The Bet.

A week had passed since Zeke had sworn his first oath, and learned to activate his Demon's Blood. He, Moon and Raven sat in the kitchen, during the early hours of the day, eating breakfast. Moon found the sight of Zeke devouring large amounts of food like her, unsightly and strange. Seeing him eat more than a single plate always felt strange. "What's your record now?" Raven asked. "1 minute and 1 second." Moon answered. "I meant for how long he can stay transformed, not in bed." Zeke glanced up, shooting Raven a glare as she high fived Red. "For your information. Zeke can-" Zeke cleared his throat aggressively. "Never mind." "So your growth is gaining one second for every week of dedicated training." "With more Mana, I'll last longer." "Is that what they're calling Viagra now? ZING!" Raven said, giving Red another high five. "You're bored aren't you?" Zeke asked. "SO BORED!" Raven groaned, slamming her head on the table. "Don't you have any more games to play?" Moon asked. "Played them all."

"Can't you give me a task or something?" "Like what?" They asked. "Iunno, you're my bosses. Think of something. I'm losing my damn mind." Zeke reeled back in his chair, cupping his chin, and looking down.. Raven perked up excited. "That's his idea face right?" "Nah, that's his thinking face. When he looks up, with a twinkle of joy in his eye, that's his idea face." Zeke looked up. "There it is." "What do you have for me boss?" "One, don't call me that." "Sir Chen." "Not that either." "Master?" He gave her an empty stare. "What? Is that saved for you and Moon?" He rolled his eyes. "Wait are you the sub?" "Do you want the job or not?" "I'll be quiet." Raven bowed. "Han has been bitching nonstop about our house." Zeke said. "I don't think it's nonstop." Moon said.

Zeke took his phone out, scrolling through a never ending list of violent and profanity filled texts. "Okay, it could be a little less." "What do you want me to do?" "Take the 1000 chips we won, and use it to fix the house to these specifications." "Why not just buy a new house?" Zeke and Moon looked to each other. "Because we like it." "But I mean you could diversify your portfolio and..." The two stared vacantly at her. "Alright, but I'm just saying that you could invest into other things. I mean how many things do you need to fix anyway?" Zeke and Moon locked eyes. "Not that much." "It's not a lot really." They shrugged. "It's real bad isn't it?" The both nodded reluctantly. "Alright, but I'm sure I could fix your house up with less than a thousand chips." They both gave her a doubt filled expression. "Jesus! How bad is it?" "A real bad." Moon said. "Here, take Han's number. She's house sitting for us. Give her 10 and only 10 chips for her troubles. Then fix the house to the list. No extra shit. Got it?" "Roger that... are you sure, I shouldn't call you something more formal?" "Yes. Now leave whenever you're ready." "Ooh, can I take Red with me?" "Sure. I'm sure she misses home anyway." "What if I want to cuddle with her?" Moon pouted. "With those two gone, it will only be us-" "Get her the fuck outta here!"

The four of them approached Adrianna in her office with Eliza by their side. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" "They have something, they want to ask you." "Raven needs to leave the island, so that she can fix our house back home." "Done. There's a flight coming in tomorrow." "Guess that one doesn't have C-4 on it." "Never going to let that one go are you? Miss Kim." "Never." "Is that all?" "No, we have proposition." Zeke said. "We do?" Moon asked confused. "What is your proposition Mr Chen?" "I want to make a bet with you." "Walk away." Eliza snapped. "Let me hear the boy out." "No. Walk away and before you lose." "What is your wager?" Eliza threw her hands into the air. Zeke took a seat across from her. "Our duel with Damien. It's a lesson in humility. There's not really any reward in winning, because we aren't meant. Am I correct?"

Adrianna pressed her finger tips together. "Perhaps." "Well, I need Moon bonded with Soul-Taker. Now winning against Damien, in our current state isn't technically impossible, just close to it. We last one minute against him, you give Moon the bonding ritual out of pocket." "And what do I get, if you can't last the one minute?" "Name your price." "I want Moon to marry Alexander." "WHAT!?" Moon shouted. "HOW ABOUT NO!" She shouted bright red. Adrianna gave Zeke a smug smile. "Care to keep your wager now?" Zeke stared her down, still with a confident smile. "Or do you think, we won't give Damien any information about you two at all?" "Oh, no. I'm aware that our abilities and weaknesses have been broadcasted. She'll probably give all the information on our growth, and whoever is helping train Cunt-statine's team will also snitch." "Then where is your confidence coming from?" "Because Moon would kill Alexander before he touches her." "That's right." She pouted, folding her arms. "So I'll tell you what I'll wager, in exchange for giving Moon a bond to Soul-Taker."

"Whatever relics, treasures, or artifacts I pick up in my next five Rift visits. Will go to you." "No deal. You're an E grade Hunter. Nothing you take back, will be worth any value." "And yet, my luck has let me bond to Grimoire, which created an open channel to Mystara." "A fluke. It wouldn't happen again." Zeke nodded, letting out a sigh. "You're right, maybe it was a fluke, but what if it wasn't?" Adrianna paused. "Noo...Addy, he's playing you. He got lucky." "Yes, five potential shitty items, that you'll probably use to decorate the bathrooms here. Or I could get 'lucky' again and find something of value, and you'd miss out." Adrianna started to ponder his request. "You can't honestly be thinking of accepting." "I mean it's not just my luck. What are the odds that Iziel, the Dragon King of all Calamities would bond with Moon?" "Two incredible feats of luck? Or a pattern that you could capitalize on?" Zeke asked with a sly smile. "Walk away, right now." "Then again, bonding with Shadow would make that three feats of incredible luck. Three's a pattern, everyone knows that." "Two minutes, and you have a deal." Zeke held his hand out. Adrianna shook his hand.

Zeke stood up letting out an uncharacteristically loud whoop. "What are you so happy about? You haven't even won the bet yet." "Doesn't matter, I won't lose anything of value, if we do lose." "What? How?" Adrianna asked frowning. "If we lose, I'll just give you the bad items, and let Moon keep the good ones. The deal was only about me. Never said anything about Moon having to give you anything." Her jaw dropped. Eliza face palmed. Zeke strutted out with Moon and Raven following behind him. "You're an idiot, you know that right?" Eliza said. "It doesn't matter. He won't win anyway. I'll just tell Damien to not hold back and win in under two minutes." "How exactly is he going to do that? For at least one minute, Zeke will able to hold his own. The next minute he'll be the same unbreakable kid, he's always been." "Damien's got this." "No he doesn't, and you're gonna lose a lot money, paying for that bonding session." "Yes he does. Want to bet?" Eliza glared at Adrianna. "I might have a problem." "You think!?"

*Ring* The two stared at Adrianna's phone vibrating on the table. "Huh...it's Damien. What's he want at this time? Hello Damien, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?" " Hey Addy." Damien spoke with a sophisticated English accent. "I've been booked for a blue Rift trip, expected M.I.A time is about a year. I was hoping that, I could just do that duel thing with those kids tomorrow, and get it over and done with?" A sinister and smug smile stretched across Adrianna's face. "Of course! In fact, do you happen to have magic spells that involve spiders or cluster of holes?" "Uhh...no?" "That's not a problem, Sylens can loan you one." "Don't win like this." Eliza said shaking her head disappointed. She shushed Eliza. "Did you make a bet?" "Yes!" Eliza exclaimed. He let out a sigh. "Addy, you have to stop gambling. You're terrible at it." "It's not gambling, when you know that you're going to win." "Alright, I've just docked, I'll be there soon."

"OH MY GOD!" Moon squealed shaking Zeke. "That was amazing!" "You should go on a show." Raven said. "Told him that so many times." He smiled. "We haven't won just yet. We'll need to discuss our stall tactic." "You already have that figured out? Does your brain ever rest?" Raven asked "Not really. Listen, I can hold this state for only one minute. In that time, I should be able to hold my own. Afterwards, I'm going to be a useless slab of meat." "Then we use Formation Z." "Are you two ever going to tell me what that is." "No." Zeke said instantly. "Well we have a plan. In a few months time, I'll bond with Soul-Taker, and I get to do my C grade qualification." "Exactly. The only thing that could fuck this plan up is Damien decides to show up early." "Why would that mess up your plan?" Raven asked. "At our current stage, we can ensure exactly one minute of survival. Maybe give or take 10 seconds of him, showing how much bigger his metaphorical and literal dick is. In the next few months we can definitely bring that mark down to 30 seconds or less."

The three stopped seeing Constantine, Alexander and Sakura standing in the hallway, greeting a well dressed man, with a thick glorious mahogany beard, and slicked back hair, in a grey suit. He stood well over two metres tall, and walked with a solid black cane. The three pointed to Zeke, Moon and Raven. He turned to them, with his stern and commanding face. He eyed them up and down, slowly approaching them. Raven shuddered, discretely walking behind Zeke. He stood in front of Zeke, holding out his burly hand. "Damien Hawthorne, it is a pleasure to meet you Mr Chen. Miss Kim." He said with a charming smile. He reluctantly shook his hand, feeling his strength lift him up and down with each gentle shake. "You're here to duel us early aren't you?" Zeke sighed. "They told me you were perceptive. Indeed I am mate. Do take it easy on me. I don't look forward to fighting something that gave the number one Hunter a challenge." Zeke gave a weak smile. He gave a nod to Moon and Raven. "Miss Frost. A pleasure to meet you as well. I heard, you have chosen a Civilian's life." She nodded. "I wish you all the best."

The six of them watched him enter into Adrianna's office. "FUCK!" Constantine and Zeke yelled at the same time, making the four of them jump. They glared at each other. "What are you angry at?" They asked each other. "We needed more time to prepare." Zeke and Constantine stared at each other with flaring nostrils. "This is so freaky." Alexander and Raven said at the time. They pointed to each other stunned. "Well he's here, we have to deal with it now." Sakura and Moon locked eyes. "Everyone stop talking." Zeke and Constantine ordered. Everyone locked eyes. After a moment of silence and shifting gazes. Zeke and Constantine gestured to simply walk away without saying a word. The three went separate ways. Constantine and Zeke both bowed their heads in defeat, letting out a long exasperated sigh. "What is it?" Sakura and Moon asked. "We're gonna need their help to win." The both sulked.

Damien greeted Eliza with a warm hug, but gave Adrianna a stern glare. "Oh don't give me that look." "We agreed that you wouldn't gamble anymore. What idiotic thing did you bet on this time?" "Care to take a guess at her stupidity?" "You two do remember, that I outrank you both right?" The two gave her a stare back. "What do I have to do, to make her lose this bet?" "No wait please!" Adrianna pleaded leaning over her table. "It's mainly the two you met in the hallway." Eliza said. "The mysterious Child of the Nine, and the one who managed to get Iziel to bond to her. I figured they would be the more troublesome ones. What are the terms?" "You have to beat them in under two minutes." He cocked an eyebrow at them. "Are you taking the piss? Do you think that's a challenge for me?" "Would like to tell them, what you've been doing for the last month with them?" "The boy has learned Sovereign stance one, and can keep his Demon's Blood active for one minute."

"HA! Bloody hell! You actually found someone willing to learn that shit?" He scoffed, and chuckled in disbelief. Eliza glared at him. "I'm sorry. I really am. But come on. It's a simple attack, a retard that fucks doorknobs could dodge them." She let out a low growl. "Well, alright. What can the girl do?" "She'll be a surprise." "Oh, come on. Don't be like that Liz. I'm sorry, I made fun of your little sword stances. Please. Tell me." "She's become a great swordsman, and Iziel's armour has given her a significant boost in all capabilities."

"Right. Now. Exactly, what part about those two, is meant to scare me?" "Don't under estimate them." Eliza said sternly. "Why not? A bunch of cunts from down under. They're not a problem. I'll have 'em fucked in a jiffy." "And who exactly did you lose your number ten position to?" Damien stood up snapping his cane over his leg. "That was a fucking, bad match up for me!" He shouted. He took a deep breath composing himself. "And after my trip, I'll be back to take my actual rank." "Still hoping to find an Angelic weapon, capable of killing Alistair." Eliza jabbed. "I ain't hoping. I'm gonna find it, and ram it down his throat, and shut that arrogant mouth of his." "Do remember this is a friendly duel." "Right, right. Under two minutes. Got it. And what about your little devil, and the other cunts?" "No time limit." He nodded. "Righty-o. Noon tomorrow. If they're late, I'll break them harder." "Noted." He stopped at the door turning back to Adrianna. "What exactly do you lose, if they survive 2 minutes?" "She's gotta pay for a bonding ritual out of pocket." "Fuck me Addy. What are you doing? Do you know what them cunts are charging for a bonding ritual these days?" "100,000?" "Missing a few zeros love." Adrianna gulped. "Don't worry. Won't let you down."

The six them agreed to a meeting in the dormitory. Zeke and Constantine glared at each other. "Why is she here?" He glared at Raven. "I live here buddy." "You want to say that again?" "You really want to fight me, when two people here have kicked your ass multiple times?" She said with a smug smile. "Raven, I'm not gonna protect you, if you start a fight." Zeke said. She looked to Moon. "I'm kinda tired." "Would you like some tea?" She said forcing a smile. "Look, we need to work together, if want to have any hopes of beating him. And I know Constantine has a bit of history with you two." Sakura said. He entered into a staring competition with the two of them. "But, if we can put that behind us. We can optimise our strengths. Zeke has told me, he's made great progress in using his Demon's Blood." Constantine and Moon glared at Zeke and Sakura. "When the fuck did you two get so chummy?" They said in sync. "Creepy." Raven and Alexander said.

"On our night talks." Zeke said. Constantine lunged at Zeke, with Moon lunging at Sakura. Zeke and Sakura stopped their respective attacker. "We're just friends. Now you're not any better. You're first interaction was trying to get Moon to join us in bed." Constantine sat down blushing. "Alright now stop the fighting. We're gonna work together. If you will Zeke." "Thank you." "The fuck..." Moon whispered. "You three excel in teamwork, and in terms of raw explosive power. You could probably hit him harder than we can." "Of course, we're stronger than you two." Constantine scoffed. "Debateable." Moon pouted. "No more snide remarks. Let him talk." Sakura snapped. "As much as I hate to admit it, Sakura has made it painfully clear, that we're alike." "Only had to say a hundred times to you." "Seriously, how long have you two been talk with each other?" Zeke shrugged. "Iunno, ever since the Hunter games." "That is when we started texting." Sakura said. "You're texting?" Constantine and Moon said mortified.

"Listen not important. Here's the plan. Moon and I will engage him first. You three will stand back and analyse him. I'm trusting that you can use the information and formulate a way to win." "You're trusting me?" "If it's any consolation, I don't like the idea either. As it stands, out of the five of us. We're the most durable, and unpredictable. We can give you a solid minute of information." "That's all you can do?" Zeke ground his teeth, clenching his fists. "You looking to go four for four?" Constantine shot up to his feet, his hair turning white, and red lightning crackling around him. Zeke shot up summoning Shadow, his hair turning white, the Spectre beginning to form. "Enough!" Raven shouted. "Either fuck each other and get your gay tendencies out. Or stop and work together, before you make Moon die of dehydration from over stimulated vagina." "She's right. As hot as it is, to see you two butting heads for dominance. You two need to work together." Sakura said. "Let em...let em fight more." Moon said seductively smiling at Zeke. Both of them reverted back. "Fine." They growled sitting down. "One minute. It will have to do."