I woke up to a splitting headache. A serious gnawing pain in my brain that seemed like the whole world was trying to weigh on me. I heard music, a bad singing voice from a microphone. The whole room's luminescent lights explained just where I was.
A karaoke palor.
Great. I wonder what misery awaits me here this time.
"You're awake." Someone approached, leaning towards me with a grin plastered to his face. "Cute."
Whatever was in that handkerchief, it made my eyes blurry, and I couldn't quite see make out the dude's face clearly. But he was surely holding a lit cigarette, appallingly evident when he took a drag and breathed smoke on my face.
"I'm guessing you're the boss," I said, fidgeting with my fingers. "I'm also guessing you didn't just want to talk."
"Smart." He simply replied— if that was even supposed to be a reply. "I don't know you much, but I can see how you could beat Tyler."
Tyler. Now it made sense. This entire scheme was all about him. Of course, why hadn't I thought of it? Rumours were that Tyler was in the Sancho gang, a gang that belonged to a ruthless East High student named Sancho.
At first, I'd refused to believe that. Because Silvic High and East High were mortal enemies. But somehow, it all started to make sense. His overloaded confidence. His preying on weak students. The way he'd always believed that he was the top dog among weak men.
It was all because Sancho had his back.
And Sancho— was this guy.
"Let me guess. You planned an elaborate kidnapping and brought me here for what... To pick up his fight?"
Sancho laughed. Actually laughed. Like I'd actually said something funny. But then again, this gang was just a group of maniacs. If Tyler was a psychopath who was too scared to pick on people of his size, I'd expect his supposed boss to be at the peak of that.
"Pick up his fight? Now that's a way to put it." Sancho stood upright. "But then, I'd be wrong to say that that's the case. You see, I'm such an empathetic guy. And when someone asks...begs me for help, I have no other choice than to be nice."
At that point, I was pretty sure my eyebrow arched at him.
"It's instinctive, trust me." He set his cigarette on the table, on a tumbler where he let its light burn to ashes. Then he placed a hand on my shoulder. "And don't get confused, Ren. This is nothing personal. Sadly, when you hurt a member of my gang, I can't just sit around and watch. That's irresponsible leadership."
I don't know whether it was the effect behind his pointless words, or that I was suddenly allergic to the smoke from cigarettes— but I felt something ripple through my body.
It felt nauseating. Painful and nauseating. Like a cold shock wave that just decided to take control of my body. It rapidly flowed through to my arms, my legs and my head. It didn't take too long before I realised that I was petrified, unable to move a muscle.
[Warning: Poisoning Effect Activated]
[Warning: Poisoning Effect Activated]
"What do you think you're doing-?" The words came out of my mouth like a forced groan.
"Don't force it, Ren. The venom works faster when you're not trying to resist." Sancho said with a thin smile, taking his hand off my shoulder. "You beating Tyler did seem like a death wish after all."
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Am I really going to die here? After all that effort to become stronger, I was just going to die like an animal stuck in a trap?
"What's going on?" Amelia's hologram popped up. "Your vitals keep sending me warning signals."
I wanted to speak, but my face was probably so blue with poison. I couldn't even use my mouth again, it felt like I was being suffocated.
"Stay with me, Ren." She paced around her space, throwing her hands up, scrolling through the system screen. "Shit. You don't have any health equipment."
Yeah. That was because this stupid system only rewarded the skills I discovered for myself. Health equipments? Probably didn't matter in a realistic setting. And reality at that moment was that I was actually going to die.
Fuck. Do something.
"I am!" Amelia yelled back at me. It was then that I realised that she could hear my thoughts. "I'll program an antidote. But it'll take at least three minutes to get it done. Can you hang on until then?"
Sure. Hopefully, I won't die in the first.
"I must admit, Ren. You're pretty resilient. Usually, the others who get infected with my poison would be out within a minute. And I thought cripples were the most vulnerable to ability attacks."
While he was kept on yapping, the door came open. Someone walked in, someone I couldn't see with blurry eyes. But I recognised the slight chuckle that followed anywhere.
Tyler.
"Well, look who's here," Sancho called as Tyler approached him. "I was just finishing up."
Tyler's gaze locked on me, then he leaned over, a wicked grin on his face. The bastard. I would've thrown a punch into his face if only I could move any of my limbs.
"Didn't I tell you, Ren? That you'd regret ever winning against me in the arena." He started. "And lucky for you, you pulled a double win draw. You got suspended, and now, you're gonna feel the same pain I felt on that ring."
He made that victory pose as he stood, as if to show that he was the main character that the writer always backed up. But then, the only aspect he was the main one in was in a gathering of fools.
The main fool.
"How can you bring me here if you don't even know the room they're in?" Someone's frustrated voice sounded from outside the parlour.
A groan followed when the door opened. What I saw was barely just silver hair, a girl. She just stood in one spot for some seconds, as if she'd been called a red light against.
"There you are." She finally said, a grudge in her voice. "Sancho."
"Aria?"
Aria? Aria Sinclair?
"What...are you doing here?" Although he sounded like he was trying to hide it, Sancho was scared. "I thought you were suspended?"
"Rowan?" It seemed like he'd just walked in, because Tyler called his name exactly how someone would shockingly call out a betrayer. "You brought her here?"
The next thing I heard was a punch flying into someone's face. Aria kicked. Punched. Slapped. And every one of her hits knocked down every one of Sancho's assailants with just one try. A knee jab, an uppercut. Groans of pain filled the air as they all went down to the ground.
[Antidote Complete]
[Activating Antidote]
Finally. Hopefully, I read that right.
Tyler scurried to a corner, probably trying to escape quietly. But Aria was sharper. She noticed him, grabbed him by his collar and flung him into the nearest wall.
The fuck— How frequently does she hit the gym?
The poison was starting to wear off. My eyes stopped being blurry, and I could move my limbs now. It actually felt pretty good to feel normal again.
"You bitch— do you think I'm just going to let you barge into my private space and cause a commotion?!" Sancho was now speaking at the top of his voice.
"Dunno." Aria shrugged. "I already did."
"And you'll pay for it!" Sancho charged at Aria, raising bare fists towards her.
I thought I was about to watch the most epic fight of my life. The dangerous gang boss against the Silvic's most feared high tier. But it all ended in the next second with just a punch. Aria simply threw a direct, unavoidable hit at his nose, and Sancho just went down, unconscious. Just like the rest of his troop.
Aria Sinclair. Who exactly is she?
Silence filled the place for a while, the only noise being the groans of those guys who'd been knocked down by Aria.
And the supposed culprit just looked around, as if studying a fine artwork she'd just made. Then she casually dusted her hands and smiled satisfactorily.
"That does that." She said and looked up at me, an odd stare settling in her eyes. "You look out of shape."
"You look too much in shape." I glanced at Rowan who was still standing at the door, and back at her. "That's not a compliment."
"I just saved your ass. You should be thankful."
"I didn't need your help."
I ignored her amused moment, pulling out my cellphone from my pocket. I walked towards Tyler, saw him lying on the floor like a man who was unable to control his own bodily functions.
Not that I couldn't relate. But I grabbed him anyway, and then, BAM, I knocked a punch into his face. He deserved it. Another followed immediately. Then another. Until I was sure that he was starting to bleed at every possible place, I continued.
"You'd tell the truth, and explain to everyone that you tried to set me up. Twice." I said. Not a request. A demand.
"In your dreams, cripple..."
BAM! Another punch bashed into his face. This time, my rhythm became faster. I thought of all the times he'd beat me up for no reason. All the times I had to play alongside his stupidity all because I didn't want to get suspended.
And now, he was crossing that line. My line. My limit.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
"Okay, okay..." He finally managed through the deep wet crunch in his mouth. "I'll do what you want."
"Good." I grabbed my phone and tapped on the record button. "Speak."