FLASHBACK: TEN YEARS AGO
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The sound of steel gates slamming shut reverberated through the air, an ear-piercing clang that sent shivers down the spines and drowned the cacophony of hundreds of voices shouting and howling for blood.
"Get that meatbag in the cage!"
"Tear him from limb to limb...drink his blood!"
"Rip his guts out!"
"20 N-Creds on the mutt with chrome fangs!"
This place is the underground pit...a place I've been in with fury and desperation. Neon lights flickered in and out overhead, cheap wiring buzzing and snapping with static, casting everything in stuttering shades of red and blue.
The atmosphere was charged and thick with sweat, smoke, and the metallic scent of blood, making it almost suffocating.
It was hot, humid, an arena where death and violence thrived.
Dante stumbled forward, his small build sliding on the thick floor. Before he could regain his balance, a massive Chromehead...the kind of man who seems more like a machine than human, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and hurled him like a sandbag into a cage.
"Better not die, meatbag," he sneered through his chrome jaw that clicked and whirred as he spoke.
BANG!
The cage door slammed shut behind Dante.
BANG!
He slammed the ground hard. Just five years old, his ribs throbbed with pain where that iron grip had dug in.
Coughing desperately for air, he looked down at his small fist, which was wrapped in duct tape. His body was bare except for ragged shorts that hung loosely on him, his small build was scrawny and petite, the rips were even visible.
And in the cage, he was not alone.
Dogs.
He was surrounded by dogs. Dozens of restless creatures paced back and forth within their cages. Some were sickly mutts with ribs jutting out beneath their fur, others had been transformed into something else. Chrome enhancements were grafted onto their bodies.
One dog had a steel jaw where its teeth should have been, another one had a spine booster bolted to its back, muscles twitching erratically as if electrified.
But all of this could not compare to one hound waiting at the dark back...a true monster.
It was taller than Dante, it had chrome legs that clinked against the ground with each step, claws sharp enough to slice through metal.
Its mouth was filled with glistening chrome fangs dripping with saliva, deep within its neck all the way to the back was a Street Level Spinal Rig pumping chemicals through bulging veins.
Its eyes burned with an unsettling shade of red.
The entire arena was surrounded by hundreds of people, the crowd roared as handlers outside banged the cages with iron rods, sparks flying everywhere.
"Fight...little bastard! Fight or die!"
Dante froze. His knees shook violently beneath him when he heard that voice. Swears poured down his face like rainwater.
His breathing became quite difficult...that monster's gaze felt like fire ready to devour him whole.
The voice came once again, cutting through the cacophony of hundreds of voices.
"MOVE...YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT!"
This monster of a father of his loomed outside of the cage, leaning against the bars like a broken marionette, swaying on spindly legs that seemed ready to snap at any moment.
His face was a haunting mask of gauntness, skin tinged with yellow, teeth reduced to jagged black stumps.
A cybernetic eye glowed ominously in his skull, twitching as it scanned him from outside the cage.
His chrome right hand gleamed under the neon lights, rusted and trembling. The overwhelming stench of cheap liquor clung tightly to him as he screamed at his son...that is Dante.
"Don't you dare freeze...you little piece of shit! You lose this fight again and I'll sell your sister next! Do you hear me...you son of a whore?"
"SHE'LL PAY!"
Each word hit Dante like a hammer on an anvil, harder than a punch could have.
His stomach churned violently; his memories were flooded with the images of his two-year-old sister, her bright and innocent eyes, the only person who smiled at him without malice.
He quickly came back to his senses and swallowed hard, fists clenched tightly as he struggled to steady his trembling legs.
His eyes ignited with determination as he steadied himself for whatever was to come.
------
The gate on the opposite side of the cage slammed open.
The moment the cage door opened, the chrome hound charged forward with incredible speed, faster than a normal dog.
"Yeahhhhhhhhh!"
The crowd erupted into a thunderous roar as the hound charged forward, claws sparking against the floor as its breath reeked of oil and blood.
Dante barely dodged in time. He threw himself sideways, rolling across the slick ground; the hound crashed into where he had been standing earlier.
The impact shook the cage; sparks rained down from the flickering neon lights above.
The hound turned with unnatural speed, so fast that no ordinary dog or animal possessed, and lunged forward once again.
Dante instinctively raised his arm to protect himself; the chrome fangs of the hound sank into his flesh, tearing through the duct tape.
Dante's eyes went wide as tears threatened to spill down, pain... immense pain exploded through his very being.
Ahhhhhhhhh...!
He let out a blood-curdling scream as blood sprayed across the cage bars like crimson paint on a canvas, drenching some of the spectators who licked the blood and howled with excitement.
"YEAHHHHHH..!"
"TEAR HIM APART!"
"RIP HIM TO SHREDS!"
The hound thrashed its head violently, lifting Dante off his feet by his arms; he dangled helplessly like a ragdoll, pain coursing through him as his vision blurred... the world spinning around him.
"DAMMIT! LISTEN HERE YOU LITTLE BASTARD... IF YOU LOSE, SHE'LL PAY!"
The voice of that monster of a father of his rang in his ear.
Dante's face froze; he bit his lip to keep his mind clear as fire ignited deep in his chest.
Ahhhhhh...!
His scream morphed from fear into pure rage and anger.
He started kicking his legs wildly, his feet slamming against the hound's ribs again and again until his feet landed on the spinal rig on the back.
The jolt made the hound yelp and loosen its grip just enough for Dante to slip free.
BANG!