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“HELLO LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!”
The sirens blared as the floodlight hit the arena, blinding you as you shielded your eyes.
“WELCOME TO CARNIVAL CORPSE!”
Trumpets sounded and you rose from your seat, a single coiling stairway obstructing your view: through the crystalline surface the distorted visage of your opponent. A mass of black and white.
“CARNIVAL CORPSE! A BATTLE BETWEEN DEADMEN! THE RULES ARE THE SAME AS USUAL! THE SHOW ONLY ENDS WHEN ONE OF THEM IS INCAPACITATED OR DEAD!”
Incapacitated or dead…
“LET’S MEET OUR CONTESTANTS! TODAY WE SEE VETERAN CROW GO UP AGAINST THE INNOCENT NEWCOMER DOVE!”
Crow…you couldn’t see him properly but he raised his arms, crossing them and in a sudden motion, threw them aside-your eyes widening as you saw the crimson liquid fly from his arms, forming thin tendrils that curled, flexed and flickered as if they had a life of their own.
“READY…”
Adrenaline rushed to your head, fear overriding every inch of your body-you didn’t understand-why was this happening to you-you knew you had to bleed but how could you? You had nothing to make you bleed-you didn’t know if you could do it again-you…you didn’t want to die…
“FIGHT!”
The arena fell silent, the blood pounding in your ears waiting to be set free, your gaze fixed on the shadowy figure behind the glassy staircase. He didn’t move, but you could make out the white of his teeth as a twisted grin contorted his face.
“Listen,” a gruff voice droned, “I don’t like fighting girls so let’s get this over with quick. A newbie too-you don’t stand a chance.” Your eyes darted upwards, white light blinding you as your gaze followed the winding staircase up to the heavens. Yet you daren’t move.
“Tell you what,” he soothed, “you’ve got till the count of ten before I kill you,” this was your chance.
“Go!” You sprung into action, fear carrying you forwards, even if it was against your will. No further than a couple of steps forwards though you turned and ran back, snatching the chair you’d been sat on. One…
“What’s this!” The speakers boomed as you took to the first of many steps, eyes meeting those of your opponent and you knew-knew you were already dead as his cold eyes pierced your heart, destroying any sense of hope you may have felt. Two, three…
“It seems Dove is on the run and-” you clutched the chair as you spun around with as much force as you could muster, throwing it at your opponent. Four, five…
“HA! EXCELLENT FOLKS, SHE THREW A CHAIR AT CROW BUT THAT WON'T SAVE HER!” You watched in horror as the chair came apart, cut into a thousand tiny pieces in the blink of an eye as Crow beamed.
“Slice!” He cawed, leaving his place and making for the steps. Four five…you scampered up the stairs, staggering and falling on your hands. Six, seven…glancing to your side your eyes welled with tears as you forced yourself to your feet-Crow continued on his way like it a stroll in the park. Eight. Finally making headway you twist round and round the dizzying coils. Nine. The light grew brighter, harsher-and you came to a halt. Ten. There was no way down.
Just a drop.
A plummet all the way to the bottom of the arena. Nausea washed over you, fear causing bile to rise in your throat, tears rolling down your cheeks as you searched for some way out…
“What’s the matter?” Your heart stopped. “You haven’t even drawn blood yet. Are you going to fight or are you going to jump?” Feet teetering dangerously close to the edge you felt like you were already falling: unable to move as you stared down the endless spiral. You couldn’t jump, you couldn’t turn around but-your body lurched forwards, a sharp pain erupting from your back as the choice was made for you. There was a “tch-ing” sound behind you as time slowed, feet leaving the edge of the staircase…throwing you down into oblivion…
After all, you deserved this…“death”…so why were you crying? Why did you close your eyes-was it that you didn’t want to see your ever approaching death? Or were you scared you’d see his frail body beneath you, red with blood-blood…blood!
“It seems the match isn’t over just yet folks!” The speaker called out, Crow hesitating as he gazed down to see the spectacle as it unfolded, shock forcing his smile to return. The blood from your back sprouted up, spraying outwards uncontrollably, but not lost-hardening into a pair of dazzling crimson wings that caught the air, pulling your body up and thrusting down with all their might as you came to a halt at the bottom of the arena-needle like shards of blood thrown from your wings and forming a crescent at your feet.
You couldn’t die-not yet!
Crows smile turned to a grin and he hunched over, taking a defensive stance-it seemed she wasn’t nearly as disappointing as he’d thought-she just a little “push”. Making note of the distance between you, you thought through your options frantically. He only had to be incapacitated but-you didn’t want to accidentally kill him-even if the idea was appealing to him. Something caught your eye-a ferocious blast of wind pushing you back as your wings flew in front of you like a shield, having narrowly missed being sliced in half by Crow’s scythes-how? You didn’t have time to think though: you had to end this soon if you wanted to live. He went to attack again, the scythes hitting your wings and causing them to splinter-throwing yourself back your wings beat hard, sending another row of needles into the air and-noticing one hit the staircase Crow inhabited you beamed. The answer was simple! You back burnt as you leapt up, needles flying this way and that as two flaps of the wing got you safely above Crow. Blood whipping around your ankle you cried out in pain as you were brought down onto the stairs, winding you momentarily. Not wasting any time you were quick to roll off the side, shielding yourself the best you could with your wings, your concealed body hitting the lower part of the stairs and shattering the glass-wings opening as the structure gave way with a hearty crunch. Crow tumbled back as his ground fell, and-fell-diving forwards you grabbed his arm in an attempt to save him, a scream tearing through your throat as you felt a scythe pierce your shoulder-wings enveloping both of you as you hit the ground, skidding as the glass rained down from above. You could hear cursing as your wings shrunk, blood pooling beneath you and onto Crow as he retracted his scythe, rolling you off his body as he sat red faced. It soon faded though as he stared down at your body, the bitter taste of victory in his mouth as he looked down at the blood.
Was she dead?
“AMAZING FINISH FOLKS! IT SEEMED DOVE HAD A CHANGE OF HEART AND DECIDED TO RESCUE CROW FROM HIS OWN DEATH-FORFEITING HER OWN WIN AND LEAVE THE VETERAN VICTORIOUS BY DEFAULT!”
Boo’s and cheer’s filled the stadium and there she was, bleeding out all over the goddamn floor, he thought bitterly as the paramedics rushed into the ring. In some ways he wished she was dead, then she wouldn’t have to live in the hell hole that was Deadman Wonderland. Someone like her would be torn apart by the system if the inmates didn’t get her first. But she had saved herself from falling to her death. She had a reason to live. There was hope for her, if you wanted to call it that. She just had to make it through Roulette.
~
Another harsh, white light blinded you as you stirred-the heavy scent of antiseptic hung in the air like it was a hospital. Groaning you tried to shield your eyes, panicking as you realised you couldn’t move them. Eyes falling on your lower body you froze, alarm bells ringing in your head as you subconsciously counted the restraints holding you down.
“Oh! I see you’re finally awake, you lost a lot of blood you know-it’s a wonder you’re even alive now.” Who-you looked forwards to see a young woman in a tight black dress and a lab coat stood by an oversized slot machine that read:
“Carnival Corpse Roulette?”
“Ah, you look confused...it seems nobody was polite enough to explain to you what happens when you lose Carnival Corpse. First things first though-my name’s Rei Takashima! Don’t worry about introducing yourself (Y/N), I already know all about you and hopefully we’ll be seeing each other a lot more.”
“What are you going to do to me?” You exclaimed, sick of the idle chit chat Rei was making. Her smile faded to a reserved smirk.
“Feisty little thing aren’t you? I thought you were meant to be all innocent. I understand though-you’re about to undergo Roulette. It’s simple; if you lose Carnival Corpse you come here. I spin the handle on this here slot machine. You tell me when to stop. And I get to take whatever you land on.” She explained, glancing over at the trolley nearby, the cool metal surface containing an array of surgical objects…by take whatever it landed on…did she mean…body parts? Every hair on the back of your neck stood on end as the woman grinned at you.
“Well,” she said pulling the handle down, a metallic creaking erupting from the machine as it spun into life, “let’s not waste any more time-this is T.V. after all.” You were speechless, unsure if what you were seeing was really true, or you were just suffering from a blood loss related delusion…lungs, tongue, stomach, eyes-you’d die if you lost some of these things-surely this was some sort of sick joke! Some sick show that would put CGI over your dissection-but you already knew that wasn’t true, recalling your fight with Crow…
“Crow won didn’t he? Is he okay? He didn’t die did he?” Rei seemed taken aback by your sudden explosion of concern over your opponent, cracking up into a laugh.
“Ha-you’re really worried about he is? You really know nothing yet do you?” She chortled. “But if you really must know he’s fine, unfortunately…you wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t! Now hurry up and say stop or I’ll decide for you.” You felt a wave of relief-not enough to wash away the fear you felt-but the guilt…the guilt was gone. You didn’t want any more blood on your hands.
“Stop…” You said, trailing off as you felt yourself fall into despair, the “beep”, “beep”, “beep” of the machine counting down-the words slowing until you they fixed into place. Rei leapt up in joy, lighting a cigarette and pulling on a pearly white glove.
“Tongue it is then! No anesthesia needed!” She purred, pulling your chair back into a table, your heart pounding and chest heaving as you struggled to break free-nervous laughter broken by your sobs.
“Say aaaaahhhhh…” She joked as she clamped your head in place, forcing open your mouth and pulling your tongue out as far as she could and then some-a scream tearing through your throat as tears came streaming down the sides of your face. Back arched you cried-pain shooting down your throat and your tongue as Rei took a scalpel in her fingers. Lust filled her eyes as she pressed the blade against your tongue, the pain forcing another choked cry out of your throat-the blood gagging you. The sharp tug of the scalpel cutting open your tongue making you want to vomit.
“Oops!” Rei breathed. “I should probably put that in a bag for you, you’re going to need it later.” She sighed, getting a pump and shoving it down your throat, your eyes rolling back in your head as everything blended together into white noise, then black as you struggled to breathe.
~
Where were you?
The sound of sirens pierced your ears, weary eyes opening to see the light. Always a bright light. You hurt all over-the cold hard ground beneath you making the warmth even more obvious… it was coming from your back…from the blood and your front-your heart skipped a beat, fingertips grazing skin-skin that wasn’t your own. Glancing down you saw the child in your arms, the poor boy unconscious as his tiny hands tried to clasp your shirt. You were still on the road, dazed as you stared at the boy…how were you still alive you thought, glancing at the car on its side, people crowding around to help the passengers stuck inside-chaos in the road as car after car had collided with one another.
“Hey…” you breathed, sitting with the boy in your arms, shaking him gently, “hey…kid are you okay?” He didn’t reply as you dabbed the blood on his head, gazing at it in horror. He was hurt. Bad-checking his pulse you felt a faint beat. He needed to get to a hospital…
“Miss are you okay?” A stranger asked, coming over to you and resting a hand on your shoulder, your wide eyes snapping to him.
“The kid needs to get to a hospital.” You told him, the stranger shaking his head.
“The police and the ambulances are on their way now, but you’re just going to have to wait-” but you could already hear the sirens, or so you thought until you realised they were car alarms, dread filling your heart.
“No!” You snapped. “He needs to go now!”
“Lots of people are hurt, it’s chaos, you can’t just take him there yourself. Try to stay calm, your bleeding.” The stranger advised you swiftly, the pain in your body unbearable, blood pouring out of a wound on your back. Shaking your head you stood shakily, searching for any signs of the child’s parents but…you couldn’t see them…they’d been on the path where…where the car had veered off in a last ditch attempt not to hit the boy but…you couldn’t see them-tears welling in your eyes you staggered back, hitting a car and resting against the bonnet.
“Take it easy!” The stranger barked but you couldn’t. The boy needed hospital and he needed it now-it was close by…you could get there in minutes.
“You should put the boy down and-”
“No!” You screamed, the stranger cut short as there were cries from behind, a sudden gust of wind having sent the sound of something whistling past your ears. The stranger stared at you in horror, as if he’d seen a ghost. Unsure what had happened you slipped past the stranger, running off towards the hospital, leaping to the side to avoid one of the cars when you leapt up-a sudden breathlessness catching you as you flew upwards, the car beneath you exploding as if something had hit it, sending you flying back into a lorry-two red shells encasing you as you hit the side of the lorry with some force, sliding to the ground. Confused and terrified you opened your eyes bravely, to see the red shields parting-revealing the blaze that had erupted from the car, small red shards coating everything around the area-the same as…your eyes snapped to the red things that protruded from your back-standing uncertainly and craning your neck to see the diamond like surface- they looked like wings…petrified you had hesitated, all prying eyes fixated on you when you turned foot and fled, the boy in your arms. What the hell was going on you though bitterly, running through the street towards the hospital-no matter what you would get him there…you could worry about the wings later. You were just hallucinating or something like that. You’d wake up, and it would have been a bad dream.
“Hang in there…” you breathed, glancing down at the boy, a loud horn catching your attention as you looked up to see headlights coming your way. Jumping up you felt the wings beat behind you, sending you into the air, shards of the red glass flying out from behind you-panicking as they scarcely missed any living being you beat your wings again, trying to get away from the scene as fast as you could-unsure what was happening until a woozy feeling curdled your stomach-forcing you to the ground as the hospital came into sight…a sharp paint tore at your throat as tears welled in your eyes, the ground moving beneath your feet as you tried to get the boy to safety…but…staggering forwards you reached for the hospital, wings curling around you as you fell into the darkness-body jerking up. Panting you felt the sweat run down your face as your eyes adjusted to the darkness of your room…glancing down at your sheets you felt your heart sink as tears threatened your eyes. Rubbing your throat you caught your breath, reassuring yourself at the same time. You hoped the boy was okay…wherever he was now…letting out a sigh that made your whole body shudder you lay back. You had to get stronger…if winning and staying alive meant getting out of this godforsaken place and seeing him again then that’s what you’d do. You had to be stronger. For his sake.
~
Information didn’t come for free. And you had to spend what little you had left on candy and information. Crow’s whereabouts. You’d have searched every last damn room in G-ward but you didn’t have the time and, you were glad you’d asked anyway. Because you would have never found him. Apparently he lived in solitary confinement after breaking down the walls of one of the buildings…although he was let out to eat. That was your chance to see him. Strolling down the corridor you made your way to a ramen stand-the place he frequented the most. And waited. You couldn’t afford any food so you’d get your basic ration later…at least you could enjoy the smells…feeling the pain in your throat your lips flickered into a weak smile. Could you eat anyway. Your mind wandered as you wondered what it would be like to eat without a tongue. You couldn’t speak now at the very least and you’d had a fun session with the information broker pointing at the flyer for yours and Crows fight in an attempt to tell him what you wanted to know. A hand pulled back the curtains and you looked up excitedly but…it wasn’t him. Sighing, you slunk down in your seat, playing with your hands as you waited…and waited…and waited. The time dragged by and you felt your hope withering away with it. Eyes on the table you drew circles on the desk with your finger when you caught sight of the familiar black attire entering the shop-your eyes meeting his as confusion spread across his features as fast as you flew over to him, eyes glowing. Leaning back his face flushed red and brow furrowed as he attempted to keep his distance from you.
“Dove-what the hell are you doing here?” He stammered as you opened your mouth eagerly.
“Aahh…ooh…” You trailed off as you remembered you couldn’t speak, Crow looking even more baffled as you fell silent. Mulling it over in your head you pointed at Crow, the cogs visibly turning in is head.
“Me?” He stated, pointing to himself. You nod enthusiastically, pointing to yourself.
“You?” You nod, his eyebrows raised as you raised your arm and…flexed your ‘muscle’.
“You want me to show you my muscles?” You cracked up at this, sniggering to yourself as you shook your head. Glancing around you spied a pen on a nearby table: beckoning to Crow as you pulled out the crumpled flyer and spread it out, writing on the parchment.
“Oh!” Crow exclaimed, eyes wide. “You want me to make you stronger.” You nod, a smile on your face. He choked on his words, sighing and crossing his arms with a less than reassuring look on his face.
“For a girl you certainly have balls asking your opponent to mentor you.” He scoffed, glancing at the paper then back at you. “Still, I suppose this is my fault isn’t it?” You were confused by this and your face must have said it all.
“What? You wanted to die. That’s what I thought anyway until you saved yourself and pulled yourself back into the fight,” he explained referencing your time at Carnival, “I might have killed you out of pity, someone that weak isn’t going to live long in here anyway, but I don’t believe in needless killing and…you saved me at the end of the fight. I didn’t realize what you were doing until after I stabbed you though so, uh…sorry for that, but-sure…it seems I owe you one.” Your eyes lit up, arms flying around the man’s chest as he let out a growl.
“Get off me!” He barked, pushing you off him as you hastily scrawled thank you down, flashing it in front of his face.
“Don’t thank me for it.” He sighed, rubbing his neck, “You have no idea how much work this is going to be for the both of us-you in particular. Painful work too.” You were ready, turning to your paper and writing down something else. Giving him the paper he smiled, making your cheeks flush ever so slightly as he cracked up almost into a caw.
“I’m Kiyomasa Senji.” He said, raising a hand to greet you. “Now sit-I came here to eat with your prize money so at least let me buy you some food, and some actual clothes-if you want me to mentor you can’t be wearing something like that!” He exclaimed. You looked down at your jumpsuit and furrowed your brow.
“Huh?” You managed as Senji head to the counter, turning back in disgust.
“Don’t huh me! It’s so wrong-it’s missing whole chunks out of it and everyone can see your chest!” He exclaimed as you took your seat, giggling away to yourself. This was going to be fun…
~
“She was like you, although…she was the one responsible for the death of all the people she passed the night she was arrested, even if she hadn’t meant to. She only wanted to save that kid.” Crow sighed, leaning back from his bowl, “You’d have liked her, as far as girls go she was pretty cool.” He cawed fondly, trying to change the subject as Ganta tilted his head, not as eager to drop it.
“I don’t get it…” he breathed, trailing off, “if you’re so close why don’t I see her with you?” And there it was. A shadow fell over Crows face as he smirked, glancing into his bowl to see his cold stare. She’d always been too emotional, like Ganta: too attached to her friends-too hopeful. It had rubbed off on him and he’d regret it…still, it wasn’t like he could rewind time, he thought as his smirk twisted into a one sided smile.
“She died.”