Chapter 35: Past

{ This chapter starts Ricolo backstory.}

Five years ago.

In an elegant room filled with lavish paintings and gold-trimmed trimmed chairs, a slightly aged woman with small wrinkles covering her skin, could be seen, sitting in a brown cushioned chair wearing an expensive white dress. Directly in front of her was a tanned man wearing a black suit and a large slightly obnoxious dark top hat. A long brown goatee drooped down the man's face.

A small glass table with a silver frame separated the two, as the man leaned on the table, his arms pressing onto it. Revealing the expensive watch on his right wrist. A fascinated look covered his face, as he spoke in a dumbfounded voice.

"Lori? You're telling me? You're going to raise a group of assassins from a bunch of homeless orphans? " 

" Going to? I've already started and it's been perfect. Thanks too your money. I've been able to make the greatest killing machines on this planet. " Said Lori while waving her hands, with a massive chaotic grin on her face, stretching ear to ear. The man just shook his head, and asked a question. 

" How long have you been doing this experiment?"

" Tenish years. I kidnapped a group of six toddlers and abandoned them inside a large hole. That's around a hundred feet deep and 40 feet wide. Digging it was a pain in the ass, but- " Before Lori could finish the man interrupted her. 

" I don't care what you did. What makes them killing machines? "

" Well. "...

Chirp Chirp Chirp

Several years ago, inside a massive hole, a group of toddlers barely older than three, lay on the ground, dirt covering the rags they called clothes. Dirt filled their fingernails, as they stared up into the sky, dehydrated and starving. The bright sun was the only source of light, illuminating the inside of the deep hole.

Throughout the walls of the hole, there were large wooden sticks that stuck out the walls, creating a pathway that led out the hole, but even though the toddlers were stuck inside the hole for years, unsurprisingly not a single one of them had escaped from the hole. But oddly, enough, even though it was the middle of the day, every single one of the toddlers was deeply asleep. 

The reason for this, was three small metal vents, 20 feet above the toddlers. These vents were pumping out cold sleeping gas. The cold gas, sunk through the air engulfing the toddlers making them pass out. Assassins have no reason to be awake during the day, this was the reasoning for Lori.

If she pumped out this gas for long enough the toddlers would change. Turning them into nocturnal "animals". Perfect for the killing machines she dreamt of creating. These toddlers' identities were obvious, it was Ricolo and the ones who were trying to kill him. 

Even though the blazing hot sunlight baked Ricolo's and the others' skin. They didn't budge for hours, sleeping peacefully, until finally, the sun vanished with the pumping sleeping gas. In a matter of seconds, Ricolo's eyes shot open and his small body raised, pushing off the muddy soil under him. 

He stood up with wobbly legs, his body was screaming in pain, from the intense sunburn covering his body. But his mind wasn't fixed on that, instead, he was staring at a metal bucket, filled to the brim with berries. He slowly began to walk towards this bucket, until he paused and looked down at a young girl with green hair, sleeping.

He stared at her for a few seconds, his young mind, racing with thoughts. Until he softly tapped her shoulder with his foot, waking her up. She rubbed her eyes gently and looked up at Ricolo confused until he pointed towards the bucket. As soon as the girl made eye contact with the bucket, her heart sank, and she stood up speedily. 

This sudden loud movement, woke up the other sleeping toddlers, making them push off the ground in unison. For the first time, since the children were plunged into this hole. They would peacefully eat a meal. Like the savage animals, Lori dreamed of creating, every single time previously food was dropped into the hole. The toddlers fought over it. Scratching, biting, kicking, punching, doing everything in their power to make sure their starving bodies were fed. 

But now, sitting around the bucket, were the toddlers, grabbing onto the berries, eating a handful at a time. They ate for several minutes until the once-full bucket vanished, and the children lay on their backs with a happy grin covering their faces. But unbeknownst to the children, obviously the cruel and twisted Lori wouldn't lower regular berries into the hole. Every single berry inside that bucket was slightly poisonous. Not enough to kill them, but enough to make them weak.

She did this for two reasons, one to make sure, that when the toddlers grew old, their bodies were naturally resistant to poisons. And to ensure, that every single child survived. What I mean by this, is that every child that lost the fight for the first bucket of food would win the second one. The first children that would have won, would have been too weak, to defeat the other children when the food was lowered once again. It was a twisted cycle that would have repeated endlessly, until this fateful day...

" So? What else did you do to them? " Asked the man wearing the top hat. 

" Obviously, I couldn't leave them in that hole forever. They were like cavemen, they didn't understand words or languages. So, naturally, I went down there and taught them. I gave them basic alphabet books and explained them to them. You should have seen their faces when I first went down that hole. They looked at me like I was God. " The man let out a loud scoff and leaned back in his fancy chair, as Lori kept on talking. 

" Them alphabet books turned into comic books, they listened to me, like robots, machines, every single one of them, except for one. But I'll get back to him, later. But after six months, I taught them the basics of speaking. And headed back up the hole once more, giving the toddlers one simple order, make it to the top. "

" How long did it take them? " Asked the man, but to his surprise, Lori began to chuckle, as she began to speak in a crazed voice.

" A week. Yeah, you heard me. A single week. Those dumb children made it to the top in a week, and best of all, when they reached the top, every single one of them, had awakened their quirks. It was like my destiny was blessed. That's when I knew my little experiment had a chance to actually succeed. " 

" But truthfully, I didn't expect them to reach the top, that fast, so I was slightly unprepared. But I thought quickly on my feet, and told them to go back down the hole, and wait for me. " The man's eyes widened, as he brought his hand to his chin, grabbing onto his goatee, stroking it while asking a question. 

" And they just listened? " 

" Yep. Like sheepdogs, but one of them, was clearly hesitant. The boy named Ricolo, unluckily for him. I noticed this. " 

" So? What did you do to him? Get rid of him? " Asked the man, Lori just scoffed loudly and spoke while standing up from her chair. 

" God no. That boy out of that entire clique was the most talented. I knew I couldn't just torture him and make him break. Unlike the others, I would need something to control him...That's when my brain clicked, when I first saw Ricolo, he was next to his little sister, abandoned together, lying on a flat piece of cardboard inside a dark alleyway. I only took him, because I wanted to have an even number. If I was lucky, she would still be alive."

" Well, was she? " 

" Didn't I say earlier, that my destiny was blessed? I found her, inside an orphanage roughly around two hours from the hole. A frail child with blue hair. I knew when I first locked eyes with her, that she was related to Ricolo. " Responded Lori, walking around the table and approaching a dark green chalkboard that was hanging onto a wall. She grabbed onto a piece of chalk and began to speak while writing, what she said. 

" I introduced the two together, letting them hug each other, and cry, etc. I soon separated the two, and promised Ricolo that I would let him see her again, if he would listen to me. After that day, he listened to me, like the others. After removing his hesitation, I soon went to work, teaching them how to fight. "...