Hello my lovlies~ Here is chappie four of Peacock! In this chappie we have the notorious Dog Race! Mwahahaha! Oh how will our dear Mai do! Will she live? Die? Read and see! And I thank you all for the reviews! Don't stop doing it! :)
I stared in front of me in horror. I mean pure shell shocked, heart exploded, and stomach in your mouth HORROR. "This is the dog race! This is more like a death race!" I shouted while looking to my now impending doom. Swinging knives, arrows, balls over acid? I mean come on! There is only so much I can do.
"Calm down, this is why I'm here remember?" Senji said while loosening up his arms, twirling them around in a circle. I suppose I should loosen up too but with that idiot staring at me I really don't want to move. Because I know as soon as I do, he'll make some sick comment and then I'm going to have to hurt him big time!
"What's the matter Senji; you're not still embarrassed are you?" I giggled out while putting my number 13 on, tying it around my neck and then around my waist. Must be a natural thing for girls to do because he was having so much trouble with it. He looked like he was trying to scratch his back off.
"Just shut up Mai, and help me with this stupid number." He walked over to a bench and stood in front of it while I got up to his level by standing on it. Well, kind of. At least I could reach him now. I tied it around his neck, not to tight but not to loose, and then jumped down and did the same for around his waist. He had removed his coat before hand and was now putting it back on over the strings.
"Well, well, well, lookie here boys. Seems like today there's only one girl trying to win herself some cast points." Came a gruff and deep voice. Both Senji and I looked over and saw the world famous martial artist, Kozuji Kazumasa. Rumor has it he's in here for nearly beating the snot out of some actress who refused to give him her email. I don't blame her; he doesn't seem like the world nicest guy. And I know he's not the world best looking.
He walked over and placed a large hand on my shoulder, squeezing slightly. "Come on doll; is this really what you want to do? Cause you know that there's no way your going to win against me." He removed his hand from my shoulder and let it travel up to where it was grasping my chin, making me look straight into his eyes. "Unless of course you're willing to persuade me a little later on that is." He whispered into my ear. Man this guy was flat out disgusting. Who hits on someone they literally just met?
Getting the vibe that he was about to, ahem, place his hands on other places, I pricked the tip of my index finger, ready to show him just how much of a idiot he could truly look like. I felt the blood leave my body but before there was enough for anyone to really see, Senji grabbed my wrist, making me halt all movements.
"I don't appreciate you trying to hit on my girl when I'm standing right here you know." He said, releasing my wrist and then placing it on my stomach, pushing me back behind him.
"Oh, your girl? Heh, what's the matter little man, afraid of a little competition?" Kozuji smirked out with a smile that could make a creeper flinch away from. "Because I'll win. Just like I'm going to win the dog race and just like those cast points are mine and mine alone."
"Is that right?" I have to say even though this guy was taller and bigger than Senji, I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen? I mean I hear that he is one to be reckoned with in the Carnival Corpse. Not to mention my brother seems to have complete faith in him getting me through this race. "Well I have news for you." He curled his fist into a ball and lunged forward, intending to punch Kozuji in the face, but he's not a master of martial arts for nothing. He caught Senjis hand and they stood frozen, eyes locked with each other.
"Not that I wouldn't like to beat you to a pulp right here right now, but the race is about to start. We'll finish this there, how about that?" Kozuji said, words literally dripping with venom.
Senji snatched away his hand and gave off an equal yet excited smirk. "Oh believe me, we will. Come on Mai; let's get to the starting line already."
"Uh yea." I mumbled out before the announcer came over a loudspeaker.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to Deadman Wonderlands famous dog race! Please take your seats and the race will begin when the canon fires!" She said. The entire audience members quickly pulled out their video recorders and cameras. Ha, the clearly don't know what they're in for. Heck I don't know what I'm in for!
"Hey, Mai, don't wonder too far from me okay? Oh, and no matter what, we can't use our branch of sin. Not in a public place like this anyways, we have to rely on pure physical strength." He said as a matter of factly.
"Physical strength...got it." Oh man this was starting to sound like a bad idea. My heart was racing and my breathing was already at a high, there was no way I could do this. No, I can't think this way. I have to remain strong, for Ganta. I have to pay off his sentence and set him free.
"And here we goooooo!" Came the loudspeaker, along with the loud boom of a canon. Immediately all the contestants raced forward, trying to become number one, like me. My shirt was yanked back quickly and I glanced over to Senji who stood still in his place.
"What are you doing? This is a race!" I scolded, not happy about the fact that we have yet to move from out spots.
"It may be a race, but things work a little differently around here. It's not about who's first, it's about who lives at the final stage. We'll take our time and get there in one piece." He began to jog forward with me behind him as we came upon out first obstacle.
"You've got to be kidding me!" I screamed while being tripped, on purpose might I add, by Senji. He slid his foot into mine, helping me to avoid the giant, curved blades that were trying to hack us to pieces.
"Thanks man." We both got up, me avoiding better than before, and made it to the next obstacle. Climbing stairs wasn't the most pleasant thing in the world and one look down made me freeze from the inside out.
"Alright ladies and gentleman! Our last competitors have arrived at the bungee bundle! Where a hasty choice of rope could save you or sink you! If you get the idea that is." The announcer was definitely not making me feel any better about this.
"S-Senji I'm not sure about this. I-I really don't want to go, what if my rope is too long, I-I'll-" I can really be an idiot sometimes. Looking down at the mangled bodies of my foes wasn't the best thing to do. Whoopee for me I guess.
"I told you that's what I'm here for. Don't worry about it Mai. I promised Woodpecker I'd bring you back to him in one piece and that's what I intend to do." He told me while getting strapped up. I had been strapped up for a good while but was waiting patiently for him to get ready.
"Ready?" He asked while grabbing my arm and making us both walk to the edge of the platform.
Looking down again, I could see the 'guards' cleaning up the mess and hauling away the bodies from those who didn't have luck. "I don't know about this SENJI!" What was this man thinking! Grabbing me and then jumping like we were invincible!
"Senji if we live I'll kill you!" I screamed out. We fell for a good two or three seconds before I felt us bouncing? Yes that would be the correct term, bouncing? Opening up my eyes, I hadn't even noticed they were closed, I saw that Senji was still holding me and the remainder of my rope was lying flat on the ground.
"Told you I would help you. Now come on, let's get to the next obstacle." He set me down on the ground while two guards came over and helped us out of those tight straps. "Alright ladies and gentlemen! Next up is the notorious Archer Valley! Can quick feet help out contestants avoid our friendly owls?"
"Archer Valley? What's that suppose to mean?" My question was soon answered by a single arrow being shot down in front of my foot. I stopped as fast as I could and went to the side, staying with Senji. And would you believe that he was smiling like this was fun!
"How are you smiling through something like this!" I shouted, going right and dodging a stream that came right toward me. He was flying through this race like it was a breeze. Looking back I noticed that Kozuji was taking the cruel and cheating way out. He had two men by his side and wasn't letting go of them. "Ugh, cheater." I mumbled out, not noticing an arrow that was hurdling toward me.
"Mai watch it!" Senji tried to push me out of the way, but neither of us was fast enough and I took it to the shoulder. He tried to stop me but I kept running, keeping my arm as still as possible for the moment. "Leave it until we get out of this place! Yank it out at the end or something!"
"Fine with me." We managed to reach the end, after various tumbles, dashes, and overall trips from your truly. We stood still for a moment and I braced myself for the pain that was about to come. "Ready?" I heard him ask.
"Ok, ok. Count to three and pull on two...but don't tell me!" I said. He looked at me like I was the star crazy of the day and shrugged his shoulders. "One, two..." He ripped the arrow from my back and I had to bite my hand to not scream. Oh yea, that, that was pain in a nut shell.
"That hurt more than I thought it would." I felt my back being pushed and Senji was hurrying me along to the next obstacle. "We got to keep moving or they'll shoot us with bullets instead."
"Right." I gripped my shoulder with my free hand and ran along side Senji, praying to every God I knew he would protect me. Well, as best as he could anyways. He was nicer than I thought him to be. Coming across the next course we stopped at the start of it. Giant bouncy balls were attached to rods that went down into...
"Is that acid! There's no way I'm doing that, no way!" I crossed my arms and was about to figure out someway to forfeit but obviously Senji wouldn't have that. "Then climb on. I'll get you across."
"Climb on your back? You can't be-" He gave me a look that I for one wasn't very fond of. I guess all my complaining must be getting on his nerves. "You better not drop me." I hopped on and wrapped my legs around his waist while my arms held me up against his chest and back. Actually, it was strange not having him blush with me so close to him in such a position. Maybe it was all the adrenaline rushing through his system from the race.
"Be careful Senji, please." He hopped onto the first one and then the second, and then the third. Stumbling for a moment rebalanced himself and held onto me underneath my legs. "Didn't I just say be careful!" I yelled with practically burying my face into his neck. I DID NOT want to see the rest of this obstacle.
"You expect me to concentrate when you're wrapped around me like this! Give me a break!" He said while hopping to the next ball. So I was wrong, aww Senji, you're just too cute sometimes. I couldn't help but to let a laugh escape. For such a tough guy he seems to have a sort of soft side.
"Look at that ladies and gentlemen! Number 28 is carrying 13 across the balls!" Came the announcer, screaming at the audience and getting them all riled up for nothing. They can't possibly be watching this if they think it's real. There's just no way unless they're all sadists or something.
We made it to the end and he sat me back down on my own two feet. With no time to waste we scurried to the next obstacle. "Giant balls with spikes coming out of them...awesome." I sighed out before running into the narrow hallways, avoiding and evading at all costs. How does he do this! I'm out of breath and he hasn't even broken a sweat! I definitely need to get some tips from him later.
"Hey there good looking. Didn't think you'd make it this far." I heard someone say from beside me. Glancing to my left I saw that Kozuji was running beside me, as well as avoiding all the same.
"Ha, you have such little faith in me! But look at you, I saw what you did back in Archer Valley, talk about being a friend you jerk." I huffed out, making it to the end of the obstacle and placing my hands on my knees to catch a breath.
"You're the jerk if you think this place is about making friends. This is prison sweetheart; no one here is your friend." He spat out while running ahead. I saw as he ran toward a bridge and Senji placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Come on, we have to keep moving or they'll shoot us, remember?"
"Yea, let's go." I panted out. Seriously, I was out of shape, I wonder if G-Block has a weight room or something? We started over the bridge and so far there wasn't anything special about it. Yea it was a little wobbly but that's about it, then I heard a small ticking noise and it seemed to get louder and louder and louder until boom!
"It explodes! Who thinks of this crap!" I shouted while leaping over a giant gaping hole. Senji followed behind me and we pressed on, doing the same maneuvers until we reached the end. Our next obstacle was giant straight knives that fell at random times. I watched in horror as a man was sliced in half right before my very eye. Yes eyes, not eyes unfortunately.
"Come on Mai, you can do this." In an act of heart bursting bravery, he held out his hand. It took a few seconds but I accepted and we began the very careful timing of the falling knives. Some would fall in a pattern and some would be set at random.
"Ready, go!" He shouted, we ran through the first one and I was delighted that we made it without an injury. Well, through the first one at least. You know I bet it took us around ten minutes to make it through all of them! Some would fall fast, some would fall slow, and it was dreadful.
"Hey this is the last one until the final round!" I sputtered out with joy. The last one and it looks like it's a one at a time thing. I wouldn't exactly call a giant spinning log over a fire pit inviting though. With my shoulder in pain, I can only pray that my balance is good enough to get across.
"I'll go first." He said; crouching down and touching the ground before taking off in a hurry. The log was about twenty feet across? Not that long of a run but long enough to make you crash and literally burn. He made it across and turned toward me, waving a hand and signaling for me to get a move on.
"Come on Mai! You can do it!" Yea I can do this. It's just one foot in front of the other right? Only a little faster and a bit more panicked.
"I can do this...oh I'm going to fall!" I yelled while running toward the log. Placing my first foot on, I felt it already starting to slide off. "Be careful Mai!" Senji had his hands around his mouth and was 'cheering me on' the best way he knew how. People, you have never seen a half blind girl run any faster! I was at the very last step when my foot slid off the log. Closing my eye I prepared for the worst, for the flames to lick at my skin and for the heat to murder me from the outside in.
"What part of be careful don't you get?" I heard Senji chuckle out. By some crazy act, he managed to grab my hand and was now holding me over the fire. Hauling me up we both watched as Kozuji ran across the log.
"Well, turns out you two are better than I gave your credit for. We'll see how that ends in the final round." He jogged past us and I had to urge to not spear him where he stood. Senji crossed his arms and glared at the disappearing man going up the stairs. "No respect. Come on, the final stage is up the stairs."
"Yea. By the way, how do you win the race? I mean, what's the final stage?" I asked him while running up the stairs. He didn't seem too pleased about the whole thing and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why. We topped the stairs where a waiting Kozuji was, looking gloomy as ever.
"Alright ladies and gentlemen! We've reached the final stage of the dog race! Last man standing with the deadman ball in their hands win! Losers will suffer a hardy defeat! Let the game begin!" The announcer said, once again making the audience go wild with excitement and suspense. They obviously had no idea the pain that this was about to cause.
"Get ready Mai, and whatever you do, if I fall don't try to be a hero. I'll be fine." I heard Senji whisper into my ear. Good think Kozuji didn't notice, otherwise he would have raised the roof about it, especially with my luck recently.
"Players set? Go!" A lady tossed a black ball with a white face into the air and then the game was on. It only took me a matter of seconds to realize what was going on, even before the first tile fell. But Senji, how will you possibly survive the fall? I mean have you seen the spikes down there?
The ball bounced slightly and I saw that it was rolling my way, but I'm not exactly the fastest person in the world and Kozuji was catching up fast. I saw Senji run up to my side and he gave a small thumbs up. "I got this, focus on the ball."
He slowed down and went to my other side where Kozuji was, and like a football star, rammed him in the side and tripped him so he couldn't get the ball. Diving, I managed to get a grab on it before Kozuji was back on his feet and hot on my tail.
"What's with the face doll, I'm not scaring you am I! You should have taken that offer earlier and none of this would be happening to you!" Oh how I wanted to break that ugly face of his, but I didn't have time to think about that, the stream of tiles I was now running on had turned red and were about to fall. Jumping to the next row I noticed that they were doing the same thing.
"Oh no!" Leaping forward as much as I could, I managed to land on a safe one, much to my satisfaction. Kozuji on the other hand, well let's say he was hanging by a thread. Five little fingers are all I saw at my feet, guess his leap wasn't as great as mine and therefore he didn't make it.
"Aren't you going to help me up!" He screamed, face full of fear. But who wouldn't be scared, I mean that was a lot of pain waiting below to plunge into you like a thousand knives. I did feel kind of bad for him, but a quick flash of the earlier things he's said and done made me forget those feelings faster than I could blink.
"Why would she do that? Not like she owes you anything." A giant foot came down hard on Kozujis fingers, and he screamed out. Senji twisted his foot on his fingers in a most hurtful way. "Why would she help someone who hit on her when they didn't even know her? Besides, she's taken remember?"
"Ha! Going out with someone like you, she sounds like a-" Sorry to say that our dear Kozuji didn't get to finish that due to my foot to his face. I don't know what he was going to call me and I sure didn't want to hear it. Oh well, his screams and groans tell me that he got what was coming to him since the moment he entered this race.
"Alright, now it's just the two of us." I said, gripping the ball to my chest. If Senji has to fall into that, that pit! Then I don't even want to win! It's not worth it! "Senji, if you falling is what it takes for me to win then-"
He slapped his hand over my mouth again and gave off an annoyed sigh. "How many times am I going to have to say this? It's alright, I'm a deadman remember? I'm not going to die. I'll meet you back in the room, see you." A sharp grin etched itself across his face before he did the unthinkable.
"Senji! SENJI!" I screamed.
"Look at that folks! It seems that number twenty eight jumped on purpose! That makes number thirteen the winner of a sum of one hundred, thousand cast points!" Blared the announcer. Yes I was happy that I won, but I would be happier if Senji was ok.
Little time I had before the tile I was on turned red and started to give way. I jumped to another and glanced down at the pit, looking for any sign that he was alive. Any sign that he had made it and was alright. "What the? I can't believe this!" I whispered to myself. Just where does he learn to do these things?
From the corner of my eye, I saw him, and he was fine! He managed to grab two spikes with his hands while his feet rested on two behind him. He managed to get onto one solitary pole before shimmying his way down to safety. I saw the referee flagging me down from across the field and I jumped on the available tiles over to her, handing her back the deadman ball.
"Congrats kid, here you go." She said while handing me what I could describe best as a credit card. I took it greedily and stuffed it into my pocket before racing down the stairs in a hurry. I have to get back to the room, and Senji you better be there. You scared the living daylights out of me! Oh, you just wait until I find you.