👥 Collaboration Collateral 👥

Chapter 12

Blade and Melon arrived by the time Logan had accompanied Dirlu, the spouses watched while the large Cinnabarian glared at Ximo. Ximo remained firm as he looked at the Cinnabarian straight in the eyes.

“There are two ways to settle this,” Ruben II started while they were one foot apart, “either we duke it out like men or you pay for the damage you caused behind my back.”

Blade silently concurred with his statement, then took a step forward with a scythe in hand. “I say we beat him up.” His suggestion was met with an elbow to the chest by his wife who glared at him.

“Don't listen to him, he's still upset about earlier.” Melon added to prevent another fight from taking place, frankly she would've expected this kind of behavior from his evil twin, Grim. In Blade's defense, he wasn't going to kill him.

“I'm sorry about that, I shouldn't have taken advantage of the situation to cause more problems.” Blade apologized, begrudgingly to appease his wife.

“Don't be, I'm the one who provoked this. I'm sorry for smacking you from behind and sneaking off like that. I shouldn't have done that to you,” Ximo apologized to Blade, then at Ruben II, “and you.”

“At least you're clever enough to not cross me. I'll give you that much. Don't think I'm letting you off the hook that easy.” Ruben II warned despite that Ximo had the physique of a bodybuilder.

“In that case,” Ximo took out one of his business cards and gave it to him, “we have unfinished business.” Ruben II took the piece of plastic with his stubby fingers and eyed it. Faim, the Beauchamp brothers, and the spouses dispersed while Ruben II was distracted by the shiny gloss print of the logo then flipped the business card to read his contact info. Ratu approached the fat Cinnabarian after his search.

“I couldn't find the prize money.” Ratu informed while Ruben II squinted at the number on the business card. He wasn't sure if the number was the password to get into the establishment or it was the sector where the gymnasium was located. It better be since phones weren't invented in his world. “Ruben, are you listening?” Ratu asked him.

“Quiet, I'm trying to figure it out if this number is a password or the address.” Ruben II said.

“One of the employees know where the prize money is.” Ratu mentioned before Ruben II looked at the boy.

“Who is it?” He asked the runt.

“García,” Ratu mentioned, “she wears a duck on her hat like a lunatic.”

“Hold this, and don't lose it.” Ruben II gave the business card to Ratu while he looked for this García while Ratu held the business card and played with it as he saw the glossy logo refracting for a while.

Sora closed her eyes. Like it was useful. Like now, she didn’t see the world she was present in - she saw the images, flashing in her head like bright flares. What was the use of closing your eyes to block out something that rebounded on her?

Her hands clawed at the sink, gripping the edges as she shuddered and opened her eyes. Everything vanished before her eyes. 

You’re in a glass coffin.

She blinked. Sora could hear the sounds of a skirmish outside, but she couldn’t make out anything else. Usually, she’d go outside to help, but she just didn’t feel well - she could stop for a second.