FEED THE FIRE

“Hi there,” it was a weasly, high-pitched voice, “I am Monkey.”

She swiveled in her chair, hunched over and picking at her own toe nails within the recesses of the dark; the creator of the FIGHTDIRTY game had appeared on Thura’s cyberdeck screen—it was a special broadcast for everyone watching the livestreams.

“I’ll make this quick.”

She’s… small—scrawny even. Red watched her, swiveling side to side in her chair, the light from her own camera lit her face in a harsh glow. It was the strange headset she had on that caught Red’s attention. The bulky metal thing wrapped around the top half of her face and eyes like a virtual reality set and acted as a sort of mask that covered her identity.

“…I want to congratulate the players that have made it this far,” she licked her dried and flaking lips, “now, for the final hours our of special little game, we are to have a giant, super, mega event—involving the final two special targets, irlPomi and Yui Somsri—with a bonus player tacked on. You see this, bonus, bonehead, player has tampered with my things. I do not like when my things are tampered with, I do not like cheaters that CHEAT! All three of these players will be worth 1000 points, simply added to your name once the conditions are fulfilled.”

Monkey’s tousled and unwashed hair draped over her bulky metal eye mask. Behind her stood a shadow, a silhouette that Red couldn’t quite make out—but it was there, it was a person.

She leaned in toward the fish eye lens, her hot breath fogging the camera, “Kill them and make them suffer—win the ultimate prize.”

“Yeah! Aahahaha!! Yeah, make her suffer!” Another voice, off frame, more boyish than hers.

“Will you be quiet!” Monkey swiveled toward the voice, kicking at the speaking voice off frame, before the stream blipped off, returning to the main menu of the app.

Red’s right eye twitched.

———————

In the late afternoon, Red chopped at his hair with scissors and stared at himself in a clean mirror above the sink. Freshly washed, he was back in his handyman coverall’s—he left his favorite hoodie with Pomi. After the briefing with Thura, she was tuckered out in Red’s room for a while.

White gauze covered Red’s hand and wrist, a form of protection Li had granted him.

Three times around the wrist, then up the palm, and three times around the knuckles, then between the fingers, wrapping around the whole hand, and back down to the wrist to close it up. He said this would protect my knuckles and wrist from getting hurt—they feel firm and ready to go.

One-two—he wanted to teach me the combination that brought down Bando in their fight—the quick succession of punches he threw. It seemed simple enough at the time—or so I thought. We didn’t have weeks or months of trainings, we had the day. Red envisioned the training session from hours ago with Li.

———————

Several hours ago…

“There, you’re protected now and ready to show me what you got.” Li said, rubbing Red’s wrapped knuckles.

On the dreary roof of Rangtana Hospital, Red huffed and puffed, why am I out of breath?!

Li was standing before Red with open palms raised, ready to receive more of Red’s fists.

Red worked his left knuckle over to Li, then his right—offbeat, his mind was running through the form and the placement of his hands, where his feet should be. It felt awkward, having never thrown a real punch before. I’m clumsy at this.

The jab-cross combination, I can visualize it, I know where my hands and feet are supposed to be—he went over it time and time again, it’s just two punches. One, two. One-one, two. One, two. Jab, cross. Jab, jab, cross. Jab, cross. It flows in my head—but in practice, I was basically a baby mule learning to walk.

Li shoved his index against Red’s forehead, “You are thinking too much.”

FWOOSH-WOOSH!!

No time to react—Red stood, blinking, I didn’t catch that. Li had thrown a one and a two, blowing air into Red’s face.

He stepped back, lowered his hands, and hunched over—meeting Red in his eyes and pointed at his own face, “Now, express yourself.”

“You want me to hit you.” Red stood with his fists out in front of him.

“No. Express yourself in the face of discomfort. You’ve done it before.”

I’ve done it before? Red was puzzled, his arms were out in front of him—but his face was scrunched with overtime thoughts, I don’t get it…

Li laughed, first, but then gazed upon Red with a look—the laser like focus of a hawk, the intense stare of a predator, and, those eyes again, Red thought—he wants worked me up, he wants me to get mad. I can feel my anger rising, but it’s body that isn’t moving. My fear is grabbing hold of my legs and my arms and clutching at my chest—I need to break through.

———————

The drone was gone, flew back to where it came, and Thura pin-pointed their location by tracking it with his cyberdeck. Panam Street, a strange coincidence, Red worked at an old arcade on the same street, though Panam was one of the longest stretches of street in the lower pits. It was easy to get lost between the abandoned buildings—old development plans that went up in flames during a large fire, a long time ago.

“It suits you...”

The sun was low—Pomi sat beside Red on the parapet of the roof, wearing his hoodie, “The haircut I mean.”

“I didn’t want anyone pulling on it and giving me a hard time.”

“Yeah, I guess, that makes sense,” Pomi fiddled with the strap of the hoodie, “it’s a little sad that you have to think about that.”

Red nodded. He was back in his own handyman coverall’s and his knuckle-wrapped hands dangled between his legs.

“It’ll be time soon,” Thura approached the two from behind, and tossed a new device at Red, “You’ll use this as a map and to communicate with us here at the hospital.”

While turning, the device hopped between Red’s hands, fumbling and juggling, “Woah, woah!” he clapped his hands together, catching it in a firm grip, “Got it!”

Wait—Red switched the new phone on and the front screen was a family photo of two parents and their three children, with the youngest holding a puppy in their arms, this is Dr. Sharma’s phone!

Thura had on Bando’s camo jacket, and a medical face mask, “I stole it from him after tying him up in his office. Meet me downstairs when you’re ready.”

Red knew this was part of the plan, but felt uneasy about the whole thing, I don’t know what to think—it’s not like I have time to come up with a better plan. This was the final night of the game, less than eight hours and it’s all over. Though the truth is, there was no end time limit, if Monkey wanted to… she could just extend the game’s timer. Her priority targets are the remaining special targets and Thura, and she wanted them gone at any cost.

Red glanced at Thura’s disguise before he left—his bandana is gone, he slicked his hair like Bando’s. I can’t believe he’ll be posing as him—this is all so crazy.

Pomi had a real look of concern on her face, “I really hope he knows what he’s doing.”

“I think he does.” I hope he does.

“Are you… nervous?”

“I can’t lie—I am,” Red glanced at his wrapped knuckles, “but, for some odd reason, I have this conviction in me that I didn’t have before.”

“Is it because of your training with Li?”

Red stared at the gloomy evening sky, “Part of it, maybe, but teaching me how to throw a couple of punches in a few hours—it wasn’t about how to defend myself or even how to attack. It’s hard to explain, but I think he was preparing me—building me up and showing me something that I didn’t know I had.”

I’m not going to be able to beat up all the threats I come across. I’m not even sure I could take even one person down, but if anyone gets in my way—I’ll throw everything I have at that person—I have to.

“If it’s worth noting, you do seem stronger, how did your training go?”

Red squeezed the bridge of his nose, recalling the second portion of his session with Li, “Not great. At least, not right away.”

———————

I’m tired. Got a few hours of good sleep and the universe put me back into this bullsh-, Red’s shoulder tensed up. He saw the black of his eyelids and squeezed his hands until his fingers and knuckles cracked.

Li shifted his feet, and began circling Red, “You doubt everything and everyone in your life.”

Red’s breathing unsteadied, his nostrils flared, “Shut up.” This is what he wants, why am I losing control over this bull.

“You even doubt your own sister—poor Yui, she’s in a coma and can’t even defend you from your own relentlessly abusive thoughts.”

“Shut up!” Get ahold of yourself! Red slapped himself against the cheek.

“You choose to hit yourself, like it’ll ground you, bring you back to you. You think you’re blaming yourself, but really, you’re blaming the world—strolling around, dragging your feet—because what can the poor little guy do against the world, the universe, the gods beyond.”

A chuckle escaped Li’s lips, “It’s kinda’ funny, daddy never taught how to throw a pun-”

FIIWOOSH!!

Li pulled away, “-awe, did your daddy leave your mommy?”

Red slammed his knuckles together, and ran at him with a wide swing, but caught the air. Red swung over and over again, while his aggressor slipped under, over, to the right, to the left, never touched by a single strike.

“I got it now! He knocked up your mommy and stuck around for Yui, but for you, I think he finally wised up. No amount of happy, lustful endings, were enough to keep him around when you were born. He chose to leave it all behind, seeing your worthlessness,” Li yapped on, dodging every sloppy strike, and returned jabs that never made contact with Red’s face, “I’m starting to doubt your word—can you really save us here at the hospital? You’ve already thrown out everything I’ve taught you!”

Red stumbled over with his mouth open, and he wheezed, clutching his knees. Sweat dripped into the ground, the words came out rough and in-between erratic breaths, “Wh-why—cough—what’s th-, the- point?”

“You’ve let this cruel version of the world affect you for so long, that you’ve begun to do it yourself—you snap from your own weight and shame and lose control, then, after you’re done crashing out you’re back to square one—your baseline, and you’re fine, and you’re fine with being fine, until you start to spiral again.” Li inhaled deeply, “Now get up, and show me your one and two. The world isn’t going to wait for you.”

Red staggered up, his breath steadied, and he put his arms and hands up, “…I hate that stupid tone, like you freaggin’ know everything about me.”

Li grinned, “Show me what you got.”

———————

Thura and Red moved along the first floor hall of the hospital, held up Bando’s phone, “I’ll be calling the bomb threat soon.”

“I’m aware…” Red replied, nervous about the whole plan, Thura removed me from the game by connecting my phone to his cyberdeck and eliminating me, manually. Playing dead meant that my points were zeroed out—but there was no real consequence for having no points. This whole game was all about seeing the twelve special targets suffer in some way—the rest of the players were weapons or canon fodder, they didn’t matter.

They manipulated the desperate, the unhinged, and the bored—all for some weird little violent fantasy? There’s more to it… The game’s started with twelve special targets, and now we’re down to two—with a bonus. I’m going to find out why they’re targeting Yui and Pomi, and then, I’m going to drop them on their butts with my one and two.

The end of the hall led to a back exit where Li leaned against. Thura filled Red in on what he worked on while Red was on the roof training. Thura, now disguised as Bando, had taken the whole hospital hostage (with Pomi’s help, though she was reluctant at first—Thura reassured her this was the safest way to protect everyone) and moved all the patients to the top floor, and barricaded the stairs with random hospital furniture and equipment. He went further and locked the surrounding gates, taking control of the security room and CCTVs. Thura now had eyes surrounding the hospital and within it. The walls were five meters high, and the gate was solid metal. No one was climbing over it or slipping out—not unnoticed anyway.

As dusk hit, Li pressed open the back door, holding it for Red with a smile, “Fight dirty, little guy.”

“As a first line of defense, your sister will be protected with the help of the APD and the SOU. Li is our second line—I’ll be the final obstacle. Red, focus on your mission, don’t look back, don’t waiver—infiltrate the location of Monkey and her subordinates and connect to their system—once you’re connected, I will shut them down from here, and put a permanent end to their game.”

That’s right, even if they did survive the night against the remaining players, there was no guarantee that Monkey wouldn’t try again—we have to stop them tonight.

“And take this.”

Bando’s serrated sawback army knife was sleeved in a leather holster—Thura handed it to him carefully, “You should be fine hiding that thing in your coverall’s.” He’s right, smuggling things into Hlum Lang from an outside district wasn’t a problem—if it was the other way around, forget about it. Red held the holstered knife tight.

The back door closed behind Red, he saw the gate had been left open for him, that crazy man—he means to force Arattani’s Police Department to come and secure the perimeter of the building under the guise of a bomb threat. For someone who had been hiding in the lower pits like Bando Ichikawa, it won’t end well. Thura is playing this part and risking so much, what made him so—unafraid?

Red cracked his knuckles, moving past the gate, I can’t think about that now. He looked at the security camera, and gave it a nod. I have to move. The gate closed behind him and the sun had fallen into slumber. Red started in a jog, and aimed for the third nearest station—Thura had advised Red not to take the same station he had come from, it’d most likely be infested with the most desperate of players—those willing to break through the district checkpoints for the endgame prize—100K.

In his jog, Red felt his heart knocking, he thought about the final hours of his training session with Li and the focus he had—the fire set within his heart.

———————

One, two—one, two. Red’s quick breaths were steady and controlled.

Li had shown him both the jab and straight, combining the two—creating the jab and cross. The jab was a punch using your leading hand, that flicker motion—I’m not anywhere near as fast as Li, but I can feel the speed coming together. In the jab-cross combination, the jab wasn’t going to knock anyone out—instead it measured the distance between you and your opponent, maybe even annoy them a little with some cheeky hits to the face.

It was the cross, or the straight, that carried the explosive power to knock someone out. He taught me the three components to a powerful punch: my entire body weight, my feet, legs, and back muscle putting my weight into motion, and finally, my arms and fist—exploding my entire moving weight into my opponent.

Red continued throwing mixed combinations of the one and two with full force, but Li gave him the slip every time and returned his own combination of strikes—ones that never made contact. In a way it had become a sparring session of technique, speed, and strength. Though there were many ways to throw a jab and a straight, Li had taught Red about the Falling Step. With this motion, the power of my straight or cross should increase greatly with the use of gravity—bending my knees, then taking a step, my left foot will land solid at the end, while my right foot would rest lightly on its ball—I rotate my body with the step, utilizing my weight, and l lurch forward with my right fist exploding from the extension of my relaxed elbow and arm.

I’m going to knock that stupid grin off your face, Monkey.

Red felt power coursing through his arms, for the first time—he had control—his knuckles had become dangerous. Anytime Li returned a punch, Red began to follow up with a guard or dodge—he kept his hands up, and his eyes—while still blinking and flinching several times, were beginning to focus on Li. Red was starting to anticipate a response after each punch he threw, he’d mix up the one-two combination up, throwing multiple jabs to try and catch Li off his guard.

At the end of the day, Li would’ve hit Red one-hundred percent of the time, while Red was at a zero percent hit rate. Red’s form was coming together, having practiced for over five hours, it was a long first session in the art of combat—but he had only learned to keep his hands up and to throw two styles of punches in that time—form and function, it would have to do.

Still, it seemed like Li was beginning to have some fun—while Red remained locked in for the last bit of their training.

———————

Surrounding Rangtana Hospital, red and blue lights flashed in the night. Rangtana’s local law enforcement and Arattani’s Police Department had arrived—several squad cars were on the scene. Four-legged drones patrolled the area with officers on standby, and air support in the form of helicopter flew over head—the large spotlight illuminated Rangtana Hospital. Thura kept all the lights off and obstructed visibility by covering all the windows and doors of the building.

An armored vehicle rolled up with the acronym S.O.U (Special Operations Unit) printed on the side of it. The tactical unit filed out the of the armored vehicle, fully geared up and awaited orders in the Forward Operating Base—a large tent with several responders already inside, with plans attached to the first three letters of the alphabet.

The entire perimeter of the hospital had been blocked off and secured by law enforcement—this brought attention to the situation with news crews and vans and all sorts of people wanting to get some kind of scoop or eye on the situation. Quickgram reels, and other social media, started to explode with What’s going down in Rangtana?

Arattani Bomb Threat?!

Terrorist attack by the lower pits!

Surrounding police officers had already apprehended suspicious invaders—and quickly found them to be from the lower pits.

Thura’s plan is working, Red thought while in the rapid transit, rushing through a tunnel and watching Channel 7’s news feeds. He was headed back into the lower pits.

I need to play dead. Red’s username MANGORICEPUDDING137 was marked out from the playerlist, and no notification would arise from the FIGHTDIRTY app on anyone’s phone. No one will recognize a nobody—a ghost, drifting through these past couple of years—and now I can use that to my advantage.

Red was armed with a gnarly knife, the doctor’s phone, his own gauze-wrapped knuckles, and determination to bring down Monkey and her special little game.

I just have to do my part—no one’s going to get in my way—it’s a straight shot to Panam Street.

Hang on Yui… Everyone—it’s almost over.