Black

Cane awoke to a black world

As he rose from his laying position, ignoring the pounding pain that was drumming into the back of his skull, he saw a complete absence of… well, anything

There was absolutely nothing, not a speck of light

It was as if his eyes were never opened at all as if he were still unconscious.

He reached out a hand he tried to grasp out, onto anything, to find a vantage point, but he soon pulled that hand back to himself, cradling his pounding head. Why did it hurt so much? What had happened? Why?

It felt as if all his memories had been dipped in tar, slow-moving and obscured, so much so that he had to make an extensive effort to simply find the last thing he remembered. He had been getting into his car, finishing his phone call with… Alex?

Was it Alex? No, it was something else, but what?

It didn't take long for a certain word to pop into his mind, concussion, that was likely what he had. Whoever had hit him over the head had likely done so far too hard and in the wrong place, amateur. It's smarter to simply put them in a chokehold or use chloroform if you wanted to…

Kidnap someone

"Haha" Cane couldn't help but chuckle before he soon lapsed into complete hysterics, laughing so hard his lungs hurt and he kept doing so until the pain in his head got too great and he threw up. Ignoring the acidic taste in his mouth and wiping away the puke cane smirked.

these guys were fucked.

Whoever it was who had taken, they had no idea of the true hell they were about to unleash on themselves, not even his own ivory syndicate could save them. His girls would have their pound of flesh and then they would take more out of spite

Wait… girls?

What were their names again, struggling for a moment he finally remembered, their names were Janis, Kerry, and Amelia… right?

However, before he could continue cane soon hear a sound, one that was both quiet and loud in the dark place he was in, sobbing? Straining his hearing despite the sting that came with it he focused on the sound, listening quietly

Sobbing

Slowly taking a step forward Cane began to feel in front of him, careful of obstacles or changes in elevation in the dark as he went, he made his approach towards whoever was crying. And as he went the sound got louder and more distinguished, it was a woman, her voice sounding panicked and dry as if she had been crying for hours at a time. And soon he could make out a few of her words

"Please, anyone, god, help me" the girl cried, her sobbing echoing in the dark void of the room "please, please…please"

After listening to her cry for a few minutes, cane decided to talk to the voice, gathering his courage before beginning to speak "hello?" he greeted

Dead silence

Not a sound, the crying ceased and the words vanished into the black, until soon cane heard the distinct sound of footsteps, small and light, moving towards him!

"Hello?" the voice answered back, mimicking him and sounding heartbreakingly desperate "is-is anyone there?!"

Waiting a moment Cane took a breath before answering the woman "yes… hello my name is-" he didn't finish as a second later, moving at immense speeds something small slammed into him, knocking him over and latching onto him with a trembling grip that held on like iron

"*sob* oh divine god! *sob* you found me!" the thing latched onto him and cried, wailing as it shed tears that soaked into Cane's shirt "please save me!"

*******

[Akari pov]

Cane was late and that was… alarming

After being dragged out of her cell by Kira, Cane's bodyguard an hour ago for a "fun night on the town" to meet up with Cane and his other "clients" she had found herself in the midnight brawl with Kira, waiting for her therapist to arrive and passing the time by watching the numerous battles going on below.

However, as time passed things started to seem… off.

First the Wendigo and Little Red arrived, nearly scaring the skin off her until Kira, their mutual acquaintance, introduced them. Apparently, these two were Cane's original clients, the ones he had been working with the longest, a fact that Miss Rantin was more than happy to rub in her face

Not like she cared about canes personal life

But as the night progressed and cane's arrival seemed to be later and later, the girls got more and more restless, growing increasingly unstable. By now, an hour had passed and cane having yet to arrive, the girls had become fully volatile

Alice, who had originally been at least amicable, despite her clear warning to stay away from her "mate" had been reduced to sitting in the corner, crouched in the fetal position. Anyone who tried to touch had either lost a hand or their life.

Jasmin, the psychopath, had tried to stave off her frustration and worry by throwing herself into the center of the battle dome, slaughtering aimlessly and laughing as she did so. But eventually, the participants had run out and now she had taken to eating the ones who remained… alive, you could hear their screams from any part of the building

Even Kira, someone who she had begun to perceive as a calm and collected person had been forced to excuse herself after she accidentally snapped at an employee, crushed her own chair by accident and then ripped out the tongue of an unlucky man who had tried to flirt with her

And it was at this point, an hour and 12 minutes later than cane was supposed to arrive that she arose from her seat, gaining the attention of Jasmin, who looked at her from the ring, standing on a mountain of corpses, her eyes black and her entire being soaked with more blood and guts than should be possible

"Let's find Cane" she whispered down to her

She owed him for saving her anyway

That was all there was to it