Chapter 34: Arena

Everything was perfectly neat, luxurious, and orderly!

To Lisa, the inside of the green rusted walls looked like she had walked into some resort or private neighborhood. Not at all what she had expected to see from a gang’s headquarters. Lisa expected to see a dirty set of rundown buildings, with hookers, beer, and cigar products everywhere. However, it was a total opposite experience.

The three main buildings that Lisa could see were a stately looking National Bank, a multifloored office building, and what seemed like a large open-air warehouse. All three buildings were freshly painted and had no signs of disrepair or decay. The road had been dug up and replaced with white stone blocks that were laid out in a decorative slanted pattern. In the middle of the road, in front of the three main buildings, was a fully functioning black marble water fountain. The water coming out of the fountain’s animal themed artwork display was crystal clear.

Planted around the fountain and white brick pathway were neatly trimmed hedges and gorgeous vibrant flowers arrayed in pleasing patterns. The grassy common areas, pathways between buildings, and outdoor rest areas were completely trash free. Every plant here was well watered too, showing that the upkeep of the area was not a onetime event.

As Lisa continued to follow Jerry, she felt her initial assessment of the gang was completely wrong. They were clearly operating at a far more sophisticated manner than anticipated and that it would be unwise to underestimate the Mad Dogs anymore. Once they reached the black marble fountain, Lisa could see that the three buildings had electricity and lights were running.

"How is that possible?" Lisa thought to herself.

Lisa had till now assumed that she should have been the only one to have access to electricity. Yet from the looks of things here, she needed to reevaluate her approach for dealing with this gang. Originally, she intended to dazzle them with the chance to have electricity once again, but they already had it. So, its appeal had already dropped and her plans dashed.

Putting aside these thoughts for now, Lisa went back to surveying her surroundings. One thing she noticed right away was that the gangsters themselves looked the same as she'd expected them too. Flashy jewelry, sunglasses, baggy modernistic clothing, and all the while they proudly displayed their weapons on their person. Most of them were also heavily tattooed and seemed far more physically fit compared to the gangsters she had seen outside the compound.

"Somethings never seem to change, even after hundreds of years. Everyone just loves to show off." Lisa thought to herself looking at a group of gangsters laughing on the bank’s steps. She noticed most of them wore red armbands with the gangs snarling dog logo on them. "There does seem to be some sort of hierarchy and the gangsters outside the wall are definitely lower ranked. Perhaps I could use that?"

Her thoughts were interrupted as Jerry turned and headed towards the large warehouse and Lisa eagerly followed close behind. The warehouse walls stretched high into the air and Lisa estimated that it had to be nearly one hundred meters high. It almost seemed unreasonable to call this building a warehouse, except that it was written as such on the wall outside: ‘Warehouse Arena’. With such a tall building inside this compound, Lisa was surprised she hadn’t noticed it from outside of the walls. Then again, it was probably by an intentional design.

There were lots of richly dressed people coming from and going into the building, with many hired attendants in tow. They were dressed nothing like the gangsters, and this too was an intriguing find to Lisa. Once inside, she immediately understood why there were attendants and seemingly rich people present, inside was a modern style market area.

Several dozen people, all distinguishable by wearing identical deep blue vest, were selling products of all types. The display areas were organized, clean and oddly not cluttered with objects to sell. On display was only one item of each product they intended to sell. Yet there were so many options available, from reams of paper to electronic devices, or unique vegetables to high quality beef, and even guns to raw materials, like ores, were being sold here.

Even more shocking to Lisa were the powered revolving holo-kiosks that were everywhere displaying products and images of people related to fights or businesses. She had never imagined that holo-projectile technology had finally come to pass and be in use so widely. Passing by one such holo-kiosk, she playfully ran her fingers through the projection, simply marveling at the technology.

As she then tried to keep up with Jerry, who had wandered farther ahead than she realized, Lisa noticed that the buyers appeared to dress extravagantly to the extreme. They looked nothing like the poor townspeople living in The Damn. The rich people here were well dressed, washed, and their hair styles were out of this world! Almost everyone had on what could be considered the latest fashion trends. Looking down at her faded jeans, thin shoes and simple shirt, Lisa felt completely poor, and she hated that feeling.

Lisa pushed her self-loathing thoughts aside and asked Jerry a question, "Where did all these people come from?"

Jerry was nervously leading the way, like he was ready to break out into a run at any second, but he managed to give a calm reply. "They are mostly from out-of-town, there are various government officials, tycoons, merchants or investors here from all over the country. I have no clue why they are interested in this particular place. My boss, Jackson, can explain that much better than I can if you really want to know. We are getting closer to him anyway."

Lisa continued to follow Jerry around the outskirts of the market area to avoid the crowd. Though seeing only glimpses of what was being offered, Lisa wanted to explore more, but that was for another time. Reaching the far side of the room Jerry started down a wide marble floored hallway. Lisa even noticed that this hallway was lit up by electricity. It seemed that with every step she had greatly underestimated the Mad Dog gang power. Nearly every idea she had originally thought of to take over the gang and coax the men to follow her, now seemed utterly stupid. The low-level gangsters she had dealt with outside of the walls seemed to her now to have been a front.

"I better keep my guard up." Lisa though to herself. "There's no telling what else I'll find here."

Just as she thought this, they arrived at an impressive open room that resembled an arena. The Arena took up well over half of the entire warehouse’s length. In fact, Lisa had seemed to have greatly underestimated the sheer size of this building too. The so called 'market area' seemed more comparable to a lobby for a hotel if you were to compare the sizes of the two locations. Around the center stage was a polished black tile flooring and surrounding the stage was a sturdy looking fence going around it.

"Jackson oversees a lot of the financial issues for the gang, especially for the Arena." Jerry started to explain as they entered this long downward sloping hallway leading into the Arena. “How he is able to manage keeping track of all the finances from both here in the Arena and for the gang, is beyond me.”

As they entered the ground level of the Arena, numerous red rows of stands could be seen towering above the center stage. Now closer, Lisa could see the stage was a round cage like structure, with a rubber lathered chain link metal fence surrounding the whole thing. The Arena floor itself was a concrete floor being tan in color, but areas were splattered with bits of red. Seeing this, Lisa asked Jerry about it, as they headed for the far side of the stage.

"Oh, the Arena is where our Match Fighters compete with each other or outside competition. Like the patrons and fans that we passed before, are considered outside competition." Jerry said pointing a thumb over his shoulder.

"So, the red on the floor is blood from all the fighting?" Lisa asked though the answer was obvious.

"Yes. A lot of the fighters end up unfortunately fighting to the death." Jerry replied shaking his head.

"Hmm, I see." Lisa replied while thinking. "Do the normal match rules still apply here?"

"As far as I know, yes. The rules are well known and often strictly upheld." Jerry replied turning down another much smaller hallway.

This hallway was different than the other one from before. There were multiple doors leading under the stands. The first few doors had been labeled as waiting rooms or lockers. Likely for those prepping for upcoming fights. Then they came to the end of the hall where there were four gangsters with guns standing guard. They snapped into defense mode as the two approached them. There were clearly well trained and experienced. They only relaxed slightly seeing that Jerry was one of their own. They, however, eyed Lisa warily.

"Is she the one meeting Jackson?" One of the guards asked Jerry. He was a dark-skinned man with a bald head, black suit, and sunglasses. He looked like a standard bodyguard celebrity's used.

"Yes, this is Queen." Jerry replied giving a timid nod.

The guard gave a grunt of approval and opened the door for them. Lisa and Jerry then stepped inside and two of the guards followed them in as well. They took position on either side of the door and continued to watch Lisa carefully.

Coming inside Lisa found that it was a very spacious and meticulously organized office room. On the right side of the room was a large window facing what appeared to be a residential area overlooking the river that was barely visible over the green rusting metal walls of the compound. Judging from the people milling about outside those buildings, it was for the gangsters to live in. There had to be hundreds of Mad Dog gangsters, judging from the number of apartments alone. Lisa didn't have time to look at this though. A posh male voice drew her attention back to the back of the room.

"Ah, nice to see you again, Queen." The voice belonged to Jackson. He was dressed just as neatly and professionally as before. However, this time he wore a matching white suit and pants.

"So, let us get right to business. You want to fight my Boss, Martinez. Why?" Jackson asked with a stern tone.

Lisa couldn't come outright and say it was to avenge Hanna's parents’ murders, though she wanted too. She would immediately be attacked by the armed guards. Additionally, now that she knew the gang had electricity, they more than likely had cameras in place everywhere, and everyone would be alerted if she attacked. Getting out of here in one piece was not likely to be easy either.

"Two reasons." Lisa replied casually. "The first is simple, I want money. What better way to earn it than to fight with the boss of the Mad Dogs? Secondly, because your boss is supposed to be the strongest and I am dying to fight someone worth my skills."

Saying this, Lisa let out a big vicious looking grin. It was the soldier coming out of her. In a way she wasn’t lying either, she really did want to find a good opponent to fight.

Jackson shifted uncomfortably in his seat upon hearing this. "I see. Though it is possible for you to fight him, you must prove yourself in the Arena first. As for making money, if you got money to bet, then you have come to the right place. Bet on any of the Matches or even yourself and hope for the best."

"Is that why there are so many rich types out in that market area?" Lisa asked. "Because of the fights?"

"Yes and no. Here in this town the law is, how should I say, not very well enforced here." Jackson said thoughtfully. "Things that are illegal in the civilized world are easy to find in places like here and we are the best for hundreds of miles. Even better than Moab City if I do say so myself."

Lisa was excited upon hearing this. Easy money and a shot to help Hanna. If the Match Fighters were anything like those she had fought before in town this would be a cake walk.

"However, the Fighters here are nothing compared to the ones we take outside the complex." Jackson replied almost seeming like he could read her mind. "Those that fight outside are trying to prove that they are strong enough to compete here. I definitely think you qualify from what I have seen."

"That's great to hear." Lisa said indifferently. "It makes no difference who you put me up against. I'll still win."

"Ha-ha, that's good to know." Jackson replied. Then he gave a serious look and leaned forward onto the desk in front of him. "How about a quick fight in the Arena then?"

Lisa raised an eyebrow, "Now? Don't you want an audience to make something off this fight?"

"Oh, that's not an issue. We have a PA (public address) System set up all throughout the complex. All we need to do is announce that there is going to be a fight, and everyone will show. The Arena makes enough from bets, so we don't bother with tickets. It's a first come first serve environment." Jackson explained as he stood up and walked out from behind the desk. He then headed to a door on the left side of the room and halfway opened it. "If you are ready, go on back to the Arena and prep for the fight. I'll go notify your opponent."

Lisa was unprepared for the sudden chance to be in a fight, but she didn't show it as she spoke. "Alright, I guess I can do one fight." She suddenly then had an idea. "However, how about a bet between us?"

"Let's hear it." Jackson answered still with his hand on the doorknob.

Lisa's excited soldier grin reappeared as she spoke, "If I can beat anyone and everyone you put me up against, you are going to have to work for me!"