Mizrah's Ladder Ch. 12

" - GETTING FUCKED UP, FUCK YOUR SHIT MIZRAH - "

Humiliating. Why did you decide to do this? You don't belong down here, what are you doing?! You belong at Isabel's side, you need to leave this place and find her! What if she's hurt?! What if she went after you or...worse, what if she went after Charys? All of a sudden you forget the crowd, you forget Annie and the pain of your broken bones and organs. You wipe blood from your chin and look for the exit as you stand.

"Pay attention creep," Annie sneers at you as her hand shoots down and grabs your testicles through your shorts, squeezing painfully and prompting an incredibly unmannish scream of pain before she rabbit-punches you in the throat, cutting you off. At least she releases your aching balls when she clenches a fist and breaks your nose, blood spraying as you are sent spinning.

Suddenly you're back in the Pit, and you're aware of this...awful sound that you don't remember ever hearing - they're laughing at you. All of them are at once, and the sound reminds you of Lena, leering down at you with that mocking chuckle. You're reminded of the day you'd silenced her laughter forever, and even as your muscles bulge with barely restrained Change, you fight for control. You ache from what she did to your nuts and if it wasn't for your nature you'd be visiting the emergency room.

"OHHH ME OH MY, A LOW BLOW TO BE CERTAIN BUT ARE WE NOT FAMILIAR WITH ANNIE'S DISREGARD FOR A CLEAN FIGHT?! THAT'S WHAT YOU FIENDS ARE HERE FOR, TO WATCH THE CONTENDER FALL TO HIS KNEES, UNMANNED AND BLEEDING!" the announcer claps his little hands with exuberance as you see red.

You catch her knockout sidekick before it can impact your skull and crumple it inward, and bring your fist into her stomach. She grunts in surprise and sprays blood from her jaw when you slam your knuckles under her chin and chest; bones crack, an immensely satisfying sensation as her guard falls. She's smiling at you through the pain and it only makes you angrier as you thrash her around the ring, putting her on the defensive for once as you fall into the unrhythm of combos; bodyblows flow into head strikes, a warding jab caught and riposted by your elbow to her nose - now she bleeds. Why is she laughing?!

You loose an animal cry of raw rage, like a rabid dog struggling to maintain its human disguise, and you force her up against the cage. Your hand catches her arm as she tries to slip past, wrenching her back in front of you to be pummeled and punished, beaten in a way you'd never dream of inflicting upon a woman...but she was a monster like you.

Then she looks up at you through the curtain of her blue hair, blood spraying from her nose and down her chin. She's smiling serenely at you / it's Isabel's face gazing back, her teeth red. You...falter, the tunnel vision easing up.

Mistake.

She drives her index and middle finger up under your sternum, thrusting painfully into your diaphragm and cracking your chest bone. You can't breathe, you're mortal again with pain and fear and you slip on the iron beneath your boots.

"It's okay," she assures you, a hand on your shoulder gently - it hurts too much for you to contemplate its meaning. Annie is still smiling fondly even as she takes a couple steps back. "It's honestly okay." What...does she mean? You find yourself pondering this even as the crowd erupts in ecstasy, and it's the last thing you hear as she spins gracefully, the heel of her slipper crashing into your temple and sending your consciousness flying forth from your body before everything becomes silent and dark.