WARNING: Rated M for graphic death, minor language and overt obsession. In text form. Reader discretion is advised.
The Batter looked around zone 1 curiously, all the while keeping an eye on his Player. He could see a red cube floating a little ways off, and a path branching in the opposite direction.
"Come on." The Batter turned to look at her, as she motioned him forward. "We won't get anything done if we don't keep going." So driven was his Player, it moved his blackened heart. Following after his Player, the Batter could see a small train station. He moved in front of her as soon as he noticed the Elsen.
The Batter paused. Elsen? Was that what they were called? How did he know that? Ah, no matter. They were a potential threat to his Player….. Who had snuck around him and was currently talking to one. No thought to her own safety! So gentle and kind! It was truly a beautiful scene.
The Elsen had to go however.
"….and Train #1 is a really useful means of transport to get about zone 1. It can take you just about anywhere in the zone." The Elsen wheezed a little as it spoke, but the Player took no notice.
"Really? Thanks for your help!" She waved goodbye as she swiftly strode back to the Batter, who had his eyes locked on the now sweating Elsen. Good, it should know better than to dare to speak with the Batter's Player.
"Hey, so apparently this train can take us to the rest of the zone. The guy over there was nice enough to give me a time table for the train and the next one leaves in five minutes." The Batter turned his eyes to his Player, who was looking over the time table with an intense look of concentration. Now was the time.
He quickly checked the train; empty. Good. "You should get on the train. I will be right behind you; I just wish to inquire something from the Elsen." The Player looked up at him, eyes searching. She smiled, accepting his reasons at face value.
"Okay, but hurry! Wouldn't want to leave without you!" She swiftly boarded the train, leaving a near glowing Batter behind her. She did not wish to become separated from him? How noble of her to care for him in such a manner! Or was she perhaps scared of the zone? Did she acknowledge him as her protector? Such trust!
However, the Batter could warmly ponder that later. Now he had to deal with the Elsen. Turning to the Elsen, his lips turned in a gruesome grin. This was why he was impure, a monster, unfit to breathe in the same space as His Player.
But He Loved It.
His bat cracked down on the Elsen's head, splitting its fragile skin like an over ripe fruit. It cried out in pain, but the Batter's teeth in its throat quickly silenced it. Ripping flesh from the body with his fanged snout, the Batter slurped down the strips with glee. So tasty. So gratifying.
So little time.
Quickly the Batter stood up, his face reverting to its humanish form. Striding over to the plastic sea, the Batter tossed the Elsen's mutilated corpse into the pink waves, its blood not even tinting the ripples. He knelt, washing his mouth and bat off swiftly, before heading on and boarding the train. Not even a moment after he did so did the train jolt into motion.
"Did you get your question answered?" His Player's voice was sweet and soft, soothing the ragged edges of his mind, his irritation at not finishing a meal. The Batter looked at her in wonder. How could something so pure look at him in such a way? No judgement, no suspicions. Nothing.
He sat down next to her, taking care not to touch her. He couldn't bring himself to soil her with his sin when it was so fresh. "Yes," the Batter tilted his cap down further, "the Elsen was most helpful." His Player turned to look at him, a question on her mind. She never asked it, as she was quickly distracted by the view outside the window. She knelt on her seat precariously, making the Batter reach out towards her hesitantly. He couldn't touch her, but what if she fell?
"Oh wow! Even the sky and rain is pink!" Looking at the genuine wonder his Player expressed, the Batter resolved himself. Grasping her gently, far more gently than anything he had ever done before, he lifted her up and placed her back into her seat firmly.
"Please sit properly. I wouldn't want you getting hurt." The Player looked at the Batter, who was studiously looking away from his Player. By doing such, he missed the slight blush across her cheeks, from being lifted like she was not even the weight of a feather.
The Batter himself was panicking. She must think he overstepped his boundaries, and he did. Daring to touch his Player without permission, he was the worst kind of scum to bring his unholy flesh into contact with her purity in such a manner.
"….Okay." The Batter's head whipped around to stare at his Player. She wasn't mad? Rather, she was smiling at him, apologetically even! What impossibility is this? "Sorry," Now she was apologizing, when he should be the one to do so. "I didn't mean to worry you." Ah, that made sense. His Player was always thinking of others, never of herself. Such pure selflessness was rare in this damned world, filled with darkness. However, she was not in the wrong, and he had to make sure his innocent Player knew that.
"No, I am sorry. I touched you without your permission." The Batter gave a start at the little laugh his Player gave, as she shook her head at him.
"Don't be silly." Silly, him? Only his Player. "That's nothing to apologize for." No, it really was. "I was doing something you thought was dangerous and so you stopped me. I wouldn't scold you for that." That was a relief, but his Player was far too forgiving. What if she forgave a creature that had tried to harm her, and it did it again? Yes, far too forgiving for her own good. But that was why the Batter was here, to protect her from all harm. Even herself.
"Hey," The Batter refocused his eyes on his Player, who fidgeted a bit under his worshipful gaze. "If it makes you feel better, I give you permission to touch me if you think I am in danger." The Batter was shocked, stunned, even flabbergasted at this. She not only trusted him to make decisions for her safety, but was giving him a standing okay to touch her if necessary? She trusted him so much, her purity so bright that it near seared his sinful skin.
As the train pulled to a stop, the intercom announcing 'Now Arriving in: Damien', the Batter gazed at his Player in wonder. He would not abuse this trust.
The duo disembarked the train, the Player studiously ignoring how the Batter slipped between her and any nearby Elsens. Continuing on their way, they soon encounter a large building, with a blocked off path just beyond it. An Elsen was standing in front of the building.
"V….visitors? I… Uhm… Welcome to the smoke mines." The Player turned incredulous eyes to the Elsen as it continued on. "Uh… may I know who you are?" The Elsen perked up slightly, its worried countenance turning hopeful. "Are you an inspector?"
"No," Oh, the Elsen sagged. "I'm the Batter, and this is my Player. We've come to exterminate the impure spirits."
"The… Batter… The… impure spirits?" If Elsens had a wider range of facial emotion than scared, sad and worried, then this one would be emoting confusion. "Are you some sort of… prophet? Or perhaps a man of belief?" That was one way to put it, sure. A "man" of belief.
"Yeah. Something like that." The Batter gave a small smirk at the idea, and nearly burst with pride when a small giggle came from behind him. Oh his Player, so sweet.
"I… Who sent you?" The Elsen wheezed a bit as it gasped the question out in confusion.
"Nobody." If the Batter was less dignified, he would have shrugged. As it was, he had an image to uphold. "I'm being led by my Player."
"Ah." The Elsen turned to the Player, looking at her intently. "I don't know you. You must be a member of the superior personnel…" Before his Player could deny it, the Elsen had moved on. "In any case that's good. It means our requests have been acknowledged…" Requests? Certainly it couldn't mean to—"Here, I'm going to explain your task."It was. The impertinent thing, daring to ask his Player for favors.
"Um… You're at the smoke mines of Damien, the southern part of zone 1." The Batter gave the Elsen a look, and the Player stood on tiptoe to whisper into the Batter's ear.
"Better settle in. I think we are in for a history lesson." The Batter followed her orders, relaxing his stance ever so slightly. Not enough that he wouldn't be ready for any potential threats though.
"Here, we send workers into deep tunnels to unearth metal from the ground, freeing embedded smoke that was trapped in the depths. Thanks to a variety of tools we are able to put some of it into bottles, which the Queen sends to the other zones." The Batter tensed, drawing his Player's attention. The Queen…. Oh, he remembered her.
A light touch to his back brought him from his dark thoughts. "You okay Batter?" He gave a nod—how thoughtful of his Player—in reply and turned his attention back to the Elsen.
"The rest of it flows free, forming the air that our lungs inhale and exhale… uh… so we can live." Well, Elsens were never the smartest bunch. "As the first of four elements, it's an important element. Because without smoke, people would have nothing to breathe. Uh… there we are. And so…" The Elsen fumbled with its words.
"Finally… uh… How do I put this?" Just say the words already! The Batter was about to kill this annoying thing.
"Where are the impures?"
"Uh… yes, there we go." Oh good grief. "There are many spectres in the mines. They are becoming more and more aggressive. But uh, in fact, it would be better if you didn't enter the mines.. Because…" The Elsen hesitated, looking at the irritated Batter.
"Because what?" The Player leaned around the Batter, face curious at the Elsen's strange reluctance to answer.
When the Elsen finally did answer, the Batter could feel his Player's disbelief. "Because regulations forbid visitors to access them."
And this is why nothing ever gets done.
