The Mind World And The Outcast Hero

Brawl In The Lobby

Nathan calmly walked through the lobby in search of Sindy and Andrew. As he walked, every assassin present in the lobby made a pathway for him to pass. It was almost as if he had some type of disease. Not one assassin was pleased to see him.

Soon after, an onslaught of hateful words was tossed at Nathan. A majority of the other assassins wished for him to disappear. They hated that he was allowed to even be a part of AA.

Despite this, Nathan ignored their negative remarks. He knew he shared the blame for the deaths of many people in the Mind World. Given his painful past, despair was a normal thing for him to experience. Due to this, Nathan was sure his negative emotions had taken the form of Demon Beasts and taken many innocent lives.

Suddenly, Nathan heard a male voice within the crowd call Rosie's name. He then pulled himself to a stop before looking over his shoulder to see a nineteen-year-old male with bright blue eyes and shaggy brown hair. He was smirking at Nathan mockingly.

"The Mind Hero killed Rosie! How pathetic!!" He laughed.

The other assassins then began to laugh at the stranger's remark. They found it humorous how Nathan had boldly proclaimed himself to be a hero, yet he had failed to save a single life because he feared killing.

However, Nathan did not take a liking to this. He was willing to tolerate insults that were thrown towards him but he would not standby and allow them to disrespect Rosie's death.

Fueled with anger, Nathan walked over to the assassin before draping him by the collar.

"You can make fun of me all you want but don't you dare make a joke out of Rosie's death!" He cursed.

"Marco, you made him angry! You're a god, bro! Mad respect!" Supported another male figure standing beside him. He looked around the same age with shaggy black hair and brown eyes.

"Take back what you said, right now!" Demanded Nathan.

"Make me!" Grinned Marco.

By this time, a crowd of assassins had gathered around in hopes of a brawl. It was evident that things were about to escalate.

"I'll warn you one last time. Take it back now!" Warned Nathan.

A frown then came across Marco's lips. He did not appreciate Nathan's tone.

"Are you trying to get a beatdown, kid? It's not my fault you were too pathetic to save a single life."

"Marco is an AB-Classed assassin! Put your tail between your legs and run away like the coward you are before you get yourself killed like Rosie!" Laughed Marco's friend.

Without even a second of hesitation, Nathan slammed his fist into the jaw of the unknown assassin. He then painfully staggered backward from the force before falling into the crowd.

"What the hell?! You're a dead man!" He shouted while holding his jaw.

"Hmph... I'll deal with this idiot by myself, Patrick! Stay back!" Ordered Marco to his friend.

Marco then proceeded to remove his shirt, revealing steady shoulders and a pack of firm abs. This caused the girls in the crowd to go wild with delight.

A second later, Nathan and Marco were ready to fight. None of them were willing to back down. The fight was inevitable. Nathan was not about to tolerate their insults to Rosie.

Marco threw the first punch towards Nathan's ear, but he blocked before countering with a powerful jab to Marco's gut. This caused Marco to stagger backward, gasping for air. He hadn't expected Nathan to be able to move so skillfully. 

However, Marco refused to stay down. He couldn't allow himself to be beaten by Nathan in front of so many other assassins. It would make him look weak.

Quickly, he sprang back up to his feet before delivering a painful uppercut underneath Nathan's chin. Nathan's teeth slammed shut from the impact before he fell to the ground in pain.

This boosted Marco's pride considerably. One hit had left Nathan flat on his back. Feeling victorious, he then began walking around Nathan with his hands in the air like a champion. The crowd went wild with excitement. They wanted more.

Nathan, however, refused to stay down. Slowly, he got up holding his jaw in pain. He wouldn't dare lose to someone who was mocking Rosie's death. 

"Come on! Is that all you've got?" Taunted Nathan with a smirk.

Triggered by his words, Marco charged towards Nathan. He then pulled back his arm before swinging a powerful punch towards Nathan's head. However, Nathan was prepared. He dodged Marco's punch before countering with a powerful uppercut that almost snapped Marco's windpipe in two. It was payback for the one he had received earlier.

Due to this, Marco fell to his knees coughing violently. His throat felt as if he had tried to swallow an entire rock. Despite this, Marco was eager to continue the fight. The thought of losing to someone from the Real World was sickening. He would be a laughing stock if he didn't win.

Allowing his stubbornness to take control, Marco picked himself up before recklessly charging towards Nathan. Unfortunately for him, this proved to be a serious error. 

Anticipating that this would happen, Nathan utilized his quick reflexes to perform a low sweep which knocked Marco off his feet. This resulted in him falling and hitting his face against the metal floor.

Blood then soon began to protrude from Marco's mouth. His body could no longer endure its beating. He had lost the fight.

Nathan had managed to win the fight but he knew this was only because no Art Styles were used. He knew that he would have a higher chance of being defeated if Marco had used any of his Art Styles. Fortunately for Nathan, it was a massive taboo to activate any Art Style within Headquarters outside of a Leisure Dome. Due to this, he had managed to outclass Marco in a fistfight thanks to the training he had received from the Instructor.

Sadly, despite winning the fight, Nathan wasn't finished yet. He still demanded that Marco apologize for disrespecting Rosie's death.

Flaming with rage, Nathan walked over to the fallen assassin before stomping on his head repeatedly. Marco was rendered helpless against the enraged Nathan.

"Take back what you said now!!" Shouted Nathan angrily.

Marco was at his breaking point. He had to apologize to Nathan before things got any worse.

However, before Marco could apologize, Patrick ran from the crowd and speared Nathan to the floor. He could not allow his friend to be humiliated any further.

Nathan hated to admit it but he had been caught off-guard. Patrick now sat atop his chest, releasing a barrage of punches to his face. Each time a punch hit its mark, Nathan could hear it echo through his skull. He didn't know what to do. He was pinned to the floor with his arms barely blocking Patrick's painful punches. He was in quite a predicament.

Unexpectedly, this was when a kick slammed into Patrick's stomach, tossing him into the surrounding crowd. This caused at least a dozen surrounding assassins to topple over.

"Get the hell off of my friend, jackass!" Shouted Andrew. He had been the one to come to Nathan's rescue.

Unfortunately, just like Marco, Patrick refused to stay down. He was determined to have both Andrew and Nathan pay for the humiliation they had brought upon him. 

Quickly, Patrick then went in for an uppercut but Andrew caught his arm before slapping him across his face as if he was his mother. The slap was so painful that it echoed through the lobby causing Patrick to fall on one knee, clasping his face. Even a red handprint now remained on the side of his cheek.

However, Patrick was still too stubborn. His pride would not allow him to stay down. Just then, before he could initiate another attack, something unexpected happened.

An unknown figure looking around his early twenties with cool black hair and intimidating blue eyes emerged from the crowd. He had a charming face, a slim figure, and was quite tall. As soon as Patrick saw the mystery figure, he came to a halt. It was almost as if he was paralyzed by fear.

"Man, what a pain..." began the mystery figure with a very nonchalant expression. His voice was as cool as ice but there was an unexplainable warmth to it. "You're all quite brave to be fighting like this. Have you all forgotten how horrible Alondo's punishments are?"

As soon as the stranger spoke, the entire crowd of assassins fled like a flock of sheep, inclusive of Marco and Patrick. Nathan and Andrew, however, remained behind in bewilderment. They had no idea who this mysterious stranger was. 

"Nate, who is this dude..?" Asked Andrew quietly.

"No idea, but he seems incredibly strong..."

Suddenly, footsteps could be heard running towards them. The three remaining assassins then averted their eyes to see Sindy running towards them in worry.

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay, Nathan!?" She queried in distress.

"Yeah, I'm good. Thanks, Sindy."

"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine too, Sindy! Thanks for asking! And you're welcome as well, Nathan! I so didn't endanger my beautiful face to save you!" Sarcastically added Andrew.

Sindy and Nathan laughed at Andrew's remark. 

"Yeah, you too, Andrew!"

"So I guess everything's okay then?" Abruptly asked the mysterious stranger.

"Yeah, thanks for the help!" Exclaimed Nathan thankfully. "I don't know how things would have turned out if you didn't show up."

"I see. That's good to know then."

"Who are you, by the way?"

"My name's Prince. I'm just glad everything turned out okay before Alondo decided to step in..."

"Wait!!" Suddenly yelled Sindy. "Do you mean Prince as in the #1 Assassin!?"

"Yeah, that's me... It's a pain to talk about my rank though so I'd appreciate it if you didn't get so excited..."

"Man, you're so cool though!" Beamed Andrew with delight.

"Well, I was just passing by and decided that I'd give a hand. Since everything's calmed down, I'll be going. Maybe I'll go catch a nap or something before Azume realizes I'm gone..."

*****

The Truth Of The Matter: Prince was there from the beginning but took a while to decide if it would be too much of a pain to intervene in the fight.

*****

"Well, we appreciate the help!" Thanked Nathan.

"Yeah, no problem," replied Prince one last time. "Oh right, one last thing... I've been keeping an eye on you three lately. So recently, I spoke to Alondo about his plans for you. He told me that I should tell you three to start preparing for your next mission. It's coming up soon."