Open at 11:00 PM, a small market had its signs glowing outside on the dark streets dimly lit by streetlights, written at the top of the store in big letters: Mix-Market.
Walking with short steps, a young guy stares at the coffee shelves. He approaches a bag of coffee and asks himself, with dark circles under his eyes and a exhausted look:
— Late like this and that old man sends me to buy coffee...
Suddenly, a distant voice echoes in his mind like a blue light:
— "I promise!... I will free everyone!"
The boy looks back with a dead stare and keeps walking slowly down the aisles of that small market, just holding the bag of coffee with his left arm. Approaching the register, he puts the bag on the counter and stares at the small TV showing the security cameras in real time. For a brief moment, he loses himself in his thoughts, and an image takes over his mind of someone lying on top of rubble while speaking softly:
— "I'll... fix this..."
— That'll be 12 reais, man.
Brought back to reality, he reaches into his pocket, pulls out his wallet, grabs two bills, and hands them to the cashier. She bags his purchase in a blue plastic bag, says goodbye, and goes right back to scrolling on her phone:
— Have a good night, man.
He pushes open the glass doors and steps outside as the shop chimes ring. The cashier checks the kid walking out for a brief second and goes back to her phone.
Walking aimlessly on the sidewalk in the quiet night, looking up at the yellow glow of the streetlights until he stops and stares at one that's burnt out. He narrows his eyes slightly and speaks in a sarcastic tone:
— Useless local government...
He feels a tickle on his leg, looks down, and sees a gray cat rubbing its tail against his shoes.
Squatting down, the young guy gently pets the cat's head. With that dead-fish look in his eyes, he cracks a small smile while stroking the animal and speaks:
— Ah... what's the point of complaining, right?..
Suddenly, the sound of falling cans echoes from a nearby alley, and the cat dashes inside. He watches for a few seconds, gets up, and starts heading back home. Passing by the dark alley, he hears the cat meow, which makes him freeze on the spot. He turns around, pauses for a moment, and hears another meow, making him think:
— Is it hungry?...
— Guess if I bring it home, the old man won't complain...
The young guy approaches the alley and checks his surroundings. Hearing the cat meow once more, he decides to step inside. He walks through, looking at the trash bags scattered on the ground and walls covered in moss and graffiti. Looking down again, he spots the cat, kneels down, sets the shopping bag on the ground, and pets the cat while asking:
— Hey...
— How about you come with me? I've got some good treats for you at my place.
— Then you can keep me company instead of that grumpy old man... Haha..
He picks up the cat and keeps looking at it with a silly smile on his face. But as he looks closely into the animal's eyes, he catches a bright flash reflecting in them. The kid turns around instantly, but it's too late. A hooded man stabs him right in the lower back, instantly shouting with red, frantic eyes:
— WHAT... WHAT ARE YOU... WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY PRECIOUS "PLUFFI"??!
— ARE YOU TRYING TO STEAL HIM?! ARE YOU TELLING ME YOU WANT TO STEAL HIM?! YES, YOU WANT TO STEAL HIM!!
The kid starts to panic, feeling an overwhelming pain, trying to grab the man's hands on his back while being choked by his other arm. Blood starts leaking between his lips, and through intense pain, he tries to explain himself while blood pours from the wound like a open faucet:
— S-Sorry.. I didn't know..
— Forgive me... Please...
The man gets even more unhinged and drives the knife deeper, causing unbearable pain that makes the kid scream out loud. The man starts laughing and asks his victim:
— HAHAHA WHAT'S WRONG??! YOU THIEF! GONNA CRY?! THIEF!
— YEAH! THIEF! THIS IS WHAT A THIEF DESERVES! YOU THIEF! YOU MUST'VE STOLEN MY DRUGS TOO! WHERE ARE THEY! WHERE ARE THEY??!
The kid frantically sweeps his left hand along the ground and finds a fork. Without thinking twice, he jams it into the addict's eye. The attacker drops the knife instantly, falling to the ground in agony:
— AHHHHHGHHH!!
— YOU BASTARD! IT HURTS! AHHHHH
The kid collapses on the ground and starts crawling, screaming for help with all his strength as his voice echoes down the alley:
— HELP!
— SOMEONE... HELP ME!
He crawled with everything he had to get out of there, but the man grabs his leg—his eye ruined by the fork. He starts dragging the kid back, screaming at him:
— WHAT... WHAT DID YOU DO! YOU SON OF A BITCH!
— I'LL STAB YOU TO PIECES! I WILL! I WILL! I WILL!
The kid panics even more, screaming for help and denying his cruel fate. The man pulls him back and finally reaches the knife again. He grabs it, plunges it right above the other wound, and starts stabbing repeatedly, laughing like it's the funniest thing in the world. The kid kept screaming until his voice slowly faded away. Suddenly, as his vision starts to go dark, the cat stands in front of him one last time, meows once, and everything goes black.
— Meow...
In the middle of that darkness, the sound of multiple footsteps echoed from all around.
He woke up. Looking around, he saw people carrying vegetables to their stalls, people walking by buying things, and others lying or sitting on the ground in filthy, tattered clothes.
The kid stares at the wall, dazed, as if his mind hadn't processed any of this yet. An old man sitting on a dirty rag complains in a raspy, annoyed voice:
— Hey! How long are you gonna stand there?!
— Get out of here!!
The young guy collapses for a moment, buries his face in his hands, and starts having a panic attack. He was breathing heavily with his hands covering his face while tears fell, muttering quietly and struggling to get words out:
— What... what happened?... What is all this? What's going on??
— What is... Agh...
He vomits and passes out immediately right after. The vomit falls straight onto the old man, who starts cursing at the kid in every way possible while the boy's vision fades, his eyes rolling back as he finally passes out completely.
A voice deep inside his mind echoes with disdain and superiority—a voice so distinct and terrifying it sounded almost like a strange relief from someone who wasn't there to do good or evil:
— Finally... The perfect body...
But even deeper, another voice echoes with a powerful blue radiance like deep space—an extremely familiar voice:
— Found you...
Suddenly, the young guy wakes up gasping, choking on water. A guard had thrown a bucket of water right in the kid's face. As he sputtered, the guard sat on a broken stone, leaning against the city wall, and began questioning him with a cold stare, hands gripped tight on his spear:
— Your name.
— Who are you.
— And where did you come from.
— Tell me everything. Don't hide a thing, or I'll execute you right here, right now.
Terrified, he closes his eyes and answers quickly:
— My name is Shizu Mark!
— I-I'm not from around here! I'm from somewhere very, very far away!...
— Uh... I was just visiting and got lost...
Instantly, a strong gust of wind blows through the kid's hair before he even realizes what just happened. Shizu only sees the spear embedded in the ground inches from his face, leaving a small cut on his cheek. Gripping the shaft tightly with a furious expression, the guard repeats the questions:
— Your name.
— Who are you.
— And where did you come from.
— If you lie one more time... you'll have a spear straight through your head!
Shizu breaks into a cold sweat. He lowers his head and tries to explain it differently to convince the guard:
— I... already told you.
— My name is Shizu Mark. I'm from somewhere really far away...
— After I passed out... I woke up in this place...
Recalling the memories of being killed back in his own world, Shizu clenches his hands tight with a sad, pained look.
The guard closes his eyes tight, bites his lip, and suddenly yells as he punches the stone wall:
— DAMN IT!
Shizu jumps up in panic, desperately trying to prove he was telling the truth:
— I'm not lying! I swear it's all true!
The guard crouches down, leaning his forehead against the wall with his back to the kid, and answers in a somber tone:
— I believe you...
— Mostly because... kidnappings are getting more common around here every day...
Shizu starts to feel a wave of relief, but filled with questions, he sits near the guard—who was still facing the wall—and asks:
— Can you tell me... where am I?
The guard raises his head and answers dead seriously, no beating around the bush:
— Young Mark.
— You are in one of the worst places in the world. This is the City of Babadar, but to be specific...
— The Prison-City.
Shizu pauses for a second, his expression turning serious as he asks once more:
— Did you say... Prison-City?
Dark clouds gathered overhead, blocking out the sun and threatening rain. The guard stands up and answers again, without a single trace of joy or pride in his voice:
— Exactly. The City of Babadar. The Prison-City!
Shizu quickly stands up, taking a step back, and asks with fear in his eyes:
— You mean I'm trapped here?!
The guard turns to him, steps closer, and replies with a blank look:
— No.
— It means everyone is trapped in the exact same place. Forever.
— And the one who decided that...
He lowers his head for a second, fear clear in his voice:
— Is the tyrant who founded this place herself...
— Ana Izius Babadar!
Shizu leans back against the wall, lost in thought as he tries to make sense of what was happening and where he was. Coming to a decision, he turns to the guard to find out more about this Tyrant:
— Mister Guard... Could you tell me who Ana Izius Babadar is?
The guard, who had been serious a second ago, snaps into anger and barks at the kid:
— Kid, did you live under a rock or what?! How is there anyone in this world who's never heard of Babadar?!
— Whatever... I'll break it down for you so even a toddler can get it.
The guard sits down on a stone near the rampart, leans back, and begins the story:
— A long time ago, this whole place was just a small village. A peaceful spot, though it got raided by monsters every now and then. Goblins attacked regularly looking for women and food, like livestock and crops.
The guard starts spinning his spear while staring at the ground:
— But one day, total destruction was unavoidable. A massive horde of heavily armed goblins attacked the village. Not even the strongest adventurers in town stood a chance against a single elite goblin. And just when everything was about to end, a beam of hope appeared in the distance—wearing golden armor, carrying a giant warhammer, and radiating an aura completely out of proportion to anything else.
The guard stops spinning the spear, slams it into the dirt, and grimaces in anger. Shizu flinches at the sudden move but keeps watching him speak:
— In that moment, the Heroine Izius Babadar showed up with a massive army. They wiped out the horde completely, killing every last goblin and saving everyone. Naturally, the villagers were overjoyed and viewed her as a true hero... but I'm gonna tell you the biggest lie about that story.
Shizu looks at the guard and sees that cold, deadly serious gaze:
— One truth about that day was that her guards didn't fight for a single second. They were only ordered to surround the entire village while it was under attack. Their only instruction was to stop any goblin—or villager—from leaving that place...
— The one who actually killed that horde of 12,000 armed goblins in seconds...
— Was Ana Izius Babadar alone.
Shizu begins to panic, clenching his fists as he tries to comprehend the horror of it. The kid asks with a trembling voice, looking at the guard who was watching him as if he already knew the boy would react like this:
— Doesn't that make her... a monster?
The guard stares straight ahead and answers without denying it:
— Yeah. An undefeated monster for 400 years...
Shizu turns around, shocked and baffled, asking incredulously:
— 400 years?! She's not human at all!
The guard looks up and bursts out laughing at the way the kid put it:
— Hahaha! Fair point, kid, hahahaha...
He drops his head again, a bittersweet smile on his face as he speaks with the same heavy tone, hiding his frustration:
— Even for a 400-year-old monster like her... wiping out this entire city in seconds would be child's play...
— That's exactly why whatever she says is absolute. Completely unchallengeable...
— That is Ana Izius Babadar.