Survival is Crucial

Cotton Kid

The first thing he saw as he woke up within an ambulance was the edge of a knife, inching closer and closer to his face. Nixon threw both of his legs into the air, wrapping around someone's arm as they carried a knife within their hand. Nixon began wrapping his arms around their own, pulling themselves down onto the stretcher he was sleeping in not too long before, almost breaking their arm. "Who the f**k are you!?" Sudden pains began going across his body, 'Fuck... I really was shot!?' Nixon thought to himself.

"What the hell!?" A young woman with dark brown hair and pale skin, a deep abyss shown within her eyes, "What the f**k!? You should be comatose!"

"What the f**k are you talking about!? Who are you!?"

"Doesn't f*****g matter! Just f*****g break it asshole!"

"No! f*****g answer me because you're the third f*****g person today that has tried killing me!" Nixon pressed his lips together, thinking for a moment, "No! You're the fourth! Now tell me what the hell is going on!?"

"You have a bounty!" She began laughing, "That's all I'll tell you!"

Her arm was bent in a peculiar way as a wretched cracking sound could be heard as she fell to the floor, tears in her eyes as her legs flailed about in pain. Nixon sits upon the stretcher in bated breath, sweat falling from his brow and hitting against the cushioned surface sitting below him. 'Getting shot hurts so f*****g much, but I need to find Yua.'

Nixon stepped off the stretcher, heading to the driver's seat of the ambulance he was in, being met by a man with a revolver pointed directly into Nixon's face. "Sayonara, fucker!" The man yelled as Nixon had already begun taking him down without him realizing, firing one shot into the back of the ambulance, putting a hole through one of the back doors. Nixon, using one foot to make the man look away, pressed this same man's arm against the wall of the ambulance, slamming his fist into his arm until he loosened his grip, quickly grabbing and throwing it after the fact. The man had attempted to pull Nixon off, but it was the equivalent to someone trying to pull a boulder from off their body. "s**t! What the-"

Nixon positioned himself into a mounting position, slamming his fists repeatedly into the man's face, knocking him out with the first punch while the other punches were for safe measure. "Hey!" Nixon yelled, calling out to the drivers, "Is there another ambulance with us!?"

"Uh... yeah!"

"Is there a girl inside?"

"There should be?"

Nixon suspected that the other ambulance might've been hijacked as well, but at this moment, those thoughts didn't really help in a situation such as this one. 'I have a bounty...?' He thought to himself, considering those words, speculating what she could've meant, 'Why would I have a bounty? I didn't do s**t to warrant it though... maybe It was due to a rich guy I beat during the competitions?' He clicked his tongue, the veins in his head almost becoming visible in irritation, 'Nobody could be that petty, right?'

Nixon's consciousness had begun to fade, 's**t! The adrenaline wore off it seems..." Then, once again, he had passed out, bleeding from old wounds. Quickly, a nurse in the passenger's seat exited, heading to the back of the ambulance to take care of him.

Carla had left Tyche under the bridge and after a few minutes, a man had descended from above it, sliding down the slope leading its rocky undertow. "Found you!" A tall, thin man with long black hair that reached their shoulders had approached wearing a parka and jeans, his eyes had a sinister glint to them.

'The voice didn't detect him?' Tyche thought to himself as he watched the man approach in concern.

"You're Tyche Asmodeus Hunt, correct?"

"Why the hell do you know my name?"

The man pursed his lips, transitioned into a toothy smile, "You have a  bounty on your head bud!"

"What!?"

"You didn't know?"

"Why would I...? I've never..."

"Well, now that's interesting!" He sighed, "Whatever."

"This doesn't make any sense..." Tyche whimpered.

"Oh, man! You're sweating buckets! My name is Ike by the way, remember it in death, okay?" Ike went in to stab Tyche, making a meaty thud as it hit him, Tyche couldn't do a thing about it, stunned by every that had happened to him that day. "Then!" Ike took out a long knife that was sitting in his back pocket, swinging it at Tyche's head.

Tyche fell to the ground, the knife missing him narrowly as he shaved off a minuscule amount of hair.

"s**t, I missed!" Ike couldn't block in time as Tyche's head connected with his nose, breaking it instantly, on top of that, Tyche had managed to grab one of Ike's legs, lifting into the air while sweeping him off from his feet, leading him to fall to the ground. The knife that was supposed to impale Tyche was within a bloody hand, in fact, it had not impaled him at all. Though it almost cut off his fingers, Tyche had caught the blade.

Tyche threw the blade into his other hand, grabbing it by the hilt, "You're supposed to be a professional right? Then don't fall for simple tricks!"

"s**t!" Ike jumped back up into a standing position, swinging his long knife all the while. "Holy... didn't expect that."

Tyche lunged forward and once again Ike swung at him, but this time Tyche blocked it with the knife he had stolen, using the barbs on the back of the knife's blade to catch Ike's. Tyche used this opportunity to disarm him, bending his knife in a peculiar way, pulling Ike forward. Tyche dropped his knife, quickly falling to the ground. Ike didn't know what was happening, and he would never know, as he was knocked out almost an instant after Tyche had dropped to the floor - a Rabo de Arraia, the stingray's tail.