Black Market Merchant

Zane nearly felt his legs give out as soon as he walked into the Arena. The rooms scale nearly blew his mind! All his life he had been living on the other side of the river and seeing just this room alone and the multitudes of people gather within, told him how little he really understood of what the world was like around him. Sure, he had been in abandoned factories and warehouses before, but seeing this place so full and alive was a mind changing experience.

On top of this, everyone here had come to simply just watch others fight for sport and to make unimaginably expensive bets on them. The fights he had been through to be in the strongest gang in town started to feel petty. Like all his efforts seemed in vain and fruitless. There was still much for him to learn it seemed.

"You alright?" McMathers asked seeing that Zane had stopped.

"Y-ya, I'm fine." Zane replied overcoming his initial shock and continued to follow the older man.

They turned left and followed a side hallway that led to a winding ramp, which lead to a series of secluded booths. Each spacious booth appeared to be able to hold nearly thirty people. Outside each entrance to these booths was a Mad Dog guard, dressed in matching red and black arm bands depicting the gang’s emblem, a snarling dog.

Dino McMathers started to enter one of the booths after showing the guard a ticket he displayed on his personal holographic display device. Zane tried following in after him, but the guard stopped him abruptly by pushing him back on the chest. McMathers noticed this told the guard that Zane was with him. Luckily, the guard let him by with out much fuss. This was good because being stopped in such a manner really ticked Zane off.

To say that the booth was impressive would be an understatement. To Zane it seemed as if he had walked into a king's castle, like the ones he read about as a child. The royal red varnished seating was spotless and the floor was carpeted without a stain in sight. Above was the most shinny chandelier he had ever seen. The one in the Marriott hotel lobby was nothing compared to this one and it seemed every booth room had one.

"This place is so clean and beautiful!" Zane remarked aloud.

"Really? I'd say it's rather simplistic in design." McMathers replied casually as the he approached a group of equally aged and wealthily dressed men. "Gentlemen, it's good to see that you’re all here!"

"Ah, Dino. The same goes for you old chap." A thin man replied. "Who this blighter you've brought here?" The English accented man said motioning towards Zane with a cigar in his hand.

"This is my new acquaintance, Zane. He seems to be starting off on his journey as a betting man and I figured it would be enjoyable to give him a little nudge in the right direction." McMathers explained as Zane nervously joined the group of wealthy men.

"Well, it clearly seems that he is just starting. Ha-ha." Another red-haired chubby man replied, hardily patting Zane's back. "Tell us, who are you betting on?"

"My boss, Queen. She's going to beat Golem." Zane replied. He really felt out of place here, but what could he do? He was already getting absorbed into this new environment.

"Interesting." A third man replied.

Unlike the others this man was clearly far richer than the rest, even despite his muscular appearance. Every finger had an elaborate ring, and a tiny gold chain was hooked from his nose ring to his right earring. The man took out of his neon purple suit a device similar looking to McMathers device and turned it on to reveal the fighting list for the day.

"Queen, Shadow League Tier 20. With 3 wins 0 loses and 0 ties. Little else is uploaded about her, other than some basic statistics." The richest dressed man replied scanning the holographic projection. "Golem, Shadow League Tier 9. With 4 wins 0 loses and ties in that Tier. In the Shadow League he has an overall record of 119 wins and 3 losses and 0 ties. Weapon of choice: Plastic Propellant Gloves." The man looked up from the projection of Golem to Zane. "Betting on the underdog I see. Queen is definitely outmatched statistically and by experience. Either you're just making a guess for the big gains and loyalty to your boss or you have some insight as to how this might play out."

"Well, I did see them fight once for five minutes last week. They were fairly evenly matched I guess." Zane replied. He felt like he shouldn't have said this bit of information, but his nerves got the better of him.

"Oh, that might explain it some." The thin man said, as he and the others were listening. "Hmm, perhaps I should change my bets before the match starts."

"I wouldn't waist your effort." The richest man interjected. "Golem is clearly the better of the two. I have seen Golem fight several times and compared to the fighting pool here, he is definitely one of the best. Keep your bets as is."

The thin man nodded slowly as he thought thing over.

"You mean there are others stronger than Golem presently here?" McMathers asked. "I hadn't seen any such Fighters in my visits here."

The red-haired chubby man let out a chuckle. "You always seem to miss those fights. Last year you were gone a lot on business. There are four fighters, I would say, that are much more superior to Golem that are regular fighters here. Their statistics are equally just as impressive if not more so."

The men continued on talking, but Zane was lost in thought. "Four Fighters even stronger than Golem?! If Lisa was struggling to handle him, then how could she possibly handle them? Should I go warn her now or see how she handles the fight?"

"Zane… are you listening?" McMathers asked nudging Zane's shoulder.

Zane's thoughts returned to the present. "Sorry, I was just thinking. What is it?"

"Mr. Cline was asking you a question." McMathers said pointing with the top of his cane at the richest man.

"I was asking you how much you are willing to be against me on the fight?" Mr. Cline said putting his heavily ringed fingers together in front of his mouth, as if he was giving his full attention to Zane’s reply.

"I only have three hundred dollars, but I already said…" Zane started to say but was interrupted by the thin and chubby men's laughter.

"Ha-ha, he definitely is starting off as a better or dead beat broke. Three measly hundred? I could by a half bottle of wine for more!" The chubby man said reining in his laughter.

"I dare say that's a good joke, Zane!" The thin man added. Then he noticed Zane apparently was serious and not laughing along. "Oh, it's not a joke? Well, uh, one has got to start somewhere chap."

"I'll match that bet then." Mr. Cline said to Zane before Zane had a chance to speak. "Three hundred means nothing to me, but I shan't loose even a small bet as this. Deal?" Mr. Cline said extending his hand to Zane.

Slightly bewildered Zane shook Mr. Clines hand and replied, "Deal."

From that point on Zane hardly could keep up with the rich men's conversation. They kept talking about betting thousands to millions of dollars on past bets. Making business deals over dozens of state and country borders. It was enough to make Zane's simple lifestyle mind spin. Even McMathers was no exception, he was proudly talking about his money making endeavors as well.

Eventually the time for the first match was nearly here. The booth room had now ten more rich men and women that had joined them. The women were dressed in such revealing clothes and simmering glitter that Zane thought he was seeing angels. They made the women from his part of town seem like nothing worth looking at, mere rags with legs. He felt bad realizing that there were such staggering differences between the people with money and those without.

Suddenly a loud voice boomed all around the room, and Zane nearly jumped out of his seat. He had never heard an Announcer speak before! The crowd cheered in with an excited throng and immediately Zane felt excited of what was about to happen. The first match of the day was starting.

…

Lisa met up with Sadie, Benny and Hanna not long after leaving Zane. She believed that Zane would be fine on his own and decided to stay focused for her upcoming fight. They were in a locker room waiting for Lisa's fight to start.

"So, Hanna, did you happen to see anyone familiar looking?" Lisa asked the little girl.

Hanna was obviously nervous and was holding Benny's hand tightly. "No. There are so many people here. I can't get a good look at the everyone in the crowd." Hanna replied softly.

"No worries." Lisa said patting Hanna's head. "Once everyone is sitting down, you'll be able to look around better."

"Ok." Hanna said with a nod.

"Sadie do you have any input that I might be able to use to fight Golem?" Lisa asked.

Sadie was working on her tablet and appeared to be deeply absorbed on her work. "Hmm?" Sadie hummed quickly looking up. "You say something?"

"I asked if you had any tips." Lisa repeated.

"Well, I was looking over some of the fights that Golem appeared to struggle in, though he eventually won them." Sadie replied. She turned the tablet around for Lisa to see it. "If you notice, that even though Golems speed is rather fast, there were times his opponents got into his blind spot. The bulky armored helmet provides impeccable defense, it also creates a blind spot behind his head." The image showed another man getting around Golems attack and smashing a large hammer on the back of the helmet. Golem staggered, but never fell.

"I think that if you could do something like that pinball attack pattern thingy you attempted before, then you might have another chance to attack him there. However, he's seen that attack before. So, you either have to start off with that attack to get the drop in him before he warms up, or you're going to have to do it sometime when he least expects it." Sadie said finally putting the tabloid down.

"Hmm, I can try it right away. But if he is able to block me, then I might need to have a backup plan." Lisa replied tapping her chin in thought.

"I'll help with that." Benny said and the two ladies looked at him. "I'll need more time to see his and your abilities to think of one. Just keep an eye on where I sit. I'll shout out an idea’s I can come up with."

"I'll definitely be able to hold out until you do. Just don't take too long." Lisa said giving Benny a wiry grin.

"I won't." Benny retorted.

"Hanna, you just keep looking for anyone you might know." Lisa said looking back at the little girl. "If you see someone let Benny know right away. That way he can help find them later."

Hanna nodded, but she clearly was quite nervous.

"Don't worry. We got this. Remember you are not alone. You have us to help." Benny said giving her a reassuring smile.