Dante's Abyss Spectators

[Ash]

One moment she was tossed into the grass in her ring, the next they all were in the hallway once more. Where the others headed to the infirmary or whatever other corner of the complex that they chose to limp off to and lick their wounds, Ash turned to walk the opposite way, clutching her side.

Not a stranger to failure, as her mother reminded her daily of what a complete disappointment she’d been.

Ash was a gamer and won games. Anything outside a monitor, a controller, and Jacking-In, it was a toss-up. More than one occasion her mom was greeted with a battle-worn and beaten daughter at the end of the officer’s firm grip. Several times has Grayson looked upon her with pity and distress after walking into the interrogation room and finding her covered in bruises before it was a permanent color change to her skin.

Her quick tongue got her out of a lot of trouble, but it also got her into it too.


In short: You win some, you lose some.


She felt more pain from the places she landed while being tossed about than the scorch mark on her right side, but she considered the idea of tending to them all eventually. At the moment, however, she’d been the least damaged of them all. Even Jak had suffered more than her. As good meatshields should.

“Hey, babe~!” Daxter said loudly enough to catch her attention. He stood at the corner, leaning on the wall in that cool dude waiting for his girl kind of way. “How you doin’?” He teased. She smiled when he winked at her.

A shadow came over her at this point, she watched as Daxter straighten up and stood on his own feet. This caused her to look back, turning around completely and watch as The Dark King ripped out the dagger from his chest and with large clawed fingers hand it over to her delicately. He took on a remorseful look that she thought was strange as he spoke. “I failed you.”

Sweet sentiments and the like, Ash fought not to roll her eyes. The Eco-Warrior shrank back down to his normal form, looking as sad as Desman did on most days, and she held back the sighs. All these people and their emotional bullshit, “For what?” She said sweetly, leaning in, bracing herself on his shoulder and kissing his bronzed cheek. “You did great out there, your fans will be proud.”

Then as if on cue the paparazzi returned, “Dynamite Kid!” A chorus of voices called out, flashes of light sprang at him and her, blinding him a bit and forcing his bloody hand up to shield his eyes.

Before he could fight it, Ash slipped away and Daxter was on his shoulder. “Hey, there’s enough to go around!” His chipper voice said, clearly enjoying the attention. “First question, first question!”

“Kid! How did it feel to be back in the ring?” One snagged the chance right out of the air.

Jak was still looking around for the demoness he’d been talking about when asked the question, it was as if she’d vanished in thin air. He even caught the view of more cameramen approaching the winners of their fight, but before he could see how that went, Daxter smack his face lightly.

“Jak, focus.”

“Right,” Jak said, lowering his goggles so that he could see past the flashing lights and camera glares under the industry level of lights. “What was the question?”

The storm demon didn’t linger very long after they were bombarded with cameras. She instead slipped away and out of the light, letting Jak deal with it. Someone else might wonder why she didn’t ham it up in front of the camera, but questions weren’t her thing. Maybe if she’d won she could afford to be cocky, but the truth of the matter is she liked to pick her attention time. And right now she could use a drink. She also wouldn’t mind a firm lap to sit in, maybe Kanda was around?

Ash slipped into the bar area where she could hear the most activity, people were screaming and drinking, and having a good time between blows. She found Kanda, but not in a seat where she could slide up next to him, but on a screen. His stern face sent a much-needed chill down her spine. She apparently has tuned in just in time to watch him kick poor Desman around. She'd be lying if she didn't admit to enjoying it a bit. Then again, she loved watching men assert dominance, especially when there was a clear alpha present. She hoped the dark-haired - rather it was grey now - man would rough her up a bit now.

The scanner flashed to life over her eyes as she watched her boyfriends fight, observing plenty of information about them all from the comfort of a lounge. Apparently, she and Kanda had a great deal in common, power... Speed. Skill. Though, she was sure if she knew how to fight with a sword she might have a chance at beating him. Beside him came Mickey Mouse. She quirked an eyebrow as she realized who that was. Omni found the small fighter interesting, but while he was defeated like this she couldn't understand why. And of course, Desman. But she knew everything about him. "So that must be King Gilgamesh." She said to herself, laying eyes on glorious golden armor, rippling gold magic summoning weapons, and finally his handsome features and gold hair. All of which turned her off. If only because she had a thing against blonds.

She turned away long enough to collect a strong drink and find a seat among the secondaries. With scanner still activated she began to observe fights. Not just Kanda's though he had most of her attention, Victor's as well. The Bandit who's name she did not know as intimately as she knew her anger. As well, Dane's - which did not look like a fight, so much as a trailer for yet another Jason movie. Meanwhile, she's already reconnected with the monitors and the saved data, her cyberdeck began storing the recorded files, she would not come out of this empty handed for sure.