“Okay, okay,” Johnson rolled his eyes and put his hands up defensively, “Don’t get your panties in a knot,” to which Jonas replied with a gesture of his two middle fingers.
“Johnson, you can see what Jonas means, can’t you?” Simon asked, and Johnson glared at the youngster while nodding his shaggy head.
“We don’t have to consider Wolf in the worst-case scenario because the plan doesn’t even happen unless Jonas is strong enough to kill him," said Johnson, "That's not my issue. My issue is the fact that Yotama Yuki is using Jonas to do her bidding, and this is a half-baked plan based on a teenager killing a fully grown Sinner. Excuse me for being skeptical."
“That's fair enough," Simon nodded, "I happen to agree with you. However, you're forgetting something, the reason why you're wrong," these words made Johnson narrow his brow. It seemed like Simon had a way of getting through to both his friends, and the two of them had stopped bickering, so they could listen.
"Go on," Johnson sounded impatient, "Tell me what I'm missing?"
"Regardless if Yotama Yuki approached Jonas, this was all bound to happen anyway. Jonas would still try to kill Wolf, and he'd still try to escape. I would say that Jonas has benefited from this turn of events. Instead of it just being him against the world, he's got an alliance with both Yuki and Ahmed, and this makes things easier for him."
"Mm," Johnson mumbled, and they could tell he was deep in thought. "I didn't see it like that. You're right though, Jonas was going to eventually try and escape, and all the problems he'd face by himself, he now faces with another top-five fighter," he sighed and glanced at Jonas, "Sorry, bud," to which Jonas dismissively waved a hand.
"No worries, I know you have my best interest at heart," after cooling down a bit, Jonas was able to see that Johnson's reaction was due to love.
“So what? We kill Brow, Wolf, and Garth beforehand,” said Johnson, "Then deal with Howard Hurts and Thomas Vale as we fly the coop," he made a funny face like he was hoping they would catch the hidden meaning—they did.
"I can kill Wolf and get away with it as long as they believe I have the talent to be stronger and more productive than him. However, I just don't see a scenario where I can kill Garth or Brow, and not earn the wrath of Howard Hurts. They need to be taken care of much later," as Jonas spoke, both Simon and Johnson nodded their heads.
"Agreed," said Simon, "Once you're a top-five fighter, you'll have a lot more opportunities and resources available to you. You'll also have the awe and respect of the other fighters, which means our plan can increase in scale."
"That's true," Jonas hadn't thought of the escape plan consisting of anyone other than top-five fighters and his closest allies. There was an entire army of small-time fighters that he could use against his enemies. No matter how strong the two leaders were, they couldn't contend against dozens of Sinners attacking them all at once."
“Where do we come in?" Johnson asked, "We can't fight guys like Garth or Howard Hurts, how would we contribute?"
“No one said we had to fight top-five fighters,” Simon's voice was reassuring, “We’d be leading a revolution, which means we would have to take out the guards and free the other slaves, all while causing as much mayhem as possible.”
“Hell yeah,” said Jonas, “While me, Ahmed, and Yuki would be fighting the top dogs, you three would be leveling this place to the ground.”
“Which three?” Johnson asked, “Me, Simon, and who?”
“Ralph.”
“Fuck!” Johnson looked close to starting another argument, “Another variable. Did you forget that the friendly giant once worked for the guy you're going to kill? And now you want to trust him with an important mission," Jonas clicked his tongue in obvious frustration.
“I understand that Hell has given you trust issues,” Jonas huffed, "It's given all of us trust issues. However, that's not an excuse to stop making friends or to throw away new relationships. Whether it's Ralph or Yuki, they've both shown me that they're worth taking a chance on. You might disagree with me, but I believe that there is goodness in both of them. If you can't trust them, at least trust me," Jonas sounded sincere, and it made Johnson's skepticism waver. It wasn't long before the shaggy slave exhaled a deep breath and nodded his head.
"I trust you. I don't trust them. We do things your way, but if either of them shows any signs of being a traitor…" Johnson trailed off.
"We'll drop them, I promise, Erik,"
“Fuck,” said Johnson, “Don’t start calling me Erik, it sounds weird.”
“It does sound kind of weird,” Simon agreed.
“Anyway,” said Johnson, “You’re my friend, and I’ll go through Hell and back with you."
“Have I led you astray yet?” Jonas raised an eyebrow.
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“No,” Johnson shook his head, “You haven’t.”
“Of course, he hasn’t,” said Simon, “And nothing is set in stone yet, so there's no point in getting upset or fighting amongst ourselves. This plan requires trust and unity. Little Wrath City hasn't had a mass breakout in forever, at least to my knowledge, which means we're going to need to defy the odds."
“Well said," Jonas smiled, "As long as we stick together, we can make a miracle happen. I know it."
"You're one crazy asshole," Johnson pointed a crusty fingernail, "But I respect the hell out of you."
"Likewise," Jonas stretched a fist through the bars of his cage. Johnson returned the favor and the two of them rapt knuckles.
“Well,” said Simon, “That’s enough speculation for me. I want to get some sleep before I have to get repeatedly punched in the face,” Jonas nodded in agreement, he hadn’t slept all night, and he would be sparring against both Ralph and Ahmed, which meant that he needed the rest.
“Alright,” said Johnson as he flipped over onto his side, “But this isn’t over. Goodnight."
“Night, fucker,” said Jonas as he wrapped himself in his blanket and laid his head against his pillow, “Night, Simon.”
They didn’t get to sleep for long because the crowing of slaves woke them at the crack of dawn, only a few hours after their conversation. Just after breakfast, five people could be seen standing closely in a sandy pit, their heads were ducked inward, and it was obvious that they were discussing something important. Jonas, Johnson, and Simon had just finished explaining the situation to both Ahmed and Ralph.
“I’m in,” said Ralph, “If you think you can trust me."
“Yeah, I trust you,” said Jonas, “I also need a favor from you."
"Name it," said Ralph. He looked a bit eager to prove himself.
"I need you to help train both Simon and Johnson as much as possible because I need to focus on fighting Ahmed. This plan hinges on me being able to kill and replace Wolf, and I'll need to practice against another top-five to have any chance at that."
“Thanks, I'll do my best with them,” Ralph looked grateful as he nodded towards the two skinny dummy slaves. He could see that he had his work cut out for him.
“What do you think, Ahmed?” Jonas couldn’t help but notice that Ahmed had been very quiet throughout the conversation, mostly nodding his head, or staring off in thought. Jonas felt like he might have miscalculated, perhaps Ahmed had no interest in helping him escape. For a moment, the old warrior continuously stroked his beard and contemplated the situation that had been presented to him.
“I don’t like being used,” when he finally spoke he looked a bit annoyed, “The fact that Yotama Yuki thinks that she can get me to do her bidding by using you, this pisses me off,” and Jonas could understand where he was coming from. From the outside, it did appear that Yuki was using them as chess pieces.
“I know,” said Jonas, “But you should focus on the fact that once we get out, you’d never have to deal with her ever again. Don’t you want to escape? This is your best chance at doing so.”
“Of course I do,” said Ahmed, “But I’ve been around a lot longer than you, and I understand just how powerful Howard Hurts is. It would take a gang of us just to have a chance at bringing him down,” his eyes narrowed, “Even with Wolf dead, and Xiao Lin not involving himself with the fight, the task at hand is near impossible.”
“Fuck,” Jonas knew that if Ahmed thought something was impossible, it probably was.
“Howard Hurts is seconds away from being a full-fledged Sinner. It would take me, you, Yotama Yuki, and maybe even Ralph, just to take him down, and that’s not even guaranteed,” said Ahmed, and Jonas tightly closed his fist in frustration, “Thomas Vale isn’t much weaker than Howard, but at least enough so where he couldn’t dream of usurping the position of President. Then you have Garth, and he’s the finest physical specimen that the Hurts gang has had in decades. However, killing Wolf and Xiao Lin would be a much more reasonable task, I believe,” and Jonas couldn’t help but look surprised as he had never thought about killing the other mysterious top-five fighter.
“Kill Xiao Lin?” Jonas whispered, “Why?”
“We can’t guarantee he’s a friend or foe, or if he’ll just wait on the sidelines and join the side of whoever appears to be winning,” said Ahmed, “It’s safer just to kill him, even if Yotama Yuki believes him to love her."
“Are you sure we can’t convince Xiao Lin to join us?” Jonas didn't want to have to add another body to the growing hit list, especially not another top-five fighter.
“I’ve had maybe two or three conversations with him,” Ahmed shook his head, “From what I can tell, he’s an old-school martial artist who died in the eighteenth century.”
“How can you tell?”
“He already knew English when he got here, but I found some of his mannerisms strange, definitely not modern, but also not ancient. He seems calm and quiet like the perfect monk, but he has a slimy look about him that I loathe. You'll see what I'm talking about when you meet him for the first time. I vote to kill Xiao Lin, preferably, alongside Garth."
“I agree,” said Johnson, “We kill anyone who might be a threat to the plan,” both Ralph, and Ahmed nodded their heads, while both Jonas and Simon felt slightly differently.
“Wolf is a goner,” said Simon, “No way we can convince him now, but I still feel like Xiao Lin could come in handy if we just took the time to communicate with him.”
“The best way to convince him to join us,” Jonas jumped in, “Is when we’ve killed Wolf. That way, he sees that not only are we serious about escaping, but we have the strength to do so.”
“Very true,” Ahmed found this reasonable, “The plan isn’t highly detailed, but I can see that it relies on three extremely important details. First, can we successfully kill Wolf without alerting the higher-ups of our plan? Secondly, can we discern enough motive from Xiao Lin to decide his fate? Lastly, and most importantly,” he looked seriously at Jonas, “What is Jonas' current limit? Will he be able to take on either leader of the gang, or will he just be able to reach the level of a top-five fighter?” At these words, Jonas found himself the center of attention, as everyone was staring at him.
“Don’t worry about that,” said Jonas, “I guarantee with enough time I'll be able to take on any top-five fighter. I don't know about Howard Hurts or Thomas Vale, I need more information before I guarantee I can take them on."
“So that’s it then,” said Simon, “Right now we're all focused on improving our capabilities. The plan starts as soon as Jonas kills Wolf, do I have that correct?” and he watched as the members of their group nodded in agreement.
“Well said,” Ahmed nodded, “Jonas, we’ll be relying on you.”
“No problem,” Jonas gave an inspiring smile, "You can count on me."