ZFighter18

“Yeah…” Calloused palms pressed down on cracked laminate, a hiss leaving him as he took stock. “Not good at all.” There was only so much to do sometimes. Especially when you didn’t have a lot to do it with. Ken could make do, though. Usually. He’d spent his whole life doing exactly that and doing a

Smoke poured down from another part of the district, the haze in the air melding and merging with the thick fog that came from a hundred thousand vents all around. The combination was a concoction that hung low to the ground, a thick humid nearly-liquid mix that somehow managed to smell worse as it

Ken sat at the scarred kitchen table, empty cup warming his palms. The amber-eyed demon sat across from him, legs kicked up on an empty chair as she picked at a hangnail like he wasn’t even there. Mmm. He would probably find that more annoying if he hadn’t stunk up the place just minutes ago with th

“Ow.” The material that lined the apartment floor wasn’t all that hard. Not harder than metal or simple plastic. Ken wasn’t sure what it was, other than cold and chemical-scented. “Ow.” Unfortunately, it didn’t have to be all that hard for it to still hurt as he was thrown into it for the fourth tim

Mmmm! Spice hit his tongue, then his throat; the bite of too much seasoning sharp and strong all at the same time. Ken swallowed, chest expanding as the broth steamed down into the bottom of his stomach. A second later, his mouth opened wide in a sigh, something tense in his muscles unspooling as ai

The next day dragged them deeper into District 44. A million footsteps as usual, a million bodies as always, it was a miracle this place didn’t collapse in on itself. A miracle seemed the only explanation, really, as so many stomped atop grated metal and cracked asphalt with enough sound to make it

It’s been… A hum slid free, Ken bobbing his head as he cooked breakfast for his crew. Grease popped and sizzled off the metal pan, stinging his forearm with a tiny kiss of hot oil. Ken didn’t flinch, the heat nothing compared to years of burnt fingertips learning from Wei. Hmm-hm, never touched a fr

"Yeah, that body armor was a bad idea." Ken bit back a sigh, teeth pulled back as he stared straight ahead. “Cus you look like a turtle.” The smell of melted plastic and fried electronics filled the atmosphere, his nose screwed up as Ken did his best not to cough or sneeze. It wasn’t a unique smell.

The crick in Ken’s neck was starting to feel permanent. Arms folded across his chest, he stood on the corner of a street that didn’t have a name so much as it did a codename — the sign just above and to his right reading ‘Point 108SW’. What does that even mean? The apprentice clicked his tongue, rea

The utensil scraped hard against the side of the bowl, the harsh and grating sound of metal on ceramic only managing to remind Ken of exactly how lacking his current setup was. Several herbs sat out scattered on the counter in front him, the sharp tang of each one coating the air while he applied a

The air around him tasted like still-made sharp and fear. The first was in his hand, a cup half-empty with the clear hard liquor as he let the bottom click on top of his desk. The second… the second had good reason to fill the room. Either way, it was a good mix. A mix just as familiar as the room h

Ken bit back the urge to gag, District air warring with the meat in his mouth. He already had his own bad decisions giving him enough trouble. Having to deal with the taste of so many others’ was just adding a sprinkle of sulfur into the back of his throat. His tongue worked around his mouth, near-s

Ken blinked slowly, pulled from a deep, dreamless blackness not by the glare of the sun-lamps through a window, but by a sound that echoed like a rusty saw grinding through a hunk of busted iron right next to his ear. It was loud. Violent, even; the way the vibration rattled through the worn cushion

Chapter 24 The filthy, neon-lit streets of District 44 were as packed as ever as the three of them made their way back from Jiro’s shop. Ken did his best to ignore the firm layer of dirt and filth building up on his freshly-calloused soles as he walked at Zee’s side, the same as he tried not to thin

Chapter 23 Jiro's smile was thin, nothing actually kind from the man as he nodded back at Ken. Ken knew that look, all business and nothing but. Wei had it sometimes, back when a customer was doing their best to haggle on a tonic or a brew it was obvious they needed but didn’t want to pay the price

Chapter 22 The shop was a hole-in-the-wall. Wedged between a noodle stall that stunk of greasy meat—smelled like oversized rat, tasted like oversized regret—and a shuttered storefront covered in layers of fading posters peeling like sunburned skin, it looked like every other busted place he’d seen i

Chapter 21 Big. Ken thought he knew big from years in the Waste Valley, staring at the junk-mountains and the trash-dunes rolling out in waves until they hit the edge of the world. He figured big was big and that was that. But no, apparently things could be bigger. It wasn’t just the city, this gian

Chapter 20 “Any, anything but that!" The redhead’s words hung in the air of the grimy little shop as Don shook his head like he was being threatened with death again, the yell vibrating against the thin metal walls of the shipping container. A single work lamp on the half-scattered counter cast a lo

Chapter 19 There were twenty-seven bones in an entire hand; nineteen in a clenched fist. Fourteen phalanges and five metacarpals, if you ignored the carpals in the wrist. Ken knew this like he knew the number of blood vessels in the body and their placements along with so many other important lesson

Chapter 18 With more strength than someone her size should have, Wangzi dragged him out of the busted-up building as she kept talking faster than he could listen; the both of them back on the street in moments. Her grip a warm iron cuff on his wrist, tight enough he felt his pulse against her palm,

Chapter 17 "You the Scrap Hunter?" The question made as much sense as her outfit did as he blinked at her past all the dust she’d kicked up. Basically, none at all. He looked her up and down one more time, taking in the neon-pink puffer, the white top that showed off her whole middle, and the pink s

Chapter 16: Hiding Out It wasn’t… Sway into backhand — I can’t — Weave into snap kick. I’ve never… The fight finished with a panicked scream; the sound fading away as the last man with the rat tattoo ran into the masses, the few onlookers breaking apart and merging into the crowd along with him. Ken

Chapter 15 “Oya, toss the legs in fryer!” District 44 meat-market had a taste to it; much like the rest of the Forties, it was thick and raw with recycled rust raining from the upper-strucks and fried Flicker-tail fresh off the street. “Ay, boss!” Wasn’t a taste most liked at first, but you either l

It started with a kick. “Burn it.” Angry and eager, Hunter Rai didn’t bother with any more questions after that simple order, a roar of agreement fresh from his lips. Almost immediately, the armored man simply turned and put a heavy black boot into the main display case; the one holding some of Wei’

Chapter 13: Poking the Shell Master gave it to me. Pressed up tight against the wall, the thought cycled through his head faster than the drum of his heart against his ribs. He gave it to me. One eye never left the crack between the crates and the slats, a hand still on his mouth to muffle the hungr

Chapter 12: Echoes His eyes snapped open to something cold and hard against his cheek. Wha… Ken groaned, half-aware as he leaned away from a plank sticking up from the floor, the edge of it digging a line deep into his skin. A breath came next, rough and shallow; more reflex than choice, his throat

Chapter 11: A Gift Given “...where is he?” Patience was not the easiest thing in the world. It took real effort and practice and (annoyingly enough) patience to have patience. Years of watching pots boil, managing a garden, and reading books so old and dusty you had to be careful opening them had do

Chapter 10: A New Gift Iron-vine root smelled almost exactly like blood. Not just blood, but fresh blood, metallic and earthy like it was just spilled onto the ground. It… it wasn’t his favorite smell. It brought back memories, one particular memory actually, and nothing about it was something Ken l

His new world had a rhythm to it, a different steady beat. Ken wasn’t sure how else to describe it but it just made everything feel so much more right than the fear and hunger he was used to. It was like breathing different air, almost. Literally, even. A whole different everything. Days of his new

The world had stopped moving. The only sound Ken could make out was a soft, steady shhhh-pop… shhhh-pop and a quiet, peaceful bubbling from the tea on the stove. Both of them were a million miles away from the constant quiet ringing in his own ears, something he always dealt with after a really bad

Chapter 6: The Old Man Moving. The world was rocking back and forth, a gentle steady motion that felt like being in a cradle, something this life had never given him. Being held. His eyes were heavy, too heavy to open, the world too hazy for him to even think. a dream-thing floating in his head, but

Chapter 5: Freedom C’mon. There was apparently a thing called runner’s high. He remembered people talking about it before, way back when he lived in a world where people talked about stuff that wasmore than just about fighting, food and fixing things. He even remembered looking it up on the internet

Chapter 4: Run The world was a single point. A sharp, red-wet point. Sound had gone, all of it, swallowed to nothing in the endless gray of the sky, the village and the ground. All Ken could hear was the tearing of his own breath as air forced its way in and out, a rough file scraping its way into h

Chapter Three: Rocky Ending The next day crawled by, the world the same gray smear that blended into the next. No books to read, nothing to watch, just simple work to do; going root-hunting for Sora and stripping what little scrap he could for salvage. It kept him busy, sure, but it was boring as bo

Chapter 2: Kindness of Scraps That Wall. Always the Wall. Ken kept staring at the impossible black line cutting his world in half, a silent judgment sitting on the horizon. Wind picked up with that low mournful sound it always made when it moved through the scrap-fields, kicking up dust that wasn't

Chapter 1: Rocky Start Thok! Rocks weren’t good for much. Starting fires, grinding plants, maybe smashing things, sure. If you even went to all the trouble of sharpening it, you could tie it to a stick and then you had a good spear. But other than that, there wasn’t much you could do with just a roc

Chalk & Chain I (Previously titled Streets of Sorcery, Chalk & Chain is the novel I'm working on, currently 10 chapters deep. I've redone it and I'm going to be uploading it for you guys again.) Knok-knok! A single blue eye flicked open, groggy but already annoyed. His second eye followed in relucta

Streets of Sorcery Chapter Zero: The End Every story has an end. For the man being dragged towards the front of the courtroom by his elbows, that end seemed to be nearer than he ever expected in his worst nightmares. Those five words had been a constant mantra in his mind for the last three months,