of a small candle’s, appeared just in front of Victor’s face as he went through the air. He had been careless, despite knowing this fire elemental power.

“.. Explosion.”

What once was a minuscule flame turned into an orb of crimson light. The change was instantaneous. The orb then flashed and engulfed the Diamond King in a focused explosive force equivalent to that of C4.

Luckily for those nearby, the attack was controlled. It spoke volumes that such a blast could be contained in such a way.

 

Members of the Diamond House witnessed the explosion from afar and on instinct rushed towards the battlefield, fearing for their King, but electric sparks soon silenced their fears.

“.. Excellent try, but that was rather weak for a former King!” Victor’s voice peaked, filled with a sudden rage the likes of which few had seen.

He cleared the smoke of the explosion, diving back to the ground and launching a series of electrical blasts at Gio with honed speed and precision. However, even with the sudden assault, Victor could only look on in surprise as his beams of electricity were dodged like a child’s dart gun.

“You think you can match a King with those fickle flames?! You’re a disgrace to all Espers, a heathen, a rogue, a villain!” Victor raised both hands together, forming a series of lightning bolts which hung in the air. “After four years of waiting for a chance, your villainy ends today!”

Both arms slammed forward, launching the thirty plus spears of electrical force. The energy being expelled was a massive quantity, exceeding all previous maneuvers, and the area felt it.

As the bolts flew to their target environmental changes ran wild. The air, the earth, the very city could feel the effects. Gravity intensified, the ground quaked, the atmosphere grew heavy and thick.

But it wasn’t quite enough.

 

Gio stopped dashing back, flames swirling from around his feet and spreading. The fires then shot out, streaking as a series of mystical flamethrowers, each rushing through the air to clash with the bolts one by one. However, the flames seemed to be lacking in strength. Piercing bolts of lightning broke through and flew true.

“.. Fickle flames, huh?”

The mark atop his right hand began to spark wildly with white and black energy, similar to before. He then extended his hand in the direction of the incoming blasts – but the bolts soon crashed into him, and a cyclone of electricity and flames consumed his entire being.

The ground where Gio once stood was torn asunder. Lightning struck upwards into the sky as it made impact and then ricocheted in different directions. Flames spun and washed over the ground, melting away what remained. Any remnants of a store or even a trash heap nearby were blown away.

Then the flames, the lightning, all began to fade. All that remained was a wall of swirling smoke.

Admittedly, Victor seemed surprised, but more than that he was pleased. He hardly expected it to be that easy… and truthfully, he realized it couldn’t have been.

The Diamond King began stepping forward to where Gio once stood, the cloud of dust and smoke still standing strong. However, as Victor drew closer, he began to notice a subtle crackling sound. A sound that was much like the lightning he so expertly crafted…

A sound that was exactly the same as said lightning.

“.. What’s that you’re doing in there, Jaeger?”

The only response was further crackling.

Victor’s surprise faded to frustration and he took another step.

“Careful, gramps. There’s a livewire over here.”

Gio’s voice cued the expulsion of the dust and showed the source of the crackling sound – an electrical mass of energy, forming a type of barrier between himself and Victor. He then ignored the surge of emotion washing over Victor’s face and instead focused on moving.

 

“..W-What did you just do?” Victor’s high and mighty persona had, for the moment, completely fallen. He couldn’t believe what he was witnessing in that brief reveal.

His ability, his own Adamant Charge, cancelled out by what appeared to be the same power. A fact that was unmistakable.

“You already know exactly what I did, gramps… that’s my power. Oh, and no hard feelings, but this is over. Our party’s about to be crashed.” Gio’s tone grew cold as he spoke those words.

Those small crimson orbs from before began to appear once again, this time in a massive number, surrounding the Diamond King where he stood. The surprise – or perhaps audacity – of what Gio had just done still immobilized him, constricted him, and that was more than enough time for Gio to finish things.

Perhaps old age was catching up with the old man.

“Explosion!!”

The orbs of flame expanded on cue as fast as before, only this time it was accompanied by many more such events. Each orb, filled with compressed explosive power, unleashed themselves in a chain reaction that consumed the Diamond King and everything around him. The concrete, or what was left of it, was mercilessly turned to dust. The abandoned city block already fallen to Chaotic attack was now wiped off the map in this clash of Espers.

Members of Diamond were sent flying back further, crashing into the piles of rubble around them, while Victor could only let out a single gasp – too proud to allow himself to scream in agony.

In a single moment, Giotto Jaeger had delivered a finishing blow to the Diamond King, Victor Ferris, as if it were nothing.

« — »

Nearby, Sera had been blinded by the sudden flashes. She was quick in turning to shield herself from debris, but a gloved hand soon grabbed her own and pulled her from her defensive position. She knew who it was but she couldn’t help the surprised look on her face, especially given the fact explosions were still going off.

“G-Gio! Back there, you, you actually—” Her voice was cut off by Gio’s own.

“Yeah, yeah, I know! We need to get out of here! Damnit, why couldn’t he have just let us go? Everything is all kinds of messed up now!”

Sera’s hand continued to be pulled along by Gio and she did her best to keep up. She could tell that what happened just then was the last thing Gio had ever wanted. He had worked to avoid direct confrontations with the Houses in New Eden for four years now, but now not only did he end up fighting a House – he ended up fighting a King.

Heck, he even won the fight. It wasn’t exactly a close fight either.

Or at least that was how it appeared to her and anyone else looking on. The media was going to have a field day.

No matter the aftermath, no matter the state of things as the dust settled, it was clear that a King had lost to a rogue. To a villain. Not just any King – this was Victor Maximus Ferris, hailed as the mightiest in all of New Eden. It was even worse than say the undefeated World Boxing Champion losing to a bum off the street. Something like this had never happened before. Things were going to become far more strained in the days, weeks, and months to come.

An upheaval had begun that would shake the foundations of New Eden, of all Espers, to the very core.

With everything that just happened Sera thought she would be more surprised, taken aback by everything, especially given who it was they just encountered. Perhaps she had grown used to this type of nonsensical chaos. She was used to trouble involving Gio and herself.

This was just another in a long list of unfortunate events to befall Sera since she returned to her hometown after ten years away.

In the past year since her return to New Eden, ever since she became Gio’s partner in his ill-fated business, she had come to expect sticky situations day in and day out. This wasn’t new to her. Not anymore.

That seemed to be the fate of Sera Noel since she met Giotto ‘Gio’ Jaeger – the man whom they once called a hero of the people, a man whom they once called the fool of fools, and the man who was once called a King of New Eden.

The same man who, with his previous identity lost, was known far and wide as The Wild Card.

 

~ END 1ST CARD ~

2ND CARD »