Night 57: The Coliseum
Touching the sandy grounds of the coliseum was a catalyst, and the progression of day did not mean the end of the process. By fortune or otherwise, this group's efforts were not allowed to halt simply due to the rising sun. Therefore, when nighttime was pronounced, those who had undergone the beginnings of an incomplete trial were pulled from their
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But there was something different this time. Something that hadn't been there before.
The vampire went ramrod straight, gaze riveted on the unfamiliar figure in the stands with them. The face wasn't familiar, but Aidou already had an inkling of who the person might be--who the arrogant stranger staring down his nose at them might be--before the sound of his accented voice confirmed it for Aidou.
"What the hell!" he raged. "What do you think you're doing!?"
All this blacking out and bouncing around... how dare he just stand there like he deserved the pedestal he'd put under himself, just like Landel had done before him. What was he doing there!? And why all the fuss? To stroke his insufferable ego?
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Adding insult to it all, the voice was easily recognized as one she'd heard over the intercom. Not the doctor, but whoever it was that'd replaced him. She fixed the man with a flat look, glaring across the stands as she committed that appearance to memory. People had survived meeting Landel, there was no reason to think they wouldn't survive this encounter. Though... judging by the setup, something big was about to go down. The stadium reminded her of the chuunin exams and the final tournament. Once again, she was stuck watching while her friends were out on the sands.
Aidou's angry shout said just as much as she wanted to, she was just sorry she didn't get to say it herself. She glanced back at Sai and Sasuke, down on the ground floor, but it didn't look like their opponent had arrived yet. What the hell was this about?
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That had been the only thing on his mind while Brook had awaited the opening of the doors. He knew what could be done when people were taken from their rooms - getting brainwashed enough to attack your friends, or worse still, tortured - Brook did not want either one for his friend. So he'd gotten ready, leaving his dinner alone to take up his shikomizue and set a note on the bedside table. He had just heard the start of the nighttime announcement when things suddenly went black and he was thrust yet again to the strange room that was the Coliseum.
"Wait, no...!" Brook shot to his feet and looked around just as he had the night before. Of all the days for him to be teleported when his roommate was in some kind of danger! Why must this have happened tonight?! "I have to go back!" he said before thinking, then remembered what had started last evening and looked down to the floor. It was the same, with Sai and Sasuke still in the ring's center with Sakura and... it was Aidou, wasn't it?... seated along with him.
The difference, he found, was that there was one more present, one with a voice they were now a little more familiar with. His gaze fell to the south-most seats where he saw the man who'd called them late. The man certainly had the look of someone in command, but Brook felt no need to fear him just yet. He might not have known what was going on in this room, but he did know that the General was responsible for whatever horrors Michelangelo was facing elsewhere.
Silently, he hoped that someone would find the letter in his room.
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Ah, though, perhaps that was for the best. Rage was an excellent catalyst for accomplishment, and at least the children were not stupid and did not stare at him dumbfounded and dumbstruck. The man detached his arms from each other long enough to offer a dismissive wave. "The audience could stand to be less impertinent," he remarked almost casually, before fixing his dark eyes on the younger of the competitors. "But to address your query, Uchiha Sasuke, you and your companion are here to fulfill a requirement. I'm certain I don't have to divulge the details of your task, but let's keep it clear for everyone involved, shall we?"
There was a long, exasperating sigh, as though admitting the fact was not to Aguilar's liking. "The Coliseum demands a single sacrifice for completion," he continued, "though I would take care not to delay the inevitable. You see, the longer you and Sai live, the patients closest to both of you will draw closer to death." It was a straightforward concept--one he could see a value when considering difficult decisions--but brutal nevertheless.
A good setup, he had once grudgingly admitted.
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So what, were they continuing where they had left off? Why?
Aguilar certainly hadn't been in the coliseum last time, not that Aidou had sensed, and his presence now made Aidou believe this was part of an ongoing event. Landel had appeared during such things, hadn't he? Another pointless test for the prisoners. Aguilar's next words as much confirmed it.
Aidou gaze flickered between the two figures in the arena and the one in the stands. Requirement? What did that... The ridiculousness of the premise took a second to sink in. Death? The so-called requirement was death? Was he joking, threatening the deaths of others if there was reluctance to play his fatal game to the end? No, of course he wasn't, this was Landel's after all. Honor didn't exist here. But even as anger and disbelief began to surge, pieces clicked into place.
Don't say I didn't warn you!
Anise had said that, hadn't she. She'd been going through the basement trials, too, but she hadn't wanted to talk about her experiences past a certain point. In fact, no one had. All those warnings about what went on down here, all the warnings about a certain door, they started to make sense. Or did they? If at least one person out of every group had to die, then... then... Aidou tried to remember, to go over every thing he knew about the groups who had likely reached this point. His mind was still racing when Sai lunged into action, making him twitch forward, dangerously close to the barrier now. Because they were the ones who had given their blood, that was why the boys had been chosen? And if they fought and one died, what then? What then?
They were either going to fight each other, or fight Aguilar, these freak humans with their strange powers. They had their strength back, and Aguilar had his foolish Coliseum. Everything was set up for something unforgivably senseless to happen.
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Before she had more than a moment to consider an alternative, Sai was already on the attack. Not enough to stop Sasuke maybe, but enough to provoke this into more than just a friendly scuffle. If they weren't stopped, someone really was going to be killed!
"Don't listen that bastard!" she shouted, "Sai! You don't have to do this! We'll figure out another way! Sasuke-ku..."
The words caught in her throat and became a surprised cry of pain instead when she felt a sharp stab to her chest. Like a shuriken or a blade had struck her, just below the collarbone. She stumbled back a step, hand going to the imaginary wound, only to find blood on her fingertips as she pulled it back. What was this? It couldn't be genjutsu, she was sure it was no illusion, but then... where had the strike come from? Given the angle and force behind it, she could figure out where it should have come from, but there was nothing and no one even remotely near that. How then?
"What-... what the hell is this?" she growled, more angry about the wound than she was hurt. She refused to let herself become some... bargaining chip in their fight! This was insane! Sakura pressed her fingers once more to the wound, this time pushing some of her chakra into it as well. Not enough to heal, but hopefully enough to stop the bleeding in case there was worse to come. She might not have a lot of chakra, but she would use it to their best advantage. That's what this idiot got for throwing the medic in with a bunch of people he planned to slowly wound to death anyway!
"I can-... I can take care of us up here!" she shouted down to the boys, hoping they would stop the fighting and focus on solving the problem, "there has to be a trick to this! Please!" Please don't let anyone die.
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With Sai's response coming almost instantly following the General's words, Brook felt the need to step down to the edge of the seats as well, calling, "Just a moment, Sai-san! There's never a reason to be fighting against your friend!"
They were all supposed to be friends there. The ninjas, and Sasuke's friend Aidou. Brook did not think he was as close as the younger group were, but he still considered them to be friends by this point, and seeing Sai so ready to make a move against Sasuke was... wait, how had he made those beasts come out of a piece of paper?! And then he heard Sakura shout and started worrying that something was wrong with her as well. He could only hope that Aidou hadn't tried the same as Sai.
Everything was happening at such a rapid pace that Brook failed to notice when the first of the cuts appeared on his skin, tearing the fabric of his shirt near the shoulder. He shrugged off the faint stinging sensation as he neared the bottom step, but ended up stopping just shy when he felt another sting, this one to his left side. "What...?" He had just started to glance down when another stinging came at the right side of his temple, drawing enough blood to where it began running down his face. His hand raised, and at feeling the blood he only became more confused. "When did...?"
With another passing second he felt the sting of yet another cut to his back, and then one to his leg that shocked him enough into having a seat. It had been some time since he'd been in a battle while skinned as he was, but he still recognized the sensation of the cuts - the same as being struck by the edge of a sword. Was he being attacked? But how? And with his friends fighting each other and potentially hurt, did it really matter?
Brook's eyes narrowed as he brushed back the blood into his hair and called again, "Sai-san, please, you must stop!" before pushing himself up to finish the trip down. "Are you all right, Sakura-san?" he asked, bending low to try and help the girl if he was able.
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If these children wished to test their luck, let them. Aguilar need only play his part as the overseer. "Time is of the essence, gentlemen," he stated, far too uncaring for being a target of such rage. "I suggest you come to a decision before something unintended occurs."
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This was everything the noble wanted to destroy about this prison. The inanity of it all!
It was worse, when Sakura's voice broke off behind him, when he smelled the blood, because it made Aguilar's promise real. The intention to kill one or all of them. To force death in such an underhanded way. And the blood kept flowing. He could see Brook from the corner of his eye, the surprise and the pain, but it was the smell that flooded his senses. Aidou parted his lips to breathe through his mouth, eyes on the coliseum floor, though he wasn't seeing it.
Sakura and Brook, their lives meant something to the boys', of course, but even if it had been Aidou bleeding from wounds that shouldn't exist, the lack of dignity was the same. He felt tainted, just standing in the middle of it all. There was nothing inevitable about these circumstances, nothing but the dirty tactics of cowards.
"You fool." He spoke under his breath, practically inaudible. As to who he was talking about, whether Aguilar or Sai or Sasuke, or even the injured amongst him, he didn't specify. But what came next had an unmistakable target. "You worm. All of you. You can't do anything yourself. You can't even take a life yourself."
And they had also made him this way, weak to the point of hunger. But even if they hadn't, he was still what he was. Trapping the two substitutes up here, with him, that was also cowardly.
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She shook her head and refused to go down, instead leaning heavily on the seat in front of her. Her mind was racing as she tried to calculate the best course of action under pressure. If these attacks weren't chakra-based, weren't illusions, and they weren't projectiles, what were they? Where were they coming from? Her teammates continued to fight, though she was sure neither was putting forth their best effort. Sasuke had much deadlier attacks in his arsenal, and Sai, she was sure Sai could move faster than that, could dodge more easily, but...
"Don't give up!" she called down to them. They had enough to worry about just putting on this show of a fight. It was up to the others to find the solution. Hadn't Kakashi prepared them for situations just like this one? He'd told them to be ready, that if the time ever came, they might be forced to kill eachother to save one, or be faced with impossible trials that pitted them against one another. But this was nothing that could be solved as simply as sharing a lunchbox. "We're a team! Don't forget! We'll figure this out, we just have to look-"
She grit her teeth as she felt another stab of pain in her thigh, another in her calf, painful, but not vital, not yet. She spit a small gob of blood, glaring in their captor's direction. Sai and Sasuke were counting on her just as much not to give up. To find a solution. If it was this man that was behind it all, then with this man it would end, wouldn't it?
"...underneath."
Steeling herself and ignoring the blood that dribbled from wounds here and there, she considered the options. If they couldn't break the barrier, she had to look underneath the underneath... right? She drew her fist back, pulling what chakra could into the action before she threw it into the ground. Normally, such a punch would crack the earth, rending it asunder for several yards, allowing her to pop up again wherever she saw fit, but here it left little more than a few cracks in the floor. Reckless, yes, especially when she had so little chakra to begin with, but if nothing else, maybe it would put the idea in the others' heads. They obviously had been given chakra, where the others had not. Between the two of them, they had to be able to figure out a way out. Even Neji's impenetrable defense wasn't absolute, there had to be a solution. There just had to be!
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What to do...? Brook looked between the two, then down at where Sasuke and Sai had progressed into a more heated battle. There was no time to think about the mechanics of the battle. Friends were fighting and bleeding! He had to do something!
There was nothing to be done against an invisible opponent, even when it came to seeing to injuries. They would be attacked over and over before anything could be wrapped or bound. And yet they could see the General, sitting safely in the stands behind his barrier. Brook was not very informed when it came to magic, but what he did know was that Aguilar was the enemy in sight. He was who they had to get at if any of this was to be stopped.
As the stings of the phantom sword continued, Brook ignored the pain and blood to stand back up and draw out his sword. If nothing else, I must try! he told himself as he set the blade at the barrier, pointing in the direction of the General's seats. He'd not had the weapon or the opportunity to use his attacks since arriving, but now was as good a time as any to try one out. He had just breathed the first words of, "Hanauta Sanchou" when his voice fell off, and he began coughing.
He'd been ignoring it before, just as with the cuts, but now Brook could not overlook the sensation that had started spreading throughout his body. He knew the feeling, having experienced it once before on that night so many years back. Like a cold shiver coursing through his veins - that was how the poison had worked. It was how he'd died, and how his friends had died. The first time he had been lucky to possess the abilities he did, but given a second chance at death... Brook just knew that his luck was long since spent.
Swallowing back what he knew had to be blood, Brook brushed his mouth with the back of his free hand, returned it to position and struck with his sword anyway. If this was the same poison, he didn't have time to think about what to do. Unfortunately his time was wasted as the barrier bounced him back immediately, cracking the edge of Brook's sword and sending him to the ground on his back.
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Pathetic, honestly. At least one of the fighters was showing a bit more sense in the matter. Perhaps they'd succeed. He would be utterly put off if they failed in what was inherently simple.
[Feel free to skip Aguilar from now on since he's just watching. I'll jump in whenever someone directs a question at him.]
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Was that really all the mercy this system allowed? And to be trapped, watching!
His breathing had deepened; objectively, he knew it wasn't just because of his anger but the presence of so much fresh blood around him. But blood... blood was the last thing he wanted to pay attention to, unless it was Aguilar's. That bastard simply poised in his seat, observing, too! One day you're all going to pay for this. All of it!
He could only hold his tongue, stone-faced, as Sakura tried to use her own abnormal abilities to break herself out. She was powerful, but... it was a waste, as was her belief that a solution without sacrifice was going to be found. Of course, even as he stood there he was scrutinizing their invisible pen, of course he was thinking, searching, looking for a way to end this useless standstill they were in, but with Sasuke and Sai in a deadlock on the ground, Aidou knew that things were not going to end in their favor, not without a drastic change.
The snakes were, in a way, an inevitability.
It was Sai that took the bite, and it was his male friend who shared the price. Venom. It was acidic in the blood, and the vampire didn't need to see it to know it was there. This couldn't go on.
"What does any of this accomplish?" he shouted at Aguilar. His tone was unwavering, the fury lurking underneath it cold and quiet. His palms, he put against the barrier again, accepting the sting without flinching. Pain was only pain. If Aidou thought for a second he could force his way through the Institute's magic as he was... "What prize do we get for fulfilling your Coliseum? Or do you just enjoy the bedlam like Landel? This is something he helped created, isn't it?"
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Brook was nearby and gave escape a try as well, though just as before, the attacks were cast uselessly aside and their teammates below continued fighting just as before. Her attention followed the fight, heart thudding in her chest as she watched. One of the venomous snakes bit Sai and then- then she could see as well as hear Chidori flashing across the blade and she was almost sure that Sasuke would-
She slumped against a chair in relief as she understood what it was Sasuke was trying to do. If he'd meant to kill Sai, he could've done so easily. No, he'd meant to stop the poison, or at least slow it. The action actually brought a faint smile to her lips and gave her a glimmer of hope. Even Sasuke didn't want to have to kill his teammates. Even in a situation such as this. But... Why had Sai let himself be bitten at all? Did he intend to throw the fight?
Another stab of pain grazed her cheek, the next, cutting deep into her side, hopefully, she thought, avoiding any major internal organs. Her hand went to her side, just above the hip and she smiled grimly, but refused to fall.
And then there was Aidou, who, for whatever reason, remained unaffected. It was reason enough to suspect him, but for all the shouting he'd been doing at the man in charge. If that anger of his was only an act, he was very good at it. But Sakura had trouble believing Sasuke would have trusted someone like Aidou without good reason.
It was infuriating to be so helpless, but maybe she just had to keep believing in them. Believe that they would find a way to beat this challenge, just like they had the others. Even when things seemed hopeless, somehow they'd pulled through in the past. Without Naruto here to spread his idiotically infectious optimism, maybe she'd just have to carry on the torch.
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As he tried to think over Aidou's continued shouts, Brook's vision blurred and he had to shake his head out before lifting it again.
That's right, this is some kind of test... he remembered, trying to see down into the arena floor.
Whatever was going on below could have not have been good, and he had missed most of it, but the fact that both Sakura and himself were still alive proved nothing too drastic had taken place. Not just yet. That was the only comfort to be had however. Though blurred, his vision had found Sakura to still be fighting herself and bleeding much more severely than himself. Regardless of what was happening between Sai and Sasuke, if nothing was done for the young woman, then she had about at little time as himself.
The more he thought, the more he realized that the only way for this to end was for one of them to die. Just as the General had explained - "A single sacrifice".
"You simply want for one of us to die," Brook huffed out softly before pushing himself even further up. As he went, he brought his sword with him, cracked though it was, and tightened his grip on it was he turned again to Aguilar, shouting, "Only one here has to die, is that not so?!"
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Two of whom seemed eager to ask equally useless questions. Aguilar shook his head, a sort of pity written in the gesture. He might as well let them think up their own logic if they were going to inquire about such things; he was not letting anything slip so easily.
"It is as I said," replied Aguilar. One might have almost expected him to shrug casually with that remark. "The rest is your responsibility."
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