The BigBad Crew walked through the shade of the towering sunflowers. The rectangular stone tiles were of varying colors but matched each other perfectly in size. They were placed in a V-pattern all along the walkways.
The streets were lined with blue flowers about five centimeters tall. The city had a nice clean look to it, much better than they expected. The holographic images didn’t do it justice. Jaquan and Justice took the lead while the others followed. They each carried their own bags, taking in the sights as they headed for their destination.
During the flight, they had made reservations at the most elegant rest stop in West Drop. The stop was annexed by a luxurious and secure hotel but they didn’t need to stay the night. After a few hours, they would be on their way again.
As they walked, Jaquan kept asking Justice about the tournament. Still convinced that he was the absolute best, he was looking for any oddity that an opponent could use to beat him. His long championship streak was proof of his superior skill. Yet, he had never done anything like this before.
The open invitation policy encouraged anyone from the street to join and fight. How would a person off the street be able to beat me? I’m a seasoned and trained champion. Cheesy tactics came to mind. If they used them well enough they could win.
The fighters in the tournament were one thing. The basic structure of the brackets also confused Jaquan a little. “What’s a coin elimination tournament,” he asked Justice.
Justice had to pull his eyes from a lovely walking flower to respond, “It’s simple really. Everyone gets two coins. Everyone fights at random, once per round. Winner takes the coins. Run out of coins and you’re out.” He turned back and waved at the lady, but she ignored him.
That sounds simple enough. Most of the scrubs would be eliminated early. There was another problem Jaquan saw with this set up. “Won’t it get long at the end when there are only a few fighters left?”
“Oh, I forgot. Every other round, everyone gives up a coin in order to continue. Be careful. The coins disappear faster than you’d think. Some of these fighters know some pretty rare techniques too.”
Jaquan had to admit he had one disadvantage. There were at least eighty fighters in this tournament so far. All had free access to his fight videos. They could prepare for him while he knew nothing about any of them. He had champion level skills though. He could find a way to beat anyone. He always did.
Approaching the rest area, they met the receptionist inside the door. The rest zone matched the city perfectly. Beautiful stones covered everything. Everything was accented with the same small flowers that were found outside.
As they approached the desk, the receptionist asked, “Are you here for the tournament?”
Jaquan answered, “Yes.”
“I’m glad you are safe. Someone has been attacking the fighters. Please make sure that you do not wander the city alone.”
At that Catlin drops her bags and rushed ahead to the desk, “What do you mean. All the fighters?”
“Not all of them. It seems they are targeting the foreigners that arrived alone,” he replied, “Be very careful.”
In Brisa’s preparations, they made sure that she looked like the most fearsome of warriors. Their goal was to avoid trouble but Brisa became a target anyway. She never thought that a cheap fighter would turn to such tactics. Now Brisa could be in real trouble. It wasn’t just her fault, though. She turned to Neely, “We have to make sure that Brisa is ok.”
“If you insist,” was his surrendered reply.