[09:12]

Ace would have to wait another couple of hours until his number would be called. Brooklyn didn't mind sitting inside with him as she was doing homework on her laptop at a concerningly fast pace. Her fingers pressing the keys on the keyboard make so much noise that other people in the building begin to look around hearing such noise. It took about 30 minutes for his credentials and picture to be inputted and for his McID and McPC to be printed and finally handed to him. He shows Brooklyn his ID, and she looks at it with amazement.

Brooklyn- "You're thirty seven?"

Denarrow- "Yes I am, born 2002."

Brooklyn- 'He looks younger than me. He's an old man, Olivia told me about them. Is he… A pervert?'

She looks at him

Brooklyn- "How do you look so young?"

Denarrow- "I uhh… Ate my fruits and vegetables."

It was clearly and obviously a lie, but it ultimately goes over Brooklyn's gullible sense as she now thinks he looks like a teenager because he ate healthy foods.

Brooklyn- "Hmm… I should probably move away from rice then. I need more apples and broccoli."

She took what he said to heart, and it could clearly be seen in her determined facial expression.

Denarrow- 'Did she really believe me?'

They walk out of the building and head towards the parked car. Once they enter, Ace buckles himself in. Then, as he waits for Brooklyn to do the same, he looks out the window and sees a digital billboard plastered on the side of a building. It advertises the Tournament For Paradise, which then reminds Ace of something.

Denarrow- "Mum."

The word sounds close to mom; however, it's intentionally supposed to be pronounced like ma'am but very fast and heavy on the vowel. She looks to the right, a little confused, and tries to confirm that he did call her that. He looks back at her, ensuring that he had indeed called her that.

Brooklyn- "Yes?"

She accepts the nickname.

Denarrow- "What are you doing for the rest of today?"

Brooklyn- "I have to do some homework and more errands? What bout you?"

Denarrow- "The Paradise tournament, is it here?"

Brooklyn- "The Tournament For Paradise, it's happening in a couple months I think."

Denarrow- "That's where you fight and win money right?"

Brooklyn- "Yeah but what do you mean by winning money?"

Denarrow- "I beat the dude and then get a couple hundred dollars."

Brooklyn- "I think you're thinking of the Netherly Arenas, that's more of a win and get money situation."

Denarrow- "I'm not supposed to do anything illegal. I forgot."

Brooklyn- "Are you a past criminal?"

Denarrow- "No I just forgot street fighting is a crime."

She looks at him, confused. On one side, how do you forget something as simple as street fighting is illegal? On the other side…

Brooklyn- "Street fighting in Midcity isn't illegal."

Denarrow- "Wut?"

He's expecting it to be a joke, but she doesn't seem like someone who could tell a lie.

Denarrow- "So you're telling me I can step out of this car and challenge that guy over there…."

He refers to a man defecating on the sidewalk.

Denarrow- "... to a duel of mortal combat and walk free."

Brooklyn- "You need a referee and spacial reservation, and if you wanted to kill him, papers must be signed. But the Netherly Arenas isn't street fighting, it's indoor fighting, and no one dies."

Denarrow- "Okay, where's that?"

Brooklyn- "It's down the street, it's not far. Ya want me to drop you off there. I heard the lower ranked fights have cheap tickets."

Denarrow- "Tickets to get in the ring?"

Brooklyn- "I meant tickets to watch, do you mean to fight?"

She looks genuinely intrigued. Ace truthfully nods. She gets a little excited and begins to look at him differently.

Brooklyn- "What's your Paradise Fruit ability?"

She looks at him, and he looks back. His lips then move to the side of his face, and his eyes look in the opposite direction.

Denarrow- "I don't have one."

A lie, a blatantly obvious one from his high soft pitch and cursed facial expression. Most people are able to see through that. Brooklyn is not most people.

Brooklyn- "If you don't have a Paradise ability, how will you fight?"

Denarrow- "I can fight."

Brooklyn- "With what?"

Denarrow- "My hands."

He is not lying, and there is a seriousness glimmering in his silver coined colored eyes. Brooklyn could tell he was truthful, but even she couldn't hold back the feeling of doubt. So she looks, raising one eyebrow.

Brooklyn- "I don't follow."

Denarrow- "I can fight with my hands and feet very well."

Ace knows her blank stare is warranted; anyone else would make the same face. How could a human without power fight professionally against a human with the power of a Paradise Fruit? It's a concept of familiarity, and the results are quite consistent; the lesser or the powerless lose. Anyone would question or not even take his statement seriously, well, anyone else at least. Brooklyn had a face of confusion and doubt, but upon looking at Ace's seriousness and determination, she fully believed in him.

Brooklyn- "Ok."

Her voice and face change. She has full, if not even more, trust in Ace's words. Ace is able to gain her trust with just half the truth, though it doesn't take much to convince the gullible.

Brooklyn- "I can drop you off at Netherly Arenas. But I have to get back to work so I can't stay to watch or come or pick you up whenever you're done."

Her words affected Ace considerably. It is the first time Ace has ever felt genuine interest and care from one's voice alone.

Denarrow- "That's fine, you have done a lot for me this morning that not a lot of people would do this for a friend, much less for a stranger. Thank you mum."

She nods and is a bit surprised.

Brooklyn- 'I didn't expect that side of him to be so gentle.'

Her face momentarily turns redder until she turns on the car and starts driving.

Brooklyn- "You have never been to this place, right?"

Denarrow- "Right. Is it an old football arena?"

Brooklyn- "Football?"

They arrive in front of the place. Brooklyn drives and parks the car in a five-minute drop-off zone. They both get out, leaving the vehicle's engine on. As he got out, he couldn't stop looking up at the colossal building in front of him. It's as big as the most prominent sports stadiums, shaped like an oval cylinder, and takes up space equal to six city blocks combined. Yet its circumference and radius are only a part of its entirety; it stands five hundred meters tall. If one were to vertically cut the building into six slices and stack the pieces on top of each other, the building would be the second tallest in the world behind Malti's Eclipson.

The building's surface is glass, and billboards display colorful and visually appealing advertisements. There is also a roller coaster-like transportation system present on the outside of the building. The rail is wrapped around the building like a snake around a twig, and two slow-moving train carts move in opposite directions. Though touring the city the day before might've been a "welcome to the big city" moment for Ace, upon seeing the outside of this colossal wonder, this was a "welcome to the future" moment.

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Brooklyn- "All you have to do is go in and head downstairs, past the train station, and…."

Denarrow- "I don't go upstairs?"

Brooklyn- "You're going to the Netherly Arenas, it's underground."

Denarrow- "Wait what?"

There's a sound of disappointment in his voice.

Denarrow- "What's this then."

Brooklyn- "This is Coliseum Tower. Underneath it is a train station and then Netherly Arenas"

Denarrow- "So I-"

Brooklyn- "Sorry Mister Ace, I gotta get going, I'm in the five-minute zone and the ticket-master is looking this way."

Denarrow- "The what?"

Ace looks up and sees a sign blatantly saying a 'five-minute parking zone sign'. He then tries to briefly read the page-worth of words on the sign below that outlines the loopholes, fines, and other stuff. He doesn't even bother to try and finish it as his head begins to hurt from just looking at all those small words crunched together on a single sign. He then looks over and sees a man with a yellow neon jacket glaring at the two with a ticket scanner device in his hand. Brooklyn softly pats Ace on the back and gets back into her car.

Brooklyn- "I hope for ya fortune."

She then drives off in a hurry. As she tries to merge into the busy street, she honks and aggressively drives for an open spot. Ace looks back and observes the building he's about to head into. It's the tallest and widest building there is around. Around him, there are crowds of possibly thousands of people walking in and out of the building. Like what Brooklyn had told him earlier that morning, everyone in the crowd seems busy and they trek from place to place without acknowledging each other or anything that doesn't concern their immediate path. He feels like an outlier as he's the only one standing and looking around.

He makes his way inside the building through the northern entrance. Inside, it's an escalator utopia. He had never seen so many stairs and escalators in one area, nor had he seen a curving escalator before. A site connects Coliseum Tower and the Netherly Arenas, Negative Station. A top-rated shopping center where all types of public transportation intersect. Such as the metro train surface and subsurface, the lightrail train he and Brooklyn took earlier, a sky tram, the bus, and the underground ferry, which works on transporting people through the underground sewers. Cleaner and not as smelly as one may expect.

He walks forward and looks out into the empty space that fills the middle of the shopping center. There are about ten levels to the cylinder-shaped market, stores and restaurants of all types filling up the sides, and indoor balconies for walkways. Additionally, advertisements are digitally displayed across escalators, implanted in the floors, floating in the air, sliding up, down, left to right, and vice versa without attaching to anything. It's Ace's first time seeing a hologram in person.

There is so much going on visually and audibly that Ace doesn't know what to be fixated upon. Ace approaches an object that displays maps similar to the tourist maps he encountered downtown. With six different maps to look at to intentionally help with directions around the building. He was surprised that no one was looking at the maps at themselves until he actually started analyzing them.

Denarrow- 'What the fuck.'

The maps are digital and have touch screen ability, meaning Ace could move and rotate the map however he likes. If not touched in a while, they would automatically rotate to what Ace was seeing. These map outlines are not your average two-dimensional lines; they are three-dimensional maps with the outline of Midcity's entirety and its entire upper and lower ground expansions. Rather than looking at a flat model that a regular city will present, even if three-dimensional, it's more like looking at a giant blob with a complexity of levels, layers, words, and key symbols.

He heard that Midcity had an advanced underground expansion, but this was incomprehensibly insane. Midcity can virtually be envisioned as three metropolises stacked upon each other. A vision the map attempts to replicate. He moves on to the following map only to find it somewhat similar, except with lines running through it, lots of lines of all different colors, and letter-numbered codes. The previous one was just the standard city map.

Denarrow- 'No wonder why no one else is using this right now, I can't even understand it.'

Indeed, though Ace has never been the smartest cookie in the jar, the map is quite complex, and to many, it's a dream or nightmare for any city planner or architect. Though unanimously and absolutely hell for any tourist or any newcomer. As he looked through the maps, he could tell people were beginning to make quick glances at him, glances that were of disgust or cringe. Though he doesn't feel insulted, he starts to feel he is making a mistake. An older man nearby observes him is one of the many giving off disgusted glances. He stands doing nothing but playing phone games while wearing a neon green/yellow worker’s vest. He finally decides to do something and goes to Ace.

Ted- "What ya doin bruh?"

Ace turns to him, and right before he's about to speak, he's cut off.

Ted- "Name is Ted, I'm a helper, it's a job so don't think I just do this for free, ya touree?"

Denarrow- "Huh?"

Ted- "Course you are or you're just new here. But either way, don't touch any public touch screens in this city, they dirtier than Oswall's hole. Second, don't bother reading dis shit, not even people born n raised here know what dis shit says or means. Hell, it's my job to know dis and I still don't understand. I don't help they keep on updatin dis shit too. But where ya ass need to go young man because you look embarrassin from where I was standing?"

Denarrow- "Netherly Arenas." 'Damn I thought her accent was lowkey hard. I can barely understand this guy.'

Ted- "Maaaan you damn near there, da hell you lookin at dis for. You go straight downstairs. Take the express vator to the lowest floor it can go, drop you off right at the entrance. You wanna go down further, you gotta take another elevator."

Ace pulls out a single urodollar worth in value and holds it in front of the man.

Ted- "Ion want dat."

Denarrow- "You said you get paid."

Ted- "Yeah I work here, I got a salary, I am paid to help lost people like yo ass out bruh. And dat ain't even worth anythin and it's paper. Wastin my mother fuha damn time with a goober like you."

The man leaves, and Ace gets a little irritated at how he was treated.

Denarrow- 'Who hires people just to give directions, asshole.'

[09:51]

Spade Stone loosely holds onto the train handle above. Even though he knows he shouldn't be touching such a thing for sanitary reasons, he can't maintain his balance while looking closely at his phone. He's also tired. At this time of day, the surface train isn't stacked with people wall to wall. So he stands comfortably without having to be shoulder-to-shoulder with anyone else, in the middle of the rail car.

Spade- 'Breya must be waiting for me.'

In his head, he speaks the Rosiyan language and has a strong Rosiyan accent when he talks in Inglish.

Spade- 'I hope Leya is too. It feels like I haven't seen them in a long time.'

He spent the last few days working an excessive eighteen to nineteen hours, only going home for what most people would call a nap. But, at this point in the day, he wants to be home either asleep or in the comfort of his family.

John Halls- "Good morning Spade Yutov."

Spade- "Who…"

He turns around seeing a taller older man standing in front of him. The old man has laid back black hair , it is long enough for it to touch his shoulders, a sharp beard, and his eyes are hazy blue with pupils, which throws Spade off even further. He wears a black long sleeve shirt and black sweatpants. His clothes clearly look like they belong to someone who has good money. Though Spade has no interest.

Spade- "Are you talking to me?"

John- "Don't play this game with me, Mister Yutov. I'm too old now for frivolous games."

Spade- "I don't understand what you mean. If you don't mind sir, I'll be minding my own."

John- "That's fine, it's too much of a risk for me to be here anyways. I just wanted to see you with my own eyes. You will be the one, I am sure of it."

Spade- "Huh?"

He looks at his phone, turns around, and continues to look at his phone, pretending to go on social media. John walks away and leaves at the next train stop. Spade looks up to confirm if the man is really gone and ends up looking eye to eye with him. John stands outside the lightrail and looks deadeye at Spade through the window. He does not have a weird or creepy face. He's solely looking, though regardless, it creeps Spade out. The vehicle then moves once again, leaving John Halls behind.

Spade- 'Weird man?'

Minutes later, the train comes to its next stop. As the train's doors slide open, the sounds of screaming can be heard. Everyone on the train looks the same way seeing a tall figure in an all-black militaristic outfit. He stands tall, wearing a white gas mask with red eye lenses. Everyone in the railcar collectively feels their hearts drop synchronal. The natural instinct upon seeing a stop sign is to stop. One does not even have to read the word "stop" in their head. Upon seeing the world's most dangerous man, Hate, the natural instinct is to run. An instinct that could possibly be genetically embedded within every human. In just the past century, he is the second most talked about figure in the world, more than any other person in the history of mankind second to the King. The Western and Eastern worlds know of him by heart. Specifically, Uropeans like Spade know Hate by instinct.

Spade just stands, gripping the strap above, unable to let go. Hate turns his head inhumanly, looking straight at Spade from down the car's hall. Everyone in on the railcar leaves except for Spade, who feels his limbs freeze in place. His mind and body tell him to move, but a strong notion in the back of his mind paralyzes his body to a standstill. He feels as though if he moves, he will someway and somehow die. The terrorist, in a calming way, walks directly towards Spade, ignoring the fleeing passengers. Spade feels the pressure of death walking towards him as he stands frozen. Unable to look away and move. Until the doors shut, his body is released. The rail car starts moving, and only the two of them are on board.

With nowhere else to go, Spade runs away from the approaching Hate to the front of the railcar to find the operator. He breaks into the operator's room door only to find a dead man in the chair. His death looks to be caused by a single bullet to the forehead. He then turns his head seeing Hate slowly taking steps and getting closer to him every second. He looks back at the dead operator and then at the ceiling. His heart is racing, and his mind is beginning to go blank, running out of ways to survive. His mind then goes completely empty, and he resorts to instinct. Then, right on cue, as the speeding lightrail heads underground, the sound of electricity crackling nearby.

[10:12]

Ace goes down the escalator and reaches the bottom of the shopping center. He couldn't find the elevator, so he attempts to find his own way, albeit a long way. At the bottom of the shopping center, the transit station consists of lightrail tracks and people waiting on the sides. He steps and walks toward the edge of a train track's safety boundary.

Small bridges over the rail retract when a train comes and expand to connect when nothing is coming so people can cross the rails safely. As Ace is about to cross one of them, the bridge's glass gates suddenly close on him and a few others walking behind him, and a red light with a semi-loud buzzer goes off. He stands at the edge of the walkable area beside the rail space.

Suddenly a screeching sound comes from one of the train tunnels. He takes notice, and then a lightrail train that is supposed to start slowing down comes speeding through, scaring the people closest to the edge. Everyone except Ace is frightened and loses their balance, backing or falling away from the edge.

While it passes, Ace is blinded by a gust of wind forcing him to blink, but one microsecond later, he looks through the lightrail’s window and sees a tall man with a white gas mask. His enhanced eye vision allows him to look at the entirety of the masked figure rather than it being a simple blur. For about four microseconds, the two make eye-to-eye contact. However, the train keeps moving at high speed, eventually interrupting their brief moment of visual exchange.

In just two seconds, the train is gone and on its other way. Ace looks blatantly ahead, trying to come to terms with what he just saw. He then smirks when he realizes who he was looking at. A sudden feeling comes to him and takes over his attention and mind. It's pumping his blood faster and making him excited. He can't control his facial expression; thus, he uncontrollably smiles with teeth in response. Less than a second of visual interaction and Ace had felt a limitless thirst for action.

Denarrow- 'This is just getting better and better.'