Chaos in A Broken Cycle
So admittedly it was a bit longer than a month by a few days, but it is a couple thousand words longer than the last chapter at least.
Random guy- yes, it's good to be back
Bluedaydreamer15- Thank you! And yes I have seen artwork and youtube videos from everyone of those artists. They do great work.
Chuck B. Winanaki- Good to be back. I've got a lot of ideas for places to see and explore story wise. I also like your reasoning for Wrath being the worst sin. I usually go with Envy, with them being jealous and wanting what you have but biding their time to use the most underhanded or backstabbing methods to achieve their goal so unless you know their a host of Envy already your very liable to meet your end the moment a surefire opportunity presents itself.
Raven Sparda- ¡Guau! Sus poderes son muy similares. Originalmente obtuve la idea inicial para las manos de Rezero. Arzobispo de la pereza
Iscord323- Gracias. Me alegro de estar todavía aquí.
AnxiousNecros- Sorry for the wait. But this chapter is twice as long as the previous one. It really just depends, sometimes I can write a couple thousand in a day and sometimes it takes days to write just a thousand. But I will try to get one chapter out sound every month or so, word count varies really.
Also I applaud you if you get the movie reference. But enjoy the next chapter and I'll see you guys in the next month, give or take a few days. And thank you Yukalight for the continued assistance.
Chapter 9: The Arena, and the Unmasked Pretenses
Waking up to a stone ceiling on a hard wooden bench wasn't exactly pleasant but Mono didn't really have much of a choice. But looking around now he could see that most of the lights were out everywhere. Even the window near his cell where he could see other vendors, no torches or lights whatsoever were on. Walking over quietly to his cell door he peered through the bars into the other cell block. In them he could see other kids kept in cells curled up and probably asleep.
From what Mono could see there were strangely no guards anywhere, so very quietly he teleported past the bars of his cell. Once through the bars he gave the room another Look all around, before he made his way down the cell block as quietly as possible. Most of the cells he passed had children locked away, for what purpose he didn't know.
"Holy shit!" a voice whispered Making Mono freeze in place in panic.
Mono turned towards the voice only to see a kid in a cell looking at Mono in disbelief. Getting ready to bolt, Mono was ready to run but the voice called to him, still whispering with their raspy voice.
"Wait! I won't tell on you! I swear." The boy said Sounding rough, desperate and slightly earnest.
Mono wasn't sure why but hearing the pleading tone in the boy's voice caused him to pause briefly and look back. The boy seeing Mono wait quickly followed up the conversation.
"How'd you get out of your cell?" The boy questioned.
Mono didn't know how to tell this kid, and using his powers when he needed them was fine, but now with so many kids around he wasn't sure how others would react, and honestly, he was fine not knowing.
"Oh, I get it, you don't want to say? That's fine! But if you can grab the keys over there by the door, I promise that I'll owe you one." The boy said, pointing at the door far down the cell.
"…Can you answer some questions that I have first." Mono said testing the waters with this kid.
"As long as you get me out of here, I'll answer anything you want." The boy chirped.
With that said Mono went to go grab the keys that hung on a nail by the door. Still keeping quiet to keep from waking up the other kids.
With keys in hands Mono stopped before the other kid's cell. The other kid reached his hands through the bars attempting to grab the keys, but Mono kept them just out of reach.
"So, what is this place?" Mono asked.
"Pft...You must be new around these parts if you're asking me that. Names Pick by the way, and who do I have the pleasure of thanking for my eventual freedom?" Pick questions back.
"Mono." He spoke.
"Well Mono we are currently in the holding cells for the very unwilling participants of the upcoming arena fights, seeing as we are all quote-on-quote thieves." Pick said.
"But I didn't even steal anything, I just touched a book!" Mono said
"That'll do it! You know some of these vendors are only up to catch other kids. Although technically they've never admitted it." Pick said.
"So what are you in for?" Mono asked.
"Ehhhh, let's just say I sold something to the person that runs the Marketplace that wasn't exactly as advertised." Pick said.
Mono paused but decided not to ask, instead taking a gander at the other cells in the room. "So how are kids supposed to get out of here normally?" Mono asked with a hint of pity.
"Well normally you'd fight in the arena and gain your freedom, but it's impossible to win if you don't have a useful power and even if you do the handlers will make it even harder. You can't leave unless you win. You see that other guy 3 cells down, he's been here a lot longer, over 100 losses. Another way that you can leave is if someone buys you, which is good if you want to get out, bad if you don't want to technically be a slave." Pick explained
"It can't be that hard, can it?" Mono asked.
"I mean, not at first, you'll probably just be fighting other kids from these cells at first, but then you'll start fighting the kids that join these fights willingly for resources, and those are the ones you have to look out for. But! We won't have to worry about that because soon both of us will be out of here!" Pick said.
Seeing as all of his questions were answered Mono opened the cell door quietly. As Pick walked out quickly taking the keys from Mono, which caught him by surprise, but it seemed Pick was only looking through the keys one by one while walking towards the main entrance of the cell block.
"Thanks man, you know, I could have gotten out on my own eventually, but you really sped things along, hope you're ready to book it." Pick said
"Why would we be running?" Mono asked.
"Well considering the kid that runs this place, they won't really care all that much that we got away, but the fact that we did escape is bad for the reputation of this place so they would probably put a big bounty on us, and I don't know about you, but I'd rather not be around when that happens. Every kid from this city and even kids outside the city will hear about it and the bounties they put in are for a lifetime. Wouldn't be the first bounty put on me though and won't be the last! Welp come on let's get going my mysterious new friend." Pick said.
Hearing that there would be a lifetime bounty on him caused Mono to rethink his escape.
"How many fights do I have to win to get my freedom?" Mono asked as Pick found the right key and opened the door peeking out of it.
"Around 10 I think?" Pick said though didn't seem entirely sure as he shrugs nonchalantly about the whole thing.
"Then I think I'll just stay and win the 10 fights." Mono said, which when Pick heard, he turned around and gave Mono a weird look, before shaking it off and moving on.
"Hmm…. suit yourself then. I'm sure if you got out once you can do it again. But hey, if you ever need anything and we see each other again, hit me up, I owe you one." Pick said before silently exiting, running away in the cover of darkness.
With little else to do, Mono headed back to his cell, teleporting right back into his cell, and sitting on his bench. He wasn't sleepy anymore, but he didn't know how long it would be before everyone started waking up again. So with this little time on his hands Mono took this moment to sort out his thoughts about everything that has happened so far.
Sloth for the most part was still a largely unknown entity, that while helpful sometimes, still hid a lot more than he let on, or at least that's how he made Mono feel.
Six was gone for now and while he had hoped that they wouldn't meet again he wouldn't count himself lucky. If he thought about it, if he had just escaped the Signal Tower instead of getting rid of the Flesh Eyes. Perhaps things would have been vastly different. Maybe he'd be angrier, maybe he'd want to even kill her. Now when he looked at her, he just felt nothing if not for a small amount of paranoia and annoyance. He knew better now, then to simply kill others now, or at least he told himself that.
Then there was the other kid that had journeyed with him through the sewers. He had a good impression of them, and they hadn't really shown him any actual hostility, but he just wasn't sure how well things would have turned out the longer they worked together.
And to top everything off his first experience in the Marketplace wasn't so great. Perhaps he expected too much, but he hoped things weren't as bad as what had happened so far.
Mono sighed as his thoughts were interrupted by a door being kicked open. Luckily Pick had slung the keys back onto their place before he left so it seemed no one was suspicious just yet.
"Ok losers you know how this goes! And for those of you that are new, just watch and listen to those that have been here longer than you because I sure won't explain it." A kid said as a group of kids filed into the cell block wearing crudely fashioned armor made of street signs, cans and just about any other piece of metal that would fit.
"So first up…..Copper." The leader said as he read the first name on a list of names.
A kid far down in another cell got up groggily as he stood up. Two armored children walked over to the cell and released the kid named Copper. The two kids grabbed him from both sides and started to walk him down the hall towards a huge gate on the far opposite end of the cell block. As they were walking him down Mono managed to catch a glimpse of the kid as he passed. The kid wore a cloak around himself so Mono could get a full look but from what he could tell the boy had bandages wrapped around his arm and legs. His skin had a copper like hue to it when Mono got a quick look at his face under the hood, and he seemed to have another bandage wrapped around his head.
As they walked toward the massive gate the leader of the group stopped them right before they got to the gate.
"So what's this make Cop? 17 going on 18, heh, maybe you'll get lucky this time and I won't have to see your ugly mug around here anymore. But then again, I didn't bet on you so I'm sure you'll be back here soon enough." The leader said, not even bothering to hide their sadistic joy toward this Copper kid suffering.
All the while the kid named Copper never raised his head or gave any indication that he was listening. The other kids in their cells looked down in sad demeanors as well as if used to the spectacle.
"Well…..I guess we shouldn't keep the others waiting, you know how SHE can be when we keep her waiting. Open the gate!" The leader said
Two other kids began cranking a winch that started to raise the large gate in the shape of a highly detailed downcast eye, and as soon as it opened the sound of screaming and cheering reached Mono's ears.
The two guards standing side by side behind Copper pushed him into a large open ring where spotlights and torches lit up the surrounding underbelly of the Marketplace nearly blinding him from its stark difference in from the holding room. Mono could hear a loud voice that he guessed was making an announcement for the fights, but Mono couldn't hear everything being said, only bits and parts. Metal fencing was put over the gate entrance in order to close the entrance but still keep the ensuing fight visible.
"Ok guys you know the drill Mixie, you could check to see if we got any newcomers here, we should send out a new guy next to give the crowd something new." The leader said.
One by one then a guard went from cell to cell checking to see if everyone whose name was on the list was present. When the kid got to Mono's cell, she just looked at the kid for a brief second and they looked back.
"You must be new around here. Name please." The girl asked clipboard in hand
"Mono." He answered
"Well, you're certainly a lot better looking than most of the kids we get around here. Try not to take too many hits to the face when you're out there, k?" She spoke in a playful way, almost mockingly so.
"Uhhhhh" Mono really didn't know how to take that compliment.
"So where are you from?" She asked again, writing down his name.
"The Pale City." Mono answered without thinking.
The pencil in the girl's hand stopped before she slowly looked up at Mono, who in turn looked confused by her incredulous stare.
"I don't have time for games kid, where are you actually from?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, and a slightly lower tone.
"No, I-I really am from the Pale City. Why? Is there a problem with that?" Mono asked
"Well considering anyone that ever enters the Pale City never leaves, I'd say yeah. Are you really from the Pale City?" She explained and asked again, this time less playfully.
"Yeah." Mono answered more resolutely, hoping it helps with proving his sincerity.
"Well, that's a first, I'm sure the crowd will love you." The girl said still in a disbelieving tone.
The girl then went over to the leader and whispered something in his ear, and he looked at Mono from across the room. His face changed from surprise to intrigue before finally his mouth stretched into a face splitting grin of many sharp teeth. He then began whispering something to the girl while pointing to a spiral staircase that led up to a hatch. The girl quickly climbed the stairs and disappeared through the hatch.
A few minutes later the leader walked over to Mono's cell smiling all the way.
"So, you're the kid from the Pale City huh?" the leader asked.
"Ehh..yeah. I mean I don't really have any proof, but it's the only place I've known." Mono said.
"What are the adults like over there? They got a big boss like the other cities?" he asked.
"Ah…. you're talking about the Viewers. Well, they seem a lot more dangerous than the adults' you guys have here, that's for sure. And as for a boss of some kind…I haven't ever seen anything like that." Mono said, though pondering on its meaning.
"Well, the Cro- "the leader spoke out before the dinging of a bell rang out making him pause.
"Ah, I guess you're up next. Boys take the Pale City kid out." The kid said before turning back to Mono with a sadistic smirk."Try not to drop too quickly, I want to see that face black and blue before you go down." He chuckles as he moves aside, letting two kids come and unlock the cell door, escorting Mono towards the gate as more cheers could be heard.
"You see that kid? I bet he gets knocked out in the first round." The leader whispered to one of his friends just as Mono's senses were drowned in the echoing noise of the arena.
Looking around Mono was taken aback, It was already weird enough that a vast space existed in the sewers to house the Marketplace, but this arena, while considerably smaller, was still pretty big.
The place was lit only by a couple of lights loosely hanging from the sewer ceiling connected to some of the many high metal rafters and walkways which spread out around the upper levels. Huge pipes lined the decorated walls of what he hopes is red paint in the shape of eyes and strange writing, and crisscrossed under the rafters and walkways as a form of structural support. It looked like the kids had even added stands in the upper level that extended the walkways.
In the middle of the ceiling in the dome arena there was a giant hole that looked like looking up a nuclear silo of which at the very top was a massive stone eye looking down. From the ground floor of the arena there were smaller sewer openings in the shape of eyes with water constantly spilling making it look like it's crying out and falling into a small waterway that flows through the arena under a metal grating that replaces a section of the stone floor.
Behind him the opening he came through was closed once more by the barbed wire, the same happened to the opening opposite of him. There were more entrances on the right and left of him, but they were also boarded off.
"Boys and girls of all ages, we have a special treat for you tonight! From far out beyond the ocean, a city surrounded by an impenetrable fog, where no kid has ever traveled to and left alive. We present to you a rather dapper fellow, but don't let that pretty face fool you, for what kind of person can venture to the Pale City and live to tell the tale! Please put your hands together for Mono from the Pale City!" the loud voice yelled followed by more cheering of the many children that filled up most of the stands.
Mono turned around and saw another kid in a strange assortment of clothing, as if he was wearing pillows or something under a leather jacket as well as a traffic cone with eye holes over his head, he was the one yelling into a mic in his hand.
"Now let's fill the guy in, why don't we?! The rules are very simple, you win 10 fights, you walk free. You lose, then better luck next time. If you look around you, you'll find racks of things you can use, and if you have even better powers, anything goes. Although there is one tiny itsy-bitsy detail. There is absolutely no killing, of course accidents do occur from time to time, but if your opponent cries uncle, then that's it you win. And now that he knows the rules! Place your bets" he yelled.
"Now Mono, you missed the introduction of your opponent so let me introduce you. Mono, meet Dent, Dent meet Mono." The announcer said as if introducing old friends. His arms flailed about in a strange gesture that slightly unnerved Mono.
Across the arena Mono saw a kid that was noticeably smaller than him. With clothes covered in holes that looked worse for wear. Although even with the less than threatening appearance of his opponent the kid still held a serious stare though sometimes his face switched to looking unsure.
Off to the side, up in the arena stands Mono could see a sort of hastily put together booth.
"Place your bets. How far will the kid from the Pale City go? Taken out in the first round or down for the count at round ten!" the Bet Collector shouted out. Too which kids began flooding in.
"Kid won't go past the 5th round, 100 on me." one kid shouted throwing a sac at the bet counter.
"2nd round! 50 for me." yelled another, placing a bet as well.
And so, like this Mono heard bet after bet placed on him. Though as he listened, there weren't really any kids that bet on him winning. Which did kind of lower his spirits but he didn't pay too much thought into it.
Round 1
"Well ladies and gentlemen let's get this show on the road!" The announcer said
A bell sound rang out and the crowd burst into a louder cheer and yelling.
Now Mono had fought before obviously, but never like this. Mono and Dent stared each other down, neither making a move as they just looked to see who would make the first move.
Then suddenly Dent scurried over to one of the barrels that was filled with blunt weapons, he grabbed a pipe from the barrel and stared back at Mono again.
"Come on! Stop staring, get this show on the road, put that runt out of his misery." Sloth said, suddenly reminding Mono he was there.
"Have you been watching me this entire time?" Mono questioned.
"I'm always watching… unless I'm asleep." Sloth said just filled with lackluster energy.
Shaking his head, Mono chose to instead focus on the battle, as he made his way to the kid who looked scared to death as he slowly realized how tall Mono was, but nonetheless held up his pipe threateningly.
As Mono now stood in front of him, Dent took a swing for Mono's head with the pipe, but Mono was quick and caught the pipe in his head effortlessly both in part because he saw it coming and there wasn't much force behind the swing. Though it did sting a little.
"Listen, I don't want to have to hurt you, I've really got somewhere to be, so I'd appreciate it if you'd just surrender." Mono said
Now Mono truly meant what he said, with no other meanings, and for a split-second Dent seemed to consider his words as doubt flashed over his face, however that's not how the announcer took it.
"Oh, what's this? Talking down to his opponent. You must be pretty confident to not even try. But you'll soon find out, people down here won't just roll over." The announcer said goating those above to laugh.
And right as the announcer said this Dent let go of the pipe Mono had, and dropped to the ground rolling to the side while swiping another blunt weapon from a stand near them. This time he pulled out a regular long wooden stick and swung it as hard as he could at Mono's legs, catching him off guard.
Now on his back Mono felt the wind get knocked out of his lungs as another swing came down, narrowly hitting him in the stomach, luckily Mono managed to raise his arm in time to block the incoming strike, but now his arm stung and felt numb. Thankfully it wasn't broken.
"I literally cannot believe that you haven't taken this kid out yet. You could snap your fingers and this battle would be over. I mean that would be boring too, because I wanna see you fight, but I didn't think I'd watch you struggling against someone, who I am pretty sure Six could backhand to death." Sloth said
"Sloth if you are not gonna help please be quiet, using my powers too much makes me tired, and I'd rather not show them what I can do so early in the matches." Mono said while swinging his numb arm around as he stood up.
Mono now watched Dent, who stared back at Mono with a heated gaze. Mono decided to just get this over with, so he approached Dent with his arms up guarding his head. This time Dent took another swing at Mono but this time Mono immediately ripped the stick from his hands and threw it to the side and took a swing at the small kid. Mono had to give the kid credit he was quick on his feet because he ducked under the punch and took a jab at Mono's side. Then he dropped to the floor again and tried to swing his legs to knock Mono's out from under him, but that trick didn't work a second time as Mono had his feet firmly planted.
Mono grabbed onto Dent's tatter shirt and lifted him up, while Dent was trying to pry Mono's hand from his shirt.
"I'm only going to ask one more time. I'm trying to be nice, so let's just end it here, ok?" Mono asked, determined though slightly pleadingly.
"You must think I'm gonna give up just because you say I should. Goes to show what you know about this place." Dent said bitterly as he then began biting Mono's hand.
"Shit!" Mono said dropping Dent who got behind one of the weapons stands and started to try and push the thing over on Mono.
Narrowly dodging the falling stand Mono then tackled Dent, wrapping his arms around the kids' neck and holding him down. Dent tried as hard as he could to squirm out of Mono's grip, but Mono's grip only tightened.
The only thing Mono could hear as Dent struggled for breath was the roar of the crowd as most kids cheered but he also heard some kids booing as well. The seconds ticked on as Dent's face slowly began to turn blue before he began tapping on the floor.
"It looks like this fight has been decided. As it seems Dent is tapping out! Lucky you Mono! But don't think you've won just yet! You still have 9 more fights, and I promise you, being nice won't get you anywhere. Take a small break before your next match, why don't you." The announcer said.
Mono trudged to the side of the arena, overall, not that hurt, just a bit sore.
"I have to be honest, that fight was pretty hard to look at. You're going to get folded if one of these guys actually knows how to fight." Sloth said.
"Like you actually know how to fight!" Mono countered.
"I certainly know more than you. I've seen so many fighting styles you don't even know. One of my hosts back from before the world went to shit was really into watching that stuff. Really entertaining stuff. I don't mind lending you a hand if you get down on your knees and beg." Sloth said
"I don't need your help for everything. I can handle this." Mono said.
"We'll see how long that lasts." Sloth said.
ROUND 2
Mono won again but not before taking a mean right uppercut to the chin and a hard jab to the stomach. Thankfully Mono was durable enough to take the hits but he wished he knew how to fight better.
"I could help if you just beg me, always here. You know it was fun at first watching you fight other kids, but the more I look at you fight the sadder it gets." Sloth said, continuing his belittling.
"Hey, I might be taking a few hits, but I can't just blast or warp any kids I come across, and I highly doubt you could actually show me how to fight, you don't even have a real body." Mono said.
"I'll have you know that I do have a real body, just not here…also your right, I can't really make you into some master fighter, but with my instructions you'll do a lot better." Sloth said.
"Yeah, well I still think I got this." Mono said.
Round 3
For the third round Mono faced yet another fellow prisoner and the fight slowly devolved into a slugfest, neither willing to surrender. Perhaps it was around this round that Mono realized that this would definitely not be as easy as he thought. A small dribble of blood was flowing out of the side of his mouth, and he felt sore all over his body.
Walking back to the break area the cheering and roaring kids could be heard talking about their open bets while some just liked to see a good beat down. He sat down on a bench by the arena wall and wiped the blood from his mouth.
"You know, having a bounty on me doesn't seem all that bad anymore. I'll just escape tonight and not come back to this city." Mono said defeated and forlorn.
"Awww, is little Mono getting all tuckered out after getting knocked around by a couple chumps." Sloth said, continuing to mock the already beaten and tired Mono who kept quiet at the verbal jabs that Sloth was giving out.
"Oh well, I offered my services, if you don't want them that's fine. So, let's get this over with, just throw the next fight and we can be on our way by tonight." Sloth said.
Mono looked at his right hand that was bruised at the knuckles. Opening and clutching his hand they felt numb and in slight pain. It wasn't anything too painful, but he just didn't think he'd be able to go on.
"Fine, let's get this over with." Mono said, preparing to get up and announce his surrender.
"Psst… hey, Pale City kid." A voice whispered.
Mono's bench was near the gate that he initially came through and when he turned around to look at the voice, only to see there was a guard that was trying to get his attention while trying to act like he wasn't talking to Mono. Mono was about to reply to the guard before noticing a slip of paper being slipped through the fencing. Mono tentatively took the paper before looking back at the guard who proceeded to speed walk off.
"Well ladies and gents, it would appear we are getting a very special offer for the upcoming rounds from none other than The Lucky Seven!" The announcer chimed to which many in the crowd began to cheer. "The offer is to all those wanting to bet but having no takers for the unlucky pale city kid. Well say no more for this once in a lifetime deal, Seven will be matching any bets coming the pale city kids way!" At the announcers words the crowd erupted into deafening noise.
Confused and covering his ears, Mono Carefully unfolded the note, taking a moment before he started to read it to himself.
"Hey! Looks like you're running out of steam out there, so I thought you could use some motivation. You said you felt sorry about wrecking my place right? So if you really feel bad about it then you can pay me back by going all the way and winning this thing. After all, I bet on you winning this thing, so I'm going to be cheering for you. So you got this!" Mono read, surprised by how elegant the handwriting is, something he has only seen his father be able to match.
Looking at the bottom of the letter it was signed with the name, Lucky Seven. Written next to it is "P.S. Look up."
Looking around at the upper stands confusedly, he saw nothing at first, just other kids looking down on him but as he looked up at the upper stands, he noticed a lone balcony stand separated from the rest and a familiar pair of pale-yellow glowing eyes. They were sitting next to another kid in a plush chair that looked very comfortable. They were waving to the crowd before taking note of his eyes on them, to which they gave him a sly wink and a small wave.
he awkwardly waved back, but soon his attention shifted to the kid sitting next to Seven. It was a girl with red hair staring at him with a face he had seen many times before on Six back in the day. An annoyed judging glare that made him feel like she hated him already without even knowing him. He stared back for what felt like minutes, an emotionless expression on his face that he hoped conveyed nothing, rather if anything he probably looked like he was on the verge of falling asleep.
Though as he thought more on the note and its meaning, an unknown feeling crept into his chest at the prospect that they were counting on him. It was different from the other adults back at the homestead, having any form of encouragement from another kid that lives in this corrupted world was completely alien and unknown to him. He couldn't shake this warm feeling and relish in it, if only briefly.
"Huh, well we're still throwing, right?" Sloth said, sounding unmoved by the change in events around them.
Suddenly Mono stood once more filled with a warm feeling in his chest and a determined look in his eyes he hasn't had in sometime. Suddenly the bell rang again signaling the beginning of the next round.
"Hey, we're throwing the fight right!?" Sloth said as Mono took his first steps back into the ring.
Round 4
"Well ladies and gentlemen, I'm sure that you're all growing tired of the small undercard fights, and I'm sure Mono here has grown tired of these fights too. So how about we kick it up a notch. Give a warm welcome to Stout the newbie destroyer! Now keep in mind Mono, Stout may seem to be on a bit of a slow side, but make no mistake, if he gets you in his grip, I dare say it's game over for you!" The announcer said.
"Ring the bell!" With that, the battle began.
"Ah shit, get a hold of a stick before Tons-of-fun gets a hold of you." Sloth said.
Mono runs over to a rack and pulls out a hockey stick just as Stout comes barreling toward Mono. Mono jumped out of the way of Stout's charge and swung the hockey stick, striking Stout in the side. But to Mono's surprise, even though he made a clean hit the hockey stick immediately broke. Holding the other half of the hockey stick, Mono quickly chucked the broken weapon away.
Mono dodged a grab made by Stout only by a hair's breadth and countered by throwing a punch to the chest.
"Oh god, I can't believe you just did that." Sloth said.
Stout then grabbed Mono's arm and swung Mono's whole body up into the air overhead and slammed him into the ground behind him.
"Oooooooooo, he's gonna be feeling that in the morning!" the announcer yelled out.
Mono's vision was spinning as he tried to focus his disoriented head.
"Quick teleport away from him or blast him, you're finished if you don't get loose." Sloth said
Realizing that what Sloth was saying was true, he wanted to try to get loose without his powers, but he wasn't really getting a choice as Stout began to slowly start hefting up Mono's body, preparing to throw him.
"Fine!" Mono said through gritted teeth before teleporting out of Stout's grip.
The crowd went silent as Mono disappeared and reappeared a bit away from Stout, cradling his sore arm that he was being thrown by.
"Well, well well, looks like we've got a teleporter on our hands, but that won't help you here kid, only delaying the inevitable!" the announcer said.
"Sloth, you got any bright ideas, I'm willing to hear them." Mono thought.
"Blast him! Because honestly, I don't see any other way of making this kid stay down, kids built like a tank." Sloth said.
"People already know I can teleport; I'd like to keep the rest under wraps until the later rounds." Mono said.
"Well I don't know! Be subtle about it, maybe a tiny blast, if you can manage that." Sloth suggested.
"You think I can just do a tiny blast? Sloth that's…. actually, a good idea." Mono said surprised and a little disappointed that he didn't think of that himself.
"Of course, it is! Why do I feel like you're thinking of something else?" Sloth said.
While Mono continued conversing with Sloth in his head, Mono kept dodging or backstepping out of reach of Stout, who kept trying to grab Mono again. Every time it looked like he was trapped he'd teleport out, only further infuriating Stout.
Mono then began to build up his power in his palms, but instead of a full-on blast Mono instead tried to suppress how far the power in his palms would grow, keeping it going at the absolute smallest amount that he could.
"Let's see if it works." Mono said
"Well it should, after all it's actually a pretty smart idea. Simple yet effective, just how I like it." Sloth said.
Mono then began charging towards Stout who saw this and prepared to take a hit.
"What's this! Looks like Mono's got a plan! But is it enough to take Stout down for the count!" the announcer said
Mono landed a punch on Stout's body and then teleported just as Stout made a grab, reappearing behind Stout and throwing another punch at his back. Stout tried to spin around to get Mono in his view but the only thing he caught sight of was fading sparks. Mono reappeared on his side throwing another body shot, but this time if one looked closely, you could see faint tiny sparks arcing off his fists from time to time. As soon as the hit landed it looked like the muscles in Stout's body seized up.
The crowd was expecting nothing of Mono's punch and were just waiting for Stout to grab him, but the crowd slowly turned into confused gazes as Stout looked to be twitching but otherwise staying still as Mono then proceeded to land punch after punch on Stout's body.
Mono kept the punches coming, and he was glad that this was working but he could feel the constant use of his powers this way slowly draining his stamina.
"It seems like Stout is unable to fight back as Mono rains punch after punch down on his body, and I am just as surprised as you are! What's going on with Stout? Is he throwing the fight?" The announcer said
After what felt like an eternity Stout fell over on his back down for the count. Still awake but dazed out of his mind. And Mono, even if he won, he was sweating up a storm as his coat and shirt underneath felt absolutely soaked.
"I don't know how he did it folks but somehow Mono will be going on to the 5th round. Take five while we get the next contestant Mono, you're gonna need it." The announcer said.
VIP Room
Lounging on a long chair the girl with the red hair looked over to the other seated next to her.
"You know I'm very curious as to why someone like you would suddenly place quite a large bet on a kid like him. What is it that made you put even a fraction of your trust in him? After all nice kids like him are a dime a dozen don't you think? Or maybe because he's a teleporter? Kids with powers like that are a lot rarer but if you wanted him, you could have just bought him after he loses. So I wonder, what exactly is it that you see in him?"
Atla, primarily known as Seven by many quietly unrolled a piece of paper with quite a bit of writing on it with a thumb print on a dotted line, pointing at the thumb print reminding the red headed girl of their agreement.
"Yes, yes I know, I won't prod any further, if he wins I won't cause any trouble for him, of course that's IF, he wins." The red headed girl said with a smug look on her face, she knew it was pretty much impossible for anyone to win, at least for those she doesn't want to. Looking to a nearby guard she gives them a subtle gesture and the guard carries on with their business.
Atla turned to face the guard walking away, but paid them no mind, simply going back to watching the fight as carefree as could be, though just to be sure more guards moved to her sides blocking her way.
"You know I've managed to build this place from the ground up, so like you, I have quite the eye for certain things, and while I don't know what exactly you see in him, I believe I've made my own little discovery that even you might not yet realize." The girl said as she rested her head on her hand, ('now staring at Mono in interest.') (wait, what does that mean?)
Meanwhile back down in the arena with Mono, he was currently trying to get as much rest as he could before his next fight.
"Ok Sloth seeing as I have to win now, I'm willing to listen to what you got." Mono said while wiping his forehead of sweat.
"That's great, you can start by begging for my help." Sloth said.
"I'm not begging for your help, please don't be difficult." Mono said.
"Oh you think I'm being difficult, all I'm asking for is a bit of sincerity." Sloth said.
"Come on up Mono, time for your 5th round!" the announcer said.
"Hope everything goes well for you." Sloth said.
Round 5
The next kid was just as annoying to fight as Stout had been. Not because they were big but rather, they knew how to fight a lot better than the last few kids. But he managed to land a clean hit to the head knocking the kid out but that was only after constantly teleporting, waiting for an opportunity to present itself.
While he had another win under his belt, he could already feel the fatigue building up. The sweat on him constantly drying only for him to sweat again left his skin feeling like it was caked in dirt and grime.
"Congratulations! We are now officially halfway there. I mean sure you look worse for wear, but I want you to know I've always had full confidence in you." Sloth said.
"Don't antagonize me, Sloth." Mono said.
Round 6
"I must congratulate you Mono, you've managed to make it halfway through your ten rounds and you've only been here for a short time. But this is where the game changes! Ladies and gentlemen, you know her, you love her, give a warm welcome to the best fighter of the Marketplace Guards…. Mixie!" The announcer yelled
Right then the girl he had talked to earlier in the cells. Armor and all, looking ready to fight as she waved at the crowd of cheering children.
"Wait, she's still wearing her armor! Is that fair?!" Mono asked, but no one heard him over the roar of the crowd.
"Oh yeah we're fucked." Sloth said
"Let's begin!" the announcer said as the bell rang
"Wait wait wait, how is this fa- "Mono was yelling as he was struck in the chest hard and fast.
Before Mono could fall back to the ground the girl grabbed him by his coat holding him up as she struck his face three times. Mono, disoriented, still managed to teleport out of her grip with one hand covering the right side of his face. But the girl didn't give Mono any time to catch his breath, immediately charging him and trying to deliver a kick to the stomach. He thankfully managed to dodge and tried to punch her while she was still mid kick but doing so only managed to hurt him more thanks to the armor she wore.
"I said watch the face pretty boy." Mixie said before lashing out, intent on striking Mono in the left temple.
He in turn teleported directly behind her and grabbed her from behind, trying to restrain her, and succeeded in doing so for a time, before she ultimately threw her head back, nearing busting Mono's nose.
Releasing her and stumbling back while holding his nose with both hands, by the time he came to, he saw Mixie's armored gloved hand striking his face again. Being thrown onto his back Mono laid there in a daze as the roar of the crowd seemed to fade due to the ringing in his ears. His vision was blurry as lights and images spun around him.
Mixie meanwhile was walking around Mono, paying him no mind as she raised her hands yelling with the crowd.
"Well, I suppose this is as far as we go." Sloth said.
In Mono's head thoughts ran through his mind as a disgusting feeling rose to the surface. The way all the other kids thought he would lose, the way the fight at this point felt rigged, the way it always felt like the world was against him. He was tired of it, so unbelievably tired of it, and yet looking up to the booth where Seven was, he couldn't help but refuse to give up knowing someone was relying on him. So, if the only way he would get any rest while getting rid of those looks off the other children's faces was to win, then so be it.
"Sloth help me out here, you want me to beg for your help no or you want me to give you something interesting to watch?" Mono asked, slowly rolling over and propping himself up on his elbow while spitting out blood.
"Oh, it seems like Mono's still aching for more, it seems he isn't down for the count yet." The announcer said just moments before he would have called the fight.
Mixe turned around also, just as Mono got up on shaky legs.
"Kid you're talking crazy, and I like it, give me a sec." Sloth said
Just as he said this it felt like his skin was constantly crawling and the pain in his body greatly dulled.
"And done. Just follow my instructions, I've taken some minor liberties of manipulating the muscles in your body. Now I won't be controlling you or anything like that, but it'll feel like your body wants to move on its own. You can of course ignore these movements; you still have control of yourself but think of this as a sort of fight assist. Don't fight the movements, learn them so your body will get used to them because this won't last forever. Of course, that armor is still an issue but nothing you can't work around. Now throw your coat off and rip off your sleeves." Sloth said
Seeing Moxie looking at him with a smirk, Mono quickly threw his coat off, but instead of ripping his sleeves, instead opted to roll them up hastily.
"Good enough I suppose, ok start by approaching the girl, arms up, guard your head." Sloth instructed
Mono started by approaching Mixie,
"Oh is the Pale City boy getting serious now?!" Mixie said as Mono approached her
"You've got height and reach on her, she strikes for your head you lean back, she strikes for your stomach, you backstep." Sloth instructed
Just as Sloth had told him that Mixie struck out once more, going for his exposed sides. She missed the strike as Mono took a step back, but she didn't relent, again and again she tried to hit Mono but every time she threw a punch she was just out of reach as he took a backstep.
"Since she likes to wear armor, you'll have to strike in the exposed areas. As soon as she strikes again, give her a good throat punch." Sloth said
Now Mono did have some qualms on such an underhanded move, he didn't exactly have many options and with his body moving semi on instinct, as soon as she struck out again he moved to the side and sent a punch to her throat. He did try to hold back but by the way she immediately looked stunned and how she held her throat it must have still hurt a lot.
"Don't give her a chance to recover! Hit her with a foot lock!" Sloth yelled
Mono's right foot slammed down on the girl's foot as she tried to back away. Caught off guard her body jerked.
"Hit them in the sides where the armor doesn't cover, right jab, then left jab."
Keeping the girl locked in place he did as instructed and landed a jab to the right and left sides of her body that the armor wasn't covering.
Finally managing to come out of her stupor, Mixie managed to push Mono away from her, freeing herself.
"Sloth, I think the only thing I did was make her angry." Mono said
"Well that just means you didn't hit her hard enough." Sloth said
Mixie seemed to throw caution to the wind as she charged at Mono, not giving him any chance to backstep, sprinting at him, ignoring any hits he threw at her as she would simply shift her body so that Mono struck the armor instead.
"Ok I've had my fun, lets get her out of that armor. Grab her by her hands and teleport like you usually do, I'll take care of the important part." Sloth said
Mixie threw another punch at Mono's face, but he immediately countered with an overhand jab, his hand meeting her own. In the blink of an eye, they both disappeared and reappeared. What the crowd of children noticed the most however was the pile of armor falling to the ground with a clicking sound.
"Now before she recovers, hit her with the Wakizashi Straight!" Sloth shouted with glee.
Tensing the muscles in his right hand he then shot out a punch straight to her face. Her body fell back and stayed down, clearly out cold. Mono's fist still held up in the position he took to punch her.
The final move happened so quickly even the announcer was caught by surprise and the crowd was silent.
"It seems like Mixie is down for the count. Seeing as we are saving our last challenger for the last fight, we'll now be bringing you contestants that have a chance of winning fabulous prizes should they beat Mono here. But looking at him now it might not take much more for him to bite the dust." The announcer said
Picking up his tossed coat Mono took it to the bench, Barky suddenly pops out of the pocket of his jacket and sits on the bench slightly nibbling on it before turning to Mono with a bark, Mono places his coat under him like a bed as he sits next to barky. With a sigh he opens the top button of his shirt in hopes it might cool him off.
"No wonder people don't leave this arena, look at me, I'm gonna be hurting for days after this" Mono moaned begrudgingly.
"Ok so we'll use the next few people to fine tune your fighting, you still stumble around too much and pull your punches. You have a number of issues actually, but we'll just have to make do." Sloth said.
Fixing his rolled up sleeves Mono raked back his sweaty hair before patting the dirt off his hat that had fallen off during fights. He then placed that on the bench near his dog as well.
As he laid his back against the wall to stave off what fatigue he could he saw the glow Lucky Sevens eyes looking right at him, when they saw that he was looking back they in turn gave Mono a thumbs up, and if he squinted hard enough, even a faint smile. Faced with actually getting encouragement for once he awkwardly gave a thumbs up back, with a gentle smile gracing his face despite the fact that he looked hammered at this point.
Round 7
A kid by the name Mixpatch had been Mono's opponent. Her knuckles and most of her attire were wrapped in bandages as she kept trying to violently strike out with quick whip-like strikes of said bandages at Mono with a type of confidence that made Mono feel like he definitely couldn't afford to take ahit. Under Sloth's guidance he dodged and back stepped out of every attempt to strike him before grabbing his opponent by the arm and striking her in the head extremely hard three times before she passed out. When she fell the bandages flailed all around, as well as a pair of brass knuckles fell out of the badly wrapped together bandages.
Round 8
For the next round Mono had to dodge a knife that the kid had pulled out mid fight. As soon as that knife had been brandished Mono teleported behind the kid stunning him with a bit of electricity before knocking the knife out of his grip. Mono then slammed both hands on opposite sides of his head, disorienting the kid greatly. Teleporting in front of the kid, he launched 3 successive hits to his chest making him surrender afterwards.
Round 9
Standing on shaky legs Mono was really running on empty now, no food to eat, thirsty and tired. Thankfully his overeager opponent thought he could easily finish Mono off and was unprepared for when Mono didn't fall after a strong punch to the gut. Mono sent out another static punch paralyzing them before finishing them off.
"Well, I have to say Mono, you've surprised us all by making it this far. You've made it so much farther than most kids do, very few actually make it through all 10. Now we already had contestant number 10 picked out for you, but they opted to bow out, fortunately for us and unfortunately for you, a very special person has returned to our humble arena. Ahead of schedule actually! Living within the forests just beyond the city borders, everyone here knows him, your raining undefeated champ Skipperrrrrrrrr!" the announcer screamed, echoed only by the insane cheering..
A tanned blonde-haired kid came rushing out of the opposite gate seeming to be wearing a combination of regular clothes and animal pelts. A hoodie that seemed to have the hood ripped off and replaced with the head pelt of a wolf and extra layers of fur on the arms of the hoodie, with shorts that displayed his legs in a tan sheen covered in old scars.
Sitting at his bench Mono couldn't help but feel a little out gunned at this point, even if he used his powers he probably would be too tired and thirsty to focus.
"Hey, gift to the Rising star." He heard before he felt something get placed on the bench, looking over he sees what looks to be a cup of water neatly placed next to him. Looking through the bars behind him he didn't catch who placed it, but he was grateful to whoever it was nonetheless. With over eagerness he grabbed the cup and readied to get in its sweet refreshment.
That was until something suddenly smacks it out of his hand. Shocked, Mono watches as the cup spills over onto the bench next to him and splashes onto barky who yips in surprise and dives for the jacket's pocket. Looking over he recognized the object that was thrown.
It was his camera.
Realizing what this meant he looked to where Seven was and was shocked to see them stick their tongue out mocking him. Something the guard next to her forces them to stop while the red haired girl next to Seven looks furious at their actions. Seven simply holds back laughs all the while.
"What's this? Interference from the stands? Oh looks like The lucky Seven caught the pale city kid slacking, tough luck if I do say so myself." The announcer jeered to the crowd's amusement.
Mono was confused. He was also boiling mad, but he mostly kept that to himself. Though Mono was mostly feeling… Betrayed.
"Wow, what a nice throw. Would not think that kid is a good pitcher, but I guess anything is possible." Sloth idlily commented.
"What the hell was that about?! Why would she do that?!" Mono demanded answers. After all this, were they just messing with him? Getting him to go so far just to make him fall in the end like some cheap joke?!
"Whoa kid, calm down. There is likely a good reason for all this." Sloth said.
"Like. What?" Mono seethed.
"Well, let's not forget that the Vice of greed has something to lose if you lose, which if I know my vices, which I do, that's something greed would rather choke on a fork than do." Sloth explained, matter-of-factly.
Mono listens, but is still left feeling somehow wronged by Seven's action. Looking at his camera and picking it up he checks for any damage.
"Do you have any idea why they did it then?" Mono asks, still slightly bitter.
"Well, did you check if it was poisoned?" Sloth responded.
At that Mono was suddenly thrown for a loop. As if all feelings on the subject were negligible up to this point. Did he check if it was poisoned? He knew the answer and wasn't sure what to make of it. Looking at the spilled substance he couldn't gleam anything from it, though he recalled how Barky responded to it. So was it poisoned…?
Looking up to the booth where Seven was he could see they were shoulder to shoulder with the guards, though didn't seem to have a care in the world, as they didn't even look back at him. He couldn't tell anything from looking at them.
That's when the bell rang, and though he was tired, confused and slightly still mad. He forced himself up, all the while glancing up at Seven as if they would suddenly reveal all answers. Once in the midst of it he readied for the hell that was bound to come.
Round 10!
"Ladies and gentlemen, you're here today to bear witness to something that has never occured since the founding of our little safe haven. The de facto reigning champ versus the fresh off the boat kid from the Pale City. Mono-e-Mano, both powered, both….or at least one, not sure yet….having years of fighting experience. All the fights before this were but mere appetizers for what's about to come. Will the daring few who bet that Mono would make it this far win big if he falls, or will they walk away empty handed? One thing I know is should Mono manage to triumph in the end, Lucky Seven will be making another killing." The announcer cheered, much to the division of the crowd as they both boo'd and screamed in glee.
"The final round begins!" With the announcer now finished the second bell rang and the two combatants readied for what's to come.
Getting a better look at the kid, Mono could see bandages wrapped around their feet and bent his knees just a bit, like a predator preparing to charge, but oddly enough a kind hearted smile was plastered on his face.
"Piece of cake, what's one more kid to the win count gonna do?" Sloth said a little over eager to be done with this arena.
"Oh and one more thing I almost forgot to mention Mono. Skipper here is special just like you!" The announcer chirped mischievously.
As soon as the announcer said this, Skipper raised his left leg high, as if performing a heel strike.
Something kicking up dust could be seen moving rapidly just beneath the soles of his feet and when he brought his foot back down to strike the ground there was an explosive gust of wind that shot off dust all over the arena. The cloud of dust was so thick he could only see dark shapes outlined. Looking around Mono kept his guard up for any type of movement within the dust cloud but he also had to cover his mouth as the dust was so thick it made it difficult to breath. Even after keeping his guard up for some time the cloud still refused to settle and just hung in the air like it would never clear up. Not a sound was heard besides the crowd. As far as he could tell his opponent wasn't moving. However that notion was proven wrong when a shadow descended upon him.
Crossing his arms over his head on instinct preparing for the incoming hit, Skipper in turn responded by somehow stepping on mid-air, pivoting from a downward strike to swinging his leg from the side. Being caught off guard Mono was knocked to the ground. Thankfully he managed to step forward a bit and instead of getting struck by his foot, he took a softened blow from his leg.
"Hmmm, I was pretty sure you would have teleported out of that one, thought your reaction time would be better with being skittish and all." Skipper said calmly.
In response Mono teleported right in front of him trying to land a hit on the kid to try and stun him. His hands buzzed with a slight static ready to stun his opponent but Skipper seemed to move back like a ghost. Mono didn't notice at first but somehow the kid was moving without actually making any steps, instead he somehow was sliding back effortlessly.
"I for one, vote to stop holding back and just warp the space around him so that he can't run away anymore." Sloth said.
"Sloth, can you think about what you're saying? I don't think it's the brightest idea to just warp space around me when we are, who knows how far underground." Mono said.
He yet again tried to teleport toward Skipper before he could disappear in the cloud of dust again, but with each teleport, again and again, each hit failed to land anything worthwhile.
"You are telegraphing yourself too much. Makes it easy to guess what your next move is going to be. The way you move, the way you present yourself, you should work on making yourself less predictable, strike faster, make sure you're closer before you start swinging." Skipper said while dodging punch after punch.
Skipper's leg then struck out and hit him square in the chest. Mono was actually very surprised by the lack of force behind the kick but was then blown back a second later by another powerful force of air, parting the dust cloud for the crowd of children to see.
Mono felt the air leave his lungs as he crashed against the arena wall. Skipper staring him down from the same spot he had blasted him from.
"Oh..he, he must be the next in line for a Wind Walker, a pity." Sloth said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Mono grunted standing up slowly.
"Nothing important to us. I could tell you later for a favor." He said offhandedly.
"Ok…? Well do you at least have an idea for what I could do to win, that DOESN'T involve bringing the place down?" Mono asked.
"Well honestly speaking, you could probably win by waiting it out. He's bleeding from his hands and legs already if only slightly. Probably isn't used to long fights and instead is used to knocking out his opponents quickly." Sloth said.
True enough, Mono looked at Skipper and could see the telltale signs of blood beginning to soak into the bandages he wore.
Skipper silently backed into the dust cloud that was slowly reforming.
"Can we at least do something about the dust cloud, it's hard to breathe in here." Mono said.
"You're on your own kid, I got nothing." Sloth said.
Walking forward Mono kept spinning around trying to see if he could notice anything that would even give him the smallest clue of where Skipper was. Thoughts rushed through his head as he tried to think of what he could do to win. But even then he had only but a moment of reprieve as a hand quickly reached out behind Mono and grabbed him by the back of his neck and used his incoming momentum to swing around Mono before kneeing him in the gut. Mono fell to his knees after the strike but Skipper still didn't let up and tried to take Mono out immediately. He gathered a silent swirling wind into his palm and then made a strike for his head.
Mono luckily managed to teleport away at the last second. Skipper whirled around fully expecting an attack from behind but was met with nothing. His eyes widened at the last second and turned back around only to turn into a punch that Mono had thrown. Skipper tried to get away as quickly as he could but Mono wasn't having it. He held the kid by his clothes, refusing to let go.
"Wow you actually managed to catch him." Sloth said.
Mono used both of his hands to throw Skipper off balance, taking that split moment to grab him by both of his arms to keep him from fighting back. Unfortunately Mono didn't take into account Skipper falling back on his weight, dragging them both towards the floor. Using that split moment with another gust of air Skipper slid away keeping his distance from Mono.
"Welp there he goes again! Doubt that'll work again, good try though." Sloth lamented.
"Well I'm the only one here coming up with ideas so unless you have anything that would help this situation at all then just stay quiet and let me think." Mono said.
"Don't take that tone with me, I'm not the one holding himself back. This would be so much easier if you just literally plucked him. He's fast and he knows how to fight, heck he even has powers, but even with all that he'll only ever measure up to a fraction of what you could do with a swipe of your hands. I'll admit it's fun to watch you and those around you struggle from time to time, but when you start to complain to me like we're pals expecting something from me, stuff like that really starts to irritate me. If you want to take all this unnecessary pain then don't cry to me about it." Sloth's voice rumbled, the indignation evident in every word as his voice made the numbing of Mono's body grow even worse and his senses fainter.
Through all this Mono still felt his skin tingling, a dull grating feeling that felt like gravel was moving under his skin, a very rough and itchy feeling. Pain racked his body earlier and the physical drain on him had left him with barely enough energy to stand. Maybe Sloth was right, it was just one small blast. What's the worst that could happen, it could all be over, it might not all come crashing down, or maybe it would, but if he controlled it more than likely not. Only through Sloth's help had he been able to last this long, if that dull grating feeling under his skin stopped, who knows how tired and how much pain he would actually feel.
"What's one small blast?" He asked himself.
"Just think about it, aren't you tired, don't you want to rest? No one will get hurt and it's so easy to just reach out. That's all it takes, just reach out…just….reach…..out." Sloth said in an almost soothing tone.
He was nearly tempted to follow along with Sloth's coaxing while still trying his best to avoid the incoming hits from Skipper who would burst forth every now and again to try and land a decisive hit against Mono. As thoughts of how easy it would be ran through his mind, with every punch he narrowly managed to dodge, holes in the cloud of dust would be torn open due to Skipper's air compressed punches. Brief glimpses of the roaring crowd appeared but ultimately he paid no mind to them.
"Maybe just once, if I can end this fight quickly." Mono mumbled, his voice quiet and unfocused
Space warp only for a fraction of a second and sparks danced in his palms as without really thinking, his arm had raised and readied to unleash the power building up. But just as quickly as it came it stopped as another hole was blasted open from dodging an incoming hit to the head. As he glimpsed through it, he caught sight of familiar glowing eyes…maybe ones of who he could have considered a friend. However he did not recognize their face from its stark difference; they no longer wore their usual carefree gaze but rather one of fear and Mono could even see worry written across their features, even with Their face partially covered by that strange black fold over their eyes.
As their eyes met, It suddenly clicked in his head that they were looking at him with that expression. They were… Worried for him? Before his thoughts could finish the smoke once more obscured the arena around him, with the last thing he saw of Seven being their expression shifting from fear and worry to utter shock.
In his foggy mind, seeing another kid out in this corrupted world looking legitimately worried for him, gave him pause. Before he had met Six other children usually wouldn't even give him a passing thought, no one would ever stay with him or even allow his presence for too long. Even with Six as much as he tried to befriend her, as much as he hoped to make a friend, thinking back now it seemed that feelings were not mutual. But looking up and seeing what he could only assume was Seven's real feelings under the mask gave him the chance to suddenly realize the thoughts that were running through his head. In complete disbelief of himself, he took a deep breath before calming himself to think of another way to handle the situation.
For a brief moment He could sense Sloth's surprise before his quiet whispers at the back of his head simply went quiet as Mono tried to prepare himself from whichever direction his opponent would attack from next.
"Ok I have an idea." Mono said, coming to a conclusion.
"Oh do you now? What kind of idea?" Sloth asked sarcastically, perhaps even a little annoyed.
"It involves getting hit, maybe a lot, and I won't blast him or anything, but I will use a bit more of the power you've given. Those hands you gave me, can you control them?" Mono questioned.
"Oh? Yes, I suppose I could but I don't really want to. Though even so you're in luck, for to a certain degree they have their own sentience, you've just been controlling them too directly, if you give them broad orders they'd probably work better." Sloth noted listlessly.
Mono was surprised by Sloth's answer and sudden lack of carelessness but decided not to question it, for as if the mere thought summoned them, the ghostly hands appeared before him with eyes lazily gazing back at him.
Unnerved but not deterred, he spoke. "Do you guys understand me?" He asked somewhat incredulously.
The hands stared at him for a brief second before staring at each other, moving in strange ways as if making gestures, though none he has ever seen before, they then looked back to Mono shaking themselves up and down in response.
"Ok….? So what I'm going to do is go and get him to hit me, and when he does I need you two to take care of him while I hold him down. Got it?" Mono tested, still slightly unsure if his idea would work.
The hands stared at him for a second before looking at each other with more hand signs again, One hand clenching itself to convey a snapping of the neck while the other shook itself in agreement.
Realizing their intent Mono slightly panicked. "No no no, do not kill him, just knock him out." Mono hastily corrected.
The pair of hands stared at him for a second before turning to each other again, seemingly communicating with mere blinks instead this time.
"Ok let's try it out." Mono said.
Although Mono had an idea to end it here it would seem that Skipper had a similar thought as the dust cloud started to slowly swirl and coalesce.
With a powerful crackle like that of thunder the dust dispersed revealing the arena once more. Among the many pipes many were bent or even cut through, and scattered all about were drops of red.
As Mono had a Moment he took a glance up to where Seven was once more, only to see that the shock on their face was gone, instead what was left was a look of complete disinterest, as they seemed to refuse to return his stare.
Catching his eye he spotted floating up near the rafters was none other than Skipper, galing winds holding him aloft as he stared down at mono with resolute look in his eyes and a slight smirk.
"From how beat up you were and from what I've seen of your fighting skills, I have to say, you've surprised me. Not many can last this long in the arena and even less so against me, and for that I praise you." The boy shook his head amused. "But I'm afraid this will be as far as you'll be going." His words rang through the air echoing like whispers as the winds around Mono began to pick up.
"Are you ready for what's to come?" Sloth pondered.
Before Mono could respond he was suddenly kneed to the gut and sent flying back. As he slowly recovered he was shocked when he coughed into his hand and found blood spitting out.
"Because if not… You're really going to regret defying me." Sloth spoke and though there was no animosity behind his words Mono could feel the complete disinterest in Mono's well being in the coming fight. Something that left him unnerved and reminded him what he was talking to as the next attack came flying at him as swift as the very wind itself. I was like the hit was coming in slow motion, he knew he wouldn't be able to dodge considering how close the incoming fist was, but he had no intention of doing so even if he could. As a vicious right hook dug into his stomach Mono felt a wave of pain course through him, but he managed to fight through the pain and threw himself at Skipper catching him by surprise. He managed to stop Skipper from moving and his Hands went to work, one striking at Skipper's head and the other his stomach. That managed to stun and hurt Skipper, but even as Skipper looked around for what was striking him, he still opted to try and escape from Mono's unknown method of attack.
As Mono tried to hold Skipper down, Skipper tried to get away by blasting away like the wind. It was also at this moment that the last of the dust cloud died down rapidly, as they were in the air Mono managed to spin around on Skipper's body behind him now holding him in a chokehold. Skipper flew erratically while also trying to pry Mono off his back. Every time his hands would try to pry Mono's off, there was a wet sticky feeling. Still the Hands made work of beating Skipper even while they flew around dangerously. One was still smashing punch after punch into Skipper's face while the other had switched from striking the stomach to going for Skipper's legs, wrapping around them and grasping the boy's legs and slowly applying an increasing pressure on the boy's legs.
Even Mono's own hands tightened as hard as they could, trying to make Skipper pass out. Very quickly they started to crash down toward the ground but not before they slid against the wall with Mono taking the brunt of it as the stone wall grated against his skin. When they finally crashed into the ground, they tumbled in a heap before separating from each other. Mono after the crash was too tired and in pain to get up at this point. Propping himself up with his arms he also saw Skipper in the same position, both silently looking at each other. Skipper shakily reached out with bloody hands, before passing out, likely from the blood loss.
As pain racked his body Mono managed to barely stand up as his vision also started to fade in and out. Looking at his hands he saw that they were covered in blood. Numb all over he slowly turned around looking up at the crowd before the announcer called out.
"I don't believe it folks… And I really mean that, as against all odds Mono, the Pale city kid, won every single round! Give your new champion a big round of applause!" the announcer yelled out as the crowd burst into a cacophony of deafening noise he couldn't really hear for some reason.
Though Before Mono knew it, he was on the ground again, vision blurring, before finally going dark, the last thing he saw was a pair of feet running toward him.
When Mono finally came too he groggily opened his eyes. Immediately his body felt stiff and still slightly gross, but on the bright side at least his body didn't feel like it was in that much pain anymore. Turning on his side he found that someone had put him into a cot inside of a big tent. Seeing a static tendril extending from his back he noticed that his two Hands were near a table, playing cards with….. Seven?
"Hey!" he tried calling out but his voice cracked from how dry his throat was, still the two hands and Seven gave him a glance briefly before returning their concentration to the game they were playing, which appeared to be some kind of poker.
It then occurred to him what was happening. "Wait, you can see those?" Mono asked, though received no answer from the kid with glowing eyes. Instead they threw down their cards before the Hands that held their own. The eyes on the Hands look back and forth between their cards and the ones across from them, before their single eyes looked frustrated, tossing their cards to the air, which didn't seem enough so they then threw the table on its side knocking the cards and coins all over, before swiftly floating back to Mono in a huff.
Seven still sat on the chair, arms crossed staring smugly at the scene before looking to Mono, who proceeded to sit up on the side of the cot. Looking at his feet he saw Barky had been sleeping at the foot of the cot and to the side he could see his coat hanging on a coat holder along with his hat. Reaching for his coat he paused as he noticed that someone had patched it up and cleaned it. Putting it on he began stretching out his arms, he then also noticed that he now had fresh new bandages wrapped around his torso, making it difficult to put on his coat but he still managed.
"So….where are we right now? I won so I'm free to go right?" Mono asked.
Seven pointed over on the other side of the tent where Mono noticed other kids bandaged up and sleeping in cots.
"So this is an infirmary, I can still leave though right?" Mono asked as he started to stand up. As he did so he began to feel the soreness in his muscles. After having stood up though he was immediately pushed back onto his cot by his glowing eyed… Friend? They stared at him while pointing at the cot.
"Come on! I'm fine, I'm feeling better already, I don't need to rest anymore." Mono complained.
Mono was about to go on explaining why he had to leave before a sac of…..something, was suddenly tossed at him by Seven, where they got it he didn't know since he didn't see it a moment ago. He hefted the weighty sac in his hand confused, before tossing it a few times to guess what it could be. Looking at the other kid with a questioning gaze he tentatively untied the string holding the sac closed. Once he opened the sac he was surprised to see it filled lots of bottle caps.
"Ehhhh…..thanks." Mono said, trying only slightly to hide his confusion as he held one bottle cap between his fingers and got a closer look at it.
"It's your winnings." a voice said from across the room. Seven and Mono turned around to see the red haired girl standing in front of the entrance. Mono's body tensed unconsciously, as for some reason he was wary of the girl. Their stature was rather small within the heavy trench coat covered in pockets she wore, but she had something in the way she carried herself that Mono didn't like, as if she already thought she was better than him.
"Oh don't worry I'm just here to congratulate our new winner." she said smiling while holding out her hand for Mono.
However Mono never took her hand, in fact, instead he did something unlike him as his face very briefly switched to one of distrust and disgust before quickly shifting to something more calmer but still with a hint of aversion. Seeing that Mono had no intention to shake, and unbothered by his reaction, she brought her hand back to her side before continuing to speak.
"I understand your unwillingness to speak with me considering that your time here has been… Less than ideal, but I assure you the rest of your time here won't be like that. I would recommend that you stay here while you recover and rest up. Seven here will no doubt help you with whatever you need." she said completely unperturbed by Mono's actions.
Though their expression then turned to one of slight suspicion. "I must say Seven rarely takes interest in other kids, so I'm sure you're in good hands, but I will say it's an odd turn of events that you show up out of the blue together." Red explains, though Mono could sense there was something more to their words, as if they were silently asking him a question. "Ah, by the way, my name is Red." The girl finished switching back to disinterested.
Though with little care for her inquiries and strange behavior he simply got up and made his way to the exit, much to the annoyance of Seven. "I think I'll be heading out soon. So I won't be here much longer." As he spoke he refused to meet eyes with this Red person.
"Oh? Come now, you can afford to rest up a few more days. Ah, I also have something for you as well. Seven here gave you your earnings from winning all those bets, but I thought I'd bring you your prize for winning the arena, as you are after all, our first new champion in a long while." Red explained curtly and with false investment. In her hands she held a briefcase which she then held up, and clicked it open. Inside was a new set of clothes, a lighter, and other things children would use for general survival outside of the city, but the last item was what surprised him the most, a strange black vest with a strange inscription written above the shoulder hole.
"What is this?" Mono questioned pulling the assorted objects out.
"Armor, from my personal collection. It's lightweight and can generally fit under clothing." The rosette explained.
Mono raised a brow at that. As the girl seems to catch on to his silent question. "No need for such a look, there really isn't any strings attached, you won fairly and I'm under contract to keep it that way." Her words only vaguely easing him.
"Contract? What contract? I don't remember making any agreements with you." Mono questioned.
The rosette seemed amused by his words. "Yes, that is true, you were lucky enough to not sign anything, rather your friend here took the risk for you." She says with a small gesture behind him. To which when he looked back he saw Seven was silently picking up the discarded coins from the knocked over table, only looking up when they noticed they were being stared at.
"Well I'll leave you two to it then, although if you ever need anything you're free to find me, I'm always willing to cut a deal." she said before making a swift exit out of the tent, with business now finished with them.
Now it was just him and Seven again. As soon as they were alone, Seven marched up to Mono and pulled him back over to the cot once more and pointed down as if to tell him to stay. Before he could argue though they then pulled out a book from a bag hidden under their coat and held it towards Mono. Mono was surprised at first and took a moment to just stare before realizing it was the book that got him into this whole mess. Unsure what to make of it he carefully looked it over, noticing that it had gotten quite a bit of care in putting it back together, as some of the missing pages looked unevenly taped back into the book. So not quite as good as new but it was better then when he first found it.
"Oh….thanks." Mono said as he gingerly held the book. It crinkled just opening it, but Mono could see much of the same pages as he did before and couldn't help but smile.
Before he could thank them though they disappeared with the last thing he saw of them was the tent's opening slowly swaying from as if someone had just walked through it. Mono was left somewhat baffled before coming to a conclusion.
"Well that was weird." Mono quipped.
"Says you, at least they were competent enough to actually get this book." Sloth suddenly says out of the blue, catching Mono by surprise.
"Oh hey, I thought you were mad at me or something." Mono mumbled.
"Mad? Why would I be mad? I mean that would suggest that you can even do something like that, which should be impossible." Sloth explained only mildly amused, much to Mono's confusion.
With a sigh Mono fixed himself down on the cot before flipping the book open again and sifting through the pages. "So I can learn magic from this book, right?" Mono asked.
"Depends." Was allSloth responded with.
"Depends on what exactly." Mono said, taking in another sigh.
"On you obviously, what you think you can pull off magic by just saying some words or writing something, it takes practice but before even that, we don't even know if you can use magic, you either can or can't, and in most cases even if someone can they never really amount to much." Sloth said.
"So what should I start with to see if I can even use magic then?" Mono asked.
"Keep looking, there has to be something relatively easy in that book that you can pull off." Sloth said
"What about this one? Says it's a magic shield." Mono said.
"Too hard." Sloth said.
"Ok, well how about this one then?" Mono said to which Sloth grunted in disapproval.
And so Mono looked through the many spells. Minutes turned into hours as Mono looked at each spell, reading their descriptions and listening to Sloth to know if he could practice one of them. Before Mono knew it his eyes were feeling heavy and his mind cloudy as he slowly fell asleep, book still open in hand.
Silence reigned in the tent, the only sound being the him of the lights that would flicker quickly from time to time. Hours passed in his silent sleep with no interruption, and only in the middle of the night did something finally appear. Forming in the center of the room, shapes a cloud of dust that almost shined with a golden hue. Rubble from all corners formed within to make The dust quickly come together to form a faint silhouette of a humanoid figure that now loomed over Mono.
"I know you're awake… So show yourself." The figure said. Words wispy and soft yet unnervingly, with tones like that of a poorly played flute, shifting and bending, high and low, fierce yet timid.
Long after the figure had spoken, nothing had happened. The figure quickly tired of waiting, and was about to speak again, until suddenly a static hand reached out of Mono's shadow and grabbed the ground beside it. Slowly Sloth climbed out from below, with a static version of Mono soon standing before the other figure.
"Sigh, hello Greed." Sloth said absentmindedly.
"You know better than to take that tone with me…" The dust crooned mischievously, its words weightless and ghostly, to the mild annoyance of sloth in how truthful it seemed.
"How did you and your 'host' manage to escape…?" The Sin questioned, to which sloth did not answer.
"Why would you come to me first…?" They asked again,but Sloth did not answer.
"You're ruining the peace of this city… costing me time, and effort… You know that right…?" they say, almost sounding hurt, but still Sloth gave no Answer.
A moment of silence carried between the two, as for a moment the two sin's stared off, a moment which the world seemed to almost shake in ways many would not be able to notice, or even understand as the two unfathomable titans crossed paths, and measured. That was until Greed spoke once more.
"Are you still mad…?"
"I think we are done here." Sloth suddenly spoke, turning and sinking without another word. Greed remained silent and did not stop them, Sloth knew they would not linger once he was gone, as he also knew that with just those few words he said they had already gotten their answers they were truly seeking.
A truly terrifying gift of the alert and deceitful.
With that said and both sins gone, Mono still laid there sleeping like a rock, completely unaware of the things going on around him.
Waking up, presumably in the morning, with it being impossible to actually know, what with being underground and all. He opened his tired and strained eyes to the book fallen over on his lap. Picking up the book that was currently face down quickly, he didn't want any of the pages getting bent considering that the book was already in a poor enough condition. After flattening out the page that had a small crease in it, he noticed that it had been on a page he didn't remember seeing. It showed a strange symbol alongside a description that read.
"Familiar Contract Spell- a spell meant only to be used on already tamed creatures. Any attempts to contract with an unwilling creature will lead to varying results to a simple failure or death by backlash. Please refrain from attempting spells on wild creatures and it is recommended that new users practice before using the spell as improper construction of the rune shall also result in the familiar's expiration." Mono read
"Hey Sloth can I practice this one?" Mono asked
"I guess it's a good spell to practice, but we don't have time for that. Let's worry about getting out of this market first, I've lost interest with this place." Sloth said
With that Mono began getting ready to leave, making sure to check to see if he had everything in his coat, his pup sticking its head out of his chest pocket. When he thought he had everything, he found himself wondering when his companion might show up.
He began to walk out of the tent and as soon as he stepped out, he saw groups of children coming out of the other nearby tents. This section of the Marketplace looked like a shanty, as a mess of tents just placed all bunched up together.
Mono looked around awkwardly, unsure of where he should go in order to get to the shop area of the marketplace. Other kids looked at him in passing or while they were speaking to their group. As he gazed around there was a sudden tap on his shoulder, causing him to turn around rapidly.
He let out a short gasp as Seven stood behind him, sneaking up on him without making a sound in any way.
"Can you please not sneak up on me like that,I have enough scares with the other one already." Mono said
Seven made a motion letting Mono know to follow them, and with their guidance they made their way out of the shanty. Being what he assumed, early in the day, he could actually get a better look at all the other shops and the condition of the walkways. Firstly the walkways of the marketplace were exceedingly filthy, littered with trash and strange graffiti of eyes and a bunch of leeches in strange shapes, one of the more ominous being a lone crooked figure painted under a lamp post. What any of that stuff meant he hadn't a clue and honestly wasn't sure he wanted to know, as he continued down the many paths, and avoiding the trash the best he could.
Following Seven they both made sure to sidestep any garbage or unknown substance laying on the ground. Eventually they came to a section of the underground marketplace that was kind of like an open town square but with tables splayed out everywhere. Walking around the open space, it looked like this is where most of the other kids congregated before the start of their day. There were different vendors along the sides and they all seemed to either be selling basic necessities or some type of food. Seven dragged him to a vendor that had bar stools along their station and the two sat down.
"Mornin Seven, the usual?" another kid asked from behind the bar.
The only indication that Seven gave was throwing a couple of caps onto the counter. A few minutes later a plate of food was placed in front of Seven.
"What about you? Wanna eat too?" the other boy asked
"Oh no I'm not ac-" Mono begna to say before a plate of food was slid before him.
Caught by surprise, Mono eventually decided to just eat the food and dug into his pockets trying to find his bag of caps. Not finding his sac, he thought that he must have forgotten it at his tent and didn't know what to do. Right as he was about to tell the other kid the issue, Seven threw out a few more caps onto the counter which were immediately scooped up.
Looking down at his plate of food, Mono took notice of what he was given. It was a real random assortment of things. A hard boiled egg, a sausage, a couple pieces of toast and some kind of cake in a plastic wrapper. Alongside it a glass of water was placed as well.
Seeing this food place before him, Mono took a second and still thought that he wasn't really all that hungry, and when he really thought about it, it really had been a long while since he's actually eaten anything.
"Hey Sloth are you awake?" Mono asked
When he received no reply, he decided to just go ahead and at least try to eat some of the meal before him. And right as his mouth took the first bite, Sloth made himself known.
"Oh my god! What are you eating, it tastes like dog shit!" Sloth yelled off in his head, followed by the sound of Sloth gagging
"So you were awake?" Mono said
"What? No. I was enjoying my sleep before I found my senses assaulted by some god awful taste. Why are you even eating anything, I know for a fact you shouldn't be hungry." Sloth said
"And why is that?" Mono asked
"Well as opposed to some of the other Vices I can't really heighten any of your senses. Like Six for example, she is a rabid animal that'll turn on a dime the moment you try something, very, very sharp reflexes. But I can dull your pain, slow down your metabolism, and a very high alcohol tolerance and generally anything else that causes any inebriating effects." Sloth said
"So I don't need to eat anything?" Mono asked
"I mean I wouldn't go that far, you still need to eat of course, it's just that feeling of hunger along with other bodily ailments are generally repressed. You can go longer than others without eating and drinking. I woke up because you started eating this god awful food, let's hurry up and head back home." Sloth said
"You can taste what I taste? And it's not that bad, I ate whatever I could find in the Pale City and you never talked to me then, and what do you expect them to find to eat out here?" Mono said
"I experienced all of your senses, granted I can stop when I feel like it, and back then I was in deep sleep so of course I didn't wake up. You think I care if these kids can or can't find something nice to eat, when I was last awake the world was great! It was amazing!" Sloth reminisced
"There's no way it was as great as you're making it sound to be, if it was the world wouldn't be like this." Mono said
"Hey, that's not my fault, humanity was making great progress, or not depending on how you look at it. Some Vices thought humanity was making way too much progress to just let them continue, others were scared that humanity would just run itself into the ground, everyone had their own opinion, I was just there for the ride. Fact of the matter is I don't like where we are now, I wanna go back to the days where my hosts just laid around all day watching movies and playing games, ordering food, no expectations, no obligations." Sloth said
Right as Mono was about to continue conversing with Sloth the bartender kid across from his spoke.
"Hey! So if you don't mind me asking, how'd you meet Seven. As far as I remember Seven has never really brought anyone here with them, so…" the kid asked
Mono looked at Seven for a brief moment, wondering if they'd like to be the one to clarify, but they just looked at him while continuing to eat.
"Well I guess we met up top, in the clock tower, honestly though there's not really much to tell." Mono said preferring to keep most of the prior events to himself.
"Hmm, I bet." the kid said looking at Mono skeptically
A few seats down a group of three kids sat and started conversing amongst themselves rather loudly catching Mono's attention. Listening in he just managed to hear, "Yeah I heard that someone spotted Six running around up top."
Hearing the mention of six, Mono actually got startled for a brief second, inhaling his food down his windpipe and causing him to hack and cough. Most ignored him but those closest to him looked at him in confusion. Taking note of this Mono tried to play it off which most seemed to accept. Although Seven stared at Mono, who could practically tell what the latter was thinking. The stare honestly had Mono sweating a bit.
After everything died down again he continued to listen, though why he wasn't sure, perhaps he was curious how they knew her? Though as he listened the darker the tale went.
"Have you guys heard of the rumors surrounding her?" one of the other kids asked
"Pfft….who hasn't? We've all heard the stories at this point. Of the girl in yellow, and supposedly the one who made the Lady disappear." One scoffed, seeming annoyed with his friend for suggesting he didn't know.
"Oh? Is that all you've heard?" Another speaks throat sounding rough and dry and a hint of amusement. Looking over with a quick glance he could see the one speaking, a tall and slightly older sort that appeared to be slightly beaten, with their throat bruised up enough to make Mono cringe at the thought of how painful it looked.
"What is that supposed to mean…?" the first boy questioned, sounding a bit uneasy to hear there was more to it.
"Well, for a time the Maw seemed like a safe place for kids after the lady went missing, at least for a bit." The boy continued, his words holding a sense of nostalgia. "But then the stories started appearing, of kids just up and disappearing. And Of course, no one really thought anything of it at first, I mean kids just disappear sometimes in the Maw That was how it was. That is, until people started to take notice of Six. It was nothing too obvious, from what I've heard, she'd stay with a group for a day or so before then moving on. Then would appear before another group, and another and another, until Six just became a regular sight in the Maw." As the boy continued his voice took on an eerie tone.
"When a kid disappeared, no one really thought she had anything to do with it. But even so, kids could tell there was something not right about her, and were scared to be around her for reasons unknown even to them, though they only stuck around a bit longer, it didn't take long for things to start to pick up. To the point that very few kids would "escape" from the Maw, all with a very similar story. One where they were attacked, by what, they couldn't tell. Just remembering the sound of screams in the darkness and flashes of yellow… After that little discovery, very few went to the maw anymore, unless they were already on a death list. As it became clear a new and rather dangerous monster had come and took the ladies place, with survivors only having one name for it… Six." The kid finished taking a Sip of their drink.
"So… What do you think they are doing here…?" the third spoke, almost stuttering under their meek tone.
The storyteller took a moment to finish their drink. "Do you remember the devil of Price street?" The boy suddenly brought up to which some nodded but most didn't seem to have a clue.
"Well, a year back, A monster appeared on the streets, of which none really got a good look at since well, you were pretty much dead if you were that close as the fucker was fast. In anycase, they appeared along the same time as the maw as well, hunting the streets for very special prey, as it had a very specific target in the form of kids with powers…" The storyteller finished as Silence was all there was for a moment as Mono took note that he wasn't the only one listening in at this point.
"So, you think that's what she is here for? Looking for kids with powers too…" They didn't bother finishing.
The storyteller closed his eyes in thought, before letting off a smirk. "I'd be willing to bet on it." He spoke, and at his words the mood suddenly shifts as all those who were listening begin making bets as if the world would end tomorrow.
Mono was left somewhat stunned at what he heard, as he wondered what exactly was Six doing here? And if she was in fact planning to eat… At that thought he suddenly didn't feel so hungry, so after a few moments he finished what he could and rushed away from the place, Seven quickly followed though he wasn't really in the right headspace to care.
As they wandered about looking about to try and get his mind off of Six, he couldn't help but notice the odd looks he was getting from Seven, and how everytime he looked at something too long as soon as he had left he would spot them in the corner of his eyes buying said object. He wasn't sure why they were doing this but also wasn't really interested to find out.
It got to the point that eventually they came up to another vendor, and Seven began to usher him towards a specific one. An open aired tent where anyone can view the stuff place out. Rows upon rows of racks were splayed out where different coats or sweaters hung. A girl with a bandana sat at a table watching another kid manage customers before their sight switched to Seven and then to Mono. Marching up with a smile she greeted Seven.
"Ah, the Lucky Seven, it's great to see you again. Are you here to buy some new clothes? And along with the new arena champion too?" Mono realized he recognized the bandaged up girl from the arena, as she swung her head towards Mono.
Mono instinctively leaned back as they leaned forward and Seven, seeming to notice his discomfort, reached out to stop the girl from getting any closer.
Having noted their reaction she backed away."Terribly sorry if I startled you, feel free to look around, if you find anything you like feel free to look for me and I will help you get things settled." She said, giving a somewhat eerie grin. He somehow didn't get the feeling they were all that sorry.
With that the two started sifting through everything on display. Every now and again Mono would find something he liked, but ultimately decide to not buy it as for one, he didn't have his money, and secondly he had no way of packing the stuff and hauling it everywhere with him.
Though every time that he would put an object he likes back on the rack it came from, he could see Seven in the corner of his eye pull out a stack of orange sticky notes and stick one on the coat he was eyeing moments before. Rather than question it he continued and came across a section of the vendor that was nothing but hats, tons and tons of hats. Seeing a mirror off on the side Mono couldn't help but try on every single hat and stare into the mirror, though first quickly he checked with the owner first to get permission this time.
Behind him Seven stood there observing him and while he was distracted trying on all the hats, the same girl from earlier came up to Seven.
"Should I start gathering everything?" She asked.
Seven merely brought out a sac of caps and handed it to the girl who then nodded and slinked away.
As the minutes turned into hours, Mono let himself get lost in his own little world, a reprieve from all the stress this journey had given him. Although as much as he was enjoying this, he knew he had to leave sooner rather than later.
In the midst of the streets he turns back to face Seven who's been tailing him throughout his time here, why he wasn't really sure as even if he asks them questions they refuse to talk. Another strange oddity for the kleptomaniac. "Hey, thanks for looking out for me through… All this." He says gesturing to the market as a whole. "But I don't suppose you could show me the way out of here, and back up top?"
Seven tilted their head while looking at Mono as if scrutinizing him and mulling over something, likely whether they would help him again. Though within only a few moments they gave a resolute nod of their head, agreeing to show him the way out.
"Great! I promise after this I'll get out of your hair, I know I've probably troubled you enough already." Mono said, though again they only tilted their head at that.
As the two began to make their way out of the vendor, they were stopped again by the girl from earlier. "Don't forget all the things you bought before you go!" She called out to which two other kids followed out behind her lugging two huge sacs.
"But I didn't pay for any of this." he said, mildly confused and giving a side glance at Seven.
"Sure you did." The vendor said with a grin, and handed him a mostly empty sack of bottle caps that had his name poorly written on it.
"Wait what? I thought I had left this back at the tent." Mono said, baffled at how it had gotten here without his notice.
"Oh, well good thing Seven made sure you didn't lose it then, you really shouldn't leave things like that unattended or it might get stolen." she said with a hint of mischief in her eyes, making his eyes widen a bit as realization hit him, that as he looked into one of the sacks… Yep, it's all the stuff he had been looking at. When he looked back to Seven, they only raised a brow at his questioning stare.
So there he was, amidst the dilapidated remains of any safety in this city, traveling with a strange and silent thief and wondering how he was going to move two big bags of random stuff through his further ventures of the malignant city above, in search of what he hopes will be answers to his many questions that weigh on him. This place was something insidious, and something that wore a lot of masks, but something that had answers, and so he was going to find them.
Now, if only he could believe this wasn't another trap, waiting for him to fall in…
