Dante's Abyss Spectators

[Harley Quinn]

When I opened my eyes again, I found a glaring white light shining into them and blurred the world around me. My eyes finally adjusted as I lay in a sterile room filled with medical equipment. How did I end up in the hospital?


A lovely lady in a white uniform appeared at my bedside, carrying a tablet device. With a sweet smile, she handed me a small plastic cup and held out her hand. "Miss. Quinzelle my name is Mary, and I am here to make sure you are healthy for your next match." She paused, then placed a small bean in my hand before continuing, "I need you to take this and I promise you will feel a lot better." 

She was right; I did feel better. It was almost as if I had never been hurt at all, and my skin was still the pristine, chalk-white it had always been. There was not even an ounce of pain left from the stinging poison that plagued my eyes just moments before.   

I lost to a tiny Tamagotchi and the coach of the Quidditch team. How utterly pathetic. I hate losing; I hate it more than anything, and the fact that I lost by an out of bounds assault is fucking lame.

There’s no out of bounds on the streets Cerise; you won't be so lucky next time!  

If it weren't for the jolting sensation of pain with the taste blood that followed I would have broke. Biting my tongue always had been the way I hid my distress from Mr. Jay.  Even so, disappointment bubbled up inside me, and my face grew hot from the tears I held back. 

"Your vitals look back to normal, and it looks like you are cleared to go. How are you feeling?" 

Worthless. Pathetic. Hungry. "I am fine thank you, Mary, you are a wonderful medicine woman," I said as I started to rise up, out of the hospital bed.  Thank the heavens she snapped me out of it. I was so lost in my own bullshit, I didn't even see her roll up on me.

As soon as I left the room, I ran into a dozen people outside. People flashing their cameras and a few with microphones, all rushing me with questions. "Harley! Harley! That was a fantastic fight you had there with Gildarts and Cerise! How are you feeling?"

Had it not been for me having emotionally worked through my loss, I would have started swinging on them. "The fight could have been bloodier," I said looking dead into the camera in front of me, "I am feeling a little lousy that we lost to those goons."

The reporters looked shocked, and many started to pen furious notes on their devices. One of them pipped up, and boldly asked me "Well, Gildarts is known as one of the strongest contestants in Dante's Abyss, surely you didn't think you would win?"

I gave a sly look at the reporter and chuckled, "That guy is one of the strongest people here? He seemed pretty easy to me, and if that is the case, I am ready to go toe to toe with the next one."

Vibrations from my dataverse device broke my star-struck trance, and the familiar face of Marty brought a joyish smile on my face. Telling the press I had to take it, I rushed off towards a sitting area.  Picking up the phone I heard comforting bar music and the bellow of my meathead friend. 

"Harley, fucking, Quinn.” his voice brought a smile to my tired lips. “I didn't know you to have it in you like that," Marty exclaimed, then he told me that my fight had everyone at the club sitting on the edge of their seats. Even though I lost, patrons began placing bets on me for the next round. I was obviously doubting myself and my ability to win a fight, but my buddy ol pal always had the best things to say. 

"Listen squirt you kicked ass out there. When you came at Gildarts with fire and brimstone you had the whole club cheering." He kept me grinning ear to ear. "You know I placed a bet on my man Sasuke because the champ finally showed up this time around, but I have money on you for the next one! So, don’t let me down," he said playfully before sounding serious, "you know how much I hate losing money!"

Friends are something I don't really have in this world right now, so I took what Marty said to heart. I swallowed hard before responding, "I promise, I won't let you down again."

"At-a girl," Marty said and then ended the call.

It was then that I noticed Jibril, off in the distance talking to more nosy reporters. I won't let my teammate down next time either, I told myself as I approached her. The reporter was asking her something mid-question when I appeared next to her. Cameras everywhere flashed to get us together.

"What are you and your teammate going to do to win next round?" a reporter questioned while holding the microphone closer to Jibril. 

"Next time we will fight without mercy," Jibril said cooly and excited the reporters. After a few more shots and a few more questions, the group eventually disbanded and were chasing the tails of other contestants. 

I noticed Jibril was still bleeding and had blood dripping from the top of her beautiful fuchsia hair.  "Hey, have you been to the Doc yet?" I asked, concerned for her well being.  Jibril shot me a scorned look before responding, "A mere Immanity Doctor, they rely on natural healing and merely cover wounds with bandages. That won’t help for one such as me." 

With quite the startle, a stranger's voice echoed down a dark hallway, "If ya not looking for meds, den ya need to get wet. Take a dip, ya mam."

Jibril didn't seem to like surprises and she called angrily back at the stranger "Who dares to speak to me from the shadows? Show yourself!"

A dark-skinned man smoking some kind of cigarette revealed himself to us. "I just a lowly Syntech employee mam, offering a service to ya." 

"What kind of service would that be exactly," Jibril asked abrasively.

"We got wondaful bath houses here, my mam," he said before pointing further down a dim-lit hallway, "da wata will replenish your soul, and heal ya body."

The islander was right, the water at the bathhouses was refreshing. Eucalyptus and other exotic spices filled my lungs, instantly relaxing me.  Warm herbal water washed away every tight and sore muscle in my body. Jibril was stunning in the water as well, and it was tough for me to respect not ogling at her voluptuous body. 

For the longest time, I thought we were completely alone until I noticed a man, lounging in the back of the bath. His stare was cold and calculated, but he did his best not to show he was directly looking. There was something about his demeanor that interested me, most male competitors would have made their appearance known if they were the only ones in a bath with two babes. Lucky guy.

I made Jibril aware of the man before I swam over, closer to him. "Do you come here often?" I asked him playfully. 

The man appeared to be unimpressed and maybe a little annoyed that I approached him. He took a short pause before answering, "I try to not get injured to the point of needing to heal in a bathhouse, so no."

He seemed to cool with his dark hair and his moody, squinty eyes. I knew there was something up with him and I intended to get to the bottom of it. "How bad is the other guy?" I quipped.

The expression on his face made a slight change and his eyes lowered, "he lost, unfortunately."

I couldn't help but laugh at what this guy said, "Unfortunately? You know this is a competition, right?"   

The stranger's lips pressed into a hard line before responding quickly, "I am aware, the man I fought was king."

Yikes, nobody told me anything about kings being around and that sounds like a lot of dramaI thought to myself. 

"I fought with honor, my kind demanded it, but that is why I am here now, in this bathhouse." 

It seemed the longer I stayed in this competition, the more interesting it got. I had to know more about this mysterious winner. I decided to make with a formal introduction to the man and held out my right hand for a shake, "My name is Harley Quinn, it's so nice to meetcha."