Chapter 7 - Zip It

Ruh sighed as he saw the medical team rush to check on the boy. They relayed information that he was still breathing but was knocked out and would not be able to participate in the match.

Guess I expected too much from these people after all.

Ruh was declared the winner of the match and advanced to the next round.

Keith studied him carefully, observing his movements and attacks. If anything, Ruh's fighting stance was not at all similar to an Assassin's refined and precise attacks. There was too much impact, almost too much force was put into each attack.

But the truth was Ruh simply didn't care.

Not once did he feel like he was in danger or weak and helpless like all the times before. Sagi, the Assassin who was assigned as his caretaker and the shady bearded man from earlier, had seen to that. Ever since the Assassins began training Ruh, he was almost invincible.

A girl with the power to create ice from moisture was his next opponent. But just like all the others, she was weak. The invisible barrier he had developed from months of training protected him from any attacks, allowing him to be reckless and aggressive with very little repercussions.

I'll show him. I'll show all of them.

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"Ready?"

Ruh nodded.

Sagi cut the ropes holding the log in place, causing it to come swinging down onto Ruh. It crashed into the barrier around Ruh's body that was invisible to the naked eye, halting the log to a complete standstill.

"I did it Sagi!"

"You did. Now get ready for the next one."

"But Sagi, I…I haven't eaten in a while now. Maybe I could have some food…"

"Do you honestly think that you can get stronger by taking breaks and lazing around? You need to keep training so that you aren't weak, like your parents who abandoned you."

A group of Assassins called for Sagi's assistance and to discuss his latest assignment. Sagi left Ruh under strict instructions to continue training.

After a few minutes, Ruh keeled over and vomited. There was no food in the bile he had coughed out. He decided he would sneak into the kitchen and get some food for himself. He would continue training later.

Ruh snuck past the crowd of Assassins in the cafeteria. He found it hilarious how one of the most ruthless groups of killers to ever walk the earth had the setup of a normal office workplace.

Ruh paused as an Assassin stood in front of him, staring down at the boy. Ruh smiled awkwardly and fully expected to be reprimanded for disobeying orders.

But the Assassin gave an annoyed glare and pushed Ruh out of the way, continuing his normal routine.

Ruh took a look around momentarily to see if Sagi was anywhere nearby as he entered the kitchen. Opening the fridge, he took a few slices of cheese, a bowl of leftover rice with an egg inside and two pieces of sausage that were already being fried on the stove.

His heart froze as he heard Sagi near the kitchen entry with a couple of Assassins.

"How's your latest assignment been progressing?"

Ruh heard Sagi's voice answer. "The brat has been exceptionally annoying. Always whining and complaining. I knew the clan should have left him to die where we found him."

"But he is a valuable asset. If the training should commence as planned, then he…"

"I know that he is. But right now, he's nothing more than a thorn in my side."

"Then why do you put up with him, Sagi?"

"Because he's also my paycheck," Sagi said laughing with the others.

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Ruh folded his arms as the medical team carried another one of his opponents away. He didn't want to kill anyone. Yet.

As far as the tournament went, Ruh was the clear victor, annihilating anyone who stood in his path with a few hits that knocked them unconscious or forced them to forfeit the match.

I'm going to win this stupid tournament. Then I'm going to show all of them how strong I am. Then, they'll have to see me as one of them. There's not even a competition to be had here.

But Zimmi was an unstoppable force of nature. She dominated most of the rounds, neck-and-neck with Ruh in terms of points and ranking on the leaderboard. She always held back, clearly pulling her punches.

Zimmi always checked up on her friends after a match. She would help them back up onto their feet after the match and avoid causing them any major injury. She hadn't even used her ability, at least so far as Keith noticed.

"What exactly is her ability?" Keith asked.

"She said it was a surprise and I'm not allowed to tell you," Silvia said, folding her arms.

"Oh, so you're 12 years old as well. I see, my bad." Keith said.

Silvia punched him playfully as the announcer declared the finalists for the tournament.

After a few rounds, Zimmi was placed into the first final bracket.

Keith was still attempting to figure out the connection between Ruh and the Assassins. They seldom took people in, due to their strict rules of avoiding sharing their heritage with the outside world to keep their status as feared executioners.

Keith knew the truth. They had a fancy moral code and rules, but at the very root of the clan, they were nothing more than privileged mercenaries.

"Keith!"

Silvia stood in front of him, snapping her fingers to get his attention. "Come on, it's Zimmi's turn to fight! Let's go see!"

Keith doubted that the little lady could manage to take down Ruh. Zimmi was tenacious and cunning, but it would take a lot more than that to beat Ruh, based on his performance in the tournament.

"Are you sure you want her fighting against him?"

Silvia looked at Keith, a knowing smirk on her face.

"Zimmi can handle herself. What's the matter? Don't…don’t tell me you actually care about her." Silvia said with a coy expression.

"I care about the 15 Bitma she owes me for buying her ice-cream," Keith said.

"Oh, wow. You're a cheapskate as well? The list of horrible features continues to go on. How could you possibly hope to find a woman in your life if you're like this?"

Keith glared at her before shrugging. "At least I've gotten laid more times than you have."

Silvia began to blush. "That's not true! I've done it a lot of times!"

"Really? How many times?" Keith asked.

"A ton of times! Hundreds of times!" Silvia said, flustered.

"Woah. That's an entirely different problem on its own. My mistake." Keith said.

"No…w…wait! I didn't mean that I…" Silvia began, before being cut off by the announcer.

"IN THE RIGHT CORNER, WE HAVE THE RULING CONTENDER OF THE TOURNAMENT! THE UNDEFEATED ADORABLE TINY TITAN! LADIES AND GENTS, GIVE IT UP FOR ZIPPYYYYY!"

Zimmi shyly looked down towards the floor as the stadium erupted into applause and cheers. But Keith was the only one that noticed her trying to cover her ears.

Hang in there, kid.

"IN THE LEFT CORNER, WE HAVE THE BEAST OF THE TOURNAMENT! A LEVIATHAN WITH UNDENIABLE FEROCITY AND THE SPIRIT TO KEEP FIGHTING! A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR THE INVINCIBLE…uhhh…RUH THE WARMONGER!" The announcer yelled, coming up with a name on the spot.

The audience cheered Ruh on as well, though it was pretty obvious most of it was half-hearted.

Keith looked at the referee talking and discussing the rules of the round with Zimmi and Ruh. Keith was no closer to figuring out Ruh's role in this ordeal, nor was he any closer to finding out who the Assassin was.

The bell rang and the match between the two begun.

Zimmi shot across the ring and punched Ruh square in the face.

"See? I told you…" Silvia said triumphantly, before breaking away to watch the fight again.

Ruh grabbed Zimmi's arm and hurled her across the ring. Zimmi barely managed to land, scrambling back to her feet to avoid the charging Ruh.

Zimmi was now on the defensive as Ruh relentlessly attacked her. She could barely keep up before Ruh landed a punch on her arm, making her bite her lip in pain.

"Is it me, or is it really weird that an entire stadium filled with people are watching a bunch of disabled children fight for their entertainment? I mean, I'm not complaining, but just asking." Keith said to Silvia.

Silvia was about to say something but then appeared reluctant to continue.

"Yeah, I guess it is pretty weird."

Silvia screamed and cheered for Zimmi while standing up from her seat. Keith watched as Zimmi seemed to get punched again with such a violent amount of force that Ruh appeared to be incapable of producing at first glance.

Their dark shadows danced on the ground as the two fought with neither giving up any ground.

Suddenly, Zimmi winced in pain as the whine in her head grew into a grating scream, making her unable to focus on anything. Ruh landed a punch that sent Zimmi sprawling onto the ground, causing her to choke and cough up blood.

There was a collective gasp from the crowd as Zimmi didn't get up from the floor.

The referee rushed to check on Zimmi with the medical team behind him. Zimmi struggled to get back up, but she waved off the referee saying she could still fight.

The referee was about to ignore her and wave off the match when Zimmi grabbed his arm, forcing him to look at her.

The referee hesitated before resuming the match but asked the medical team to stay on standby. Zimmi wiped the blood from her mouth and took up a boxing stance.

"Take him down, Zippy!" Silvia yelled.

Zimmi cautiously moved towards Ruh, cocking her fists and observing Ruh's movements. Ruh taunted Zimmi, waiting for her to reach him.

Zimmi suddenly stopped. She could feel something wasn't right. So, she waited.

Ruh grew impatient and charged towards Zimmi for his final blow.

The air suddenly seemed to vibrate with energy as Zimmi sidestepped out of the way and began a flurry of blows on Ruh's stomach, making it hard for the boy to stay upright. As a last-ditch effort, he grabbed her hair and yanked her aside.

The referee stepped in to briefly call the attack as a foul move and Ruh was given a deduction in points.

Zimmi's head felt like it was about to tear itself apart. There was too much happening. She saw the white corners in her eyes and felt dizzy.

It was fine to give up, right?

Zimmi had tears in her eyes as she was about to lift her hand to tell the referee she forfeited.

"ZIP IT!"

Zimmi looked up and saw Keith standing amongst the spectators.

"Is this all you can do?! All that big talk about saving people and you can't back it up?! You got some nerve lying on your ass there when you promised people you would help them!" Keith yelled, drawing the attention of nearly everyone in the stadium.

"Keith! What are you…" Silvia hissed.

"You think these people give a damn about your friends? About the people that you want to save? No! All they did was pay to watch children fight each other like goddamn guinea pigs!" Keith yelled.

"But, Mr. Keef…it hurts…" Zimmi said, straining to speak.

"So?! Guess what, Zimmi?! The real world?! It fucking hurts! You can't expect everyone to be happy and cozy just because you flash a smile at them!"

"Keith…" Silvia said.

"Get this through that thick skull of yours! If you won't fight for your friends, no one will! People aren't going to give any of you a special pass in life just because you're different! They'll do what they always do; trample you and toss you aside like garbage to get to the top themselves!" Keith yelled.

Zimmi pushed herself off the ground and got back up. Tears streamed down her face as the pain rocketed through her entire body. A few more minutes and she would inevitably black out.

Maybe Mr. Keef is right.

Zimmi fell back down to the ground again.

If no one else will help them… then I have to!

Zimmi stood back up, biting the inside of her cheek to stay awake, clinging onto the faint thread of consciousness she had mustered. She took up her stance once more, fists in front of her face, more determined than ever before.

________________________________________________________________

How the hell is she still going?

Ruh watched as the girl got back up to her feet, her mouth stained with blood. He rushed over and punched her in the face, sending her sprawling across the floor.

Stay down.

Zimmi stood back up, supporting herself by using her arm. The crowd went wild, cheering for Zimmi and Ruh to finish the match. Ruh somersaulted over a weak kick Zimmi threw at him and brought both his fists down, slamming them onto her head.

Please. I don't want…to do this…

Ruh knew that Zimmi was weak. She could barely breathe without shaking violently. He stepped aside from Zimmi, expecting the medical team to come rushing in again.

Until the lights went out.

Ruh couldn't see anything, but he clutched his fists in frustration.

What he couldn't come to terms with was that his anger was directed at himself.

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"Power is everything."

That was what Sagi had told him. That was what the Assassins believed. It was what was drilled into his head every single day, every single night, every hour and second was all dedicated to the relentless pursuit of power to maintain order.

Without power, there was no order.

He could've had friends. He could have interacted with the other children in the clan. He could have grown familiar with the Assassins that walked past him while he was training.

Ruh could have been happy. But instead, he grew stronger.

And he hated it.

Every single day in the rain, cold and wet, training against that old mossy log he had to cut down in the middle of the forest to become better.

Every single day he had to see all the children his age playing with toys and trinkets while he was busy finishing Sagi's work. Slaving away his life to become stronger by sacrificing his happiness.

Every single day he had to see Sagi's smile at the other Assassins as he drank and gallivanted with them, ignoring his actual assignment to train Ruh. He despised feeling weak and helpless, like his life was tumbling away from his hands and he was desperately trying to hold onto whatever remained.

Every single time Sagi raised his hand against Ruh and the feeling of fear as he flinched away covering his head with his hands.

Filth. Freak. Useless.

That was what Sagi had called him. Ruh's training became more about proving that Sagi was wrong. That he was stronger than all of them.

But now, all his training seemed in vain. All that time, all that pain, all those happy memories forcibly sacrificed by Sagi. In the end, none of it made him strong.

Because there was still someone stronger. And there always would be.

And she stood in front of him, lighting up the stadium with the electricity crackling off her body.

________________________________________________________________

Keith stood up from his seat, rubbing his eyes with his hands before quickly wishing he hadn't done that after eating spicy chips.

He still couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Zimmi stood on one end of the field, illuminating the dark stadium as bright, mesmerizing beams of electricity sparked intensely, emanating and jumping from her body like an angelic light show from heaven.

She walked across the field before the backup generator kicked in, powering the lights and machinery operating in the stadium. Her beams of electricity now began furiously discharging, but she managed to keep them under control to not accidentally hit any of the spectators.

She dashed across the field in the blink of an eye and delivered a right hook to Ruh's jaw with blistering speed. Ruh flinched, enraging him even more. He attempted to grab Zimmi's hand before she kicked his arm downwards and proceeded to attack Ruh with a flurry of punches that wore away his barrier.

Zimmi realized she couldn't do anything more, so it was now or never. If this didn't work, nothing would.

"Yeah, kick his ass Zippy! Z-I-P-P-Y! Z-I-P-P-Y! Come on, Keith! You're on her team too, aren't you?" Silvia asked, cheering Zimmi on.

Keith sighed and then stood up. "Z-I-P-I-T! Z-I-P-I-T! Z-I-P-I-T!"

"That's the wrong bloody chant!" Silvia screeched.

"Whaat? I'm encouraging her!" Keith said, matter-of-factly.

"No, you aren't!" Silvia exclaimed.

"Now who decided that?" Keith asked, deepening his voice.

"I did! Her nickname is ZIPPY! And you better call her that name or else I'll…"

"Uhh, excuse me. If you two don't behave, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you both to leave." A voice said from behind them. It was a man from the security team checking the crowd and patrolling the grounds.

"Sorry, I'm really sorry," Silvia mumbled, bowing her head and sitting down.

"Oi, feck off, you cunt. I'm here and I paid good money for these seats, plus this ain't no goddamn late-night talk show where I have to laugh when they pay me to. This is a fockin stadium in the first place!" Keith said, leering at the security guard.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to…"

At that moment, a backup generator blew a fuse due to Zimmi's excessive electric discharge and half the stadium lost its lighting system. The man glared at Keith and mumbled something under his breath before dashing off.

"What did he say?" Silvia asked.

"I don't get paid enough for this shit." Keith repeated.

"Zimmi needs to know we're rooting for her. Bet I can cheer her louder than you can. Winner has to explain the birds and the bees to Zimmi when she asks it." Silvia challenged Keith.

"Bitch. I like it. You're on." Keith said, pointing his fingers at Silvia.

As the two began to scream their lungs out to cheer Zimmi on, she focused on controlling the bolts of electricity around her. The haphazard bolts began to steadily flow into two giant beams attached to either side of Zimmi while the other ends connected to the ground.

She had made herself a human slingshot powered by electricity.

With two waves of electricity, she had managed to stun Ruh, breaking past his barrier momentarily amidst all the chaos.

Pulling back on the bolts, they expanded and retracted with massive force, sending Zimmi flying through the air with her legs in the direction of the stunned Ruh. As she travelled with increasing velocity towards Ruh, her legs began to create a ball of plasma before colliding with Ruh like a hyper-charged dropkick.

"Electron Dropkick!"

The impact was so massive that it broke the stadium grounds beneath them, causing a rupture in the pipelines and sending a massive amount of water bursting out like a geyser. Zimmi sent Ruh flying into the opposite end of the stadium in a trail of rubble, dust and water.

Ruh crashed into the wall, making a body-sized crater into it, barely protected by the weak barrier his body was struggling to maintain.

Zimmi was kneeling on the ground, about to pass out from exhaustion.

The entire stadium erupted into a frenzy of applause and screams.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! AFTER A LONG HARD FIGHT BETWEEN THE TWO CONTESTANTS, THE VICTOR HAS BEEN DECIDED! THE MASTER OF THE ELECTRIC BOOGALOO! THE WINNER OF THE 2 BILLION BITMA PRIZE! MISS ZIMMI SMOLDERS!"

Silvia screamed in joy and happiness, tears running down her cheeks as she tried to contain her excitement. "Wasn't that the sickest shit you've ever seen?"

"No, I've seen better. It was still pretty good though." Keith said, with a smile.

Silvia sighed. "Really?"

Keith nodded, but if Silvia could read Keith's actual thoughts, it would have been something like…

“WOO BABY! THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR! THAT'S WHAT I LIKE TO SEE!!”

Silvia remembered something. "Zimmi, you need to do the pose and the cool line at the end, just like we practiced. Remember?" She yelled out to Zimmi, who barely registered the words directed at her.

"Oh. Yeah. Uhh…take that…you…you…fucking meanie." She said, not bothering to get up off the ground and just pointed at Ruh.

"She had so much potential with that one." Silvia sighed.

"I know. Give the kid a break, she rocked our socks off with that fight." Keith said.

Zimmi tried to see if Ruh was waking up, but it didn't appear that he was. The medical team was already near Ruh, taking vitals and checking his injuries.

Ruh seemed to be shaken badly, but thanks to his barrier he was able to escape any major injuries.

Zimmi wobbled over to where Ruh was and smiled at him.

"You know, you were really strong and cool back there," Zimmi said, wrapping her hands behind her back.

"Is this your way of rubbing it in? I get it. You won. I lost…you were stronger." Ruh said.

"Pssht. Nah. You could've totally beaten me there. Just need a little more practice." Zimmi said.

"I've had enough training. No matter how much I train I'm still…weak."

"But training's fun! Miss Silvia and I always get ice-cream and cake afterwards if I did a good job! And if I don't then she tells me a new story she wrote in her book! She's so cool!"

"Your training's very different from mine."

Zimmi stopped smiling. "That doesn't mean you get to give up. If we all did that…then no one would actually be strong, would they? We can't all be strong on our own. You can train with me. And we can become stronger together!"

Ruh looked at the girl. Her optimism was sickening.

And the way she smiles is just so damn cu…annoying! Annoying!

Ruh watched as Sagi appeared from the shadows, waiting near the entryway of the stadium.

"Sorry, but I have to go now. I…need to get some things sorted out." Ruh said.

Zimmi's smile faded briefly. She seemed somewhat downcast after hearing that. She quickly chuckled as she was swept away by her friends to celebrate her victory, though she still kept her eyes on Ruh.

As Ruh walked into the entryway of the stadium, Sagi started walking out, not bothering to wait for Ruh to catch up with him.

Eventually, they were a few blocks away from the stadium when Sagi stopped.

"After all those hours…"

Sagi began walking closer to Ruh, who had now stopped, prepared to accept what would come next.

"All those useless, wasted days…"

Sagi stopped right next to Ruh.

"After all that, that's the best you can do?"

Ruh felt his heart beating wildly. His hands were shaking and he felt his barrier regenerate at an increased pace.

"I tried my best…" Ruh croaked.

Sagi grabbed Ruh by the hair and lifted him off his feet, yanking it upwards.

"Don't give me that bullshit."

Sagi dragged Ruh to a corner. Ruh needed to accept this. If he didn't, Sagi would just keep trying to hurt him over and over again until he was satisfied.

"That doesn't mean you get to give up."

Sagi dropped Ruh as if he had gotten bitten by something.

"Drop your barrier."

Ruh shook his head, trying to keep himself from crying.

"Do it now. Before I make you do it."

Ruh looked Sagi in the eye and mustered his voice.

"No."

Sagi smiled at a passing caravan nearby, covering Ruh from their sight with his body.

The next instant, his foot began to emanate a spike from it made from shadows and pierced the side of Ruh's stomach.

Blood began to seep out of the cut and Ruh desperately tried to regenerate his barrier to avoid any further blood loss.

"You think you get to decide what happens here? Don't flatter yourself. You might be important to the Assassins, but you're worth jack shit to me. I could leave you dead on the street for everyone to see and they still wouldn't give a damn."

Sagi grabbed Ruh and punched the boy twice in the face, drawing blood and tears from him as he fell to the ground.

Sagi began kicking him violently in the stomach. "Of course, the Assassins would probably bitch about it for a while, but I think I've made a fair name for myself over the years. I'm way more valuable of an asset than you ever were. You couldn't even beat a bunch of retards! You think you're finally strong enough to beat me?"

Wrapping his hands around Ruh's throat, Sagi began choking him. "You can start crying for help now. Maybe your super-powered circus act of freaks will show up at the last minute and kill me. Then again, there's a better chance of you actually being useful for once."

"Wh…why…ngh…what did I do…mpfh…to you?" Ruh tried to speak, but the pain in his stomach prevented him from speaking any further.

"Nothing! That's precisely the problem! For nearly half a year, I've been stuck with a pathetic waif who can't even defeat people that need help taking a shit. And if it wasn't for you, I could have had a seat on the council. I don't care much for politics or espionage strategies and all that crap. But the reputation, now that…"

Sagi paused as if he had heard something in the distance.

"You wouldn't get it. It's grown-up stuff. I could've had money, respect, status, women and a nice house. People who say they don't want that are lying to themselves." Sagi said, taking out his dagger.

"You know, for the last few months…I never thought you were so dumb as to actually monologue. It's like one of the most cliché things a bad guy can do." Ruh said, smirking. If he was going down, he was going to make Sagi understand that he wasn't afraid of him anymore.

"Aww, damn it, kid. I was about to say something cool like that and make an awesome entrance. You completely spoiled the moment."

Keith appeared from behind a tree with his briefcase in one hand, setting the briefcase down on the ground.

"Is someone going to fill me in on what's going on here…"

Sagi lunged forward to attack Keith. He had been compromised. He needed to kill the witness and get back to base with Ruh. He had already drawn the second line on the sundial, so the clan would know the mission was done. If the boy wouldn't co-operate with him, he would kill him and lie about the details in the report.

Keith dodged the attack and Sagi took that window to try to merge with his shadow and escape.

But Keith was already in front of him.

Instinctively, Sagi performed a cross punch to render Keith unconscious.

Ruh knew it was over. Sagi was too strong. He was glad that someone was willing to save someone as insignificant as him, but it was all over now.

Keith grabbed Sagi's arm and punched upwards, driving his arm through his elbow, snapping it in half and forcing the bone to tear through his flesh.

Ruh looked on as his heart stopped beating.

Sagi screamed in agony as his mangled, broken arm hung uselessly off the side of his body at an unnatural angle. He clutched it in pain as the bone continued to break through his skin in a bloody mess. Tears began to stream out from his eyes and his nose dripped a thin line of snot.

"RUH! HELP ME! HELP…"

Keith punched him in the back of his head, causing him to fall forward.

While he was falling to the ground, Keith raised his fist.

The next instant, Keith propelled his hand downwards, crushing Sagi's spine into pieces, the eerie sound of bone cracking and snapping against flesh echoing through the air.

"Fatality," Keith said, wiping his hand on his jacket.

Keith noticed Sagi twitch momentarily, trying to move his lower body. Keith decided to put the man out of his misery by taking his briefcase and decapitating the man by smashing his neck into bits.

He noticed Ruh cowering in a corner, an unreadable expression on the boy's face. Keith walked over to the child and held out his hand.

"Nice job with distracting him. And the roast before I came in? That was very nice. I will watch your career with great interest. High five!" Keith said, keeping his arm still as he waited to receive the high-five.

Ruh still looked at Keith with a vacant expression, not moving a muscle.

"Maybe I should ask Zimmi how she does it. Nah. Imagine someone like me asking a kid for advice on how to socialize. Now that's a good joke." Keith mumbled.

Keith grabbed Ruh's hand forcibly and completed the high-five. Ruh desperately tried to wipe off the blood that Keith had gotten on his hand.

"Do you…know…Zimmi?" Ruh asked, his voice hoarse.

Keith looked at the boy. "So, you can talk.

Ruh didn't say anything else as he waited for an answer.

"Alright, we're going back to being quiet. Now if only you could teach Zimmi, whose existence I am aware of, by the way, exactly how to do that."

"Could…are you going to let me go?" Ruh asked, terrified of what the man's answer would be.

"Duh. I've had enough of kids. Already had one grow on me for a bit. Not ready for another one to come worming his way inside the little pieces of a soul that I have left." Keith said, leading Ruh back to the Monarch Foundation.

They walked for a few minutes in silence as the sun sunk below the horizon, lighting the sky in a final fiery shade of red before the world faded into darkness, only to be illuminated by the dull town lights and the moonlight.

"You're going to have to tell her the truth. You're not like her. You might be fine with lying to her when you are working for them but…" Keith said.

"When I was working for them. Past tense." Ruh corrected.

Keith smiled. "I know. If you want to be friends with Zimmi, then you have to be honest with her. They might have taught you how to hide what you are, but that doesn't mean you should do that."

"Have you ever hidden something from someone close?" Ruh asked.

Keith stopped and looked at the moon and the faint glow of the stars in the sky, before violently sneezing. "I still am hiding it. They don't know much, though I suspect they'll find out eventually."

Ruh walked with Keith as they neared the Foundation. The stadium was now an empty hollow husk with pools of water seeping around the edge. A few construction workers were examining the exterior to assess the damage as Ruh contemplated the direction fate had pushed him onto today.

Ruh chuckled at how obnoxiously naïve his goals were just barely a few hours ago.

Train hard and you can beat anyone.

He had learned a valuable lesson today. There will always be someone stronger.

Ruh watched as Keith sneezed once more, the lesson now cemented in his soul.

"BIG MEANIE!"

Ruh snapped back to reality as he realized they had reached the Monarch Foundation. Zimmi dashed outside with Silvia tagging along with her, dressed in a pair of rabbit PJ's as she was about to get ready for bed.

Silvia bent down to tie Zimmi's hair into a bun as she smiled at Ruh.

"YE! You came back!" Zimmi said, hopping up and down as Silvia tried her best to finish the final loop on the little girl's hairband.

"Y…Yeah…I did," Ruh said, looking down at the floor.

"The douche he was with abandoned him. Daddy issues." Keith said, eliciting a glare from Silvia.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Ruh, was it?" Silvia asked, holding out her hand to shake Ruh's.

"Yeah. Howard Ruh."

For some reason, Keith and Silvia snickered as he said his name. Zimmi looked at the two of them, puzzled.

"What's the joke? Tell me! Tell me!" Zimmi pouted.

"Alright. But you can't tell Ruh." Silvia said, crouching to whisper in Zimmi's ear.

Zimmi facepalmed. "That's so dumb." She said, before breaking into a smile.

"Am I going to get filled in on any of this?" Ruh asked, tapping his foot impatiently.

"No." replied all three voices.

Ruh sighed. So much for not keeping secrets.

"Oooh! Oooh! I have an idea! Since you don't have any parents like me now, you can come and live with us in the orphanage!" Zimmi squealed excitedly.

Silvia and Ruh looked appalled at the words that came out of Zimmi's mouth, while Keith burst out laughing, unable to breathe.

After a while, Ruh joined in on the laughter as Silvia watched the madness unfold.

She also made a mental note to distance Keith as much as possible from Zimmi in the future.

"Oh, Mister Keef, I forgot to give this back to you," Zimmi said, holding out some Bitma in her hands.

Keith shook his head as he saw the 15 Bitma she owed him for the ice-cream earlier on. "Keep the money. You and Ruh can get something tomorrow with it."

"Don't you need the money?" Zimmi asked, still pushing the Bitma back into Keith's hands.

"Believe me, kid, I could use that two billion Bitma right now. But you earned it fair and square. So, I won't steal it from you and leave a small tooth underneath, like the tooth fairy." Keith said, patting her head.

"I don't think that's how the tooth fairy works," Ruh mumbled.

"Ahh, aluminium, aluminum. Same mush. Now go on, don't you two have to enter a new orphan in the system?" Keith said.

"Why, I oughtta…" Silvia cracked her knuckles.

The two children dashed through the entryway before she could finish, however, rushing to climb on top of Bob's desk. The round man waved at Silvia and Keith as he noticed them standing outside the door.

"That was nice of you, just letting a kid keep your money," Silvia said smiling at Keith. She had caught him red-handed. There was no way he could avoid admitting that he cared about Zi…

"Yeah, it's a small investment compared to the big bucks she's going to rake in later in the future," Keith said.

"I'm sorry, what?" Silvia said.

"You guys got a good idea going here. Using kids to fight for entertainment? Huge brain money-making scheme, I have to say. So now, I'm going to make sure Zip It's on my side once she's all levelled up, and then, I can use her as a champion who thousands, nay millions of people will pay a truckload of Bitma just to take her down. I'm going to be stinking rich!" Keith said, his eyes glimmering with greed.

Silvia kicked Keith in the nuts, making sure to swing her leg as hard as she could to emphasize her point.

"You trash. Scum of the earth. Idiot. Garbage dump from hell." Silvia said as Keith fell to the ground, clutching his jewels in pain.

Silvia walked back into the orphanage, pausing to say goodbye to Keith, but then continued walking with a smile. A part of her knew she would see the young man in the future again.

This isn't right.

Keith got back off the ground, rushing to get Yurgen back from the stable. He attached the briefcase to the saddle with the item still inside it.

I need to get back to Spiti. Now.

________________________________________________________________

Ruh smiled at Silvia as she nodded at the two children at the front desk, wishing them both a good night and sweet dreams. Zimmi handed the key to Ruh's room to him excitedly as she ran back to her room.

She had asked Bob to give Ruh the vacant room next to hers. Ruh had a few moments of half-hearted protesting, before accepting the room arrangements, appearing to be very happy.

He was about to race after Zimmi when he saw two shadows outside the entryway. Slowly, he walked towards the two figures outside, gulping as anxiety began to fill his stomach.

He looked outside for Keith. The man was no longer there. He must have left.

The two Assassins looked down at the boy before them, their menacing attire giving them a ghostly aura in the night.

"Has the assignment been completed?" one of them asked.

"Yes," Ruh said.

"Was it successful?"

"Yes." Ruh lied.

"Where is the other?"

"You know, you could stop talking all mysteriously like that. Sagi left a while back."

The two sighed. "Why?"

"He said I didn't perform up to standards and whined about me wasting his time. Then he took off, saying he was going back home to do better things."

The Assassins looked at each other. That did sound like the Sagi they knew.

"Why are you still here?" The two asked Ruh.

"Well, since the mission was completed and uhh…you know, Sagi being Sagi…ahem…he told me to train with these people more until I could beat them with one hand behind my back. Then, I would stop being a disappointment. I thought he would never shut up for a while, so I'm surprised you guys didn't…"

"Enough. Watch your tongue." One of them said.

Ruh winced at their tone and then apologized. The two Assassins discussed briefly before concluding that it would be beneficial to Ruh's training to stay at the institute and continued testing himself. They warned him to contact them if he was compromised and got onto their horses to leave the town of Kleise.

"The boy's story made sense. The sundial was marked twice, meaning Sagi confirmed the mission was done. But still…" One of them said to the other.

"We need to get to the bottom of this. We need someone who doesn't know of our true goals or about the boy's nature and won't interfere with our plans."

"A no-questions-asked investigator. Might be hard trying to find one of those."

As if on cue, they saw a wall covered with flyers and newspaper clippings, all with the same ad.

GET YOUR PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR WITH NO QUESTIONS ASKED, MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE ON TERMS OF UNSATISFACTORY SERVICE. NOW WITH A 49% DISCOUNT OFFER RUNNING UNTIL NEXT WINTER! TERMS AND CONDITIONS APPLY>If there's a loud screaming noise in the middle of the night, it's your hungry cat, so please stop sending me the same mail for the hundredth time!

The best P.D of our century- Mantis Captio! Contact the below address for further details.

The Assassins looked at each other once more, before sighing.

"Well, the clan is short on funds…"