[10:15]

The lightrail derailed as it was going too fast for a sharp turn. It flies out of the upwards tunnel and falls on its side onto the surface level of the city. The derailed light train sits in the middle of an intersection, and people nearby on the sidewalks look and record in awe. Luckily no car or person was harmed during the incident. Enough time had passed that it felt appropriate for the few of the thousands of bystanders nearby to approach the scene with caution. No one can see what's inside.

Suddenly a static noise is heard, and then a boom. The rail cart catches on fire, and part of it explodes. Civilians back up in fear, unable to tell what's happening inside. A white man with blonde hair steps out of the explosion that leaves a hole in the railcar's ceiling. He limps at first but then realizes he doesn't have the time to play injured and transitions to fast walking. He doesn't have a specific destination in mind. He only wants to escape. He has a trail of blood going down from his head, staining through his shirt. His eyes are widened and unable to blink, giving the impression that he saw a demon. A couple of people try to approach him with hospitable intentions, but he quickly ignores them.

Everyone then feels an instinctual feeling that holds them to their place, a rare feeling, often indescribable but can be felt when one is just a step away from a fatal departure. Spade does not freeze from this feeling, having already experienced it just recently. Rather, he further uses this as a sign to keep it moving. Then a tall man wearing a white gas mask steps out of the train through the fire. As he does, the dark red lens on his mask instantly burns into the minds of everyone watching. The unforgettable and universally recognizable man known for his infamy. He steps out of the wreckage, seemingly unharmed and undamaged. He casually walks at a consistently fast pace, following Spade. Everyone then runs away, breaking their paralyzing fears and making a break for it as if their lives are at a crossroads.

Two police officers come out and oppose him. There are more police officers around the scene, but they are too scared to do anything; their valor and duty force them to not run, but their will to live is greater. Therefore they don't do anything but watch as two of their peers oppose the masked man. Even with all the military-grade gear they wear and armed head to toe with weapons, they still yet to feel prepared to face such hostility. Hate doesn't bother to acknowledge the two who oppose right in front of him, so he continues walking, focused on pursuing Spade.

Cop 1- "GET ON THE GROUND!!!"

The cop is an older man with graying hair. He has enough bravery to point his pistol and yell those words despite it being pointed toward such a monster. His partner, a younger man, also points out his gun, but the two differ. It's clear that it was the old man's idea as he holds his gun tight without significantly shaking, opposite from his partner, who is not only shaking but is about to relieve himself. But on the inside, the old man is scared, and his heart can't stop beating so fast. Each time Hate gets closer and closer, the old man's heartbeat gets louder and louder, thumping hard against his lungs and pushing them against his rib cage. The old man then collapses from a heart attack as Hate is just a step away.

Cop 2- "Ah…Ahhhh… AAHH…"

As the younger cop started yelling in fear and was close to pulling the trigger, his head was gone. In just an instant, Hate quite literally wiped the cop's head off with a single swipe of the hand. The decapitated head is splattered in pieces, and blood is spread across the pavement. It was as if the man was hit to the head with a cannon. The lifeless, headless body makes its fall to the floor. One of the cops nearby, who's only watching, throws up and collapses. Another drops their gun, takes cover behind a car, and cries. Hate had killed a man and never stopped moving forward, his time interrupted, his movements inevitable.

Spade did not wait to see what was happening behind him and took the underground entrance nearby. His under thinking while under stress, is that the quicker he was out of Hate’s sight, the greater the chance he could live. He hurries with his limped leg but is unable to make enough progress to be out of range. People underground start screaming and running away as Hate finally makes his way down. Spade takes this as a sign that he’s yet to lose her persuade and makes a quick turn into an alleyway. When he first turned into the alley, he saw an exit. He then looks down and then back forward to see a dead end. He stops in disbelief, his breathing is uncontrolled, and he's unable to properly analyze the situation.

Spade- 'Am I hallucinating.'

He looks back at the way he came from, and no entrance is there either.

Spade- 'Fuck. I swear I just came in that way, how could it be blocked?'

No longer is he in an alleyway but in an underground, a poorly lit long room with no entrance or exit. He bends over, grabbing his knees trying to breathe in and out. He's about to give up, not knowing if he is safe or trapped. Suddenly a cold chill goes up and down his neck, pinching his spine a multitude of times. He slowly turns his head and sees Hate standing right behind him. Hate stands a whole foot and a half taller than him making him even more unbelievable.

Spade jumps back, putting some distance between the two. Sparks of electricity spark off his fingers, and Spade shoots them at the terrorist. Unfortunately, he misses entirely. It seemed as if Hate teleported or completely disappeared from Spade's sight. The electricity continues down the empty alley until it simply disappears into nothing. He feels a cold hand on his left shoulder, and his heart almost gives out. Spade looks to his left, seeing Hate's legs and eventually his whole figure standing over him.

Spade- 'How did he get next….'

Hate forcefully pulls on Spade's shoulder from the side, making Spade fall backward in front of him. Spade hits the ground hard, hard enough to knock both air and consciousness out of him. The man wearing the white gas mask picks up the unconscious and hangs him on the shoulder. Hate then walks towards the exit of the small alleyway, something that is no longer blocked.

[10:25]

Netherly Mech- "Good evening, I am a Netherly Mech. Since you have come specifically to me, you must be interested in becoming a fighter. Is that correct?"

Denarrow- "Uhh, yeah."

Ace found his way to the entrance to the Netherly Arenas. There, he talked to a robot and asked where he could become a fighter. Hence he was pointed toward another robot. Ever since the train incident just a half hour ago, he significantly picked up the pace, anxious to get into some action.

Netherly Mech- "Perfect. I will now perform the first phases of mandatory introductions. Welcome to Netherly Arenas. If you decide to sign up after my introduction, you will be Netherly contender number 5,920,441. Now use the screen on my robotic torso to sign up.”

Denarrow- 'Introduction is short. I like this so far.'

The screen placed on the robot's torso turns on and has a page for Ace to fill out personal information.

Name [First & Last]

*Title [Untitled]

Paradisian [Ex. Aquial] ▼

Age [19+] ▼

*Optional

After filling out his name, he skipped the Title section and moved to the Paradisian section. He pauses for a moment, wondering what to choose out of the many it provides him.

Denarrow- 'I'm not really supposed to, and there's no option for it anyways.'

He chooses N/A and then fills out his height and weight.

It takes a bit of time, particularly because he was stuck on the Title section. Next to 'Title' is a text box that says Untitled. When he clicks on the box, the word disappears, prompting him to write something. Ace is stuck trying to figure out what the section means and what he's supposed to put down.

Denarrow- 'Title as in name? But I've already filled my name out.'

He looks up and down the page and stares intensely in an attempt to understand what this means.

Netherly Mech- "You have not touched the screen in thirty seconds, are you having an issue?"

He speaks, hoping the robot can receive his voice and respond.

Denarrow- "What does a Title mean?"

Stolen story; please report.

Netherly Mech- "A Title is a competitor's name once they enter the Netherly Arenas. It is entirely ceremonial and optional, though you will be addressed by your real name if you leave it untitled. If you decide to pick a title, you will be addressed by said title and your real name will be unknown to the public."

Ace's eyebrows go down in curiosity.

Denarrow- "How unknown?"

Netherly Mech- "The names of all applicants are recorded and kept in the databases owned and regulated by the board of Paradise Combat and Recreation. This information is very well protected, not even federal agencies will be able to attain this information unless with a high level federal warrant and/or special permission from the PCR board. Does that answer your question?"

Denarrow- 'It would be a bother to use my real name and then people start to know me. Back home, it became a bother when everyone in the town knew who I was. So I'd prefer to start this new life quietly.' "Yes. My title…"

He looks at the empty box and ponders what to put down as his title. He thought this part would be easy but ends up blanking out. Resembling an excited kid desiring to tell their parents about something and then immediately forgetting what they wanted to tell.

Denarrow- 'What do I want to be called?'

He looks at the robot at first, sort of expecting it to be irritated that he's wasting its time. However, he quickly realizes the robot is a robot and practically has all day until its battery runs and doesn't have the patience of the average human.

Netherly Mech- "You have not touched the screen in five minutes and thirty seconds, are you having an issue?"

Ace then gives up and types the word Untitled, copying the box's empty word. He then takes a second look and then presses the confirmation button.

Denarrow- 'Why not? No one probably has it anyways."

Netherly Mech- "Perfect. Now requiring McID scan to authorize clearance to work and confirm identity."

Ace pulls out his newly acquired McID for the robot to scan with its camera sensor. Then the screen changes and has a line for a signature.

Netherly Mech- "Perfect. Please sign below and feel welcome to open and read over the conditions and terms of your loose contract with us."

Ace opens the conditions and terms, and a screen appears with too many words bunched together in a small font. Ace's mind instinctually rejects reading all those words, exits the tab, and signs his name.

Netherly Mech- "Perfect. Congratulations on becoming a contender in the Netherly Arena. Do you wish to be on the immediate waitlist for the next available pairing and match."

Denarrow- "Yes. Please."

Netherly Mech- "Perfect. Estimated pairing time, one hour and fifty-three minutes. Now that I mechanical droid #C-665 has got you started, it is time for me to perform the second phase of mandatory introductions. Follow me so we can get you started, contender. If your match begins during the second phase of mandatory introductions will come to an abrupt end and the responsibility will be on you to know what to do from here on out. And if you don't follow me for the second phase of mandatory introductions, the responsibility will be on you to know what to do from here on out."

Denarrow- 'This thing talks too much.'

The robot turns around and starts rolling away. The mech can be described as one big black and gray thumb. Its screen is shaped similarly to a fingernail on a thumb, and the overall robot is shaped like one. It's almost as tall and as wide as Ace. It balances and rolls on a metal sphere, and it has two mechanical arms equipped with tube-like arms and metal trash can pickers for hands. Ace follows the mech into the Netherly Arenas.

Netherly Mech- "The Netherly Arenas comprises of many competitors at all times of the twenty-four-hour day, three hundred and sixty days of the default year, and every year that my program can handle, there are fights happening. There are five underground arenas, two small sized, two medium sized, and one large sized. There are three different grades of fighting, low-grade, high-grade, and special-grade. Low-grade fights take place in the smaller arenas. High-grade fights mostly take place in the medium sized arenas. And special-grade fights mostly take place in the single large-sized arena."

As they moved around the underground building, Ace would see the arenas one by one. He compared small, medium, and large sizes to that of basketball courts. In the small-sized arenas, placed at the bottom of the Netherly Arenas, the space for fighting is shaped and as large as a halfcourt. The bleachers surrounding are of high school style; made of metal, no back support while sitting, and pretty hollow underneath. The walls, floors, ceiling, seating, and lights are white. It looks as if only no more than a thousand could occupy the room at once. While Ace and the robot were walking near the small-sized arenas, through the window walls, Ace could see no more than ten people in the stands, most of them doing something totally unrelated to the fight before them.

The medium-sized arena is of the same design but just bigger, with a fighting space similar to a full-sized basketball court, and the bleachers could have at least four thousand people in attendance. The medium arenas are placed in the middle, with the small arenas beneath and the single large above. Unfortunately, the large arena was unavailable to fully see due to cleaning. However, it could hold ten thousand people in attendance, and the fighting space is about four basketball courts big but shaped more into a square than a rectangular.

Netherly Mech- "In more detail, each grade of fighters comes with their own competition and environment. Low-grade fighters fight exclusively in the small-sized arenas and only against other low-grade fighters. Collected from a 2038 survey, most fighters comment that being a low-grade is similar to being of the lowest of the lower class. They need at least twenty wins in low-grade fights to advance to being a high-grade fighters. High-grade fighters fight exclusively in the large and small…."

Denarrow- 'My god, this thing talks a lot. I lost him after it said 'survey.''

Ace then gets in front of the robot's path, and the robot suddenly stops.

Netherly Mech- "Do you need assistance?"

Denarrow- "Am I a low-grade?"

Netherly Mech- "Yes. All newcomers to the Netherly Arenas are automatically processed as low-grade fighters. Low-grade fighters fight exclusively in the small-sized arenas and only against other low-grade fighters. Collected from a 2008 survey-"

Ace interrupts the robot again to avoid the lengthy presentation.

Denarrow- "How much is the pay?"

Netherly Mech- "The pay for each fight won as a low-grade is one hundred urodollars. Four hundred urodollars for a high-grade per fight. One thousand and two hundred UC urodollars for a special grade per fight. In a year, all grades are financially capped at specific amounts. Low-graders can only attain twenty thousand in one year, high-graders can-"

Denarrow- "Okay, do you know where the waiting room is for low-grade like me?"

It becomes clear that Ace is now done with the tour and wishes to leave urgently.

Netherly Mech- "Locker rooms for low-grade fighters are near small arenas. The signs hanging from the ceiling detail-"

Denarrow- "Thank you."

Ace leaves the robot to itself.

[15:35]

Olivia hugs her friend, cracking her back joints.

Brooklyn entered the class and sat next to Olivia; before then, the two had not seen each other since the night before, and shortly after they met up, the explosion happened. So when Olivia saw Brooklyn come in a minute late and very much alive in front of her, she was very ecstatic, which lasted through the whole class leading up to her hugging the life out of Brooklyn after class. The two stay behind as everyone else in the immense lecture hall leaves.

Olivia- "Oh my god I missed you, you're alive, oh my god it was all my fault. Please accept my poly."

Brooklyn- "I accept your apology."

She is clearly uncomfortable being hugged a little too hard, yet she is too nice of a person to even think of telling her to stop.

Olivia- "I know you do, but please accept me."

Brooklyn- "I've already forgiven you over the air. I forgive you."

She lets go of Brooklyn.

Olivia- "What happened?"

Brooklyn- "The explosion hit me unconscious and I was saved by a guy."

Olivia- "The Vicino saviour guy?"

Brooklyn- "Who's that?"

Olivia- "The man who saved twenty somethin people and then left without anyone except the cops seein him."

Brooklyn- "Yeah, I am pretty sure that's him."

Olivia- "You saw him then right?"

Brooklyn nods in response. Olivia's eyes opened wide, and curiosity swept her face.

Olivia- "Was he cute?"

Brooklyn- "He's handsome."

Olivia frowned. That's Brooklyn's response whenever Olivia asks that type of question. It did not matter if the person was ugly or sexy, man or woman. Meaning her answer was equivalent to saying, 'I don't know.'

Olivia- "What did he look like?"

Brooklyn- "Mister Ace is pretty tall and had black hair and-"

Olivia- "You know his name?"

Brooklyn- "I know the name of all my tenants."

Olivia- "He lives in your building?"

Brooklyn- "Last night, he needed a place to move in and-"

Olivia- "Wait, wait, wait… The Vicino saviour guy, Ace."

She pauses and then receives confirmation in the form of Brooklyn slowly nodding.

Olivia- "Ace… He's not your new roommate is he?"

Her voice went lower as she said the sentence showing that she already knew the answer.

Brooklyn- "Yeah."

Olivia- "Oh my god, fuck… What does he do, what, who is he? Is he nice? What is his name?"

Brooklyn- "Denarrow Beethoven Ace."

Olivia- 'Why does she know his full name? Who is this guy?'

Brooklyn- "He's from Alazka and he's thirty-seven."

Olivia - "What?"

Brooklyn- "Oh and he's good at fighting. He doesn't have a job so he's trying to earn money in the Nether."

She sat there looking at Brooklyn with a blank expression wanting to call her the meanest names that she knew would make Brooklyn cry.

Olivia- "You're telling me you let a guy who you and I barely know become your roommate. You're telling me you let a thirty-seven year old man originating five thousand miles away in Alazka live with you. You're telling me you made that man your tenant and he doesn't even have a job! He's a street fighter for change!"

There was a pause as Brooklyn took in everything her friend said. Then, with a straight face, Brooklyn answers her.

Brooklyn- "Yup, sounds accurate."