Chapter 6

Luka went through the dark passageway and wound up in one of the dark alleyways he knew. The trap door was hidden in the ground, so after memorizing where the hatch was, the boy dusted himself off and walked out leisurely.

He was back in his normal clothes as he stretched and walked out like nothing happened. A few more corners and he would be back at his house—

A chubby man appeared from around the corner, thrusting an object at him. Luka immediately dodged to the side quickly as his eyes tracked the object.

A knife?

Luka immediately jumped backward in time for the man to start shouting.

"Zubat! It's dead! It's dead! You killed him!" Luka clicked his tongue when he realized this chubby man was the trainer of the Zubat he had just killed.

"You'd have done the same to many trainers before. You really expect me to care?" Luka twisted his head in provocation as his hands slipped onto his Pokéball.

Nah. If Trubbish got stabbed, he couldn't handle the consequences without debt. This wasn't his first time in a fight.

"Watch closely, Trubbish," Luka muttered as he poised himself. The chubby man charged with a thrust as Luka dodged to the side just in time for a slash to come his way.

Arching his back, he watched as the blade nearly gave him a haircut, managing to throw a jab at the man's stomach. Jumping back and composing himself, he realized the damage done wouldn't be enough to throw him off.

He'd need a good shot.

"Auuugh!" The man had no experience handling a weapon, it seemed. Luka positioned himself with his back to the wall as he ducked under a slash.

A thrust! Luka tilted his head just in time for the knife to slam into the wall next to him. The man's body weight meant the force was enough to lodge it into the wall as Luka jabbed left, right. The man lost his grip on the knife, which was still in the wall, as Luka punched him in the kidney. He managed to recover in time and quickly smacked the boy in the face with surprising speed.

Luka stumbled back, wiping the blood coming from his nose as he breathed out.

Nothing is perfect.

"Come on, piggie." Luka taunted to get into his head as the man charged with his full body. The man was surprisingly agile with his blows as Luka weaved to get aside from them. But he stumbled on a rock, which caused him to get punched in the gut.

Saliva dripped down his face as anger started to sprout. Hunching close to the ground, Luka grabbed a rock and threw it at the man, who desperately attempted to cover his face in response to the stone.

Luka's eyes flashed with determination as he quickly shin-kicked the man, causing him to yelp, then going behind him while he was staggered and pulling the knife out of the wall.

"I win, piggie," Luka spluttered, feeling the pain in his body. The man shivered in response to the knife blow.

"Please... please don't kill me... I was only angry—" Luka quickly turned the knife blade into the hilt as he smashed it onto the man's head, knocking him out.

Quickly dragging his body into the passageway, Luka went back to the changing room and walked to the receptionist. The once-bustling halls weren't as filled as people had gone to whatever pits they lived in or to the pub after the fight.

It seemed there was another fight on. The changing room had a timid boy in it as Luka opened the trap door and stared at him in confusion.

"My bad. Can you do me a favor and go get somebody?" Luka clearly shocked the poor boy as he went and ran out. Luka searched the fat man in the meantime, finding some notes, a pack of cigarettes, and a lighter.

Cigarettes, ay? They were a luxury around here. This man must be earning big bucks. He had no interest in smoking, but they could be used to garner favor with somebody.

It didn't take long for a skinny man wearing a snake mask to come through the door of the changing rooms. After harshly reprimanding the other fighter to go to his battle, he looked down at Luka.

"Ah." His expression was gloating. "Our rising star. Truly a battle earlier."

Luka dared not have any arrogance or smugness as he bent his arm across his chest and did a small bow.

"Thank you, sir."

"Yes... yes... ah." The snake man's sly eyes fell onto the fat man as he snorted. "Why did you bring him back here?"

Luka rehearsed what he was going to say.

"To save the Dusk Circuit face. You do not want one of your best trainers going around the street beat up, do you—"

The snake man's hand rose to the air as he merely brushed it away. "Ex-fighter. His Zubat died, and his debt to us is astronomical. We were going to sell him to slavery, after all. You were worried you would be hunted, correct? Do what you want with him; we are not bothered. Trash like him has no place here, after all."

Luka nodded his head and gave a grateful smile.

"Thank you, sir."

"Yeah, yeah..." The man yawned, which was blocked by his mask. "His address is 19 Slywood Avenue. You can search his house and see what he has if you're bothered." The snake man walked out the door. "Excuse yourself; I've got work to do, rising star."

Luka stood up and bowed, once more wiping his bloody nose.

His expression grew serious.

The man had gotten there faster than he did, and he made sure he wasn't slow. The snake man wasn't surprised to see him in a state like that either. It was most likely a test to see what Luka would do.

Sly bastards.

Clicking his tongue, Luka once more used the hilt of the knife to make sure the man was unconscious and went back through the doorway.

Taking him to an abandoned building, Luka tied him up to a chair and sat opposite him as the man slowly began to wake up. What he saw was Luka playing with his lighter, watching the fire sprout out.

"Why... why am I here..."

Luka looked toward the man before sighing.

"You will die here. I'm sorry." Luka watched as the flame died out before reaching into his pocket. "I could have killed you in your sleep... but it just didn't feel right. Might be because this is my first kill, or it may be because I feel bad for you. Regardless, here."

Luka got out the cigarettes from his pocket and pulled one from the pack of ten. Slowly putting it in the man's mouth, he brought the lighter out and lit it for him.

"The nail in the coffin." The man surprisingly laughed before his face returned somber. It seemed like he had accepted his fate. The man coughed a little as the smoke filled his lungs, but he managed to stay stable as the boy sat down again.

"You have been discarded by the Dusk Circuit," Luka muttered. "Did you have much debt?"

"Yeah... I got addicted to gambling... the more I thought I climbed, the lower I went. I forsook everything in return for the money and fame it got me. Not that it really mattered." The cigarette was half done already as the man took a stable puff. "I used to have dreams... a family. I left it all behind for what? Nothing? I wonder. Who is the real me? The persona I put on the show, or a failure in a place where the sun doesn't even shine."

The darkness spread around Luka as a brief light illuminated from the lighter. The boy sighed.

"One day. One day I dream of liberating this place... no matter what it takes. Some of your past may be your fault, and you may have caused the deaths of others, indirect or not, but at the end of the day—"

"We are products of our environment." The man grew fierce. "What? You think I haven't heard it before? Little shits like you with ambition always think they are better than everybody else. You're getting your hands dirty right now, and you think you're better than me? Hah."

Luka revealed a smile before shaking his head.

"Nah. That's just a projection of your insecurity, of your lack of drive for something better. I wonder, is it better to be a complacent pig or an unhappy human?" Luka's eyes flashed with emotion. "I will trek this path of mine and collect garbage like gold, and one day stand at the top to the point where those topside will have to listen. Do you understand?"

The cigarette ash fell onto the dried wooden floors and started a fire as Luka held his Pokéball in his hands, silently watching it as the fire began to spread.

The man started to laugh.

"Bullshit." He clicked his tongue. "I'll humor you. If you get to the top, you will still be seen as the worthless slum trash that you are. Those at the top have a golden fucking spoon in their mouths."

"So what? So what if they resent me? If they don't listen, well." Luka started to get up from the chair, watching as the fire cracked around the man as the cigarette became nothing but a stub that fell to the floor. "I'll just make it so they have to." Luka looked down to his half-broken pokeball 'Are you listening , Trubbish? those who think we are nothing, we will make them know we are everything.'

The man was silent , as the flames began to create toxic smoke. He had seconds left to live. Luka was already walking out the door.

'Very well then. I'll be watching you from below.' The man laughed. 'Be wary of D , S and the boss of dusk circuit , pluto.' The man's words were completed by a wooden floorboard falling on his body as Luka walked out without looking back.