Alkalians

by Caleb S. Bugai

  “The pot?” Matt asks.

  “Yes, the collected total of money bet! Anyway, one bets on who will win with the help of a remote color switch. Since the arena plays host for duels only, there are two colors to choose from, one fighter marked red, and the other blue. All you have to do is throw in any amount of marcs, usually only a few coins, and then select the color of the fighter you are betting on. A machine above us…” Sean gestures toward the ceiling. “Records all individuals who bet on what color, and after the battle is over, calculates how many of the winning color gets money from the pot! Oh, and the winning fighter gets a share of the money, too, of course.”

  “Huh, really?” asks Rose. “What’s to stop a student from taking more than his share of the pot, after the fight?”

  “Ah, there’s actually a very simple system for that!” Sean exclaims. He points across the room and says, “See, the floor of the pit is magnetically charged to attract all the marcs to its center, where they get sucked down a vacuum tube that winds back up to a machine along the wall over there. Once the fight is over and the amount of winnings has been calculated, the machine reveals the money in divided distributions until everyone’s gotten their share. And there are casino officials nearby to make sure nobody tries sneaking out another handful of cash before the next guy, you know?”

  “Uh, yeah. So, where do we get the remotes?” asks Matt.

  “Either by the machine over there, or back in the entrance hall. Ah, and one more thing I should mention. Due to concentrated air circulation within the pit, it is the only place in the whole building where we can enter our battle morphs. Well,” Sean huffs as though he’s exhausted, “that’s the end of my tour! Any questions before we are free to roam?”

  “Yes, I have one question,” Rose replies. “Where are the restrooms?”

  “Ah, yes, the restrooms. Besides the changing rooms at the pool, there are restrooms for each of the other three areas in the casino, including here.”

  “Oh, okay. I think I’m going to go familiarize myself with the pool room, for the next time I’m here. What are you two going to do?”

  “Oh, we’ll probably just stay here, watching exciting battles in the pit.” Sean hooks his arm around Matt. “How about it, Matt?”

  Matt, flustered from Sean pulling him, mumbles, “Oh, uh, but I was thinking of heading back to the gambling hall, and talking with Amelia…”

  “Nah, you can do that later, buddy! After all, she works here, remember? So, let’s go get some remotes and enjoy the shows!” Sean drags a reluctant Matt with him across the room, while Rose shrugs a little and leaves down the hall.

  ***

  After Matt and Sean get remotes and make their way into the crowd around the pit, the other students are already rooting and throwing money into the pit for the next fight. Looking into the pit, a deep, rectangular basin with its walls as slanted slopes which allow one to walk down or move along them, and of the same, gold-like alloy as the floor, Sean sees what all the commotion is about. “Well, look who’s fighting tonight. It’s Cain Incarein, the Invincible Warrior.”

  “Cain?” asks Matt. “Didn’t you tell Rose and me something about him?”

  “Ah, so you were listening to all my sage advice? I’m flattered.” Sean continues, “Yes sir, Cain is an all-star senior and one of the boss students. Cain is also one of the most feared, because he doesn’t let anyone get away with putting him down. Even the other seniors think twice before messing with him.”

  Matt understands, and then asks, “So which guy is he?”

  Sean looks at him like he’s an idiot, saying, “Are you that slow? The one looking all macho down there and waving his arms about!”

  Matt looks and picks Cain out. He wears some sort of expensive suit that seems to shine like there is morning dew in the threads, and he basks in the cheering from above. His hair is finely gelled brown, and he’s shaved so that his face is smooth and handsome. His outward expressions resemble a humble celebrity, but Matt knows otherwise from Sean’s tales.

  Cain’s opponent morphs, trying to intimidate him with his fearsome appearance of a Beast, Tiger style. The crowd quiets down, and Cain turns to him, dropping the bravo stance with a smug expression. He morphs, and out of the flash he appears in radiant armor of green and white, his left arm carrying a circular shield and a bright broadsword sprouting from his right. Unlike most other battle armors, Cain also has a helmet upon his head with a single, curved, fin-like structure on top of it. As money keeps falling into the pit, rolling or sliding into the center of the square floor between the two fighters by magnetism, Sean remembers, “Oh, right! Matt, let’s throw in our bets. You got any money?”

  “Oh, well, there’s the twenty marcs Amelia gave me earlier,” Matt says as he fishes them out of his pocket.

  “Hmm. Nah, don’t worry about it. You can use some of my money.” He opens up his suitcase, they grab a handful of coins from it, and toss them into the pit. While Sean automatically presses the blue button on his remote for Cain, Matt decides it wouldn’t hurt to bet for the underdog, so he presses the red button.

  The battle is on after the rain of money ends, the accumulated pot in the middle of the pit disappears into the floor like sand in a vial, and an intercom voice from above says, “The battle will begin in 3, 2, 1…” before a freight bell sounds. The Tiger bounds across the floor toward Cain, but when he pounces, Cain’s sword glows and slashes. A shifting wall of aurora light intercepts and shreds through the Tiger, throwing him back across the pit and leaving deep gashes of green wounds in his red fur. Matt, astonished by the move, asks, “What type of attack was that?”

  Sean looks at him, blinks, and says, “Oh, that’s right, I never told you how Cain fights!” While the battle goes along, he explains, “Cain is from a noble family of arcane-bred Alkalians that live in Tirez.” When Matt gives him a questioning look, he adds, “Blade wielders who can use magic. Anyway, not only is he arcane, but Cain has legally drugged himself to have built-in defenses against the basic attack elements. That shield reflects gunfire back at the opponent, and his armor not only absorbs most magic spells, but it is also impervious to harm from physical attacks. That’s why he’s called The Invincible Warrior.”

  As he finishes, the battle ends when the Tiger demorphs after being crushed from energy spears flung from Cain. The crowd cheers and applauds, sucking up to the victorious boss student as he demorphs. The machine along the wall announces the division of prize money and begins spitting it out, and all the students rush over to get their shares. All, except for Matt. As the students come back to the pit, they notice Matt is the only one left there, and they stop dead in their tracks, including Sean.

  Matt, looking back into the stunned faces of the students, realizes he did something wrong. As they slowly gather around the pit again with Sean rejoining his side, he meets the gaze of Cain below in the pit, who for a moment has a glare in his green eyes. The glare changes into a grin as Cain speaks out, “It’s been a long time since a spectator bet against me. It’s a rare event, I will admit, but it’s usually from a freshman. Who are you, if I may ask?”

  Embarrassed and shy with all eyes aimed at him, Matt barely answers, “Um, I’m Matt. Matt Calamos.”

  Cain nods, saying, “Ah, so you’re the new freshman everyone is talking about! I must say, you’re not the first hotshot rookie to come through here. Just because everyone else thinks you’re a Dark Warrior doesn’t mean that you can do whatever you want. In fact, I don’t believe you are a Dark Warrior. Do you know why?”

  “Um, no. Why?”

  “Because if you were, you would have tried to kill everyone else around you by now! But since you haven’t, that clearly means you are not like the Dark Warriors we know, the terrorists who enjoy killing men, women, and children. And therefore, we have nothing to fear from you. Now, as you yourself have presented the opportunity, I shall prove that to everyone here!”

  Without warning, Matt gets shoved from behind in
to the pit, stumbling downward on the sloped wall. Looking back up around him, he sees the audience snickering and sneering toward him, and Sean gazing at him in worry. He then understands he’s being forced to fight Cain, and he pleads, “Whoa, wait, I don’t want to fight! I don’t want to be any trouble!”

  “Well, you already are trouble, Mr. Calamos, and you’re a whole lot of it!” Seeing Matt bewildered by the accusation, Cain explains, “See, with everyone scared out of their minds about you, it’s hard to keep this community running the way I want it to. So, to get it back on track, I have to show it that you are nothing more than the scrawny, stupid, inferior freshman that you are!”

  Too stammered to reply, Matt can only watch as he morphs into his battle form. Under immense pressure from Cain’s threat and the hungry crowd above him, he trembles from anxiety, desperately thinking of what to do, of how to get out of this situation. Then, something clicks in his mind as he realizes this is just like with Ryan from before. If he doesn’t stand up for himself, this other senior would become his bully and constantly torment and demoralize him whenever he got the chance, and Matt wasn’t going to let that happen. Boss student or not, he would not let anyone try to tell him what he was or wasn’t, what he can or can’t do.

  No longer shaking in fear, Matt hardens his resolve as he enters his own morph. The crowd begins betting, the money tumbling down to the pot, and Sean, looking unsure of how to bet, presses a button on the remote. Cain’s expression is bright and proud, and Matt’s is dark and angry as the two foes stare down the other within the pit. Once all the bets are made, and the bell goes off, the battle begins.

  Matt makes the first move by changing his right arm into a rifle and aiming it at Cain’s chest. Cain grins, knowing his shield will block the shot and reflect it back, and holds it before him. Matt fires, the black bullet zooms for Cain’s shield, and instead of the bullet being deflected it pierces not only through the shield but also his torso as it bursts out of his back. The wound sprays green, and the hit almost knocks Cain off his feet as he staggers backwards.

  Sean and the whole crowd jump back with shock, their surprise equal to Cain’s as they stare down into the pit. Not only is the wound solid, but it is also vital, pulsing as it loses more health energy. As Cain gets back upright, he sees Matt has both arms as guns and begins firing bursts at him. He rolls, then slides on air balance out of the bullets’ path, moving towards Matt along the sloped walls. Cain scowls with rage, unable to believe this guy somehow penetrated his defense and wounded him.

  As Matt puts his guns away, Cain crashes into him with his shield, sending him skidding and tumbling along the pit’s wall with a green bruise along his left arm and shoulder. Cain levitates into the air above him, his sword glowing with energy. He swings his blade down, throwing a large flash of light at him to slam him against the wall. Before the flash engulfs him, Matt casts his own spell and becomes shrouded from instantly formed, black energy copies of himself, some being smashed by the flash and the others scattering down the pit’s side.

  The crowd, Sean, and Cain are stunned again. Matt has a spell that allows him to create clones of himself. When Cain lands from his airborne attack, he finds the clones shifting back towards him, and the real Matt emerges to unleash an attack from the apparitions. He dispels his Blastion spell from his right hand, the blast throws Cain across the floor of the pit, and he comes to lie near the bottom of a slope, his upper body radiating a dark yellow from the wounds, his chest wound beating out lost energy.

  ***

  Terrified from the surprise attacks, along with the crowd backing farther away, he can’t understand how his armor didn’t absorb the spell. He has no time to think more of it as Matt is upon him again, the large broadsword of black energy raised in his left hand. Cain meekly raises his shield to defend himself, but it fails again as Matt swings his sword low below it, severing Cain’s arm and leaving an orange stump where his upper arm and shield used to be.

  In growing desperation after gawking at his severed arm, Cain tries lashing up at Matt with his own sword, only to have Matt’s deflect it before he rams its point through Cain’s wrist, pinning him to the floor. Looking at himself, then to Matt, who has a right-armed gun pointed at him, Cain’s expression pales with fear. Without a word, his dark violet eyes glowing fiercely, Matt shoots a bullet into the big, glowing target on Cain’s chest. A massive splash of red springs out like an eruption of liquid, and it turns out to be the demorph flash as the human Cain lies crumpled on his side, beaten to the ground.

  ***

  Sean and the rest of the audience are speechless. Matt, turning away from Cain, demorphs and shouts up to the crowd around the pit, his words coming from a fury in him he never knew he had. “Let this be a lesson to anyone who thinks, just because I’m a freshman and different from you all, that they can bully or torment me. That is not going to happen to me. We are all students at this college, and no one is any better than the other, no matter what our class, background, or battle morphs are. No one has the right to tell me I’m inferior to them, to treat me as such, and I will defend my right to attend this college without living in fear of my fellow students.”

  Pointing a finger at Cain, Matt adds, “And, to his mistake, the rumors about me are true. I am a Dark Warrior. However, I don’t believe that makes me any better than the rest of you. It’s what makes me an individual among you, it’s my own special ability, and I will live with it. I no longer care what any of you think about me. I will do whatever I have to at this college to move on and succeed, and no one is going to make it any harder for me!”

  While the crowd is silenced by his declaration, the machine by the wall announces, “The prize money will be rewarded to two individuals, 2,500 marcs each.” Nobody moves to collect the money, looking around as they wonder who was the guy that bet for Matt.

  Cain snarls toward Matt while getting back on his feet, “How dare you speak like that, you obnoxious little brat! I am a senior, and you are a freshman, which means you are anything but equal to me! I know more than you, I’m more mature than you, I’m…”

  He is interrupted from a holler within the crowd, and Sean comes prancing down the pit’s slope. “B.Y.O.B. Bring your own BOOYAH! You did it, Matt! You beat the pants off that wretched senior and scored us a jackpot!” Sean’s celebration ruins the heat of the moment, and everyone stares as he shakes a startled Matt and continues bouncing around in the pit. “We’re rich, we’re rich! We’re swimming in sweet moolah…”

  “Shut up when I’m talking!!” snaps Cain. He grows ever more furious when Sean ignores him and keeps dancing about, so he growls back at Matt, “You’ll regret this, you little punk! If you think I’ll let you take over the school, as I’m sure you’re up to, you are sorely mistaken! I’ll have my revenge, and when I’m done, you will never cross me again!” He then stomps out of the pit, shoving past students who cringe away from him.

  Matt looks on after him, his passion vanishing as quickly as it appeared, and Sean comes over and says to him, “Ah, don’t worry about that sore loser, for now at least. Let’s go get our prize money, find Rose, and get out of here. I think this has been enough excitement for one night!”

  ***

  A few minutes later, Matt, Sean, and Rose are walking toward the casino entrance, intending to leave and call it a night. Matt has finished telling Rose what happened at the pit arena while Sean is hauling the suitcase of prize money beside him. He mentions, “Well, if we win this much money every night, I better just keep it in my cooler!”

  Rose grimaces as she says, “Wait a minute. So, if Matt offended such a guy like Cain, won’t he be in big trouble?”

  “Maybe. But who cares? Matt knocked Cain off his high horse, which means people will start asking themselves who should really be feared around here. As long as Matt keeps doing what he’s doing, he will become a student elite in no time!”

  “And what about Cain, or the other boss students?” asks Matt.

 
“Oh, he’ll probably send his cronies after you, but that’s nothing to worry about,” reassures Sean. “As for the others, I don’t know. One of them, especially Lyn, may come up and shake your hand in congratulations. But if you could smoke Cain like you did tonight, some thugs of his will be no problem at all!”

  The group of three exit through the large doors into a night lit only by stars above. Once they are out of the casino’s light, a voice calls from the darkness nearby, “Halt.” They turn around, looking in the direction the voice came from, and see three young men in black tuxedo suits, each one wearing a dark pair of sunglasses. The strangers march over to them, and the one in front removes his glasses to reveal big green eyes upon a lean face with black hair. He speaks with a sense of authority. “Where are your passes?”

  Confused, Matt asks, “Uh, what? Passes? What passes?”

  The stranger explains, “All students using the casino must have passes for entering and exiting with won money, as it helps keep tally on money brought out and how often a student comes to the casino. So, your passes, please.”

  “And who are you to inquire?” asks Rose with a small growl.

  The man glares at her before saying, “I am Tony, captain of the casino security officers, who help make sure the casino’s environment stays stable, organized, and without any trouble, which means we must make sure no one takes money without a pass.”

  Matt and Rose look to each other in confusion, but Sean speaks up, “It’s okay, guys, I’ll handle this.” He sets down the suitcase, walks up to Tony, and gets close with a cool, confident stare. He says, “As I’ve learned from experience, and from asking the professors about it myself, there are no such passes required for students coming to the casino. We don’t need passes.”