She took her phone out of her pocket, as she walked off from the store, through the city many people passing her and many people all around.

The weather was very hot, and the clouds looked misty, fuzed with the sky, keeping the sun rays away from humanity.

“Please play “Nightmare that I cannot escape by Ga.Foc”

Said Ilinca with a slight smirk on her face, while she was taking her wired earbuds from inside her hoodie’s pocket.

The phone: playing right now, “Nightmare that I cannot escape by Ga.Foc”.

While she took her little walk to go home, Ilinca saw many people staring at her. One man with a newspaper from a cafeteria, a construction worker who kept tapping his palm with a metal tool, which, for context, meant that he wanted to use it for violence. The newspaper man that was selling at his booth and many more.

Ilinca could feel the greed and/or desperation and excitement from all of them, even if she couldn’t see. She could “see” in her mind, each person’s imaginary necklace and their colors.

*One… four, five, six… twenty… twenty nine… thirty, exactly thirty.. Hmh (chuckles)*

Counted Ilinca in her mind, every single person staring at her and from who felt the greed or excitement for a fight, thinking that they may be from the Swordkick clan, just as her, in need of credits.

“Good morning miss!”

Shouted the lively voice of a woman with two pair of shoes, being held by her left hand.

“Hm?”
Asked Ilinca, quickly taking one earbud from her left ear.

“I was asking if you would like one of these two pair of shoes, specially made for beautiful ladies just like you, eh?”

“I’m sorry, but I already have a few pairs–”

In that next moment, the woman let the two pairs of shoes from her hand, fall down, and revealed a cherry leaf that was in the same hand.

Suddenly, her reaction, from a joyful older woman, turned into a scary and dominant expression, showcasing the leaf from her hand

*She’s breaking the rules!*

Shouted Ilinca inside her mind, quickly reaching for the toque, which was stuck to her belt, situated right on the back of her waist.

She grunted her eyes, putting herself in a fighting stance, while half of her sword was out.

The woman ripped the leaf in six tiny bits, without making the small piece from the part of the oxigen generator, move.

*She did it!*

Continued Ilinca, running away from her, but actually she was running towards a place where they weren’t seen. As she wanted, the woman followed Ilinca where she was headed.

Ilinca went through the people that were walking in their own stories, towards their own destinations, while the woman bumped into many of them, wildly running towards Ilinca, while slowly reaching her hands in her pockets, coming out with two hand accessories made out of gold, surrounding her knuckles.

Arriving in the alley, Ilinca closed herself up. There wasn’t any way out but where she came from; this is what she wanted.

“Why did you break the second rule, woman?”

Asked Ilinca, angered by her opponent’s choice, while showcasing the sword right near her face, meaning she put herself in another stance, eager to use her mirror’s soul.

“You wouldn’t understand”
Continued the woman, with spite and anger in her expression, while a tear was falling down from her left eye.

The woman slammed her knuckles together, creating a spark of wildness and charged towards Ilinca.

“TELL ME!”
Shouted Ilinca, charging herself too.

The clash between the two weapons created a loud metallic cling.

“While, just tell me… No one has the guts to break such a rule with Swordkick. Tell me, I’d understand”

Said Ilinca with a sorrowful look on her face, as her eyebrows narrowed.

The sound of the metals rubbing each other, with abrupt noises of forced used from both users and slight groans of both trying to push the other.

“Tomorrow is the day to pay “Pencil”. I-I ha–d-d to do it, even if it meant breaking the rules. They have my son, he’s very sick (starts crying, forcing her weapon even harder).

“But breaking the rules means to get yourself killed, no matter what you do”

From overthinking and zoning out, Ilinca lost focus and her sword lowered, giving the woman a slight spot for her to hit for a weakspot on Ilinca.

While charging the biggest punch she’d ever took, the woman shouted out that she won’t go out like this, and that she will make it better for her son.

Zoning back to reality and with her lower eye-bandage filled with water, Ilinca dodged the attack with a pivot to the left and punctured the woman’s stomach with her sword.

“Argh…nghh”
Groaned the woman, dropping down on her knees.

Ilinca wiped her sword with a white cloth and placed it back into her toque.

Wimping and sniffing her nose, Ilinca headed towards the exit of the alley; wiping the tears from underneath her bandage.

“N-no wonder you are close to hitting the top ten (coughs hardly, spitting on the cement ground). Do good, okay? Ilinca Adam… what a beautiful name”.

Faintly said the woman, with a gentle voice, barely being able to speak out her last words.

A few seconds later, Ilinca felt how the imaginary necklace from around her neck turned to the same color as the wind, transparent and empty.

The scene changes to Ilinca in an underground station, caught in front of the small place reserved for the train to pass, looking down, with one of her feet headed towards it.

The whole station was almost empty. There were also three more people waiting for the same train, probably.

*What if…?*

Asked Ilinca

She quickly took her foot and stopped playing at the corner of the border between the train’s assigned place to be ridden on, and the place where people should be standing by, waiting for the train.

*Tomorrow is my birthday. A day when I don’t think about my choices… wonderful*

Gently said Ilinca in her thoughts, while she was embarking on the train.

The whole place was empty, beside one spot which was taken by a smaller person who had a mask on his face out of rubber, and a small bag surrounding his shoulder and his waist.

The smaller man approached Ilinca, who stared out the window, even though she couldn’t see. 

His small steps could be heard really loudly, closer and closer.

He stopped for a moment and showed out a cherry leaf which he succeeded in breaking in six pieces, without making it flinch.

Ilinca felt the necklace turning to different colors, feeling the excitement and greed coming from the man.

“You need me that bad? Well come and get me!”
Shouted Ilinca, taking out her sword with a long metallic sound, after which she placed herself in a stance.

Knowing from experience, Ilinca stopped charging first in a fight, she always waited for the opponent to do the next move.

The man opened the zip from his bag and searched through more things that rubbed themselves, which made loud glass noises.

He took out a small sphere, colored in pure yellow and placed it into his mouth, right near his teeth. Following, a knuckle was slammed between the sphere and teeth, making the sphere break.

A few more seconds the man remained still, while the remaining bits from the sphere fell down from his mouth. Suddenly, his body started transforming into something more fleshy and disturbing, a mutant, as many would call it.

As he spoke his first sentence, his voice deepened into something more deeper and monster-ish with each second.

“You sure are confident, for a top twenty. I will make sure to merit every single credit that I will be awarded for ending such a sprinting life like yours”

“RAHAAA!”
Shouted the mutant, attacking Ilinca with his fleshy arm.

The mutant was massive, bigger than the train, Ilinca didn’t even understand how the train didn’t break in two. Every single move of the mutant was destroying something, be it the seats or break a window or damage the floor and the ground.

“I think that skin-care routine would come in clutch, what’s up!?”
Shouted Ilinca, doing zig-zags in left and right, dodging every incoming attack from the extending and strong body of the mutant.

The fight wasn’t really fair, but Ilinca succeeded in spotting a weak spot, which was the back of the mutant’s neck, where the bone was exposed, and in which she stabbed her sword after the single change she found and got.

The mutant remained still, and Ilinca arrived at her destination.

It was late at night by then, and Ilinca was walking alone in a barely lighted up street, towards her house, but she was stopped by a gathering of people surrounding Ilinca, all with white masks with holes for eyes and mouth, and interesting black colored design also.

All of them had a weapon in their hands, just like a knife, wooden bath, an iron pipe or just their bare fists.

“What are you doing tonight, beautiful?”
Asked one of the boys, chuckling at his own question

“I really don’t feel like doing this right now, guys, just please”
Said Ilinca with a slightly annoyed tone

All of the masked people laughed lively

“You will feel like it, whenever we say so… right?-- (approached Ilinca with his long machete, wanting to target her with it) Fluor pack?”

He arrived with the machete which he swung right over Ilinca, but the scene turns to black and it transitions to Ilinca inside her home.

Her room was a simple one, nothing worth explaining.

She placed a mask which was the same from the people she just fought, and which was freckled with blood, on the top of her white cabinet and just threw herself on her bed, not even dressing up in her usual pajamas, but even though she didn’t, her eyes were falling victims for the world of dreams

With every single flinch hurting, Ilinca gently said, with a slightly annoyed tone in her voice, while taking off her bandage covering her eyes, which she didn’t open, but we can see a scar surrounding both of her eyes.

“I can’t feel my left shoulder… argh… dang it! My skull hurts a little bit too, I just hoped I’m not having anything broken, oh– what the– (slams her face into the pillow and shouts, creating a muffled and silenced sound) HEEEEEEEEEEL–!”