Chapter 15 – Let's Rock!

Author's Note: My school holidays finally began, so I had time to finish this chapter! Hope people are still reading this stuff! Well, a quick recap, Jet's about to enter his first fight in Warrior's Heaven, and Virginia and the gang have arrived to look for him.

11:30 A.M – The Cage

Jet's large opponent, Cannonball, got the ball rolling, charging at Jet with a mighty roar. Jet observed that his body size would slow him down greatly, and he quickly dashed out of the way.

"You'll have to do better than that," Jet mocked icily. "I won't even use my weapon for this fight," he mocked, promising to leave his sword sheathed behind him. He ran under his massive arm and jabbed him into the gut.

"Oh, that hurts so bad!" Cannonball said sarcastically. Jet's attack had no effect at all, his punch being absorbed by Cannonball's massive gut.

"Oh man, that is disgusting…" Jet mumbled, pulling his hand out and jumping back. "I guess I'll just aim for the head then."

Cannonball turned to face Jet menacingly. "I guess that normal attacks won't work on you!" he bent down on one knee, similar to a runner on the start line. "How about this then?"

Before Jet could do anything, his opponent had come at him at amazing speed, ramming Jet into the side of the cage. He winced in pain.

"That was Cannonball's trademark move, folks!" the announcer called out over the cheers of the crowd. "His bulldozer move has sent many to hospital! How will our new challenger, Wolf, handle this?"

Cannonball had pinned Jet to the wall, squeezing him around the waist and arms tightly.

"Unngh…" Jet struggled to break free, but Cannonball's grip was too strong. He squeezed tighter, causing Jet to grimace in pain.

"Scream! I want to hear you scream!" Cannonball laughed maniacally, squeezing tighter and tighter.

10:40 A.M – The Audience

"Well, this is certainly vulgar," Clive said, watching the fight intently. "Fighting like this doesn't happen too often nowadays. Without ARMs."

"True, true," Gallows said. "But really, this is pretty damn fun to watch! Hell, maybe I should join this!"

"Tch, men," Maya muttered. "Thriving off violence as usual!"

"Ha! You're one to talk, carrying that massive-as-hell gun in your-" Gallows was punched in the face before he could finish his sentence. Maya sighed with satisfaction.

Virginia had been strangely quiet the whole time, staring at the fight with a somewhat serious look. The others stopped bickering and looked at her. Following her eyes, they landed on Wolf, who was still pinned on the wall, writhing about.

"Virginia, what's up? Something wrong?" Gallows asked. He smirked, putting his hand over his mouth like an old lady. "Or maybe, you're in love!"

Virginia wasn't listening, still watching Wolf. Gallows stopped the joke, realizing something was wrong.

"What is it, Virginia?" Maya asked, putting her hand on her shoulder. Virginia jumped, as though she was snapping out of a trance.

"Ah, sorry! It's just…" she turned back at Wolf, who had just been tossed to the other side of the ring, hitting the floor. "…For some reason, I want that guy to win…"

Everyone stared at her, unsure of what she meant. Except for Gallows, who lay in a heap on the floor, being tread on by passer-bys.

10:45 – The Cage

Jet hit the floor hard, spinning into the wall. Thanks to Jet's combat experience, his injuries weren't too bad, but he had underestimated his opponent's power. He jumped up and faced his large opponent.

"You should give up, little man!" Cannonball taunted, smirking.

"We're just getting started, Tubby," Jet said icily. Jet decided he should make the initial attack this time. He dashed at Cannonball in haste. He threw his arm back and gave an almighty punch aimed at his chin. Cannonball wasn't fast enough, and Jet made a clean hit. Cannonball yelped, staggering backwards in surprise.

"When you're outmatched in strength, aim for the weak points," Jet said, jumping into the air and landing a spinning heel kick on his forehead. Cannonball moaned again, losing his balance and falling to the floor.

"Time to end this!" Jet yelled, jumping into the air once more, preparing to deliver the final blow. He looked at Cannonball's face, frozen with pain and fear. Jet landed in front of Cannonball's face, his feet near Cannonball's shoulders. He raised his hand to make the final attack, but stopped.

"Please, no… no more!" Cannonball begged, his voice disoriented. Jet flinched, trying to finish it. Cannonball looked up at him nervously.

"Give up," Jet sighed, grabbing his collar. "Give up now."

Cannonball did as he was told, signaling to the judges that he was throwing in the towel. The stadium filled with a mix of boos for Cannonball's defeat, along with cheers for 'Wolf'.

"There you have it, folks!" the announcer called out. "What a match! The newcomer Wolf defeated cannonball! Could this new warrior be going all the way? Who knows? You'll have to stay and find out!"

The crowd erupted in cheers. Wolf stood in the center of the ring as the cage was opened and his opponent was taken away. He was led off by officials shortly after, and exited the arena, the cheers still continuing behind him.

11:00 A.M – The Audience

They watched as some men led Wolf offstage. Gallows was off his seat whistling.

"Man, that guy is great!" Gallows shouted happily. "Why can't we have someone like that on our team? Did you see that? He took down a guy three times his size!"

"Indeed, that Wolf character is quite the fighter. I wouldn't be surprised if he was a part of the Fallen," Clive mentioned, clapping lightly.

They exited the stands and headed for the lobby, another fight already beginning.

"Well, we didn't see Jet yet," Maya said. "And it could take ages before we even find him if we're going to watch every single fight."

Clive nodded. "Perhaps they have a roster around here? Or we could ask the other competitors."

Virginia was still surprisingly quiet. Her face was full of thought. The others looked at her again, unsure of what was wrong with her.

"Hey, Ginny, come on, you okay?" Gallows asked. "Don't worry, we'll find that silver-haired maggot sooner or later!" he said, patting her on the shoulder.

Virginia once again appeared to have come back from another world. "Ah! Yeah! Right, of course!" she laughed nervously.

"Well," Clive started. "Let's go ask around. The sooner we start, the sooner we'll find him."

11:40 A.M – The Locker Room

Jet had finally finished cleaning and wrapping up his wounds. He sat on a bench, laying his back against the wall. He still wore his balaclava, as Eroz had instructed him to do. Other fighters were in the locker room with him.

"Hey Newbie, I saw you out there. I'm impressed!" one of the fighters said. He wore a dark green karate uniform and two iron gauntlets. "you didn't even use your sword. You should've seen how it went last tournament! Cannonball had people begging for mercy. Not that he gave them any mercy, mind you!"

"No kidding," another fighter, a bald man wearing boxing shorts joined in. "Heard he killed quite a number of people out here. Of course, I've taken down twenty or so myself."

"Whatever, I don't care," Jet replied. Another fighter was coming up to them, a towel over his shoulder, and a bar of soap in his hand.

"Hey guys, you heard the news? There're these two really hot chicks, a brutish tanned guy, and a green-haired scientist looking for a fighter with silver hair!" he raised the soap in front of them. "I'm gonna wash up and try to impress the babes!"

Jet's eyes twitched for a moment as he looked up at the man.

The other two fighters laughed heartily. "How hot are we talking here?" they asked.

"Oh my God, you have no idea!" he smiled uncontrollably. "One of 'em seem like the real petite type, with long, brown hair and a sweet voice! And the other seems like the wild type, with blonde hair and a hot-headed attitude!" he said, practically drooling. The other two fighters also looked quite pleased.

"Why don't we go have our fun with them, aye?" the man in the karate gi said.

"No!" Jet shot up in surprising anger. "Don't lay a hand on them!"

The three guys looked at him in surprise. "Hey, hey, no need to get pissed, man. You can have a go after me. I mean, if we all work together, I'm sure we can all get a little action…"

Jet's foot shot up, booting the man in the face. "Hey!" the boxer was about to punch him, but Jet already has his fist in his stomach, sending him flying across the floor. Jet stood there panting in annoyance. He looked up at the last guy, who stood there quivering.

"Go have your shower, but you touch those girls, and I'll boot you where the sun don't shine," Jet said as he left the locker room, leaving behind two dazed men on the floor.

Jet stepped out into the hallway in frustration. He scolded himself for losing control.

"Geh, I could've blown my cover…" he sighed. As he was staring at his feet as he walked, he accidentally bumped into someone. "Oh, excuse me…"

He looked up and almost jumped back in surprise and shock. The person he had bumped into was in fact Virginia. The others caught her before she fell over.

'Uh oh, gotta go, gotta go!' he thought to himself, preparing to make a break for it. He was stopped by a sudden grab for his shoulder.

"Hold on a minute," Gallows said, holding tightly onto his shoulder. "We got a question."

Jet turned around stiffly, gulping in anxiety. "Um, yeah, sure," he said in a muffled voice. "What is it?"

Virginia took out a picture of the gang, showing them all around the campfire. Gallows was laughing heartily with a beer mug in his hand, Clive was sitting patiently reading one of his textbooks, Jet was sulking away in the corner, and Virginia was sitting next to him trying to talk to him. Jet wondered for a moment who could've taken the picture.

"Have you seen someone that looks like this?" Virginia asked, pointing at Jet. He looked away, fearing they would somehow recognize him behind his balaclava.

"Um, no sorry, haven't seen him," Jet replied in his fake voice. "I'll tell you if I see him. My match is going to start in an hour, so I have to go."

"Wait!" they called, but Jet was already bounding down the corridor.

1:20 P.M – The Cage

"As usual folks, the men have been separated from the children in a mere hour of bloodshed!" screamed out the announcer. "We have now arrived at the semi-final round, where only four contestants remain! These four men have already proven themselves in their last matches, and are also the only ones fit enough to continue!"

The crowd cheered loudly, the front seat members rattling the cage.

"BLOOD! GIVE US BLOOD!"

"Patience, ladies and gentlemen, for we have a special once-in-a-lifetime match today! Especially brought to you by Eroz himself, who suggested this! We shall be having a battle royale!" the crowd went wild at the sound of this.

"So folks, we'll now introduce the participants!" Jet walked out, along with three other men wearing shady, black cloaks. "Our first participant is the rising star, Wolf!"

Cheers rang out as Jet stepped into the cage. He walked to the center and turned to face his three opponents.

"Someone everyone here should be familiar with! Known as one of the great Fallen!" Jet twitched at the sound of the Fallen. "The whip-cracking bushman, Three!"

Three threw off his cloak as he stepped into the cage, wearing a bushman's outfit and carrying a long, thick whip with three tails.

"Time to finish what we started, Zero-boy!" Three smirked, cracking his whip.

"Another man of the Fallen! The man the ladies want, and the men want to be! The one and only – Two!"

The crowd went crazy, the females especially, as Two elegantly let his cloak fall to the floor. He wore a black, sleeveless gi, complete with a black ribbon tying his long hair into a ponytail.

Jet was starting to get really sweaty underneath his disguise.

"Dammit, this could not get any worse than this," he murmured.

"And the final contestant! Another newcomer with amazing strength! The Lone Drifter, Jet!"

Jet froze. He looked to the last contestant as he threw off his cloak. And there, he saw something that almost made him jump.

There stood a gray-haired young man, who looked and dressed exactly like Jet. The only difference was his red eyes.

"Oh. My. God." Jet wasn't quite sure what, but something told him he was royally screwed.

END CHAPTER 15

NEXT TIME!
While Jet is stuck in the battle royale of the century, his comrades believe they have finally found Jet! What could Eroz possibly mean to do from this? And just what is this imposter Jet? A look-alike? More importantly, what chance does Jet have of getting out of this alive and winning the safety of himself and his friends?