Regrit and Yami ran at top speed as they finally made it to the end of the seemingly never ending tunnel, there was a ladder leading to the surface, and at the top of it was a latch that felt rather heavy to move, but after one or two attempts, it finally budged and they witnessed the first rays of light in seemingly forever.

As they climbed up to the surface, the smell of where they were was immediately clear, one repulsive and rancid to the nose. The first sensation their shoes felt was mush, and they were not able to move much in the cramped environment.

As they looked around, they seemed to be in an alleyway leading to the street far, far ahead, mountains of trash thrown around everywhere like confetti on a graduation party, and, when they turned around, they noticed that the heavy thing stopping them from exiting was indeed a garbage container, which they thankfully somehow didn't manage to knock over.

"Where should we go now?" Regrit asked, looking around.

"I'm not sure… For now, let's try and get as far away as possible… Should we wait for Joker?" Yami asked.

"Nah! Fuck him! He's taking too long! It's his fault doing that!"

"But, it's also thanks to him that we were able to escape. Even I understand that. What? Are you mad that you lost to him or something? You really know how to hold a grudge don't you?"

"I-It was a tie! Undecided! We didn't get to continue! He didn't beat me! Besides, that wasn't even a real match! Our powers were restricted!"

"Uhuh…" Yami looked at him with her eyebrows raised under her full mask.

*Tsk* "Shut it! Let's just get out of here! It was a mistake I ever came here in the first place! It was such a waste of time! Let's go!"

"Yeah… I guess we should do that…" They both nodded to each other and prepared to leave, but, that was when they received a sudden notification on their watches now that they were out, and it read something baffling that they could not believe.

"Is… Is this guy CRAZY!? NO WAY I'M DOING THAT!!" Regrit screamed in a whispering voice, his previous anxiety and PTSD from the earlier events of the day returning.

"I-I… I think we should trust him and do as we are told… It seems to be really important..." He heard a voice come from his side, and he slowly turned around to see that the other half of that girl returned.

"Why… Has he brainwashed you or something? Let's just go while we can… This must be a trap or something…"

"Uh-uh! I'm staying here! I have faith and so should you! You're important to this so don't you dare move!" Hikari's voice was passionate, more passionate than he had ever seen before.

He began to lose hope, spiralling into a pit of confusion. He needed her and her ability to safely escape the area, without her powers to cloak them in darkness, they would undoubtedly be noticed. But now, it seemed like there was nothing he could do about it. He eventually surrendered to her pleading and decided to let fate be the guide to his life, it seemed to have only let him down once that day…

****************************************

There was a bench beside the dumpster where they first emerged, one cleaner and even farther from the street. Hikari walked around in circles while Regrit sat waiting on the bench. Compared to Hikari, he was especially stressed, sweat running down his face as he clasped his hands and vigorously tapped his feet, praying for all to end well and for this nightmare to be finally over.

That was when suddenly, he lifted his head and opened his eyes hearing Hikari's voice suddenly enter his ears for the first time in what felt like forever.

"He's here! He's here!" She jumped up and down as she witnessed the lid to the secret passageway open, and out of it emerging that same demonic mask she would never forget.

From his face, he seemed to be in a major panic, closing the distance towards them inmere a flash.

"Great! You guys are here!" He swiped the sweat off his face and looked up at his two masked allies, one of them with a bulging vein popping out of their head.

"HEY! CUNT! What's the meaning of this! Why did you suddenly leave us? And now why do want us to wait here while we could have been gone! I'—"

"Shut up and listen! There's not much time so let me explain this as fast as I can! First! Both of you take off your mask!"

"Why shoul—"

"JUST DO IT!!" Moby's attitude took even Regrit by surprise, he had gotten this far, so he sucked it up and did as he was told, his face going back to normal as he handed his mask off back to Moby.

"Good! Hikari, please stand there and wear a worried face on you, when I snap my fingers, pretend like you're trying to break us up from fighting and tell us it's gonna get us in big trouble okay?"

"Is over here good?" She nervously mumbled.

"Yes! Perfect! Now stay there and wait for my signal! Now, Regrit! You stand over there and wait for further instructions!"

"Huh? This is so stupid! The hell are you doing? This isn't the time to pretend to be some sort of movie director."

"Just do it!"

*Tsk*

"Yeah! There's good!" He motioned him to stop before he took off his mask and quickly marched to his face.

"Okay! Good! Now, for the final part! All I need you to do is fight me! When we start, that's your signal Hikari! "

"Fight you!? Why? What the hell are you doing! We have no time for this shit!" He scoffed, trying to walk away only for Moby to stop him, marching up to his face once again.

"You think I'd be rushing through this if I had time to explain everything? Just trust me and fight! Let's finish what we started! I thought you wanted to fight me huh? Where did all that vigour and motivation go? This isn't the Regrit I know! What? Are you now scared of me after I beat your ass despite going into that tournament for the soul purpose to fight me, to the point you would throw all your money away! NO! My money away! How are you gonna make your mother proud if you're such a greedy asshole who only thinks of themselves!?"

"SHUT THE FUCK UPPP!!!" As Moby spoke, there was a visible vein slowly protruding off of Regrit's forehead, but in the end, his volcano welling up in his soul could hold out no longer, and it erupted into madness as he threw a punch toward's Moby's face.

His senses were overwhelmed with the adrenaline and sensation of blood. He was punched back, trading blow for blow with the man ahead of him with no care in the world like it was the last thing he would ever do. The world around him felt like static, nothing else mattered or took priority over his current task, Hikari's words from behind them were not even able to reach his ears.

This was not a duel as much as a mad scuffle, completely lacking any form or grace.

That was when suddenly, his body was overcome with an unknown feeling, like chains binding and restricting all of his movements. He had no idea what was going on, his vision was still dyed in red as he tried his best to break out of these bindings with no success in order to reach his opponent, he looked like a leashed beast trying to escape like his life depended on it.

That was when he heard a sudden familiar, bone-chilling voice that snapped him back to his senses, colour was brought back to his eyes and sucked away immediately as he felt his stomach drop and his heart halt like time had frozen still.

Part of him knew what was happening and what there was to come, but he could not even force his head to look up towards the demon who is undoubtedly about to ruin his entire life and send him straight to hell after all of his efforts to succeed...

"There you two are! I finally found you! I received a notice that you two were fighting! I thought I had made it very clear that you two shall not fight unless authorized! Are you not ashamed of yourselves!? Now… I will release you two very soon, and you better be calm… I have many questions to ask you, this is very weird and things don't really line up… I promise to not get as mad if you tell me the truth of what was truly happening here and what you've seen... You better answer honestly, or else, I will expel you and do everything in my power to absolutely ruin you and your entire lineage…"