Vincent and the kid, hand in hand, began to make their way away from the ladder. They had to push through waves of humans, with Vincent taking the brunt of the torrent. After wading through that, they eventually popped out into an opening.

Looking up, Vincent commented, “Yeah, this’ll work.”

“What do you mean?” the kid asked.

“You’ll see.”

Vincent then let go of the kids’ hand, squatted down, stretched his legs, and popped back up. Looking back at the kid, he said, “Alight, I’m gonna boost ya.”

“What?” the kid asked, confused.

Interlocking his hands, palms-up, Vincent replied, “Run at me and I’ll throw you up there.” As he said that, his eyes pointed towards the iron rod that was about 10 feet above them.

“Why would you…”

“Stop asking so many damn questions,” Vincent demanded, “just do it.”

Shaking their head, the kid took a few steps backwards. With a slight exhale, he then took off in a sprint towards Vincent. Right as he reached Vincent, he jumped into the air. His left foot planted itself in Vincent’s webbed hands, and within a fraction of a second, Vincent launched the kid upwards.

The kid flew so high that he sailed right over the beam, nearly missing it entirely. Luckily, he grabbed it on his way down, clinging to it for dear life.

When Vincent saw that the kid made it safely on the beam, he did a couple half-jumps in place and looked over at the nearest wall. He cracked his neck and booked it over to the wall. As he approached it, he lifted his feet in the air, firmly plating them on the wall, one after another.

He managed to run up the wall for a solid 2 feet or so, and when he felt gravity start to overpower his momentum, he changed tactics. He shifted his body’s posture away from the way. With a forceful shove, he pushed himself off the wall and reached for that iron rod that was right above him. With both hands, he easily grabbed it and pulled himself on top.

With a smile, looking at the kid, Vincent stated, “Let’s get going.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” the kid responded, throwing his hands up in the air. As he did that, he almost lost his balance on the beam. “Why are you doing this? You don’t even know me.”

Vincent looked up as if he was contemplating what he was just told. After a few seconds, he responded, “Cause I liked how you were the only one who spoke up.”

“That’s it?”

“Yep. Now let’s get going.”

Before the kid could even answer, Vincent took off running. He ran down the beam, eventually jumping up and grabbing another. As he hung from that beam, he looked back at the kid and nodded for the kid to follow.

It took a few seconds, but the kid finally followed in Vincent’s footsteps. When he reached the point that Vincent jumped from, he attempted to make his way up towards Vincent. However, he found that he did not have the verticality to reach anywhere near the next beam.

Seeing this, Vincent reached a hand down and said, “I know you can at least reach my hand.”

“I can’t,” the kid replied.

“Sure ya can, ya just gotta have some confidence. You seemed to have plenty when you spoke up.”

The kid looked at Vincent for a second, took a deep breath, and made one final leap. By mere inches, he barely managed to grab ahold of Vincent’s hand. He was then pulled up to the next iron bar.

“See? I told you,” Vincent commented.

“Yeah...I guess so,” the kid admitted.

“You said you gotta win, right?”

“Uh, um,” the kid stammered, “I mean yeah I do.”

“Well, you’re not going to get very far if ya give as quickly as you almost did.”

The kid didn’t say a thing, he just nodded. As he did, a body from above fell past them, colliding with the ground. He glanced over to the unmoving body, but just as he took his eyes off of Vincent, Vincent shouted, “Come on!”

The kid snapped to attention and hurriedly followed Vincent. The two of them balancingly ran across many beams, jumping from one to another the moment a threat made itself known.

When someone would get in their way, rather than pushing them off, Vincent would find a different beam and get on it. They both did this for a while until they made it about halfway to the top. At that point, Vincent stopped and sat down.

“Why’d we stop?” the kid asked.

“Huh?” Vincent replied. “Oh, because there’s no one around us. Might as well sit and look around.”

Glancing down, there was nothing but chaos below them. People were punching, shoving, and using any kind of underhanded tactic to get another person off of a beam. Bodies fell like raindrops in a slight drizzle—never too many, but never none.

Vincent just sighed at the sight before him. Could he be down there and realistically come out on top? Yes he could, and he knew that. As a matter of fact, maybe there was a part of him that was still down there.

Honestly, he thought, it probably would be a lot of fun...and it would be quicker.

He then looked over at the kid and shook his head, freeing himself from those thoughts. That’s not who I am, though. I could never kill someone else.

CLINK CLINK CLINK

Vincent snapped his head in the direction of the sound. His muscles tensed for a second before relaxing.

“What are you doing here?” Vincent asked.

Walking their way along the beam they were on was the long-haired individual, tall and lanky. They brushed their hair to the side and replied, “Same reason you’re here.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot you were competing, Fang.”

“It’s been like 20 minutes, how did you forget?” Fang laughed.

Vincent laughed along with them. “Isn’t Eliot supposed to be here, too?”

Fang, still smiling, but not laughing, responded, “Kind of…he pretty much lost at the very beginning. He couldn’t get up the ladder.”

“Ahhhh, makes sense.”

The kid then poked his head into the conversation. “Um, what’s going on?”

Fang, caught a bit off guard, replied, “Oh, I didn’t see you.” They then narrowed their eyes and their expression grew more serious. “And who are you?”

“Ummm…” the kid tried to reply.

“He’s a new friend of mine,” Vincent interjected.

Fang just gave Vincent a curiously neutral look and glanced back at the kid. Their eyes were still narrowed and fully on guard.

“We…” the kid began to speak up, “we can’t be friends.”

“What do you mean?” Vincent asked.

“We’re competitors and competitors can’t be friends.”

“Said who?”

“Wha...I mean…” the kid tried to answer. As he looked to the ground, his eyes darted back and forth, as if he was trying to find the right words.

“Of course we can! Look at Fang and I,” he said, motioning to Fang. “Yeah we fought in the Collider, but that doesn't mean we can’t be friends.”

“Plus,” Fang added, “it’s hard not to like him,” they said, looking at Vincent. “Although he can get on your nerves. Following him never disappoints me.”

Vincent’s face naturally grew a genuine grin.

The kid did not respond. He just silently looked at the ground.

“Anyways,” Fang said, “I suppose I’ll leave you to it. I don’t exactly know how you two ended up on a team together, but I have a pretty good idea. Goodbye.”

And with that, Fang waved to them and casually stepped on the beam, falling to another one. Vincent didn’t bother to see what Fang was doing after he saw them safely land. He trusted their abilities.

Vincent continued to just watch what was happening below him for a few more minutes. When he grew bored of it, he titled his up and looked at a different view. While there weren't nearly as many people above him, there still were some. Those few who were above him seem to mostly wait, just like him.

“Champion!!!!” the kid cried out.

Bringing him back to reality, Vincent immediately focused on where the kid was. He saw the kid slowly backing up from a pursuing man that was on their beam. This man was tall, bulky, and bald. Vincent stood up and dashed straight for him.

With his head looking back in fear, the kid screamed, “Kick his ass!”

Vincent charged forward, tiptoeing his way naturally around the kid. He now stood in between the assailant and the boy. He then lowered himself into a colder place. Like breathing, his thoughts began to naturally empty.

But as he began to instinctively get ready for a fight, something in him twitched. Something did not feel right. For a second, he felt as though he was going to lose something...although he wasn’t sure what that “something” was.

Confused by the feeling, Vincent stopped his attack. He then hurriedly looked back at the boy, scooped him up, and jumped down to the nearest iron pole. After falling for a few feet, his feet found purchase, although it wasn’t a clean one. The moment his feet hit the floor, he felt his left ankle pop and almost give out.

He dropped the kid and told him, “We’re gonna run, so keep up.”

“Why don’t you just hit him?”

“...”

Vincent hesitated for a second, but started to run and yelled, “Come on!”

Although didn’t follow right away, eventually, the boy ran with Vincent. As they ran, Vincent swung from one bar to another, using that momentum to land on several other bars. As they both weaved through the metal web of a room, they ran into a few more competitors.

It was like stumbling upon a field ravaged by war, but one that was still being bombarded from every angle. As they ran through the battlefield, bodies fell, people ran past, and a couple of beams actually shifted out of place.

With each encounter, they both had to find creative ways to maneuver through. Vincent would sometimes jump ahead and hang off the edge of a beam with one hand. The kid would jump and catch the other hand, and they would both swing themselves to a different location. Other times, Vincent would quickly pick the kid up and throw him up to another beam, and then he would find an alternative way up.

With one encounter, Vincent and the kid had their backs pressed against the wall. A strong-looking woman began to approach them with a wild, yet sad intent behind her eyes. Just as she was about to attack them and Vincent was about to have to make a tough choice, she suddenly stopped.

The woman grabbed at her head and gripped it tight, like she was trying to split it open. She stumbled a bit and eventually wobbled off of the beam. Vincent and the boy just looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and continued onwards.

Eventually, they were both able to find a place where there was no action. Vincent felt a bit out of breath, but not too bad. What was really bothering him was the physical condition of his body. His already broken bones felt as though they were going to snap, his torn muscles were at their limit, and his head could barely tolerate the pain.

He wanted to sit down; he wanted to rest, but he knew that when he did, he wouldn’t be able to get back up. Even though it had been more taxing on him, he knew that he had to keep his energy up in order to protect the kid. As that thought crossed his mind, he realized that he hadn’t seen him in a while. He slowly turned his head to find him.

It didn’t take long, but his eyes came to rest on a kid who was heavily breathing and carefully making their way over to Vincent. He was stumbling a bit, but that was to be expected, seeing as he was not nearly as physically fit as Vincent. And so, Vincent let out a sigh of relief.

Just before his eyes moved away from him, something happened that sent a jolt all the way down his spine. As the boy smiled and made his way towards Vincent, his eyes widened and blood started to drip out of his mouth. As he reached up towards his head, his entire body gave out on him and he limply began to fall off the beam.

With a slight bit of hesitation, Vincent sprang to action and reached for the kid. He barely missed and the kid started to plummet to his death.

This time, with no hesitation, Vincent leaped down after him. He grabbed the kid’s arm with one hand and grabbed the edge of the beam with the other. As he did, the strain carried itself from one arm to the other. The searing, stretching pain made him feel like he was going to see his arms rip off.

They both dangled there for a few seconds, both of their eyes portraying different looks. Vincent’s was one of excruciating pain and unyielding will. The kid’s was one of fear, confusion, pain, and amazement.

Eventually, reality came crashing down into Vincent’s mind—both of his hands were giving out. He felt the muscles give up...both from the damage sustained and from exhaustion. He knew that he had to let go of something. He knew that he wasn’t going to be able to have it both ways.

He looked down at the helpless boy and then back up towards safety. It didn’t take him long to arrive at a conclusion, and some would argue that he didn’t even think about it at all. He let go. He let go of the beam.

As he and the kid began to free fall, tears began to stream upwards. Little drops of water flew out of the kid’s eyes. Those drops of water were filled with thankfulness, regret, and something that he hadn’t felt in years...trust and hope in someone.

Vincent returned those emotions with a simple smile, and in that moment, it was as if all the pain went away. Maybe it was the adrenaline, maybe it was his body’s last reward to him for making a noble decision, or maybe that was just what the final moments of life felt like. No matter the reason, he was grateful.

He embraced the boy, wrapping him like a cloak, protecting him from all outside danger. He turned his body towards the ground in order to protect the kid from the fall.

Those moments in free-fall felt like an eternity, but one that was almost euphoric. There was a sense of peace that washed over Vincent. For some reason, the consequences that he was soon going to face didn’t scare him. In fact, a part of him was looking forward to it. A part of him was glad that his perceived last moments were fulfilling and that they were going to mean something. He was glad that he wasn’t going to waste away to nothing.

Within an instant, It all went black.