Chapter Text
The Saja Boys teleport to the other stage, Baby in the centre. He feels the beat getting faster, the speed thrumming in his veins, and he knows. Now’s his moment.
“Unh! Bichinaneun fame. Gyesok oecheo I’m your idol.
Thank you for the pain cause it got me going viral!
Oh yeah, naji anneun fever
Makin’ you a believer
Nareul wihae neon jonjae haneun aideul!”
Gwi-Ma thumps out the beat, flaring up the light and sound effects for Baby. Far much more for anyone else in the group. He dances and raps against the flaring flames, slashing the air with his claws. Towards the end of his lines, the flames blaze up higher than even, illuminating Baby’s silhouette against pink and purple fire.
As the song comes to a climax, the Saja Boys rise in the air, floating high above the ground. Baby dances and sways, lost with the music, closing his eyes as the song ends. They did it.
“Oh!”
A voice calls out in beautiful harmony from the main pathway. Baby opens his eyes; it’s the half breed. His mouth twists in a sneer. What’s she doing here?
Gwi-Ma lectures her on her failures, the familiar scorn bringing a smirk to Baby’s lips. She’s doomed; they all are.
Undeterred, she walks forwards, voice breaking into song. Baby watches from high above as her human companions join her, destroying mogrifs, faceless demons, and gathering in the center. They turn to face them, faces and bodies glowing with light.
The remainder of the mogrifs are summoned back to Gwi-Ma as the Saja Boys lunge in for the kill, leaving Jinu hovering behind them.
Baby floats down to Zoey, creeping menacingly, circling her with Mystery. He slinks around her, before lunging in for the kill. She meets him with crossed arms, daggers clutched uselessly in her hands, before swivelling around to look at her half-breed friend. Baby’s thrust backwards, landing hard on his ass.
He gets up slowly, wincing before standing next to Mystery, forces joined against Zoey.
He hears conversation to the left, and turns his head simultaneously with Mystery.
Baby Saja’s mouth dropped open, midnight blue lips framing a perfect O as Jinu sacrifices himself for the half breed. Why would he do that? The stupid, romantic, annoying fool! Baby ought to have known.
Little pink holes burned through Jinu’s body, the very essence of him burning away in little pink sparks. Yet just before he evaporated into death, his patterns glowed bright pink as he collapsed to the ground. Before disappearing.
Zoey, the overly eager, irritating Huntrix rapper, snuck up from behind, waving her daggers round in her hands. Mystery leapt forward, teeth bared in fury, as she swung towards him. Her aim was true, and she hit him in the abdomen before he too disappeared.
Baby Saja slunk in the shadows behind Zoey, ready to leap up and ambush her, when his patterns shone a bright pink. They burned through his skin in a familiar pain, engulfing him in pain. This could mean two things: he was going to spontaneously combust, or Gwi-Ma was summoning him. Clearly the latter as he hit the ground hard, vanishing in a puff of pink smoke.
Waking up in the underworld, Baby rolled onto his back and groaned. His body hurt, back bruised and head spiking with pain. The stench of fire and demons stunk up the air, making Baby cough and splutter. He should be used to it: it was the smell of home. But a small glimpse into the fresh smells of the human world had broadened his horizons, changed him.
Or maybe he was delusional. It must be from the bump to the head.
Propping himself up with his hands and knees, he crawled over to Mystery. Brushing the hair away from his face (why did he insist on that style anyways?) he uncovered a large bruise on his temple. His fingers brushed over it, first gently, then pressing into the bruise hard, hoping to wake Mystery up.
“Mystery! MYSTERY!”
Pulling Mystery’s arms off his chest revealed a small stream of blood, pooling on the floor. Baby pulled away, hands stained blue, trembling. He didn’t know what to do. Why weren’t they healing?
Around him were the bodies of his friends, scattered across the plain. Baby crawled over to Romance and desperately tried to stem the blood leaking from his throat. Further ahead he could see Abby, who seemed in a terrible condition. Lying in a puddle of blood, the liquid poured from his stomach, his chest, his abs.
Jinu wasn’t there.
Being the maknae of the Saja Boys was tricky enough, but Baby was a tough cookie. He didn't cry in public: the last title he needed was ‘Crybaby’. But now, tears rolled from his amber eyes as he gazed at Gwi-Ma, who simmered above him, recovering from his own defeat. His face was scrunched up, lip quivering.
“Why?” he whispered, in a scratchy voice. “WHY? WHY DOOM THEM AND SPARE ME?” he screamed in anger, spit flying from his mouth, throat hoarse.
Gwi-Ma spoke, his voice soft, almost tender. “Rest my little Baby. All will be clear when you awaken.” Gwi-Ma’s voice had softened from his usual booming, in an attempt to soothe Baby.
Baby thumped the ground with his fists, fully aware he looked like a toddler throwing a tantrum. He didn’t care.
“NO! NO, I’M NOT GOING TO SLEEP!”
God, he even sounded like one too.
“Bring them back you ugly, mean bastard!” Baby’s insults were stupid, childish, but his mind felt too awash with emotion.
Gwi-Ma didn’t tolerate disrespect like that. Baby should be annihilated, all traces of him wiped from under the world. Instead his voice boomed out, cold, unforgiving with still a trace of concern.
“Go to sleep Baby. I’m not asking.”
As he sank to his feet, tiredness dragged down his eyelids like there were weights on them. He fought to keep them open, eyelashes fluttering and eyes rolling up in his head. This was no natural sleep, rather a slumber concocted by Gwi-Ma. Baby screamed in anger, a drawn-out, pitiful scream of fury. A tear slowly rolled down his cheek, as he collided with the ground, head thudding up and down from impact.
“Please…save…them.” He slurred, a trace of tears still in his voice. “Please.”
His body shuddered with sobs, a fresh burst of tears streaming from his eyes, an aching wail sounding from his lips. He cried with unrelenting tears, and without missing a beat, passed into sleep.
Gwi-Ma watched over the sleeping figure, looking even more baby-like in sleep than should be possible. Almost angelic, if not for the pale blue skin and dark purple patterns. His cheek was stained with tears that glimmered in the light, residue of his emotional outburst. Around him, his friends bled out unconsciously, life fading from them fast.
Gwi-Ma sighed. He supposed he’d have to stitch them up, keep them alive. Anything to keep Baby happy. As for Jinu… Gwi-Ma was by no means ready to forgive that spineless traitor, but he wouldn’t kill him. For some reason he couldn't fathom, Jinu was important to Baby.
Baby would have a new mission. Kill Rumi.
Gwi-Ma knew that his daughter, the pathetic half breed, was the strongest link of Huntrix. Without her, the band would be doomed. And who better to kill her than her own half brother. Innocent, sweet, deadly. His son.
Baby Saja.