Tag Archives: Catlin Mi

Champions of Battle: The Very Best – Opportunity #9

Close to early evening, they were all packed and ready to go.  The sky began its cycle of twilight shades as the sun prepared to set.  Before long the blue sky would fade to indigo.

Bome City’s defensive turrets scanned grass and the skies just as they always have looking for the slightest hint of danger.  A grid of massive turrets throughout the city perched on the tallest buildings and also set on towering pillars.  Not all of the pillars held the powerful cannons.  As large as the wildlife was, many times a simple bright light or loud noise could scare them off back into the wild.

The Bome’s Prime Minister insisted they be placed all around his kingdom evenly to protect all the people from any wild life that would approach as well as any raiders that would try their luck.  The turrets were everywhere, threatening to tarnish the city’s beautiful skyline.  A tower was even present at the shuttle station where Justice met with Jaquan’s team.

They all looked different now, dressed in traveling gear.  Liana was in her metal mech suit complete with a mask that covered her face.  Jaquan and Neely repeatedly told her it was a horrible idea for her to wear the helmet, but Liana insisted on being able to protect them and herself from whatever may come.

Neely had a heavy looking bag slung over his shoulder.  He stood apart from them with Catlin who wore normal clothing and brass knuckles.  They all had various Hanja on their clothing to enhance certain aspects of their strengths.

Justice was telling Jaquan and Liana about the city they were going to stay and the further steps they would have to take to get to the town that held the tournament.  It seemed like it could become a dangerous trek, only one suitable for someone used to fighting wild beasts.  Liana was quite unhappy about the trek.  Jaquan seemed only a little more welcoming to the thought.

“Getting there is half the fun,” Justice reassured them.

This did not gain any reassurance points with Liana, but a decision was a decision.  They were going.  Neely’s drunken rage set them all strait.  He reminded them why they started in the fight game in the first place.

Neely was the only one still foggy on the details of how they got to this point.  He had asked Liana but she insisted that Catlin knew best about what happened.  As he spoke to Catlin, she enjoyed giving tiny bits of information.

“Why would I ask for poison?”

“The drink I think is designed to have it.”

“So I asked for the drink,” he said riddling out the situation.  “And I knew the poison was added to the drink?”

“Yes it is quite popular with ladies.  The fruit juice usually…” Catlin’s eyes suddenly changed to an unfriendly gaze.  Her mannerisms changed along with her gaze.  No longer was she a silly child teasing her brother about the secret he may never know.  She was the alert warrior that knew something was misplaced, invisible but certain.  Having seen this gaze many times, Neely picked up on the change and translated it correctly.

“Empowerment aura and light please,” she whispered.  Her eyes quickly faded black her irises turning a brilliant red.  She pointed with them to the pillar about a meter behind her.

Neely activated his empowerment aura signified by a dim silver sphere extending about four and a half centimeters from him in all directions.  Along with it, a bright outline of gold closely surrounded his body.  Standing close to him, Catlin was completely engulfed by the aura.

Neely took a simple looking handle from his pocket and held it inside the pack he was carrying.  Gears and machines whirled and within four seconds he was holding a fully functional and strung compound bow, small but really strong.

He pulled an arrow from the pack.  It caught fire as he shot it at the pillar.  Just as it would have hit the pillar, Catlin motioned with her hand for it to go around the pillar.  The arrow obeyed perfectly and landed on the other side of the pillar with a flash bright enough to be visible in the daylight.  Along with the flash: The shadow of a very surprised person with a handheld.

With anger in her mind and hands encircled with dark red flames, she performed a gripping motion in the spy’s direction and performed a pulling motion in the air towards her chest.  In that split second motion, the spy was delivered from behind the pillar directly in front of them.

By now they had the attention of the whole team as well as a few onlookers.  Her cover blown, hanging in the air at Catlin’s thinning mercy, the spy had only one thing to say.

“Um… Hello,” she started nervously, “I’m Brisa Gan with the Champion’s Chronicle.”

#1 – Opportunity #8 – Opportunity #10

 

Champions of Battle: The Very Best – Opportunity #8

The next thing Neely remembers is waking up in a soft bed, softer than most, almost difficult to move in.  In the struggle to get up, he shifts his shoulders.  Immediately, a torturous pain shoots strait to his head.  He fights to get up but the pain resurges with each heartbeat.  Defeated by the pain, he falls back into bed grasping his head as though it would help.

It did not.

Laying there he tried to remember the previous night.  Something big happened.  It could explain why his head was pounding.  He remembered saying … something.  It was a very important something to … somebody.  Did something change?  The chronic pain robbed his concentration and his desire to remember.  Whatever it was will come back to him later, maybe.

He scanned the room moving his head and shoulders as little as possible.  His vision was a little blurred but he could tell that he was in a room, a hotel room.  The place was very empty except a small green figure in the corner.  It had to be a person.  He lifted his shoulders again to see exactly who it was.  He was hit with even more pain than before.

“Ow.  Wha?”  The only thing he remembered clearly from yesterday was drinking a delicious mixture of orange and grape juice.  He also remembered this particular feeling after battles with Chemist Talent users.  “Somebody put poison in my drink?”

Catlin, ecstatic, stood to great him.  “Neely!  You’re awake!”  She shouted in her naturally high pitched voice.

She was across the room; but to Neely, it seemed like she shouted directly into his ear.  Raising the hand that was not holding his head, he motioned for her to stop talking, “Not… so loud please.”

Catlin couldn’t help but giggle at Neely’s situation and remembered that he had asked a question.  “The simple answer would be ‘yes’,” she said in a much softer tone.

“Yes what?”

“Someone put poison in your drink.”

His head was filled with questions but lacked the constitution to sort them out.  It must have been a weak poison if he was still alive.  He remembered no fight.  He remembered no imprisonment or rescue.  How could that be true if he woke up in the safety of her hotel room?

“I… I think you asked them to put it in,” Catlin said giggling even more.

Now that’s just stupid.  Was she playing a trick on him?  Nah. Catlin’s Unholy Talent Set changed her.  Much like his Holy Talent Set changed him.  Regardless of their changes, they were still very good friends.  It was very unlikely that he would ask to drink poison, but she was giggling and smiling too much to lie convincingly right now.  Not that she lied much anyway.

Catlin’s smiling continued as she reached around to the one thing on the dresser, a simple glass of water.  “Here,” she says handing him the glass, “We made this for you.  It should put some of the edge on.”

He took the water and smiled at it, noting the dry humor.  He took a sip and felt better.  Then he drank as though he had not seen water for days.  The enchanted water was amazing.  By the time he finished drinking, he felt almost like his old self.

Still, pieces of the previous night eluded him.  He remembered that Jaquan defended the championship and they had a party to celebrate.  He went to the bar.  The rest of the night was still fuzzy.  “What happened?”

“We’ll tell you about it on the way.”

“Where are we going?”

“No idea.”

#1 – Opportunity #7 – Opportunity #9

Champions of Battle: The Very Best – Opportunity #7

After the after party, The BigBad Crew went to a cafe in another corner of the hotel to relax and recover.  Of all of them, Neely was the one that needed to recover the most.  He loved fruit drinks especially the sweet ones.  He had no idea what the clear liquid was they added, but it gave the drink an extra kick.  After more kicks than he remembered, he was quite finished.

He sat in the booth with them.  However, the way that he stared passed Liana on the other side of the booth, they were uncertain he was with them at the moment.  He had a large black coffee in one hand and an empty plastic bag in the other, just in case.

They each had a coffee of their own.  Most of them were infused with chocolate.  Liana and Catlin, wealthier from their casino exploit, happily paid for the drinks.  As they sit Jaquan tells them about the visit from Justice.  Justice had offered him a chance to fight better warriors.  In turn, Jaquan could become better than he ever was.  It was very tempting, but he had time to think since then.

After an hour, the thought of throwing away everything for a chance at a possibility sat very wrong with him.  This was a life changing decision.  Something like this required the honest opinion of the people he trusted the most.  “So, what do you think?”

After a brief period of silence Catlin was the first to speak up.  “The fans won’t like it,” she said seriously, “They’ll think you’re running from Chuan and forget about you,” she said looking at him knowingly.  “They’ll be hard to win back,” she sung pointing at him knowing she was right.  Though he ignored most of the public and treated news crews like garbage, he did enjoy being famous.  “Chuan will use this as a platform to claim you’re scared to fight him too.”

“Orien Chuan,” Jaquan almost spit out his name with venom.  “Gettin’ tired of him.  Oh and five and still claims he’s better.  Need to shut him up for good.”  Jaquan was stared into his coffee, elbow on the table holding his head in his hand.  How could anyone get through to a fighter so full of himself?

Liana decided to use the pause to step in.  “This… Justice, what do we really know about him?” she said deciding to change the subject, “He just pops in out of nowhere and tells you all this stuff.  How’d he get into the party anyway?”

“He’s always been a tricky,” Jaquan chuckled to himself.

“What if he changed while he was gone?  He could be trying to trick you now,” Liana continued.  “Are you sure we can trust him?”

“If you’re going to shut Orien up for good,” Catlin entered, “we’ll have to train harder than ever.  You’ll have to humiliate him repeatedly for the whole match.”

“We tried that once,” Jaquan said pointing at her to accent his point.  “He stuck me with that lucky shot.”

“What about a quick fight,” Liana suggested, “make everyone think he wasted his time talking to himself.”

Jaquan lifted his head looked at Liana and smiled.  Now there was a good idea.  Shut up his hype by sending him home early.  Everyone would laugh at him the next time he opens his mouth.

“BAMP!” There was a sudden slam against the table.  The sound of the silverware and empty cups bouncing off the table got the attention of everyone in the cafe.  They looked and saw that Neely, though still intoxicated, had heard and understood everything.  “I can’t believe what I’m hearing,” everything about him rung of someone insulted by pure witlessness, “Your friend uses the Holy Talents.  The Holy Talents!”  He paused between the words making sure they understood him.  “How could you doubt him?  Do you doubt me?”  It took a little while for him to continue but they all waited.  “If he says this will help, it will help.”

They listened on knowing that arguing with him was useless at this point.  “You can be the greatest!  The very best!  What you trained for!” Neely was reeling but his argument made real sense.  “Those promoters don’t give two Silicon coins ’bout you.  The crowds would just as well see you broken.  They’ll find someone else.  They always have another fight.

“This is about You.  You can be the greatest, the very Best!  Why you care ‘bout what Orien says?”  He said the name with disdain.  Orien Quan had proven to be a nuisance, but that was all he was.  “Let him talk.  He’s a publicity hog.  He wants to be the champ.  Let’s see how long he can keep it.”  Neely leaned forward holding himself as steady as he could.  With no small amount of concentration he lifted his hand.  Pointing at Jaquan staring at him he said, “You want to be the best, in the world?  You have to travel the world and become the best.”  He leaned back into his seat lowering his hand.  “It sure ain’t coming here.  Now if you excuse me,” Neely said turning to his right, still reeling, “I have to go to the toilet.”

Catlin got up from the booth to let Neely out.  He rose slowly and shambled his way to the toilet; bag in hand, just in case.

#1 – Opportunity #6 – Opportunity #8