A/N: First of all, since I forgot to do so in past chapters, thanks go to NoiseTank13 and Tallulah for letting me use their NT chars. GRAZI!)
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I was stunned. Too stunned to speak. I stood there, staring at my Elephant Man reflection for easily over an hour. I reached a hand up, but pulled it back immediately, too afraid to touch my own face. This couldn't be. I was a monster.....a freak.
What would I do now? How could I live my life with the awestruck stares of small children, with people whispering about me behind my back? With the sickened looks I'd receive? How? I spun around clumsily, stumbling on towards who-knows-where. I didn't care where I was going.....just as long as it was away from people.
I eventually found my way into yet another alley. These small havens had proven to be my sanctuaries in life, and I hoped this one wouldn't fail me. As I straggled my way to the back, I saw only a brick wall, a few garbage cans, and a rusted steel door. I fell to my knees, twisting my body around and landing on my back. My head slammed against the ground, and I felt a sharp pain.....it was probably bleeding, but I didn't care. I simply looked up at the sunlit sky above me. Through it all, I found myself smiling.
"So," I said, "You win after all." At least my voice was still the same.....I think. I hadn't heard myself in a while. "No matter what I did, no matter how hard I tried, you managed to take away every shred of hope I had. You couldn't stop at leaving me without a family. You couldn't stop at keeping me a gangless rudie. You had to leave me without a face....without an identity. YOU LEFT ME WITHOUT A LIFE!" I lifted a hand, placing it on the bumpy concrete near my head. I lifted it, seeing my hand was now dripping with thick red liquid. "This. This is how I'll let it end. A simple concussion....loss of blood. But I will be free. Whether it be heaven or hell, I'll be free. You should've let me die at the bus terminal. But why pass up a chance to prolong my suffering?"
I closed my eyes, looking for that bright light to begin running to, when I heard a voice. Thin and raspy, like and old man combined with a snake. "That iss not the ansswer, Dreg."
I kept my eyes shut tight, writing it off as insanity....the brain's desperate plee for salvation moments before death....I wouldn't listen to it.
"I'm not jusst in your head, Dreg. I can give you power. The power to avenge what happened to you. The power to change you back....to the way you were before."
My eyes shot open, and I climbed to my feet as fast as I could. My hand immediately went to the back of my head. I looked at it. No blood.
"Don't act sso ssurprised. You had to be willing to live for me to ssave your life."
"Who are you?" I demanded, looking around. The alley was completely empty. "What do you want?" Stereotypical questions of a clueless kid.
"Someone who knows opportunity when he sees it. In fact, we're very alike, you and I. We don't passs up a good opportunity. And that'ss why I'm here. If you do ssomething for me."
"And that would be...?"
"I want you to retrieve a certain....record. It's called the Devil'ss Contract."
Devil's Contract. Where had I heard that before?
"Goji Rokkaku was in posssesssion of it before. The fool didn't know how to usse it, and perisshed thankss to a gang of rudiess."
"What exactly does this 'record' thing do?"
"That iss none of your concern. Just retrieve it, and I will grant you the thingss that you dessire most. A gang. A ssensse of belonging. The feeling that people need and rely on you. And, of course, your old face....how it looked before the explosion."
I couldn't believe it. It was almost too good to be true. Which, in my experience, meant it probably was. "So why don't you just get this record thing yourself?"
"Well, if you prefer I do that, and you want to sstay a ganglesss freak..." he trailed off. He knew I'd bite.
"No, no. I'll do it. But I want my payment now. I want a gang....and I want my face."
"I believe that can be arranged. Sstep into my office...."
The ground beneath me began to shake, tremmoring below my feet. Suddenly, a rift, about three feet long, split through the ground, widening to about twelve feet around. A stone platform rose up, resting just below the surface. I hesitated for about two seconds, before stepping onto it. I stared straight ahead of me, trying to pretend that I wasn't freaked out, that I wasn't ready to hop off and run as far away as I could. But I couldn't. A gang.....a face....an identity. To be able to be someone. Those things kept me on. I'd do anything for them. Find a stupid record? Sure.
The platform began to shiver below me, and it slowly lowered. All around me, as far as the eye could see, there was fire, blazing, leaping, consuming......I felt the flames lick at me, taunting me. But I wasn't afraid. I wouldn't let myself. 'You won't ruin this too,' I thought to myself.
The stone platform finally came to a stop on what looked like a path, jagged rocks lining the sides. Beyond that....lava.
"Come now," a voice beckoned me, "Don't be shy."
I started to walk down the path, my entire body shaking, telling me that his rewards were inadequate. That they weren't worth what he had in store for me. My body was wrong. One foot in front of the other, Dreg, one foot in front of the other. I stared down at my feet as if they were ready to betray me, ready to run back to that stone platform and go back to the real world. I wouldn't let them.
When I finally did look up, I was amazed at what I saw. He was huge, no less than nine feet tall. His skin was jet black, and long, swirling horns had replaced hair. His eyes were pure red, and his teeth were all sharpened, making a mouth full of fangs. He wore all red, and he was smiling at me.
"Welcome, Dreg."
I stood speechless, gazing up at him in awe.
"As I said before," he boomed, "I will return you to how you looked before the....incident, and I shall give you your own gang.....but theres one more thing I'd be willing to give you. How'd you like to know who made you a freak....a carnival sideshow.....I can tell you. And all you have to do is get me that record."
My eyes widened in pure, vengeful delight. I bowed my head, revenge still dancing in my head. "It's as good as yours. I would give my very soul to get even with whoever did this to me."
"Good."
Flames leapt up from the sides of the path, gathering all around me, circling me like a pack of hungry wolves. Slowly, they began to close in on me, closer, closer.....now they were up against my skin. I braced myself for death, asking myself why I didn't accept my fate before, but I felt nothing. The fire may very well have been air.
When they finally pulled away, I was gasping for breath. What had happened? "What'd you do to me?" I asked.
"It is done"
A blinding flash filled my vision. When it cleared, I was back in the real world. In the middle of a Shibuya street. Cars were stopped, beeping all around me. I looked down at myself. I was wearing a crimson red jumpsuit, white flames at the bottoms of the legs and sleeves. My hands went up to my face, feeling smooth skin, no lumps or pocks....just smooth skin. Looking behind me, I saw nine others standing behind me, heads bowed. Among them, a huge, stocky man who looked like he belonged in football, a woman with long dark hair, and another, standing away from everyone, arms crossed, solid as a rock.
"I give you the Inferno Jets. You will get revenge on them. And they will help you...."
"Who? Who is 'them'?" I asked.
"The gangs. All of them. Poison Jam, Noise Tanks, Love Shockers, GGs. All of them. They were all in it from the start, trying to destroy you. While they may have succeeded in destroying Dreg, they will never destroy you......Dante."
And deep down inside me, something snapped. That voice....it spoke of things that couldn't be real. Surely all of the gangs wouldn't conspire against me. And yet....it spoke the truth. It always had, and would always be, right. Those rudies....they must all suffer. And I would be the one to make it happen. "Yes, master," I heard myself say. I was lost. I was found. I had been the little rudie that couldn't. But now I had power. And it felt good.....
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(A/N: Biggety Bam, it's done. Shocked, huh? Well, if you aren't, you obviously haven't read my other fic, The Devil's Contract, so go and read it now. Done? Good. NOW you're shocked. HA! Well, this concludes another short fic. Or does it....?)
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I was stunned. Too stunned to speak. I stood there, staring at my Elephant Man reflection for easily over an hour. I reached a hand up, but pulled it back immediately, too afraid to touch my own face. This couldn't be. I was a monster.....a freak.
What would I do now? How could I live my life with the awestruck stares of small children, with people whispering about me behind my back? With the sickened looks I'd receive? How? I spun around clumsily, stumbling on towards who-knows-where. I didn't care where I was going.....just as long as it was away from people.
I eventually found my way into yet another alley. These small havens had proven to be my sanctuaries in life, and I hoped this one wouldn't fail me. As I straggled my way to the back, I saw only a brick wall, a few garbage cans, and a rusted steel door. I fell to my knees, twisting my body around and landing on my back. My head slammed against the ground, and I felt a sharp pain.....it was probably bleeding, but I didn't care. I simply looked up at the sunlit sky above me. Through it all, I found myself smiling.
"So," I said, "You win after all." At least my voice was still the same.....I think. I hadn't heard myself in a while. "No matter what I did, no matter how hard I tried, you managed to take away every shred of hope I had. You couldn't stop at leaving me without a family. You couldn't stop at keeping me a gangless rudie. You had to leave me without a face....without an identity. YOU LEFT ME WITHOUT A LIFE!" I lifted a hand, placing it on the bumpy concrete near my head. I lifted it, seeing my hand was now dripping with thick red liquid. "This. This is how I'll let it end. A simple concussion....loss of blood. But I will be free. Whether it be heaven or hell, I'll be free. You should've let me die at the bus terminal. But why pass up a chance to prolong my suffering?"
I closed my eyes, looking for that bright light to begin running to, when I heard a voice. Thin and raspy, like and old man combined with a snake. "That iss not the ansswer, Dreg."
I kept my eyes shut tight, writing it off as insanity....the brain's desperate plee for salvation moments before death....I wouldn't listen to it.
"I'm not jusst in your head, Dreg. I can give you power. The power to avenge what happened to you. The power to change you back....to the way you were before."
My eyes shot open, and I climbed to my feet as fast as I could. My hand immediately went to the back of my head. I looked at it. No blood.
"Don't act sso ssurprised. You had to be willing to live for me to ssave your life."
"Who are you?" I demanded, looking around. The alley was completely empty. "What do you want?" Stereotypical questions of a clueless kid.
"Someone who knows opportunity when he sees it. In fact, we're very alike, you and I. We don't passs up a good opportunity. And that'ss why I'm here. If you do ssomething for me."
"And that would be...?"
"I want you to retrieve a certain....record. It's called the Devil'ss Contract."
Devil's Contract. Where had I heard that before?
"Goji Rokkaku was in posssesssion of it before. The fool didn't know how to usse it, and perisshed thankss to a gang of rudiess."
"What exactly does this 'record' thing do?"
"That iss none of your concern. Just retrieve it, and I will grant you the thingss that you dessire most. A gang. A ssensse of belonging. The feeling that people need and rely on you. And, of course, your old face....how it looked before the explosion."
I couldn't believe it. It was almost too good to be true. Which, in my experience, meant it probably was. "So why don't you just get this record thing yourself?"
"Well, if you prefer I do that, and you want to sstay a ganglesss freak..." he trailed off. He knew I'd bite.
"No, no. I'll do it. But I want my payment now. I want a gang....and I want my face."
"I believe that can be arranged. Sstep into my office...."
The ground beneath me began to shake, tremmoring below my feet. Suddenly, a rift, about three feet long, split through the ground, widening to about twelve feet around. A stone platform rose up, resting just below the surface. I hesitated for about two seconds, before stepping onto it. I stared straight ahead of me, trying to pretend that I wasn't freaked out, that I wasn't ready to hop off and run as far away as I could. But I couldn't. A gang.....a face....an identity. To be able to be someone. Those things kept me on. I'd do anything for them. Find a stupid record? Sure.
The platform began to shiver below me, and it slowly lowered. All around me, as far as the eye could see, there was fire, blazing, leaping, consuming......I felt the flames lick at me, taunting me. But I wasn't afraid. I wouldn't let myself. 'You won't ruin this too,' I thought to myself.
The stone platform finally came to a stop on what looked like a path, jagged rocks lining the sides. Beyond that....lava.
"Come now," a voice beckoned me, "Don't be shy."
I started to walk down the path, my entire body shaking, telling me that his rewards were inadequate. That they weren't worth what he had in store for me. My body was wrong. One foot in front of the other, Dreg, one foot in front of the other. I stared down at my feet as if they were ready to betray me, ready to run back to that stone platform and go back to the real world. I wouldn't let them.
When I finally did look up, I was amazed at what I saw. He was huge, no less than nine feet tall. His skin was jet black, and long, swirling horns had replaced hair. His eyes were pure red, and his teeth were all sharpened, making a mouth full of fangs. He wore all red, and he was smiling at me.
"Welcome, Dreg."
I stood speechless, gazing up at him in awe.
"As I said before," he boomed, "I will return you to how you looked before the....incident, and I shall give you your own gang.....but theres one more thing I'd be willing to give you. How'd you like to know who made you a freak....a carnival sideshow.....I can tell you. And all you have to do is get me that record."
My eyes widened in pure, vengeful delight. I bowed my head, revenge still dancing in my head. "It's as good as yours. I would give my very soul to get even with whoever did this to me."
"Good."
Flames leapt up from the sides of the path, gathering all around me, circling me like a pack of hungry wolves. Slowly, they began to close in on me, closer, closer.....now they were up against my skin. I braced myself for death, asking myself why I didn't accept my fate before, but I felt nothing. The fire may very well have been air.
When they finally pulled away, I was gasping for breath. What had happened? "What'd you do to me?" I asked.
"It is done"
A blinding flash filled my vision. When it cleared, I was back in the real world. In the middle of a Shibuya street. Cars were stopped, beeping all around me. I looked down at myself. I was wearing a crimson red jumpsuit, white flames at the bottoms of the legs and sleeves. My hands went up to my face, feeling smooth skin, no lumps or pocks....just smooth skin. Looking behind me, I saw nine others standing behind me, heads bowed. Among them, a huge, stocky man who looked like he belonged in football, a woman with long dark hair, and another, standing away from everyone, arms crossed, solid as a rock.
"I give you the Inferno Jets. You will get revenge on them. And they will help you...."
"Who? Who is 'them'?" I asked.
"The gangs. All of them. Poison Jam, Noise Tanks, Love Shockers, GGs. All of them. They were all in it from the start, trying to destroy you. While they may have succeeded in destroying Dreg, they will never destroy you......Dante."
And deep down inside me, something snapped. That voice....it spoke of things that couldn't be real. Surely all of the gangs wouldn't conspire against me. And yet....it spoke the truth. It always had, and would always be, right. Those rudies....they must all suffer. And I would be the one to make it happen. "Yes, master," I heard myself say. I was lost. I was found. I had been the little rudie that couldn't. But now I had power. And it felt good.....
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(A/N: Biggety Bam, it's done. Shocked, huh? Well, if you aren't, you obviously haven't read my other fic, The Devil's Contract, so go and read it now. Done? Good. NOW you're shocked. HA! Well, this concludes another short fic. Or does it....?)