"Yo, we're looking for a guy about yay tall." Elegy explained to a passerby, "Short hair, White body all over. You know how it is."
"Any other defining features?" The passerby joked, "Does he perhaps have two arms and two legs?"
"See, you get it!" Elegy opted to high five him, "Nah, but seriously. His initials are S.B., and he should have circles going straight around his abdomen area. Think hula-hoops, but golden."
"Whoa, that last part is actually new and useful info!" I remarked.
"Ah, so that's what these letters are..." The passerby amusedly looked at his own hands, "But yeah, now that you mention it—There was a guy that fit that description just a few blocks that way. Real suspicious guy."
"Suspicious?" We tilted our heads, "Don't tell me he's being weird."
"Nah, not suspicious in that sense." He continued, "More like suspicious of everything and everyone else. He kept going from one person to the other, asking all sorts of questions about this place."
Ah, so he's just curious. Phew, when I heard suspicious, I'll be honest, I thought this guy was doing something shady. Guess I was the one who jumped to conclusions.
"Thanks a bunch." Elegy nodded, waving at the passerby as we left to go find S.B., "Damned asshole."
"Whoa, where'd that come from?" I said with a surprised tone, "Don't be rude! This guy just helped us and you're calling him an asshole?"
"You don't get it?" He turned to me with a quiet voice, "He called the guy that was investigating this place suspicious. That's totally off the mark."
Eh? Right, it doesn't really make sense now that I think about it. I mean, Prylos did say that Heaven 2.0 is a new thing, so obviously we're all uninformed about it. Wait, that's not all he said though...
"Hey, we're the first three guests in this new Heaven, right?" I asked with a suspiciously raised Eyebrow, "Then that means no one knows more than us, no?"
"Looks like you're finally getting the gist of what I mean." Elegy replied, "The rest of these idiots just accepted their new life way too easily without asking a single question. Normally, people would be acting like us and S.B., but everyone's just so... at peace with it."
We ought to reconvene with S.B. in that case, and fast. We don't know if it's possible to get hurt or even die in this world, but in any case, he'll definitely run into the wrong person if he continues asking so many questions. Worst case scenario, the Gods might take notice of his antics and start targeting him as well...
"Someone, help!" A lady ran away from the street we were headed towards, "A-A fight! A fight broke out!"
"Damn, you think it has anything to do with our friend?" Elegy smirked.
"Does it matter? I don't care who's fighting, but we should go check it out regardless." I replied, "Though for his sake, I kinda hope it isn't S.B."
With that, we ran full-speed towards the busy street. A scary phenomenon had occurred, no one was joining us on this decision. Even though a lot of people were around when the lady yelled for someone to come stop the fight, they all just shyly turned their heads and kept walking. The bystander effect was in full force.
"Look at them. Cowards!" Elegy made sure to look at each person that turned a blind Eye directly as we passed by them, "Tch, when someone needs help, it should be second nature to do something about it!"
"Maybe they're scared of getting hurt themselves?" I reasoned.
"I'd be afraid, too. Afraid of looking at myself in the mirror, that is." He loudly replied so that everyone could hear him, "See that, Gemma!? We're the only ones with an actual heart in this place! Bahaha!"
He's mocking them. Trying to get under their skin and taunt them into helping the cause. It's sneaky, but sadly it's also not doing anything. The people, they're just way too focused on self-preservation to even care about his insults. They'd rather be cowards if it meant they didn't get hurt, I guess.
"Which is why a better option would be to say this!" I raised my tone, "I wonder what kind of prizes we'll get from the Gods for being such good samaritans!"
"Prize?" All ears immediately twitched.
"Was there such a reward system?" Whispers began to spread around us.
"I didn't know that!" The voices began to change their opinion on the matter, "Maybe... Maybe if we all went together, we could..."
"Heh, they're still not brave enough to go by themselves, but at least they're considering it." Elegy praised me, "Good going."
"Nah, it didn't work." I clicked my tongue annoyedly, "No one's following us yet."
"It's not your fault. These guys are a lost cause." He smiled, "Now, before anything, I gotta ask just one thing."
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"Go on?"
"What's your power level when it comes to fighting?"
Fighting? Wait, wasn't the plan just to step in and break up the fight? Who said anything about putting our own skin in the game?
"No, there's just no way. Unless it's with another girl, this dainty body just won't cut it." I pulled the tiny flab of skin on my arm, "Guess the Gods accounted for racism, but glossed over gender-inequality."
"Might be that they just expected everyone to get along." He shrugged in response to that, "But don't worry, I didn't intend on letting you get hurt. In fact, I'd rather we try and de-escalate the situation first and foremost. If they start throwing punches at us instead, I'd like you to step back and let me handle it."
That actually sounded dependable for once. This guy sucks at negotiating, but I guess when the going gets tough, he really knows how to put your mind at ease. Ah, there they are.
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All the bystanders are watching them from afar, forming a bit of an empty circle for the two fighters to use as an arena. The scary part, however, is that the bystanders aren't slowing down one bit to see what's going on or even try to put a stop to it for that matter. They're just walking along at their regular speed, with the only difference being that they're deviating from their straight-lined path to accommodate for the fighters.
"Like ants, what the hell..." Elegy grit his teeth, "Well, good news and bad news, it seems. Neither fighter has those golden hula hoops around his abdomen."
Neither fighter is S.B., that's bad. Or well, if you put it another way, that just means he's not the one in danger. Can't say the same for the fighter that's getting his ass beat, though.
"Ngah!" The one on top whaled on him endlessly, "Die! Die already! What the fuck!"
"Please man, let me-UNF!" The angel at the bottom begged for his life to no avail.
This is crazy. It can't even be called a fight, the one on top is just out for blood.
"Oi! Get away from him!" Elegy pulled him off.
"Let go! This guy...!" He pointed to his victim, "I-Immortal! All of them! They're monsters!"
What? First you beat him mercilessly, then you claim you're afraid of him? This dude's genuinely insane.
"No matter how hard I hit, no matter how many I hit..." The tortured torturer continued, "No matter the weapon, the method, they just never die! None of them!"
"Pull yourself together!" Elegy smacked some sense into him, "Who the hell are you talking about...? Who are you fighting!?"
The man, being held by Elegy from both shoulders, merely stared back blankly at him. He had a bewildered, somewhat defeated look on his face the moment he laid Eyes on Elegy's skin color. Slowly, he lifted his pure golden arms and tightly grabbed Elegy's wrists.
"...You." He twisted with a tear down his Eye, "And you. And you over there. All of you, you're all monsters!"
"Ack!" Elegy yelped.
"Stop!" I tried to run in between them, only to get Elegy tossed at me full force.
"I woke up randomly without any memory of who I am, my arms are made of hardened metal, and I'm told to live among immortal beasts...!" The guy listed off his complaints, "I'll find a way out of here! Even if it means killing each and every lost soul around me!"
Crazy, insane, mental... All of these adjectives came to mind when I looked at his hollow Pupils. Shrunken Eyes, they saw only the worst in the situation. I can admit I get where he's coming from about wanting to understand more about the situation, but that doesn't mean he can just attack random people like it's nothing! Didn't think such a lesson needed teaching...
"Hey, join the club." Elegy, surprisingly, lowered his guard as he got off of me, "Look, we're kind of the same. Check it, I got gold arms myself."
Showing off his golden cuts on his forearms to try and sympathize with the guy. It might work to calm him down, but I don't think he's okay with reason yet.
"I'm not a White monster." He spat at Elegy, "My arms are golden, but I'm a human. I know I am!"
This guy... Could it be that, because of his arms, he never saw his new body this whole time? I guess if anyone got placed in this situation without any context they'd be a bit spooked, but this is taking things to a whole other level. This guy's just violent by default.
"You don't get it?" Elegy laughed in his face, "We're all the same here! What makes you think you're the exception!?"
"I'm a human!!!" He shouted, fists ablaze as he lunged at Elegy.
"Hmph." Elegy scoffed, mere moments before getting his face punched.
"No!" I shouted, only to stop once I saw him keep smirking in spite of the injury.
"Gemma, new info confirmed!" He said as he kept getting smacked around, "We're immortal! I don't feel a thing!"
"Don't feel pain...!?" I gasped.
Right, the guy beating him up did say before that we can't die in Heaven, but Elegy had no idea if that meant he could feel pain either! Did he just let himself get punched for no reason at all!? Dammit, Elegy!
"H...T..." Elegy just barely made out the letters on the guy's name, "Hate, let's call you. I agree with you, Hate."
"What the hell kind of name is that!?" I shouted.
"Agree with what, you walking nightmare?" Hate clicked his tongue, raring his fist for another punch.
"These guys ARE monsters. You wake up in an unfamiliar location without any past recollections, and your first instinct is to just not question it?" Elegy scoffed, "Disgusting, they deserve to get a punch to the face, honestly. Hell, now that I know you can only spook others, I might just join you in clobbering these guys."
He's choosing to join forces with the bully!? Elegy, don't tell me I was wrong about you!
"Hm..." Hate merely glared at him, using Elegy's Eyes as a reflective mirror to take a gander at his own face, "I'm... also a White Monster. I figured as much, but damn did I not wanna believe it."
"Took you long enough." Elegy smiled, dusting himself off after Hate helped him get up, "Something about this place is off, and me, that girl over there and another guy we lost track of seem to be the only ones around here that wish to find out more. Ah, and you, of course."
"Glad to know I'm not alone. I was sure I was going crazy." Hate shook his head, "I beat up one of them, and the rest just looked on. I thought this was a nightmare..."
You got that right. A nightmare for everyone involved, that is.
"Elegy." I walked up to them.
"Gemma." He nodded with a proud smirk on his face, "Meet our newest companion, Hate."
"You're not gonna ask for a better name?" I sighed at the poor guy.
"Nah, I like it. It fits me completely, since I fuckin' hate it here." Hate patted Elegy on the back, "And since this guy gave it to me, I'll wear it as a badge of honor, haha!"
Never in a thousand years would I have thought that this is how the fight would have ended. Isn't the guy that got brutally beat up usually the one that joins the fray, and NOT the bully? Truly, an ass-backwards world this is. Wait, where is that guy, even? Ah, there he is, running away without even asking for an apology. What a mob character.