132 130: A Company of Fools: Operation of Pride III

<Wait, hold on a minute? Do you have an evo Sin?> Jade asked as Sin and I walked into the waiting room for the arena fights.

<Of course I have evos. I have a Bone Kressher that everyone in the red dragons knows about and two more that I created in secret.> Sin said.

<Just checking. We know Chase has a bunch of evos, they've been transporting us around all day. However nobody asked you.> Jade said.

<Yeah that was a slight oversight on my part…> I said sheepishly.

The waiting room for the splicer contestants was the size of an average living room. There were already seven people inside. A few were seated on the various chairs and sofas scattered around the room. The rest were crowded around a window at the far end of the room. The window looked out to the arenas. The waiting room was on a raised platform that overlooked all six of the arenas.

Vaudwell held the door open for Sin and I and smiled broadly at the two of us until he saw the state of the waiting room. Compared to the rest of the building, the décor all looked second-hand and second rate.

"I hope you won't have me waiting in this…shack for ongoing Vaudwell?" I turned Mt nose up at the furniture, then shot Vaudwell disapproving glare.

"Not long at all, Sir Caldifax. Your turn will be here before you know it." Vaudwell said, then quickly, walked around me and over to the window. The participants that were crowded around the window immediately parted when Vaudwell approached. Given the seasoned appearance of many of them, it spoke volumes of how they perceived him.

"Instead watch the fights going on right now."

I looked at Vaudwell with an exasperated look and then looked out the window at the arenas. Of the six arenas, only four of them had a fight going on inside them. It was easy to tell which one was the king of the hill in each arena. In some cases, their evos looked exhausted or worn down. They were fighting long and hard to keep their spot in King of the Hill.

"Vaudwell, is there a limit on how many evos you can use?" I asked. Vaudwell shook his head.

"You can use any evo you have, but you can only choose one evo for each fight. If you lose that fight, you lose your spot." Vaudwell explained.

"Sounds easy enough." I replied as I watched the fight out of one of the arenas closest to us. The king or Queen actually was a young woman in her twenties. Her evo was a hivdrix much like Iris's. The challenger was an older man in his fifties. If I was guessing right, his evo was one I had never seen before.

It had the body of a small rodent of some kind but the head of a roach. It looked less like an evo and more like a weird amalgamation.

The hivdrix was easily dashing through the sky and jabbing the odd evo with its stinger while it stood in the arena, basically helpless to stop the assault. The commands that its splicer gave if were utterly useless. The evo was way too weak to be used in fighting or anything for that matter.

<What type of evo is that weird rodent bug-headed one?> I asked no one in particular l.

<It's a Hodgepodge…> Sin sighed.

<Hodgepodge?> I repeated.

<Basically, anything the splicer could get his hands on, he spliced with it. It's a mark of true desperation to come to a place like this with an evo obviously not meant for fighting and try to win…>

I watched silently as the evo died slowly and obviously in agonizing pain while all its splicer did was scream and yell in frustration. Within a few moments, the little Hodgepodge finally died, and the match was called.

<Poor thing…> Jade said.

<Yeah…> I added.

<Hey! Don't get soft on me. If you aren't prepared to have your evos kill, you could lose them.> Sin warned.

<I know Sinner. If it's my guys or them, then I'm choosing my guys.> I said without hesitation.

"Well, it looks like the final fights are wrapping up. I need to head back to the desk, but someone will get to you shortly." Vaudwell said then with yet another phony smile he rushed out of the waiting room.

"Two-faced ass…" Sin muttered.

Now that Sin and I were alone in the waiting room. We suddenly felt all the eyes of the other participants on us. They were trying to be stealthy about it while others were just plain obvious about it. Sin and I pretended that we didn't notice at least until one of them walked right up to us and tapped me on for the shoulder.

Feeling the man's finger jab into my shoulder, I waited a second before letting out an annoyed sigh and looking back at bold man.

"Can I help you?" I asked using the snootiest tone I could muster. The man frowned at my tone and then snorted loudly.

"You can help me by telling me what's a fragile little dandy like yourself is doing in a place like this?" He asked.

It took all I had to not gag verbally when his breath reached my nostrils. He smelled of rotten cabbage that had been soaked in stale alcohol.

"Wondering why a man who obviously hasn't been acquainted with a bath in some time is addressing me." I responded. This response earned a few snickers from the men and women that had gathered in the waiting room.

"Make your insults while you can you pampered shit! A weak entitled asshole who's never known a fight in their life like you won't make it past one of the current king of the hill's!" He growled.

"Actions speak louder than words. So if all you are going to do is talk, then I kindly invite you to brush your teeth or at least look the other way so your breath doesn't burn off my eyebrows." I said dismissively, then looked out the window again. The other contestants outright laughed this time.

"You…!" The man bellowed. The waiting room door was suddenly jerked opened, and a woman yelled a name into the smaller space.

"Rawad Isaac!" She screamed. The man huffed and turned towards the door.

"Looks like I'm next! Pay attention. You'll see how a true man fights!" He exclaimed as he walked out.

I simply rolled my eyes and pretended to pay him no mind. Sin chuckled lightly when Rawad left the room.

<For a splicer from America, you're really good a pretending to be a stuck-up asshole.> Sin chuckled.

<Oh please, everyone at the college is a stuck-up asshole. I'm just channeling the most annoying asshole I know.> I said.

Below us, Rawad was being led to one of the arenas across the catwalks that connected the three. I was surprised when I saw the staff lead him to the woman who defeated the Hodgepodge evo. He stepped onto the little platform that was attacked to the catwalk, and the platform overlooked the entire arena that he was assigned.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, another round is about to start! For the next match, it's crowd favorite Ayessa Sol against returning disgraced Champion Rawad Isaac!"

Vaudwell's distinctly fake cheery voice boomed from unknown origins. It sounded like his voice was all around us.

"Hmmm…disgraced Champion…" I muttered softly.

<He's a red dragon and a plant at that. He's part of a long-running scam that they've been running. Part of his redemption arc bullshit.> Sin explained.

<So he doesn't normally smell like shit?> I asked.

<No, he does…that's actually just his natural B.O.> Sin sighed.

<Oh fuck…> I groaned.

Down in the arena, Ayessa had already summoned her hivdrix, though it was looking a little worse for wear. Rawad rolled up his sleeve and exposed his crystal, then pointed at Ayessa dramatically.

"I'M NOT LOSING TONIGHT!" He bellowed as his crystal started to glow. "COME ON! DESTRO!"

A crystalline structure shot from his crystal and landed in right below his platform. It shattered on impact and yet another evo that I had never seen before emerged. It stood on two legs and had a broad and powerful chest that vaguely resembled an ape's, thought which species I couldn't tell. It had big and beefy arms that seemed too long for its body and almost dragged along the ground. On the tips of each finger were long curved and serrated claws. It's face definitely belonged to a bat but had influences of some other kind of animal.

This strange new evo threw its head back and roared loudly, letting out a sonic scream so loud it could be heard all across the building. As it roared, two massive Bat-like wings expanded from its back, making it look even larger and more formidable. Upon seeing it, everyone in the waiting screamed and yelled with excitement.

<What the hell is that?> Jade and Nate asked.

<Some evo one of the red dragon plants just summoned.> I answered.

<That's not just some evo... that's a Gravegyle…> Sin breathed softly. I glanced over to Sin and saw he was staring down at the arena in disbelief. <How the fuck did he find one…?>

<A GRAVEGYLE!> Nate and Jade exclaimed, the awe and excitement in their voice was very telling that it was something I should know about.

<WHAT?! OH COME ON! I'M MISSING ALL THE COOL STUFF!> Bo barked in protest.

<What's a gravegyle?> I asked.

<How can you not know what a gravegyle is?> Nate asked.

<He grew up in America and if it can't be techno-spliced then they don't care about it.> Sin defended me.

<Yeah…that's true…> I said sheepishly.

<A gravegyle is a relic from the last world war. World War Four. Created by the Tasmanian splicers at the beginning of the war. For a while they were some of the best evos to have around in the jungles or swampland until the liger shark was created by that techno-splicing company. Ligers nearly hunted the gravegyle into redundancy.> Sin explained.

<I see but why is it such a big deal?> I asked.

<The original splicer that was making them died during the war so no one knew how to make more. Any you see alive today are ones that were created and fought during the fourth world war.> Jade explained.

<Wait a second! The fourth world ended in 1987! That makes that thing over one hundred and thirty-five years old!> I yelled.

<I know! I know only a handful of evo types live past twenty years, let alone a hundred. It's why they are considered a collectible now. They're rare, long-lived and dogged fighters. > Sin said.

I watched that evo with a newfound respect. The fact that it was able to survive not only a whole war but over a hundred years of being treated like a trophy.

"On the field we have Ayessa's hivdrix and a shocker tonight Rawad's Gravegyle! EVOS! BATTLLLLLLLE START!"

A loud bell rang out and the hivdrix darted directly for the gravegyle. The gravegyle jumped high into the air and snapped open its wings and started flying around the support beams of the ceiling. The hivdrix gave chase and the two zoomed around the ceiling.

Despite the size difference the gravegyle managed to out maneuver the much smaller hivdrix. The gravegyle suddenly snapped its wings closed and grabbed onto a support beam and used its forward momentum to make a tight ninety degree angle turn. It then used another beam as a springboard and propelled itself forward slashing the hivdrix into quarters in one swipe. The gravegyle opened it's wings and flew gracefully down to the arena floor.

"It's over! In less than fifteen seconds! THE WINNER IS RAWAD ISSAC!" The voice screamed.

"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn." I said to myself.