After bribing a couple of guards and other people, Vincent and Fang made their way to the Collider. Even though he was left with almost no money from the bribes, Vincent didn’t care—he just wanted to watch Eliot and make sure he was going to be alright. As Fang pointed out, that was a strange sentiment, especially considering that even if Vincent watched something happen to Eliot, there wasn’t much he could do. Whether that didn’t deter Vincent or he just didn’t really process it—either way, he was already seated.

The first thing that Vincent seemed to notice was that Eliot’s fight was already underway, but it didn’t seem that far into it. What was strange is that Eliot was standing still, just looking past the lady he was fighting. At the same time, that lady seemed to be almost just as still; the only difference being that she was slowly moving her hand around his head.

Vincent looked at Fang to see how they were reacting to this confusing situation. Plastered across Fang’s face was a look of surprise, worry, and shock.

“What’s with the face, Fang? Ya see something I’m not seein’?” Vincent asked, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.

Fang jumped a bit, as if they forgot that they were with someone. Their composure returned to a neutral, but still attentive one.

“N-no, I’m just as confused about this as you are,” they replied.

“Oh, I see,” Vincent responded, completely believing them. That being said, Vincent was still a bit worried for Eliot, although he didn’t know why. The unknown has never scared nor deterred him in the past, but there was something else that Vincent could barely sense that made him uneasy.

Before he could even contemplate those feelings, he heard Eliot scream out in pain.

“Get out! GET OUT!” Eliot screamed, although his body still didn’t move.

Snapping immediately to action, Vincent started to make his way out of his seat and into the arena. Before he could move but a few inches, the arm of Fang blocked his way. Vincent shot them a look that screamed What are you doing? As if in response to his look, Fang shot back a look that told Vincent to trust him.

That stalemate continued for a few seconds before Vincent pushed past Fang and continued to quickly make his way towards the still-screaming Eliot. He didn’t make it very far before he heard Eliot scream out another phrase, this one clearer than all the rest. Echoing off of every wall in the Collider, the word Berserkir filled the room.

Turning his attention directly towards Eliot, he saw something that shook him to his very core, while at the same time perplexing his mind. Apparating from Eliot’s body was a familiar wolf-like creature that towered over both fighters.

As it’s claws sunk into the ground and its body flexed and stretched, showcasing the immense amount of muscle on it. The room went dead silent. In that silence, a growl could be heard emanating from the creature. If the sheer picture of the beast didn’t rock you to the core, the low, basslike rumble that came with its growl certainly did.

The lady that was next to Eliot backed up, her body shaking with obvious fear. Barely raising her hands in a defensive manner, her voice squeaked out, “What memory is this?”

The beast then roared out a deafening sound that filled everyone’s ears, whether they covered them or not. This sound couldn’t be called a scream nor a howl, but it was primal nonetheless. The sound was low, gritty, and booming, but on top of that sound, there was another that intermingled with it. Above the low roar, there was almost a piercing scream that accompanied it.

People around Vincent started to faint from the roar, most likely from the sheer amount of fear that it caused them...and yet, not a single person fled. It was as if the presence of the behemoth shocked so much fear into the hearts of everyone that it left them paralyzed in place.

While fear was plastered across the faces of everyone around him, even Fang to a much lesser extent, Vincent felt no fear upon looking at the beast. In fact, tears began to seep out of his eyes. He couldn’t explain it, but instead of fear, his mind was filled with empathy—empathy for someone who was suffering. Honestly, it was a bit of a new experience for him. He could always sympathize with people, no matter what society thought of them, but this was the first time he could feel their feelings.

As soon as the beast finished it’s cry, the lady that was staring it down began to run away from it. She pumped her arms hard and desperately, running as fast as she could in her glamorous attire.

She didn’t even make it a few feet before the creature unhinged its jaws and snapped them around her. The cracking of bones could be heard and within seconds her body was torn to shreds. The beast ragdolled her corpse in its mouth for a few more seconds, much like a dog playing with its new toy, while the gasoline that dripped from its mouth went all over the floor of the arena.

It was at this time that screams could be heard popping up all over the seats of the Collider. People, now out of their frozen fear, began to flee and run for the exits. There was mass hysteria and pandemonium in the arena. It was a mad dash for a way out, and people trampled over each other with little regard.

Unlike everyone around him, Vincent quickly made a run towards the fighting pit, towards the beast and Eliot. He didn’t understand what was going, how that creature was there, or what was going on before, but his instincts told him to go to Eliot. Although he didn't know it, his instincts weren’t the only thing pointing him in Eliot’s direction. A throbbing pain in his head also pointed directly at Eliot.

At the same time that Vincent was making his way towards Eliot, the beast stopped flinging the woman’s body and turned its attention to the noise that was coming from the stands. It dropped the corpse and made a full dash towards the walls. As it collided with one of the walls, it began to slash at them, leaving huge gashes and marks.

As it did, gunshots started to ring out. Bullets from guards and other people started to hit and impact the creature, but that didn’t slow it down. If anything, they only made it angrier.

In time, Vincent made it to the edge of the stands and jumped down into the pit. There was not a moment of hesitation to his movements, just like always. With outstanding speed, he made it to Eliot, who was still standing still in the middle of the arena.

The first that he noticed about Eliot was that he was looking straight at the ground. Every muscle in his body was flexed to its fullest, so much so that veins crawled throughout his body, even snaking their way up to his face. Shown all throughout his face was nothing but pure rage. His teeth were clenched, his eyes burning, and his neck muscles flared out.

“El, man, come on! Snap out of it!” Vincent forcibly said, grabbing Eliot by the shoulders.

As soon as he did this, unknown to him, the berserking beast snapped its attention from the stands, directly towards him.

“We gotta go, dude, it’s dangerous!” Vincent pleaded. Still, there was no response from Eliot.

Fed it up with not getting anything from him, Vincent began to pull Eliot’s arms to get him away from all of this. This was met with surprising resistance. Eliot’s whole body fought against Vincent, keeping him in place.

At the same time, Eliot’s head turned up in Vincent’s direction. However, instead of looking at him, Eliot’s eyes seemed to look past Vincent. It was like his mind wasn’t there, but rather, it was somewhere far away.

The beast then began to sprint towards Vincent.

“What’s up with you, El? What’s going on?”

The beast was now halfway there.

“Fuck this,” Vincent irritatingly said. He then wound his hand back, hesitating for just a second, and then slapped Eliot on the cheek as hard as he could. “Eliot!”

The beast leaped into the air, its mouth now open and prepared to snap Vincent in two.

Eliot then blinked and his eyes focused on Vincent. Tears immediately filled them and they poured all the way down his face. He then wrapped his arms around Vincent and whispered “Vince…”

Just as the beast’s jaws began to snap shut, it quickly faded out of existence.

Vincent hugged him back, pulled away after a few seconds, looked him in the still wet eyes, and asked, “Are you alright? The hell happened?”

Still crying and sobbing, Eliot croaked out, “I did it.”

“Yeah, I mean, yeah you won the—”

“No!” Eliot yelled, pushing himself away from Vincent. He then shakily grabbed the top of his head and screamed out a bit. He began to shake and rock. “I remember. I remember. I remember,” he continued to repeat as his eyes darted around the ground.

Vincent was taken aback by what he was witnessing. He didn’t know how to respond—he just stood there, looking at Eliot, confused and torn with emotions.

Finally, he spoke up and asked, “What did you remember?”

Suddenly, Eliot stopped all he was doing and looked Vincent directly in the eyes, all the way down to the deepest part of his soul, and replied, “I killed him.”