Gyaros Book One: The Mice Eat Iron (YA 17+ Sci Fi Adventure) (43 page)

“
Turning up at New Fortune without any money would be just as dangerous as fighting in this arena, maybe the second match
is
our best option,” he said at last, accepting the reality of the situation.

“Yeah, and we did alright in the first battle, plus we know what to expect now
,” said Maxen. Miles closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh, ‘How the hell can Maxen be so calm after what just happened?!’

“Yo Miles,” Maxen leaned in and lowered his voice
, “you mind explainin’ to me what the fuck Lucy did to that big son of a bitch in the pit? The dude popped like a water balloon filled with ketchup man! I ain’t never seen anything like it!”

Miles sighed, he knew that this moment would come eventually.

“I don’t know how she does it, but when she gets really upset she can make people, well, explode,” Miles looked down at his shoes sheepishly.

“And you were gonna tell me this when exactly?” Maxen whispered angrily.

“I’m sorry, I know I should have mentioned it, but I was scared, I needed your help and I was afraid you wouldn’t stick around if you knew Lucy was capable of that!”

“Shit man, I don’t care if she can do that, but you gotta be honest with me Miles, we’re fucked if we don’t share this kind of thing! How d’you expect us to stay alive if you hide shit like this from me man?” Maxen composed himself
, “aw shit, I’m just jumpy from the fight, don’t sweat it man, but no more secrets, you got that? How’d you find out about it anyway?”

“I really am sorry Maxen,” Miles appealed
sincerely. He owed Maxen his life, he should not have hid this from him, “I just wanted Lucy to be taken care of. If people found out what she’s capable of no one would want to touch her with a ten foot pole, let alone give her a home, you know? Okay, no more secrets.”

Miles extended his hand which Maxen shook.

“I didn’t save her from the cannibals the night she lost her arm, she saved herself, she turned those two guys into mush just like she did with Roger in there. I couldn’t believe it!”

“Man, that’
s fucked up.”

“But listen Maxen, you can’t tell her about this. I’m not sure if she even knows she can do that to people, she doesn’t need to find out she’s a killer. Maybe I can get her some help, find a roboticist that can fix her, but for now just keep it between us, please.”

Maxen hesitated, they had only just agreed not to keep secrets, but he could see that this was different. Lucy did not need to know she’s been killing people, who knows what she would do if she found out.

“Okay, I’ll keep quiet about it.”

“Wha...what happened?” Lucy mumbled as she began to regain consciousness, rubbing her eyes, “Where am I? Did we win?”

“We won, Lucy
,” Miles answered, smiling as best he could.

“So we can go to New Fortune now?” Lucy asked
groggily. Miles and Maxen fully explained the situation to Lucy, she was upset that they needed to fight again at first but came to understand that it was the only viable solution. All she really cared about was being with Miles and Maxen.

“I guess we should probably eat somethin'
,” said Maxen after a while.

“Good idea,” agreed Miles who had now developed quite a hunger
, “looks like that's where you order,” he pointed to a small window at the back of the mess hall where an older lady stood, behind her, a chef dressed in white could be seen preparing the food.

“I'll go up and order, you two stay here
,” Maxen said as he left the table and made his way towards the window.

“That was a great fight you guys!”
said a gruff voice from behind Miles and Lucy. They both turned to see a man with short dark hair who looked to be in his early twenties, wearing a dirty yellow “Titans Arena” t-shirt and torn, baggy cargo pants. His muscular arms were heavily tattooed and he had a short, scruffy goatee.

“Uh...thanks I guess. Who are you?” Miles
asked, raising an eyebrow, slightly puzzled.

“I'm a chuckster
,” replied the man.

“A chuckster?” Miles asked
, his voice rising in tone sharply at the end.

“Yeah, I toss animals into the pit during the fights, didn't you see me up there? I was the guy who th
rew in that boar,” the chucktser grinned and folded his arms in front of his hefty chest, quite proud of himself.

Miles thought back to the battle and did indeed remember seeing the young man above the arena
.

“Oh
yeah, I saw you,” Miles said, forcing an awkward smile.

“I'm Scott by the way
,” the chuckster held his right hand out to Miles who shook it politely. “So, you gonna fight again?” he asked.

“Apparently we have to,” replied Miles shaking his head, thoroughly nonplussed
, “the guard told us that ‘the boss’,” Miles gesticulated with air quotes, “won't give us the prize money until we fight at least one more time.”

“Huh, that's weird,” sai
d Scott, his eyes narrowed in a puzzled way, his hand rising to fondle his goatee, “pretty sure it's not usually like that, maybe they changed the rules or somethin'.” At that point, Maxen returned to the table carrying with him three large white plates of hot food.

“So I guess I'll see you out there tomorrow
,” said Scott, leaving the three to dine in peace. Miles gave a polite nod and turned back around to face Maxen.

“Who was that?”
asked Maxen, setting the plates down on the table and taking a seat.

“He’s
a chuckster, his name’s Scott,” replied Miles.

“What the fuck's a chuckster?”

“They're the guys who throw the animals into the pit,” explained Lucy, now more or less back to her usual chirpy self.

“Huh,” Maxen began cutting into the generous portion of meat on his plate with a knife
while holding it in place with a fork, “what did he say?”

“Not much,” said Miles, also beginning his meal
, “he just congratulated us on the victory. Oh and he said it’s weird that we have to fight again, said it must be a new rule,” Miles shrugged and shoved a forkful of meat into his mouth.

“Huh, w
ell, after we eat, I'll go find out what I can about this next fight,” said Maxen before taking a large mouthful.

“Good idea,” agreed Miles
, his speech muffled by the meal, “it would be better if we knew as much as possible. We don’t need any more surprises like today, having to fight the damn Dustbowlers!”

They
got through the rest of their meal without saying much more and, after finishing everything on the plates in front of them, Miles and Lucy returned to the pickup truck in the parking lot while Maxen remained inside the building trying to ask a few questions regarding their next match. It was at least twenty minutes before Maxen left the stadium and joined the other two in the truck.

“Did you find out anything?” Miles asked as Maxen climbed into the passenger seat and closed the door behind him
. Lucy too looked up at Maxen.

“Yeah, looks like we're in the first match tomorrow, ten o'clock
,” replied Maxen.

“Did they tell you who we're fighting?”

“Nope, said it's a secret.”

“That doesn't sound good.
..” Miles said sounding worried.

“Relax,” said Maxen
, “it's probably like that for everyone, keep the fights exciting you know. Besides, we're champions or somethin' now, right? It’ll probably be some weak ass team like The Wasteland Warriors.”

“I hope so. In any case, we should probably get some sleep.”

“Yeah, you're right, that was one hell of a day and we gotta be ready for another one tomorrow. I guess we're sleepin' here tonight?” ceded Maxen.

“Looks like we'll have to
,” replied Miles.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 26

A loud beeping noise filled Miles
’ ears, abruptly forcing him awake. As he opened his eyes and let them adjust to the brightness of morning, he turned to his right to see Lucy and Maxen waking up beside him in the pickup truck. Maxen pressed a few buttons on his mechanical arm turning off the alarm as Lucy yawned and rubbed her eyes. Miles stretched his arms as high as he could under the low roof and looked out the windows at the mostly empty parking lot around them and the giant stadium straight ahead. ‘Let’s just get today over with,’ Miles thought as he remembered what was in store for the trio. Miles enjoyed a remarkably peaceful night, considering the circumstance, then again it was more a case of losing consciousness due to exhaustion, rather than a regular sleep. There were only a couple of hundred cars in the sprawling parking lot as the arena had just opened and the first fight, which Miles, Lucy and Maxen were to participate in didn't start for another two and a half hours. After taking a few minutes to fully wake up, the three slowly exited the truck and reluctantly made their way toward the stadium. Before entering, they stopped by the registration booth to confirm they were present and ready to fight.

“Maxen's Marauders, right?”
said the young man at the booth, “you're on first today. Head to the mess hall for breakfast and wait there until the guard escorts you to the arena.”

They followed the instructions given to them, returning once again to the large mess hal
l which was less busy this time, only two other teams were dining there. They were given the same meal as they had eaten the previous night but it was nothing to complain about, it was good food and it was free. Maxen studied the other two teams wondering if either of them would be their adversaries today. As they began to eat, the voice of the arena announcer could be heard booming through the stadium speakers above.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Titans Arena! Our first match of the day will be starting in a couple of hours but while you wait, why not grab a few hotdogs, check out our funtastic video game arcade or buy something for a loved one at the Titans Arena gift shop! And if you just can’t wait
for your fill of bloodshed you can take your place in the stands as we show replays and highlights of yesterday's fights!” Miles was beginning to grow nervous but he managed to keep himself relatively calm and focused. ‘Got to keep cool, we’ve come this far, just one more fight, just got to get through this one then we’ll be on our way. We can do this.’ If they made it through their first fight against such an experienced team they could surely survive their second, at least that’s what Miles kept telling himself. After forcing down the majority of the meal, Miles and Maxen decided to warm up before the fight, exercising their muscles as best they could in preparation for the battle ahead and checking that all their equipment was fully operational.

“You ready for this Miles?
” asked Maxen.

“Ready as I’ll ever be, I sort of wish we didn’t have to wait so long, these nerves are killing me,” he replied as he span his arms around, loosening them for the pending contest.

“Yeah I know what you mean, I just wanna get this shit over with. Just think man,” Maxen said smiling broadly, “in a few hours from now we’ll be hitting that road again, pockets overflowing with Talons and headin’ towards a one way ticket home baby!”

“I like the sound of that,” Miles chuckled, Maxen always knew how to lighten the mood.

The last hour passed as the three of them talked tactics with Miles reminding everyone that it’s Maxen’s job to do the fighting and that he and Lucy were just there to make up the numbers. Lucy didn’t say much over breakfast but seemed in fine spirits, she had passed out for most of the fight the day before, mercifully missing the majority of the gory battle. Miles’ stomach tightened as the announcer began to speak again, it wasn’t long now until the fight would begin.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the first fight of the day is not far off now, let’s take this opportunity to refresh you all on
the rules of Titans Arena!” The crowd groaned, apparently everyone was already well versed in the arena’s rules, but for the sake of any new audience members the regulations were read out every day before the first fight. The announcer did his best to rattle off the rules in as concise and exciting a manner as he could, despite having likely read them out a thousand times already throughout his career.

“A combatant is defeated when killed, knocked unconscious or disabled to the point that they can no longer fight! In team matches a creature is released into the field of play by a chuckster every time a combatant is defeated. When all members of one team are defeated the remaining members of the other team are the winners. In one on one matches whoever kills their opponent or renders their opponent unconscious or disabled is the winner! In one on one matches creatures are released into the pit by the chucksters every
five minutes! All dead, unconscious, or disabled combatants are removed from the pit at the end of the contest and placed in the feeding pen where they serve as dinner for our hungry creatures!”

Miles shuddered visibly at the
mental image of being ripped apart by boars, crocodiles, snakes and who knows what else down in the feeder pen. Whether dead or alive, the very thought sickened him. ‘So that’s where The Wasteland Warriors were being wheeled off to. They feed the damn animals with the bodies of the losers!’ Finally the mess hall door was opened by one of the tough looking arena security guards and Miles’ heart skipped a beat.