Business

So, Faceless and Hella fought. It was really something. Faceless won, which means I might have to take him on myself in one of the upcoming fights.

And apparently Hella is still alive, is actually named Fien, and is some kind of immortal. So that's a thing, I guess?

Anyway, some time after that, the next fight started up. We were given 10 minutes this time. I got to the stands to notice that Sal wasn't amongst the spectators. Which meant...

"Welcome!" William announced, interrupting my train of thought. "We shall now begin the seventh battle!"

Sal entered the colosseum at one end, and from the other end, his "Business rival" entered. The two of them stood, staring each other down.

"Lind Balint!" William announced. "Vs. Valon Saltown!"

"So that's what it's short for," I said.

I spotted Anthony out of the corner of my eye, whipping out his phone and muttering a quick voicemail to someone.

"Begin!" William said.

Lind made the first move. He drew a pair of pistols and began shooting. Sal teleported out of the way. Lind adjusted his aim, but Sal just kept vanishing. Sal then appeared behind Lind, and raised his sword. Lind turned sharply, and blocked the attack with the barrel of one of this guns.

As the fight went on, Malkator spoke up.

"Why the bloody hell is he holding back?" he said.

"Huh?" I asked.

"I know Sal," Malkator said. "He's stronger than this. The fight should have ended as soon as it began."

I was confused too. Sal can keep an entire bar full of opposed servants from murdering each other, and he was having trouble here? With the kind of power I've seen Sal display, this should've been a cakewalk for him.

But I realized pretty quickly what the problem was. Sal's full power only works in places he feels at home, like in his bar. The fact that he can control the terrain here means he still identifies the Board as his home, at least on a subconscious level. And that terrifies and angers him. He was restraining himself, refusing to use his powers, because he refused to accept that this place was still home to him.

Sal kept dodging Lind's gunshots while trying to get a hit in with his blade. One of Lind's guns jammed, so he discarded it and drew a grenade from his belt. He ripped the pin out of it and fired his remaining gun at Sal, who vanished again. Lind turned and tossed it at Sal as he reappeared. Sal smacked the grenade away with his sword and teleported right up close to Lind, having drawn his shotgun. He took aim, and blasted Lind in the chest, throwing backwards. He landed hard on his back, dropping his gun as his grenade exploded a distance away.

William raised a hand in the air, observing Lind's body, before announcing "The fight isn't over."

Lind started chuckling, and Sal stepped back, alarmed. Lind sat up, opening his eyes, which were now glowing with a deep, red light.

"What have you done?" Sal muttered.

"What needed to be done," Lind said, rising to his feet, as drops of his blood began floating in the air around his hands.

"This is one intense business rivalry," I noted.

"I needed power to take you out of the picture once and for all," Lind said. "And if that means giving myself to my Vices..."

Lind's hair shifted to a vibrant red, and his face twisted into a malevolent grin.

"So be it."

He lashed out with one hand, creating a whip out of his blood, that struck the ground at Sal's feet, how managed to dodge just in time.

"And he's a Blood Vessel now," Anthony said. "That's... something..."

"He must've been harboring some of the Red Cap for a while now," Malkator said. "And now he's allowed it to consume him."

Lind continued lashing out with his blood whips. Sal teleported up close and slashed his sword, which collided with the side of Lind's head. But Lind's blood hardened beneath his skin, reducing the impact to nothing.

"Got any more in you?" Lind said mockingly.

"I've never actually fought a Blood Vessel," I said. "But they're supposed to be really hard to wound, right?"

"Yeah," Anthony said. "And the Red Cap tends to grant it's servants a strong sense of masochism, so they end up enjoying whatever damage you do to them. Sal might be in trouble here."

He's no where near as powerful as the other me is, Daniel spoke up. But he's still dangerous.

Lind disarmed Sal quickly and struck him in the chest with one of his blood whips. Sal teleported away, noticeably panting. Lind kept lashing out with his whips, landing a couple more blows on Sal, who dropped to his knees. Lind let up, taking pride in how much damage he'd done. He drew back his arm, preparing another strike.

Do something! Daniel hissed at me.

I stood up and shouted down at Sal.

"Damn it, Sal! I need you alive!" I snapped. "If you keep holding back, he is going to kill you!"

I felt something weird going on with my eyes, but I ignored it, and kept shouting. But I felt something kind of off about my voice as I did.

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself!" I said. "You're a Card! A SPADE! Fucking act like it!"

Lind was momentarily distracted by my interruption, but he brushed it aside, and turned his attention back to Sal. As he did, two slabs of the stone floor burst up on either side of him and pressed in. He quickly threw his arms out, managing to hold them off from completely sandwiching him. Sal had risen to his feet, now looking determined.

"Justin," Anthony said, handing me a mirror. "Your eyes."

I glanced at my reflection, and realized I had the same weird goat-eyes that Daniel has. As soon as I blinked, they were back to normal, but in that moment, I realized what had happened to my voice. I wasn't the only one speaking. Daniel had made himself heard as well.

Lind snarled angrily and charged toward Sal, breaking out from between the stone slabs. He swung a fist, hardening his blood for maximum damage, but Sal effortlessly caught his fist. The ground beneath Lind crumbled and began rising up his shins, holding him in place. Lind tried to swing his other fist, but Sal struck first, hitting Lind's collar bone and shattering it, immobilizing Lind's free arm.

"I'm sorry, Lind," Sal said. "I've always respected you, despite your hatred of me."

The ground beneath Sal's discarded sword shifted, and began pulling the sword back to him. He gripped it in his free hand tightly.

"But, as intent as you are on ending my life," Sal said, "I'm afraid I have no choice here."

"That sword didn't hurt me last time," Lind said. "What makes you think-"

In one shift motion, Sal cut off Lind's arm, letting it fall to the ground. Lind backed away, crying out in pain.

"How!?" Lind demanded.

A pillar of stone shot up beneath Sal's shotgun, sending it flying back into his hand, and he shoved the barrel into Lind's mouth.

"No more restraint," Sal said, before pulling the trigger.

Lind's lifeless, one-armed body fell to the ground, with a big hole in the back of his skull. William began clapping enthusiastically.

"Congratulations, Valon," he said. "You've won your fight."

Sal glared back at William, and sheathed his weapons.

"My name," he snarled, "Is Sal.

And with that, Sal turned and left the arena, as the Diamonds appeared to clean up all the damage he had done.