Please do not vote on the poll until after Shadowkirby submits his battle, I'd rather not have to delete this. Shadowkirby, I don't mind if you need another week or something, I'm just posting this because I feel like it's got all my characters on lock-down, hope to hear from you soon.

CnC is always greatly appreciated.

Hollywood VS Bloody Nina: August Parallel

at 4 in the morning only to get to work and be told someone jacked up the schedule. Six guys were already at the Between the Trees Diner when I stumbled in with a yawn at five to five, and being the last one there, I was the one sent home and told to come in Sunday instead. It really was a pain to keep the F-bomb out of my “Are you kidding me?” to management.

Seeing how I start the day with a hot shower, it was already too late to catch up on sleep and way too early to either pick up my dog from the vet or my brother from his sleepover. Maybe that wasn’t half bad though, I had to take out a loan to get Sparky his surgery, so now would be a good time to slip over the wRHG to pay it back. My gladiator gear was in the trunk anyway.

Stabbing the key into the ignition, I pulled out of the work lot and made my way to the highway, turning up my stereo as it played the new Pop Evil album. A long drive let it play through twice, and I was really starting to like Divide for a theme song. Maybe it was a little team oriented, but even if I did go that route, it’s how I felt about my brother and friends.

The chorus was still playing in my head when I finally pulled into the wRHG lot. It was massive, but fairly bare. Then again though, it was only about 7:50 on a monday morning. I found a spot close to the front door before taking down my back seat, throwing on my masks from the trunk and swapping out of my work clothes. Don’t get me wrong, I think the camo pants, black shirt is something sick to get to wear to work, but I really didn’t want anyone there to pick up that there was a gladiator who practically wore the same thing. That, and the diner’s logo’s actually on the shirt. Kinda dead give away. Tossing my sash of darts over my shoulder and securing my blow guns to my pants, I finally left the lot, pushing through the front doors.

Just a couple people were chatting in the lobby, no one I really recognized but I accidently stared a bit at the man with the burn mark on his face. Not because it scarred long dead skin, but because it was more of a shape arching over, and then traveling under his eyes. He took it well though, giving me an exuberant wave and giant toothy smile to which I replied with a nod before peeling my gaze away from him. He was a little too happy to be in a place of death.

“Bit of an odd ball, eh?”

“Huh?” My attention shifted towards the man behind the front desk, his black hair combed back neatly, not counting the shaved chunk missing at the side. “Yeah, maybe a little. What happened there though?”

“Just something Dale thought would be funny,” The man chuckled, pressing a few buttons on his keyboard, “And even though it was to most people, I’ve still got to kill him for it!” Considering where I was, I wasn’t entirely sure how to take that… “But anyway, how can I help you?”

“Just wondering if there were any matches available,” I shrugged, finally making it to the counter.

“You can probably challenge ol’ August over there. Just got out of the hospital after falling off the grid in a haunted house.”

Haunted house? Long standing rumor was that everyone is this organization was possessed. Or, at least that’s what Leo told me before he left last night. Apparently he lost nights of sleep because of some Kyra chick. Having no intention of fighting with someone who may or may not have brought a ghost back with him, I shrugged. “Got anyone else?”

“Giles Smiles Miles?”

“He sounds like a teddy bear.”

“Well he’s dressed like one.”

The receptionist and I held a long stare before we both just started dying. “Got anyone I can compete against without looking like a child hating devil?”

“How dangerous of a fight you looking for?” He questioned, his laughter quieting down with mine as he checked his computer. I could hear the mouse wheel as he scrolled. “I’ve got a demon in the area if that works.”

“Which it doesn’t.” We were suddenly both dead serious, only he was a little confused as well.

“Huh, most hero types would’ve jumped at that.”

“Well I don’t have a death wish,” I stated, crossing my arms, “I just don’t want to die, and I don’t want to be the bad guy here.”

“Picky much?” Then irritated, the man’s hands found themselves on his hips, “Then I might not have anything for you.”

“Then call me when you do.” I saw his eyes roll when I turned to leave, but I heard him speak up after I had taken at least five steps to the door.

“Alright, wait, I think I’ve got something for ya.”

Not even looking back, I just rose my voice. “What?”

“There’s a girl, Nina Candlewish.”

Offended, I faced him again, eyes narrowed. “You want me to fight some girl, after I just told you I didn’t want to be the bad guy? What the hell type of man fights a woman?”

“Not fight,” The man assured me, speaking slow as he reached out his open palms as if to signal me to calm down, “Just find. She’s a witness to countless unspeakable crimes. That’s it, okay?”

Sighing heavily, I shook my head for a few seconds before finally agreeing. “Alright, fine. Tell me what I need to know.”

“Rumor has it she’s looking for something out in the woods,” He informed me, relaxing his shoulders as his hands went back to his keyboard. “You might have some luck if you checked out Demon’s Den. I’d bet money that’s where she’s heading.”

I stared blankly at the man. Demon’s Den was practically an urban legend. Supposubly, it was populated by some cult trying to attain immortality through the blood of demons, if you believe in that sort of thing. People went missing, apparently their bodies used as sacrifices and their blood to paint symbols on the ground and walls. They chanted and prayed in the night, but then one fateful day something came and killed them all. Myth is that it was a demon that they had summoned, but the rest of us think it was the children’s parents, or the people the parents hired that came under the black sky to end them. Regardless though, it was a bloody slaughter. I think the count was fourteen bodies, including the ten cultists. The other four were the missing kids, but they were long dead.

“Okay,” I finally decided, “Demon’s Den it is then.”

“What demon?” All eyes drifted to August as the man he was with tried ushering him away from the new conversation. He didn’t pick up on the gesture though, and something about the way he asked made me think he didn’t even know what a demon was.

“It’s basically a human like monster from hell,” I shrugged, trying not to think about it too much, “There might not even be one though.”

“Oh,” August held the word for about five seconds before finally letting it go, “August come!”

“That’s really not-” I cut my sentence off suddenly as I reconsidered what I was about to say. My eyes drifted as Aug’s plus one motioned for me to continue. “Actually,” The man buried his face in his palm, “I wouldn’t mind having a hand, sure, why not?”

“Before you two head out though,” The receptionist jumped in, fishing for something under the counter, “Make sure you throw on a few cameras, we can’t air anything without footage, and we can’t pay you unless we get paid!” Seemed fair enough. I shrugged as he pulled out a couple bags and caught them as he threw them. The cameras were clear aside from the black lense and about the size of a dime. Each had a sheet of paper on the back, which, I assumed was because they were sticky, and they didn’t want that to run out. “Just make sure you put one on your head, upper body, back, and depending on what you fight with, fist or weapons.” Back? Fun. At least now I had someone to watch it for me though.

“Yeah okay,” I nodded, motioning for August to join me, “See ya in a bit.”

Don’t you just hate it when the first thing you discover about someone is really weird? Well we didn’t even make it to the door before I found out smile and scars was a hand holder. Now, it would be different if he was a girl or child, but it looked like he had a year or two on me and I was technically an adult. Worst part was that he had a strong grip, so I couldn’t just slip my hand out. Felt like an idiot as he waved to the people walking up to the building we were departing. It was bad too! He was giving me an innocent ignorant vibe, but with freaking interlocking fingers I’m pretty sure all the passer-bys got a gay one from us.

“Okay Aug, we’re at my car. You have to let go now.”

He cast me a massive kind smile as he finally let go. “Okay. August take back when stop!”

“Fantastic.” In that very moment I discovered he had absolutely no idea what sarcasm was. I brought my palm to my face at high speeds before unlocking the doors. Taking my seat in the driver's seat, I motioned for August to get in the passenger’s. I would’ve sent him to the back, but seeing how he’d been doing this longer than I have, I had questions to ask.

My radio started as soon as I twisted the key, and I instantly picked track five.

Separation, discon-
“What se-pra-tin mean?”
“Break up.”
t up, it's a cash cow-
“Cash money?”
“Mhm.”
“Cow food. Why money one?”
“It’s an expression, it’s not literal.”
-the medicine
Walk around with no real voices
Dissolution w-
“W-”
“I don’t know that one either.”
-to begin but division withi-
“Divisin?”
“Separation.”
“What that again?”
I groaned as I gave up on my theme song, shutting the stereo off as I repeated myself. “When you break something up. Put parts of a whole in multiple places, or just use some.”
“But hole no space. No work.”
“What?” I gave him a quick blank glance, not having time for the stare on the road, “Just forget it.”
“Okay!”

I was shocked the following silence actually lasted as long as it did. Maybe fifteen minutes passed before I slowly remembered I had questions for my passenger partner.

“Hey Aug,” I inquired, passing my gaze for a quick moment, “How long have you been a wRHG?”

“Long time,” He eagerly replied, looking at his fingers as he rapidly extended them, “This many fights!”

...He couldn’t count to four? Forget it, I give up. “Ah.” We drove in silence from there on out. Demon’s Den was in the forest a little over an hour drive away, so with the hike to get there, maybe it’d latch on another forty-five minutes. If memory served right, it should be under the roots of the great oak, towering high over the other trees. Yeah, it was going to be a long day.

The bright sun was shining down on us when we finally made it to the forest, pulling to into a rest stop just off the highway. Adjusting my mask, I stuck the cameras where the receptionist had instructed, and after August had as well, I motioned for him to get out. Not giving him the chance to hold my hand again, I weld my weapons at my side while he rolled his metal backpack on his shoulders. Not counting whatever was in there, it looked like he fought with the shields on the back, both holding each other together around the rims.

“Ever heard of this Nina girl,” I eventually asked, leading the way to the trees, steadily growing thicker as we advanced, “What sort of crimes are we dealing with here?”

“No know,” My friend shrugged, looking down and taking note that my hands were full. “Guardian Wright no say.”

“Does he work for wRHG?” I inquired, averting my eyes upwards as I scanned for the massive landmark, “Or do you just work for him?”

“August work him,” He nodded, smiling as I felt a warmth gently constrict on my wrist. Someone can’t take a hint.

“Hey, stupid question,” I took a moment to step over a log, “But why do you keep grabbing me?” It took a second, but I blinked heavily at my wording. Half of me was glad Jack wasn’t around to point out my word choice.

“You warm. August like!”

I guess it did technically make sense, it was getting cold out but that didn’t make it any less uncomfortable on my end. We moved in silence again for a while, but just so I knew what to expect I opened my mouth again. “Hey Aug?”

“Hm?” His jubilant eyes locked on mine as he tilted his neck.

“Just to be clear, hand holding is all you know when it comes to social contact, right?”

“August fight,” The scarred man casually replied, looking back forward, “Learn kiss at gho-”

My eyes suddenly popped open. “Okay!” I exclaimed, slightly too loud, “Just so you know, kisses are off limits to all strangers.”

“Who you?”

“Hollywood.”

“Now August kiss Hollywood?”

I stopped dead in my tracks as if the question was liquid nitrogen landmine. “No.”

“Why? Kiss bad?”

Shaking my head violently of all the weird visuals flashing in my mind, I jogged back up to the man before he started tugging on my arm. “Kisses are intimate.”

“What mean?”

“Can we not have this conversation?” My eyes were somewhat pleading as they looked back to Aug, “Just know that we are not intimate.”

He looked at me with all the genuine curiosity and confusion of a puppy you just pulled back from a dead squirrel. “Why not?”

“Dude!” Not gonna lie, my voice cracked right there, “Any other conversation!”

Thoughtfully, he put his free hand on his chin as his emerald eyes gazed up at the clear sky. “Hollywood want food?”

It took a moment, but I was quickly able to trail his look to a few birds flying overhead. “You about to kill one if I say yes?”

“Yep!”

“Nope.”

“Aww.”

I rolled my eyes, but briefly after that I managed to make a sane conversation out of it. Apparently birds are among August’s favorite foods, second only to berries. Never met his folks, but he still turned out alright despite living in the woods on his own. The guy almost made it his entire life without much social contact, but then something happened that changed all that. He didn’t really talk about it much, claiming to have forgotten, but seeing as he told me that’s where he got his burns from, I doubted as much. The memories didn’t make him shake, worry or freak out, but for whatever reason he stuck with his ‘no know’. It did however, look like he legitimately forgot something though. Maybe what he was supposed to say? I don’t know, and I still didn’t know by the time we got to the great oak.

“Guess we’re here,” I shrugged, kicking one of the exposed roots next to the trunk before my eyes fell to the forest floor, “We should be on top of the place, I think there’s supposed to be a latch or something just under the dirt.” Gradually, I tilted my foot, sinking the side under the earth before sweeping it away like a broom. Just more ground underneath, but I never really thought I was that lucky to begin with. Across from me, Aug squatted down, using his hands to claw at it until something just barely to his left caught his eye.

“August see!”

“Already?” Perplexed, I left my spot, pacing over to where my friend was now standing back up. Indicating a point on the ground, I followed his finger. “Huh. Guess Nina beat us here.” Motioning him behind me, I walked over to what appeared to be a wooden floorboard, the dirt dusted off the top, and creaked the latch open. The most I could see were a few stairs leading to the darkness, waiting for us down below. “Well that’s fun.”

“Why fun?”

“Someone really needs to teach you sarcasm, Aug.”

“What sar-ca-sim?”

“Just not me.” Taking lead, I whipped out my phone, adjusting the settings quickly. I wasn’t exactly walking into this prepared, and it was really the only light source I had. Changing the ‘Dim’ to ‘Always Bright’, I rehooked one of my blowguns on my belt loops, choosing instead to solidify my grip on my flashlight substitute rather than risk dropping it and walking blind from there on out. I couldn’t see more than th