[21:45]

In the upper arena, a fight is going to commence soon. A fight between two special-grade fighters. As the stands fill up with the expectancy of maximum occupancy, the anticipation builds up. This event takes many people's attention from all other forms of entertainment and all other matches happening simultaneously.

In one of the suites, a man wearing an all-black gentlemen's suit with a green tie, white skin, short blonde hair, and blue eyes sits alone. He's sitting with his arms crossed as he looks out at the ring below. Then a man in a wheelchair breaks his solitude. The middle-aged man rolls his wheelchair next to the green-tied man.

Veno- "Nice to see the hospital hasn't kept you in bed all day, though that was probably recommended."

The man in the wheelchair has a cast on his left leg and a sling on his left arm. He smirks at Veno's comments, but the smirk immediately goes away.

Handu- "Veno Vego, I found us a score."

His head turns, looking Handu straight in the eye, grinning, expecting to hear some nonsense.

Veno- "Da hell you talking about?"

Handu- "Have you ever heard of Sin?"

Veno- "Can't say I have."

Handu- "But you do know about the Eyes of the Demon."

Veno's attitude had changed in an instant.

Handu- "Ha, got you interested now, don't I?"

Veno- "Continue."

Handu- "They say those with the Eyes of the Demon or Devil, those with the pitch black eyes, are the strongest in the world. Therefore, they sit at the top of the world."

Veno- "I know what you're talking about, what's your point?"

Handu- "Last night, I was saved by a boy with pitch-black eyes. Though I was in-and-out of consciousness, once I saw his eyes, I sobered from my pain. I have never seen this boy before. Nothing is known about him; I checked all morning and nothing. If we find him, we can-"

Veno- "If, if, if, if. I believe you saw him. But finding him is definitely an if. It'll be difficult if he has that type of power and is staying in Midcity-"

Handu- "He’s the Vicino saviour."

Veno's eyes open wide as he gets what his partner is talking about.

Handu- "One of my sources who's currently at The Middle, for some reason, said Nami Vince knows something about it, the reporter if you remember."

Veno- "Yeah, da cute one but she’s..."

There is an awkward pause.

Handu- "Anyways, they said Vince is investigating this stranger for us. Until then, hopefully shortly, she'll lead us to him."

Veno- "Firstly, for this to work, you're putting a lot of trust in Miss Vince. Secondly, this is hoping that Hate doesn't kill her during the meantime."

Handu- "Hassen also sights on me as well."

He moves his injured arm with the sling around to further prove his point.

Handu- "I bet that I'll be going out first before her."

There is a pause of silence. Handu looks at Veno, who looks out at the ring where the match is about to begin.

Handu- "So you in?"

Veno- "On the score? Yes, I'm in, just don't die in the meantime."

[06:15, 04/13/2040, The Next Day]

Nami- "I was supposed to be on this story when it would come out."

Chief- "You're on the Vicino saviour story though."

Nami- "Bullshit, ain't no one gives a flying fuck over this story, just leave the guy anonymo."

Her Yorke accent starts coming out as she gets more frustrated.

Chief- "You put yourself in this situation."

Nami- "You put YOURSELF in this situation. Too much of a coward to hold national security secrets to YOURSELF. Dragged me into that situation thinking I could just stand by as the anti-Khrist hides in the most densely populated city this planet has ever seen."

Chief- "You promised to keep quiet."

Nami- "I ain't never promise a damn thing. I didn't say a word and I only nodded because I was about to have a heart attack when you told me that thing was in the Mid. So that whole shit was on you. I deserve to be on this story, you screwed me over and replaced me with the zero."

Chief- "Her name is Lila."

Nami- "You couldn't even put Sia or Mika on the story, but Lila?!?!"

Chief- "Like Sia and Mika and you, they are busy with their own stories at the moment."

Nami- "I quit."

Chief- "You can't, I have your sig a thousand times over on that contract, and that's been copied a thousand times over too."

There's a pause as the chief editor lets Nami cool down for a second as she turns red and gets more emotional every second.

Chief- "So here's the thing, I will look over your temper tantrum you just had and also take the blame for what I did earlier. I will also give you a chance to get on the story, a co-author story if I may put it. All you need to do is hand me the Vicino saviour story and you got a deal."

Nami- "Perfect, I'll hand it in by the end of today."

[06:35]

Ace jumps over his opponent, going through the air upside down. As Ace is in the air, his opponent moves his fingers, closing them into a fist, a hand sign that says "come here". Suddenly Ace stops in the air upside down and is gravitationally pulled toward his opponent. Ace's opponent is looking to decapitate him using a sword of his own. Once Ace is within swinging distance of the sword, he reacts by pushing the blade down with his hand causing his opponent to miss his swing. As Ace is still flying forward, he grabs his opponent's head and twists it, snapping the neck. The gravitational effect then turns off, and Ace drops to the floor, landing on his hands first before rolling onto his feet.

Denarrow- 'That was pretty cool.'

The lifeless body drops hard to the ring's floor and starts disappearing.

Denarrow- 'Gravity's not my thing though.'

His digital screen pops up, signaling that he has won once again.

Title: Untitled

Paradise: N/A — N/A

Record: 25 - 0

Current Streak: 25

Longest Streak: 25

Match Starts in: Waiting for the next fighter…

Want to end?

Denarrow- 'I'm not waiting for another person and twenty five is a good number to stop on.'

Nine hours of fighting only earned him twenty-five opponents, twenty-five matches, twenty-five wins. This is a very rare occurrence. Not only did he win twenty-five matches straight, but he only played twenty-five matches in nine Hours. Usually, matches come and go five-six times an hour, meaning on a usual day, he should have fought near or at least double what he did in the past nine hours.

Denarrow- "Finally broke a sweat."

He touched his arm, feeling a tad of wetness.

Denarrow- "How is there sweat in a digital world? Wait, am I digitized too? Nevermind, I'm not going to tackle those questions."

He presses the 'Want to end?', and after confirming he wants to leave, he slowly disappears. He opens his eyes to a familiar room and instantly notices that he's wearing his regular clothes, and he slightly smells off. To his left, the same Ƶ-Operator from earlier is asleep at the desk. Ace gets out of the glass pod and walks over to the sleeping operator. The operator's phone is standing against the wall displaying a cartoon show seemingly made for little children singing nursery rhymes. Ace cannot distinctively hear the cartoon as the operator is wearing wireless headphones, but he reads the subtitles and sees little 2D girls harmlessly dancing and stuffed animals floating around the screen. Ace pauses the video and sees the operator is eight hours in the ten-hour video.

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Suddenly the operator wakes up and then immediately realizes the situation. His arms scramble loosely as he tries to cover his phone. At the same time, he hits his keyboard, accidentally changing the screen on the computer. Just previously on the screen, it displayed the results of Ace's outstanding twenty-five to zero run through the Netherly Arena. Then when the operator woke and touched the keyboard, the screen exited out of his results and went to its regular display.

Ƶ-Operator- "Oops, sorry about that. The night shift hasn't always been my thing. But anyways, sorry you lost. It happens to everyone. But let's see what you got. And sorry I was asleep. It gets late sometimes."

Denarrow- '” didn't….”

Ace ended the effort to correct the operator midway, deciding to not care enough. He looks at the computer screen displaying the Ƶ-Simulator’s temperature and other maintenance stats. The operator clicks around and opens a page filled with all the previous fighters, well almost all. The Untitled should be at the top since he was the latest one, but rather it is the opponent Ace had defeated. The Ƶ-Operator, without second checking, clicks on it despite it not actually being Ace.

Operator- "Damn, only six wins, and one loss. What time is it? Almost seven, almost ten hours, almost my whole shift, and you only fought six times. That's crazy. I know the Hawk and Rock fight would have taken a lot of views but damn…."

He then exits the screen.

Denarrow- 'I don't think that was correct, but I don't care at this point.'

Ƶ-Operator- "And before you leave, the money is directed straight to your Midcity bank. Finally, hope ya come again. It's the only way to get better."

Ace leaves the room and exits through the locker room.

Denarrow- 'I didn't see my name on that screen. I wonder why… Nevermind, I don't really care why. I'm tired, and as long as I get the money, I'll be fine. I should be set for this month's rent and maybe the next. One hundred times twenty-five, two-forty? No, that doesn't sound right. Add a zero, twenty-four hundred. No. Twenty-three hundred? No. Twenty-five times one hundred… I don't know, but I think I'm good. Anyways, how do I get back to the Hotel?’

He grabs for his phone and attempts to turn it on to use the GPS. Then a vein appears on his forehead out of annoyance.

Denarrow- ‘And my phone's dead. This is great. This is fucking great.’

He stands in the middle of an almost empty lobby, not knowing where to go next.

[07:45]

Nami stands in the middle of the first floor. She looks around as if it is her first time ever seeing the first floor of the renowned Holladay Hostel. The building's architectural appearance and how it stands as a colorful outlier to the rest of the city produce most of the building's local fame.

Nami- 'The Royce daughter actually lives and works here. Hmm… I heard she works da place by herself. I didn't believe so but there doesn't seem to be any employees around. If so, she really takes care of dis place.'

Out of the elevator, five old Hispanic women who all look the same step out. When they step out of the elevator, loud and chattering, Nami sees little Brooklyn following closely behind them partaking in the conversation.

Old Quintuplet 1st- "Thank you again for fixing that fridge youngin."

Brooklyn- "Yeah no problem."

Old Quintuplet 3rd- "No for real, thank you so much. We didn't know whether we was going to come home and everything in the fridge would be spoiled."

Old Quintuplet 4th- "When you gonna hook us up with your hot roommate?"

Old Quintuplet 2nd- "Hot roommate?"

Old Quintuplet 5th- "You didn't hear from Mrs. Miyagu, she says he the real milkman of our times."

Old Quintuplet 3rd- "Ayoo, I ain't hear all that."

Old Quintuplet 4th- "On god, when she say that?"

Old Quintuplet 1st- "It don't matter. I don't know bout y'all, but no matter what, he serves more than dinner and dessert. I'm having myself all four meals today, hehehe. Cookies and milk, hehehe…."

Old Quintuplet 5th- "There only supposed to be three meals in a day."

Old Quintuplet 2nd- "If you don't shut yo smart ass up. You know what she means."

Brooklyn breaks off from the quintuplets; they don't even notice as they continue to chat their way out the door. She then approaches Nami.

Nami- 'She's really beautiful in person, wish I could be young again, or younger, I still am.'

Brooklyn- "Do you need help with something?"

She says it so politely and innocently looking that it catches Nami lost for the first word.There’s not many nice people in the city.

Nami- "Um-um… Oh uh, I was curious… Sorry, let me start over."

Brooklyn doesn't flinch or do anything. But rather, she stands and looks at Nami patiently.

Nami- "Wednesday night, you were at Vicino when the explosion happened, correct?"

Brooklyn- "Yeah."

Nami- "You met the saviour guy, also correct?"

Brooklyn- "Who?"

Nami- "A guy that night saved about twenty lives and then left before a single journalist or camera could get to him. I learned from Captain Jacks that he went with you after the incident."

Brooklyn- "Oh Mister Ace, the Vicino saviour. What about him?"

Nami- "Does he live here? And is he here right now?"

Brooklyn- "Yes and probably not. He was out all last night though. But I have been working on a couple work orders so I don't know if he came back or not. Wanna check upstairs if he's here?"

Nami- "Sure."

Brooklyn- "Oh yeah, how rude of me, my name is Brooklyn Royce, yours?"

Nami- "Nami Vince."

Brooklyn- "The Golden Hold journalist?"

Nami nods yes.

Brooklyn leads Nami to the separate staircase on a journey to the top floor.

Nami- 'God damn, where does that elevator even go then?'

Her legs are beginning to get tired, and she begins to break a sweat just one floor away from finishing. She tried to match Brooklyn's pace and energy initially but unfortunately could not keep up. Brooklyn now waits for Nami at the top as she wills herself up the stairs.

Brooklyn- "You're the journalist that usually does organized crime, right?"

Nami- "Affirmative."

Brooklyn- "Is Mister Ace part of a gang then?"

Nami- "Not that I know of."

When Nami finally reaches the top, Brooklyn opens the door to the room. Inside, Olivia is working at Brooklyn's desk on her side of the room. Brooklyn had momentarily forgotten she had left Oliva in the room this morning. She had stayed overnight to meet this saviour of a roommate.

Brooklyn- "Oh yeah I forgot, my friend Olivia been here since last night. She might have seen him come through if was here last night.”

With headphones on, she's unaware of what's happening as she is locked in on her homework. She then looks to her left, wanting her water bottle, which enables her to see the two of them. She instantly recognizes Nami Vince standing next to Brooklyn and takes off her headphones.

Nami- "He's not here."

The empty side of the room is vacant, no man in sight.

Olivia- "You're Nami, right?"

Nami- "Affirmative. Hi, Olivia, how are you?" 'Small city.'

Olivia- "I'm doing fine. But you're here for the Vicino saviour guy?"

Nami- "Uhh… Yeah, have you seen him?"

Olivia- "Not yet, he's the reason why I'm here though. He's her new roommate."

They both look at Brooklyn, who awkwardly smiles.

Nami- "He’s a new roommate? Is he new to the city?"

Olivia- "Literally just spawned out of nowhere on Wednesday night."

Brooklyn- "He's been gone for almost a whole day at the Netherly Arenas."

Olivia- "Allegedly trying to collect rent money."

Nami can see some of the red flags that Olivia first saw when first hearing about this man, but she just isn't curious enough to address them out loud.

Brooklyn- "He should be back before this afternoon, I can let you know if you pass the digits."

Nami- "That's okay, I already got your digits thanks to an article I was doing at the time, you were close to being in it."

Brooklyn- "Oh."

She turns and smiles at Olivia feeling a bit special of herself.

Nami- "Before I go and possibly come back later or tomorrow, any other details you can give me about him? Nothing too personal but just-"

Olivia- "He's thirty-seven years young."

Nami's eyebrows go down, and she looks at Brooklyn, who doesn't flinch. She looks back at Olivia, who's deeply serious.

Nami- "Your roommate is a guy that old? He's older than me by almost a decade. Almost two decades for you."

Brooklyn- "Yep."

She then smiles with a thumbs up.

Nami- "Ok…" 'Maybe she likes older men….'

Suddenly Nami feels the urge to know more while simultaneously wanting to leave it at that, scared to find out what would be the next thing to hear.

Brooklyn- "He's been at the Netherly Arenas for a long time now, hope he's not in trouble or got lost."

Nami- 'This would be great as a gossip story, 'random old man sleeps in the same room with the Brooklyn Royce'.’

Brooklyn checks her phone and goes into her contact list only to see that his phone is unavailable due to lack of charging or probable damage.

Brooklyn- "His phone is dead."

Nami- "If he's not here, I'll head out and come back later if that's fine with you."

Brooklyn- "Of course, you're welcome back anytime."

Nami- "Word."

Miss Vince goes back down the stairs.

Nami- 'That was disappointing, this Vicino saviour story is going to get old and forgotten by the time I meet the guy.'

She steps outside the building, and her phone starts buzzing in her pocket. She looks at the caller id seeing the word Detective. She blinks, and her eyebrows go down as she's stunned at the caller. She slowly answers and puts the phone next to her ear.

Nami- "Hello?"

Detective- "Miss Vince, I hear you're working on the Vicino saviour story."

Nami- "How did-"

Detective- "I'm a detective, it's in my best interest for me to know."

Nami- "And why would it be in your best interest to know?"

Detective- "The name of the Vicino saviour is Denarrow Ace, he stays at the Holladay Hostel with the young Royce girl."

Nami- 'Didn't know his full name, Denarrow's a… different name.'

Detective- "Did that help at least?"

Nami- "Besides his first name, I've already visited the Hostel and he's temporarily gone. I was going to come back later. So why are you trying to help me?"

Detective- "Well I need you to be free so you can focus on what I got in store for ya."

Nami- "Which is…?"

Detective- "Let's just say it's a lot of shit. Whenever you can in the next forty-eight, meet me at the AHA tower. That's all."

The detective hangs up before Nami can even fully process his words.

Nami- "My life only gets harder and harder because of this nobody, Denarrow Ace. Hmm…"

As she starts to walk away from Hostel, Ace walks right past, neither looking at each other nor acknowledging their existence. Ace goes into the Hostel. Brooklyn, who's busy in the downstairs office, isn't able to see him pass through. He goes upstairs, throws his phone on the bed, gets into bed, and immediately goes to sleep, completely ignoring the unfamiliar woman in the room. After staying up for more than twenty-four hours straight and having an overall rough month for sleep, he no longer cares about anything else. Olivia, busy with homework and with headphones on, didn't even notice his presence as he walked in and fell onto his mattress.