Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

One collapses, appearing on a decorated floor. His shaking hands are unable to catch himself when he falls. He almost blacks out when he hits the carpet. 

He didn’t think. He just needed to escape. 

“Hey!” a voice cuts through the ringing in One’s tympanum. He’s barely functioning. 

“One? Can you hear me?”

One blinks slowly, vision swimming as his head tilts backwards. Instantly, One recognizes the blue ribbons and ruby red stone on the rabbit’s uniform. 

Usagi…  

One tries to speak, but all he can manage to do is grab Usagi’s arm as he’s lowered onto a soft surface. Usagi places his hand on One’s shoulder, brows knit together in a deep crease. When One opens his eyes again, Usagi’s back is facing him and there’s another voice in the room. A woman’s voice. He doesn’t quite catch what she says before he finally slips unconscious. 

-

Becoming weightless brings One into sentience. In the middle of vast, empty space, One is on high alert, immediately reaching for his ōdachi. His hand grasps thin air. One looks down in alarm and is surprised to see nothing’s there. 

Then One remembers the gaping hole in his chest and gasps, grasping helplessly at the metal plate. But it’s undamaged. His hands tremble around the gate and when he breathes, he’s shocked. There’s no blood. 

“You are lucky.”

One flinches and spins around, closing in on the direction of the voice. Across from him is a ghost-like silhouette of a human figure. She has long hair, pulled up in a ponytail that flows behind her in the non-existent wind. But the thing that catches One’s attention is the crest on her belt. Why does he feel like he’s seen that symbol before?

“The Kuroi Yōroi is a powerful weapon. You were fortunate to survive, but you did not return unscathed.”

“What happened to me?” He demands in the firmest tone he can manage. “If I’m not dead, then where am I?”

“You are damaged,” the woman says, which explains nothing. One turns around, following her voice behind him. Slowly, the mystery woman reaches out and touches One’s cheek. The chill in her fingertips forces One still. In the span of a millisecond, One sees himself hooked up to an IV, lying still on silk sheets. Aside from the lightning scarring across his entire body, he somehow appears to be healed—or at least stable. The slow, pulsing beat from a monitor echoes in the back of One’s head before he rips away from the woman’s touch, gasping. 

When he comes back, a loud bang erupts beside him. One jumps and stumbles away, watching with wide eyes as something explodes. Two screams and stumbles back, clutching what’s left of his prosthetic. A memory, One realizes. A chill runs up his spine when he sees himself in the armor, leaping through the smoke. He feels its energy like static across his arms and it makes his stomach turn. 

This is when it got too out of control. 

Claws against flesh and brick against concrete, he destroyed half the city and killed… so many people. He was so angry he felt blind. As much as he was aware of what he was doing, he just couldn’t stop. He didn’t want to stop. He wanted to destroy everything… 

And that included his brother.

Two struggles under One’s steel fist, the metal claws digging around his throat.

“You know…” Two coughs, “for all the trouble you’re worth… I never— gah… I never— I never thought you’d kill me.”

One tears his eyes away from the scene, right before he was pulled off. If he hadn’t been stopped, he would’ve snapped Two’s neck.

“Stop!” he shouts. “I know what I did! I don’t need you to show it to me.”

“This is your mind,” the woman explains. “Is this not what you wanted?”

“I didn’t want this! ” One yells, gesturing his hand outwards as the memory fades.

“What were you expecting?”

One clamps his mouth shut, hands curling into tight fists. “Who are you?” 

“My name is Hamato Karai. I am the daughter of Oroku Saki.”

“Who?”

“You may know him as the Shredder.”

One does his best to ground himself, suddenly feeling lightheaded and hyper-aware of his surroundings, or lack thereof. “What do you want?” he asks stiffly.

“I want to warn you.”

“Warn me?”

“Your soul is corrupted.” A small blue orb appears in the palm of Karai’s hand and it quickly turns a deep magenta. “If you ignore it, the darkness will overtake you.” 

The orb floats out of her hand and meets the center of One’s chest. It steals the air from his lungs, sending him back a few steps. He grasps at his chest and when he looks up, Karai’s vacant white eyes stare directly at him as she drifts to him. “I’m here to tell you that you must fight .”

“Why?” he presses, gripping his plastron. “Why not let the darkness take me?”

Karai smiles and caresses One’s face gently. She plants a warm kiss on his forehead. “Anata wa hitori ja nai,” she whispers. 

“You are family, Leo.”

-

One inhales sharply, eyes fluttering open. The buzzing of the monitor beside his head pulls him into focus, leaving only remnants of his dream behind. After a moment, he starts to look around, trying to gather information on where he is and what happened.  

Beside his bed, he’s surprised to see Usagi in a deep slumber against the wall. This raises more questions than answers. Not that One isn’t content to see his friend, but if he’s in the Nexus Hotel, then he has a whole bigger problem. 

As he attempts to sit up, One discovers that moving his arms takes a lot more effort than what he’s used to. A sharp pain shoots up into his shoulder, forcing a cry out of his throat. That’s also when he notices the burning sensation in his bones and the stiffness in his muscles. 

“Huh? Woah, hey!” Usagi wakes up and hurries to his aid. He places his hand on One’s shell and settles him back into his pillow. “You’re awake.”

“What’s happening?” His voice comes out weak and dry. 

Usagi frowns. “You were badly injured. You collapsed in my room and you were bleeding a lot, so I got help.” He pauses for a second. “One, you’ve been in a coma for a month…” 

A weight sinks in One’s stomach. “What?” 

“Don’t freak out! I’ve been with you every day and I made sure the nurses took care of you when I was in the arena.”

Well, that explains why he’s so stiff and achy but how the hell did he become so weak? More importantly, how is he going to recover? 

Swallowing the fear in the back of his throat, One puts every ounce of strength he has left to sit up. This time, he expects the pain and braces himself for it. He fights the heaviness of his shoulders and sluggishly removes the IV from his arm.

Usagi stops him, grabbing his wrist. “That’s important, actually.”

“I don’t need it,” One insists. 

“You don’t even know what’s in it,” Usagi points out, slowly prying One’s hand away from the needle. He hates how easy it is to let him. The contact makes One dizzy and the weight on his back starts wearing him down. 

“Exactly,” One scowls. “I need my strength.”

“Yeah, that’s what all this is for.”

One scoffs. There’s no way Big Mama would splurge all her cash on this set up out of the kindness of her heart. That woman always has an agenda and right now, One’s on it. 

“No, this is leverage.”

Usagi snorts, pushing One back down. “Yeah, okay. Just lay down.” 

The slider huffs when his head hits the pillow. Despite their tight bond, this is one thing they’ve always disagreed on. Where One sees the heartless devil, Usagi sees the selfless saint. 

“What happened?” Usagi asks softly, sitting in the chair by One’s bedside. 

One tries to think, but draws a total blank. He realizes that he doesn’t know what happened after he connected the helmet. He does know that he used it. He can still feel the armor plates, as if they’re still attached to his skin. 

But the more he thinks about what happened after, the more One’s body aches and his disguised shame claws through. His eyes flit away from Usagi, not wanting to think about what might’ve gone wrong. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Usagi asks doubtfully.

One squeezes his eyes shut. “Ugh, I don’t know!” he repeats louder, drawing in a sharp breath. He can feel Usagi staring at him. “I put the armor on and I don’t remember what happened after.”

“You what?” Usagi scoots closer, eyes wide. “One, that thing is ancient — and crazy powerful.” He pauses and One can’t tell if he sounds amazed or disappointed. “It must have done this to you, right?”

Instead of answering, One resorts to picking at a loose thread from the bedsheets, shifting his focus away from how much he just doesn’t know. But what else could’ve done this? He knew from the beginning that the armor was powerful and dangerous, is it so far-fetched that it could’ve stripped him of all of his strength? 

No. But the last thing One wants to do is admit that he made a mistake, especially if he doesn’t know exactly what happened in the wake of his decision to wear the armor.

He stops after a second and sighs. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Bullshit. Big Mama’s doctors are doing the best they can with what I told them, but a general treatment won’t guarantee a fast recovery.” Usagi leans forward. “Right now, I need to understand what happened to you so I can get them to make you better.”

“I don’t know what happened, Usagi!” One snaps but his voice wavers. “All I know is, I’m strong and powerful one second and the next, I’m useless!” 

“You’re not useless,” Usagi huffs. “I didn’t say that. That’s not what I’m—” he restarts, grabbing the edge of the mattress and taking a deep breath. “I want to help you. Let me help.”

One’s breath shakes, refusing to look his friend in the eyes. He considers it. But before he can decide whether to reject or accept Usagi’s request, the door opens and one of the doctors enters his room.

She plasters on a fake smile that One can see straight through. “You’re awake,” she says, closing the door behind her. “Let’s see how you’re doing.”

The doctor comes over and reaches for his arm so that she can check his blood pressure. One doesn’t let her get close, recoiling into the wall with a warning hiss. She pauses, then glances at Usagi as if expecting him to do something. He doesn’t move from his seat and just looks at One with a reassuring look. “She’ll be quick.”

Yeah, not going to happen, One thinks then rips his IV out of his arm and leaps off the bed despite every muscle screaming in protest. 

One collapses instantly with a pained cry, pulling the drip stand down with him.

“Shit!” Usagi jumps out of his seat, but the doctor stops him with a firm hand to his chest. She comes over to One’s side and crouches beside him.

“Resisting will only make it worse,” she comments with an underlying threat only One can detect. 

The slider snarls, kicking his foot into her ankle. “Back off!”  

The only reason she falls on her ass is because of her obviously severe lack of balance. She hits the floor with a growl and grabs a syringe from her pocket. “Hold him still,” she orders Usagi, climbing to her feet.

“Hey!” Usagi stops her. “That’s not necessary.”

“But—”

“I said it’s not necessary,” he repeats with a dark look in his eye. The doctor holds his stare but backs off. When she does, Usagi turns to One and offers his hand with a hint of a scowl still on his face.

One breathes out heavily, staring at the rabbit’s hand with a knotted stomach. After a moment, he takes it. 

Usagi pulls One gently enough to get him to his feet without jostling him too much. The rabbit secures an arm around One’s torso when his weight starts dragging him down. Usagi’s other hand grabs One’s arm as he guides him back to the hospital bed.

“You can’t avoid this, you know,” Usagi says as they walk.

“I don’t trust her,” One grumbles.

“I do.”

“You shouldn’t,” One huffs quietly. 

“But I do,” Usagi tries to catch his eye, lowering his voice. “And you trust me, don’t you?”

One scowls and looks away stubbornly, but he doesn’t disagree. He knows that Usagi is the only one here who is true to his word. 

“Yeah..” One mutters eventually. Quietly. 

“Then trust that I won’t let anything happen to you.”

One falls silent, then slowly nods. 

Usagi nods and helps One back to his bed. When he’s ready, One lets Usagi signal the doctor over and continue her examination. 

-

After waking up from his month-long coma, One’s lifestyle has changed completely. On top of ‘generously’ being given a private room and brand new clothes, One has routinely been working his muscles and re-learning how to stand and walk. Which has proven to be more difficult than One had initially thought. 

Gripping the rails to get to the other side of the platform, One puts all his effort into making sure he can walk across without falling over. For the most part, he’s doing okay. Except his feet are getting heavier with each step and his joints are threatening to give in. But he’s almost there and he’s getting impatient. 

If he jumps, he can make it. 

So he tries to leap to the end but his foot drags and he trips. One falls, hissing sharply as his chin smacks the edge of the platform. 

His head throbs and when he opens his eyes, he sees two brown ones staring back at him. Usagi’s ears flop to the floor when he tilts his head. 

“Hi,” he says. “That looked painful.”

One only grunts in response. 

Usagi straightens with a smile and offers his hand. One grumbles and takes it. “Maybe you should try it.”

“What, walking?” Usagi pulls him up. 

“No, getting all the energy sapped out of you, then walking.” 

“Ha, no thanks.”

One pulls his arm away and grabs the railing again. He’s lost count how many times he’s tried crossing this platform today and he’s not about to stop, even though he feels more drained than he did when he got here. 

One takes a deep breath and pushes himself forward but his legs give out almost immediately. “Damn it!” He curses sharply, slamming his fist into the ground. The impact hurts. 

“Okay, maybe you should take a break,” Usagi crouches next to him again. “How long have you been here? I thought you would’ve finished therapy by now.”

“I did. Then I got bored sitting in my room,” One huffs out in frustration, wiping a streak of sweat from his cheek. 

Usagi narrows his eyes. “You’re supposed to be resting.”

“I can’t stop,” One growls, stifling his breathlessness. “I’ve been at this for weeks and I still can’t fucking walk.”

“Baby steps. You won’t recover overnight.”

One’s fist tightens. “It’s been a month, Usagi!”

“A month that you’ve spent pushing yourself until you collapse. That’s why nothing’s working, One.”

“You’re missing the point,” One scowls. 

“ What point?” Usagi asks dryly.

One shoves Usagi hard enough that he has to fight to stay upright. “Dumbass, the point is I couldn’t get here on my own!” One shouts. “The point is I need crutches to carry me down the hallway so I don’t fucking trip over myself. I can’t even throw a proper punch without collapsing! If I were on the streets, I’d be as good as dead.”

Usagi blinks at him in a way that One hates. It’s the kind of look he has that feels like he’s staring right into One’s soul.

He hates it.

“Nobody’s watching you here. You’re not being tested,” Usagi says after a moment that’s too long for One’s liking.

“You don’t get it,” One retorts. “You don’t know what kind of expectations I’ve been trained to meet. I’m helpless like this! If I don’t recover now, I never will.”

Usagi sits back on his knees, and levels One with a determined stare. “You’re going to get better,” he insists. “But if you keep pushing yourself, you’re just going to be tired. Then you really will need help for a lot longer. I don’t think you want that.” 

One bites back on his molars, looking away from Usagi as he continues. “I know, from what you’ve told me before, that your dad is crazy strict. He’d probably push you to keep going, probably just as much if not more than what you’re trying now, but he’s not here. It’s just me, and I’m going to help you.”

Usagi places his hand on One’s arm. “You’ll get there, I promise,” he encourages One with a smile. “But you need to go easy on yourself… got it?”

One huffs, hating that he has no argument. Because Usagi’s right. Other than riskily speeding up the process, he really has no reason to do anything but take his time recovering. Still, he hates the idea. 

Go easy, huh? 

Ten years training with Draxum and he was never taught to ‘go easy’. 

-

Ever since Usagi told One to take it slow a few weeks ago, the slider’s been recovering much faster than before and while his muscles are still stiff, he doesn’t need to use his crutches anymore. But when Usagi offered to help One train, the slider didn’t think they’d be starting with the basics. He was hoping they’d be working on something a little more exciting than just throwing punches. He hasn’t done exercises like this since he was 4. 

“Hit me,” Usagi instructs. 

One looks at him, then crosses his arms. “As much as I’d like to make you uglier, I was thinking we could do something more advanced.” He shrugs. “You know, maybe something with weapons?”

“First of all, rude. Second, you’re still recovering.” Usagi crosses his arms too, mirroring One’s stance. “Remember, you need to take it slow and steady . You’re doing good right now, don’t ruin it.”

One huffs, then rolls his shoulder. “Fine.” He leaps forward and throws a punch. His arms and legs feel like lead, heavy and slow. 

Usagi veers back, stepping aside easily. “Again.”

One shakes off the vertigo he gets from the swing. Already, he’s out of breath. But he doesn’t want to stop. 

One attacks again, striking Usagi left-handed this time. Again, Usagi dodges him. 

This time, One almost falls forward. 

Usagi catches his shoulder. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.” One shakes him off. 

Usagi seems to hesitate, as if he doesn’t believe him, but he backs off. “Good. You’re getting there. You just need a little more practice,” he assures. “Come at me again.”

One ignores the expanding pressure in his chest and just goes for it. But when he pivots and reels back his fist, the dull ache spreads to One’s shoulders and neck. The next thing he knows, he’s collapsing in Usagi’s arms. 

The rabbit grabs him swiftly and eases One to the floor. “Oof. One?” 

Soon, the ache turns into a familiar stabbing pain, making One cry and curl into himself. “Ughh, not now,” One gasps, pushing Usagi off as his heart throbs and fails.  

“One,” Usagi presses, voice twisting in alarm.

Slumped over, One sloppily pulls his shirt off, hands trembling as he grips and pries into the panel on his chest. One’s breath comes out in quick, short puffs as he looks at the blinking light below his heart. 

The flash is dizzying and it causes One’s vision to blur. Then he locks his elbows to keep himself from  falling forward, shaking the bleariness wearing on his eyes. “Eugh, that’s not good,” he drawls, words slurring together. 

“Shit, your heart,” Usagi murmurs somewhere in front of him. One didn’t notice him move. 

With his eyes glued to the tile, One realizes that he’s going to need help. As much as he hates asking for it, he’d rather not die from heart failure. So he asks the only person he trusts, without meeting his eyes. 

“I…” One takes a sharp breath. “I… need you… to fix me…” 

Before he knows it, two soft hands grab One by his arms and pull him to his feet. “I can get us to the workshop,” Usagi says. No questions asked. 

One tries to help when Usagi takes him into the engineering wing. For the most part, One manages to keep up with his friend, but sometimes he can’t help his feet falling and dragging behind him. 

When they make it to the workshop, it’s conveniently low-staffed. One doesn’t question his luck as Usagi collects an assortment of tools. Before the rabbit puts him down, One had just assumed that Usagi grabbed whatever he could find. But when he slumps against the wall and watches Usagi lay out the tools, One notices that he’s actually picked the right ones. 

One assumes it’s just a coincidence, so he doesn’t ask. As he’s about to instruct Usagi on what to grab and what to fix, the rabbit scoots closer to One with a small, L-shaped thingy. One doesn’t get any warning before Usagi’s suddenly leaning forward. 

On instinct, One leans back but he can’t get much farther than the wall. He’s surprised to see Usagi open the exterior panel of the machine without much trouble, but his confusion doesn’t last too long. Pain, like a knife twisting in his chest accompanies One’s elevating heart rate. After watching Usagi’s brows pinch together in focus, One looks at the rabbit’s hands as they work with the tools to fix his false heart. 

One frowns. Usagi doesn’t slip up. Not once. It’s almost as if he’s… done this before…

One swallows the lump forming in his throat. “Uh, how’d you…”

Usagi’s ear twitches but he doesn’t look up. “You know, you were in my room…” he starts, brows pulling tighter together, like that moment really bothered him. “And there was a lot of blood, which is obviously a bad sign, but then I saw your heart.” Usagi glances up at him for only a moment before focusing on the machine again. “I noticed it was some kind of cybernetic and… well, I had to try to fix it.”

Shit.

One shifts, eyes flitting away. “You weren’t supposed to see that,” he mutters. “I didn’t mean to— I don’t even know why I…” he trails off. 

Yes, you do. 

Although he still doesn’t remember any details, One remembers feeling like he wanted to run. Whenever he wanted to escape Draxum’s iron-fist, he’d always come to the hotel. So it was never much of a surprise to hear that he ended up in Usagi’s room. He just doesn’t like that he arrived half dead and heart literally exposed. 

“It’s okay,” Usagi leans back to switch tools. “I told you that I called for help… but I didn’t tell you that no one knew what to do with this,” he gestures at the breathing machine in One’s chest before getting right back to work. “... I have experience fixing machines, so they put you on a ventilator and life support until I could figure out how to help you.”

One stares at him. Even though the pain recedes, his chest still feels tight. He didn’t even remember his heart had been damaged. When Usagi said he was badly injured, he thought the extent of his injuries correlated to all the scarring on his body. Since he didn’t feel anything wrong with his heart, he didn’t even worry about it. But the fact that Usagi took the time to help him really catches One by surprise. “What?”

Usagi looks up. “Oh! I figured it out,” he assures. “It took a while and a bit of research… but thankfully it worked. When you still didn’t wake up, I was worried that I accidentally screwed something up. I think the doctor said you had some kind of stroke when you got here, so you wouldn’t have woken up anyways…” he hesitates, lowering his hands.

“I’m sorry,” Usagi finally sighs, looking away and leaning back. “I knew you were in trouble. I wanted—” he cuts himself off and looks even further away, holding the tool in a tight fist on his lap. “I should’ve been there with you.” 

All One can do is stare at him. 

Usagi glances in his direction and clears his throat. “Uh, anyways, how does that feel?”

Hesitantly, One looks at his chest. The pulse is quick but the warning light is no longer blinking. Everything looks and feels normal. Aside from Two and Draxum, no one else has touched his cold, mechanical heart. 

An awkward moment later, One looks up. “You didn’t say anything.”

Usagi blinks. “Neither did you. I thought… if you wanted me to know about this, then you would’ve told me. I… I just didn’t want to cross a line.”

One hesitates again, then touches the silver edge of his prosthetic. In a swift motion, the panel seals shut. Then he drops his hand across his lap. “I’ve only had it a couple years…” he pauses. “Two found a way to enhance our skills… well, my skills,” he explains, scratching his arm. 

Usagi pulls his knees into a criss-cross position and listens attentively. One continues with a deep breath. “By then, Two lost his arm and stopped training. He said it would work. He just needed me to agree to undergo the operation.” One shuts his mouth for a second, jaw setting as his frustration resurfaces. 

He did this to himself. Twice. First, with his heart and again, apparently, with the Dark Armor. 

“I didn’t think it’d go wrong.”

Usagi frowns. “Let me guess. It went wrong?”

One doesn’t answer, staring angrily into his lap. Then Usagi moves against the wall so he’s sitting beside One. “What did he do to you?”

“I don’t remember,” One huffs. “Two said it had something to do with my cardiovascular–whatever. My heart just… fell apart. So he built me a new one.”

Usagi stares at him with wide eyes. “That’s… intense.”

One grips the side of his pants, recalling what happened the last time his heart stopped functioning. The moment that led to all of this. Maybe he was responsible for what happened after but Two still betrayed him. And that won’t be so easy to fix. 

The fury that starts bubbling in his chest quickly simmers when he feels Usagi’s hand touch his shoulder. “Hey, you okay?”

One inhales, releasing his fist. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

Usagi nods, then looks at the panel, then back at One. “It didn’t hurt, did it?

“No.”

“That’s so cool.”

One raises a brow. “Cool?”

“I mean it’s an artificial heart!” Usagi knocks his plastron. “That’s pretty cool. That thing saved your life.”

“Yeah, only if it hadn’t ruined it in the first place,” One huffs lightly. 

“Well I, for one, am grateful.” Usagi smirks. “If you had died back then, you wouldn’t have met me.”

One rolls his eyes but can’t help the smile creeping on his face. 

“Poor me.”

-

It’s been a few months since One got here and he finds it extremely suspicious that Big Mama hasn’t bothered him at all. At this point, he’s recovered enough that he can walk around unburdened. Which is why he’s sneaking into her office. He’s sure Usagi is about to start a match, so he knows that she’ll be cozying up in her booth to watch. 

As he walks up to her desk, One thinks there’ll probably be a schedule marking the dates and times he’ll be going into the Nexus. Maybe some outfit designs or strategies on how exactly he’s going to rise rank. Because there has to be something.

Before he can reach her drawers and check, he’s struck with something blunt and heavy, and his vision goes dark. 

Moments later, One wakes up to the sound of applause. It takes him a while to process that he’s on the floor. The dirt, to be exact. One groans, shoulders aching as he picks himself up. When he finally looks around he sees that he’s caged in by the tall, concrete walls of the Nexus arena. 

Predictable. But, oh, shit.

One shoots to his feet in a panic, aggravating a throbbing ache in the back of his head. One grimaces, swaying forward. He locks his knees before he can fall. He stares at the gravelly battleground below his feet with wide eyes. 

Not good. Not good. Not good. 

An ear-splitting roar suddenly erupts from the other side of the arena. One flinches and grabs his head but forces his gaze up to see what exactly he’s up against. A beast of a mixed breed, unjustly large, and— frankly— quite ugly. But One is more alarmed to find that the animal is already charging at him, horns first.  

One’s lucky enough to stagger out of the way fast enough to avoid getting impaled by the hybrid’s long tusks, but instead of moving further out of the way, One automatically stands his ground and reaches for his sword.

Only to remember halfway that Big Mama confiscated his weapon along with the rest of his belongings. By then, it’s too late. The bull-thing throws its head back against One’s plastron, sending him flying. 

One gasps when his shell smacks into the ground and knocks the air out of his lungs. For a moment, he can’t feel his legs so he’s relieved when he feels the pain flare up in his knees. 

The slider groans and rolls onto his side. “Game on, bitch,” he exhales. 

The bull’s claws flash in the corner of One’s eye and he moves out of the way just before he’s stomped on. 

One scrambles to his feet and ignores it when his muscles burn. He clutches a rock in his fist and chucks it at the bull’s big head. 

It roars again and its sharp sound— like metal scraping against metal— just makes One shrivel. He doesn’t see the tusk until it rips into his arm and throws him. 

This time, One lands on his shoulder and it doesn’t make a very satisfying sound when the joint cracks. He cries out and clutches his arm. 

Dammit, this isn’t good.

One feels the ground vibrate beneath him and turns to see the hybrid charge at him again. With a lot of effort, One pushes himself up enough so he can shield his face, bracing himself before he’s trampled or impaled or something. 

There’s a blood-curdling shriek and a thud. But no impact. 

After a brief silence, the audience goes wild, cheering louder than One’s ever heard them before. He looks up, seeing the hazy greenish-blue mist filling the arena. Usagi’s standing with his back to him, swords drawn, and dark red blood dripping down the edge of one blade. Just past him, One sees the bull, its face split open with a deep, grisly gash right down the center. 

After a moment, Usagi turns around, looking down at One with his fur caked in way too much blood for that one strike. His green gaze is piercing as he stares at him.

One holds his arm with a tight jaw. 

After Usagi drags him out of the Nexus, One rips his good arm away from the rabbit and marches down the hall. 

It takes Usagi a while to catch up. One almost gets away.

He turns a corner only to run smack into the rabbit with a curse. 

“Don’t do that,” One hisses and pushes past him, ignoring the pain that flares in his shoulder. 

Usagi grabs him by the arms to keep him in place. “What were you doing in there?”

One narrows his eyes. “Really,” he says flatly. “You don’t know what happened?”

Usagi stares at him. “I… No.” He blinks, then the green haze fades from his eyes and he shakes his head. “No, I don’t, I swear.”

One scoffs and turns away but Usagi grabs him by the elbow. “Hey, you— you really shouldn’t be walking around. Besides, you should probably get that arm checked—”

One bats Usagi’s arm away. “Are you stupid!?” 

Usagi jolts, apparently taken aback. “What?”

“I didn’t wind up in the Nexus by accident!” One snaps. “ Your boss put me in there!”

Usagi’s eyes turn sharp. “No.”

One laughs incredulously, “No?”

“I told her to leave you alone.”

“You think she listens to you?!”

“I’ll talk to her again,” he insists. 

“That’s not going to do shit, Usagi!” 

“I’ll talk to her!”

One growls at his stubbornness. “She won’t care. All that woman cares about is her Battle Nexus. This is all just a game to her!”

“That’s enough!” Usagi shouts over him, voice sounding disjointed. Reluctantly, One shuts his mouth but sharpens his glare. 

“Big Mama is only trying to help.” Usagi takes a deep, shuddery breath. “Just let me talk to her,” he says slowly. “I promise, I’ll sort this out.”

There it is. The defender. Big Mama has Usagi wrapped around her finger and he doesn’t even know it. One can’t tell if the rabbit just doesn’t want to see the signs or if he’s really that oblivious. But it’s absolutely infuriating to know that Usagi trusts her just as much as he trusts One. 

It’s at times like this when One really hates this place. 

-

Whatever Usagi told Big Mama didn’t work. Not only was One thrown in the arena again, but he’s had matches all week. The hours he’s not spent recovering, he’s trying not to die in the Nexus. And this particular fight was the worst of them yet. 

Who could’ve seen that coming?

When One arrives in the medical wing, the bellhops lift him onto a table and One, as always, fights like hell against them. 

“Let me go!” he screams, kicking out. The bellhops quickly force him down and fasten his limbs to the table. One nearly yells when they stick something in his arm. 

In a matter of seconds, whatever drug they gave him completely mellows him out. Although he’s still angry and in pain, he doesn’t feel like he needs to tear up the whole room to make himself feel better. 

One’s head thumps onto the table as he stares at the blinding lights above, every nerve in his body feeling like it’s on fire times a hundred. Now that he’s thinking about it, One’s not sure he’s felt pain like this before. Then again, he’s never allowed himself to get beaten. 

Maybe he deserves this. 

“Hey… hey! What did you do to him!?”

One hardly registers the voice coming in and he doesn’t see the rabbit shoo everyone out. He barely even notices it when Usagi starts loosening the straps around his wrists. 

“Shit…” Usagi mutters.

“Leave it,” One grumbles. 

Usagi shakes his head stubbornly. “No, I’m untying you.”

One doesn’t care that much to stop him and just keeps staring at the ceiling. It’s silent until Usagi unbuckles the last strap. “I… didn’t know you were back in…”

One doesn’t answer him. 

Usagi hesitates but doesn’t look at One. “I saw what happened out there… I came to see you right away.” 

Even though he’s free, One doesn’t feel much like moving anymore. 

He remembers it. The armor, the destruction, the kills. He remembers how the rage nearly consumed him, driving him to kill the person he cares most about. Most of all, he remembers staring Two in the eyes right before he ran away. 

That guilt manifests behind his eyes and transforms into liquid tears. The fury leaves his body.  

Usagi frowns. “… Are you okay?”

“I remember everything,” One’s voice breaks in a whisper. 

“What?”

One takes a shaky breath. “I almost killed him…”

“... Who?”

“My brother…”

After a few seconds, Usagi sits at the edge of the table. It’s quiet for a couple seconds after that. 

“Is this why you stopped fighting?” Usagi asks finally. “I saw you in the arena. You… didn’t fight back. I was worried something happened.”

One looks away. 

Before today, he hadn’t put together the whole puzzle. He had started receiving bits of memory a few days ago, which had thrown him off in some of his matches… he had been upset then but he never just stopped.  

Until today.

“I deserved it,” One mumbles. 

“Don’t say that.” Usagi says firmly. “If you didn’t get pulled out when you did, that guy would’ve killed you!”

“...I’m bad, Usagi,” One admits well against his will. But he’s crying, overwhelmed, and he can’t seem to stop himself. “I’m bad. I do bad things. I’ve hurt people… my family. They— they’re never going to forgive me. I—”

Usagi leans forward and grabs One’s shoulder. “Hey— look at me.”

The slider jumps at the contact. For the first time this whole time, he looks at Usagi. One finds something relatively calming in the earnest look in his eyes, allowing him to take a slow but shaky breath. Usagi encourages him with a weak but assuring smile. “You’re okay.”

After a moment, One looks away again and pulls his hands to his chest. 

“You’re not bad,” Usagi tells him after another pause, and One squeezes his eyes shut. “... I know bad people and you’re not one of them. You’re hurt… and angry… but you’re not bad.” He insists. 

One isn’t so convinced. Even before he put the armor on, he was threatening to kill his brothers. What kind of monster does that?

After another beat of silence, Usagi apologizes. “You were right. Big Mama didn’t listen and I let you get hurt… but I promise, I’m going to fix it. I’ll stay right by your side if I have to. We’ll figure this out.”

While One doesn’t think that’s going to work, he’s too exhausted to argue. He lets Usagi sit with him until the drugs finally put him to sleep. 

-

One didn’t think that Usagi’s plan would last. While Big Mama left him alone as he recovered from his epic beating, the second her doctors reported that most of his injuries were healed, she sent Gus after him. 

The slider was lucky enough to hear the stupid mutt coming that he got a head start but Gus is fast and One’s still struggling to keep up with Usagi’s training. 

Needless to say, Gus starts catching up quick. 

With just his luck, One trips and falls onto the carpet. He hears Gus’s voice around the corner.

“I know you’re here, turtle!”

One curses and pushes onto his feet, stumbling against a display case. He pushes a plate so that the secret passage rotates and carries him into a dim-lit room. One exhales in relief.

Okay… where is he exactly?

One enters the room and looks around and hesitates. Did he come in through the east hallway?

“Oh, fizzleboo. Where are you running off to?”

Fuck.

Big Mama spins around in her big office chair, intertwining her fingers like some kind of Lou Jitsu villain. 

Instinctively, One goes on the defensive. “None of your business, lady.”

Big Mama sighs. “My little champion… you’re taken care of here. You have everything you need. More than you have at home, hm?”

One’s eyes sharpen. “I don’t want your charity,” he snaps. “Or your pity. Or whatever the hell it is.” The slider folds his arms across his chest. “I don’t care if you brought me back from the dead, I don’t fight for you. I never have and I never will.”

Big Mama hums and leans forward with a sickly sweet smile. “I have several tapes showing otherwise, my dear.”

“Yeah? Well you and your tapes can rot in hell.”

“There’s that fire you’re so famous for.” She leans back. “It’s a shame you’re so ungrateful. I have been nothing but generous. I put a very tall roof over your sweet bwimbilly head, gave you your own floriffitty space, warm food and clothes…”

One narrows his eyes. “Thanks, but I know how your game works. I’m not going to fall for it, you should know that by now.”

Big Mama stands and comes around her desk. “You have very few options here, One.” 

“I think I do,” One retorts stubbornly.

“And what’s that?” Big Mama leans against her desk, almost amused. “Will you run away again?”

“I’ll do what I need to do to protect myself from you.”

She smiles again. “Where will you go? You certainly can’t return home.”

“Again,” One scoffs, “none of your business.”

“Why don’t you go back to your room? I’ll have my personal chef prepare a scrumptillious supper for you.”

“What if I don’t.”

With a snap of her fingers, Gus barges in through the door on command. One flinches back, eyes widening as Gus approaches him. 

“Like I said, you don’t have a choice.” Big Mama replies. 

Gus swipes down but One ducks quickly under his arm and bolts for the exit. 

“I don’t think so, dude!” Gus slashes through One’s robe and holds him up with his claws. One kicks his legs out with a growl.

“Put me down!” 

Big Mama clicks her tongue in a very spiderish way. “Oh, no,” she stands in front of One and hooks a transformed claw under his chin forcing him to look up at her. “That was a mistake, wasn’t it?”

One glares at her. 

“Gussie-poo,” she sings. “Take our little prince back to his room.” She tosses him a set of keys. “This should discourage any ideas he might have.”

Gus catches them with his teeth then carries One out of the room on Big Mama’s orders. One squirms, reaching back to quickly tear his robe from Gus’s claw. He drops to the floor and runs. 

“Hey!” Gus shouts.

Before One can get far, he crashes into Usagi. The rabbit grabs One’s arms. “Woah, there you are. Where—”

“Get back here!” 

One spins around as Gus comes to a stop. Usagi swiftly pulls One behind him. “What’s going on?”

“Where did you come from!?” Gus demands.

“I was looking for One.” Usagi crosses his arms. “Whatever Big Mama sent you to do, I can take it from here.”

Gus squints at him. 

“I got him,” Usagi says firmly. 

Gus scratches his head. “Fine…” he mumbles in uncertainty. “Just make sure you escort the pris— I mean guest— to his room. Mama’s expecting him to be there, so don’t make me look bad.” He drops the keys at Usagi’s feet and walks away. 

Usagi glances at the keys then looks suspiciously at One. “What did you do??”

“What did I do?!” 

“... Nevermind.” Usagi looks at the keys and picks them up. “I should probably take these.”

“Only if you’re going to toss them in the trash,” One huffs. “She was going to lock me in my room!”

“Oh,” Usagi frowns, then hooks the keys around his belt. “Well, I won’t.” He looks at One and offers his arm. “Shall I escort you to your room?”

One scoffs. “Yeah, I guess.”

Usagi waits expectantly. Oh.

Hesitantly, One grabs his arm. 

Usagi smiles and takes One to his room. One is silent the whole way there, thinking about what had just happened. Whenever he’s been in the Nexus before, he was always free to roam around. Granted, that was because he has always been in the hotel out of his own freewill but this… is different. Big Mama was going to lock him up. 

The one trick she uses is luring people into a false sense of security. She wants people to think they’re safe and that they have a choice. They’re a guest, not a prisoner. So why would she make One feel like a prisoner?

It can’t just be because she knows that he can see through her game. Because she knew that from the start, yet she never faltered. In fact, Big Mama has been unceremoniously tossing One into the Battle Nexus every chance she got without even trying to trick him into signing up himself. It’s distinctly out of character.

So what’s different this time? What’s her plan…?

“Helloo. One?”

“Huh?” One looks up and sees they’re at his door. “Oh. Thanks…”

Usagi shrugs. “It wasn’t a big deal.”

One pauses, thinking it over. “I mean, for everything.”

“Oh.” Usagi faces him, frowning. “Are you okay?”

After a moment, One looks at him. “I can’t stay here.” 

“Okay... where are you going?”

One shrugs. “I don’t know, I’ll figure it out. I just— I need to get out. Something big is going on and I know if I stay, I’m going to be right in the middle of it.”

Usagi’s brow creases as if torn between agreeing and disagreeing, but then he nods a little. “Then… I’ll help you.”

One sighs. “I can’t ask you to do that..”

“You’re not. I’m volunteering.”

Regrettably, One knows that his chances of escaping this place alone are low. While he doesn’t want to risk Usagi getting in trouble, One could barely even get away from Gus without running into Big Mama. He has very few options. Finally, he makes up his mind and nods. 

“Okay.”