Immovable Object

Flames.

The red, hot, stinging flames.

They danced in that prison cell, to the concerto of their master.

They flared up, they dimmed down.

The back on fourth was a spectacle.

If they weren't actively turning me into cooked meat maybe I would enjoy them more.

My body pressed against the metal bars, my left hand grasped by the wrist by the ''conductor'' of this piece.

I couldn't move.

Instinctively my body flinched, trying to escape the pain, but it was futile.

My rotten body in its usual state could never stand up to the Terrans physically, so I just stared down the person who was responsible for it all.

She.

Stares.

Back.

''Why should I?''

She wants an answer.

She wants to know what is happening, she won't be easily swayed like the others that I had managed to swindle.

I try to speak but choke on the smell of burning flesh.

She shakes me by pulling on my wrist.

The time is ticking, and if I don't answer her fast enough my chance at grabbing victory will both metaphorically and physically get burnt to the ground.

I could play it safe and probably walk out, or…

Go hard, balls to the walls-

I am running out of time.

If I don't answer her soon I really will lose my left arm.

I can't choke now, so I gather all the air I can in my lungs and burst out.

''I'LL DO WHAT YOU COULDN'T DO;''

''IF YOU WOULD JUST, GIVE ''THOSE'' TO ME.''

Curiosity.

Contemplation.

A second passes.

My hand is still getting melted in her clutches.

I try to pull away.

She doesn't budge.

Try to pull again.

Nothing changes.

Try again.

Worthless efforts.

Again.

Again.

AGAIN.

AGAIN.

I finally manage to set myself free.

But due to the force at which I was trying to pull, I tumble down to the floor.

Quickly, I get up by leaning on my right hand, my left hand in an unusable state.

Before I go back to whatever it is that I was doing I do a lil' something.

Which is in fact called screaming in PAIN as I look at my hand that has been turned into smoked toast.

Grey smoke fumed from the skin, as the glove had melted away onto it.

The lower side of my wrist being the absolute worst.

As the color of my natural skin melts into various shades of red, from the blood.

Pink, from the peeled-off skin.

Blue from the melted glove sticking to my skin.

The charred brown skin clashed with my natural slight brownish color.

It's as if I am looking at a layered piece of a shiny birthday cake that has been cut into.

How my hand still stands attached I have no clue, but at least I didn't pass out from the pain.

Heh, I guess suffering for 2 fucking years inside a laboratory has good side effects as well.

As my shriek of pain ends, I ventilate a bit.

My body trying to throw the heat away, sweating, breathing faster.

It wants to stand down, to recover.

But my body does not know what is best for itself.

This chemical reaction ongoing inside my head will only result in my doom if my mind can't stand up to it.

So I scramble to somehow convince my own body that I need to keep going.

That I must grind on, and continue to struggle.

To survive I need to stand tall through this pain.

So just an average Tuesday.

I look around.

The Ex-reunion ringleaders looking at me in confusion and horror.

Not because of the sheer grotesque display of violence, but at my hand.

They examine my hand and even though through all the carnage, gore, and blood not much is visible, it doesn't need someone with eagle eyes to realize that something is wrong instantly.

My hand just stands out.

Its as if it is a cloth cut from different fabrics against the natural

A good comparison would be seeing a VR asset character in real life.

Imagine Pokemon GO right?

Exactly that, but somehow the game is now a reality, and I am the asset inside it.

How-fucking-WONDERFUL.

The pain brings me back to my senses.

The ache, it reminds me of what I need to do before I can go on rants about my situation.

Which in itself actually confirms something.

I can still feel my hand, I can still move it.

Yeah it hurts, but the nerves seem to have made it out fine.

I did not lose my hand.

I breathe a sigh of relief instinctively.

While losing a hand wouldn't be the end, becoming an actual cripple would not bode well for my plans.

I shake my head, lift my burnt arm and hold it toward the jail cell.

The woman inside, still focusing on it just like the others.

At this point, the ex-ring leaders had moved a certain distance away ever since Talulah first began using her Arts, but now they have begun whispering.

Ah, the whispering behind my back.

We always end up like this don't we old friend?

''See for yourself, dragon, snake, whatever you are.''

''See my resolve and well, situation, for yourself.''

I need to improv again, FUCK.

This has been nothing but a miscalculation from the start.

I thought that she would have been a mess, an easy target due to the crushing reality she faced only a few weeks ago.

I thought that the snake would have definitely left, but ever since I came here I couldn't tell from how she acted if he had actually left.

These Terrans are just something different.

But I come with a few words from the wise myself.

''I am not like any other. Dare I call myself, special.''

''So play a game with me here. Take the bet, see what happens.''

She is probably doing all this because she figured out my intentions.

I don't know how I don't know why, but I can't hide anything right now.

A feeling is nagging at me as if I have finally bitten more than I can chew.

But I could never stop here, she is nothing, nothing compared to people I will face in the future.

So if I can't chew away, might as well try to swallow this pill whole.

No response.

But the flames start dying down.

The heat dissipates into the air.

It gets smaller, and smaller and smaller.

Until the light it emits also dies down, it completely disappears.

''Here are the 3 possible outcomes of this game.''

''Either you take the bet, and I accomplish my goal-''

''You take the bet and I fail in my mission-''

''Or you don't take the bet and kill me right here, right now.''

I walk towards the metal bars again.

Did I lose it?

Why would I be making the same mistake again?

Did my brain fry from the heat?

No.

It's because I once heard a piece of advice from a friend of mine who lived through a hurricane.

That the eye of the storm is the safest place to be.

So I grit my teeth, force myself through the pain by biting the inside of my mouth, and raise my hand through the metal bars into the cell.

The figure, now in the shadows doesn't move.

But I can see her eyes scanning, contemplating.

I can't read which option they would pick, there are too many variables.

She could just say fuck it, and end me here with herself in the way.

But…

The figure raises her arm towards mine.

The scene.

Very familiar to the one that happened just a few minutes, seconds ago.

With one key difference.

Where last time she grabbed me by the wrist and burnt me.

This time she places something inside it and makes me close my palm.

I close my eyes for a second and re-open them.

The flames are back.

They are back indeed, but not to burn me.

A small flame produces a dim light.

I stare into her eyes, she stares back into the visor.

Now I understand why the Doctor in the game liked this thing so much.

''So be it, ''Mr. Special''. I'll play your game.''

''In return, I ask of you to come back and visit me once you are done.''

The flame grows, it grows just enough to not burn me.

''If I find out that you failed, I will burn you down.''

''If I find out that you lied, I will burn down this landship with you.''

The flame goes out once again, and she pushed me away from the cell, with just enough strength to not tip me over.

My hand, still in ruin aches.

But inside it is a treasure.

Even in this riverside full of failures, I managed to strike gold.

With my hands shaking I place what is inside my palm into my pocket before putting my hand to my side as it limps.

I feel them as the pen and paper inside take their spot in my pocket.

I give a sigh of relief.

A loud one.

Audible enough that I am sure the rest of the ex-ringleaders heard what I did.

''Get moving. I got what I wanted, we are leaving.''

If they had just cooperated with me from the start my hand wouldn't be smoked met right now.

I am angry, pissed even.

But I can't do much right now, not yet.

''Just remember that your choices, will have consequences.''

If they had just given it to me themselves I wouldn't have had to ask and interact with Talulah like I had.

Fucking pieces of SHIT.

Usually, I am not one to get emotional like this but I am ANGRY.

I almost lost it, I was this close to losing my hand.

I know metal prosthetics would probably function better than any arm of mine, but I refuse.

Call me conservative but I don't trust these people enough to let them into replacing my body parts with their ''machines''.

As we walk out the gate the same guards are panicking.

I told them what happened inside the cell and they probably think they will be in trouble.

It takes me a few annoying seconds but I assure them that they will be fine, I took this risk to talk to the biggest criminal on this planet after all.

So we leave, and yes, I did say we.

The trail is still following behind me.

Well, most of them are.

The annoying devil girl has now begun walking beside me, snickering and laughing.

''What do you want?''

I ask, with the tone you would expect from a man who is currently in pain from almost losing his arm.

''That was funny! I would have never thought that someone would have the balls to do such a thing to that ''leader'' of ours.''

Great, she is here to mess with me.

''And that move you pulled off. What did you say again? ''Take this bet!'' or something? God, that was so cool I almost fell for you on the spot!''

She wants to rile me up.

She knows that I am pissed.

Why?

What will you gain from this?

This is why there are a few kinds of people that I just can't stand.

And the highest on that list probably has to be the insane ones like her.

I value logic very highly, but she has lost hers.

She has no logic, not any that I can see.

She is a walking random numbers generator that does random shit whenever she feels like it because she fails to come the logical conclusions, and fails to prove them even to herself.

Her voice is annoying too, won't you just shut your trap bitch?

Well… this works out too I guess.

As I near my special medical room, or the ''testing chamber'' as I like to call it, I needed something to distract me from the killer pain, still throbbing at my wrist.

Getting angry was just what I needed.

The Adrenaline could maybe shave off some of that sting until Kal'tsit arrived here and applied some first aid.

I will greatly reflect on today.

I may have still ''won'' but I just nearly lost as much as I gained.

This was nowhere close to the smooth sailing I had envisioned, the ship almost capsized.

The blade is losing its sharpness, I need to go back to the drawing board for interaction strategies with the big shots.