Day One: Afternoon

[Android 17]

Seventeen had left behind the city a few hours ago, and by now, the sun was already beginning to set behind the android as he made his way toward whatever laid ahead of him. Turning around to face the path from whence he had came; the machine-hybrid lifted his forearm above his eyes and took a little peak at the sun as it descended beneath the western horizon.

?Red sky at night, sailor?s delight,? Seventeen whispered with a smirk as he pivoted away from the sunset and resumed his path toward the unknown. Humming softly to no one in particular, the machine-hybrid pulled out his lasso and began to twirl it at his side as a means to occupy his mind as he trudged onward toward an unperceivable destination. With the rain having recently come to a conclusion, the cybernetic warrior was once again starting to join enjoy himself.

?Hello hello, my brave warriors! It's now in the middle of the day, and I'd like to congratulate you all on surviving 12 hours! However, you only have...six and a half days left to kill forty-one people, or nobody wins!? It was the voice of Karl Jak?the host of the illustrious competition that Seventeen was embroiled within. ?Here is the death list: Grandpa Gohan, Warren Peace, Paige,? the last member of the recently deceased instantly piqued the attention of the formerly inattentive android.

?No way,? the machine-hybrid muttered after coming to a dramatic halt. ?Why the hell would she enter this competition?? Seventeen sighed?letting his shoulders sag and the lasso fall to the ground. Despite the fact that death in Dante?s Abyss was mainly a farce, the android was nevertheless thoroughly disturbed with the notion that his pregnant girlfriend had entered the competition and got herself axed within the first twelve hours.

?Don?t sweat it, sweetheart.? The android whispered softly. ?If I figure out who took your life, I?m going to throttle the life out of him. Then I?ll make sure to cut off his head and parade it around like a gruesome little trophy,? the idea of butchering someone brought a smile back to the machine-hybrid?s pale visage. Something about murder and dismemberment sparked something within the android. With an uncharacteristically malevolent smirk, the cybernetic warrior collected his rope and continued on his path.

It was as if he had unearthed a side of his persona that had become buried over time. Had all these years of putting himself on the line for others murdered a part of his being? Seventeen was aware of the fact that he had no recollection of his life before two years ago. In fact, one of his biggest personal mysteries of those first few months had been discovering the truth about his existence; however, something had transpired that drew the machine-hybrid?s attention elsewhere.

?In dedicating myself to helping others,? the machine-hybrid spoke aloud. ?I lost sense of myself in the process,? Seventeen?s fingers tightened around the rope as he struggled to digest the epiphany. Was he being too blunt with himself? ?No?? the onyx-haired warrior whispered?answering his own question. Unfortunately for those with whom the android had past affiliations, enough was enough.

It was time for the cyborg to stop procrastinating and solve the greatest mystery of his life: ?Who am I?? After all, how could the android properly raise a child to be an independent individual if their own father was clueless to the first twenty years of his life? Slinging the rope over his shoulder, Seventeen narrowed his eyes and set his sights on the small building on the horizon in front of him.

Although the odds were no doubt heavily stacked up against him, the onyx-haired warrior wasn?t going to go down without a fight. This year?s Dante?s Abyss wasn?t dedicated to the fans, his friends, or even his soul mate. It was devoted to one and only one individual?

Android Seventeen.