Acid Reign : Genesis

The pits were a hodgepodge of poorly welded metal buildings, and gapped walls, serving as ventilation. Some came looking for a chance to step up in life. Although it was no more than a glorified dumpster, hundreds came daily for the excitement.

Some came to the pits because they wanted to feel rebellious for the first time in their lives. Some came just because they wanted to show that if they lost money it didn’t matter, but most of all, if you wanted to get something for nothing, the pits was were you went. It was also the only place in Nucrea where the illegal consumption of alcohol and chemical injections, for the most part, were overlooked.

Two huge men guarded the main entrance where all of these people waited in a line that stretched for a city block. Seeing the line, Bean excitedly grabbed Lilly’s hand.

“C’mon, hurry up,” Bean said childishly, pulling a reluctant Lilly behind her. “Oh, look at that line of people,” she said with growing excitement.

“Looks like they’re full tonight. We’ll have to try again,” Lilly said in hopes of breaking down some of Bean’s determination.

“We don’t have to wait in line Lil,” Bean said with the biggest smile. “Come on! What are you draggin’ your feet for? It’ll be spectacular.”

“Can’t wait,” Lilly whispered to herself.

“Don’t have to wait. I told you,” Bean said as she looked at Lilly as if she wasn’t a very good listener.

“Not what I meant. Never mind,” Lilly surrendered.

Bean laughed at Lilly, then pulled her towards the front of the line where a man was trying to convince one of the bouncers to let him in. They both ignored his pleadings and motioned for him to get back in line.

“Busy night, T?” Bean asked with a pouty face, as if she was talking to a toddler.

“Ay, ma,” The bouncer replied.

“Good! Gotta feed you big boys.”

“Who’s the girl, Ma?”

“She’s with me, and don’t be gettin’ any ideas, now,” She said with a damning scowl.

“Doesn’t look like she wants to be here.”

He realized he should have kept his observation to himself as the look on Bean’s face turned from proud momma to a look Lilly could only describe as building rage.

“You should know when to shut your mouth,” Bean said motioning for him to lean in closer to her.

The shamed behemoth leaned in slowly, and squeezed his eyes shut. Lilly jumped, as an unexpected loud, hard slap shot across his face.

“Sorry Ma, didn’t mean it like that,” he said as he straightened.

“You know better,” Bean said as she grabbed Lilly’s arm again and pulled her to the entrance.

The man that was trying to get into the pits earlier pointed and laughed until he got the bouncer’s attention.

“Funny?” the bouncer asked the man loudly as he walked over to him.

“Kinda,” the little man replied smiling at a group of barely dressed women.

“Ah.”

The bouncer looked at the young man that was obviously confused about how things worked at the pits, and smiled at the women, too.

Without warning, the bouncer smashed the man’s face with a heavy punch that sent him backwards into the wall. The bouncer calmly walked back as the man’s limp body slid down and slumped over to one side.

“Let’s go see the bookie,” Bean said, still holding on to Lilly’s arm.

Inside the pits, every social class in Nucrea; wealthy, destitute, privileged, desperate, drunk and sober crammed into every square foot of space. Smoke and undecipherable voices of all volumes filled the air.

That was the smell, Lilly thought to herself.

In the Pits, everything could be made into a bet, from whom would get the next council seat to whether it would rain in the next ten minutes or not.

There were many rooms with social areas and table games but the main attractions were the fighting pits. Anything that might put up a fight was thrown in with anything else that might fight back. Some match-ups were carefully planned out, but most of the patrons couldn’t afford those fights, so they settled on whatever came out.

One of the pit crowds cheered as a deformed rooster and some kind of crab were thrown into a pit together. The cheering soon faded as the rooster and crab just avoided each other. Luckily, these arenas were set up in anticipation for just such a thing. A man wearing a red vest raised his arms to calm the crowd and pulled a lever, making the walls of the cage push together.

The fights ended with a celebration by the winners and a short moment of gratitude from everyone as the losing, and sometimes winning, animals were taken to the cook and served, ensuring that nothing went to waste.

Serving girls pushed their way through perverted crowds as some gamblers cheered at their wins and others looked away groaning in all levels of pain at their losses.

“I think I see him!” Bean screamed over the noise of the pits.

It made sense to Lilly why Bean was so loud all of the time. She realized that she must just be used to talking over hundreds of people all screaming and cheering at the same time.

In front of them, a fight between a well-dressed man and a scantily clad woman broke out. Employees with red vests tried to break it up, just as wagers were being made about who would win. The woman punched him in the throat and took him down with a twist of her body. The crowd cheered as she sat on top of him and kept swinging. To Lilly, it looked like the man might have actually been enjoying it. Bean made a single burst of laughter and turned.

“Bookie!” Bean yelled as she pushed her way through another line of people.

A pale, hairless man stood calmly in the middle of a swarm of brightly layered folds of cloth. His face was kind and his smile seemed as though it was most likely permanent.

“Madam Bean,” the bookie said with a glow.

“How do, Bookie?”

“Very well, thank you,” he said as he bowed his head slightly. “What would you like to wager on tonight Madam Bean?”

Bean looked past him to a large board where scribbled names filled every square. She squinted and twisted her face as she thought deeply.

“The Hog for five hundred. Umm. And...Bo for a thousand.”

The fabrics quickly swirled around the bookie like a dust storm and came to a graceful stop. He held out a soft hairless hand, which gracefully took Bean’s credit files and then disappeared again into a whirlwind of color.

Lilly, hypnotized by the man’s robes, didn’t hear him the first time.

“And you, miss?” he repeated with kindness.

She reached into a pocket on her leg and presented the credits that Gus had given her.

“Not me thank you, but all of this on Scratches, for Gus.”

The bookie gave an enchanting smile.

“He’s been betting on that wonderfully mangy feline for over two years. Ninety lives that one has. Never wins but always pulls through somehow. Is he betting on survival or win Miss?”

Lilly thought about the difference and felt a surge of revenge fill her mind for being left behind.

“All on a win, please.”

The bookie gave her a look as though he had read her thoughts.

“Very well.”

The same soft hand shot out of the colored folds, took the credit files, and gracefully disappeared again.

“Nothing for you at all?” he asked with piercing eyes.

Bean was ready to move on and shuffled her feet in agitation.

“Oh, hell! Put down three thousand for her. And for a win.”

Bean didn’t blink at the amount, but Lilly wondered how she had so many credits.

“What are the odds for a win?” Bean asked for Lilly’s sake.

“Highest in the pits. Thirty to one,” he said with confidence.

“I know you are only here for the atmosphere, but the excitement can be fulfilling to even the most adventurous of souls,” he said to Lilly with a wink.

Lilly started to think he really could read her thoughts. She looked around at all of the drunk people yelling and falling over each other. She saw angry losers throwing their drinks on the ground, a serving girl who slapped a man that grabbed at her, and another woman that threw up in a corner.

He’s funny, she thought to herself.

“What pit?” Bean asked impatiently.

“Pit three, Madam Bean.”

“C’mon Lil’!”

Bean went to grab Lilly’s arm again but missed this time. With no thought of trying again Bean pushed past a group of people and charged over to a half empty pit with a large white “3” on the wall above it. Lilly looked at Bean and thought of how obnoxious she was.

“My name is Cornelius,” the bookie said with a smile.

“Lilly,” she replied, thinking of how silly his name sounded.

Cornelius the bookie narrowed his eyes at her for a moment. Not out of disbelief that her name was actually Lilly, but rather as if he were looking into her soul.

“Madam Bean has brought the hope of fortune and much needed entertainment to many people here in Nucrea. You are fortunate to have her favor, Miss Lilly.”

Lilly was now completely convinced he could read her thoughts, and felt bad about how she viewed Bean. She realized that she was too quick to judge her and for the first time realized how selfless she was.

He smiled at this and just as she was about to ask him how he could read her mind, he bowed and disappeared into the crowd.

Lilly made her way over to pit three and saw Bean just as she grabbed a bottle off a small table, chugged half of it, and put it back. Although the people sitting at the table saw what Bean did, they said nothing and surprisingly didn’t even seem to mind. Between the bookie and watching this, Lilly considered the possibility that she really did have Bean figured all wrong.

An uproar of approval filled the metal shanties as the crowd made way for two muscular men that carried metal boxes covered in holes to the pit. Bean jumped up and down and laughed a loud short choppy laugh.

“They’re here! It’s starting Lilly!” Bean yelled. “C’mon,” she added, waving Lilly over.

The two men carrying the boxes went to opposite sides of the fenced off pit. The boxes were placed in slots, one was opened, and a tall, sinewy, shorthair cat frantically clawed its way out. Lilly realized why they called him Scratches. There were scars from cuts and gashes all over its body. It cowered into a corner as the other box opened.

Scratches nervously looked around for a way out as a strong pointy-eared cat, twice the size of Scratches, sauntered out of the other box.

“Nowhere to go!” someone yelled, followed by laughter.

Lilly looked over at Bean who was standing motionless and white knuckled. She felt that Bean loved being in this environment, this was her home, her happiness. Lilly realized she wasn’t any different than Bean. This was Bean’s world just as Lilly’s world was out in the Fringe, and outside of their respective worlds, they didn’t belong. Lilly smiled and accepted the parallel.

The crowd yelled as both cats began to circle each other. Lilly looked closer and realized it was really the bigger cat chasing a terrified Scratches back and forth around the cage. The larger cat landed a well-placed claw that sent Scratches tumbling across the ring. Scratches let out an eerily humanlike scream. The crowd cheered as Scratches went on the offensive. Bean held a silent stare, focused and determined not to miss a single moment.

Lilly heard a notification on her Pigeon, but ignored it because of the fight.

Both cats separated again and continued their dance around the cage. All of a sudden, the bigger cat pounced on Scratches and bit hard on his neck. Somehow, Scratches was able to get free and claw back. Blood oozed from the bigger cat’s forehead, spilling into its eyes. The cat tried to rub the blood away but the bleeding didn’t stop.

A second notification forced her to check her Pigeon. Still paying attention to the fight, she pulled back her sleeve and glanced at her screen. Time slowed and the fight, along with the Pits entirely, disappeared as she read the message on the display. There below her ranking box in dark red, was a big, -2.

Her chest closed and knots pulled tight in her stomach. The “building up of rage” look Bean had shown earlier was mild compared to Lilly’s expression.

Her breathing deepened as she scrolled through messages.

Sucker Punch, Lost Score to Puck, Not a Ripp, thats 4 shore.

She stared at the comments on her feed, oblivious to the explosion in the crowd around her as Scratches had gone on the offensive and was ripping the bigger, blinded cat to shreds.

“Bull shit!” Lilly blurted out. She looked at Bean who was now frantically screaming in support of Scratches.

“I can’t be here right now,” Lilly said to herself as she scrolled through more comments. “This isn’t happening.”

She slowly pulled her sleeve over the Pigeon as if it were physically painful, and stared blankly at the fight as Scratches relentlessly tore at the other cat’s flesh.

She knew the only way to prove them wrong was to get back out into the Fringe.

She looked around and heard people laughing nearby, and knew they were laughing at her. She spun around and felt as though everyone in the pits was laughing at her and her failure in the Fringe. No, the whole city was laughing at her. Her mind raced as the walls and crowds spun around her.

In the midst of everything spinning out of control, directly under a light, staring at her was the Bookie. The bright colors of his garb, slashed through the murk of the pits and pulled her out of her downward spiral.

An overwhelming feeling that she wasn’t where she needed to be, and that there was so much more for her in this world, filled every part of her body.

She looked at a jumping screaming Bean, then looked back at the smiling Bookie who was still looking right at her, reading her thoughts again.

Lilly wondered if he knew what she was about to do. She waited to see if he would say something or give her any kind of look letting her know it wasn’t a good idea, but his smile grew even bigger as he disappeared into the crowd.

The crowd at pit number three stopped cheering. Then there was the familiar silence that accompanied a loss in the pits. This let her know that there wasn’t much time before Bean would notice she was gone.

Lilly checked to make sure Bean wasn’t watching, then headed for the side exit door.

“Gus won, Gus won!”

She heard Bean yelling to everyone within sight. Even the patrons that lost their bets tolerated her genuine happiness for someone else winning. She did have Bean figured all wrong, but she couldn’t stay with her.

Bean smiled the biggest smile she could as she turned to where Lilly had been, but Lilly wasn’t there. She scanned the pits and saw the Bookie looking her way. His look said everything she needed to know. Lilly was gone.

“Oh my,” Bean said in a small, quiet, completely uncharacteristic whisper.