Carter Iscariot

I sat down on the bench inside the cell, while Richard talked to the Cheshire. It really had been two months since that night where we were saved. My left ear was ringing, as I barely heard what they were saying, my left eye twitched for a second, but left. It always seemed to happen when important conversations were going on, but otherwise wasn't a problem in the least. So much had changed since I stole those rituals from a fence. Even though I gave them back, the bastard probably paid to have a curse placed on me. If everything worked out, then I'd be able to remove the curse myself later.

I closed my eyes, checking over the tattoos I prepared for this day. Our real boss was a blessing, happily giving everyone what they needed to succeed in what they wanted. I was given a large book to throw myself into a week after the Ball above was over. There were so many ideas, and things I had never noticed before. I had to redo all my tattoos since I was healed back then. I needed to mix blood into the ink, to stabilize it, and properly draw it on myself, or have an artist do such.

It was basic practice to do so, but it came with the problem that the tattoos would fade between uses, eventually becoming useless on their own. Then I discovered the next level of those arts. Carving scars onto your skin, and invoking blood given willingly, or by something you raised from its birth. The theories other ritual masters held and took decades to share between each other. Their own personal rituals kept hidden, stifling the growth of our field. Through those months, and talking to Richard, I finally realized something.

I was surrounded by true talent. The people our boss gathered were all gems in the rough, and she would polish us until we were at our best. She gave us everything we wanted or needed, on the condition that we paid her back. The stories Richard told me about how he actually became Oswald's apprentice, how we were similar. It gave me the hope I hadn't felt for a long time. Ritual magic wasn't something to look down upon. It was its own unique thing, that filled a very special niche compared to the others. All the idiots that hoarded their own personal rituals, were only crippling our growth.

I felt the darts I had strapped to my sides, etched with my own blood, with a tiny bit of black blood given willingly. I might die today, but I will show this city that ritual magic is powerful. I grinned to myself, as the gate opened.

"IN THIS CORNER! WE HAVE SHEPARD, THE SHAKER! FIGHTING AN EASY FIGHT AGAINST A RITUALIST NAMED CARTER! I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT I KNOW WHO I'M PUTTING MY COIN ON!" The announcer laughed, as I saw the tall lean man standing at the center with bandages caked with dried blood on his knuckles. He was built like a proper fighter, completely hairless save for eyebrows the curled along his temples.

The crowd laughed at me, and I couldn't blame them. Before I joined the Wraiths, I probably would have joined them. The announcer started again, "IT SEEMS BOTH CHALLENGERS HAVE ENTERED WITHOUT WEAPONS! WE'RE IN FOR A BAREKNUCKLE AND MAGIC BRAWL! I HOPE YOU'RE READY TO SEE SOME BLOOD FLY!"

The man known as Shepard ran two fingers over each eyebrow, before crossing his arms. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry you had to face such a poor match-up. I'll at least make sure your death is spectacular." He grinned, with the self assured smile that told me he already knew he won.

I slowly undid my robes letting him see my darts. I undid them from my sides folding them inside my robes, and tossing them gently to the side behind me. I flexed my own muscles, a similar build as him, from my time with the lizardmen. I didn't have to be here, I could yield and leave right now before the gong sounded. Shepard just laughed, "You got balls! I respect that. What are your last words? Come on! Tell the whole crowd!"

The crowd laughed before quieting down. I took the time to just breath, feeling the rituals on my skin itching to be used. I gave Shepard a level stare, "Ritual magic isn't weak! You're staring at the next Oswald of rituals!" There was a brief silence, before the crowd started laughing. The announcer rubbed his face before sounding the gong.

Shepard laughed for a second, before his green eyes lit up. I felt the ground beneath me shift as the man moved his foot back. I started to fall backwards from the divot in the ground that threw me off balance, a spike of dirt rising to meet me from behind. I twisted, as it grazed my side. I was able to catch myself, and saw him stepping forward with a fist aimed right at my face. A block of the ground rose up less than a second later, with that spike still there. It was trying to impale me again, as I rolled to the side avoiding it.

This wasn't an uncommon sight in most fights down here. Some people that practiced magic would make movements based on what they wanted to do. They felt that helped them do magic better, and in some ways it kind of did. It was a self fulfilling thing, since you trained your mind to focus on those movements with that magic. The more you believed it worked, the better it would work for you. It was an amateur thing to do, since you were broadcasting your next move. He swept his foot back again, and I lunged forward before the divot formed to throw me off balance again.

He took another step forward, with the same fist aimed at my face. The spike I was out of range of moved forward after me, as I jumped to the side, noticing the other spike still moving. The two crashing where I had been, but now the distance between us was more. Shepard spun his heel as the ground below him rose, helping him to jump back. I was really starting to understand why anyone with a decent master, had such practice beaten out of them. Shepard landed before driving his fists into the ground in an upside down v. The waist high walls with spikes turned towards me, and shot their spikes out, before growing another one.

I was far enough away to dodge the first two, before noticing Shepard flex his arms again. Two more shot out while I was looking away, and I decided to risk it by falling backwards. The second two flew over me as I took a deep breath. I rubbed the small scratch on my side from earlier, getting blood on my index finger, and rubbing it on the tattoos on my chest before getting back on my feet. Shepard was already sweeping his foot back again, but my ritual of the Bew kicked in.

Strength surged through my body, as I jumped to just a few feet in front of him. Shepard grinned, as he took quick steps back, making those same sweeping motions. Spikes erupted from the ground in different directions, but my body felt light thanks to the surge in strength. I shifted avoiding the spikes that came with each sweep of Shepard's feet. Slowly running out of room to move, I took another graze on my shoulder, to have blood trickled down my arm. I could feel the magic surge through me as the ritual of the Bunmu surged through me (Basically a fluffy bunny crossed with an emu).

Both were creatures with red blood. I felt the world slowing for a little, as I jumped over the spikes in front of me. Shepard spun his heel as I moved towards him, jumping back again. He twisted his body throwing a fist at my face again. The spot that launched him, rose up to become a wall aiming to him me, as other spots covered in spikes rose to try and catch me. I spun in the air myself, catching the top of the wall with my foot, before jumping again. Shepard's eyes went wide, as I managed to tackle him in the air, my bones grating from the force as I broke a couple of his ribs. We both hit the ground, with me on top of him, skidding a little. Shepard threw a fist at me, and I moved to hit him first, not paying attention to the pillar he had rise just ahead of us.

My vision went white for a second, as I was launched off him. The concentration I had to keep the rituals going, lost. I hit the ground, skidding myself and rolled onto my side on instinct. I felt the spike gouge the back of my calf, as I gritted my teeth. My tattoos were burning again, as I grabbed blood from the wound, and smeared them on my chest and arm. I used my good leg to kick the ground, launching me over the walls closing in around me like a coffin.

I smeared more blood on my other arm, activating the protection of the Turmin (basically a turtle squirrel). My skin hardened, just in time for me to slam into another wall. I saw Shepard move sweep his foot back, and tilted my head, just barely avoiding the spike he aimed at me. The bastard was really trying to kill me. I tore off the the spike, my muscles straining to keep up, as I jumped back to my feet. I had a hole in my calf, which hobbled my movements. The pain was burning away at me, but Shepard was getting tired himself. His body covered in a sheen of sweat like my own.

He had all the spikes, walls, and divots he could want right now. His magic didn't need to remain in what he already built, since the dirt would just stay as it was. He threw a punch at my face, and I felt the severed spike I was holding move. I gripped it harder, just barely keeping it from skewering me, before diverting it enough to let go and charge at him. I was much slower with my injury, and he knew it. He made more walls, deciding to toy with me.

I managed to dodge another spike thrown my way, but a second grazed my good leg. He was aiming for my heel, but there was nothing I could do. I struggled feeling the last of the Bew ritual trickling away. I burned it away by keeping it going for too long, but what else was I to do? I wasn't skilled enough to only activate it right when I needed it. I had two minutes at most for each of these. I barely got my guard up as a pillar came over a wall from Shepard swinging his other fist towards me. I felt my bones creak from the impact, as I was tossed towards the area with spikes.

I swept my own foot, just able to keep balance, before rolling under the spikes Shepard launched at me. My good leg spasmed as I saw the spike erupt from the ground gouging it. I cried out, tears filling my eyes as another pillar hit me square in the chest, launching me back. I couldn't breath, as my ribs felt like the cracked. The world moving faster as my Bunmu ritual wore off. I skidded on the ground coughing, and struggling to breathe. The crowd laughed at me, mocking me.

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Everything was sore, as I stared up at the sky, everything too heavy to move. Is this it? Is this really how I die? My second chance, taken away because I wanted to be useful. The crowd was calling for an execution. To think I compared myself to Oswald, the legend that made Alchemy seem less like a curse. Were ritual users all truly so inferior, when put against any other magic? Tears fell from my eyes, as I heard the foot steps in front of me.

I looked down to see Shepard slowly walking towards me with a wicked grin. He really was going to kill me. He bobbed his hands in front of his chest, pyramids of rock holding my wrists in place, forcing me to kneel in front of him. Shepard kicked the side of my face, making my vision go white again. "Try not to lose consciousness, I gotta repay you for these broken ribs." He laughed a little while kicking and punching me. The crowd jeering at me, and cheering because this is what they wanted.

My vision would just barely come back between the blows, I could feel my face swelling as a couple teeth were knocked loose and lost. He ended it with a pillar to my chest, knocking me loose because of the blood on my wrists. I felt my palm land on fabric, what was that? I remembered taking off my robes earlier. I thought I was going to win this fight easily, but now I was here. I groaned, trying to throw it at Shepard, anything to stop him from killing me.

My darts fell out, as Shepard casually threw away my robe. He stopped at the darts, his grin turning pure evil. "Let me guess, poison? Let's see how you like the feeling of your own shit used on you." The pain flared up again, as my Turmin ritual died. I could only groan, unable to even make the no sound. Unable to even say that I yielded.

Where was I? Why were we fighting? Everything hurt so much, but I knew this man was going to kill me. My head was throbbing, and I think I felt blood dripping from my nose and ears. My eyes finished swelling shut, so I couldn't see. This was punishment for thinking I could stand on the same level as Oswald, and the other big names. Yeah... I was here to prove ritual magic was strong. That I could be somebody as well. The darts were the next level of the rituals on my body. Dangerous because of the monster blood, it would kill me, but well I was going to die anyway.

I felt a sharp pain in my neck, whistling through the holes where my teeth were. The pain coursing through me towards my neck. Finally I screamed, as I used all the magic I could. My scream grew stronger, louder, as my body started to shake. I could feel the pain to my very core. The ritual of the Banshee, attacking both of our souls. I couldn't hear anything, I couldn't see anything, but I felt something drop on top of me. I felt the thud from Shepard falling on his ass.

This was my chance, if I died in the Arena, I wouldn't be saved. If I could kill Shepard, then I might get healed later. I used the what strength I could gather in my arm, grabbing the thing that fell on me. I grabbed what I knew was a dart, and drove it into my chest. My blood boiled, as I screamed again. The pain stunning Shepard and myself, as the wail shredded my vocal cords. Even breathing hurt, as I started to choke on my own blood. I didn't care what ritual I had going on right now, I dropped the Banshee, and fed everything into this new one.

The swelling on my face went down, as I felt my calves stitch themselves back together. Regeneration of the Rock troll. I could finally see, I could finally breath, but my hearing was still gone. I saw Shepard scrambling to get back up, but I slugged him in the face. He fell to the side, unsure what was happening. The damage the scream did to me, wasn't as bad as what it did to him. He was bleeding out of his ears, trying to figure out what was hurting him. He looked at my shadow, as if wondering if the Banshee was hiding there.

I fell on top of him, my body still repairing itself, but my limbs turning black as I started to shake. I balled my fists slamming them into Shepard. His limbs pinned under my legs. He moved his legs, but I slumped a little just barely avoiding the spike. Another fist slamming into the man's jaw, knocking him out. He twitched a little, as the crowd was left stunned. I couldn't feel my hands anymore, my feet weren't any better. I slumped there on top of Shepard, still unable to hear. The gates weren't opening, so I had to keep going.

I grabbed onto the tip of the spike, just barely able to take off the length of my hand. Using all my weight, I fell on top of the champion, driving the spike through his eye. I could hardly feel my heart beating, as the gates finally opened. I saw the other three champions running towards me, while boss and Richard walked. I could feel the tension in the air, as I finally passed out.

I woke up, one ear still ringing. That may have been the curse. I felt a lot better, but the familiar sensation of pure hunger washed over me. I looked around to find that I was back at the lizardmen village. The one that cooked with Richard, thrust a full bowl of food into my chest. I ate quietly, just thankful to be alive. I knew that Kobe hated when his champions were killed. I brought more trouble for the boss, and the bowl tasted about as bad as I felt.

I finished it, and was given a second one. I ate that, and another before declining the fourth. Robert finally entered the room, "Hey buddy, heard you had a rough time."

I just looked down, nodding a little. "Is Shepard actually dead?"

Robert nodded, "Yeah, Douglas said that it was confirmed. Surprisingly Kobe isn't too upset, but we did negotiate to have you work for him for a bit. A way to work it off, but that won't be for a week or two. After all, it takes a while before we can heal you again."

I gritted my teeth, glad to see that they grew back. "They probably want me to tell him about our gang. Fuck... what am I even going to say? They just need an oracle to tell if I'm lying."

Robert grinned, "You don't trust the boss? There were other ways to deal with the situation, but she chose to let you go there. She probably has something planned, or doesn't mind you telling Kobe about our gang. After all, the plan is that we'll be pretty well known after everything is said and done."

I looked up at him, my ear still ringing. "What's our next move? Is there anything I can do to make this right?"

Robert snapped his fingers, "Yeah actually, after you finish recovering, I need you to get back to the Arena. Get into the next match and yield, before walking around. You'll have a lot of attention put on you, so make sure you take a damn weapon this time. Some of the lizardmen will follow after you, to keep tabs on the people watching and following you. The more we spread their resources out, the more likely we are to succeed."

I nodded, "Kobe might want to take me sooner if I'm already out and about."

Robert grinned, "We're counting on that actually. He'll be forced to protect you, if he takes you in early. Remember, we're trying to make it worth his time to keep us on his good side. The fact that you can pop back up after a few hours of down time, and after clearly suffering from black blood, makes us look more competent."

"You used me?" I frowned a bit.

Robert shook his head, "We told you not to fight, we're just making the best of a situation you put yourself in. Personally, I would have let you die. So you can thank boss for saving your life again." He narrowed his eyes at me, making it clear he didn't want me saying that in front of her.

I lowered my head, "Alright, I ate enough. Can I get some Fukuma blood before I head out? It's a walk back, and I'd rather have some tats to fight with."

Robert grinned, "Go for it dude, you can even ride the next wave back to the edges before getting off. That should give you enough time."

I nodded, before getting everything ready, and heading back. The magic beetles carrying me, and the supplies I needed, as gently as they could. Really, the boss was just too scary when I started to consider how she could just make her army bigger by the week. I also felt extremely lucky that she'd do so much for a guy like me. To actually keep giving me chances to try again. This gang was going to rule the Underground soon enough. It was only a matter of time.

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Robert, The Wraith

I watched as Carter got on the bugs and left. I couldn't tell him all our plans, since he was cursed. Someone was listening in on us through him. The worst part was that Mimi only had a general idea of the location, but had no idea who was behind it. I was confident it was the Fiend's Eye, given how well they understood curses. Not to mention the reports that Scix would send Douglas, to tell me what was going on.

Everything pointed to them, and they in turn had been attacking our businesses or cursing the people we had working for us. What was going on now, had been building up slowly since a month ago. They would make moves to have smaller gangs take places we were looking at. Those same smaller gangs would also attack our people on the streets, killing a couple of them to leave a message. Their leaders wouldn't wake up the next morning, since no one expected bugs to be smart enough to assassinate people.

It finally got to the point that I didn't feel Eris would be safe anywhere near the average place. Which prompted Mimi to move and claim our first warehouse. I smiled a little at the memories, and the doubts I held back then. I truly didn't understand the scale of how quickly her bugs could grow in numbers. Then there were the small bugs that could kill people easily enough. I was so glad when Richard told me that the bugs could actually understand what we were saying. Though I chose to keep that from the others, save for Douglas who grew to respect our boss even more.

Now we had thousands upon thousands of beetles moving as small independent groups, keeping tabs on all the information. It led us to hearing what the Fiend's Eye wanted to keep secret. How it wasn't just small gangs somehow getting lucky, or trying to attack a new gang before they could grow. We found out that the source of all our problems came from that one gang we were going to destroy and replace.

We even received a letter of thanks from Mal, who was more than happy to take the credit for wiping them out. Though that gang wouldn't make moves for or against either party. We got permission to stay a hidden group, that would appear to be ran by Mal, while destroying the biggest thorn in our side. Then Mimi wanted to take the tribes, in a sort of instant rapid expansion and unite them. It was a dangerous gamble, since the tribes could chose to attack us, but we had what they needed.

It all fell into place, once I started looking ahead. We'll control the biggest neutral territory, while gathering enough food to feed the tribes and hives. They will act as a buffer to keep others from invading the entire West-side dead-zones, and Mimi will dig her claws into the Underneath. If she can continue to grow stronger, she'll be able to use either direction to recover, and decide how to retaliate while protecting her portal to the top side. With the Fiend's Eye gone, we'll be able to use their places as bases and nests to gather information in their stead. All we needed to do was take out their head members, and endure with any potential fallout.

The Wraiths would grow from the Fire Starters, and everything was starting to finally warm up above. From what I was told yesterday, someone great will be coming to help in the Underground soon. It all starts tomorrow, after Mimi secures her prey, and Richard infiltrates the Fiend's Eye.