Justice is a Synonym for Rebellion

The sun was shining on the streets of a small kingdom. Busy streets, full of wooden houses, market stalls, banners swaying to the sound of the calm wind. Standing tall at the center of the entire kingdom, a huge stone castle - both fortress and palace. At its summit, a half-gold, half-purple flag waved. So large and so tall, it was said it could be seen from anywhere in the kingdom.

On the flag was the image of a great and terrifying lion, a yellow crown resting upon its head. From each point of the crown a white letter shone, together spelling the words "Kingdom of Velmara."

"Bewitched? Play with me."

Gen's gaze fell on a royal banner, the golden lion's stitching swaying in the wind. Below it, a merchant bellowed, selling bruised fruit to a woman whose children had the desperate look of hunger. With a scoff, Gen turned away.

'This whole kingdom is rotting from the inside out.'

"Hey!"

In front of him stood two adult men wearing ornate red clothes.

The boy made a side-eye and sighed deeply.

"I did something wrong?"

Cruelly, the two guards laughed.

"Oh, look who it is! Gen Gott!" said one.
"Haha, you were already arrested twice! That’s probably a record for your age."

Reaching out, one of the guards grabbed Gen's arm.

"And what's with those clothes? Are you from another world?"

The guard was touching the boy's black tracksuit with white stripes.

"It's a gift." the boy replied flat.

"A gift? Heh, your parents are foreigners?"

"No. My family has lived here for countless generations."

With one guard chuckling, the other finally stopped poking Gen's shoulders.

Stepping away, the other pointed a finger at Gen's face, his voice dropping to a low, flat tone that held no warmth.

"Hey, kid. Don't think that just because the kingdom is currently without a king the law has weakened. On the contrary, it is stronger than ever - especially for 'your kind.'"

The other guard leaned close, his voice a low, threatening whisper.

“And personally, little friend, I hope you get thrown out of this city soon. It can’t come fast enough.”

His breath didn't hitch, his posture didn't shift. He met their taunts with a silence so profound it became a weapon of its own. His black eyes locked onto theirs, unblinking and silent, forcing them to step back.

“So, Gen,” one sneered, “if you’re not ready to live in the jungle, you’d better start behaving.”

The other chuckled darkly. “Actually, I’d rather you just… vanished. Would make life easier for everyone.”

Their laughter was sharp and cruel, like orcas toying with a seal before killing it.

“Hey,” the boy asked calmly “you guards can enter the palace, right?”

"Of course."

"Well then, tell the General that he is useless."

Hearing that, both guards opened their mouths as if Gen had personally offended both of their families.

"W-WHAT?!" The first guard’s voice cracked with indignation.

"How dare you disrespect The Regent that way?!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the other guard gave a mischievous smile.

"Hehe, looks like this is our perfect chance."

'Does offending someone without royal blood count? Interesting...'

One of the guards raised his baton.

"Gen Gott, you shouldn't have said that! You-"

"Kamarad!"

As those words lingered in the air, his left eye turned white beneath his black bangs, like cataracts in their advanced stage.

"W-WOAHHH!!"

In an instant, both guards collapsed to the floor. Like clumsy beginners on ice, they flailed, trying over and over to stand - only to topple immediately each time.

"W-What's happening!? Why am I sliding across the ground!?"

Gen, hands tucked into the pockets of his closed coat, casually pulled out a small 0.5 L bottle.

The water inside didn’t ripple - it seemed solid, yet it was still unmistakably water.

"I swapped the friction of the tiles beneath your feet with the friction of the water in this bottle," he said.

As the guards struggled,Gen simply threw the bottle away.

"This is going to explode soon."

He stepped to the side of the road and trudged forward.

"You are Velmara."

As he started to walk away, one of the guards shouted as loud as he could:

"W-WAIT, DON'T TELL ME HE HAS A DEUS!"

"This might be it."

Gen appeared in front of a wooden building. Not too big, not too small, with a bar door. On top, a half-gold, half-purple flag.

Staring at the flag for a few moments, he walked in. The bar was almost empty because it was nearly morning. He sat down across from the waiter.

Now, his left eye was again as black as darkness.

"Hey mate, could you give me a lighter, please?"

The waiter glanced up.

"Oh? You smoke? How old are you? And where's your cigarette?!"

"I'm 16."

"Uh, that's definitely enough. But what do you intend to smoke?"

"I'll buy one." Gen changed the subject.

Nodding, the waiter turned his back to the counter. A moment later, he returned with a worn flint lighter.

"I'll give it to you for free. Just use it."

"Thank you."

He lit the flame, watching it flicker, then with no warning, it died. Gen snapped the lighter shut.

The flame sputtered out, and he snapped the lighter shut.

"That's all."

His left eye went white again.

"Uh? You did absolutely nothing-"

Behind him, the waiter heard a small creak of wood.

"W-What..." Stuttering as he slowly turned back.

When he turned back, his entire precious wine collection was in flames. Flames climbed the wall, jumped to the floor and in seconds the whole place was on fire.

“What the hell is going on?!” The waiter demanded.

He spun around and saw the boy in the black-and-white tracksuit walking straight for the exit.

"Kamarad strikes again."

Outside, a few people ran desperately out of the bar, seeking refuge from the fire.

And Gen remained there in the doorway. his white eye unblinking watching the flag burn.

"A nationalist waiter? That's new."

He turned 180 degrees, ready to leave, looking straight ahead. But in front of him there was already someone.

"Gen Gott... Is that you?"

A young man about Gen’s age stood before him, wearing a baby-blue hoodie stamped with “PT”, a red turtleneck, a red jacket tied around his waist and black trousers.

Oddly, sweat beaded in the gaps of his dark brown curls.

“Huh? Are you sweating because it’s hot? Weird - I’m not even sweating.”

“He swallowed. “No… it can’t be. Not in such a short time.”

The curly-haired boy brought a hand to his temple and avoided Gen’s eyes, focusing instead on a loose cobblestone underfoot. His fists opened and closed, useless small movements.

“Tsk… this is so annoying! I-I’m not nervous! I-I’m not nervous! Stop stuttering-”

People were fleeing in panic all around them, but the two of them stood there with the flames at their backs.

“What do you want from me?” he asked.

Theo raised an eyebrow, like someone suddenly remembering why they’d come.

"Oh yeah, right. L-Let me ask you something... Why do you hate Velmara?"

Gen didn't respond for a moment, just staring at him with his monochromatic eyes.

"I made a promise... And this country sucks."

"I see..." Theo's brow furrowed. "B-But that's interesting: you started the fire in the back of the bar as if you wanted to give people time to escape. You wanted them to get out? What were you thinking?"

"No. Not the people... the majority."

"Okay."

The other boy let out a breath, trying to focus and calm down.

"I am Theo Moretti!!" he declared.

"I'm... a vandal."

"Without further ado, let's go, Brain!"

A small, peculiar being appeared, floating above Theo's head, with light-blue hair and eyes, dark-blue clothes, and wings that made her fly - something like a fairy.

"Alright!" With an extremely high-pitched female voice, the little fairy screamed.

'Ah? Does this guy want to fight me? I don't even know him-'

Before Gen could react, Brain dropped a huge iron board.

'W-What?! Someone else also has a power?!'

Theo grabbed it with both hands, and with a grunt he pulled it behind his back.

'Fuck! I can’t dodge-'

"Take this!"

Then, in a quick move, he slammed the entire iron board against Gen, who was right in front of him.

"W-What?"

The iron board, meant to shatter bone, impacted Gen with the soft sigh of folding linen. It draped over his shoulders, its weight gone, its threat neutralized.

"I said, what do you want from me?!"

Under the now-limp sheet of metal, Gen's fist shot into Theo's face.

"GAH!!" grunted Theo.

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

The soft, smooth iron tore under his hands.

His left eye was white.

"I don't understand what you want, but you started this."

Theo's eyes shifted to the side, toward the bar.

'Wait a minute...'

The bar's wooden walls were damaged, some boards lay on the floor, and the flag was half destroyed.

Theo glanced at the bar. The flag was stiff, unmoving. The fire was gone. "The flag..." he muttered, a realization dawning. "Wait... did you just... swap them? How did you do that?"

"That's it," answered Gen.

In his hand, the piece of iron returned to normal - a vertical iron board.

At the same time, his eye turned black again.

"Name's Kamarad."

'A power to exchange properties of things? Anyway.'

With both hands, Gen gripped the metal.

"Since you won't say what you want from me, I'll make you spit it out."

Theo’s throat went dry.

"G-Go on..."

He closed his eyes.

"Idiot."

Gen charged. The iron swept sideways, meant to break Theo in half.

But he didn't move.

The iron hit him - and it vanished.

"Ah?-"

"BRAIN!"

"Yes, sir!"

A sharp knife fell from the fairy.

Theo quickly tried to cut Gen's chest - and he did.

'THIS GUY REALLY WANTS TO KILL ME!' Gen failed to dodge in time.

From top to bottom, the knife carved a line down Gen’s chest, staining his tracksuit red.

Without time to breathe, Theo’s blade came again, faster and more ruthless. Gen managed to catch the hilt, the blade trembling inches from his eye.

'D-Dammit, I'm almost dying... GODDAMMIT!!'

With his other hand, he touched the knife.

"Kamarad!"

The knife softened. Theo felt as if he were gripping paper.

"Ah? How-"

"I'm touching your hoodie while holding your hand, you idiot!"

He headbutted Theo's nose, causing him to stagger back and blood to drip from his nostrils.

"A-Ah... D-Dammit..."

But when Theo looked up, Gen wasn't there.

He looked to his left; the bar door was open.

'He went there...'

With a hand covering his red nose, Theo took slow steps in that direction.

'He has almost no way to use his power in an open field. It makes sense that he'd want to go to a place with material. But that's not a problem for me.'

Inside, the place was partially blackened, smelling of smoke, with parts of the ceiling missing.

But it was empty.

'He's hidden somewhere?'

The waiter's counter stood before him, a back door promising escape. To his left, stairs.

'Did he go to the second floor? But I- WAHHH!!'

Suddenly, pressure hit his neck, pulling him back.

A rear-naked choke from Gen.

"G-GAH!!" Theo gasped for air.

"I replaced the sound of my feet with that of my socks - something that makes no sound when it hits the ground."

One of his eyes was white.

"Basically, stopping making sound."

His grip gradually tightened. Theo's hands clawed as if begging for release.

"I really didn't get what the heck you want from me. But it truly seems you intend to end my life, so I'll return the favor-"

Gen took a hammer blow to the head - not from Theo, but from a small fairy floating above Theo's head.

Gen spat out blood. His vision blurred, and his eye turned black again.

'S-She can attack too?!'

The grip on Theo's neck completely ceased, Gen's hands falling back.

Gen staggered, groaning in pain.

"IT'S NOT OVER YET! BRAIN!!"

The blue fairy moved to the floor, removing one screw from a floorboard.

"HERE!" she snapped, throwing the screw up.

Theo hit the screw squarely with his hammer. It flew and pierced Gen's chest like a bullet.

Like a screw in a wall, it remained fixed there in his chest.

With blood pouring from his chest, Gen fell to the ground, close to a table.

Theo slowly came to a stop beside Gen, watching the boy restrain himself.

"A-AH, I'M SORRY! I-I THINK I WENT TOO FAR!!"

His eyes sharpened. "You're going to live... so I guess..." He smiled, slamming a fist into the palm of his other hand.

"YOU'RE IN!!"

Theo composed himself, turning his back.

"Well, I’ll-"

"H-Hey!"

A scream was heard behind Theo.

"Y-You're right... This is not over yet!"

Gen was sitting on the floor, one hand on his head and the other holding a liquid nail, which quickly returned to normal.

"Ah, I see. You traded the state of the nail for your tears to detach it from your body; if it were blood, you would have died instantly. You must have felt a little irritation on your cornea, right?"

With both eyes already black, he said nothing and pointed the screw at Theo.

With his other hand, he began to move it back and forth very quickly.

And suddenly-

"W-WHAT?!"

The nail flew and pierced Theo's chest.

Just like Gen.

The boy with one white eye jabbed a finger at Theo.

"I exchanged the speed of my hand for that of the screw, so it flew towards you!"

Theo groaned in pain, a screw driven into his chest.

'S-Shit, that hurts!'

"W-Well, but one of your eyes is white, so I just need to hurry up... Hey Brain, give me a-"

"Do you really think I can only trade one thing at a time?"

He grabbed a glass wine bottle from the table.

He hurled it to the ground.

"KAMARAD, YOU SHIT!"

Both eyes went white.

Suddenly, the entire ground they were standing on became transparent - glass.

'W-WHAT?! I-I thought the white eye was just an indicator that he is in a cooldown. B-But no, white eye means he has already made a change, and it literally goes blind! It's actually a limitation of his power! And if he makes two trades, that means both eyes go blind! So he's now literally blind!!!'

The ground collapsed.

The glass floor shattered beneath them.

With that, the entire wall began to shake. Nails and beams began to loosen, and then everything fell to the centre.

"T-THIS PLACE IS GOING TO FALL APART!" alerted Theo.

Quickly, he took a peek at Gen. He was just sitting on the floor, blind in both eyes. He bared his teeth in a silent snarl while still staring into Theo's face even tough he couldn't see.

Eye to eye.

'T-THIS ATTACK IS LITERALLY SUICIDAL!! HE CAN'T EVEN STAND UP, HE DOESN'T EVEN HAVE TIME TO ESCAPE!... WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIM?'

He looked up desperately.

"BRAIN, QUICK!"

Everything collapsed.