Chapter 123: A Pair Of Tigers Like Us

Grandon watched us get out but didn't say anything as he closed up his cab and drove away. My words must have hit him in some way, but hopefully in the right way. I willed Diamond to retract my helmet fully, so my dark short hair and trimmings of a beard showed. Doing this also showed everyone my eye and four purple three-centimeter broad lines running up my neck's front and back. 

Most around the entrance we had been dropped off at were masked or suited up in some form of large or medium MAS unit less advance than mine. Suddenly, I heard someone calling, and I turned to look, but I kept Kyrina in my sights the entire time. This place was far too dangerous to lose focus, but I noticed that Tiger-Kin friends, Tarclaw and Kret, were waving and calling us.

"Kyrina, The cats are waving us over; let's go join them."

"You not worried?"

"Oh, I am worried about everything, but they are the only ones we really know, so sticking close to them won't be bad. Plus, I have an idea about how to deal with these two, maybe."

"I think it sounds so hot when you're so convincing and confident, hehe!" Kyrina giggled as she took my arm.

I rolled my eyes and sighed.

"There was no way to be sure about anything that will happen here. All I know is that in 2-4 hours, ninety percent of these people will be dead. The goal is to make sure that isn't us so; this should be the best plan. Alone we could win it, but with a bit of help and the right motivation, it would be a sure bet."

"That makes sense, well let's see if you can make them understand. You tend to be pretty good at that!"

"You noticed that hmm? Well, I will have to try and see what I can work out with them."

We walked to the entrance to a tall building vaguely similar to the Random World Round's colosseum. The last round was just bits and pieces of all the different games we will play, unlike now where everything fits with the same dusty sand colored metal buildings. I waved to Kret as we got close and bumped a fist with him and Tarclaw when we arrived near the entrance, where they were waiting.

"You two look different now; what happened to the rest of your girls?" Tarclaw asked.

"I don't want to get into it; let's say they aren't here anymore. I didn't come for a pity party; I wanna ask you guys about your plans after this, win or lose."

"Hmm? Win? I don't know that the boy wants to rule, but I don't think that's what he really wants. The problem is we don't know how to fix the problem. This attempt is our fourth run, and it's more for the kicks now and the challenge."

"So, then what do you do after this?"

"Shipping, Freight, that kind of stuff."

"But is that what you want to do? Isn't there more that you want?"

"I want to bust up people like the King for beating us down; we used to make a killing hunting Comagatcha Bugs. Now the King has made it illegal for anyone but him to hunt them. I want to stop crap like that," Kret complained, looking away from Tarclaw.

"Kret! don't you know how to keep..."

"Wait, Tarclaw, Kret did what I asked. What if I told you I could help you with that goal after this is all done? How much do you want for use to hire you two to work with us? I think we can go all the way, and if we do, I want to leave this planet to the people, but I will be taking Alexander with me. Name your price."

I stepped back and let Kret and Tarclaw talk it over, but it didn't take them long to decide. They both turned around to us, smiling. Kret was the one to talk this time, but Tarclaw held a curious smile.

"Do you think that a pair of tigers like us could get into the Watch?"

I was taken aback by the question but replied quickly, with a big grin. 

"I think we could find a place and a suit to stuff you Tiger's into!"

"Then we are in; we can make a change with you guys," Tarclaw announced.

"Let's get going inside and get out scans done."

We all walked to the tall open doors that everyone was traveling into from outside the building. The crowd got thicker, and I kept Kyrina close while Tarclaw and Kret helped. Soon we reached a lineup, and things slowed down, but I still managed to get through the main staging area relatively fast. 

The area we walked into was like walking into a stadium with the people on the field instead of seats. To the left, there was a massive energy wall and beyond that was a swirling storm. It must have been Alexander's trick because this was the center of the city, so there was no way the storm should reach this far.

"What's up with the storm?"

"The God does this every time. It's his way of keeping I fair, and always change the layout the day of the race," Kret explained as we walked over to the far side.

There were so many people here that there would be no way to count when we had left. Less than an hour remained on the counters on our tattoo counters we all got. This barcode thing was a cool feature, light a temporary tattoo with a timer watch. It also had a beacon function that would mark you for death if you fucked around with another player while still inside the city.

We found a spot on the far side near many junkyard-style large MAS units that towered over us but watched out for us.

Time to get this show on the road!