Chapter 3: Centuries (Fall Out Boy)
Where am I? Why does this look so familiar? I looked around until I saw a little girl with choppy red hair, running towards the edge of a cliff. Why does this feel so familiar? I ran towards her to stop her but as I reached for her hand, she fell down into the poisonous sea. I saw the look of fear on her face and noticed her odd-colored eyes. Wait! I know where this is! I turned around to see what my younger self had seen: a Blue Nitro. He plunged his claws into my chest.
After that horrific shock, I woke up, gasping for breath. No matter how many times I dream that dream, it still scares the shit out of me. I can never escape my past, I thought. I couldn't help but get angry by this. I want so badly to be free.
"Hey, kid, you okay?" a familiar voice said. But there was no one there. He must be using his Sound Bullet again, I thought.
"Yeah. Just another bad dream. That's all. Care for a morning stroll?" I said in a normal voice. I knew he could hear me with those ears of his.
"Only if you can break me out," Zebra said. I smirked. We had been incarcerated here in Honey Prison at the same time. We had a bit of a rocky start and fought a lot, but after a while, we recognized each others' strength and became good friends. We've been dubbed the "Red Terrors" by the guards and we're known to be co-conspirators. I would get him out of his torture chamber sometimes and we would wander around outside or beat up any monsters that pissed us off. I crept through the hallways quietly so as not to alert the guard beasts. I tiptoed over to Zebra's cell. He did his usual smirk and glare. I snuck inside and melted the chains with my poison. Zebra was the only person who knew I was a poisonous human. Even Coco, who was a childhood friend of mine, doesn't know of this secret I've been keeping since I was 5.
Zebra used his voice to knock out the guard beasts that guard his cell. We snuck out of the prison and jumped down into the monster-infested land below. Zebra trained by fighting them while I stood as a lookout in case anyone saw us. After about an hour, Zebra froze and turned towards the road with a grin. I followed his gaze to see a blue-haired man and a smaller guy.
"Company?" I asked curiously.
"In a way," he said with a smirk.
"Well, then let's go back now. It would be a shame if they arrived at the cell to find that you aren't there," I said as I started to run towards the prison. Zebra followed close behind me. We rushed into the prison and headed for his cell. Guards saw us and tried to use knocking guns on us. We shook them off and managed to get to his cell without getting caught by more guards. Zebra got back into his cell and I started to run back to my cell when I found myself surrounded.
"We've given you too much freedom, Red Terrors," one guard said, aiming a knocking gun at me. Zebra and I glared at him. He stepped back in fear. He wasn't a threat to me, nor were the other guards. It was the one I didn't see: Ohban. He had a knocking gun in his hand and I fell to the ground, paralyzed. I looked over to Zebra, wondering why he didn't warn me, but my question was answered when I saw that he had also been knocked. Some of the guards started to replace the melted chains. Another guard put chains on my wrists and dragged me to my feet, taking me to my cell.
I woke up a couple hours later and heard a commotion outside the door. Guards were running around one say, "Zebra's on a rampage!"
Zebra wouldn't really start the party without me, would he? I thought. I grinned evilly and melted the chains off my wrists with my poison. I then kicked the door down and calmly walked through the hallway like I had nowhere to be. I followed the loud noises to Zebra's cell. There, before the window, was the blue-haired man, the young boy, and Warden Love. They were covering their ears from Zebra's sound bazooka. I chuckled to myself. His sound bazooka, for some reason, doesn't work on me. I waited until he stopped for a moment.
"Ya done yet?" I asked with a no-fucks-given face. He smirked. With all the strength he had, he pulled at the chains and the chain beasts until the shackles shattered to pieces. Showoff, I thought.
"Shouldn't you be in your cell, Michiru?' the midget warden said in a menacing tone. I wasn't fazed by this. She does this all the time but we all know she has no true physical power.
"So is he really gettin' outta this joint?" I asked.
"That is none of your business. Now I demand to know how you got out of your cell again," she said.
"Easy. The security here sucks," I said with a smirk. I could tell she was pissed by that insult.
"Um, Toriko, who's she?" I heard the small man ask the blue-haired one. I turned to them.
"The name's Michiru. Nice to meet ya," I said with a wave.
"Don't let her fool you with that innocent look of hers. She's a professional con artist and a thief," Warden Love said. I was pissed by that comment. I punched the jail cell wall next to me with all my might and it crumbled to pieces. Everyone froze in surprise at my sudden outburst. I turned to Love.
"You don't know a damn thing about me, bitch, so don't pretend like you do!" I screamed in her face. Then I stormed back to my cell and meditated to calm myself down.
"You should be glad it was the wall and not you. She's smarter than she looks and she has her reasons for getting out of here, too," Zebra said to Love, who in turn shivered at the thought of her small body crumbling to pieces like the wall. She led the three men to the main office. She pondered on Michiru's actions and walked down to her cell after making a call.
Someone approached my cell. It was Warden Love. She stood in the doorway but I didn't bother looking up from my meditation.
"I've received permission from the IGO president to negotiate your release as well," she said. I slowly opened my eyes.
"And what are the conditions?" I asked.
"You will follow the orders of the IGO. I have heard that you are very skilled as a weaponsmith, so you will also have to make 500 guns and 200 blades," she said. I thought for a minute.
"I would rather speak to the president face to face," I said finally. The warden sighed impatiently.
"There is a slight problem with that request," she said, "it's Monster Season. He won't be able to come here until the Season is over."
"All you need is the monsters gone, right?" I asked as I stood up. Love seemed somewhat confused by the question.
"Y-Yes, but –" she answered before she was cut off by me starting to leave.
"Then it's settled. Get Ichiryuu on the phone and look out the window," I said as I left to find Zebra. He was already outside on the roof, waiting for me.
"Ready?" he asked.
"I have a feeling that you really want to take on that Magma Tortoise, so I'll take the rest," I said with a smirk.
"Sounds fine with me," he said. I jumped down to the ground. The blue-haired guy named Toriko tried to stop me.
"Don't worry about her. She'll live," Zebra said. Everyone continued to watch as I fought the beasts. What they didn't see was that I was using a weak poison to scare them off. Zebra warned her about his upcoming move and she rushed back to the prison to get out of the range of his attack. A lightning bolt came down and fried the Magma Tortoise. I barely made it on the roof when this happened. We walked back inside to find Warden Love frozen in surprise. She had the phone to her ear but she couldn't speak a word. I took the phone gently from her hand and put it to my ear.
"The monsters are gone. It is safe to come here now," I said. There was a chuckle at the other end.
"You charm me, Michiru. Very well. I'll be there soon," Ichiryuu said. Then, he hung up. Man, that idiot pisses me off.
"You know where I'll be," I said as I walked down to my cell.