Those people spectating the gruesome scene couldn't decide what had been worse, the sight of Jonas' head being crushed into pieces, or the mixture of crunchy and squishy noises that had come from his skull. Both had turned stomachs, and both had been burned into their memories, but only the sound seemed to echo like it was playing over, and over again.
Brow and Ahmed were frozen in horror as they watched the weight lifted off of Jonas' head, and the sight revealed was almost too grizzly to describe. Jonas' face was split in half, his skull was cracked and deformed, and everything was coated in crimson. His fingers and legs were twitching repeatedly, his tongue rolled out of his mouth, and his eyes were staring lifelessly back at them. There was blood leaking out of every orifice, including his ears, eyes, and nose, while thick black blood leaked from his slacked mouth.
They thought he was dead, surely he had to have been dead because no one could survive such a brutal attack. However, Wolf narrowed his eyes as he examined the minute motions of Jonas' body, and when he saw the rhythm of gentle breathing, he felt a tinge of shock and admiration for his opponent.
“Again,” he said while shaking his head, but Ahmed would be damned if he let Jonas get hit once more. Both he and Brow had come back to life, they stepped forward and there was fury written in their expressions.
"Don't you fucking dare, Wolf!" Brow's voice was heard first, "You won't get off easy for this, I'll have you hanging from the fucking gallows!" but Wolf wasn't very intimidated by the threat.
“If you do it, Wolf," Ahmed stepped forward, “I’ll slaughter every one of your men. I promise you’ll be alone, you won’t be able to stop me,” and once again, Ahmed's threats of killing Wolf's followers had done the trick. Wolf held up his hand to stop his lackey from finishing Jonas off, he needed a moment to contemplate.
“You’d go this far for him?” Wolf was no longer polite as he shot a disgusted expression towards the oozing skull beneath his feet. "This fucking slop beneath my feet, this fucking collection of human waste and bloody bile, you'd go to war with me over nothing?"
“Wolf,” Ahmed was livid, and his eyes were bloodshot. He had seen brutality in his life, he had experienced it too. He hadn't felt such wrath since he had come home to find his family had been raped and murdered, it was the same feeling he got when he looked at Jonas' poor figure. “I will fucking spend the rest of my eternal life haunting you, I will fucking slaughter your men, and I’ll make sure you never have a single goddamn follower for the rest of your life. I might not be able to kill you, but I can kill anyone who ever thinks about following you,” the most shocking thing about Ahmed's words was the fact that Wolf was hesitant, and they seemed to have some effect on him.
It didn't make sense to the fighters in the crowd, why would Wolf care about the threat of losing lackeys? They couldn't possibly know that Wolf's greatest fear was being alone, but Ahmed knew it all too well, he had a long time to examine and learn about his fellow top-five, and he knew his mental weakness. There were a few seconds where it seemed like Wolf was teetering on the edge of either killing Jonas or giving him a chance to survive. On second thought, as he hadn't considered it before, how would Jonas survive? The boy was barely hanging on by a thread, and Wolf had never heard of anyone coming back from such a grizzly beatdown. Then again, he was reminded of a rumor that Jonas had once recovered from a similar near-death experience that Garth had given him.
Wolf was hesitant, and he knew that Thomas Vale would be pissed if it turned out that Jonas survived, however, he didn't like the idea of his young opponent coming back for revenge, and he appreciated Jonas' talent too much to let him grow so freely. Seeing that Wolf was still hesitating, Brow knew he had to try again.
"You could have gotten away with it if I wasn't here. Killing my fighter behind my back is one thing, but to disregard my command and kill him in front of me, do you think you'll get away with it? Thomas might be the Vice President, but that won't stop you from being stripped of all your privileges, and you'll have to deal with Ahmed's Wrath, as well as my own. Do you want to throw away everything you worked for? After all your men are slaughtered, I'll make sure any dummy slave that comes into this gang will never be one of your recruits. Is it worth it, Wolf?"
"That threat is weak, Brow," Wolf scratched his graying beard, "I don't think Howard Hurts cares that much about you."
"Howard Hurts won't want the headache of losing a top-five talent, as well as my Wrath, and Ahmed will be extremely vengeful and unhappy. It will set a precedent that killing gang property is okay, that top-fives are more important than gang rules, and you'll surely be punished to make up for that."
"Fine," Wolf shook his head and sighed, "We failed, boys," and he stepped off Jonas. “One day, Ahmed, that threat of yours won't mean shit. You too, Brow."
“That day isn’t today,” Ahmed’s lip was bleeding from biting it so hard, “You can’t afford to kill him, now leave.”
Wolf knew that he had taken too long to kill Jonas, and if he had ordered his man to start bashing Jonas’ brains ten seconds earlier, he probably would have gotten away with it. The situation would get way too messy with a gang member and a top-five ready to strike, and how could he possibly fight Brow without getting in even more trouble? It was a tremendous headache, and it wasn't worth it at all.
“Let’s go, boys,” said Wolf, but before they turned to leave, the lackey holding the weight threw it down, and it landed on Jonas' calf. The crowd heard the sound of bones crunching, but there was no scream because the young slave was already unconscious. Brow's face turned purple, Ahmed's a shade of red, but neither attacked. They watched Wolf and his gang slink away, and they ran forward to take the weight of Jonas' body.
"Carry him," Brow said, "Bring him to the infirmary," Ahmed delicately lifted the broken body and began carrying it to a place where only the most valuable fighters went when they were badly injured.
"What about Ralph?" Ahmed nodded at the unconscious giant.
"What about him?" But Brow rolled his eyes when he remembered that he was Jonas' friend. "Fine, we'll bring him too," and he picked out half a dozen lesser-known fighters and forced them to drag Ralph behind them. “Mother fucker!” Brow's temper finally broke, and it seemed he couldn't hold it in any longer. After some yelling, he was left with bloodshot eyes.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
"He's still breathing," Ahmed sighed, "I'm not sure if he can heal through this one, his Pride was trampled, and his powers are diminished. Is this worse than the time with Garth?"
"I think so," Brow nodded his head, "You could pretty much see his brain after the fight with Garth, but this time his skull is hanging on by fragments," the two of them reached the infirmary, and they lay Jonas on a cheap hospital gurney.
“First, we need to stop the bleeding,” said Ahmed, “If he's going to heal through this, he'll need some assistance," behind them, nearly a dozen sweaty men came panting through the doors, dragging Ralph into the room. With one great heave, they managed to get his giant body on a hospital gurney, which creaked loudly under all his weight.
"Now leave," Brow waved his hand impatiently, and those fighters scowled as they left. “I’ll get towels,” he swung open a closet door and began pulling out fresh laundry. For the next few minutes, they dabbed at the leaking blood while trying to clean it up enough to see which wounds would stop bleeding on their own, and which needed assistance.
“What should we do about the skull?” Brow looked disgusted as he brought his eagle eyes close enough to see into Jonas' head.
"Nothing,” said Ahmed, “Jonas’ ability to heal is good enough to repair any bone. We just need to make sure that he doesn’t bleed out, stop breathing, or someone sneaks in to finish the job. I never questioned his ability to heal, it's the fact that he was beaten so badly, and I don't know if he powered his Sin even once."
“Fuck,” said Brow, “What a moron, I can’t believe he tried fighting Wolf. Didn’t anyone try telling him he wasn't ready?"
“I did,” said Ahmed, “But you try telling a Crusader to back down, it’s like beating your head against a fucking wall,” and the tension between the two had reached a point where they both needed to take a time out from each other.
They waited twenty minutes and finally, they noticed the early signs of healing. Jonas' skin began to tighten and seemingly come alive as it tried to sew itself back together, albeit not very efficiently.
“Stand outside and watch the door,” Brow grumbled, “I’m going for a beer.”
“Really?” Ahmed was in disbelief, “A fucking beer?”
“Standing here isn’t going to do shit, now, is it?” Brow scoffed.
“Fine,” Ahmed said, and he followed Brow outside the infirmary and closed it behind himself. Jonas’ unconscious body lay on the medical table, and it would seem like he was truly dead if it wasn’t for his chest rising up and down by a minuscule amount.
Suddenly, as if he had popped out of thin air, a man appeared in the room. He quickly strode over toward the unconscious body and clicked his tongue when he saw the damage.
“Stupid disciple of mine,” Old Louie looked pityingly at the mangled body, “You’re not a Berserker, you can’t use Wrath to fuel yourself, especially in desperate times when you need to save a friend,” he flexed his old fingers as he prepared to work his magic. “Stupid disciple. I told you training would be difficult, but you insisted on becoming a Sinner,” and he began poking and prodding Jonas’ body all over, as two glowing red clouds appeared on the back of his dirty hands, and they glimmered like constellations.
A few moments went by, but Jonas had yet to start healing. “Don’t blame me. You said you wanted to become a talented Sinner, and this was the only way. You might hate me and blame me for selling you, but you needed to experience Hell, you needed to experience the true meaning of Sin, and this is it,” Old Louie mumbled, “Lying half-dead with your skull bashed in, being dominated and humiliated by others, having your dreams utterly crushed, along with your bones. This is the meaning of Hell.”
"So it was a test, old man," it sounded like Jonas' voice, but it was more croaked, and Old Louie knew that it wasn't the half-dead boy speaking.
"Pride," Old Louie sniggered, "I'm surprised you're awake."
"I would have healed this little idiot, your help isn't necessary. I appreciate your lesson, but I had his training covered."
"Piss off," Old Louie rolled his eyes, "Like I'm going to leave his training to a fucking Sin Shadow. You'd have him converted into the next Hitler if left up to you."
"Maybe some Sin Shadows would do that, but not me. I understand his heart better than anyone, I know that he desires to be a good person. He won't be able to, but that's not a dream for me to ruin. Once he leaves this place, he'll see that ruthlessness is more important than empathy."
"Unfortunately, I agree with you. Listen, I like the kid and I accept that he and I have some karma. However, Sin isn't something you can just tell someone about, it has to be experienced in its most brutal form. He probably hates me, but at the end of the day, he'll be a better Sinner for it, and he'll be closer to finding his brother."
"Don't ask me questions about, well, anything that isn't generic," Pride sounded a bit nervous, "I don't want a repeat of our last meeting."
"No worries," Old Louie sounded fine, but there was a slight glimmer of fear in his eyes, "I don't need any answers from you. Once he's unlocked his Original Sin, he should be ready to get the hell out of here. Once he's escaped, I'll bring him to the Sin Assessment."
"We don't need you," Pride said more firmly, "I can teach him."
"Oh, and you know where the ship leaves?" Old Louie smirked.
"Ship? What ship?"
"The Sin Assessment for next year," Old Louie chuckled, "You need a golden ticket, one that allows you on a cruise ship. You don't know the location of either, and you'll probably never know unless you're a Hellite with connections, or you're related to a powerful Sinner."
"Fine," Pride sounded irritated, "Do things your way. In the meantime, I'll be doing things my way."
"If I didn't like your way," Old Louie gave him a mossy smile that was quite dangerous, "I would have stopped you already. The guys at the top, they'll eat him alive, literally."
"I know that. He'll be ready. He's already activated his Original Sin multiple times now, mostly to heal, but he also used it to break the lock of his cage. He'll be ready for the Sin Assessment in a year. I know it."
Old Louie stared at Jonas, who was almost fully healed, and contemplated whether he had done the right thing by taking him as a student all those months ago. Sure, he had talent, Old Louie could never deny that, and he suspected that Jonas could even rival young Hellites when it came to his speed of growth and understanding. The problem was that he had such a late start, and his resources were terrible in comparison to those geniuses born into rich families. Old Louie’s eyes glossed over as he stared hopelessly at his student.
“I won’t keep saving his ass every time he decides to be a moron. Try and keep him safe, at least until he can break out of this prison."
"We didn't need you, to begin with," Pride sounded a bit offended, "I was going to help him heal after I was done chiding him for being an idiot. I'll make sure he stays low-key until he's ready to escape."
"Good," Old Louie clicked his tongue, "Don't tell him about this, I'll explain things later on. Stupid disciple of mine," and he vanished from the room as if he had never been there.