I tried to find anything I could about the arena or who we’d be fighting, but the Dendranet had nothing. With how many types of supers there were, that made it hard to make a fight plan. I figured we should just play it safe and make plans that would work for almost anybody.

  Reload and I spent the rest of the night, and most of the next day, just planning. I was able to use the motel bible to write down our strategies, only needing a sharpie and most of Leviticus. While it wasn’t foolproof, it was better than nothing.

  By the time we finished planning, it was nearly time for us to go. I made Reload look himself over in the bathroom, making sure that he was fully healed. While his body was healed, his super resistance was still running low.

  Reload and I left an hour before the fight started, following the floating arrows. It felt weird to follow magical arrows that no one else saw. Well, arrows that only me and Reload saw. There were a couple of confused looks as we walked through the streets.

  It took us around forty-five minutes just to reach the arena, cutting it close. The building was also in the industrial district, though it wasn’t anywhere near the Crab Factory. And while the Crab Factory stood out thanks to their sign, this place was practically camouflaged. A dull gray box of a building, lacking anything distinguishing.

  Even though the arrows pointed towards the building, they didn’t lead us to any door or entrance. We had to circle around until we found a loading dock near the back, where a few people were loitering. There were a group of guys talking on one end, and there was some girl smoking on the other. Before they saw us, I put on my metal mask.

  Once we were close enough, the group of guys walked up to us.

  A man with a disheveled beard and a crooked beanie spoke up. “I think you’re lost, amigo. You two should get moving.”

  Reload smiled at the confrontation. “Watch who you’re talking to, before we have a problem. You Contract’s guys?”

  They were surprised at the sudden name drop. “And who is it that I’m talking to?”

  “Reload, and that’s my boss, Taker, over there.” He pointed at me.

  “My bad, didn’t realize you two were the talent. Good that you came in time.” He turned to face Reload. “Come with me, we’ll bring your friend in a minute.”

  “Why’re you separating us?” I asked.

  One of the men stayed behind while the others started to lead Reload away. “Security checks, man. Can’t have just anybody pulling up. Don’t worry, no funny business. You just need to wait out here.”

  It was annoying, but it wasn’t worth causing a problem over. Even if they were just ordinaries, fighting with them would be a pain in the ass. While the group went inside the building, I decided to walk around the loading dock.

  I went over all the plans we had. We still had no idea who this champion fighter was, let alone anything about their powers. It was obvious why Contract avoided using a name, since that’d give us an advantage in figuring out what we were up against.

  Super names could vary in complexity, from an already existing word to something entirely original, but it was practically a given that they’d be related to a super’s main abilities. Whenever someone hid their name, it always meant they were planning some underhanded bullshit.

  While I was deep in thought, I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was the girl that was smoking. She was Hispanic, wearing a leather jacket, tank top, and jeans. Her short cropped hair was a mess of black, with dyed streaks of purple and green. What stood out the most was her bright purple lip gloss, dripping wet to the point that it stained the cigarette she was smoking.

  “Hola, handsome. What’s a man like you doing here?” Her fingers crawled up my shoulder, settling onto my neck.

  “Oh, uh, I’m here to fight,” I answered as I turned around. Her eyes hypnotized me, and her fingertips felt electric against my skin.

  “You’re going in the ring? So you have powers?” her hand started to caress the back of my head.

  “Yeah, I do,” was the only thing I could get out.

  She dropped her cigarette to the ground and her hands gently pulled off my mask. I knew that I should’ve stopped her, I wanted to keep my face hidden, but there is only so much willpower possible in a situation like this.

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  Once my mask was off, she pulled me down until her mouth was next to my ear, close enough that I could feel each breath. “I like a man who has something special about him.”

  She pulled back, just enough that I could look at her. Before I could say a thing, she pulled me in for a kiss. I could feel the lip gloss spread on my lips as we made out, the scent of smoke hanging on her breath. I couldn’t tell you how long we stood there, I just remember being dazed as she pulled away.

  She put my mask back on, covering my face again. “Not bad. If you win the fight, I’ll give you a nice reward.” She shot me a wink and walked off, lighting another cigarette.

  The only thing that snapped me back to reality was another hand on my shoulder. Instead of another gorgeous woman, however, it was a bummy dude with a goatee.

  “Reload passed, time for you to go through.”

  I was led through the loading dock into a small room. There were a few muscular guards inside, guns on their hips. Accompanying the guards was a man wearing orange robes and a tiger mask. He either had the weirdest fashion taste I’d ever seen, or he was a super.

  While I was patted down, he glared at me. Well, he probably did. The mask made it hard to tell. I was fairly certain that he was at least looking at me. One of the guards pulled out my box of Throm, placing it in a small plastic bin.

  “No Throm in the arena. Once the fight is done, we’ll handle healing. You can get these back after the fight,” he explained.

  Once they made sure that I wasn’t hiding anything, they led me deeper into the building. Two armed guards walked by my side, while the super followed us from a few feet behind. I felt on edge having him stalking me, his presence strong enough that I could feel him readied to strike.

  After a few minutes of walking through corridors filled with exposed pipes and wiring, we reached the waiting room. Outside it stood another man that was obviously a super. He had four eyes, another pair above the ordinary set. Two of the eyes followed me as I walked in, while the other two just drifted around.

  Reload was laying on a bench, perking up when he saw me. “Ay, they finally got you here!”

  I closed the door and sat down, happy that we could have some privacy before the fight. “I can’t believe they made us go through security. But I can’t be too mad, since I ended up making out with the girl outside.”

  “Bullshit, no way,” he laughed at me.

  “Honest to Dendra. Once you went in, she walked up to me. Next thing I know, she’s all over me.”

  “Sure, man, whatever you say.”

  “Fuck you, I got proof.” I moved to take off my mask, but I stopped. I couldn’t see any cameras in the room, and it was just the two of us, but I still didn’t trust it. “Actually, nevermind. I’m not gonna take my mask off here.”

  He laughed at me, but I accepted it. If the roles were reversed, there was no way in hell I would’ve believed him. But while he was busy mocking me about making it up, the yellow screen suddenly flashed and disappeared. A moment later, a new screen took its place.

  Second Quest!

  Enter the ring and fight!

  Reload stopped laughing when the new quest appeared, also thrown off by the sudden update. Neither of us were fans of the new screen that Contract had given us. We had no way to hide it, and it glowed even in the dark. The idea of never being rid of these boxes made losing an even worse prospect. Though being his slave was still a real shit outcome, even without the quest boxes.

  The door on the other side of the room opened on its own. I decided to walk in first, with Reload close behind. We found ourselves stepping into a wide circular arena, concrete walls keeping us locked in.

  There were piles of garbage thrown around, haphazard forms of cover. I could see stacks of school desks, bald tires, and actual chunks of metal and stone. The floor seemed to be concrete, but it was littered with poorly patched up holes.

  I looked above to see a crowd of people sitting in bleachers that overlooked the arena. There had to be at least a couple hundred people watching, their stares weighing down on me. Most of them were likely rich bastards who lived in Hero Territory, people who wouldn’t affect my life immediately, only systematically.

  The issue was the people who lived in Villain Territory. If people from nearby were watching, then the Disciples could hear about it. If we won, Reload and I needed to get away as fast as possible, or try to hide out here. There was no hope of being good enough to fight directly after a match with a champion fighter.

  I took a deep breath and cleared my mind. That was a future problem. Right now, only the fight ahead mattered. I turned to see Reload smiling, with his usual deranged excitement when it came to fighting.

  A voice cut through the chatter of the crowd, an announcer shouting through the speakers. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have one hell of a fight for you tonight! The two you see before you are Reload and Taker. They’re a scrappy duo that are looking to risk it all here and now!”

  The crowd started to cheer, growing more energized. The announcer continued, “If they lose this fight, you’ll be seeing a lot more of them in the ring! Now, maybe they could beat El Tigre, and possibly hold a candle against Spect-Ocular, but these bastards didn’t want to have an easy fight!”

  The door on the other side of the arena slammed open, and our competitor walked out. The cheers of the crowd grew violent, so intense that I could feel it suffocating me. But it all faded away as I locked eyes with her.

  “Hey, Reload,” I said, barely audible through the crowd.

  “Yeah?”

  “That’s the girl I made out with.”

  The announcer roared, “They chose to challenge the Queen of Green! The Purple Predator! The Mistress of Massacre! Give a round of applause for our reigning champion, Tóxica!”