Zeke opened his eyes. A dark, endless void expanded all around him. His body was small and crooked. His ribs peeking thought from under his shallow skin. He gazed up towards the sky, as a massive eye peered down at him overlooking his suffering. His existence felt so small, miniscule when compared to the entity standing above him.

“Do you have any idea what you have done?” the creature asked.

“Who are you?” Zeke tried to wonder, but no words came out.

He grabbed his throat, trying his hardest to put together some semblance of a phrase, but no matter how hard he tried, air would simply pass through his torn vocal cords. Suddenly he felt it, a cotton bag placed over his face. In panic he darted about, trying to take it off, which made him stumble and fall, rolling down a steep cliff consisting of an unsurmountable number of bones.

As he rolled down, a vista opened up before him. A desert made of billions of scattered bone fragments, a dark stormy sky and an enormous eye where the moon should have been.

“Open your eyes, look at what stands before you,” the mysterious voice commanded.

Zeke continued rolling down the cliff until he struck something solid, a loud metallic clang run loudly in both of his ears. As he raised his gaze, he could see a tall steel suit of armor standing before him.

“Do you know what awaits you? Do you know the price you will have to pay for committing such blasphemy? Can you bear the suffering you will have to endure? Oh, the hunger the unimaginable hunger,” the creature continued as the suit of armor gazed at Zeke, red eyes peeking through its vizor.

“My child, I pity you,” these words rang through Zeke’s head as he opened his eyes in a cold sweat. He found himself alone in the dark, haphazardly positioned on the bed with his clothes still on and his shoes placed carefully beside the bed. There was a big window to the right of him. The light came into the window through the shutters and submerged Zeke in its stripy blue hue.

Zeke sat down on the side of the bed and rested his head on his arms, covering his eyes and squeezing them tightly with his palms.

“Elaine,” he whispered as tears rolled down his eyes.

Many memories flooded his head, thoughts of the times before he entered this damn underground mess. But all of them were scrambled, replaced by his countless battles with the dragon. He could no longer recall what his mother or father looked like. He didn’t know what his childhood was like, all that was left of him, a shallow figure with a single goal of battling a dragon.

“Who am I?” He looked towards the blue light unable to perceive the city outside the window. “Why did I turn out to be so fucking twisted?” Zeke calmly stood up looking through the blinds with a tired expression and deep, dark bags under his eyes.

A couple of hours passed. Zeke continued sulking alone inside his tiny room.

Suddenly, he heard a knock coming from the door.

“Who is it?” He asked in a mellow tone.

But instead of getting a response, the figure opened the door, revealing themselves to be none other than Fredric.

“Hey, I see you’re finally up,” Fredric nonchalantly remarked, while stepping in through the door. And placing a bag full of groceries beside Zeke’s bed.

“Where am I?” Zeke asked, visibly distressed.

“District 7,” Fredric replied. “Your new home,” He continued while opening two packs of instant noodles and turning on the electric kettle.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“So, what now?” Zeke wondered, “I can’t leave the Undercity, but I doubt I will be able to survive here on my own either. Just what am I supposed to do?”

“Regardless of how intricate a trap may be, irrelevant of how fine is its craftsmanship, a trap will always have two things. Do you know what they are?” Fredric asked, while pouring boiling water into the two noodle cups.

“I’m not sure,” Zeke replied.

“An entrance and an exit. These two components are the nature of every trap.” Fredric explained, “A trap will always have an entrance because without one the trap wouldn’t work, and likewise it will have an exit because without one, the one who made the trap wouldn’t be able to escape.”

“Alright, then tell me? Where should I look for this exit?” Zeke asked, slightly aggravated.

“Me, I’m your exit,” he stated while handing Zeke a cup of noodles.

“Not very convincing, seeing as you’re the one who got me into this mess,” Zeke replied while taking the cup from Fredric.

“This isn’t much of a mess. This, at most, has 0.5 mess points.” Fredric smirked.

“I need to get to Lower Babel!” Zeke shouted, slamming his foot into the ground.

Almost immediately, the two heard a loud thud coming from downstairs.

Fredric laughed, “You’re about to piss off your new neighbors!”

“Not gonna be my neighbors for long,” Zeke replied while slurping up noodles.

“Oh, and how so?” Fredric asked, scratching his head.

“I’m leaving the way I came,” Zeke replied.

“You’re going to die, if you try that,” Fredric stated shaking his head, “Each entrance and exit, from and to the Undercity is governed by a keeper of that district. To put it simply, if you try to run away the keeper of that district will hunt you down, be it inside the Undercity or the city of Lower Babel. Leaving this place without the King’s permission is a death sentence,” Fredric explained.

“Then what must I do to get back?” Zeke asked.

“Follow his orders for now. I will ensure that you either become strong enough that you can break out of this place or that he allows you to leave on his own.” Fredric smiled.

“Funny thing! I don’t see what you will get out of it,” Zeke scoffed with a serious expression.

“I get to come along with you,” Fredric smiled.

Suddenly, a loud knock could be heard coming from the door. Fredric approached the door opening it. A tall, fat figure stood in front of him, wearing stained ragged clothes and baggy military pants, with his giant arms crossed in front. The man had a green mohawk on his head and a short beard. His right eye was a cybernetic implant, a scope that would allow him to be more accurate while shooting weapons.

“Yes?” Fredric asked with a confused expression.

“You’re loud!“ The giant growled.

“So?” Fredric carelessly replied.

“Don’t be loud!” The man said, visibly aggravated.

“Gotcha!” Fredric said, attempting to shut the door.

The man grabbed the side of the door pressing it with his huge arms, leaving indents in the wood where his fingers made contact.

“Let go!” Fredric ordered while yawning.

“Listen here you little twerp…” The man growled before being interrupted by Fredrick kicking the door towards him.

In an instant his fingers were cut off by the door slamming through its frame. As the door closed it broke into splinters which were sent flying all over the hall.

The man stood motionless in shock, looking at his decapitated fingers. In a blind rage he swung at Fredric, but he easily avoided the attack while striking him back, smashing his body across the wall straight into a nearby apartment.

“I think, it’s time for us to go,” Fredric remarked while scratching his head.

“Alright,” Zeke replied walking out of the ravaged apartment.

“Here, put this on,” Fredric placed his hand into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out Haze’s mask.

“It’s different,” Zeke replied while examining the mouthpiece.

“When you passed out, I found it amongst your belongings,” Fredric said while putting on his fox mask,” I had it modified so you no longer have to chop half of your face off to put it on. Oh, and I also had the injection mechanism taken out.”

“But why give it to me?” Zeke wondered.

“Why?” Fredric replied, “There are a couple of reasons. The first would be that you need a mask so people can’t figure out your identity. And the second, I felt like that mask kind of fit you in a strange way, it’s hard to explain, but I feel like it will serve you well going forward.”

“Alright,” Zeke replied, bringing the mask closer to his face.

He closed his eyes, as he put the mouthpiece over his mouth and nose and heard countless metallic contraptions click, he could feel air surging through his nose and filling his mouth.

Zeke opened his eyes, the world lit up in a new light. He suddenly felt like a predator among prey.

People started walking out of their apartments to check what the commotion was about as Zeke and Fredric walked across the corridor, towards the elevator.

“By the way, it seems like your performance in the cradle of fools had earned you a nickname,” Fredric explained while pressing the button to call the elevator.