Anyway, enjoy the first part of Deliverance!)
Infamy.
That’s the word he was looking for - or had been, at least. It was funny how thoughts just seemed to turn up in the heat of battle, especially now, when it counted. Today was the day before they executed their plan. If he didn’t survive this last day, the last twenty-four hours, everything he had worked for, everything they had worked for, and everything his mother had worked for was all for nothing. And today was also the day he was to kill his last opponent. Or “release” them, as she would have said. How thoughtful of her, he pondered while waiting for the cage door to open, to have saved his innocence a little longer.
Now, as Kei – alias “Doppelganger” - glared at the other set of eyes peering out at him from the other side of the ring, he summoned all his anger, all his hatred of the life he had been born into. He wanted grass, lakes, a sky – things he had been deprived of. All of that was about to be his… and, in a way, his mother’s. How she would have loved it, he thought.
And the door opened.
Today he didn’t leap out as he usually did, much to the displeasure of the violent humans in the stands. Someone rapped something hard against the roof of his cage, and only then did he step calmly out into the harsh light.
“Last time,” he said quietly, more to himself than anyone. He glared with his red eyes at the other cage, which only now was opened. As expected, his opponent, a huge mastiff whose size rivaled Kei’s, shot out of his cage in a supposedly terrifying act of rage. Kei didn’t even flinch. He had seen too many wolves and dogs like this killed because of their reckless attitudes. It was almost disgusting, the way they acted. Even this mastiff – supposedly a regal breed, according to how much they bragged - was slobbering all over himself. Instinct overcame him, and he licked his lips as if to remove any saliva from his own muzzle. Disgusting brute.
But now was the time to fight. He had been taught well, and not by any of these mongrels. He had been taught by his mother, known as Red Death to these savage creatures and Cardinal to her own kind. She, having bested many wolves and dogs herself, had become one of the most feared of all the imported wolves that had the misfortune of setting paw in the Facility. The others – Triple Eight, Tsuna, Shade – had joined her in death, after attempting what Kei and his friends were about to complete.
Escape.
A forbidden word in the Cell Circles, especially among wolves. It was too painful to mention it. But Kei had never been outside, didn’t know what would meet him. All he knew was that if escape was possible, he would attain it. For his friends. For Cardinal. For Shade and Triple Eight and Tsuna. And for his father, who had died on the same bleak day as the others.
The mastiff moved, and suddenly Kei was off. True to the name the humans had given him, he mirrored the dog’s moves, stepping on the same paws and in rhythm with his opponent as they circled each other. The dog caught on amazingly quickly, stopping quite suddenly to watch Kei, who also mirrored the confused look. When the dog backed up, so did he. When the brute experimentally spun around, Kei also did. It was his specialty, and none had lived long enough to tell about this seemingly insane strategy. It was remarkably effective, since all he had to do was act long enough so that it would catch them off guard.
And before the mastiff knew it, Kei made a mad dash for his throat. Their fangs clipped each other, and as the crowd roared to life, the game was on.
Last time, last meaningless release, he thought. Tomorrow he would be taking his revenge on his mother’s killer.
Months earlier, things had been different. Very different.
“Come on Kei, don’t be such a downer.”
He looked over at the black and tan mix in the next cell. The guy was on his back looking quite annoyed – something that he was widely known for. Fax, whose build was of wolf but whose black-and-tan color was distinctly unnatural for such a breed, was one of Kei’s best friends and a brutal fighter to boot. He was faster than Kei, who was the larger of the two, but had always found it difficult to best his companion during training. Usually he complained about it afterward. Even now he was grumbling about something.
“All this talk about the outside is worthless. Everyone knows that this is all there is. No one’s ever seen your ‘outside.’”
Kei huffed with exasperation and continued to fight his shadow - a small training session that he regularly tested himself in. “My mother has,” he said matter-of-factly.
At this, Fax sighed and rolled over onto his stomach. “You mean Cardinal?” he asked, obviously skeptical. “You always talk about her. Always. I never talk about MY mom, so what’s so special about—“ He stopped abruptly. Kei had gotten that look in his eyes. That murderous look… He hadn’t glanced over yet, but Fax knew it was meant for him.
“My mother – Cardinal… is one of the last great wolves in this place. And you know damn well that she’s much wiser than these old fool dogs. And so is your mother. So shut up.” For a moment, Kei was quiet and still. But then he picked up his routine again, except now it contained a strange ferocity that he usually preserved for the ring.
Fax watched him, sort of humbled. They both knew their birthmothers, and yes, they both knew that neither of them would say something unless they knew it to be true. It was said that Cardinal and Shade entered the Facility together, along with the return of the legendary Triple Eight and the entrance of Tsuna, the single most feared fighter among the newest round of heavyweights. It was not known where they had come from, but it was WELL known what they all intended to do. Escape. But where to? There was nothing beyond the Facility. Nothing! … Right?
But it didn’t matter. Fax stood, shaking himself. In a few minutes old Spax would be coming to retrieve them for some sort of "show." A fight, obviously. But they didn’t know who it would be between. Most likely one of Triple Eight’s. Who knew? That was probably why Kei was so on edge. Fax knew his friend well enough to know that he hated not knowing. “Hey,” he muttered, suddenly less hostile and more like a friend. “Sorry.”
Kei hesitated, breathing hard but not panting yet. He glanced over. “… It’s alright.”
And at that moment, Spax came waltzing into their cellblock. They looked over; both of them had the same disgusted, annoyed look on their face that they got whenever Spax was around. The guy was all high-and-mighty. It made them both sick. But it was best not to argue with him, and that was because in some roundabout way that made total sense to all canines, arguing with Spax was the same as arguing with the Mistress. Nobody argued with the Mistress.
With that smug look on his face, Spax waited until a human followed him in with that familiar gun-looking thing. It had a long, flat muzzle, and a green strip hidden deep within. Both Fax and Kei knew what it was. Kei stood obediently and looked toward it, while Fax just watched, growling. A green stripe of light shot out from it, lying across Kei’s forehead where a series of black stripes lay. A barcode. In a few seconds, the machine beeped and the human pressed something on its flat face. As soon as he did, Kei felt his collar hum to life. It was a different make than the normal collars that many wolves wore. This one was a newer model, and Kei was its guinea pig. It gave heavier shocks, and you didn’t have to press a button to activate it. The thing ran entirely on brainwaves. If Kei so much as decided he was going to bite someone when it was on, he would be in for the worst pain in his life.
Fax was lucky enough to have a normal collar, but he was more obedient to the humans – mostly because his life was eternally hanging by a tiny thread. Technically, he was never supposed to have been born.
“Alright, boys,” Spax said, grinning. “Time to go!”
The cage doors swung open. For one long, agonizing moment, no one moved. It was only when Kei and Spax locked eyes that the dog growled, and thus made Kei walk slowly out of his cell and into the hallway. A glare from Spax sent Fax following closely behind. Damn dog, he thought ruefully, and Kei seemed to sense his mood. The big black wolfdog turned and smiled half-heartedly at his friend.
Long way to the end of the road, and they weren’t even halfway.
