What? I was so stunned by the offer I nearly collapsed on the spot.

“Hey boss, what are you thinking?!”

“Yeah man, we can’t have trash like that in the Kuma gang! Look at his power level! We’ll be arrested just for having an infant in the gang!”

The man who offered only rolled his eyes.

“Now what do ya think you’re’ doin, contradictin me like that? I told ya before and I’ll tell ya now, I know what I’m doin. Men, you’re looking at our future cleaner. Yeah yeah, he’s a bit of a mess, but he’s a ref-u-gee. Ya’ll know exactly how they’ be. All so sad and angry. We th’row his ass in a dunk tank, clean him up, knock a few teeth in, and he’ll be right as rain.”

“Ah! We do need a new cleaner after the Snakes killed our last one…”

“Damn them, going after the personnel like that…”

I tried to fight through the haze of the damn alcohol to figure out what was going on. A gang. A gang was asking me to… become a part of them?

I actually focused on the men, taking them in as more than just the random blurry figures that had been bothering me. I almost reacted with shock at what I saw, before remembering just what kind of city I was in.

They were wearing bear costumes. Well, no, bear onesies. Grown adult men were wearing bear pajamas in front of me, in the pouring and pounding rain, acting casual as can be. I wasn’t surprised, not anymore. This city was bizarre at the best of times. I’d seen an all nude kitchen that scorched even my black heart pink with embarrassment, groups of animal people, people with multiple limbs or eyes or ears, weird skin colors from white to green to every single one under the sun, and all of those had nothing on the dojos.

And the most important lesson I’d learned?

Looks don’t matter. Something their power levels confirmed.

[9]

[10]

And…

[??]

That last one only showed for people above ten power. Their leader, the gang boss, he was strong. Power Level wasn’t linear. Anyone above ten was a terrifying person to me, despite how common it was in this damn city…

“Oi, stupid. How about’ it? Ya keen on joining Kuma Gang already? We’ll even get ya you’re own costume! Gonna have to pay it back though. Still, pretty generous don’tcha think?”

Is this what my life had become? Getting pressed into a gang, forced to wear a costume, forced to clean the blood and gore from others, only to die when a rival gang got annoyed and wanted to take out the weak link?

I could practically feel my mother from beyond the grave, staring daggers into me. Despite earning scraps and living on the streets… I’d never joined a gang. Never did drugs, I even shied away from technology despite how many companies were more than willing to get me a vehicle or Vambrace for ‘free’.

In that moment, I did actually feel gratitude welling up inside me for these people. To feel my mother’s glare on my back, the fury she’d feel if I even thought about joining a gang.

My mother…

Father…

My whole island…

I’d failed them. I’d failed myself. I’d-

A Golden Road. A universe ending. Power, unbelievable power. Enough to destroy anything. Enough to protect everything.

My whole body still shook and I could feel it. How I wish I could have felt then what I felt now. Like I was on a knife’s edge, that fate was swinging me around, that this would be the beginning or the end.

I could join this gang. I could do that. I could accept and die almost guaranteed in some dirty basement, forced to clean their clothes till my fingers bled and I had to clean my own blood off them.

Or…

“No.”

“Huh? What, I don’t think I heard ya properly there. Now, I know I don’t see no Vambrace on ya, but let me clarify some facts real quick. I ain’t exactly proud or boasting about my strength over here but compared to you? Well, let’s just say ya better rethink real fast ya damn drunk.”

“No.”

“Ha! Sorry boss, looks like the new guy is too washed up in his drink tonight. Damn shame about it too.”

The boss sighed, looking at his underlings, before nodding with a look of annoyance on his face.

“Welp, guess there’s no’thin for it. Guess we gotta kill a man tonight. Can’t be getting out we let the weakest man in the world reject us now can we?”

I felt a shiver of fear course its way up my spine through my drunken haze. I’d been clear headed in the moment, knowing with absolute certainty that I needed to refuse. That I had to refuse. That I could never let myself fall that far. That I could never give up!

That I needed to try again.

To get my revenge. To increase my power. To grow stronger.

And now all that fire felt like it had left me.

I was drunk, dirty, my vision was swimming, my hearing was shot, and I was even weaker than my power level would suggest right now. A single one of their punches, at my best, could still crack my bones. And I wasn’t at my best.

I considered running away but that dream… it was so clear, so heady. There was no more running.

My father’s words came back to me in snippets.

People… can get stronger. With training. Experience. Fighting. Being taught by a master.

I’ve fought before. Never a gang, never people this strong, but people have kicked my ass before even though I tried to fight back. But…

But I’d never truly been in a fight to the death.

Maybe this is what I needed. Maybe this is what I needed all along! A true fight to the death to finally increase my Power Level-!

The pain hit me first. Awareness second. It reminded me of my darkest memories before the unrelenting agony tore a scream through my broken and shattered jaw. I could feel my teeth stabbing into my own gums and my face-!

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Crack

My whole body seemed to freeze. This time, awareness was faster than the pain, if only by a sharp half second.

My leg. They’d cracked my leg in two. I could see it, above his damn bear foot, the bones sticking out as my red blood coated the sidewalk.

The world ceased to exist as white hot agony broke me to my core. There was nothing but the pain, as it grew and grew. It flared and grew higher, as I felt kicks and punches that could shatter stone rain down on me.

They broke me.

They shattered me.

They killed me.

My own words were my last thoughts as I died. Looks don’t matter on Vega. I was going to die, a drunk failure, to a gang wearing bear pajamas. It was wrong, it was so wrong. I would, I would, I wouldn’t die here! I was, I was going to get my revenge! I was going to, to-

A foot tearing through a bear costume was the last thing I saw.

****

“Ugh! I tore my costume using his face!”

“What were you thinking?! Now we’ gotta go on and get a seamstress too?! This is a dark day for the Kuma Gang.”

“Oi, boss. What we gonna do about the drunk bum?”

“Eh, cops don’t come around these parts anyway. Sides’, he’s just a refugee. They don’t live long anyway.”

“Yeah, come on. And besides, with a power level like that? Ain’t no way he’s got any connections.”

“Yeah yeah, I just wanted to know if we wanted to dump him. Ya guys don’t gotta give me a whole spiel, I live here too ya know!”

Grumbling and walking away from the scene of a murder, an unfortunately common sight in the darker parts of Vega City, the Kuma gang left.

All was silent save the rain, as Mutai bled out. Minutes of life left in him at best.

.

.

.

An old man walked by, staring down at Mutai’s broken form.

“Hmm.”

Two fingers pressed against what was left of his body.

“Hmmmmm.”

The smallest, tiniest whisp of energy snaked around them.

“Hmmmmmmmmmm.”

The old man stared down, silently, looking to be in deep contemplation. A hand rubbed his chin as he continued to think, uncaring about the wounds on Mutai’s body or his rapidly draining life force.

“Ehhhh, maybe? Super weak though… Guess I’ll give him a chance anyways.”

A hand grabbed an ankle and a body was dragged away.

******

Pain. So, so much pain. I could feel my body on fire, doused in a- I can’t breathe. It hit me like nothing else. I can’t breathe, my lungs burn and scream for oxygen. I can’t breathe. Liquid rushes down my throat, all over my body. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe I can’t breathe I can’t breathe I can’t-

I try to swim, to escape, to get out. Walls. Up, forward, behind. Stuck, stuck. I’m drowning.

I’m drowning.

Panic. Pure and utter panic. I won’t, I can’t, I don’t want to die like this. Not like this. Not in the sea, not in the water. Don’t ruin the last good thing for me. No, NO!

Tap.

“Hey. Calm down in there. You’re just in a healing tank you idiot.”

W-What?

A light blue tinge takes up my vision. I was floating in liquid, but not drowning. Not truly. Horrible memories assaulted me. The Smile Company had forced me into one of these and been the first people beyond Vega to try and break me down. I still remembered that ship ride so clearly. They’d snapped my arm after I’d tried to escape and then forced me inside.

Without telling me what it did.

I’d thought I was going to die.

Those horrible memories come rushing back. The feeling of water pouring into my lungs, the people on the other side of the glass smiling or laughing at me like I was an idiot, the feeling of pain miraculously leaving my body… it was all so familiar but all so different.

For one, there definitely wasn’t an old man with one foot in the grave glaring at me like I’d puked on his favorite rug last time.

He looked positively ancient. He looked like he’d lived a hard life, his hair a dirty white, slight wrinkles adorning his face, scruff around his jaw. He had a serious expression and piercingly blue eyes. His body looked far from weak though. Broad chested, with thick arms, and wearing a mostly open white Gi, he looked like he was able to bend steel, even if only slowly.

I felt like I’d stumbled upon an old master.

“Can’t believe you survived.” He said, rubbing his chin, the glare in his eyes dying down a little. “Thought carrying you down the stairs was going to be it… ah well, good news is good news.” He mumbled to himself, saying something incredibly scary. “You’ll need to stay in there for another hour. Don’t leave for at least that long or I’ll put you back in myself. There’s some clothes on the chair here for you.”

So saying he turned around and left without a further word.

I sat there- floated there, stunned for a moment. My thoughts trying to move and failing to find any grip, like they were constantly slipping away. Even questions failed to make any sense to me, as my broken body slowly healed and regenerated, putting itself back together. The pain going from agonizing to only moderate to nothing.

It was only after a few minutes had passed like that, that I finally broke out of my trance. My mind spinning. I was an idiot! I should’ve, questioned him! What was going on? What happened?! Why was I-

I died.

No, I almost died.

The memories came flooding back.

I could still remember it. The speed too fast for me to see, the instant pain, them breaking me. Killing me. Tearing my entire body apart with blunt force. Their blows shattering bones, my blood pouring out in torrents through torn arteries, the white unending agony before… before everything went dark with a foot to the face.

I had been moments away from death and only the kindness of a random old man with a healing tank had saved me. Without him… I’d be dead.

My eyes shook. I had almost died. I had turned them down, refused, reliving that dream of Ultimate Strength. Of all consuming power. But that… that wasn’t me.

I was just a weakling, a pathetic loser. But that didn’t matter anymore. I’d been beaten by this city, in more ways than one. I’d gotten a job, I’d stayed here, I’d even considered buying a phone and getting a car. That’s when I’d really begun drinking. I’d been within inches of giving up on my vengeance and then again on giving up on my own life.

No. I owed my family too much to ever even think about that.

I refused. Never again. Even if I died… No. No, I couldn’t die. I would not die before I had Vega’s head torn from his body and his heart crushed in my hand. That bastard would pay.

I’d find a way to get stronger. No matter what.

But first… kindness. It’s not like no one had ever shown me it before in this damn city but… but this wasn’t the normal level of kindness. Who was this old man? Why did he save me? Who even owns a healing tank? What did he want?

My thoughts went wild, ranging from a bountifully kind soul aiming to help me to a twisted devil aiming to use me. There was nothing but time and thought as I let the healing tank do its job.

*

*

*

Ding

Finally, right when I was considering whether the old man was secretly a family member who moved to the mainland a long time ago or a creepy old guy who rescued young naive men, the healing tank finally beeped and drained its fluid. For the first time in what felt like years but was only an hour, I took a breath of air, before promptly puking all the liquid out of my lungs.

Yeah, I hated that the first time too. Just like before.

I took a look around now that I was free and realized some important things. My whole body had felt like one massive numb bruise, so it was only now I realized… I was naked. In an old man’s basement. I’d be more worried if I hadn’t seen him- No. No, looks don’t matter on Vega. I have that stupid cursed ability to see power levels, why didn’t I pay attention? I could’ve seen what strength he had! Ugh. Stupidity like that was what nearly ended my life not more than a few hours ago.

The bare concrete walls of the basement told me nothing. The wooden chair, less. The clothes on it though…

Underwear, a white Gi, and a white belt.

Oh.

I’d gone from being forced into a gang to being rescued by a Dojo!

I winced.

Let’s hope this one goes better than last time…