Chapter Text
“Seriously… why am I even doing this?” Kuro muttered under his breath as he wove through the crowded streets of Camel Ridge, the capital of the Concord Realm.
Two of Havoc’s guards followed behind him. Havoc had placed them under Kuro’s command; they were there to help him complete the mission he had been assigned.
Kuro looked back at the two, he eyed the two critically, one was a rhino demon and the other a hippo their names were Ryan and Jen, or something like that; the two were a few paces behind him but it was clear that neither were pleased to be here.
‘Well it’s not like I was thrilled to be working today either’ Kuro thought to himself rolling his eyes, before facing forward continuing further into the crowded streets of Camel Ridge.
Kuro winced and grumbled as he was once again pushed by the crowd, he glared rubbing his bruised shoulder as he looked around the streets; they were packed shoulder to shoulder. Both humans and demons were rushing along the streets looking in awe of the festival that was underway. ‘Seriously…why does Havoc want me to do this right now?’ Kuro narrowed his eyes at the crowd.
Typically Kuro would never question Havoc, after all that was a good way to end up dead, but why choose now to complete such an assignment?
During the annual festival of all times?
The busiest time of the year?
There had to have been a better time. He looked around the streets taking in the scenery of the festival.
Every stall was overflowing with colorful decorations, fireworks, festival games, and enough street food to make the entire city smell absolutely incredible. Music echoed between the buildings while merchants called out to passing customers, all hoping to make the most of the celebration.
Kuro’s attention was drawn away and he looked longingly as a group of demons passed by him walking towards a club, excitedly chattering about what to do, oh how he wished it was him in their shoes…Well normally Kuro would be in their shoes, enjoying the annual festival – but then Havoc had given him this assignment.
And well…he could have refused but…well…let’s just say he wouldn’t really be alive long enough to actually enjoy a night out.
After all, everyone who knows Havoc knows that you don’t say no to him; not unless you want to end up dead. Kuro sighed to himself once again; ‘yeah saying no to Havoc was never an option; but it was certainly tempting.’
After all, the annual festival this year was going to be one of the biggest celebrations of the century. It would mark ten thousand years since the Brotherhood had created the Concord realms by uniting the eastern and southern continents. Which naturally meant everyone from across the realm had begun to flood into Camel Ridge, eager to celebrate ten thousand years of supposed ‘peace and prosperity’, well that and many were also eager to see the famed Brotherhood together in one place.
Kuro had even heard word around the Night Market that even the King and Queen of the Flower Fruit Kingdom had arrived alongside two of their famous generals.
This had been quite the shock to just about everyone, especially Havoc he had raged when he had gotten word of it. The two celestial primates had abstained from this particular celebration for close to five hundred years. So them attending this celebration had caused an uproar of excitement and he had heard that even more people were flooding in because of it. Hoping to catch a glimpse of the two, or to figure out the mystery of why they had avoided coming to this celebration for so long.
It was one of the biggest mysteries of the Concord realm.
The two celestial primates used to attend every event when the Concord realm was first formed, but then over five centuries ago, the two rulers had simply vanished from public life without so much as an explanation. No one was exactly sure why and the rest of the Brotherhood was tight lipped about it. Many tried to enter the home of the two celestial primates Flower Fruit Mountain but of course no one can enter the barriers surrounding the Mountain.
Eventually people gave up and instead rumours began to spread that they had died and the Brotherhood was covering it up. Others claimed they had abandoned their kingdom altogether and went to the heavenly realm. Whatever the truth was, no one ever got a full answer. Soon the curiosity faded and people just accepted that they may never see the celestial primates again for whatever reason.
But then nearly three hundred years after they had disappeared they came back, someone spotted them rushing to the Diamond Realm to meet the newly adopted heir of The Diamond Ruler Azure and his mate, the Sky Sovereign Peng.
…My? May? Whatever her name was. Kuro could never remember.
The Diamond Ruler Azure and his mate, the Sky Sovereign Peng, had adopted the young dragon from the renowned Eastern Dragon Clan, a decision that had sent the entire realm into an uproar.
The young girl had been the clan’s heir, making the adoption strange enough on its own. Things only became stranger when the Brotherhood later announced that the entire Dragon Clan had departed for Heaven’s Territory in the northern and western continents, leaving their former heir behind.
Naturally, everyone wanted to know why, but the Brotherhood had refused to answer.
When it was clear they would get no answers from the Brotherhood reporters, they turned their attention to the young princess instead. Many tried to gain an interview, but much like the young bull prince the young princess was shielded from the public eye, and the persistent journalists were chased off by her adoptive family. Most people wisely decided it wasn’t worth pushing the issue after one very nosy reporter ended up with a black eye after trying to sneak into the Diamond Palace.
After that day the King and Queen of Flower Fruit Kingdom had occasionally begun appearing at meetings or festivals again.
Sometimes together
Sometimes separately
But whenever they were questioned about where they had gone for those two hundred years all they ever said was that they were on Flower Fruit Mountain. When pushed why? They simply said that they were taking a long needed break, but stated that there was no need for worry as they were still completing their royal duties in caring for the eastern continent (Flower Fruit Kingdom) just in the comfort of their own home.
So when word spread that they were coming alongside the rest of the Brotherhood the public went crazy. It was already clear that this festival would be one for the ages and many people came flooding into Camel Ridge.
Kuro thought that the craziness about the festival would finally die down after learning of the two rulers of Flower Fruit Mountain but then… The Brotherhood announced that both heirs would actually be presented to the public for the first time, during the ten-thousand-year celebration… and…Well… Lets just say the entire realm acted like it was the greatest thing ever. Meaning that another wave of demons and humans alike flood into Camel Ridge hoping to finally catch a glimpse of the two famous heirs.
So here Kuro was in the heart of the festival trying to navigate through the crowd to complete the mission that Havoc had assigned for him and growing increasingly annoyed and frustrated about the huge crowd which made it almost impossible to navigate through the streets.
‘Gods he hates royalty.’
Kuro sighed and mumbled angrily to himself “Honestly all the freaking out about some demons who claim they brought complete peace and harmony to the eastern and southern continents.” He snorted to himself “The idiots haven’t even realized that under their supposed capital was an entire illegal network and yet everyone was so obsessed with them.”
No he holds no care for the royals or for their supposed celebration. The only reason he looked forward to the annual festival was for the week-long celebration which gave him and his friends an excuse to drink and gamble. Which is why he was especially excited for this year even more so and why he actually thought about saying no to Havoc since this year’s celebration had been extended from one week to two. Two whole weeks of drinking, gambling, good food, and hanging out with his friends after work. He’d been looking forward to tonight for months. The first day’s matches were almost over, and afterward he and his buddies had planned to go out and officially start the celebration with a few drinks while they complained about their work and lives.
He was so looking forward to that, some days his job was impossible to deal with and he could use a night out to complain to his buddies about it.
But then his plans had been completely ruined when instead, Havoc had handed him this assignment at the last possible minute.
An assignment that he had no clue on how to actually complete.
“This is so not worth the promotion…”
Last Night (after MK’s fight)
“Kuro. Meet me in my office. There are…certain things we need to discuss.”
Havoc never looked away from the Champion as he spoke. His massive hands remained resting on MK’s limp shoulders, the kid barely seemed to notice he was even still there anymore.
‘What?’
‘Havoc wants to talk to me?’
‘Why does he want to talk to me?’ He was confused and nervous. Havoc wanting to talk to you can mean one of two things: either you did something he liked and wished to reward you or you did something he didn’t like and well… So why does Havoc want to talk to him?
All he could come up with is what happened earlier and that made him gulp ‘Please don’t be about what I said earlier…’ He prayed to himself before steeling himself and speaking up.
“O-Of course, sir,” Kuro squeaked and turned around scurrying toward the entrance.
He wasted no time hurrying through the arena entrance and climbing the staircase toward Havoc’s office.
He entered the office quickly, thinking of what he might have done to cause Havoc to ask to talk to him. He took a few breaths knowing that freaking out like this wouldn’t help and took a look around the room. Which he could only describe as enormous.
‘In all honesty, ten of Havoc could probably fit inside it comfortably.’ He thought to himself looking around nervously.
He always hated being in Havoc's office. Everything was oversized, from the towering bookshelves to the massive mahogany desk, and it had always made the little meerkat demon feel even smaller than he already was.
‘I really hate this place. I just hope whatever Havoc wants isn’t bad’ He sighed to himself before slowly making his way towards one of the oversized chairs set on having to wait for Havoc.
Once Kuro made it to the chair he paused glaring at it ‘seriously why can’t there be any normal chairs in this room’ he thought annoyed before bracing himself and jumping to climb on the tall chair.
He huffed before finally managing to pull himself into one of the oversized chairs that sat across from the desk. He sighed to himself once again once he realized the only way he would be able to see over the desk would be to stand on the chair.
‘Seriously’ he thought annoyed as he crossed his arms glaring at the desk in front of him, but his anger was quickly forgotten when the door suddenly slammed open, nearly causing him to fall off the chair. Luckily he managed to catch himself and turned to look at who had entered the office.
And there stood the imposing figure of Havoc. Kuro gulped Havoc as a huge demon who towered over everything which made Kuro a small meerkat demon feel incredibly small and scared. Havoc could easily crush him without even trying; he had created and run the Night market for centuries, no easy task and everyone who knew Havoc knew to be afraid of him.
Kuro included.
He silently watched as Havoc slowly shut the door and crossed the room every step he took, shaking the floor, before lowering himself into his chair, folding his hands on his desk, and staring directly at Kuro.
Kuro stared back waiting for Havoc to make the first move, he didn’t want to risk making Havoc angry or angrier. That was a sure fire way to get himself killed after all. But Kuro's confidence in his plan slowly wavered as the silence stretched,
One minute passed.
Then another.
Kuro shifted awkwardly in his seat, ‘Is…is he going to say something?’
A third minute passed.
Havoc didn’t blink.
Kuro swallowed.
The fourth minute somehow felt even longer.
By the fifth, Kuro decided he couldn’t take it anymore. He braced himself before hesitantly…
“U-um…y-you wanted to see me…sir?”
Havoc simply stared and started to tap one claw against his desk. Causing Kuro to quickly snap his mouth shut staring fearfully at the terrifying demon in front of him.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
With each tap Kuro flinched as another agonizing minute crawled by. He gulped before trying again “I-If this is about my earlier comment, I only–” “You know, Kuro,” Havoc interrupted, causing Kuro’s mouth to snap shut once more, “you’ve worked in the Underground for what? One hundred years now…haven’t you?”
“A-Actually…” Kuro rubbed the back of his neck. “One hundred fifty.”
“Ah, Right, One hundred fifty years.” Havoc repeated leaning back with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. Causing Kuro to gulp and stare at him nervously.
“A long time.” Havoc inclined his head towards Kuro
“Y-Yes, sir.” Kuro stuttered out not really seeing where Havoc was going with this.
“And in all that time, you’ve proven yourself to be one of my most loyal workers.”
Kuro blinked, shocked by what he just heard.
“I have?”
“Of course I mean how could you not and because of this I have decided that it's time I give you a promotion.” Havoc continued with a grin.
“A promotion?” Kuro's mouth hung open; he was tempted to pinch himself because he must be dreaming. ‘Okay Kuro calm down, you don’t even know what this promotion is.’ He thought to himself trying to regain his bearings; before straightening up and asking with as much confidence as he could muster “What exactly is the promotion?”
“Hmm…well you would be my right hand man of course.” Havoc his hands stretched to either side as he grinned at Kuro.
Kuro felt like he was about to faint. “Really…me… be your right hand man.” Kuro asked breathlessly.
“Of course.” Havoc folded his hands on the desk in front of him “You would be my right hand, my most dependable employee, the one who always gets things done.”
Kuro’s chest puffed out a little.
Really?
Does Havoc really want him as his right-hand man?
Kuro couldn’t help but to grin, just imagining the looks on the other demon's faces, especially the guards.
He could imagine it even now; him Kuro, the right-hand to Havoc.
No more being shoved around because he was the smallest demon in the Underground. They’d finally have to listen to him now.
Maybe things really were looking up for him.
“Of course…” Havoc continued smoothly, causing Kuro to snap back into reality “Others may struggle to understand why you're my right hand, so it would probably be best to find another”
Kuro frowned, feeling all his fantasies shatter around him, of course he wouldn’t be that lucky
“…unless… but no I couldn’t ask that.” Havoc continued causing Kuro to look at him with wide eyes.
“What?” Kuro asked pleading to know if there was a way his fantasies could become reality.
“Well surely no one would ever question if you were my right hand if you were to complete an important assignment for me.”
Kuro nodded immediately, his fantasies now closer than ever, he only has to complete an assignment for Havoc.
This will be a piece of cake. “O-Of course! Anything!”
“Excellent.” Havoc clapped his hands together as he smiled wider.
“Then I need you to find me a new fighter.”
…
Kuro stared, his grin frozen on his face as he tried to process the words.
“I’m…sorry?” He wondered if he heard Havoc correctly because surely he didn’t just ask Kuro to find…
“I need you to find me a new fighter.” Havoc repeated once again slowly.
So he didn’t hear him incorrectly Havoc actually wanted him…Kuro the meerkat demon to go and find Havoc a new fighter… he had so many questions he didn’t even know where to start… but one kept echoing in his mind “Why, exactly do you want a new fighter?” He asked hesitantly hoping the question hadn’t offended Havoc.
“Well…” Havoc leaned back in his chair. “I am sure by now you have noticed that recently the fights have been… well… lets just say…lacking.”
Kuro nodded; Havoc wasn’t wrong. Recently the fights have been finishing much faster than before and they were lacking in the violence that he had grown used to seeing in past fights. But why did that matter? It’s not like that had really affected much, maybe a few demons stopped coming but whenever one of the favorite fighters were competing the arena was packed full. Take today for example the arena was overflowing with demons just to get a glimpse of the champion.
Kuro bit his lip before asking “I’m sorry sir but what exactly is the problem I mean demons are still coming right?”
“Well Kuro you see when fights are no longer entertaining less people come because they get bored, and do you know what happens when people get bored.” Havoc asked, tilting his head waiting for Kuro to answer.
“Umm…Well I guess they find something else to do?…”
“Exactly! When a demon is bored they naturally find something else to do, which means less demons coming to the underground; which means less bets, which leads to less money, do you get where I'm going with this.” Havoc asked, staring at Kuro who nodded along; ‘sure but it’s not like people stopped coming altogether, I mean just thinking about tonight or any night that the champion was fighting they were bursting at the seams.’
“So that is why I want you to go to Camel Ridge and find some brand new fighters who can actually put up a decent fight and entertain the crowd.” Havoc clapped his hands together with a large grin plastered on his face.
Kuro gulped before hesitantly asking “O-Okay but it’s just…um…and just know I’m not refusing or anything…” He said quickly. “It’s just…well…” He glanced “...I’m just a meerkat demon, so I’m not sure I’ll be too successful in bringing anyone back.”
Havoc waved the concern away. “That’s hardly a problem.” He placed a heavy hand on Kuro’s shoulder and guided him toward the office door. “I’ll send Ren and Jax with you, they’ll handle anyone who proves…difficult.”
Kuro grimaced a bit; sure he knew that Havocs fighters weren’t exactly their willing but knowing and actually having to acknowledge that fact were two completely different things.
Though he was glad to hear that he wouldn’t actually have to do the heavy lifting all he had to do was to point out who to take and Havoc's guards would take care of the rest.
The pair finally reached the doorway and Havoc’s grip on his shoulder tightened just enough to make Kuro wince as he turned to speak to him one last time. “I know you won’t disappoint me.”
“...Of course not, sir.”
“Excellent.”
The office swung open and Kuro stepped out, turning toward the locker room to find the two guards and start the search before he realized he didn’t really know what Havoc wanted for a fighter, “Umm…Havoc…Sir…I was just wondering is there any particular kind of fighter you're looking for.”
Havoc raised an eyebrow “Oh come now Kuro you’ve seen some of my fighters, I trust you can figure out what kind of fighters I prefer"
“O-Of course sir I won’t fail you”
Havoc nodded pleased before saying “You have two days.” and,
SLAM
Kuro stared in shock at the door, processing the words ‘two days…as in this week?...during the biggest celebration of the century. How was he even supposed to do that? Plus why…why did it have to be during the annual celebration he had been really looking forward to it this year, and now his plans were ruined at least for the next two days because if he didn’t manage to complete this assignment before Havocs deadline he could not only forget about his promotion but also about being alive to celebrate in the first place.’
“Still, how am I even supposed to find and drag someone back to the Underground to fight in two days?” He questioned out loud letting out a long groan as he started walking toward the guards’ locker room. ‘Honestly he really debated just going back into the Havoc office and telling him he couldn’t do it, but well that was the best way to end up dead, so unfortunately he would just have to suck it up.’
‘Well hopefully with Havoc's guards this will be done in a day with not much issue.’
“...Now where were those two guards?”
“...Ron and Jack?”
“...Ryan and Jeb?”
“Eh. It’s something like that.”
….
Flashback over.
So here Kuro was the day after his meeting with Havoc, scouring the stress of Camel Ridge with two of Havoc’s guards, looking for a new fighter for the Underground instead of enjoying the festivities with his friends.
He let out an exaggerated sigh as he scanned the sea of people.
“Seriously…where am I even supposed to find someone?” he mumbled to himself looking at the array of demons and humans alike bustling through the streets. He glanced around the festival, trying to imagine what Havoc would consider a good fighter.
Probably someone strong…but not too strong.
Someone impressive enough to draw a crowd, but not so impressive they’d immediately escape.
He nodded to himself. ‘Now I just need to find someone like that...shouldn’t take too long’ And with that thought Kuro continued walking, glancing around at the people bustling around but the longer that he looked the more he lost hope that this would be a quick affair.
Sure there were a few demons here and there that would be good but they were either too strong, too weak, or there was no way they could easily grab them and leave without someone noticing.
He stopped beside a food vendor and looked over the bustling streets.
There were merchants shouting over one another, families carrying lanterns, musicians entertaining crowds, and more than a few drunken demons stumbling from stall to stall.
He glared at the streets before kicking an empty can angrily while rubbing his head angrily groaning. “This is impossible…there is no way I can find a good fighter for the arena in a place like this.”
Behind him, Ren the rhino demon and Jax the hippo demon exchanged a glance before shrugging. Neither of them thought this was a particularly good plan either, especially with Kuro leading it, but Havoc had made it very clear that Kuro was in charge, and if this assignment went poorly…
Well… that sounded like a Kuro problem,
Besides, neither of them would say they would be particularly upset if Kuro disappeared like everyone else who disappointed Havoc. After all, everyone pretty much unanimously agreed that Kuro was annoying and a complete moron.
Even Havoc couldn’t stand the guy and well everyone who actually paid attention knew that if Havoc gave you this assignment it means he’s trying to get rid of you. Kuro could think whatever he wanted but Ren had helped the past three demons who were tasked with this assignment and each one had been told the exact same speech and all of them inevitably disappointed Havoc and well no one had seen them since.
So no neither Ren or Jax would be sad to see him disappear like everyone else who disappointed Havoc.
Kuro began pacing.
“Oh man…”
“What if I can’t find anyone?”
“Havoc’s going to kill me…”
“But where in the world am I supposed to–”
His ears twitched causing him to stop ‘What’s that’ he thought trying to listen closer
…
He heard, cheering?
“...Is that?” He froze, shushing Ren and Jax who just stared at Kuro, annoyed and tried to listen closer.
The cheers grew louder.
“Come on!”
“Get ‘em!”
A grin slowly spread across Kuro’s face. ‘It is’ He thought to himself as he looked towards the cheers where demons were rushing towards a crowd that was growing along with the cheers.
“...Well…”
“That’s intresting…”
“...Rick, Joob, let’s go find ourselves a fighter.”
Without another word he hurried toward the noise.
Ren and Jax shared another look both annoyed over Kuro not using their names again before following after the excited meerkat.
___________________________________________________________________________
By the time that they reached the crowd, demons and humans alike were packed shoulder to shoulder, all cheering for whatever was happening in the middle. Kuro pushed his way through.
“Excuse me.”
“Coming through.”
“Very important demon here.”
Ren rolled his eyes. “Since when?” Jax elbowed the rhino demon, telling him to knock it off before they followed Kuro through the crowd until they finally reached the front.
“Well that certainly explains the cheering.” Kuro said with a grin as he looked into the center of the crowd. His grin grew bigger as he looked in the center where two filthy human children stood. Dust covered them from head to toe, their clothes were ripped, and both of them were breathing heavily clearly showing that they had been fighting but that’s not what drew his attention at first. Instead he had been drawn to the two demons they were staring at who were on their knees across from them…
Two demons that Kuro instantly recognized and he wasn’t the only one.
“...No way…” Ren gave a low whistle. “Aren’t those the famous Gold and Silver Demon Brothers?”
Jax nodded.
“Yeah.”
“Jin and Yin, I believe”
“You know them.” Ren asked, looking at his fellow guard.
“Yeah, they were some of the volunteer fighters in the Underground every now and then, pretty decent fighters actually, the crowds loved them especially when they went up against the kid.”
Pretty Decent?
Kuro nearly snorted.
The brothers had been more than pretty decent; they were practically monsters in their own right, they had even managed to cause the kid trouble especially when he was younger before he was officially named the champion which is why the crowd loved them.
They pushed him farther than most from what Kuro remembered; had even beat the kid a few times when he was younger, but then the kid grew stronger and had eventually become the champion, still the brothers managed to put up a decent fight against him. Until one day the young monkey nearly killed them.
Now that was a surprise for everyone after all the kid had adamantly refused to ever kill another even those who wouldn’t hesitate to do so to him. It was one of the reasons he was so popular to fight after all, strong enough to kill but won’t, well plenty of demons loved to have that kind of challenge without the fear of death. As far as he heard after the fight the two brothers were stuck up in a hospital for two months and never fully recovered, and well–let's just say everyone pretty much stayed clear of the kid for a good year after that fearing they would end up just like the brothers.
People waited for a while to see if the brothers would come back but, they never dared to show their face in the Underground again, he had seen them from time to time in the bars of the Night Market drinking themselves silly or gambling away all their money. Last he heard they had become common thugs and had a warrant out on them.
From what he heard around the Night Market, after the fight with MK they had let themselves go, the two demons who used to be able to actually give the champion some trouble became nothing more than weak thugs.
However they were still more powerful than the regular demon which is why Kuro was amazed at what he was seeing, because the two brothers were facing off the two young human children but that wasn’t what shocked Kuro to his core no it was the fact that the two were actually winning, even though the brothers had grown weaker doesn't mean they were easy to beat but their they were two human children beating the two brothers who Kuro had once watched actually make MK bleed.
Kuro watched with apt attention as the young girl, who couldn’t be older than ten, ducked beneath Jin’s staff before driving a punch square into the demon’s jaw.
The demon went flying causing the crowd to erupt into cheers.
“Go, kid!”
Almost immediately, the boy who looked just a bit older than the girl blocked Yin’s attack before driving a sharp kick into the demon’s stomach, sending him sprawling beside his brother. The two demon brothers groaned, before both collapsing to the ground as they struggled to stand.
The crowd roared.
Ren let out an impressed whistle.
“Wow…”
“Those kids are actually pretty incredible.”
He’s right, those two are pretty incredible.’ Kuro’s eyes slowly widened. As a grin stretched across his face. ‘He had finally found what he was looking for.’
“...Those kids…”
“...They’re the ones.”
‘He had finally found what he was looking for, now he just had to bring them back.’
________________________________________________
Ren and Jax exchanged a questioning glance not really liking where this was going.
“...The ones?” Ren repeated staring at the two filthy human children who were breathing heavily but grinning over their win.
Ren had to admit that the two were pretty impressive, being able to defeat two decently powerful demons even in their weakened state was no easy task after all, but well they were children… and more important humans, so definitely not what Havoc would want as two new fighters.
“Yes, they're the ones…the perfect fighters.” Kuro responded with a grin.
Jax frowned, knowing that no they were actually probably the worse choice and was honestly worried that if they brought them back Havoc wouldn’t care that this was just Kuros mission and instead decided to kill all three of them.
But…well no way would Kuro listen. He always thought he was right about everything after all but he may as well try before Kuro got all of them killed.
“...Boss…”
“...Those are kids.”
“So? It’s not like we’ve never had kids as fighters before, our champion is literally still a child.” Confused by what the hippo demon was saying.
Jax hesitated.
“It isn’t really the fact that their kids that I’m worried about.”
“Then what’s the problem Jane.” Kuro snapped impatiently at this idiotic guard.
“First of all it's Jax,” he said, annoyed that the demon had gotten his name wrong again. “I'm more worried about how Havoc would react since he prefers to take adults.”
Kuro frowned, very confused because that was clearly not the case since he had seen not only MK but a few other children who were forced to fight in the arena more than once. I mean none really ever survived long except for the champion and well there was also that one little human girl who survived a lot longer than normal.
Of course he could be lying to get him in trouble with Havoc so annoyed he asked “Since when?”
Jax scratched the back of his neck before responding in a hesitant tone because surely the guy who had been in the Underground for so long would know “Since always, Havoc says children are just more trouble than they’re worth.”
Ren nodded in agreement before continuing where Jax left off.
“He told us that people notice when kids disappear, they ask questions, they search. Adults can vanish for all kinds of reasons.”
“But kids?”
Ren shook his head.
“That brings too much attention, which means a higher chance of someone finally noticing the Underground and the Night Market, and well then we would all be in deep shit.”
Kuro squirted at the two guards still believing this to be some made up ruse but decided to ask anyway “What about the champion and that one little girl, if you claim that Havoc doesn't like to take children where did those two come from.”
Jax glanced back toward the two children before saying "Those two weren’t taken by Havoc they were given to him, which to Havoc meant they had no one who cared about them, or simply no one who knew they existed in the first place. Which meant that no one would ever look for them”
“So the champion…” Kuro began still not really believing this nonsense that they are spouting.
“And the girl,” Ren added
Jax nodded “Were both given to Havoc, not sure about who gave the kid to Havoc but I know the girl was handed over by her parents, I do know that both of them were handed over to pay off debts, similar to the Cat Demon’s situation.”
Kuro thought about it for exactly three seconds before he waved a hand clearly dismissing their worries. ‘Yeah right, these two are just pulling my leg and I'm not going to fall for it. Even if it were the case it won't, it won't matter once Havoc sees them, and just looking at them makes it clear that the two were clearly homeless, which means no one will be looking for them.’
“Eh, it’ll be fine once Havoc sees them in action.”
“...Boss…” Ren sighed clearly, not agreeing with Kuro's comment.
“They literally just beat Jin and Yin!” He said excitedly while pointing towards the pair “And besieged just look at the crowd they drew in, do you realize how much money they’ll bring in, Havoc won’t even care about the fact that their children once he realizes that, and besides…” He narrowed his eyes, looking the children up and down.
“Just look at them.” He pointed dramatically.
“They’re filthy.”
Ren nodded, not really seeing why Kuro was pointing this out but decided to point out why they were dirty in the first place“...Because they just fought.”
Kuro ignored the comment and continued “Their clothes are ripped.”
This time Jax responded “...Also because they just fought.” Also confused at what Kuro was trying to say.
Kuro didn’t seem to hear him as he continued listing things off on his fingers “They’re wandering around by themselves.”
This time both Ren and Jax gave each other a look before Ren responded “...At a festival.” but he didn’t even know why he tried when Kuro simply ignored him and snapped his fingers.
“Which means, they must be homeless…so no one would notice them disappearing” He looked excitedly at the two guards finally revealing his thoughts on why the two would be perfect. Ready to hear the praise of the two guards for his overwhelming genius.
Instead both Ren and Jax stared straight at Kuro in complete silence trying to comprehend what Kuro had just said. Both of them were very confused and concerned about the meerkat’s brain if there even was one. Both had the same thought running through their minds ‘This guy’s a moron’.
Jax, very confused, was also really curious as to how Kuro had even managed to come to that conclusion “How did you get that from any of those things.”
“How would I not, it’s obvious.” Kuro nodded to himself glad to have figured it out.
“It is…?” Ren asked, looking at the pair more carefully trying to see what Kuro did.
The older boy looked around eleven years old. His spiky red hair had been pulled back into a high ponytail with a small streak of yellow running through it like a flickering flame. A pair of black glasses rested on his face, partially hiding deep brown eyes, while a crisscross scar marked his right cheek beneath a small red dot on his forehead. His red-and-black outfit was torn in several places and covered in dirt from the fight.
Beside him stood a younger girl with short black hair tied into two buns high on her head. Two green streaks framed her face, drawing attention to her pair of striking jade-green eyes and the bright grin she wore despite how heavily she was breathing. Her white shirt and pants were nearly as filthy as the boy’s hidden beneath a dark green jacket that had clearly seen better days.
Sure…
They looked messy.
But it was clear to see that was only because they’d just finished fighting. After all, their clothes, despite the rips, were clearly very expensive looking.
Add that into the fact that neither of them looked underfed. If anything, they looked like two very well-cared-for kids who had gotten into one very messy brawl.
Yeah…
They definitely weren’t homeless or whatever else Kuro thought.
Of course Kuro paid zero attention to the two guards' confusion instead confidently declaring, “They’ve gotta be, after all why else would they look like that and be fighting people in the middle of the street.” He nodded proudly.
Ren and Jax shared another look before Ren leaned over and whispered to Jax “You reckon that he realizes that people sometimes just end up in a brawl. I mean seriously I got into two just last week.” Jax snorted before whispering back “No way that idiot doesn't even realize how Havoc only keeps him around to run these ridiculous errands.”
Ren chuckled before tuning back into what Kuro was saying, which of course was just more stupidity.
“This means that they are clearly desperate, which will make them perfect fighters.” Kuro continued looking at the two human children excitedly ready to be praised by Havoc once he brings them back.
“...I don’t think that’s necessarily true.” Ren responded once he finally got over that particularly idiotic comment. Especially since he knew that being desperate didn’t necessarily mean you would be a good fighter, in fact many of the prisoners who were desperate just completely refused to fight because their desperation to escape meant dying would work just as well as actually leaving the Underground.
“Havoc is going to LOVE this!” Kuro shouted ignoring Ren before holding up two fingers.”He only asked me to bring back one fighter…” His grin somehow grew even wider “...and I’m bringing back two!”
Ren and Jax looked at each other clearly both thinking the same thing: “This guy's a complete moron.” Cause no… Havoc would not be pleased once he learns that not only did Kuro bring back two children but also the fact that the two were humans. Well lets just say Havoc would not be overly pleased with Kuro. After all, everyone knew that Havoc didn’t like human fighters since they were incredibly weak.
But they wisely kept their mouths shut neither having the energy to argue with the idiot anymore. Suddenly Kuro spun around dramatically.
“Come on!”
He pointed after the two children, who had already begun walking away from the cheering crowd.
“Our new fighters await!”
“...Yes, Boss,” Jax sighed.
As they followed after the overly enthusiastic demon, Ren leaned over and whispered “Should we tell him?”
Jax sighed as he watched Kuro happily marching ahead, already celebrating his ‘success’ before shaking his head. “No.”
“Why not?”
“Because once Havoc sees one of them in the arena, Havoc will do all the explaining for us.”
Ren snorted “Well I for one can’t wait to see that.” before the two of them hurried after Kuro.
Neither of them held any doubt how this assignment was going to end.
Poorly.
_____________________________________________________
Kuro didn’t regret his decisions, regretting his decisions means he had failed and Kuro never fails.
So no Kuro didn’t regret any of his decisions in life because that meant he never failed yes he was a demon who didn’t fail so he had no need to regret any decision he made,
“I demand that you release us you bluthering fools!” Kuro’s eye twitched as the young boy who was tied up on the rhino demon’s shoulder screamed at him again. Kuro thinks he could make an exception just this once and regret his decision to kidnap these two human children, simply because of how annoying they were.
“Yeah what he said!” The girl yelled, wiggling in her ropes trying to escape from the hippo demon’s shoulder.
Yes, Kuro was really starting to regret taking these two because they just wouldn’t shut up.
It had all started when they first grabbed the two, turns out kidnapping two children who could fight demons wasn’t exactly a quiet affair.
‘Who knew?’
The two children had put up quite the fight that left the two guards with quite the array of bruises but they were no match against two powerful adult demons, and eventually Ren and Jax had managed to knock the pair out.
The good news is that the three hadn't had any problems from there, easily managing to get to one of the entrances to the Night Market without so much as a second glance from anyone else, all of whom were too busy with the celebration to notice anything out of the ordinary.
The bad news is that the two children woke up shortly after the group had finally entered the Night Market. And well the two were clearly not pleased with their current predicament which they had no trouble loudly stating to all of the Night Market. Honestly, Kuro had half a mind to tell Ryan and Jet to knock them out again just so he didn’t have to listen to their complaints and insults. But he worried that knocking them out too much could accidentally kill them.
“But ohh was it tempting” he thought to himself as the boy screamed at him once more stating how he was a moron who couldn’t find a way out of a paper bag.
His eye twitched and he finally snapped and screamed “Would you two just SHUT UP!” Causing the two children to glare at him.
“I don’t know, could you maybe LET US GO!” the girl screamed back. Kuro rolled his eyes before saying “Oh relax you’ll like where we are going, you’ll have a nice little cell with food and everything you need, you’ll enjoy it much more than how you have been living previously.”
Ren and Jax shared a look, while the boy and girl just looked confused before the boy spoke up and asked "what are you even talking about? How will any of that be better than where we lived previously? You don’t even know where we lived!” the boy asked, outraged and confused.
This of course confused Kuro before he came to the realization “oh of course they wouldn’t tell anyone that they live on the streets, they wouldn’t want anyone taking advantage of that fact after all.” Of course Kuro had no qualms telling the two that he knew, they were simply a couple of street rats after all.
“Oh please, I’m not stupid, anywhere must be better for you given how you two are just a bunch of orphaned street rats.” Kuro replied.
The two children finally stopped screaming instead gaping at Kuro with looks of outrage.
Kuro sighed happily, “finally blissful silence,” he thought to himself, closing his eyes, enjoying the moment well until…
“STREET RATS?! The boy screamed and Kuro winced from the volume of the noise.
“H-How dare you, we’re not street rats!” He continued screaming, his face twisted up in anger.
“Look kid, you don’t need to lie anymore, it's very clear that you live on the streets, don’t try to deny it, I mean honestly just look at you two.” Kuro gestured toward them with a wave of his hand.
The boy opened and closed his mouth before settling on just gaping at Kuro.
“How stupid are you? He’s telling you the truth, we are not street rats and we have parents!” The Girl shouted glaring as best she could at Kuro. “Parents who will beat you senseless once they find out you took us!”
Kuro snorted “Yeah, yeah, ‘have parents’ whatever you want to tell yourselves kiddos”
“You-u-u are a complete nincompoop, we do have parents and they will tear the entire world apart to find us!” The boy screamed.
Kuro snorted “oh these kids, really trying to convince him that they aren't homeless, in those clothes, yeah sure”, but well he would humor them, just for now, so with a smirk he asked “Okay little ones then who exactly are your parents, that will ‘tear the world apart’ to find you.”
The boy raised his chin a bit before stating with a proud face “My father and mother are the rulers of the Bull Kingdom– Demon Bull King, and Princess Iron Fan.”
Kuro, Ren, and Jax paused in their walk for a moment before breaking out in hysterical laughter.
“Yeah, sure kid, so you're the supposed ‘Demon Bull Prince, Heir to the entire Southern realm’ and what about your sister there? I suppose she’s what, the adopted daughter of the diamond ruler Azure Lion and the Sky Sovereign Peng, ‘the Diamond Princess, Heir to the central realm’.” Kuro said in a humorous but sarcastic tone
The boy's face scrunched up in confusion and disgust “What she’s not my sister! We are cousins!” The boy paused for a moment before his face twisted up in anger and loudly screamed “YES!!!, That’s exactly who we are”
Kuro broke out laughing again while Ren and Jax chuckled at the boy.
The boy glared at them but also looked at them very confused. Sharing a look with his apparent ‘cousin’ which then seemed to prompt the girl to nod vigorously, before stating “We are telling the truth and when our family finds out you kidnapped us, you’re all going to be in so much trouble!” She stated glaring straight at Kuro with such angry eyes and Kuro well, he just laughed.
Rin snorted and Jeb chuckled, clearly, also finding the humor about what the kids were spouting.
“Sure well that must make me the king of heaven then.” Kuro stated sarcastically before chuckling at the two glaring children.
“We're being serious!” The boy barked with a sneer
“Sure kid, sure” Kuro replied with another chuckle, a smirk on his lip.
The boy gaped at him like he couldn’t even fathom how he could say that to him.
“Do you honestly think we would lie about something like that?” the girl asked, sounding very confused as to why their little ploy wasn’t working, causing Kuro to simply roll his eyes, of course they wouldn’t believe something so outrageous.
‘I mean they didn’t even look like the rulers and well there was just no way the two heirs would be out alone or look like that, and besides no one had ever seen the heirs who were shielded from the public.’
No, the two were clearly not the two heirs.
All three of them clearly knew this but Ren apparently decided to still answer their ridiculous question, shrugging “Kid…you know how many times we’ve heard stuff like that?”
The boy blinked, shock clear on his face, before asking “What… who would?”
Jax sighed before plainly saying “A lot, like so many.”
Ren nodded. “There was this one guy who kept telling us he knew the Sky Sovereign, told us the two of them were BFF’s and would notice him missing.”
Jax added, “Swore they’d rescue him any day.”
Ren chuckled
“Guy’s been saying that for three years.”
The boy and girl just stared in shock looking like they couldn’t even wrap their head around someone doing something so ridiculous. This had Kuro raising his eyebrow because they literally just tried the same thing, unless they actually believed that they were the heirs…which could be the case some sort of coping mechanism that they used to deal with their frankly terrible existence he supposed.
Oh well doesn't matter, if they wanted to believe that go ahead, as long as they could fight, it didn’t matter what they thought.
_________________________________________________________________
The rest of the trip back to the Underground luckily passed in blissful silence, the two kids seeming to finally realize that their ruse wouldn’t work on them.
No one even spared them a glance as they entered into the Underground and headed down to the cells that were located at the bottom of the basement.
The stairs creaked as they walked down Kuro first with Ren and Jax following after, they eventually reached the hallway and Kuro took a minute to look around, he had never actually been down here, preferring to stay in the arena and away from the…fighters.
He sneered as he looked around. It was annoyingly dark and cold. He caught the eye of a few of the more frequent fighters, a Phoenix demon and a Goat demon and sneered at them causing them to look away, while they and some of the other prisoners subtly glanced at the guards and the children, the latter of which were looking around at their surroundings with a look of anger and confusion on their face.
Kuro hummed to himself before walking forward the two guards following after, before he finally stopped at the middle row of cells turning to face Reb and Jeb before pointing towards the one cell that looked empty, it was the middle cell on the right side of the wall, and saying “Alright, Rin, Jay, throw them in this one.”
The guards paused looking annoyed before staring at where Kuro was pointing and paused, but didn’t make any move to follow his orders.
Annoyed, Kuro tapped his foot and asked “well what are you waiting for, throw them in.”
The two guards shared a look before Ren hesitantly spoke up “Umm…Boss…that’s the champions cell”
“It is?” Kuro glanced over looking to see if he could spot the kid but couldn’t see anything. He glared back at the guards before asking “Are you two sure, there’s no one in there?”
Jeb sighed, “I’m sure,” he said, before explaining "he’s in there just in the corner of the cell, you can’t see him because of the shadows.” He pointed to the far left corner of the cell, Kuro glanced back at the cell and looked carefully at the corner where Jane had been pointing and managed to just make out a figure moving just a bit, clearly monkey shaped that was indeed hiding in the shadows.
“Okay so perhaps it is, that still doesn't explain why you aren't throwing them in.” Kuro turned back to the guards who were still making no move to throw the two new prisoners in the cell.
Jax sighed again before explaining, just completely done with this entire day and especially with Kuro before patiently explaining “Well Havoc gave us pretty specific orders.”
“What orders?” He questioned
"Well, to..not put anyone in the Champion’s cell.”
Kuro frowned “Why?” he asked
“Well because of what happened last time.” Reb stated glancing towards the cell.
Kuro rolled his eyes, these two are idiots, there is no way Havoc told them not to put anyone with the Kid, he’s harmless, they must be trying to get me in trouble; well not going to happen, he thought to himself, so Kuro simply waved a hand dismissively before saying “I’m sure it will be fine.”
Ren and Jax exchanged a look.
“Boss…” Ren spoke up again “Havoc was very clear that no one, and I mean no one, is to share the champions cell.
Kuro sighed dramatically, completely over how the two guards continued to question his authority.
“Look, Ryan” he began making his annoyance clear
Ren closed his eyes taking a deep breath trying to calm himself before he decided to say “fuck it and strangle the Meerkat to death.”
“It’s Ren” The demon sighed again
“Whatever” He rolled his eyes, seriously why do they keep getting annoyed over that, he was way too important to have to remember the names of some insignificant guards.
Kuro pointed at himself before asking, “Havoc put me in charge, RIght?”
“Uhh...Right.” Rime said hesitantly.
“And that means that because I’m in charge…” he puffed his chest out proudly “you listen to me.”
Silence
Ren sighed, gritting his teeth before biting out “Yes, sir we listen to you on Havoc's order.” Stressing the ‘Havoc’s orders’ part trying to convey the only reason they listened to him but the moron didn’t seem to notice just grinning before nodding and pointing to the cell once more,
“Good, so what I’m telling you to do is to throw them in this cell.”
But the two still hesitated and Jax spoke up saying “But if Havoc—
“If Havoc gets mad,” Kuro interrupts, done with them questioning him “I’ll handle it.”
Ren looked at Jax, Jax looked back at Ren, neither of them believed that for a second, but they were both so over Kuro and his stupidity that Ren finally muttered “Fine,” Walking towards the cell “But just know this one’s on you.” He said looking at Kuro briefly, "Entirely” Jax agreed.
Kuro waved them off, not caring in the slightest over the guards stupid worry, “Yeah, yeah, just throw them in so we can finally leave.” The two rolled their eyes before opening the cell door and…
Thud
The girl landed first
A second later
Thud
The boy followed
“Ouch! be careful you morons, that hurt” The boy yelled from his place on the ground.
The guard ignored the boy, stepping in briefly to untie the rope and then quickly exiting before the two children could jump up and follow and slammed the heavy iron door shut with a loud…
CLANG
The two jumped up and ran toward the bars and began banging on them, “Hey you idiots let us out!” The girl screamed. “You are going to regret this!” The boy yelled out banging on the bars.
“Sure kid, sure.” Kuro said before tuning them out as they continued yelling out insults and threats before turning around heading towards the stairs the two guards following after him.
“Finally,” Kuro thought to himself,
“That headache is over with.” Kuro rubbed his temple trying to stave off the growing headache caused by those moronic kids. Honestly…that was even worse then I thought it would be…but Havoc will be pleased,’ He thought pleased with himself
‘will probably even reward me for bringing two fighters instead of one for him,’ He rubbed his hands together gleefully
"And now I can finally go and celebrate with my friends,” Kuro grinned to himself pleased, before walking back up the stairs.
It would only be a couple of weeks later when he finally realized that the two human children he had brought in would bring an end to not only the Underground but the entire Night Market.