Trails - Chapter 18

“Anyone care to put a thousand pounds on Ajax winning this?” Connor asked everyone. “No? Not a single one of you?”

“I’m not putting a thousand pounds on him, but I’ll bet on him,” Alexa replied.

“Eh? Seriously?”

Alexa frowned. “What?”

“Well, I mean, he doesn’t stand a chance, does he?”

“I…don’t think so,” Kaida agreed.

“Likewise,” Laila added. “Arian’s speed and power is much greater than Ajax’s. In theory, there is no chance of Ajax winning.”

“See? I’m not the only one who thinks so,” Connor said, puffing out his chest a bit.

“Hey, you said that when he went to fight Ace and even before then,” Eric reminded Connor. “That’s why I think he might actually have a chance of pulling it out.”

“Same,” Alexa followed up.

“I mean, no offense to Ajax, but his suit isn’t exactly suited for fighting Werewolves,” Connor argued. “He’s a good fighter and, like you guys said, he’s won matches that I never thought he would have, but what can he do against Arian?”

***

“Guys, what chance do I have-?”

“None,” Alexis said.

“Absolutely none,” Ace followed up.

Ajax let out a heavy sigh and leant back against the wall. “Cheers for the support, guys.”

“What? I thought you Amory’s didn’t like being lied to.”

Ajax glowered at him, making Ace and Alexis laugh.

When Ace and Alexis had arrived in his waiting room to talk to him, he had hoped that they would’ve arrived to give him advice or just give him moral support.

“Ajax, you do know what kind of person he is, right?” Ace asked. “He’s a Werewolf, and a Silverback at that. You might’ve been able to close the gap between us, but I don’t think you can close this one.”

“Yeah, I know,” Ajax said with a wince. “But.” He grinned. “That doesn’t mean I’m not going to try and close it.”

Alexis smiled at him whereas Ace raised his hands in defeat, knowing that he couldn’t say anything to change Ajax’s attitude.

“So, do you have something to beat him with?” Ace inquired. “A plan? A weapon? A cheat code?”

“I’ve got an idea, but it’ll be tough to pull off,” Ajax admitted.

“Which is?”

“Werewolves, even Silverbacks, have one weakness.” Ajax transformed his arm into his suit and deployed a sword. “Silver. I made this in the event that I ever had to go up against one.”

“When did you-?”

“History, GCSE; The Blood Moon War,” Alexis said. “After reading up on what they and the Vampires did to establish Lamia, he made weapons to combat them. He’s had it in his suit since then and hasn’t used it once.”

“So, what, you’ve got a wooden stake in their as well?” Ace teased.

Ajax chuckled. “I wish. Still.” The sword disappeared into his suit and he deactivated it. “I’ll probably only have a single chance to use it.”

“Why?”

“Because, once he knows of its existence, he’ll be wary of it and go all out.”

“So, rely on his pride and confidence to bait and defeat him, huh?” Alexis mused, smiling. “It’s risky but, if you pull it off, you’ll be an absolute legend.”

“And if you don’t, you’ll look an absolute fool,” Ace said.

“Hey, as long as I last thirty seconds, I’ll be a legend,” Ajax said.

Contestants, please enter into the arena now, A voice over the intercom told them.

“Right, well, here goes nothing,” Ajax mumbled. “Wish me luck guys.”

“Good luck,” Alexis replied, patting him reassuringly on the back.

“Good luck,” Ace said, extending his hand to Ajax. “You’ll need it.”

“Cheers.” Ajax shook his hand firmly.

***

Welcome, everyone here in the stadium at home to the grand final match in the 2178 Ferris Single’s Tournament! Kasmine yelled through the microphone. She was met with a loud cheer back. It has been a very exciting and interesting Tournament this year and our two finalists for this fight might not be the people that you expected.

On the East Side, we have the Greek Spartan Hoplite Mech Pilot who exceeded our expectations over and over again, and the only Mech pilot to have survived the Elimination Round; it’s Ajax Amory!

On his que, Ajax stepped out into the arena and was met with the loudest cheer of the entire day. Even though he was incredibly nervous and his entire body was shaking, Ajax couldn’t stop the biggest smile of his life from creeping over his lips and he waved back at the crowd, caught up in the atmosphere.

Once Ajax had stepped into the main arena to his spot, the crowd began to die down and Kasmine continued her speech.

On the West Side, we have a young man who has taken out all of his opponents faster than a speeding bullet and has made some of our best and brightest look like weaklings; it’s Arian Rajneesh!

As Arian walked out, few cheered for him.

Most either were silent, whispering and muttering to one another, or throwing insults and booing him. Even then, with such a lacklustre response from the crowd, Arian didn’t pay them any mind and he kept walking to his position, standing many metres from Ajax.

He had discarded his cloak, revealing his all black attire, two crossbows by his hips, and a large dagger at his back.

Arian grunted. “Ironic. The person that I almost knocked out in the elimination round made it to the final.”

“Trust me, I can hardly believe it myself,” Ajax replied with a thin smile. “Maybe I’m just lucky.”

“You are. Had there been another second or two, you would’ve been knocked out and you would never have stood here before me.” Ajax narrowed his eyes and Arian snorted. “To think that you’re proud of making it here because of blind luck; what a fool.”

The crowd booed Arian louder and louder with almost everyone joining in.

“I guess that’s how it looked to you, huh?” Ajax whispered, sighing a little. “Perhaps I was a bit too proud of actually making it to this stage, but it wasn’t blind luck that brought me here. Sure, it was fortunate that the time limit ran out right before you could strike, but that was all my luck did for me. I fought my way here and earnt my place in the final.” Ajax stared deep into Arian’s eyes. “I won’t let you insult that hard work that I’ve put into getting here!”

“No doubt for something idiotic like fame or fortune, right?”

“Not even close! All my life I’ve watched and admired the Guardians in these Tournaments and dreamt since I was a kid that I could be one. I’ve put in over ten years of work just to earn my right to stand here and I couldn’t be prouder of myself for finally making it here. You wanted to know why I joined this Tournament, right? Well, I’ll tell you.

“I wanted to show the world how strong I was and I wanted to inspire other people who watch these Tournaments just as I was inspired by those before me. I want to show people that anyone who puts in enough hard work and effort can be a Guardian, even if they weren’t born with any Superhuman abilities. That’s why I entered into this Tournament and, to be honest.” He grinned at Arian. “After making it this far, I have no intention of losing!”

The crowd cheered and applauded with him, although a few people still insulted and booed Arian with them.

Even though the crowd continued to be against him, Arian was smiling.

“I apologise, Ajax,” Arian said, bowing a little to him. “That was a good reason. I’m sorry that I said that you were entering into it for something selfish.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Ajax replied. “I’d be as pissed as you were if someone had entered into this for such a reason.”

“Ajax, in honour of your goals, I vow to you that I will not-”

“Before you say anymore, I have a request.”

“Which is?”

“I don’t want you to go easy on me or hold back.”

Arian raised an eyebrow. “Even if your opponent offered it to you?”

Ajax shook his head furiously. “I would hate it if you or anyone else held back in a fight with me, because I feel like it would be an insult to the effort and work that I’ve put in to get this far.”

Arian, a little taken back, nodded and smiled more softly this time. “You’re right. I’m sorry for offending you again.”

“Um, no offense, but it’s kinda weird that you’re being so nice given how you’d acted before.”

Um, if you two are done…Kasmine began to say, but they didn’t stop talking.

“Arian, can I ask you something, too?” Ajax inquired. “Why are you here as a Guardian?”

Arian’s face went blank and he stared at the ground. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, there’s no need for you to try and make a life out of being a Guardian, is there, given your heritage. A lot of people in this country still hate Werewolves after what happened in Lamia. I know that you tried to keep it hidden, but I couldn’t help but wonder why you decided to attend Ferris.”

“Well, I imagine it’s not that uncommon of a story,” Arian said, smiling weakly. “I don’t want to be defined by my birth right and who I was born as; I want to be someone I want to be, not who the world thinks I am. I knew that I’d have a hard time if anyone figured out who I was and I knew just how people would react if they figured it out, but I still wanted to become a Guardian anyway.”

“Then why keep your name the same? Why not-?”

“Just because I don’t want to be defined by my heritage doesn’t mean that I can just throw it away. Even if the rest of the world hates my family and Werewolves, I’m still proud of what they did for my kind and I kept my name the same out of my respect for my ancestors. I want to be a Guardian first and a Werewolf second, not the other way around.”

Ajax smiled. “I see. I think that’s a good reason to be here and thank you for telling me why you’re here. I’m actually quite honoured to even be able to fight someone as strong as you and I hope that you can become someone that you’re proud off as well.”

“Thank you, Ajax.”

Right, are you two done now? Kasmine asked in a bored voice through the microphone. If you aren’t, I’ll just keep tapping on this until you both shut up.

“We just finished! Weren’t you listening?” Ajax yelled.

She coughed gently into the microphone. Now then, who shall win this fight to mark the end of the Single’s Tournament for this year? Which competitor will go home victorious and which will-? She sighed heavily and slammed her head against the microphone. You know what, I’m not feeling it anymore, so let’s just get to it.

3.

2.

1.

Fight.