Black rock - control room - morning

We've been tied up with our backs against the wall. They confiscated my bow-gauntlet, but I still have the darts on me. One of them is watching the monitor, and the other watches us, keeping an eye on us. Freaky thing is he's not even blinking. If we want to get out of here, we need to get rid of our watch.

"Blondie, I need you to do something," I whisper with my head hung low, avoiding eye contact with him.

"What would that be?" he matches my hushed tone

"If you don't want to do it, I'd understand why."

"Don't worry, you have my trust in you. I'll do whatever you say."

I... Damnit, he's doing it again! I mean, it's good he trusts me, but it's so unnerving how quick he is to trust someone.

"Okay, I'm gonna get me and the guy watching us out of here. You deal with the guard in here."

"I understand."

Right, now that's settled, time for the escape plan.

I stand from the floor, catching guard's attention. "Can I use the bathroom?"

"Sit back down," he barks, bringing out a dagger from his back pocket.

"I really have to go. My bladder is about to bust."

"You--"

"Before you tell me to go in my pants, do you really want to stay in the same room with the guy that pissed himself?"

The short fella reconsiders his words, realizing that a room smelling like piss ain't such a wonderful thing. Then, he turns to me with an annoyed expression. "Fine, let's go. No funny business, you here?"

"Loud and clear."

He leads me out of the control room. With no guards or prisoners around, we have the spiral to ourselves. These bindings are a joke, breaking out shouldn't be a sweat. And what do you know, it isn't, and my kind escort doesn't even suspect a thing. Sliding a syringe from my sleeve, I walk up to his back and jam the needle into his neck. He was too late to stop me. The tranquilizer is running through him. He flails around, trying to hit me with his puny knife, missing every chance he got. It doesn't take long for him to collapse to the ground.

"Takes care of that..." I know for a fact these morons didn't close the gate, and since the other guy is probably watching one monitor too many, it'll take time for him to spot me. So, might as well make my exit. "...Sorry, blondie, but I gotta do what I gotta do."

I walk over my unconscious escort, walking down the spiral. If things didn't go south, then I would've escaped with the others, but that ain't happening now. Too bad, I really did like all of them, but I guess this is where we part ways. Leaving him sucks and all, but in this world, those who rely on people die, and those who don't always come out on top. At best, you just work together, only to use the other It's the life I was dealt, so this is the only way I know...

"That's right, we're getting out of here and you're coming with us!"

It's the only way.

“Proxy… You still willing to trust me?”

“Course. Not like you tried to kill or anything, so we’re good.”

It's the only way to live.

“Chip, that sounds like such a lonely existence.”

It's the only I know how to live! It's...it's... It's the only way to protect myself; protect myself from being burned again. Trusting people, relying on them, putting faith in them...all of that stuff got me put in this shit hole! So I can't fall for it ever again, never again...!

“...I even told the Bison that you weren’t gonna bring a weapon. Kinda shitty, how a grown adult bets over a kid getting the shit beaten out of him, huh?”

What does it matter if it was shitty or not? He was a means to an end, so...

"You guys are acting so weird. Course we're getting out of here. I'm the one spearheading the plan, after all."

Huh? Was that...did I say that? That doesn't sound like me. Why would I say something brimming with confidence? That sounds nothing like me. Was it cause they believed in me? Course not! It's cause I got swept up in the moment. Alexander and Proxy are idiots, morons, idiots with hearts on their sleeves, too naïve to use others around them...and that's what makes them trustworthy.

A part of me knew that, but another part of me still couldn't bring itself to accept it. So I wanted to give them a reason to not like me, to distrust me. If I did that, I could at least use them with a clear conscious, but even then, I think it would still bother me...

"Guess I'm nothing but a coward. I'm such a loser."

I run back to the control room, cursing my pathetic behavior. We haven't been gone that long, so he doesn't know I'm free! When I get there, I’ll have to be as quiet as possible while I jam a dart in his neck. Might be a tall order, but if I’m quick enough, I might be able to do it. Just hope he hasn’t spotted me yet.

Reaching the control room, I fully expected to see the tall guy watching the monitor, but he’s on the floor. Blondie stands behind him, his bindings broken.

“Chip, did you take care of your guard?”

“Y-yeah. I did.”

“Excellent. I am happy that you are unharmed.”

The words slither out of my throat, hesitant to answer him. “...Y-y-you too.”

“Your plan of attack was ingenious. Separating them both was a nice plan of attack”

Of course, this is what I expected. He doesn’t even doubt me, not a single bit, and that goofy smile of his says it all. How can a guy like this exist in a world like this? I’ll never understand it…

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“Alexander, you’re a weird guy.”

Baffled by my words, he tilts his head, putting his hand on his chin. “...I am?”

“Yeah, but not in a bad way. Plus, Proxy’s weird as well, so–”

Wait, Proxy! What about him? I rush to the monitor, turning to the cameras that are watching the fight. The cameras show me him and the king fighting that old man. Not only that, but some of the prisoners from the deathrow part of the prison are leaving their cells, coming to the main part of the prison. This is a disaster!

“Listen, we gotta go get Proxy, the other has to tell Marie to get ready to bring the gondola around!”

“I will go get Proxy, and we shall meet you by the docs!”

“Alright, then let’s go!”

Wasting no time, we barrel out of the control room, speeding down the hall. If I can make it to the docs before anyone else even realizes that the main gate is open, then we can at least hold off anyone that comes for a little while until Alexander and Proxy get back.

Black rock - King's arena - morning

I had been dodging and attacking the old man for a while now. I’m not trying to do any damage, just staying out of his line of sight while letting throw as many attacks as he can. Old bastard isn’t getting winded or anything, he just throws punch after punch. Some of his attacks almost nailed me a few times. His attacks aren’t all that precise, but I still have to be careful for any tricks.

Maybe I should do a bit of damage, just to open him up for Gil. But where should I hit? Maybe somewhere low? Then it should be… Got it.

“Peep this, bastard!”

I drive my foot straight at his balls. That’ll do it… Huh? Eh? Why isn’t he in agonizing pain…? I’m sure I didn’t miss. Did I somehow?

“How predictable.”

He throws a straight fist. I bend back to avoid it, running back to get away from him. How the hell didn’t that work? He has to be a demon, nut shots hurt men like a belt to the ass, except worse!

"None of our attacks are working," Gil states the obvious.

"I know! Felt like I kicked a cinderblock."

"Don't run from me. Let us continue the fight!"

The old man sprints at us, kicking up the dirt below him with each step he takes. We jump out of the way of his attack. Synched, we strike him from both sides.

"Gah," the old man grunts, expressing pain through his face.

That felt weird. It’s like I was punching a normal person. Either his balls are made of steel, or there’s something I’m missing?

The old man’s hand whisks over my head, gripping it with a vise. An insane amount of pressure squeezes my skull, threatening to crush my brain with it. Desperate, I whip my foot into his face, trying to break his nose. Damn thing feels like a cinderblock again. Right when I gave him the shoe, Gil crushed his torso, helping me out of his grip.

“That kind of hurt that time, Gilhart.”

Play coy all you want, but I’m onto you, you old shit.

"Gil, when you punch him, does it feel like you're punching a rock?"

"No, why?"

Okay, if I think it means what I think it means, then…

"Gil, hit him with your strongest hit when I say so. Got it? Get all that anger in you and punch the ever-living shit out of him with it?"

He nods, slamming his fist into his other hand. "Got it, I'll do just that."

All right then, let's move! I run like the wind, not averting my course, just going straight at him. This old bastard humiliated me, messed with my head, even looked down at me, me…! But he was right about one thing. I’m in a new league full of players, so using my old wins as a trophy doesn’t matter any. I don’t even need those! All the strongest people here, I’ll prove it to them that I got what it takes. Even to that damn witch…!

"To be frank, the way you are now, you would die sooner than you would win a fight in this world."

I'll prove to that witch that I got what it takes to beat anyone's ass, starting now! A left jab is marked for my head, trying to land square against my forehead to rattle my brain. Child’s play. I shoot myself forward, using the front of my foot to lunge myself. This way, I can move ahead of his fist and duck without giving up my speed to dodge. Now I’m in his range, I do that! I dig my hand into my pocket. His eyes spot that, but I quickly took my hand out of my pocket, thrusting it to his chest. His reaction time is quick, having his other arm grab my wrist before my hand could reach him.

"You almost had me with that knife, boy, but it’s… What!?"

For the first time, that face of his takes on an expression I was dying to see; shock.

"Surprise!" I yell before sticking my tongue at him.

Gil was right behind me, his fist etching towards the old man's head. His head flung backward with the rest of his body. It was a direct hit.

Gil roars a battle cry, screaming his lungs out as he unleashed a tsunami of attacks on him. They were all getting through, each attack more violent than the last, bashing at the old man’s face. Blood sprayed the floor and a bit on my clothes. Gil, ready to finish this, pounds the ground with his foot, and arched his arm with his elbow behind his back. Then, taking a deep breath, going all-in with one mighty swing, he batters the old man square in the jaw. Flesh clapping flesh echoes across the arena, bones crushing bones rings in my ear, making my skin crawl at how disgusting it sounds. That one blow was enough to send him flying into the wall, pushing in the metal, which thunder a dull, thud sound.

"...Did I get him?" Gil asks, trying to catch his breath.

He wasn't getting up, so ‌he's down for the count.

“Holy shit…that was… AWESOME!”

The way he TKO’ed him was so goddamn awesome! Yeah, serves that douchebag right! Mess with us, you get the horns!

Suddenly, a loud ass alarm starts blaring, scratching into my ear. A red light blankets the room in its glow.

"What’s going on?"

“This is the emergency alarm! For a riot!”

Well, stuff certainly got more exciting.

“Proxy!” Alex, coming from the waiting room, calls over to me. “We must leave, now!”

Things are hitting the fan real quick.

“Let’s get out of here, then.” I turn to Gil. He’s staring at the old man, clenching his fist. “Gil, let’s go!”

He faces me, coming off as confused. “Go where?”

“Out of here. I’m leaving the prison. Come with me.”

“Proxy, I don’t know. There’s nothing for me out there. In here, I know what I’m doing, so–”

“Nope, not a chance!”

Taking his arm, I start dragging him to the exit.

“I– Proxy…"

"No time for mushy shit! I'm taking you with me, even if I have to drag you!"

So I did. Man isn't putting up a fight, but instead going along with it. Eventually, he starts walking for himself.

"...You really are forceful," he tells me, his smile betraying his words.

"That's me. Now come on, the outside world is waiting for us."

We run through the rest area, racing to the entrance before everyone else can flood the place. We met some crazies along the way, but Gil made quick work of them.

Reached the entrance, the guards that are already here fight off the inmates that are trying to go for the gate. It's closing, we just have to go. The three of us fight our way through. Reaching the guards, Gil throws an inmate at them, breaking their formation. We leap over the fallen guards, barely squeezing through the door before it shut behind us.

"Talk about close shaves. We almost turned into mincemeat."

"Let's keep going. If those gates open now, we might be in trouble," Gil says, helping me up from the ground.

"Yeah. But first, gotta get my stuff. What about you, Gil?"

"I don't think so. They probably threw my clothes out long ago."

"How long would that be?" Alex asks.

"Two years."

Two years!? Holy shit, I can't believe he tolerated this place for that long! I mean, it was fun being here, but come on. A guy needs grass to walk on, the wind to blow against him, and the sky to look at.

"Well, in any case, let's get you some new clothes then. I'm sure they got something in there for you," Alex reassures him.

"Okay, but let's hurry. They could open this gate any second."

Yeah, and something tells me that might happen any minute now, so we better be quick.