"You!"
Gene growled at the Ugly beneath him, spitting at him in disgust. The Ugly flinched back, scrambling to get to their feet. If an Ugly crossed over to the Pretty side of the city, they were more than welcome to insult the poor beings and make them feel like they were worth nothing. Growing up with this kind of thing put into his mind, Gene had no issues with doing so.
He reached up, grabbing onto their mask. He didn't know why he was doing this. Something just didn't seem right about all of this. The Ugly, the masks, all of it. The Ugly tried desperately to fight him off, but Gene was far more stronger. With just a few tugs he had ripped the metallic mask off of their face, holding it in his hands.
He immediately dropped it, making a loud clang against the stone bridge.
Who in their right mind would find this Ugly, well, ugly?
Gene couldn't help other than stare at his face. His pale, milky white skin that looked like it hadn't seen the light of day for years. Freckles were sprinkled all over his face, especially on his cheeks and nose. His ears were slightly pointed, but he had a dark bag under his one visible eye. The other eye was covered by long bangs, his hair jet black like a raven, with navy blue highlights in the pale light of the moon.
His eye....
It was a soft sky blue, and empty of any emotion. It was drained of any life, like he had seen an entire city die before him and couldn't do anything to save even one person. His pupil began shaking, in facr his entire iris was shaking. Tears were building up in the corners, and they soon started to fall.
The Ugly brought their arms up, covering their face as they began to cry. His soft crying soon turned to sobbing, which seemed like the uncontrollable kind. Something about the sobbing and how he was hiding his face made Gene's heart splinter down the center, falling to pieces.
The behavior and looks of this Ugly... they reminded him of an old friend. He couldn't remember their name, no matter how hard he tried, but he could just barely see an outline of their face.
"I.... you...." Gene started, but was struggling to find words to complete his sentence.
"I'm hideous, I know..." The Ugly softly whimpered, trying to scoot away from the Pretty. "I'm the ugliest of us all, I know I am..."
"What? No--" He started, reaching for the Ugly.
The Ugly smacked his hand away, standing up and grabbing his mask. He wobbled a bit as he stood up, biting his lip as he lifted the cold metal to his face. Gene immediately noticed that his ankle was swollen, and his leg was bent at an odd angle. He leaped up, grabbing onto the mask and pulling it in his direction.
"S-Stop, please! Give me my mask back!" The Ugly pleaded, but his voice was dry and barely above a whisper. "I'll make you sick! I'll make them hate you!! They'll find me!!!"
"Who? Who's gonna find you?" Gene questioned, ripping the mask from his grip and tossing it into the river below.
The Ugly stood there, shaking from head to toe as his stared at the spot where his mask had been tossed off. He looked tempted to jump over the ledge to retrieve it, but Gene was faster and stronger. He wouldn't let that happen.
Sure, this person was an Ugly, but Uglies weren't supposed to look like that. Uglies had scars, bruises, stitches, and these weird dark spots on random places on their body (that's called a birthmark, Gene--). Uglies weren't supposed to make the heart of a Pretty like himself beat rapidly whenever they looked into his eye, and they definitely were not supposed to be cute.
So why was this Ugly the exact opposite of what an Ugly was? He belonged on the Pretty side of the city, what was he doing in that dump? Had the government system messed up, and classified him as an Ugly from birth?
Suddenly bright headlights were on them, and Gene could hear vicious snarls coming from all around him. He managed to tear his eyes away from the Ugly, and realized that there were other Pretties around them. They weren't pretty enough to be Pretties, but weren't ugly enough to be ranked as Uglies.
Specials, Gene thought with alarm, silently gulping.
Specials were like the enforcers of the law. They were beautiful, yes, but equally as dangerous. They were like machines, they had a certain programming to their brains. Gene had learned all about them in his classes. They kept the Uglies obedient, and kept the Pretties safe (and stupid--). But why were they here, bothering with Gene and this Ugly?
"Well well well...." One of the Specials addressed the Ugly, no signs of friendliness in her cold, metallic silver eyes. "You're not so secretive without your precious mask, now are you?"
The Ugly said nothing in response to the Special, which was extremely risky. You were supposed to always answer to a Special honestly, they could always tell if you were lying. The Ugly just glared at the Specials surrounding them, his eye and entire body shaking with fear.
Gene didn't blame him, he too was afraid of the Specials. Granted, of course, he was taking classes to become a Special agent, but that was besides the point. Specials were dangerous, and they were just a rumor in the Pretty world. They were blamed for anything out of the ordinary, even if it was another Pretty who had done it.
"We've been hunting you down for quite some time... you're the ringleader, after all." The Special snarled, narrowing her eyes. "If we get you, then the others will fall into line."
"The others?" Gene questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Are all Uglies who wear masks this pretty?"
"Gene Charleston, one of the students who are training to become a Special." She identified him, turning her cold gaze to him. "Such a shame you have to die."
"What!?" He gasped, his face becoming pale as the Special said that.
"Your parents were smart, creating those masks. They mess with our vision." The Special continued, ignoring Gene. "It really was a shame that your family had to die the way they did, but they should've kept quiet."
"Wait..." Gene trailed off, murmuring under his breath.
He turned his gaze to the Ugly, who had become even more pale than he already was. The hair, the skin, the eye, the face, the family... it all made sense. Everything was coming into place in Gene's mind, memories that had been a sluggish mess clearing up as the confrontation took place.
He knew exactly who this was.
"Zane...? Is... is it really you?"
