Chapter ONE
He dreamt of waking up in his room and seeing his mother's face. Her soft hand caressed his messy hair. "Time to wake up, sweetie.", she said to the tired boy. The boy reminisced on what had been important to him. Before the fire took it away, he did not feel the warmness of his mother's hand on his head. Just the warmth of the fire that engulfed his room. "Kenra!", A voice called out to him. It prompted him to get out of bed. His feet met the floor, but Kenra sank through the floor with the fire disappearing. There was nothing but darkness surrounding him followed by the cold. It was as if he was underwater. Water. "Water?", he said as he awoke from his nightmare. Kenra was pulling himself out of knee-deep water and taking in where he was.
The vastness of what appeared to be an arena had settled in his mind that he wasn't in The Land of Iron's Capitol. But more importantly, he couldn't find his younger brother Akira. As he scanned the immediate area, he saw water and some building debris sticking out of it. Kenra then noticed a collar on his neck latched tightly. "What the fuck?", he questioned as he attempted to pull it off. "I wouldn't do that." a voice chimed in unexpectedly. Kenra searched for the voice and looked down to see a man sitting against one of the debris pieces in the water.
"They have it wired to where if you tamper with it for too long it'll cause your entire body to explode.", the man said as he sat there staring off into the distance. Kenra had to process this information and took a long look at the man. He seemed too defeated to do anything else but sit there. "What are you waiting for?", Kenra asked him. The man then looked up to the ceiling and answered "For it to end." Just then, a siren sounds off and an intercom is heard. "Hello and welcome customers, spectators, and esteemed guests tonight. We at the Bowels come together again to showcase our future crop of talent waiting for you to buy soon.", The voice said on the speakers. "That being said, talent in the ring. Subjects must kill as many in the arena until the siren sounds again or until five of the thirty of you are left.", The voice continued. "Warning, if there are more than five subjects alive, we will randomly select subjects' bomb collars to explode until we get a desired five subjects.", Kenra looked at the speaker in disbelief. "What's the point of us killing each other if they're gonna blow us up to get their five subjects?" Kenra couldn't wrap his head around this absurdity. "Entertainment.", The man Kenra spoke to answered his question as if he could read his mind. "It's to entertain the bloodthirsty masses that litter this arena. That's the nature of this hellhole. The guys in charge also use this pit to evaluate subjects for future experimentation.", the man finished as he slowly rummaged through the water, devoid of any emotion.
"How do you know this?", Kenra asked, puzzled. "I used to work in the lab in this place, but they found out I was selling secrets to competitors. I ended up here. Waiting to die.", the man said, which made Kenra uncomfortable and worried. "Where's my brother?!", he thought to himself, getting more worried. "Akira!", he screamed throughout the arena. "Where are you?!", Kenra continued. "Why're you yelling? Is this person a relative?", The man asked Kenra. "He's my little brother. Akira!" Kenra continued to scream after answering the question. "It's no use kid. Whoever you're looking for is not here. We're in the last fight today. There were two more before us. It's most likely he was in one of them. Otherwise, you'd have found him by now." The man said while still rummaging through the water. "What do you expect me to do? Huh?!" Kenra asked with agitation as he turned to the man. The man finally found what he was looking for and pulled a small machete out of the water. He held it out handle first toward Kenra. "Live. At least until you find out if he's still alive." The man said beckoning the young boy to take it. "I'm thirteen. I'm not killing anyone." Kenra said, waving the man off while still scanning the area looking for his brother.
He then noticed that some men and women were armed with lethal weapons. Some were scared, some were eager, and some were experienced. "It's naive to believe that while you're here, kid. This place was never a haven for those ideals. Don't give this place a reason to easily snuff you out." The man motioned for Kenra to take the weapon once more. "For your brother.", he said and Kenra reluctantly took the machete. "What about you? You seemed to have given up.", Kenra asked the man. "Kid, my time has been coming for a while. Whether it be my age or this bomb, it just doesn't matter now. That doesn't mean that I have to watch someone like you die. Not here." The man sat back down against his rock. "Can I ask your name?" Kenra asked the man. "It's not gonna matter, kid. It never matters for people like me. That's the nature of the Forgotten Zone." Kenra's attention was caught by the last statement. "The Forgotten Zone? Wai-"
The speaker blared once more. "Fight." Chaos erupted in the arena as people were getting slaughtered by each other. Kenra couldn't believe his eyes. How quickly people turned into beasts over self-preservation. He wasn't judging anyone but still, it was hard to see this ugly display. What made it worse was that they were being watched by people who believed they were more important than the ones fighting for their lives in this arena. His thoughts were interrupted once he was attacked by a man with a large knife. Kenra managed to move away by stumbling into the water but got cut in the shoulder by the man. The cut wasn't deep but the shock Kenra was in was wearing off. He needed to be in the moment and protect himself so he could find his brother.
"I've got to see my wife again. I'm sorry but I have to do this." The frail man as he proceeded to attack Kenra who was attempting to get back on his feet. The knee-deep water made it hard to fight in. It was also hard to see where your feet were going. As the scared man charged with the knife, he tripped on something in the water. Kenra had forgotten about the machete in his hand as he curled up as the man fell on him. Kenra noticed the water was turning red. The scared man fell onto Kenra's machete, which had gone through his stomach and out of his back. "I don't want to die. I want to go back to Breanne. I want to go back to my wife. It's- It's not fair. Breanne…" The man died and Kenra laid him down in the water gently. After getting a good look at him he vomited in the water. "I just killed someone. I- I need to get Akira and get out of here." He thought to himself as he tried to refocus on the current situation. "Come here brat!" Kenra heard in the distance.
Two men and a woman were ganging up on a child who had a small knife in his hand. "Sorry kid. But it's you or me." One of the assailants said while creeping closer with a club in hand. The child closed his eyes in fear and charged with the knife. He got kicked down to the ground by the club-wielding man and was about to be pummeled. Kenra stabbed the man in the leg with his machete and then pulled him into the water. The man knocked his head on a rock which caused it to split open. He then got in front of the kid, who looked about eight or nine years old. "He's around Akira's age." Kenra thought to himself. The two others went to attack Kenra with their weapons. The woman had a small ax and attacked first. Kenra barely dodged her but had gotten hit in the back of his head by the other man in the group. He had a pipe and proceeded to keep hitting Kenra with it until he noticed the boy try to run. Kenra slashed at the man's tendon where the back of his ankle was, halting his pursuit. The woman tried to use her ax again but this time Kenra grabbed mud and flung it in her eyes. She missed and fell into the water on all fours trying to wipe it out.
The man screamed in pain as he was clutching his ankle by raising his knee to his chest. Kenra just stared at him with his machete in hand. "He killed my sister." The little boy said hiding behind a rock with hate-filled tears in his eyes. "You did what?" Kenra asked angrily as his machete was shaking in his hand. "Hey! That's the way of this place! We do anything to survive! What would you have me do? Anyone is fair game here!" The man said defensively. "Even you two?" Kenra retorted. He kept thinking "this could have been his brother." This place did not show mercy, not even to children. Kenra raised his machete and plunged it into the man's neck, killing him instantly. As the woman finally wiped her eyes, Kenra was in front of her with his machete drenched in blood. The fear in her eyes turned to resentment. "Don't act like any of us are innocent! You're angry at us for doing what we can to survive?! Do you think that kid is innocent? He left his sister without a second thought to fend for herself. This world holds no value for sentiment and morals! So get off your high horse, shit head!" The woman angrily protested towards Kenra. "You think that just because the world is bad it gives you an excuse to do this? To children?! You adults who step on people weaker than you. To justify shitty behavior and actions because it's the status fucking quo?! I'm finding it really easy now to kill fuckers like you. The only thing I feel guilty about is that I only get to do it once!" Kenra spat as drove his machete through her heart and then slowly pulled it out.
Kenra stood there and processed what happened just now. He had gotten angry that he used the knowledge his mother taught him to kill people. His mother was a surgeon, and she taught him about the human body to heal people and never hurt. "I'm so sorry, mom." He thought as he began to cry. "Look out!" The young boy cried out, but it was too late. The first man in the group was not dead. Even with his head open, he persevered through the pain. He smacked Kenra, in the face, with his club which busted his nose and into a wall. "Thanks for getting rid of those two for me. It would've been a hassle later. But now I'm gonna enjoy killing you for the leg you stabbed." The man stepped on his chest and was about to finish him until he felt a rock hit him on his open head wound. "Who threw that?!" Kenra regained his consciousness and stabbed the man in his other leg, causing him to kneel in the water. He cried out in pain and noticed Kenra was standing up with his machete coming down. Kenra had completely cut through the cracked head in half. He then noticed the boy was the one who threw the rock. He ran over to Kenra. He was having trouble standing. "Your sister would be proud of you." He said to the boy. The young child started to cry, and Kenra pulled him in for a hug. "She would've liked you, mister." The young boy said as he wiped his tears. After a brief moment, he told the child to hide behind a rock until the fighting was over.
The fighting continued. Kenra was exhausted from his battles. He managed to sit next to the man who gave him the machete. "Kyozen." The man said to Kenra. "What?" Kenra asked, shaking himself from his daze. "My name is Kyozen. Former aid to the Mizukage, thirteen years ago. What's your name, kid?" Kyozen asked the boy. "Kenra. Kenra Nakumei." He answered. There was a conviction to the way Kenra said his name that Kyozen liked. It was a quiet conviction but all the same. "If you ever manage to get out of here, a town three islands away from this compound, South. Find a man named Ichoji. He can take care of you and your brother." Kyozen said as he finally stood up. He started to walk away. "I pray that you find your brother, Kenra Nakumei." Kenra was about to speak but was interrupted by the sirens sounding. "There are eight subjects left. We will proceed with the randomized detonation of subjects until the required number is met." The speaker said. A man's collar started blinking off with a yellow light. "No…No!" He yelled as he blew up. A man close to Kenra had his collar going off. He laughed maniacally and looked at Kenra. "I'm not going alone! Take a trip to hell with me, boy!" He rushed toward Kenra who could barely move until Kyozen shoulder tackled the man into the water. As they both fell the explosion went off. Kenra was knocked back a little by detonation. "Kyozen!", he shouted after the kind man who first spoke to him in this horrid place.
Kenra found his body floating and burned. He checked his heart and even though it was weak he was still alive somehow. "Kyozen! We're gonna get you some help man! We're gonna-" Kenra then saw a collar blinking that made his heart sink to his stomach. "Mister…", the young boy softly cried to Kenra. "No…please, not him.", Kenra whispered. The boy's detonator went off. Kenra couldn't bear it any longer. He let out a guttural scream that shook some of the people in the stands with fear. "I will kill every single one of you! None of you bastards deserve to live! I promise on my parents' graves, I will burn this place down with you all in it!", As Kenra is letting out his rage Kyozen coughed into consciousness. "Kyozen!" Kenra focused on the man. "Kenra you're the first person I've met here who hasn't let this world taint you. So please, live. My friend. Live." Kyozen had passed on in Kenra's arms. Tears of hurt and rage streamed down his face. "AKIRA! WHERE ARE YOU?!"
TO BE CONTINUED
