The Coins of Blood

Not all stories have such a happy beginning, but that doesn't mean they have a tragic ending.

The rain pounded the tin roof like fists against a sack. A 12 year old ken squeezed the last Corona cap over the leak that threatened the head of Lucia's little sister, she was smiling amidst mountains of beer caps collected from the mud.

— Don't they shine brighter than the stars? — she asked, rubbing a lid against her tattered dress.

— The stars are lies, —  Ken replied. —This is real. —

A door slam shook the wall. Mario, her father, staggering with the smell of cheap alcohol, pointed a trembling finger — Get down, you bastard! Today you fight "El Toro"... or El Chacal takes the girl away —

Lucia hugged her decapitated teddy bear,  the same one Ken found in the municipal dump. Everything we touch rots, she thought as she jumped off the roof.

The back alley of the market smelled of rotting fish and urine. "El Toro," a man with arms tattooed with blue tears, spat near Ken's bare feet. — Is this your gladiator, Jackal? He looks like a mangy dog. —

The Jackal smiled showing his gold tooth. —You win, and your father lives another week. You lose... and I take Lucía for my Red Zone business — Ken didn't wait a second. A razor-sharp flat stone flew from his sleeve and struck his opponent's kneecap.

The shout drowned out the bets "Kill him, kid!". When the Bull went down, Ken finished him off with a kick to the stomach. He knew where to hurt: his father taught him after nightly beatings.

— Here's your $500 pesos, champ — spat El Chacal, throwing the bills into the mud.Ken picked them up one by one. His blood mixed with El Toro's soaked a silver beer cap. Crown for a neighborhood princess.
Ken returned home triumphant again and went to his little sister's bed, who was already asleep. He simply gave her a kiss on the forehead and walked away.After all, Ken loved his sister more than anyone else, and he would do anything to give her a future.

Years passed and near the neighborhood they opened a cyber cafe which smelled of teenage sweat and street food. An older ken was there, watching an Altverse video on a computer screen. Digital elves laughed in emerald forests as an epic voice announced, "Forge your legend!"

— How much to play that, sir? — asked the owner, an obese man in an old T-shirt.— You need a high-end cell phone... about $3,000 pesos, brats —

That night, Ken pulled out the can of tuna hidden under the loose board in his room. Inside, $2,100 crumpled pesos. Saved after selling his food ration and enduring beatings by "El Grillo" in the underground arena.

— Is that money for your damned games! — Sebastian roared upon discovering her, spilling bills on caguamas, — You owe us your life! —

His mother, Rosa, tried to defend him.— It's for him and Lucia let them! — A punch sent her against the wall. Lucia cried hugging the decapitated teddy bear. Ken swore to hear her whisper between sobs — We are no longer going to the beautiful world? —Ken had promised a world full of fantasies to his little sister, but as always, her father had taken it all away from her.

One night, a 16-year-old Ken was returning from yet another underground fight, he had won 1500 pesos after knocking out "El Coloso", a six-foot fighter now breathing through tubes in the hospital, and he was bringing some gifts for his little sister.

— Chocolate ice cream! And a new teddy bear — he announced, pushing open the door.

Quiet.

Two shadows came out wiping razors on dirty rags "The dark one," with a scar in the shape of a smile from mouth to ear-he recognized him. — We collect with interest, brat. Tell the Jackal... this family doesn't owe anything anymore —

All hell broke loose that very night.

Her parents lay motionless, their eyes empty and glassy, catching in a faint lunar glow. There were dark stains on their clothes, stretching into the gloom and telling a story no one wanted to hear.In a corner, huddled in a pathetic way, was Lucia. She hugged her teddy bear tightly.

Her dress, once a bright yellow that he washed every Sunday in the canal, was now dyed a dense, dark color, the pattern of flowers almost invisible under a wet, expanding stain. It was a brutal reminder of a lost innocence, of the breakdown of a simple routine and the arrival of something irremediably terrible.

He did not scream. He didn't cry. He knelt down and placed the shiniest beer cap in his cold hand.
— I promised you a beautiful world, — he whispered as he closed his blue eyelids. I only gave you this mess —

Months go by and the name Ikel Ken was a ghost with hands of steel. In the slums.

Rumors of him were all over the place.
— He broke "El Rata's" arm for stealing from a child!
— He knocked out "El Sapo's" teeth for stealing the girl from the stall....

In one of the many robberies, Ikel got his hands on an expensive cell phone that had been stolen by a tourist.

At first he intended to sell it, but at that he remembered his old game he liked to play, Altverse. His mind was filled with several bitter and sweet memories at the same time, but it was not the time to think about all that, he ran desperately until he reached a cyber cafe where he connected to the internet and decided to try for the first time the game he wanted when he was younger.

That afternoon, near the "La Esperanza" market, he saw four bullys in school uniforms cornering a heavy boy in an alley. The leader of the four kicked a manga - — Look at the brave otaku! —— You think you're the hero of your cartoons? — A boy the same age as Ikel shivered against the wall, eyes unfocused like Lucia's that last night. That wounded-animal resignation made him act.

Ikel shouted "ENOUGH" as he emerged from the shadows. — Do you know what happens when you hurt innocents?  — He asked in a voice of stone dragged. Someone like me... erases them.

The thugs blanched. The leader tried an insult, but Ken's gaze was a blank, that made them back off. They fled.Asimil was unresponsive. Ken carried him like a sack. He walked six blocks until he was sure he was out of danger and let him rest there.

That night, to clear his mind, he decided to use the phone he had stolen earlier to use Altverse and play a little game.

But he had noticed that there was a new event, a total challenge for him.

The event for him was exciting, players with high levels and challenging enemies.

In the middle of the event he heard a sound, something that indicated that someone was in need of help, so he went to investigate.

He found a boy who was being attacked by a plant creature, so without hesitation, he jumped against him and saved the boy.

— Ken, Ikal Ken. What about you, new viewer? —