A Gambler's Debt

The crowd around us continues to chant loudly like an aggressive bunch of animals in the wild, working hard to instill a sense of fear within my mind, along with the minds of Christoph, Zedak, and Kedaz. From a distance, I take notice of the captured children, women and men being stripped naked and made to wear hemmed versions of the same type of rags I once wore, degrading them from new and experienced hunters into vassals of labor and pleasure. Looking around some more, I can make out that a hierarchy has formed within the group of detestable hunters, as the woman that had attacked me earlier can now be seen perched atop a pyramid of male slaves, treating two of the more attractive set of men as a master would to their pet.

Although, her aggression towards me doesn’t seem to have ceased, with her eyes still glaring and her mouth still chanting Bruno’s name.

The same sets of hierarchy can be seen all around the place, with the dozens of men and women chanting Bruno’s name in a fixed circle being the lap dogs; grateful to have a place within the party, but hold such low positions that their names are not worth being heard. The few standing around with their own more unique set of weapons, such as axes and chains, certainly outrank the lap dogs enough to have their own say, but also stand ready for orders from their master nonetheless. Of course, the few that can attain the pleasures of the newly acquired vassals sit atop their own individual pyramids, as if trying to show off that they indeed, are worthy of such entitlement.

And of course, the head of the group is the one with the greatest sense of reign above them all.

“It seems you and I aren’t so different after all.” I project, as my eyes slowly move back to Bruno.

“And what makes you say that?” Bruno asks as he cracks his neck.

I turn back to the woman with the irksome glare, “Trying desperately to find your own heaven in the midst of hell. I know all too well what that’s like.”

Bruno pauses for a brief moment, “Oh? Then that’s all the more reason to kill you then,” He begins jumping up and down in the same place, before landing softly atop the hard ground, “There’s already one king in this place…and I don’t intend on allowing there to be another.”

A cheeky grin appears, “Are you talking about yourself, or another person?”

Bruno chuckles loudly, before rushing towards me at breaking speed. With no time to prepare, I immediately launch myself forward in order to devour his scheme, knowing that he wishes to be the one to strike first.

Mixed martial arts. I don’t actually have any training in it, but I’ve definitely had to fight a lot of people who did. One thing is always obvious when fighting their type…

No matter how much they train their defense, striking and counters is always the goal. It’s just the rule of the game. Knockouts and submissions are the only way to win.

Bruno plants his left foot into the floor as we reach each other in the middle of the enclosed area, pulling his right hand behind his back and right foot swiftly up into the air towards my head. Expecting me to dodge, he tucks his extended lower leg back against his hamstring, and attempts to push himself forward in order to swing his leg towards my ribs instead.

So then…how can an amateur fighter like me defeat an experienced MMA fighter? Two options.

Option one: tire them out until there are openings, requiring tactics and boxing-like stamina in order to win…

However, instead of trying to dodge, my forward momentum continues, and my head leads a bit out in front of my lower body. The vision from my left eye darkens until I can see nothing but red across my left side, and a crazed expression surely overtakes me.

Option two…

I plant my left foot directly on Bruno's planted left foot, causing him to adopt a slight look of panic. With my right arm tucked against the right side of my rib cage, I begin to swing it forward at full speed, not caring to defend myself against Bruno’s incoming right foot to my left side.

No tactics. No defense. No professionalism whatsoever.

Just pound them in until they refuse to stand!

In what seems like less than a millisecond, my right hand moves swiftly towards Bruno’s unguarded face, pounding his face in. My crazed expression gleams, as I realize that I managed to strike him before he could strike me, granting me the advant-

…what?

I suddenly feel a sharp pain atop the edges of my knuckles, as I am forced to see the horrific sight of Bruno clenching onto my punch with his bare teeth. Even through the wide opening of his mouth in order to stop my fist, the corners of his lips curve upward, presenting a cheeky smile in a perilous situation.

My face flushes rapidly upon the realization that my supposed advantage never actually existed, and that I have now put myself in harm’s way. Before I even have the time to think about moving backwards, Bruno grips my left arm tightly, granting me no leeway for escape. His right foot, which he had stopped midway from reaching my ribs, then strikes me three times in quick succession. One across my left calf, one across my left ribs, and then finally across the side of my head. In the same position that I had ran myself into at full speed, I end up falling like a petal drifting from the branch of its mother, as the limbs on my left side give out quickly, and my head feels too light to do anything about it.

This is certainly a different outcome from usual…

My breathing becomes so erratic that I feel myself gasping deeply for air, but it continues to escape from me, or I simply cannot seem to breathe in enough of it. As I lay on the cold white floor, my lightheadedness can still make out a few things.

The cohesive cheering of Bruno’s lap dogs.

The irritating laughter and pointing from the woman that has had it out for me.

As well as the blurry faces of Christoph, Zedak, and Kedaz surrounding me, trying desperately not to let me die.

Not long after, the vision of Bruno striking down Christoph and the twins comes into play, as he mercilessly bullies them one by one. Eventually, after a brief two minutes of violent noises, Bruno returns to face me with bloodied hands, and laughs as he grabs my longsword.

“You surprised me. Here you are with a weapon, but you didn’t even try to use it on a bare knuckles fighter like me. I never took you to be an honorable fighter.”

…he’s right…why didn’t I just kill him with a blade?…I don’t get it…why didn’t I?

Have I gotten…soft?

“My, my, this is a fine blade, you got here!” Bruno cackles as he plays with the blade directly in front me, “Where have I seen this before? Who did you steal this from?”

A raging emotion swells, but my body remains unable to move.

“Wait, this belongs to Lennon, doesn’t it? Come to think of it, where is Lennon?” Bruno glances over to one of his direct subordinates, “Shouldn’t they have paid their dues to me like the other parties have?”

Bruno turns back towards me, and softly chuckles, “Don’t tell me…you killed him, didn’t you?”

Words remain unable to escape from my mouth.

“You did?!” Bruno smiles brightly, and turns away to laugh, “And here he was so sure that handling newbies is the safest option for him and the best option for me. So much so that I gave him some of my best harlots.”

At the edge of my peripheral vision, I notice Bruno stop in his tracks.

“Right…” he continues, “I gave him some of my best, with the promise of fresh meat. Natalie sure seemed excited to go to him, the damned slut. Always ready to hop herself into the next opportunity that suits her. Even after all I did to treat her well.”

…don’t know who he’s talking about, but I can make a guess…

Bruno turns his head back towards me with a concerned look, “I even lent him Chen. A prized possession of mine, with an amazing gift. It was only supposed to be for a small while, until he and his party could get used to moving around together on the lowest floor…”

“Don’t tell me…you killed her too?”

Suddenly, the vision of a hooded individual jumping atop Bruno’s broad shoulders, with a blade placed directly towards his throat, comes into play. A familiar deep voice bellows out, as the hood of the individual’s jacket slides off carefully to reveal the large head of a statue representing a Chinese deity with an intense expression of rage.

“I’m alive and well.”

“…Chen?” Bruno asks.

The blade slides across Bruno’s throat, causing blood to spurt out rapidly and Bruno’s eyes to fall back into his head. Chen jumps off cleanly from Bruno’s shoulders as soon as his entourage reacts and tries to avenge their fallen hero, making her escape in the nick of time. With plenty of blades pointed towards her, but afraid to make a move because of the form she has taken, Chen gallantly walks over towards me, and bends down until her knees are a few centimeters away from the ground.

Chen continues to stare towards my dumbfounded face, before sighing loudly, making me feel all the more pathetic about my situation. However, her attention, along with everyone else's, seems to have turned back towards Bruno’s position, prompting me to look for myself.

My eyes expand wide, as I am caught off guard by what I see next.

“So you came back to me, all on your own,” Bruno’s deep voice bellows out, “And you even brought another gift back with you,”

The flesh across Bruno’s throat begins to meld itself back together in rapid succession, until it appears like a scar that had been given to him years ago rather than recently.

Bruno grins deviously as he stares towards both me and Chen.

“That’s my good girl,”

“Marked one.”

My eyes turn ever so slightly to my right in order to look at Chen and her incredible form in full, as she continues to stare forward at Bruno, but also seems to be whispering softly to me.

“Now you can see…that this man is also marked, like you and I.”

From the corner of her eyes, I see Chen’s pupils sharply turn towards me.

“What are you going to do?”

I pause for a brief moment, as I stare towards my primary goal, finally standing in front of me once again. However, as my attention turns towards the recovered Bruno and his devious grin, I begin to notice a faint light emanating from his forehead. After contemplating, I close my eyes and breathe in deeply.

…trying to turn my cause of nature towards him instead of her…

Laughter ensues softly, before it turns into a full on fest. My upper body quickly rises at a ninety degree angle, as I focus my attention towards Bruno and the strange light he possesses. A sinister grin spreads across my face, and I feel my eyes begin to darken to the point I can only see red across both sides.

…let’s play along!...