“And I told them! I told them that the end was near! The Devils have returned, and they wish for nothing, but the death of all mankind! The Demons are here! They live amongst us! When the bombs dropped and desecrated this land, none of you were there to see it! But I did! I saw the green flames as they encompassed us, devoured our homeland whole with the wrath of those more deserving! It was the homeland that our ancestors stole, and then had built on the backs of slaves! Was it Karma that caused their downfall!? Just like the Romans, our empire was broken! But, those are the politics of man! For another fact rose within the cracks of the industrial flames. Another flame! A harsh blue flame that devoured our world all over, silently it ate us all! Now we're living in that hell. And thanks to the dead blue flame, we too will become demons!“

I listened to the old coot across the street declare as I continued eating my burger. The Neon lights from above, glowing down from every cesspool filled advertisement. Casting a purple hue over his body that made him look holy in a very unholy way. It was weird. This old guy came out here around Sora Street about twice a week. I’d say he was homeless, but he wears different clothes every time I see him. He made this little makeshift podium where he preaches for hours. At least he does until some of the local made-men and gangs tell him to fuck off before they stick a bullet between his eyes. It's either that or he gets arrested. Sometimes he listens. Sometimes he doesn’t. I took a sip of my drink, staring up at the neon sign. ‘Burger Town‘, pretty ass name if you ask me. It was my favorite diner and I loved eating out over here. My dad used to take me here a lot back when he was alive. My mom and I will come out here on my dad’s birthdays. You know, out of respect.

My holophone brought up an alert. Somebody was calling me.

“Mr. Tasanagi. Call from Haji coming in. Would you like to answer it?“ My holophone said to me through our mental link. Holo-phones have personal AI’s that come with their implants. You can get new kinds, different voices etc. However, I liked the original despite it being outdated by a few years. No one really uses it anymore. It’s called the SAIDAH (Super Artificial Intelligence Data Accesser Hologram.)

“Patch him through.“ I said back to the device while taking another slurp of my drink I yawned. Soon after, the image of my best friend, Haji, would appear in front of me through a small holographic window, The blue holophone ear-piece appeared over my right ear. “Yo, what’s up bro? How’s it hanging? “ I said chowing down on my food, I could see Haji smoking a cigarette on his end. The ashes burned a bright orange before falling to the ground.

“Oh you know, same ol' shit, really. Been pretty chill here, lately. You?" He pulled away from his cancer stick and came up for fresh air.

"About the same for me, just grabbing a bite to eat," My mouth was full of burger.

"Sounds good, man. Hm, there was something I wanted to ask you, though. What was it? Oh yeah... WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU!? YOUR MATCH STARTS IN 15 MINUTES!“ His voice was so loud that it nearly busted my eardrums from the inside out. I choked on my food.

“Christ! Why’s everyone so anal about me being late all the time…” I groaned while rolling my eyes.

“Because you’re never on fucking time. It’s already bad enough that I have to lie to my fucking Oyabun, my boss, for you! I could lose a fucking finger dealing with your dumb ass!“ He spat at me.

“What’s one finger to a badass like you?“ I said with a mouthful of food.

“Are you on your way or not?“ Haji said crossing his arms.

“I’m across the street, actually.“ My eyes trailed over at some girls walking past me.

“Ah, you over at Burger Town? “ Haji would have been getting dressed on his end now, buttoning up his dress shirt as a naked girl was seen exiting the door behind him. A few naked guys too.

“Yup, that’s the one. So, you find out who’s supposed to be my partner for the Gauntlet?” I leaned back in my seat, waiting for his response.

“Yup, I set it up already. You’re fighting with that new guy that’s been getting all his traction down over by the harbor. That kid that's been fighting with the Tanks. That uh… what’s his name again? The Dark Hood? Or something like that…” Haji's snapped his fingers as he forced the correct alias to the tip of his tongue.

I spat out my food. “The Dark God!? “ I said standing up out of my seat afterward.

“Yeah, that’s the guy. Oh, you know 'em already?“ Haji was such an idiot. I can’t believe he even asked me this!

“Yeah, I fucking know him! He hasn’t lost a match! He’s been beating guys left and right! He beat one guy so bad he has to take shit out of a bag from now on!“ I said pinching the bridge of my nose.

“Well, I suppose it’s a good thing you don’t gotta fight him then, you guys are on the same side this time. And uh, news flash? You haven’t lost a fight either.“ Haji said back to me.

He never saw things the way I did. It always felt like we were on the opposite ends of the spectrum. Haji was a bit older, I’d call him an African American, but he doesn’t like the term. He claims that there isn’t much of America left to eve back up the term aymore. It was an outdated one, to be honest. He was always sporting some kind of flap top like cut, he had a light bit of facial hair on his lips. The kind of facial hair that says ‘Don’t leave your girlfriend around me or I’ll have her bent over a desk somewhere’. He’d do it too. He was kind of a sleazeball like that. Just don’t disrespect him. He’ll kill you without a second thought. He’s one of the top hitmen in the Kagemaru clan, in the entire Yakuza branch, and the entire Syndicate.

“That’s not the point! Look! I’m on my way over now. I gotta get ready.“ I hung up soon after, shaking my head over the news. This was the last thing I needed to hear.

☯☯☯☯

I walked towards the door of The Underbelly which was located in some back alley. The first person I came in contact with was the bouncer. He looked at me, and I looked at him back. With a nod and a nod back, I was allowed inside with approval. He knew me, I was a regular by now. I came through the back because this is where the locker rooms were located. Upon entry, I could see all the fighters that were destined to get there faces caved in or a plasma blade to the neck. I pulled my hood over my head so that my face was concealed, like always. Lucky enough for me, the other fighters really weren’t concerned with the likes of others here. They didn’t know me personally and they didn't care to.

That’s the theme down here in the District 1 fighting circuit. You put on a mask to become someone else and you fight to the death. They throw your body in a trash disperser and you're never seen again. You just go missing. This is the place for civilian’s to get in the ring and make some dough, or some Made-men who don’t want their organization involved with fuckery. So in here? I wasn’t Keyome Tasanagi.

I was The Mad Dog of District one.

I pulled my mask over my eyes to conceal my identity. The red strip rested over the bridge of my nose, the eye socket holes were designed to hide one’s pupils from visual eye scanners. So to those looking at me, the mask would make my eyes appear a snow white. I tied my hair up into a ponytail and placed black face paint beneath both of my eyes.

I’d begin removing my hoodie. I sported a black muscle shirt now. My arms were wrapped up to the elbows with white bandage. Didn’t bother changing my bottoms or my boots though. Last but not least, was my boxing cloak, you know the robes that boxers wear before a big match? Yeah, that was a part of my little gimmick too. It was all red with a black wolf on the back. As I stepped out of my dressing room I’d turn my attention to see the newcomer. The Dark God.

“So, that’s your partner for the night, huh?“ Said a fighter by the name of Go-Rill-A. Don’t ask me okay. I don’t come up with this shit. You can imagine what his gimmick looked like.

“Yup, you hear about 'em too?“ I said tying my boots.

“Have I heard? I heard he’s a fucking maniac! I heard that he can break a man’s arm just by looking at 'em.“ Go-Rill-A spoke with overexaggerated droll. I shook my head.

“Hey, I guess anything’s possible these days. So, if I’m the main event what’s your fight card tonight? “ I asked him, standing back up after fixing my shoes.

“I gotta fight some new guy. Said his names The Tweezers, or something.“ He said.

My eye twitched.

“The Tweezers… Well, it’s better than your name I guess. It's kind of lame though.“I replied.

Before he could respond back to me, Haji would have appeared from out of fucking no-where or so it seemed. It was as if he drifted in from the shadows themselves. He was wearing the same suit ensemble he’d been sporting on the Holo-phone.

“Ready to go?“ He said to me, lighting his cigarette. I nodded. He turned his attention over to the new guy. That… Dark God guy. “Yo DG, you ready?“ This was the first time I’d hear him speak. And I knew… just from how overly chipper this guy was. I just knew… he was gonna piss me off.

“Yup! I sure am!“ His voice was high and nice. And it threw off everyone in the whole fucking locker room. All fifteen fighters turned to look at this enigma holding the title of The Dark God. He wore a black mask that sat over the top of his head like a du-rag or a bandanna. And just like me, he had eye tech that made his eyes a solid white. He was shirtless, but he had an eagle painted across his chest. He wore black sweats with no shoes and a white sash around his waist. He had brown hair, shady brown hair, and a pretty decent build. The guy was lean, kind of, like a martial artist's body. His knuckles were red… blood red. Like all he ever did was beat the ever-lasting shit out of people.

“Hiya, Mad Dog! I’m your partner tonight! I hope we do good together!“ His hand stretched out to me. And I stared at it. It seemed like… time had slowed down when he did. As if, no one else existed in the room, but him.

“ Yeah…. Nice to meet you.“ I said gripping onto his hand. Then, it seemed as everything was covered in light, surrounded by it. This powerful light was overbearing, it was infuriating actually. And just being near this guy pissed me off for some reason. Do you believe in love at first sight?

I’d like to believe that the alternative is possible to.

I’d like to believe that within the first moments of meeting someone you can determine if you’ll hate that person for the rest of your life.

I’d like to believe… that I wanted this man dead more than anything in the world.

And I didn’t even know his real name.