“Fuck, you little shit,” Brow stared at him in disbelief, “You weren’t being serious?”

“Not really,” Jonas appeared modest, “Well, I do want you to be nicer to me,” for a moment, Brow considered throwing caution to the wind and ridding himself of that teenage pain-in-the-ass.

“Would you please stop picking fights you can’t win,” he changed the subject, for if he couldn’t win a battle of words, he would at least admonish Jonas for being an idiot.

“Sure thing,” said Jonas while smiling, “I’ll be more careful from now on,” but Brow's instincts told him that the little troublemaker was lying.

“Since you're all healed, go back to your cage,” said Brow, “Slaves,” he corrected himself, “I mean, non-top-five fighters aren’t supposed to use the infirmary,” and his lanky figure disappeared from view before Jonas could annoy him any further.

“I'm glad he’s finally gone,” said Jonas while he gave Ahmed a grateful smile, “Thanks for helping me.”

“Don’t mention it,” said Ahmed, “I don’t know if my threat to Wolf will work anymore, that man fears solitude, but every person has a breaking point where they'd rather face their fears than continue being pushed and pressured. Don’t put yourself in that situation again, because next time he might become impatient and just finish you off.”

“Yeah, I screwed up, big time,” Jonas admitted, “I tried to be something I’m not.”

“Getting all worked up and trying to fight with rage might work for me,” said Ahmed, “But it won’t do anything for a guy whose best trait is his arrogance and his ability to win while staying calm and confident."

“It’s hard not to get angry when you're watching your friend being tortured right before your eyes.”

“Oh, you don’t have to tell me,” said Ahmed wisely, “I know exactly how you felt,” realizing what he met, Jonas began feeling guilty because he had watched Ralph get hurt, just as Ahmed had watched Jonas.

“Wolf has to die,” said Jonas, "It's non-negotiable. We can't just keep waiting around for him to take us out."

“He does need to die,” Ahmed nodded his head, “Now you can see why I’m not confident in beating him,” his words forced Jonas to recall how he had been manhandled by Wolf.

“Yeah, he’s a tough bastard,” said Jonas, “But I think I could give him a run for his money, maybe within a few weeks.”

“You’ll need a bit longer than that,” Ahmed rolled his eyes, “We’re talking about a top-five fighter that just beat you to within an inch of your life, you were like a toddler fighting him.”

“That's true,” Jonas readily agreed, “However, I don't know if he's any faster, or stronger than you. I think he's adding more Sin to his attack, and his follow-through is impeccable, it lets him transition to his next attack before I could even think of countering.”

“I know that,” said Ahmed, “I’ve sparred with him before, it’s almost impossible to counterattack that man. His martial arts have reached a peak, and his talent for Sin is top-three. The only reason he can't beat me so easily is because of my speed, ability to dodge, and my knack for finding weaknesses. If push comes to shove, I think I could at least fight him to a standstill," Jonas nodded his head, but he secretly knew that Ahmed wasn't Wolf's match. He didn't know how long ago they had sparred, but Wolf must have made a ton of progress since then."

"What did you mean when you said that Wolf was scared of being alone?" It had seemed a strange thing for Ahmed to say.

"I remember when he arrived at the Hurts gang, years ago. I introduced myself, and he told me his code name was Wolf. I understood it was an army reference, but I wasn't going to judge. Not only that, but I could tell he had a fire in his belly, that he was like myself, a military man scorned. He was an alright guy, never really picked on anyone, and kept to himself. However, once he discovered Sin, everything began to change."

"What do you mean?" Jonas asked, but he already knew the answer.

"He started recruiting followers, forming his little gang. Soon after his Sin Scars appeared, he trained himself in the way of Sin, and eventually, he killed his way into the top-five."

"Sin changes people," Jonas wasn't referring to himself. "I know how intoxicating that power can be. It amplifies the bad inside yourself."

"Agreed," Ahmed nodded.

"That still doesn't answer why he's afraid of being alone."

"I've seen men like Wolf. The quiet ones who obtain power and look for followers to validate their new abilities. His followers are important to him, it's why I think that losing Ralph disturbed him more than he lets on. Perhaps, it wasn't a trap at all, but a spur-of-the-moment decision that made Wolf decide to torture Ralph. Your near-death experience was inconsequential, it wasn't part of the plan."

“I guess I see," Jonas looked down at his feet, "I've never really been alone for long. I've always had my brother. Even when I got to Hell, I've always been with someone, good or bad."

"Solitude is shitty," Ahmed's black eyes glimmered, "I spent years becoming one with it. I believed that it no longer disturbed me, that was until I became close with you. Then, I realized how dark I had become, and what the loneliness had done to my heart. Wolf doesn't need to talk about his fear of loneliness, I know it's there."

"I believe you," Jonas felt himself go numb and quiet. "Did you mean what you just said, that growing close to me had changed you?"

"I did," Ahmed gave a warm smile, "I started to remember what it was like to have a friend, to have a family. Wolf probably feels the same way as I do, the only difference is that I have control over my homicidal tendencies, while he's controlled by his," Jonas turned his head and stared at the wall, he was fighting strange emotions that had suddenly erupted in his chest. It was like a choking feeling filled his throat and made his eyes want to water. However, he was in Hell and couldn't afford to cry, if anyone saw him get that emotional, he'd never be respected, ever again. With a deep breath, he swallowed down his emotions and turned his head to face Ahmed.

"Thank you. That means a lot, coming from you. I don't know what I'd have done with you, Simon, or Johnson. I'd probably go crazy in this place."

"Just remember that if the denizens of Hell can't kill you, solitude will," Ahmed stuck out a calloused hand, and Jonas shook it. There was a ton of respect and admiration between the two, and it seemed that their bond could only grow stronger.

"Let's head out, you need to get back to your cage before Brow comes back to chew your ear off. I'll walk you there."

"What about Ralph?" Jonas looked over at the giant and saw that he was breathing fine, and had been bandaged up. However, the gurney he slept on seemed to be on its last legs while trying to hold up his weight.

"Don't worry about him, he'll be safe in here. It was Brow's idea to bring him, it's his responsibility to kick him out when he wakes up," and both of them chuckled as they left the infirmary and headed their separate ways. When Jonas entered the slave room, it wasn't Brow that chewed his ear off, it was his two angry friends.

“Mother fucker!” They both swore and screamed at Jonas as he entered the slave room, they began bombarding him with questions.

“What happened?”

“Someone said you were dead?”

“Did you fight Wolf?”

“Relax,” Ahmed interrupted their barrage, and he looked extremely out of place. “It’s been a while since I’ve been in here,” he stared reminiscently at an empty cage in the corner of the room, “We all started as dummy slaves.”

“Yes, I fought Wolf,” Jonas said to the two eager slaves whose faces were pressed so hard through the bars, they started to leave indents in their skin. “No, I didn’t die, I almost died.”

"I'm leaving," Ahmed waved a hand and began walking away, "I don't need a recap," Jonas smiled at his retreating figure, and then was forced to relive the entire ordeal. They were a good audience, always making the right expression at the right time. When the story was over, they both scrunched their eyebrows in confusion.

How are you even walking right now?” Simon was the first to ask.

“He’s a fucking weirdo,” Johnson said, “Nothing about his abilities surprises anymore."

“I got lucky,” Jonas still wasn't mentioning Pride, “But I also learned a valuable lesson, and that’s what matters.”

“A valuable lesson?” Simon’s eyebrows nearly left his rat-like face, “All it took to learn that valuable lesson was your skull getting crushed in for the second time.”

“What other lessons do you learn from having near-death experiences?” Johnson asked sarcastically.

“Anyway,” said Jonas, “I made great strides today, even though it may not seem like it.”

“You're right, it doesn’t seem like it,” said Johnson, “It seems more like you acted out of arrogance, got your skull crushed, survived from luck, and now are looking for justification about why it wasn’t your fault.”

“Are you my fucking therapist?” Jonas felt like slapping him. However, he secretly admitted to himself that Johnson had been only three-quarters correct about his statement; Jonas did not think he acted arrogantly.

The night went by quickly. As the figurative moon hovered over the slaves, and they began to drift off to sleep, Jonas was buzzed from bear and was waiting patiently in anticipation for a certain low-ranking guard. Sure enough, the door to the room creaked open and the familiar face of that gangster came into view. “Right on time,” Jonas said quietly, and that guard gave him a strange look before opening the cage door.

Jonas's instincts told him that Yuki would want to see him after recent events, and seeing that the guard told him she did care about his well-being, the sentiment warmed his heart. Eventually, he found himself outside a door at the end of a quiet hallway, and he knocked on it.

“Come in,” Jonas felt like her voice sounded a bit strange, but he didn’t pay it too much attention as he went inside and closed the door behind himself. She was sitting on a puffy lounge with a glass of wine in her hand while wearing a silk robe and a very unimpressed expression on her gorgeous face.

“Hi, Yuki,” said Jonas cutely, as he waved at her and smiled. For a split second, he thought he had seen her fight off a smile, but she narrowed her eyebrows and stared daggers at him. It was a cold look that made his body feel itchy with nerves.

“I heard you tried fighting Wolf,” she sipped her wine through pursed lips.

“You heard correctly,” said Jonas, “But it wasn’t much of a fight.”

“Don’t you think that was a little selfish of you? Didn’t you think about the consequences of your actions before you did something so stupid?”

“He had my friend, Ralph," Jonas had a very bad feeling about the conversation, “You don't understand, Wolf was torturing him.”

“Do you know how long I’ve been plotting this escape plan?” Yuki looked stern, and her face had gone red, “Do you know how many years I’ve been waiting for the right set of circumstances to present themselves?”

“My friend was being tortured,” Jonas repeated, but Yuki didn't care to listen.

“Do you think I care about some low-level slave who never really was part of the plan?"

“No, obviously,” Jonas’ face fell, his stomach turned, his heart began to beat, and he was starting to regret that he had come to see Yuki.

“Lives are at stake here, Jonas,” said Yuki, “Do you think I want to be a slave forever? Do you think I was to live the rest of eternity down here in a fucking sewer, all while being subjected to the whims of evil men who treat me like cattle?”

“No,” said Jonas, “Guys like Johnson, and Simon get treated like cattle,” he pointed to all the luxuries that surrounded Yuki, “It seems to me that the sewer is treating you just fine,” very suddenly, she threw her glass of wine at Jonas’ head, and he only just managed to dodge it. There was a sound of breaking glass, and Jonas' body was shocked into fight or flight.

“I was worried about you!” She yelled as she got off her lounge and aggressively approached him.

“Fuck!” Jonas stared at her like she was insane, “You have a goddamn funny way of showing that! You realize my head just healed from being flattened like a pancake, right?” He immediately regretted his words because Yotama Yuki seemed to have lost control of her temper. She swung a fist, and it struck Jonas across the jaw and sent him crashing into a table full of sweets. Covered in icing, he pulled himself up and gave her a calm look, however, there was a fire in his eyes, and his Sin Scars had begun to glow.

“I’m going to let that one slide,” he said. His voice was quiet and laced with hints of irritation.

“Or what?” Yuki balled her fists.

“I’ve never hit a woman before,” he said as his eyes narrowed, “But I’ve got no problem doing so.”

“Good!” said Yuki, “You can try, but I doubt you’ll ever lay a hand on me,” she suddenly moved like the wind, but Jonas was ready for it, and he watched as she gracefully appeared at his side and sent a kick towards his ribs. He used his arm to block but was completely shocked when he felt his entire body fly off into the distance, the bone in his bicep had fractured, and he bounced hard off the stone floor.

Jonas quickly pulled himself together and stared at Yuki in surprise. He hadn’t expected such a tiny body to pack such an explosive force. His arrogance wasn’t enough to look down on a top-five fighter, but he had only ever seen a soft, girly, and delicate side to Yuki, which had made it temporarily difficult to fully appreciate the violent woman in front of him.

“Okay,” said Jonas, “Okay, you’re on,” and this time he charged towards her ready for a real fight. His fists flew as he threw his best punches with no concern for Yuki’s gender. She was so fast, though, and it seemed like no matter how quickly he made his attacks, he would hit nothing but air, and he watched her black hair swoosh as she backflipped and kicked him in the chin.

“Fuck, Yuki!” Jonas yelled as he spat out a tooth, “How could you bully a poor kid?” and Yuki nearly breathed fire.

“Poor kid?” she asked in disbelief, “Don’t make childish excuses because you can’t touch me. It’s not my fault you lack the talent to take on top-five fighters.”

A fire had been lit under Jonas' ass, and he felt his body fill with Pride. As he made his next move, Jonas knew that any reservations he had about hurting Yuki had gone out the window.