What. The. F*ck?
No way.
There's no way this was possible.
He's not allowed here as per Fate Convention.
He's a part of the fabricated world, what the hell is he doing here?
Any last existent string of comprehension had left my mind.
At this point, I only cared to run from the party he had called on himself.
I staggered backwards with soft steps, careful not to catch any attention. Maybe it was because he looks crazy, but they really thought he was talking to himself.
I was heaving, with my chest starting to contract itself against my chest walls, with fear rising in my vessels, prompting my limbs to act on their own. I was heading backwards in a random direction, unable to navigate one alley from the other, ocassionally peeking over and keeping an eye on them. He was getting beat up black and blue, but surely he had provoked them.
When I realised I had gotten a little further away from them, I turned back and ran as fast as I could. The sounds of punches grew louder and more intense.
'Maybe I should save him?'
A thought crept up in my mind, demanding all attention.
CLANG!
My head collided with a yellow caution sign, signalling pedestrians to walk carefully. It was now bent to an obtuse, almost uprooted off its base. The sound echoed over the sound of the punches, sending waves across the alleys. The punches had stopped, but it only meant one thing-
I was successful in grabbing all their attention.
My head was now a mess, steps staggered as I tried to stand upright again. I held my head with one hand, one holding the signboard, an eye open to watch out. What I saw was nothing short of a scene of war from a historical movie.
Around 16 men came charging towards me, with Ben being dragged along.
"I'm f*cked," I thought to myself as I tried to shake off the daze and limped to run away, but it was too late.
They threw Ben against a brick wall and 2 men along with their boss came rushing to me.
"I didn't see anything," I said, covering my eyes.
"Who said you saw things?" The largest of them spoke up.
He had an eccentric fashion with a sharp tailored blazer, gold chains, rings, boots and a cigar held between his fingers, constantly shaking the ash off it. The lackeys dressed similar, except for all the gold.
"I'll make sure you see it," He raised his chin and pointed with his cigar at that pitiful human lying on the floor. Four men obliged and ran to him, starting to beat him up again.
"Wait... S- sstop," I stuttered. "What do you want from me?"
"He said he's your friend," he bent towards me, bring the burnt bit close to my face. "I had no issues with him, but he wanted me to show how things are done."
How things are done? Even to a f*cking gangster?
I was done with him.
I pursed my lips, away from the smoke and glared at him. He had two golf-balls above his eyes, all purple and red, his face had blood and scratches, probably from the jewelry, shirt and pants torn off, his brown curls matted and now a nest, yet that smirk, oh that would even survive death.
I had two choices. Leave him be or fight with them.
Anyone would usually choose the first option, right?
Try dealing with a person like Margie then~
I had no choice.
"You can keep him, I said, pointing at him," He's no good to me. I said, taking gradual steps back.
"Now that I think of it," The gangster relaxed a held the cigar up like a maestro, "he'll be a great entertainment for us," he said, closing his eyes and curling his hand twice, beckoning everyone to gather around him like a colony of ants.
I walked softly, eyes still on them till I reached that uprooted sign barely holding on, yanked it hard. The metal pole screeched at the base. They looked alerted.
But before they could even react,
Clack. Clung!
I swung it hard. I swung it again, till their circle dissipated among the chaos. A few men stumbled and fell on some, while others held their head and cried out loud, wincing in pain.
I swung it a few times at their leader too, eventually causing him to collapse against his own image, forcing him to kneel on the floor.
"Catch him!" He yelled at the dazed men, giving me some buffer to escape.
The sign was now converted into an arc, bent and broken, yet I held onto the sickle and grabbed the guy with my other arm, wincing from the pain in my shoulders. His blood was staining my off-white shirt, but his body was completely relaxed on me, weighing me down. I couldn't go on for long like this.
We both reached the pub where I last saw the characters. I entered through the back entrance and rushed to the kitchen, perhaps someone could help me.
The kitchen was now empty, perhaps beyond dinner time. There were no sounds of vessels and pans, except a constant buzz of the refrigerator and stray drops down a tap. The only light was the moonlight sieving through the exhaust vent. A standard industrial kitchen, made of metal and cheap granite, it was biting cold inside. I could see the puffs of air through my nose and it could be dangerous for the person with me, Barely holding on. Placing him in a corner against a cupboard, along with the makeshift weapon, I settled down with him.
My legs were throbbing. Intensely. My limbs were stiff from all the sudden excercise and I could feel my blood rushing to my fingertips and toes. I began to breath heavily, exhaling out all my exhaustion, since I knew it was only a matter of time before we were caught.
I placed my leg down with one upright, to support myself. I looked over at Ben, who was completely at my mercy. His round nose was now crooked, but some kind of innocence shone through the moonlight bouncing off his face.
"He's such an idiot," I whispered and laughed.
Once we both had settled down, I propped him against the cupboard, and climbed up to the sink, opening the tap. The cold water rushed through, echoing against the metal sink, relaxing my tensed nerves. I cupped some in my hands and threw it on myself.
Splash. Splash.
The cold water hit my face, bringing an intense surge of clarity along.
'Wait, I have the outsider's armor.'
This means I'm technically stronger than the main character. Since this is my own work, I have full invincibility in this world.
I placed both my hands on the sinking, squeezing my eyes to think hard.
Maybe Ben doesn't have that armor, since he entered by an error?
Which means he could actually die if not treated.
I hurried to look for first aid supplies, rummaging through cupboards full of utensils. A kitchen should have one, especially since it's a professional one. My eyes scanned around the whole place, looking for the familiar symbol.
At last, near the corner of the stovetop, I noticed the box with red square on it.
Suddenly, it felt as this entire room was on a boat on the ocean and saw the same experience pass by in a flash of a second, as if this had already happened before.
Deja vu?
I brushed it off by shaking my head, perhaps it's due to the hit earlier. Deja vu wasn't new to us. Since we made trips across dimensions, it was inevitable. But first, saving him was necessary because Margie is probably waiting for him in the other side.
I walked to the box and opened it, finding inside some bandages, pain killers, disinfectants, ointments and a pain spray.
Exactly what I needed.
I ran to him and removed the wet rag off his eyes, which I had put on him earlier to reduce the swelling. His eyes were slightly open, aware of the what may be happening outside. He was immobile though, perhaps even broke some bones.
I wiped off the blood on his face with the same rag and rummaged around for a cotton ball. I took a piece of it, drowned it in the antiseptic solution and placed it on his wound.
He groaned out loud.
Atleast he was awake, I guess?
After disinfecting him, I wrapped his almost pulped arm in a gauze and made a makeshift cast out of it, and sprayed almost his entire body with the pain spray. He was wide awake by then.
At that moment, everything stopped for a brief moment. Ben was also frozen solid, and so was the tap, leaving the room in complete silence. A screen popped up in front of me, blue in color. It was transparent and had the glowing font that said,
"Mission accomplished, Subject A129 and D146 are now connected again."
"Yes! We did it!" I cheered out loud.
But, the next message left me extremely puzzled.
"Reward: Memory awarded for agent G1762."
Huh?
Before I could even understand what was happening, the entire room was crept up in blue aqua light, blinding me once again.