Ascent: Second Book of the Nameless Chronicle

by M. T. Miller

  “A hole in one!” the sheriff said. “Not quite as deep as the one you’ve dug for yourself, but impressive nonetheless.” He sounded strange, as if he spoke from behind a very thin wall.

  “What happened?” the Nameless mumbled out. Bits and pieces of memory appeared and disappeared, and he could barely recall anything at all.

  “You got beat up by a girl!” the sheriff said, with none of the fondness that used to accompany his words. “And by ‘beaten up,’ I mean ‘mutilated beyond recognition!’ But don’t take my word for it; by all means take a look for yourself!”

  A woman? Yes, the violet one! Fragments started coming back, faster and faster by the moment. I sought to overpower her, but she proved inhumanly strong. I took some hits. And then—

  Despite the overwhelming brightness, he forced himself to open his eyes. He regretted it at the very instant.

  Right in front of what used to be his face, there was a large mirror. Reflected in it was the stuff of nightmares. Misshapen, and almost as purple as Rush’s hair, the Nameless barely recognized himself.

  “It took a while for the referee to stop the fight,” the sheriff said once he was certain that the image had sunk in. He moved the mirror to the side, and the Nameless realized that the old man had been holding it in place for a good while. They were inside a small, unsettlingly white room. “Something tells me you’re not a very popular man, are you, Mr. Bones?”

  The Nameless wanted to talk back, but failed to do it in time.

  “Then again,” the sheriff continued as he sat next to the bed, “one can hardly be blamed for hating your guts. Tell me, just how many people did you fuck over in the short time you’ve been here?”

  “Too many,” the Nameless barely said.

  “Can’t say I’m surprised.” The sheriff rose from his seat again, got close to the Nameless’ ruined face, and put his hands against the sides of the bed. “What I want to know is why!? I gave you a chance to live like a king! From the looks of it, I might not even have been the only one. And what did you do?” He slammed his fist against the side of the bed, causing a wave of dull pain to course through the Nameless’ body. “You threw it all away just to engage in some random cruelty!”

  “Not random,” the Nameless said. I owed it to David. And I failed him.

  “Of course it wasn’t.” The sheriff retreated, the anger leaving his face. “I guess nothing is ever random to madmen. I should’ve known better.” He straightened himself up, and turned toward the door.

  “What now?” the Nameless asked.

  “Now?” The sheriff stopped moving. “Now you lie right there like the broken fleshbag that you are. You think good and hard about your own stupidity. You get accustomed to the company of that guard I’ve had to burden with the duty of watching over your crippled ass. And you learn to love it!”

  He turned his head to the side, and the Nameless saw that his face had turned red. “Because as soon as you’re able to walk again, I’m throwing you into the deepest, dankest dungeon I have! It’s there that the type of scum you can’t even imagine will use you to dance the chocolate cha-cha for as long as you have a pelvis!”

  He stepped out then, leaving the Nameless alone. However, just as the he was about to dive into his thoughts, the aforementioned guard made his voice heard from the other side.

  “Another visitor for you, Bones!” he shouted, and a familiar person stepped into the room.

  “David...” The Nameless slobbered all over himself in the effort to speak. He had expected his manager to be at least a little bit angry. Instead, he mostly looked sad.

  “No need to speak, Bones,” David said as he took the sheriff’s previous seat. “We’ve all fucked up.”

  “My fault,” the Nameless said. “All.”

  “The lion’s share, yeah,” David said, staring at the floor. He lifted his gaze, meeting that of the Nameless. It was apparent how difficult it was for him to maintain contact, but he refused to look away. “My mistake was letting you step into the meat grinder unprepared. Oh, you had the potential to win this whole Endurance thing; of that there was no doubt. But you were still new, still cocky. And I failed to see it because of how damn good you were.

  “I should have waited before announcing it,” he went on. “Maybe even tried to let things cool down. Perhaps they’d even have let you into the nightly program again, in time. But I wanted my money back and I was just too fucking pissed. Well, joke’s on me, I guess.” Finally, he broke eye contact, staring at the floor once more. “What little money I had left, I’ve spent bribing the big guys to push your Endurance thing ahead of schedule. I am now as broke as you are.” He smiled bitterly. “Although not literally.”

  “Your daughter?”

  “Will have to make do with the crappy way I’ve used my royal flush,” David said. “But hey, at least she’s not down in slum-side. Not yet, anyway.”

  “David, I am sorry.”

  “As I’ve said before, not completely your fault,” David said, raising his stare again. “What can you do, right?”

  “Maybe…” The Nameless strained to speak. “Maybe I can fix this.”

  “Maybe,” David grinned. “Or maybe you’ve gone even crazier!”

  “Have… deal… sheriff.” He lifted his head off the pillow.

  “And this deal—” David smiled humorlessly “—was your role in it to bleed or die? Because I can totally see you pulling off either of those two!”

  “No joke,” the Nameless said. “Guard. Outside. Testify.”

  For a moment, it appeared as if David measured his options. Then, probably realizing that he didn’t have all that much to lose, he rose and moved toward the door.

  “Bones here has asked you to confirm something about him,” he said after opening the passage.

  “What?” the guard asked as he slowly walked in. “Confirm something abo—“

  Whatever it was that he wanted to say got instantly interrupted by the piece of medical apparatus that hit him in the face. In shock, David’s gaze leapt back toward the Nameless’ bed, only to find it vacant. Instead, his hunched figure stood right next to the pair of them, clutching an IV stand.

  Still somewhat conscious, the guard tried to ready his rifle. The following blow to the forehead prevented that. Knocked out, he collapsed on the floor.

  “Drag!” the Nameless said, grabbing the rifle. The IV drip dropped to the floor, its contents leaking all over. “Hurry!”

  “H—how the hell!?” David said, obeying on autopilot. “Don’t you hurt?”

  “Medicine,” the Nameless said, pulling the pistol out of the guard’s holster. “For pain.” He tried to rise, but fell down on his knees instead, burying what was left of his teeth into his bloody gums. Ahh… there it is!

  “Jesus H. Christ!” David said as he slammed the door shut. “What the fuck did you just do? Why?”

  “Can’t talk,” the Nameless mumbled out, still hunched down on the floor. “Deal… money.” He breathed in deeply, and it sounded like a car with a bad set of breaks.

  “And you intend on pulling it off in your state?”

  “Have to,” the Nameless said, getting back on his feet with the speed of an exceptional turtle. If I execute the guard to speed my recovery, the sheriff would certainly not be merciful.

  “And you’ve assaulted a guard for it,” David said. “Made me an accomplice as well. Brilliant.”

  “No.” The Nameless took a white coat that hung nearby, using it to cover the rifle he had strapped to his person. His right hand, still holding the pistol, found its place within one of its deep pockets. “Hostage.”

  “I’m a hostage?”

  “Yes.”

  “And who, pray tell, would cater to your demands?”

  “You,” the Nameless gestured toward the guard’s unconscious body. “Under. Bed.”

  A minute later, that was exactly where it was.

  “Anything else?” David said, rising. “Or am I free to go?”
/>   “Rush,” the Nameless said, now visibly straining himself. “Take.”

  “You’re off your rocker, you know that?”

  “Rush,” the Nameless said again.

  “And you assume that I know where she lives?”

  “Yes,” the Nameless said. “Contract.”

  Several seconds of silence ensued.

  “Well,” David said awkwardly. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”

  “Move!” The Nameless attempted something similar to a shout. For dramatic effect, he shook the pistol in his pocket.

  “You drive a hard bargain,” David said as he stepped outside into the hospital corridor. The Nameless lumbered right behind.

  I am just getting started.

  ***

  “At first I wanted to ask if you knew what you were doing,” David said as he knocked on Rush’s door. “But I’m afraid I already know the answer.”

  Instead of replying, the Nameless turned around as much as his aching head allowed. The river of people flowed through the apartment complex, its components periodically throwing disapproving stares. This will have to be quick.

  Seconds passed, and for a moment, the Nameless considered that he had been had. Or perhaps David’s info is incorrect? Then, out of the blue, the lock clicked, and the door started opening.

  “Can’t a girl have herself some well-deserved peace and quiet?” Rush shouted, in their full view. She wore an overly large white shirt, presumably along with some underwear beneath. Even in her casual time, both her eyelids and mouth were the same shade as her hair.

  “Talk,” the Nameless said, painfully trying to make the word as understandable as possible. He pulled his hand out of his pocket, exposing the pistol grip.

  “Oh, for crying out lou—ohh…” Rush’s eyes widened, but more out of amusement than outright fear. “So it’s you! The psycho! Didn’t recognize you with all that dental work you had done!”

  “Five,” the Nameless said, not allowing himself as much as a blink. “Four,” he said a moment later.

  “What?” Rush asked, lifting an eyebrow.

  “He’s going to shoot you if you don’t let us in,” David said. “At least I think he is.”

  “Three,” the Nameless said, nodding his head.

  “Big talk from a big man with a big gun,” Rush said as she took a step back. “Be my guest.”

  “Back. More,” the Nameless said. You will not use the door trick against me.

  “Anything you say, boss,” she said as she complied.

  Carefully, the Nameless pushed David in before stepping inside himself. The place was more or less empty, an indication that she had not been living there for long.

  “So, how can I be of service?” Rush said in a somewhat mocking tone.

  “Sit,” the Nameless said while pointing his other arm toward the bed. As he did so, David shut the door. “Talk.”

  “Talk?” She said as she slowly did as she was told. “Don’t you mean mumble? Not sure if you can do talk just yet. Or ever, as a matter of fact.”

  The Nameless’ trigger finger itched. He considered shooting her in the leg just to make his point, but gave up on the idea due to the guards it would inevitably attract. As if I am not in enough trouble already.

  He took a quick glance at the room to take his mind off the anger. Aside from a couple of chairs, a locker, and a simple bed, there was not much else.

  “If you’re interested in real estate, I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong place,” Rush said with a grin.

  “Answers,” the Nameless said, painfully pulling up a chair.

  David sat soon after.

  “Answers to what? Why did I beat your ass?” she said. “Simple: I needed the money, and I got to give a rabid dog a piece of his medicine. Win-win, if you ask me.”

  “No,” the Nameless said. He had wanted to form a more complex sentence, but cut it short to avoid slobbering over himself. “How. Beat?”

  “Would you believe me if I said dedication and training?” she said, still grinning.

  Instead of speaking, the Nameless merely lifted his gun hand a little bit.

  “No, I guess you wouldn’t,” Rush said, biting her colorful lower lip. Very slowly, she rose, both hands up in the air, and started moving toward the cabinet. “My secret. It’s inside. I’m gonna take it out, so don’t shoot me, okay?”

  The Nameless nodded, treating himself to a hefty dose of neck pain. Despite the way she talks, it is obvious that she is intimidated. Why else would she cooperate?

  “As anyone with more than a single brain cell could tell you,” Rush said as she unlocked the cabinet, “the real secret behind absolutely everything—” carefully, she pulled out a strange object, turned around, and lifted it up for the men to see “—is chemistry!”

  The Nameless tried to make sense of the thing, but gave up within very little time. David, on the other hand, seemed to have more than a passing idea.

  “You’re juicing?” he shouted furiously. “Rush, a legend of the fighting cages, is a goddamn cheater?”

  “Oh, please.” She carried the contraption to the side of her bed, placing it on the floor. It was about a foot long, metallic, and shaped like a cylinder. Vials of differently colored liquids dangled at its sides, each bubbling hypnotically. “Why wouldn’t I cheat? It’s not like there’s a test of any kind. Besides—” she took a vial, a blue one, lifted it up to her face, and gazed into it “—calling these babies juices would be a grave disrespect.”

  Much to the Nameless’ surprise, David flew into a rage. Feet slamming against the floor, he rose and proceeded toward the woman. “We need to destroy it, Bones,” he said. “In the name of everything we tried to do back there, this shit must be destroyed!”

  Still crouching, Rush clutched the vial with one hand, while quickly covering the stand with the other. She seemed ready to defend it with her life.

  “Did you hear me, Bones?” David stopped his advance, but kept talking. “This… this abomination before us is a living mockery to everything you bled for in those cages! In the name of God, man! Spill it all or I’ll do it!”

  “You take one more step toward my chems,” Rush shouted back, “and I’ll take your head off before he shoots me dead!”

  “Are you such a goddamn junkie that your drugs mean more to you than your life?” David shouted.

  “No,” Rush said, and every last trace of cockiness disappeared from her face. “I am such a goddamn junkie that these chems are my life!”

  “That far gone, are we?” David turned to the Nameless. “We’d be doing her a favor. Trust me on this.”

  “Listen, asshole,” Rush said, still clinging to the thing. “I was being literal. I spend more than a day without these, and I’m one foot in the grave!”

  “Yeah, coming down does tend to feel like that,” David said. “Nothing like a little bit of excruciating agony to get one to rethink their life.”

  “Yeah, except I won’t get better afterward!” She stared into the floor. “This is heavy stuff. I don’t just need it to fight. I need it to live.”

  Dependency. In that way, she is not dissimilar to me, the Nameless thought.

  “This,” she shook the blue vial, “it expands the mind, letting me perceive everything, and in slow motion too. This,” she put her finger on a yellow one, “is a reflex booster, so I can act on what I see. This little baby,” she pointed to a red liquid, “makes me strong as fuck, and also keeps my muscles from getting ripped apart by my speed. But it has the unfortunate side effect of making my stomach acids powerful enough to burn all the way through me.”

  “So to prevent that,” she rotated the stand so the men could see the green and pink vials, “I need to take the green stuff. It literally keeps my guts from spilling out. Oh, yeah, the pink liquid… it’s there so my brain doesn’t melt to shit from the blue one. Neat, huh?” Although she did grin, it was the most insincere smile the Nameless could fathom.

  “You are… not messing wi
th us?” A vein jutted in the middle of David’s forehead.

  “Come on,” Rush said as she made herself comfortable on the floor. “If I wanted to bullshit you, I’d have made up something less… insane.” She stretched her arm forward, exposing her pallid skin. “I heal fast so you can’t see any marks. Except…”

  She squeezed her hand abruptly, causing the blue from the vial to bubble down on the floor. Pieces of glass did the same, followed by a thin stream of blood. The only way to tell the two fluids apart was by their relative thickness.

  “Very little of me remains normal in any way,” she said, staring into her clenched fist. An ugly, poisonous-looking puddle was forming beneath it.

  “Why?” the Nameless said.

  “Why not?” Rush scoffed. As if he’d dragged her out of a kind of haze, she shook her hand, and dropped what was left of the vial. “Don’t take this the wrong way, murderer. Sure, I’m messed up.” She showed them her palm. It did not bleed anymore; the cuts had already formed into indigo-colored scabs. “But I’d take this anytime over the stuff they’d do to me down below. Here too, while we’re at it.”

  “What if anyone sees your blood?” David said. “Not every day a fighter bleeds blue.”

  “Couldn’t say,” Rush said. “It’s never happened before.”

  “Karmic,” David said, turning toward the Nameless. “So... what are you going to do now?”

  “Money,” the Nameless said, staring into Rush’s violet pair of eyes. “Winnings,” he barely rolled the word off his tongue.

  “Oh, that’s long gone,” Rush said coldly.

  “What?” David was on the verge of another fit. “What you got was the equivalent of fifteen grand—at the very least! Do you honestly expect us to believe you’ve somehow managed to spend it all?”

  “My dealer is a bitch.” Rush raised her shoulders. “Not a woman, mind you. An actual male bitch.” She smiled again, this time in earnest.

  If she had not put me in this predicament, I might have even liked this woman. Thoughts rolling inside the Nameless’ head, he took another look at the pile of drugs, and had an idea.