"i'm surprised I made it through that without a gag," Abraham muttered as he was forced to sit up straight in the chair.

He squirmed slightly and pulled on his restraints.

CRACK

Abraham quickly yanked his arm up and managed to break his wrist. He pulled even harder on his arm, but he couldn't quite slip out of the rope.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance and started to rub his wrist back and forth as quickly as he could. But whatever he was trying to do, his body regenerated as quickly as the ropes could damage it.

SQUELCH

The next moment, a sword sliced straight through Abraham. Split down the middle, both sides fell down to the ground as the chair was split too. But the ropes fell away as well.

The hollow king lifted up his sword and stumbled backwards as it rose over his head. Just before he fell onto his butt, a clawed hand reached out, and pressed onto his back to give him support.

"Ddddiiiidddd yyyooouuu kkknnnoooowww hhhheeee wwwwooouuulllddddnnnnn'ttt dddiiiieee?" Bakade asked as she finished helping the hollow king regain his balance.

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The emaciated monster let out a hiss of air, and Bakade nodded.

Abraham was still cut in two, but his left side started to twist and regrow on the ground, while his right side began to hiss and bubble.

In no time at all, he was whole again, but his suit was now cut in half, as a small pile of ash sat in the other half still on the ground. Abraham looked down at himself and shrugged as if his sparse clothing was as insignificant as the brand of matchstick used to light a fire.

"Finally up, huh?" Abraham said as he stood up and stretched his limbs.

"IIIIII hhheeeaaalll qqqquuuiiiccckkklllyyy." She said.

Abraham snorted. "A lot of people do apparently."

"Ddddoooeeeesss ttthhhaaattt hhhuuurrrttt?" she asked.

Abrahm shrugged. "I feel it, if that's what you mean."

"Aaaalll oooofffff iiitttt?"

He nodded.

Bakade seemed to think about this as she scratched the top of her exposed moose skull. The blue fire in her eyes focused in on Abraham as she seemed to get lost in thought.

Abraham eyed her back. He had a look of disgust on his face as he took her form in. "Born or turned?" he asked.

"Hhhhuuuuhhh?" Bakade asked as his words shook her from her thoughts.

"Were you born like that, or did some monster make you into that?" Abraham asked her as he walked over towards the closest cup. He picked it up and stared into it. Then, he lifted it up and held it up over his eye. Not a drop spilled, and he grumbled as he set it back down.

Bakade looked around, as if she was searching for an answer that would just appear in front of her. When nothing came, she said, "IIIII ggguuueessss tttuuuurrrnnneeeddd?"

Abraham clicked his tongue. "Punishment, willing, or just unlucky?"

"IIIII ddddoooonnnn'ttt uuunnndddeeerrrssstttaaaannnddd."

Upon finding another empty cup, Abraham slammed it angrily down onto the table and turned towards Bakade with a look full of pity mixed with cool rage. "People don't just turn into monsters. Some people trade humanity for power. Some get theirs ripped away as a punishment for a crime against the universe. And others are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Which are you?"

"IIII ssstttiiilll ddddoooonnn'tttt..."

With a quick twist of his body, Abraham threw the cup at her as hard as he could.

BANG!

A bullet hit the cup and knocked it off course. Somehow it managed to land right side up on a table where it spun around before it finally settled in place.

"Should have woken me up when you felt better." Sentenza grumbled as he held one hand over his stomach while his other held a smoking pistol.