Level 2 Blues

"Oh, wow. We're already here." Yun-Yeong said. Her and Eric stood across the narrow street in front of an old restaurant. A small place surrounded by the taller white blocks of apartments, with a smaller block of apartments on top of it, the two separated by a black logo with bright orange writing on it saying, 'Young's Authentic Food.'

"What happened to the window?" Eric asked, pointing to the wooden planks attached to the window under the sign.

"I…don't know. It wasn't there when I left." Yun-Yeong looked around. "Eric, I'm not sure if we should go in."

"Well, this is where you said your mom is." Eric replied, adjusting his collar. "And wasn't seeing her the entire point to getting this far?"

"Yeah but…the windows." Yun-Yeong replied, biting the nail off her thumb.

"Someone vandalised a window, big deal." Eric replied, walking to the restaurant.

"Eric!" Yun-Yeong grabbed the back of his jacket. "Did you forget why I ended up in the gauntlet?"

"All you did was…oh. Now I remember." Eric replied, taking a deep breath.

"It was probably a relative of one of them."

"Well…do you want to go in?" Eric asked. "If not, I'm cool with getting a hotel or something."

Yun-Yeong looked at who was entering the restaurant. Nobody she recognised, anyway. It was probably safe to look inside, at least. She crept her way into the restaurant, which was mostly empty, save for a few people waiting on their food. One of them, a balding old man, gave a surprised look at Yun-Yeong when she entered.

"Are you that girl from the gauntlet?"

"I…guess so?" Yun-Yeong asked.

"Listen man, if you have an issue with her being here then you're free to get lost." Eric sneered.

"No, no." The old man replied with a jolly chuckle. "You two are my favourites! Also that little electric girl!"

"Right." Eric nodded. "My bad."

"Okay, a lime infused chicken curry for a Mr. Wood?" A young-looking woman asked, holding a brown paper bag.

"That's me!" The old man replied, springing out of his seat. "I'll be here tomorrow to speak to you, miss Yun-Yeong Yi!"

"…Great." Yun-Yeong nodded slowly.

"Miss Yun…" The woman asked, hopelessly confused. But her eyes widened when she lay her eyes on Yun-Yeong.

"Yun?!" She asked.

"Yeah." Eric replied. "If you can get your mom here so she can see too that'd be cool."

"Eric…that is my mom." Yun-Yeong chuckled.

Eric looked at the woman. Looked a lot like Yun-Yeong, except slightly shorter, and with slightly longer black hair and a black skirt with a neon green shirt.

"Oh! I thought you were like, her sister or something."

"It's all the limes." Her mother replied, putting a smooth looking hand to her face. "But anyway, Yun-Yeong. If you want to take your friend to your old room while I finish up here, that'd be great."

"So…this is my place."

Yun-Yeong opened the door to the apartment. Pretty dingy. A small room pure white walls, with a small table, a fridge, and a small boxy television. Not as bad as he expected from level two, but he couldn't imagine himself living here.

"It's…compact." Eric said calmly.

"Yeah, that's basically it." Yun-Yeong sighed. "But hey, it's home."

Yun-Yeong opened another door, showing a teal wall with a few posters, as well as a shelf containing a few plants growing limes.

"You grow limes?" Eric asked.

"Guess mom needed the space." Yun-Yeong replied, flicking through a CD rack on her bed.

"Whatcha got there?"

"Ah, some classic teenager stuff." Yun-Yeong replied softly. "Some Let it Blow, some Timmy Flair, Some Gasper."

"Ah, the good stuff." Eric nodded, looking at a poster of two goth kids looking like they were gonna kiss.

"I refuse to believe you listened to Let it Blow." Yun-Yeong chuckled.

"Hey, I was fourteen once." Eric replied casually. "What's this?"

"Oh, just some shitty movie poster I never bothered talking down." Yun-Yeong sighed, falling onto her bed.

"Being back here is…weird."

"Tell me about it." Eric replied with a sigh.

"Hey, Eric. Can I tell you something?"

"Sure."

"Once we get back in the game…you can let me die."

"Excuse me?" Eric yelled.

"Look Eric, the whole reason I wanted to win the game was to see my mom. That happened. As far as I'm concerned, I won. So if something ever comes to a vote, then just vote me off."

"No!" Eric yelled, his heart pounding out of his chest. "I am taking you to the end of this game whether you want me to or not!"

"Eric! You heard what Micah said! I have three months at best!" Yun-Yeong reminded him, leaping off her bed.

"That's Micah! He's bullshitting you into wanting to die!"

"Look, Eric. I've done everything I need to do. And…everyone else left in the game deserves to live anyway."

"Micah?!" Eric shouted.

"That doesn't change the eight other people!" Tears started welling up in Yun-Yeong's eyes.

"Yun…"

"Look, Eric. It's…"

She quickly hugged him, burying her face in his chest.

"It's just that you, and Wendy…all of you need to live, okay?"

"Uh, hey. Did I walk in on something?"

Eric turned his head, and Yun-Yeong's mother was standing behind him. Yun-Yeong fell back on her bed after making a blubbering noise.

"Nothing's happening here, mom!"

"Oh, okay. I closed up shop for the night, what do you guys want for dinner?"

"Uhh…lime…chicken?" Eric asked, looking at Yun-Yeong as he said it.

"Sounds good."

Eric silently ate his chicken with lime juice. It was the best chicken he ever ate. There were a couple miscellaneous vegetables like broccoli and chives which added to the dish. He silently ate as Yun-Yeong and her mother talked, observing the small room they were eating in.

"So, Eric." Her mother asked.

"Yes, Ms…"

"Jo Young." Her mother replied.

"Jo Young." Eric finished.

"What's level two like? You think you'll be able to survive the weekend here?"

"Yeah, it's pretty nice." Eric nodded. "It's not as bad as everyone on level four makes it out to be."

"So what's level four like, anyway?"

"It's just a big city." Eric shrugged. "Where I lived it was mostly starving artists and stressed out college kids."

"So it's not what people say it is?"

"It's really not the place for the elite it's marketed as." Eric said, shaking his head. "Hell, this food is way better than half the shit you can buy up there."

"Aww, thanks." Jo Young replied. "So anyway, are you sleeping on the couch?"

"He can sleep in my room." Yun-Yeong added. "It's a pretty big bed."

"Oh! You're okay with that, Eric?"

"Yeah." Eric shrugged. "We're both adults."

Eric woke up in Yun-Yeong's room, next to Yun-Yeong. The first thing he heard was the sound of things being thrown against the window, which he looked out at to see a couple people with various small objects.

"The fuck do you want?" Eric yelled, opening the window.

"We wanna see Brightside!" One of them yelled out.

"She's asleep. Now get lost!"

Once he closed the window, another object hit the window, barely passing him and almost falling on top of Yun-Yeong were it not for a quick strand of water holding it just over her head. Yun-Yeong didn't react, and Eric checked her palm quickly. She was still breathing, even if there was a puddle of dried blood next to her. The object looked like a manhole cover of some kind. Eric quickly flung it out of the broken window.

"What's going on?" Jo Young yelled, bursting into the room, seeing the broken window.

"Pretty sure we're being invaded. Gimme a second."

Eric ran out in front of the restaurant, seeing two people in front of it. One unshaven man and a small girl with pigtails and a pink dress.

"I'm gonna need you to leave." Eric asked calmly. "Yun's not in the condition to deal with you."

"You think I care?" The girl replied, opening her mouth and creating a small vortex which Eric was slowly being dragged towards. While the unshaven man curled his right hand into a fist, and it slowly ignited. Eric covered his hands in water strands, covering his stomach. Even with the damage blocked, he was sent flying into the door of the restaurant. Luckily nothing broke. The man went in for another punch, which Eric dodged. He lay his hand flat in front of him, and the strands of water left his fingernails. He flicked his hand, and the five strands went around him, knocking him on the ground. He covered his face with water for a few seconds, until he wasn't moving. Probably just unconscious.

The girl ran up to Eric, sucking as she did, and Eric covered her in a water bubble. Once she was inside, he threw her out before anything could happen to her. He looked at her on the floor, and heard her cry.

"Now get lost!" Eric yelled.

"Do you not know what she did?" The girl asked. "She killed my sister!"

"I heard!" Eric yelled back. Damn, keeping this up was painful. He knew that Yun-Yeong killed people to get into the gauntlet, but they all deserved it…probably. No, definitely. It's Yun-Yeong. She wouldn't just kill people randomly.

"Now, I'm only gonna say this once. Get the hell out of here, kid!"

The girl ran off, leaving Eric in front of the restaurant in front of the unconscious guy.

"Mr. Eric, sir!" His guard yelled. "How are you?"

"Not bad, considering I just did your job for you." Eric snapped.

"Sorry sir, we weren't expecting anyone!" The guard yelled, picking up the man. "I'll report this man now! Was there anyone else?"

"Not to my knowledge, anyway." Eric replied.

"Understood, sir."

Eric walked back into the restaurant, and Jo Young was standing there.

"Eric, what just happened?" She asked.

"Bunch of people wanted to see Yun-Yeong. Chased them off."

"Thanks, Eric." Jo Young sighed.

"How's Yun doing?"

"She's…alive." Jo Young nodded.

"Cool, I'm gonna stay out here, if it's alright with you."

"Go ahead." Eric nodded.

Jo Young sat down by the door.

"Thanks for taking care of Yun-Yeong, by the way."

"Eh, don't mention it." Eric replied. "She's a cool girl, is all."

"I see." Jo Young said. "Eric, do you remember being a Nova?"

"Oh, you saw that." Eric sighed. "Nah, I don't remember much about it outside of why I left."

"What happened?"

"One of the older Novas. Old man Vico. Known for being kind of a creep. I went out for a late-night swim like a dumb kid, and he got in. My memory's kinda screwy after that, but I remember seeing his body floating near the top, and I got out of there."

"So it's evil all the way up?" Jo Young sighed. "No surprise there."

"Pretty much." Eric grunted. "But why do you ask?"

"Because of Yun-Yeong's father. She doesn't know this, but he's a pretty big deal in politics down here."

"Wait, for real?"

"Dale Woodsdale?"

"Can't say I know him."

"Right. I was a nineteen-year-old in a pretty big-name college down here, the same class as him. One thing led to another, and I ended up with a baby and my mother's old restaurant."

"What happened to your mother?"

"Same thing that's getting Yun-Yeong now."

"I see." Eric sighed. "Look, once the two of us get out, I'll get her a cure for it. And once that's done, I'll…do something about the Novas!"

"Something." Jo Young replied, unenthusiastically.

"I'll think of something when I get some sleep." Eric replied. "Actually, could you hold this place down for a few minutes? I'm gonna buy some energy drinks."

Silvia walked into her old house. The smell of day-old smoke instantly hit her nostrils.

"Ah, great! Seems nobody learned about opening a fuckin window in place!"

"What's that?" A voice asked from the other room.

"The fuckin windows, ma!" Silvia repeated. "I can barely see anything here!"

She popped her head into the living room, where her mother was resting on an extremely old leather couch, with her black cat resting on her lap, unfazed by the smoke.

"You'd survive that gauntlet thing, did ya?"

"No, ma." Silvia replied, rolling her eyes. "It's only the halfway point. Some shit came up and we're allowed home to fill some time."

"You gonna be spending it with that Timothy lad, then?"

"Timothy died, ma! He died first! Did nobody tell you about this? Do ya not have a fuckin social life? Here, did you not watch the fucking show?" Silvia picked the cat off her mother's lap

"Nah. It was on at the same time as Level 4 Lovers."

Silvia turned her gaze to the TV, and through the smoke blocked screen she could make out two people that looked her age passionately kissing by a swimming pool.

"Right." Silvia sighed, rolling her eyes again. "Anyway, how's Mason?"

"Seemed alright. Bit sad since you left, but he started hanging out with some new people."

"Any ideas who they are?" Silvia asked.

"Haven't seen them, anyway. He went out a few hours ago. Probably didn't go far."

"Cool. Thanks."

Silvia stepped out of the house, lighting a cigarette as she did so. As she walked around, she thought about what was in her mouth, and how her mother was constantly sucking them back. Apple didn't fall too far from the tree, she guessed. As she walked through the fields of barely living patches of grass, the taste of the cigarette soured in her mouth as visions of the borderline lifeless woman laying on the couch with these things in her mouth kept filling her mind. She put the cigarette out, handing the half-empty box to her guard.

"Take this and stop me from getting any more."

"Noted." The guard replied. "Do you need your payment now, miss Silvia?"

"Nah, not until I see my brother."

She kept walking until she was on the top of tree hill. On top of it was a genuine tree. Long dead, but still pretty cool, especially after all this time. Smack dab in the middle of Fitzville, so she could see Mason from here. As she looked down at where he could be, and he was at the bottom of the hill. His skinny frame and blonde hair made him a damn beacon. He was surrounded by a couple other people, too. Some looking like other sixteen-year-olds, some looking older, and one looking really…

Oh no. Oh hell no.

"Hey, Brendon!" She yelled, bolting down the hill. Once Brendon got a look at her, he was already seeing her fist on his one working eye. All the other kids minus Mason started running once the armoured guard started walking, but Silvia threw her hat to Mason, and started wrapping vines around Brendon's neck.

"Yo, that guy I mentioned in my interview? This is him. So get him the fuck out of here!"

The guard took Brendon's body off the ground as Silvia undid her vines. Despite his multiple kicks, the guard didn't react as they dragged him off to be questioned.

"Hey, I'll take my payment now." Silvia whispered to the guard, who handed her a small wad of bills.

"We are going to talk." Silvia said to Mason. "But first we're going home."

Once the two of them started walking, Silvia began her questioning. She reached into her pockets before remembering she gave her smokes to the guard.

"So, Mason. Mind telling me what the hell you were doing with that asshole?" Silvia asked, trying desperately to maintain a stable voice.

"Well, he said he could give me something that'd make me happier. And seeing as you weren't here, I…"

"God damn it, Mason!" Silvia interrupted. "Look, whatever these people offer you, it doesn't make you happy. All it does is guarantee you end up watching shitty TV on the couch for the rest of your life!"

"Wait, really? Then why were you giving it to people?"

"To save up the money to get you out of here! Remember, you need to stop your grades from slipping, kid! Because then you get to either live it easy on level 4 or help us out of here!"

"Oh." Mason replied.

"Look, you graduate next year, right? If that's the case, you gotta get into Brickwall, okay?"

"Okay, but the money!"

"Relax, little man. I got all this sorted out."

Once the two of them got past the maze of smoke that made up the hallways, they made their way to Masons room. She sat him down on his stripy bed.

"Listen, Mason. I did a lot of things to get what I'm about to give you. So I need you to promise me that you'll stay away from any of those people, okay?"

"Okay?" Mason replied.

"Right, cool. And you need to ace your exams. Shouldn't be an issue for you, right?"

"I don't think so."

"Right, right." Silvia replied with a smile. "So, I think I can trust you with this."

She removed her hat, taking out a wad of bills and handing it to him.

"Three million Tua. Should be enough for all three years of Brickwall law."

"But how did you get this?" Mason asked.

"Forgot." Silvia shrugged. "Besides, when your sister gives you money, you don't ask where it came from. Anyway, be sure to put that somewhere nobody will find it, especially mom."

Silvia stepped out the door, hearing Mason get off his bed, hopefully to find a hiding place. Silvia stepped outside the smoke-filled air of her house to the stale air of outside, being greeted by the grey metal wall.

"Greetings, Silvia." The guard announced from nowhere, causing her to hit her head off her front door.

"Fucking hell, man! You scared the shit out of me!" Silvia yelled, rubbing the back of her head.

"Apologies. Did you give him the money?"

"Yeah, shit's sorted now." Silvia replied, putting her hat back on.

"Understood. We at NeoBunny thank you for your service in making this year's gauntlet more interesting and are looking forward to your continued success."

"Alright, cool." Silvia sighed. "Tell your Neo bosses or whatever to shove the contracts up their asses, I'm done with 'em."

Silvia walked away, looking over at the metal wall she always knew.

As far as she was concerned, she won. Her brother had the money to go to Brickwall, and he was hopefully gonna make things better for everyone on Level Two.

"Sorry it had to come to this, Seeta." Silvia whispered to herself. "But he'll make it up to you. The rest of your family. I know it."