30No Holds Barred
Summary: Mugen finds himself tricked and forced into fighting various opponents for entertainment. Fight or die. Kill or be killed. Those are the rules, can you handle it? Post-series. Run away plot from my drabble series. Rating may go up.
A/N: I'm beginning to think I picked the perfect username since the actual planet Neptune is also only seen once every 165 Earth years. No bullshit this time. Life likes interrupting creativity. 'Nuff said. Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 20: Beast
Mugen yawned and scratched the back of his head as his bleary vision struggled to focus in the darkness. Tonight, his intruder had been less stealthy and slipped up – scratching a corner of the door against the stone floor. He'd sat up on reflex, though he was unfazed by the idea of an unexpected visitor. Had it been a guard, they would not have been so concerned with the courtesy of a polite entrance.
"Did I wake you?" His guest whispered, breaking the silence.
"Yeah." The hell kinda question was that?
"Sorry. Please keep your voice down – the guards are still patrolling."
"Whatever. Listen, which one are you?" He crossed his legs and plopped his head in his hand.
"Maybe it's better if you don't know."
He grunted impatiently. "Tch." She was keeping her voice low which was making it hard for him to differentiate between the women's voices that he knew. But he'd be able to narrow down that lineup based on the answer to his next question. "Well, whaddya want?"
"We need to discuss a plan of escape."
Well, his late night visitor certainly wasn't Neko, or Yuki for that matter. That left Hone or Shini-chan. And he already had a good idea of which woman it was by now.
Footsteps echoed down the corridor and both warriors reacted instantly. Mugen leapt to his feet and grabbed the stranger, throwing her against the wall of his cell. He covered her mouth and led her down to the ground, settling them both on the thin futon. His body shielded hers from view, trapping her against the wall behind him.
The guard lifted his lantern and peered into the cell, squinting in the darkness to see through the deep shadows that lurked in the short distance. Mugen stirred from his fake slumber with a convincing grunt and flipped himself over, now facing the cowering Shini-chan. A few heavy breaths later, and the guard was gone – probably eager to complete his shift's rounds and get to sleep himself.
"Clear." Shini-chan whispered, squirming to free herself without accidentally hitting one of his injuries.
"Not yet." Mugen smirked in the darkness. "I hear more footsteps."
She quickly curled herself into his chest, keeping her breath even with his to avoid setting off even the slightest suspicion. It was almost too easy.
Mugen slipped an arm under her head to bring her in closer, draping his other hand on the small of her back – testing the waters. He could feel her heated glare, but she wouldn't move out of fear of being caught by a guard. His hand wandered below her waist to rest atop her rear, groping the curve of her ass with a wanton squeeze. He had to be certain if she was truly the one from that other night, and with this he finally knew she was.
Shini-chan leapt to her feet with a huff – injuries be damned – and made for the cell door.
He grabbed her hand in the dark. "It was you that time, wasn't it?"
"I don't know what you mean."
He tugged her away from the cell door. "You know exactly what I'm talkin' about."
"Stop it." She snatched her hand away. "You'll open your wounds. I shouldn't be here. I'll come by during the daytime to discuss –"
He touched her arm, gentler than the hasty grasp from before. "Come here."
"No." Her voice was soft to avoid waking the men in the cells on either side of his.
"Yes." Mugen snapped. "You knew what you were gettin' yourself into after the last time. You want this, too."
"Fine – I mean, no!" He could make out the silhouette of her shaking head. "You shouldn't push yourself. I don't want to hurt you."
"Hurt me?" He scoffed. "You're pretty full of yourself for a little girl."
It was silent for a brief moment until Shini-chan gripped the sleeve of his shirt in retaliation to his hands on her.
"On second thought, I think I do want to hurt you."
Mugen smirked as she pounced, shoving him against the same wall he'd pinned her against minutes earlier. Her fingers tangled up in his hair, nails scratching his scalp as she pulled his head down to her level. She pressed herself flush against him to reach his lips and steal an angry kiss.
His hands found her ass again. "You sure ya wanna play this game?"
She took his mouth again, biting down on his bottom lip. "Why? You scared?"
Mugen responded by snaking his hand behind her knee and forcing her to semi-straddle him.
She pulled away from him, planting her foot firmly back onto the ground. "You can't lift me with your back in that state."
He rolled his eyes at the reminder of his stab wound. It'd had days to heal by now – it would be fine. He wasn't about to let an opportunity like this disappear just because of a little pain. In fact, a little pain could only intensify the pleasure, right?
He shrugged out of his shirt. "Take off your clothes."
"You shouldn't push yourself." She insisted.
He took a step forward and tore the sash of her jinbei, wondering why the hell she was bothering to cover herself. He couldn't fully relish the sight of her in such darkness.
"You beast." She snarled, latching onto the sash and wrapping it around his wrist. "You should be put on a leash and tamed."
"I'd like to see you try."
She faltered at his quick response. "B-be careful what you wish for."
Mugen gave the sash a yank and she stumbled into him, skin against skin. He was surprised to learn how hot her body had become, for someone pretending to be so unwilling. He could see the reluctance return to her eyes again and released the makeshift bondage with a sigh.
"Look, I like bein' this big bad wolf." He stated plainly. "But it's no fun if I'm the only one playin', ya catch my drift?"
Her doleful expression gazed up at him as response. It pained him to say it, but there was no other way for him to discern her mixed signals. He was into the roleplay, but her act had genuinely stumped him – he didn't know what was real and what was pretend.
"Anymore of this, and I'm not gonna be able to stop myself."
She nodded and took a few steps back, releasing her torn sash. "I came here to discuss our escape plan…" She was still a bit breathless as she clasped her jinbei together. "I got distracted. And I'm sorry for…distracting you, as well. But we need to come up with a plan to leave this place. Before your next match."
Mugen leaned his head against the wall, exasperated with this hot and cold treatment. Was she intentionally being a tease or was she genuinely this torn over it? It was just sex to him, but she must have been one of those girls who saw it as a grand gesture of affection.
"Fuck." He breathed, banging his head against the wall for more pain to dull his heightened excitement. "Just get outta here."
"But we should –"
"If the next word outta your mouth ain't 'screw' I don't wanna hear it right now."
Her mouth fell agape with shock. "You really are a beast."
He didn't bother reminding her how easily he could simply take what he wanted from her. Sure, she was strong, but he would always be stronger. It would be more than easy to show her how beastly he could really be, and make her regret ever crossing his path. If she wanted to call him a monster, he would give her a reason. He could be her monster.
But those dark thoughts were best left in his past, where memories of his former comrades' transgressions seemed to haunt him nightly now. He knew he wasn't a brilliant pillar of morality, but even a dirty pirate like him was better than that. He'd lied, he'd stolen, he'd killed – there was no denying that. In fact, he owned his discretions. There wasn't much he was proud of, but he was least proud of the few standards he abided. Besides, just taking something was no fun. The art of the steal and the downward dance together was what made the effort worth it. Nothing fun came easy, right?
"The melee match is two days from now."
Her voice pulled him from drowning in the dark sea that had become his thoughts lately. He had to get out of this place for sanity's sake alone. There was no way he would last much longer being left alone in this cage with just his memories.
"We must escape before then, or you might not make it."
"Screw off." He spat. "You think I'm leavin' before the fun really starts poppin' off?" He scoffed. "If that fatass went to all the trouble of throwin' me a farewell party, it would be downright rude to skip out early." He licked his lips, feeling his body swell with heat for an entirely different reason than it was before. "You wanna follow me outta here when I leave afterwards, fine. Just don't slow me down."
"But you're injured…" Shini-chan protested, voice a bit more subdued now that she probably realized it was a moot effort to remind him.
He rubbed his bandage absentmindedly, forgetting what it felt like to not have them all over him body. "S'never stopped me before and I've gotten outta worse jams than this."
She opened her mouth to rebuke him again, but closed it when she finally realized there would be no changing his mind.
"Like I said." Mugen warned. "Just don't slow me down and I'll take all you dumbasses to freedom."
A/N: Phew! You still with me? Judging by this scene alone, we can safely assume that Shini-chan is not Fuu. Sorry my fellow Fuugen-ites, I know a bunch of you wanted it to be Fuu but it would have been pushing it if he couldn't recognize her, let's be honest. As for leaving you high and dry with the quasi-smut, I couldn't make it that easy for him! Mugen should know better by now – nothing comes that easy unless you pay for it! Unfortunately, chapter 21 is not in its final draft as of the posting of this chapter, so the preview below is subject to change…!
Preview ch.21:
Mugen whistled with appreciation.
"You never said nothin' 'bout prize money before." He spat a wad of blood onto the ground next to the fallen fighter. "That changes everythin' now." He licked his crimson lips with a wolfish grin.
