forum Dark Cyberpunk Dystopia RP; Closed

Started September 10, 2020 by @King_Cyrus

tune

((It sucks but I was in a hurry so I apologize))

The penalty for breaking the law— any law— was severe, but some things were more terrifying than any punishment. Like, say, the thought of your family dying horrific deaths due to your own inability to keep them safe.

It was probably that thought, more than the realization that he was signing himself up to become a criminal, that had Niles' hands shaking and his stomach in a tight knot as he wandered down the shadowed alley. He gripped the handle of the metal case he lugged along with him so tightly that his knuckles turned white, and, despite the chill of the night air, beads of sweat formed on his brow. If it had just been him that was at risk here, if getting caught or failing would only result in repercussion that would affect him personally, perhaps it would've been easier. But things were never really that simple, were they?

Darkness engulfed everything, but he kept going. Occasionally, the bark of a lone dog or a voice off in the distance would startle him, cause him to stiffen like a deer caught in headlights, but nothing ever happened, and he could do nothing but continue on. After all, going back was not an option. What would become of Pim and their mother if Niles didn't find a way to get money soon?

A few minutes that felt like an eternity passed before he eventually reached a place where the alley opened up into a dilapidated street on the edge of the city which served as one of the biggest crime hubs around. This area had been closed off years ago, long before Niles was even born, and while it was abandoned and crumbling, criminals seemed to swoop in and make it their own. Why the police never came out here to bust them, Niles could only speculate. Perhaps it was too dangerous? Perhaps the police force was corrupted, too? He had no idea. But what did it matter, really? He wasn't here to ask questions; he was here to win a bot fight and get enough money to try to dig his family out of the hole they were in.

Niles' eyes widened slightly as he took in the scene; there were far more people here than he had expected. It was a bustling street of criminals, probably the literal site of a black market, and a single glance told him that he did not belong among this crowd. Any single one looked like they could chew him up and spit him out in three seconds flat. He swallowed hard and struggled to suck in a steady breath; this was it, right? He just had to figure out where, specifically, the robot-fights were being held, and— yeah. That was it.

How was he supposed to do that? Ask for directions?

…

"Um, excuse me, sir—" Niles chose one of the people who didn't look like they would stab him and sell his kidney on the black market if he looked at them the wrong way. "I was told that they were holding a bot-fight here, and I was wondering if you happened to know where?"
The man— who looked fairly normal aside from having a weird tattoo on his neck and a scar on his nose— arched a skeptical brow at Niles. He didn't say it, but Niles had the feeling that this guy was wondering why the heck a muffin like him was running around in a place full of wild dogs.
The guy jabbed his finger in the direction of a large warehouse a little ways down. "There."
"Thanks." Niles nodded gratefully and started in the direction the man had gestured. His heart pounded in his chest, and he just prayed to whatever deity would listen that he'd make it through the night without getting shanked or arrested.

(THAT'S AMAZING WHATTTT)

Kelna felt at home in the bot ring. She knew what to expect here. Yes, there was always a fair share of death threats, fights, foul language, and idiots, but it was familiar. And with her position, no one would dare to do anything to her.

She studied the bot fight currently going on with a look of something close to boredom. Both of the teams were rookies, and that meant this fight was about as exciting to her as watching paint dry. In the background, she could hear the cheering and booing from the crowd, as well as the bickering coming from her team as they argued over who knew what. Gods, she hated acting like a mother to this group of children.

"We can't keep that part on for a fight Barleen! They banned it!" A particularly deep and smooth voice argued as she turned from her balcony view of the ring to face the team. "We'll get disqualified. And anyway, it looks horrible." The voice in question belonged to a male very much not deserving of the voice. He was tall and lean, with equally sharp features, looking more like an elongated noodle than a human.

"I read the rules not even five minutes ago Sennal! It's allowed!" The voice arguing back was quiet and raspy, but it held the same determination of the other voice, "You take back the comment about it looking stupid. This is the best-designed piece we have." While Sennal was tall and lean, the owner of this voice was several inches shorter than Kelna and much older than she was. The woman in question looked old enough to be her own mother, curvy and with short gray hair, though she clearly wasn't a sweet little old lady. Barleen looked much more like an ornery badger than anything, and a wrench was held like a club in her hands as she shook it at Sennal.

Kelna snorted as she heard the clattering of something being thrown, followed by a yelp from Sennal.

She didn't interrupt the two of them as they argued, just walked by them and the bot to the stairs. Being the leader of a group meant she was the one to deal with talking to the other team, who she had yet to meet. All she hoped was that they showed up this time. They didn't have the best track record with staying unfound, and it wasn't going to surprise her if they had been ratted out again and she would have to find a new competitor.

(AHH I'M GLAD YOU THINK SO BECAUSE I LITERALLY THOUGHT IT SUCKED. Also I'm dying over Barleen looking like an "ornery badger" and I think that's possibly the best description I've ever had the honor of reading so thank you.)

Niles, on the other hand, had no friggin' idea what to expect here. Except for maybe, you know, getting crushed in the bot fights and possibly stabbed by one of these criminals.

He swallowed and gripped the handle of the metal case he carried— the one that held all of his bot fighting equipment (and judging by the side of the locked box, it couldn't be that much). He navigated his way through the crowd, careful not to bump into anyone. As he passed by the people, he couldn't help but note that most of them were probably far more experienced than him, both in bot fighting and— uh— criminalism.

He could envision himself losing the fight horrifically, his robot getting destroyed a few seconds in. He could already taste the bitter defeat and utter devastation and humiliation of his loss. Why did he even bother coming here? These people were professionals. He didn't even technically graduate high-school.

No, no. He couldn't afford to think like that. He had to win. He had to try, at least. His family was on the line. If he lost, what would he do? Even if he could find another job quick, could his family even hold out to the next paycheck? He couldn't dare sell his dad's old tech— so it was either win the bot fight or risk his family's wellbeing. He had no choice. He had to win.

He reached the edge of the ring in time to catch the tail-end of the last fight, which was interesting in the eyes of someone who'd never watched an actual illegal bot-fight before. Sure, he'd seen robots, and he'd seen them fight, but never in a place like this, under circumstances like this. He felt like a child, utterly disinterested in the quality of a game but rather caught up in the fact that this is legit. But apparently the game sucked, because all of the people around him seemed pretty disappointing, booing and hollering nasty comments. One man pumping his fist in the air angrily elbowed Niles right in the shoulder; he let out a little "uumph" and took a step back to avoid getting caught in the path of the man's disappointment again. He picked his way through the crowd until he could clearly see the ring again.
Where were the next fighters? When would it be his turn to step up? He wondered if he needed to sign up, but then all he could imagine someone laughing in his face if he asked where he needed to sign up at, because it sounded so juvenile when he thought about it.

(Lol thank you! It really is the best way to describe her in my head and I'm glad it brings joy to someone other than me)

It didn't take Kelna more than a minute to get down the stairs and to the ring, holding her head high and muscling her way through the crowd. It stunk like sweat and body odor as she stepped farther in, the smell overpowering even to her. Apparently, none of these people knew what a shower was. Wrinkling her nose, she continued on, ignoring the ending fight in the ring. No one wanted to move for her, but with a few well placed 'accidental' elbows and more crushed feet than necessary, she worked her way to the tiny rickety table alongside the ring.

The table served as the place for teams to meet before fights, the place to sign up to fight, and basically everything else. And sitting behind it was a pair of large slightly pudgy males. Both were no younger than mid-fifties, and between them, they had more visible piercings than anyone in the area; an impressive feat in itself.

"Any sign of the team?" She called as she stopped at the table, both sets of piercing blue eyes landing on her. It was hard to hear anything over the crowd, especially as the fight drew to a close, and cheering erupted for the winner.

Even at rookie fights, people cared who won or lost. There was money on just about every fight in this area.

"Nothing." One of them answered, shaking his head and jabbing a finger at the ring, "Both of you are gonna lose your entry fee too if you don't find a competitor soon. I don't even care if it's them at this point. Someones gotta have a damn bot out here."

Kelna frowned. She didn't dare to argue with them, but finding someone here to fight was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack. These stinky idiots were here to watch fights and drink way too much. "Alright. Put another fight ahead of us. I'll find someone," She replied, waving a hand and walking off. Barleen and Sennal would be happy for the extra time to work -and bicker- but now she had to find a competitor. And the rest of her team on top of that.

Another fight started, and Niles had made no progressing in discovered how the heck to enter the fights. What time did this place close, even? Knowing his luck he'd waste all his time wandering around like a moron, and it'd be over before he even had a chance to put his bot in the ring.

Maybe it'd be better that way, though. Maybe he could still walk out of here with his life and what small sliver of dignity he had.

But those kind of thoughts were unacceptable. Failure was not an option. Walking away was not an option. Even if he lost, he had to try. He'd never forgive himself if he didn't.

He ran a hand over the smooth exterior of the case he carried around with him, trying once again to peer through the crowd and get a peek at the ring. He could barely see it now, the bots attacking each other inside. His little robot was a lot smaller than most of the ones that had been entered so far, but he could tell by simply looking at some of the other bots that his might have the advantage of functioning much better. He shoved those thoughts aside, though, fearful of getting his hopes up too much just to be let down.

"I'm sorry— Excuse me— Pardon me—" he mumbled as he shoved his way through the crowd, accidentally pushing people here and there. He heard several curse words and obscenities muttered as he made his way, but he couldn't tell whether they were directed at him, someone else, or the fight at hand. It didn't matter, regardless. He was too focused on not getting knocked down and crushed underfoot by these barbarians.

He paused once, wondering if he should suck it up and ask someone. On one hand, he was afraid of telling anyone that he was a confused noob who had no idea what was going on or how any of this actually worked, afraid that they might decide that he'd be any easy target (both in the fights and otherwise), but on the other hand, he felt like it was glaringly obvious by his appearance and behavior that he didn't belong here.

Kelna muscled her way through the crowd once more until she got to the edge of it, taking a long moment to just stop and survey the chaos around her. There had to be someone with a bot here. It felt like cheating to ask one of the other teams to fight again, but it was an option if she couldn't find anyone.

That was her last resort though, and until then, her best option was dipping back into the crowd. What type of person she was looking for was a mystery even to herself. What did an unregistered bot fighter even look like? Yes, she had run across them occasionally, but they all tended to look different. The only thing they shared was the same unease and nervousness. Without any other ideas to guide her, she huffed under her breath and started searching for that same look of nervousness in the eyes of anyone here.

Several dead ends later, she was getting nervous that they were going to not be able to fight. There had been a few nervous-looking people, but none of them claimed to have a bot they wanted to fight with. "I'll never hear the end of this," She grumbled, straightening her top and searching again. If Sennal and especially Barleen learned that they had lost their spot because she hadn't found a competitor, the pair wouldn't hesitate to rope her into helping them to make up for it.

She did not want to even try to touch the shiny metal bot that was their pride and joy. That would end with her breaking something.

Kelna shoved her way around a large man and set back to looking, skimming over the crowd quickly. She almost missed the blonde head of hair in the mass of people, only doubling back to look at the area in a spur of luck. Thankfully, the person had turned her direction, and she felt a surge of hope at how out of place the boy looked. Or at least she figured they were a boy. It didn't really matter. They had to have a bot, had to.

She slipped back into the crowd with her new target in mind, eyes locked on him and the case she now noticed. This had to be her lucky day. "Hey kid, kid!" She called as she got closer, elbowing her way to the boy with new hope.

It took Niles several seconds to realize that someone was trying to get his attention. He stiffened, his grip on the case tightening along with every other muscle in his body as he glanced around to find the origin of the voice. His eyes met the gaze of the young woman calling to him, and he was certain then that she could be speaking to no one else. Even so, he couldn't help but respond with an uncertain, "Me?" as she came closer.

Uncertainty surged through him. Did she know him? He hoped not. His family didn't need to know about his visit here— especially if things went wrong and he ended up with no money. But he didn't recognize this girl; as far as he could recall, he had never seen her before in his life.

"Yes you," She replied as she shoved around a final person to reach him, glancing at the case in his hand and deciding beating around the bush would be pointless. There wasn't time for formalities, and so she got straight to the point. "Is that a bot?" Kelna pointed to the case and then jabbing a thumb towards the ring, "If so, my team needs a competitor. I'll pay you to fight us, that way I don't lose my entry fee on this fight."

It was like a wild stab of luck to see if he was actually a fighter, but she was out of options. From the look of the kid, paying him would cause her team to rake in a fair amount of cash as well. His bot couldn't be that good. But he was a competitor.

Niles's eyes grew round. "Oh— Oh, yea! Alright." He swallowed, trying to refrain from having too much enthusiasm. Considering the fact that he had no hope of actually, you know, winning, that was fairly easy to do. After all, these people were seasoned fighters. Professionals. And who was he? Basically nobody.

But some part of him was determined to fight and win. Some part of him knew this was his only opportunity, and he had to take it. There was no other choice. No other way.

"I've— ah— well—" He cut himself off when it became apparent that even he didn't know what he was trying to say. "Thank you. I look forward to competing with you," he managed finally, trying not to cringe at how weird it sounded once he actually expressed it verbally. Honestly, at this point, he was starting to think he might be better off just to stop talking altogether.

The instant relief that washed over her when he indeed had a bot was amazing. kelna barely stopped the emotion from showing on her face as she nodded. "Good. Good, thank you," She said, nodding once more, this time to herself. She had found a fighter. Granted, there was no way in hell he would be as good as some of their normal competitors, but he was someone.

Taking a quick moment to size up their new opponent, she didn't have high expectations for the boy. He didn't hold the same….strength that bot fighters had. Bot fighters physically varied, she was more speaking of how shy he looked. His blonde hair was unusual as well, and it made him stick out. He just…looked out of place. Not that she cared, at one time, she must have looked the same after all. Everyone started somewhere, and she almost pitied him. He seemed quite inexperienced with things like this, and who knew how the streets and fighters would treat him.

"My team is next up," Kelna added, the fleeting feeling of relief flying out the window. Wiling herself to look confident and strong, she jabbed a thumb towards the thick crowd around the ring, "I don't have time to talk payment for this, but your entry fee is covered, and I have to get to my team. Just, be at the score table in five minutes, the fight will happen and regardless of if you win, I'll pay you back. See you soon, blondie."

She didn't bother waiting for a response before she was off, hissing a string of curses at a burly man who stumbled into her as she turned away. In seconds, she had melted into the crowd, hurrying with the same confident stride towards her team.