Ash could barely contain his feelings upon seeing his opponent.
The one before him was a tall man with dark hair and a well built body.
He was someone Ash could have easily mistaken for an adult stranger, but he was neither an adult or a stranger.
It was unmistakable, the one standing before him was the friend he had been searching for all along.
It was Will.
Ash could even recognize his current form, as it was the one he had when he used his Weapon Master skill in the past.
The only difference was the permanence of this form. As Will was seemingly able to remain in this form even when not wielding a weapon.
The current him was indeed a far cry from the kind boy he remembered, it was no surprise he wasn't instantly recognized by his description.
'Will...'
Will just stood there before Ash, no reaction to their reunion. It was only natural as Ash was the only one who remembered their time in Blackheart.
Ash was clearly not in his right state of mind upon this unexpected reunion, especially after he had just been told they wouldn't be meeting for a while.
As such he was simply unable to look at Will as an opponent and completely forgot to assess him as one.
*Bzzt*
The buzzer broke the silence between them and while Ash was still somewhat dazed Will wasted no time and went on the offensive.
The first thing he pulled out was a crossbow, shooting it within less then a second at Ash.
Ash was able to come back to his senses and was quick to use Delusion, but before he could use it one of the arrows had already hit him.
"Argh!"
He shouted as the arrow pierced his leg.
But despite the pain he was in he was given no time to recover as Will was quick to close the distance while continously shooting at Ash.
And while these shots would not land, it was still enough to keep Ash somewhat preoccupied.
By the time he was able to get a proper look at Will again, he was already only a step or two away from him.
'This isn't looking good.'
Ash was quick to draw his sword just in time to block the slash that came from Will.
He had now switched to a sword.
Still as he blocked the slash Ash felt it.
Will's sword was heavier, stronger.
'Weapon Master is no joke.'
Ash knew he was at a disadvantage, not only has he been shot already, he was also at a disadvantage in close range.
Was he really so outmatched?
Then Ash used his Delusion to give himself a momentary boost in strength, which just proved enough to slightly push Will back.
Seizing the opportunity Ash quickly raised his sword ready to slash down at full force.
'I have to face it. The person before me isn't the Will I knew, he is just a familiar stranger.'
The expressions he was making, the way he moved, none of it matched the Will he knew.
As such Ash didn't hold back and slashed down with all the strength he could muster.
The arena lit up as the aura gathered and a crescent moon descended as he slashed down.
*Boom*
Slashing down Ash felt it he had hit something hard.
'Is it over?'
But once the light and dust dissipated it became clear that what he hit wasn't Will as Ash's sword stood there completely stopped by the sword Will was holding.
Then Will moved the sword with massive strength instantly sending Ash stumbling back.
'He blocked my Cleave?'
Ash wanted to act shocked, but Will was already before him ready to deliver a strike of his own to Ash.
Will raised to sword into the sky and a massive amount of aura started gathering around it.
'Wait is he–'
Ash wanted to question if he was doing what he thought he was, but before he could Will slashed down with all the force he could muster.
Upon slashing down a small crescent moon descended into the arena.
*Boom*
Ash stood there frozen, the sword he had gotten all the way back in Blackheart completely shattered on the ground.
And then he felt it a pain the likes of which he had not experienced in a while.
"ARGH!"
He screamed with all his heart.
Seeing him scream even the stoic looking Will looked concerned for a moment before his expression returned to what it was prior.
Ash tried searching for the source of his pain and then he found it.
His left arm, that was the source.
He quickly tried raising it and examining it, but he couldn't.
He couldn't understand it. What had just happened, why was he so hurt and why couldn't he raise his arm?
Then he finally found it... his arm.
There it was on the ground, severed from his body.
Then he looked up at where Will should have been, but he was already far gone, no longer interested in the match.
Instead what he saw were the examiners rushing into the arena one after another.
And it was then that Ash's world completely faded to black.
...
*Beep*
A beeping sound and an unfamiliar ceiling were the first things that welcomed him upon regaining conciousness.
'Where am I?'
He asked the events from before still hazy.
Then a door opened, and through it came a man wearing white.
"We are delighted to see that you are awake."
Ash's memories were still somewhat hazy, so the first question he asked was...
"What happened?"
The doctor fixed his glasses before speaking up.
"A problem was encountered with our device during the match and as a result the defensive systems didn't go off.
"A... problem?"
"Yes, we looked into it and it seems that you had an altercation with contestant Chase after your match has concluded. This resulted in your device being activated, which in of itself isn't an issue, but since the altercation was only witnessed by Colonel Sanders, Chase and yourself our staff wasn't notified of the device's activation."
Then the man took a deep breath before concluding.
"As a result we weren't able to reset it, which then resulted in the... incident."
"...incident?"
Ash asked still somewhat absentminded.
"Have you not noticed it yet?"
"What exactly?"
The man took a deep breath before continuing.
"...your arm."
"What is with my arm?"
Ash asked still unable to understand what was going on even upon looking at his arm.
"The other one."
He still didn't understand, but that was when he tried raising his left hand to no avail.
Trying again there was still no response from under the blanket.
Suddenly becoming worried, he quickly raised the blanket with his other hand to reveal the place where his other arm was supposed to be.
'...It's... not... there.'
"Your arm has been severed. We tried putting it back, but it was highly contaminated by the aura explosion and as a result we were unable to save it."
"Your left arm is gone."
"My arm... is... gone?"
"...yes, I am truly sorry."
"HAHAHA."
Ash started laughing frantically.
"HA, MY ARM IS GONE HAHAHA."
Ash's frantic laughing caught the doctor off guard making him slightly uncomfortable.
"WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT I'D LOSE AN ARM THANKS TO CHASING THAT ASSHOLE."
Ash's state didn't look great, but it seemed his memories of the match were slowly coming back.
"THE FIRST THING HE DOES UPON MEETING ME IS SEVERING MY ARM... I SWEAR..."
His eyes were bloodshot, his anger was obvious to anyone watching.
He hated the fact that Will didn't remember him, he hates the fact that Will was stronger than him, he hated the fact that he severed his arm, but what he hated most was the how indifferent he was.
"Someone! We need some help here, the patient is getting out of control."
The doctor shouted asking for help as he tried holding Ash off.
Then multiple people rushed into the room as he was restrained.
Then he was pierced by a needle afterwhich, he once again returned to the world of darkness.
...
Opening his eyes Ash found himself somewhere unfamiliar, a place wholely different from anything he had seen before.
Streets as empty as they could get, dimly lit streetlights.
Looking around he could see none of the that were present in Primus.
No ads, no neon lights, nothing overly techie. If he had to describe it somehow. Yes, he'd compare it to the old towns that were preserved in their old state for millenia.
Yet the street wasn't what was most important to him, as in that moment all he could think about were his arms or just arm, his left arm.
Quickly raising it he was surprised to see his arm right where it was supposed to be.
'What is going on?'
He wondered, unsure of why his missing arm was present.
'Am I dreaming?'
He asked, a seemingly natural escalation from his prior question.
That was when he spotted a building in the distance which seemingly had a stronger light radiating from it than all the ones surrounding it.
Upon walking closer to it, there was an old wooden door with a sign right above it.
'Detective Agency?'