Foxtail looked down at Maribelle, her soggy form limp, the side of her head bleeding but not caved into. She looked at the rest of the crowd and their bated breath.

“Splash. Splash Splash. Splash.” Maribelle’s body convulsed before the whites in her eyes rotated and stared back at Foxtail. The terror she was acquainted with in the beginning of their fight was gone, replaced with a manic fury, her contorted body scuttling away from Foxtail in all fours. She shot up, standing to face Foxtail in a mangled way.

“You think you can just MOVE on from your fears like nothing?” Maribelle yelled out, pulling the sides of her hair with knotted fists. “You don’t GET it. It’s constant and oppressive and lingers and binds and keeps me from breathing, US from breathing.” She wasn’t making any sense, an incoherent rambles as her knotted fists slammed into the side of her skull with an unsettling squelch, spurts of blood trailing from fist to arm to floor. Maribelle’s contortionist efforts took a sudden stop, a wave of clarity washing across her eyes. “I know we are alike, I can feel it. I can FEEL it. All you need is a push, a nudge, a thrust towards understanding my submission to fear. And then we won’t be so alone.” Maribelle plopped to her knees and looked up at the crowd, spreading her arms out in a religious manner before jabbing her fingers into her head. Foxtail was transfixed by the insanity, watching Maribelle reach into her forehead and split the side of her face, her whole head, open. Her eyes shifted in terror as smokey water poured out of the gap, pooling in front of her in an unnatural way. The water coagulated and shifted, a creature taking form in the arena that drained the blood from Foxtail.

“GrhGrhGrhGrwooo!” The gelatinous creature defined its details, its size about that of a patrol vehicle.

Time stood still for Foxtail. The howl that echoed through the arena bored into her bones, a familiar yell and cackle, muscles tearing themselves apart with the exposing of layers upon layers of teeth. Its back had the handles of small blades fashioned in the Outskirts firmly planted, visual markers of victims to have suffered from the emaciated beast, from her Fox. Fox shook its body like a dog shakes of rain clinging to fur and skin, tongue lolling in front of it with its network of red and murky yellow eyes fixed squarely on Foxtail.

Fox! Fox! Fox! Fox! Her echoes looked in incredulity at the Fox, their voices in unison and their tones full of fear. Foxtail stared at the vulnerable Maribelle, at her weapon, and at the beast from her past, before her mind became clouded and her legs sprung forward.

——————————————————————————————————————

Foreigner watched as Foxtail ran towards the sinewy monstrosity, its muscles ripping apart and reattaching as it prepared for combat. His fists were tightly held, knuckles white with nails digging into his palms.

Mr. Brigg laughed, “Ya girl’s as good as dead, No-Name. Might as well stick around for the carnage.” Foreigner turned around to Briggs with a face of disgust, causing Briggs to laugh louder and harder, his gut jiggling about with every exhale. They weren’t prepared for something like this. Foreigner was skeptical of his utility from up here but now, he was left paralyzed and furious. And he hated to admit that Mr. Briggs was right; he did need to wait and watch from where they were. There wasn’t anything he could do except go down into the arena and interrupt the fight but by then their contract would be nulled and all that Foxtail had worked towards would be for nought.

“You’re fucking heartless.” Foreigner stated through grit teeth before taking his seat again, arms crossed, staring intently at the arena for whatever opening he could acquire. He was not going to sit on the sidelines if he could seize a moment.

——————————————————————————————————————-

Foxtail drowned out the crowd, mind clouded with panic and fury, and focused on her feet hitting the pavement. Pit pat pit pat. Each stretch of her leg moved her one step closer to Fox, one step closer to the past that she had ran away from.

“MIna…mInA…MINA!” Fox whooped, its body convulsing as the garbled wetness of the creatures howl mixed with the texture of Williams voice, each call to the name she left in the Outskirts stabbing at her heart like daggers.

“You’re not real!” Foxtail yelled, swinging her electrified baton with all her might at the leg of Fox. The flesh beneath the skin shifted about like worms writhing away from danger, her attack leaving nothing but a faint scorch mark on the impact. All the sounds came flooding back as she looked at the creature, the real Fox standing in front of her, and yelled.

“Stooooood grounnnnnd… Foughttttt harderrrrrr…” Fox hissed, its mouth stretching into a serrated smile. Foxtail felt an impact on her stomach, Fox lashing at her with its tongue like a whip, sending her flying towards the other end of the arena.

“Blrgh!” She reeled over and vomited wet bile and blood.

Pit. Pat. Pit. Pat. Fox approached her with a slow and measured pace, claws gently scraping the pavement beneath. Foxtail looked around her for her echoes and saw the lot of them had disappeared. Those that remained sat idly at the edges of the arena, paralyzed by fear, unable to move, to think, to escape. She looked back at the creature and saw a section on Fox’s head writhe, skin coagulating in the corner like a tumor to reveal Maribelle, formed of red flesh.

“I feel like I know SO much about you, Mi- I mean Foxtail. Oh the HOPES you have and this-this fear that’s taken it all away… but you won’t have to be alone anymore!” Maribelle’s head depresses back into Fox’s body before emerging at the tip of its tongue, slithering in the air like a snake. “You can be one of my friends now and never have to worry about being afraid. About being disappointed. About being-”

“You don’t know me, you fucking psychopath! I survived! I survived for them!” Foxtail responded, rage fueling her final reckless attack. She closed the distance and stabbed her baton into the creature, hoping the weapon would reach beneath the bundled hide of the monster before her. She activated the baton and watched it arc electricity through the wound, the weapon firmly planted on the creature, and waited.

“GrhGrhGrh!” Fox laughed, its snout unfurling to reveal rows upon rows of teeth, angling its body at Foxtails kneeled and defeated form. Foxtail watched what echoes remained at the edges of the arena crowd around her before blankly staring into the maw that took everything from her. And then darkness.

——————————————————————————————————————-

Foreigner only hears the sound of Mr. Brigg’s laughter, his stomach folds slapping against the rest of his body like gunfire going off in his lungs. Just as the impulse to grab the fat sadist by the neck triggers, he watches the sinewy beast dart backward from where Foxtail once was. The creature positions itself just in front of the kneeling girl before melting into liquid, nothing but a pool of black water remaining.

“Oh boy, there’s always something more with these fucking monsters.” Mr. Briggs sighs. Foreigner hears Briggs lift himself and walk over to the edge of their balcony styled room, taking notice of the opaque ball floating in the arena from where Foxtail once stood. He pays attention to the caution her opponent takes in observing the ball, multiple eye stalks peeking out from the water in anticipation of something.

He feels a heavy hand press on his back, “Hey, you listenin’? Whatever your girl’s been put through, it makes you think what’s gonna come out the other side of all that trauma.” Mr. Briggs was baiting conversation but gave Foreigner the last bit of information he needed.

“Rosko, follow me. Now.” Foreigner gave him a curt command before running out of the room. One final glance at Mr. Briggs told him he already expected to win the match, regardless of the circumstances of the opaque ball in the arena. Waiting at the base of the stairs, he watched Rosko frantically run down.

“What was all dat ‘bout followin’ you down here?” Rosko asked, catching his breath.

“I need you to lead me as close to the arena as possible. As close as I can get to the contestants without actually entering the arena.” Foreigner asked in an even tone. Rosko’s eyes widened.

“Are you kiddin’ me? That kinda help can cost me dis job! No, I can help ya however else ya need me to, but I ain’t riskin’ my hide for dat.” Rosko crossed his arms and held as firmly as a weasel could. Foreigner glared at him.

“Rosko, you’re going to help me find my way into the arena or I’m going to get violent with you.” Foreigner replied with steely gravitas that shook Rosko’s flimsy resolve. But even a weasel can hold firm more than once.

“I-I said no. I appreciate our limited acquaintanceship but I’ve gotta serve numero uno here.”

“Will it be the left or the right then?”

“What? No, you ain’t scarin’ me with a question like dat. You’ve got some nerve to threaten someone in-”

“Ah, dealers choice then. How fitting.” Foreigner rammed his weapon into Rosko’s left foot, his hand covering his mouth with the same motion. Rosko yelped out in pain, restrained by Foreigners grip. “Now, you’re going to tell me where to go or I’m traveling up your body. We both don’t want to end things like this so just make it easier for the both of us and get moving. If it helps, you’ve got plausible deniability with that big toe gone, right?” He laughed while looking into Rosko’s panicked eyes. He didn’t have time to play around like this. He needed to get as close to the arena as possible.

Foreigner let go of Rosko and waited. Rosko looked around quaking in his boots, looked back at Foreigner, and yelped as Foreigner lurched forward.

“I’ll do it! I’ll do it, just don’t hurt me again.” Rosko quivered, taking steps gingerly with his left foot as he led Foreigner where he needed to go.

——————————————————————————————————————-

Foxtail opens her eyes to find herself in a sea of darkness, small glimmering lights in the distance. Not lights. Echoes. Echoes making the slow trek to surround her with white flowers in hand, their fear so palpable, their forms seem to flicker with every movement forward.

You can’t go out there. Out there. There. From behind, she sees an amalgamation of herself, a pale wraith clad in white flowers, cradling echoes in her arms like mothers do with babies. You should just stop. Just stop. Stop. The voice carried many smaller voices but the main one was her own, strong and resolute.

“I can’t stop… Peepers still needs my help…” Foxtail tightened her fists into balls as her body quaked in fear. “I just, I don’t want to be a bad person…”

Bad? You tried… but it wasn’t enough. Not enough. The wraith beckoned the little echoes to come closer, to come faster, and lay down their flowers in a circle around Foxtail. You’re not useless… you just have enough strength to save yourself. Save yourself. Yourself.

“But I know that’s not true! I’ve been helping Foreigner up until now. And I’ve been keeping Peepers safe since we met, even after Roxy left us behind. I don’t want to be selfish anymore.”

But that’s what you want to believe, dear Mina. Mina. You helped Foreigner because Peepers forced you to. Forced. If he didn’t save him, he would be the same as all the others you’ve led to die. Led to die. The wraith whisked itself closer to Foxtail, its face gaunt and serene with all of her facial features. If survival is selfishness, what is one more selfish decision… Peepers doesn’t need you. Doesn’t need you… You need Peepers. You want to be a hero, but you lived by failing to be a hero then… Just give up. Give up. Give in. In.

Foxtail felt all her resolve shake away. The anger she held, the manic fury to find and helped Peepers had disappeared after being faced with that… thing. There was only the gnawing cowardice that lingered in her heart, and the call to the easy way out tempting her at every step.

I know you don’t want to go back out there. Back out there. It’s so hard to live out there, in fear of everyday life. It’s so much easier if you just… let yourself give in. Drift and avoid struggle. Avoid struggle. Leave it all behind. All behind. Behind. The wraith reached out a hand with a white rose, thorns digging into the skin yet drawing no blood. A malaise washed over her, the will to fight waning as the comfort of her little echoes eased her mind and dulled the ache in her muscles. It would be easier to surrender. Peepers still had Foreigner, and she was pretty sure he could figure something out. He was older than both of them, it should be his responsibility to handle anyway.

Foxtail!

And given the circumstances, she really did give it her all. The thought of having to face the Fox again… it would just be too painful.

Foxtail!

I’m sure the both of them would understand? Maybe put two and two together? I’m sure Peepers would. He was the only one that cared enough to listen to her stories about the Outskirts.

FOXTAIL!

Her world shuddered for a moment, the darkness that had surrounded her becoming invaded by a cavalcade of lights. A tessellated window full of every color in the rainbow, a treat only Peepers had been able to provide her, gave her a view around the arena she was in. She could see that the Fox was gone, replaced by a puddle of eye stalks staring intently at her.

Don’t look, Mina. It’ll only hurt to care. Hurt to care. Foxtail disregarded the statement, peering more intently into the sliver of light. She scanned the surroundings further to see a glimmer from beyond her entrance.

Foreigner. Foreigner stood there with Rosko, flailing his arms around to get her attention.

“Foxtail! I hope you can hear me,” Foreigner looked at Rosko with an intensity and shoved him away, his eyes pegged squarely at her, “From what little I know about you, all I can say is that you’re a fighter. There’s a lot you’ve gone through and I won’t pretend to relate. It’s not my place. But I put my faith in you then and I’ll place that faith in you now.”

Foxtail felt something well up inside of her heart, something warm growing and overtaking her.

“I know you’ve got something up your sleeve to turn all of this around. What are you waiting for? Show ‘em what kind of fighter you are.” Foreigner took a seat at the gates and waited for her response.

He doesn’t know the fear you feel, Mina. His words are hollow and empty. Empty. He just wants to use you to-

“What would he want to use me for? His fight’s his own. He could have left Peepers behind just like I could but he followed along to help me!” The warm feeling inside of her chest grew even warmer, crawling from her chest out to her arms and up her neck. “It’s only been him and Peepers that have believed that I could do something. That I could be better than the mistakes I’ve made in my past, seen me without judgment and scrutiny. If they can see that kind of growth, then I have to grow, if not for them than for myself!” The darkness around her began to recede, the sliver of light expanding in an array of rainbow hues that shined over her echoes and the pale wraith. “I can’t live in fear of my past. Peepers doesn’t. Foreigner’s been facing his past since he woke up. No, I have the strength to face my past and I’ll grow strong enough to protect the things I care about now and in the future.

And what if you fail? What if fear holds you back? The wraith was diminutive now in the light, no bigger than the echoes she once carried. Foxtail lifted the small wraith and placed her on her shoulder.

“Failure is expected. We can’t grow if we don’t learn from our mistakes, and we can’t expect to grow beyond all of our failures all at once.” The lingering darkness faded into nothing, leaving nothing but shimmering rainbow glass around her, drowning her in pleasant colors and hues. “As for fear, it will always hold me back. It’s necessary to feel afraid. What I want to define myself by is how I act in the midst of terror.” She balled her hand into a fist and walked forward to face her fears and end her battle.

——————————————————————————————————————-

Foreigner watched with the rest of the crowd as the opaque ball began to shimmer with a myriad of colors. The eye stalks observing the scene recoiled at the light and dropped into the water, the form of the sinewy beast taking shape once again.

With another crack of light and a pop, the ball broke and out emerged Foxtail. Foxtail in strange regalia. From his view, he could see a billowing gray white cape composed of tiny hands flowing outward, a visor like a knight wrapped in a white rose wreath, and a shimmering rainbow colored rapier made of glass, the blade protruding small thorns with the hilt being a rose bud.

“For my next trick, I’ll make this monster disappear.” Foxtail affirmed, swinging her weapon in a readied stance.