Chapter XVII - Blind Spot

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"According to initial reports, one of the passengers of the crashed helicopter was Felitte actress, Pinzailyn Ailoraw," the newscaster announced with an appropriate grimness. "She was last seen at the Hotel Grande where she made waves after she assaulted and thrashed the Digitch former GB Champion, Utsu Hoshek, to within an inch of his life. Loress Wenerly has this report," the newscaster intoned and looked to the side.

"Are you sure that Digitch fellow survived?" Pinz asked.

"For the sixth time, yes!" Heraclark assured her. "When we were done with those men, a medic arrived, patched him up good, and then carried him away. Anything else you would like to know?"

"It's just that it's a load off my mind," Pinz replied and looked back at her holophone.

The scene had changed to an establishing shot of the skyline of Brivil before a brunette with an exceptionally piercing voice began rambling on about the 'horrific incident.' Before long, the reporter launched into a detailed analysis of Pinz's recent troubling behavior to speculate on the possible cause of the tragedy.

"Oh goodness, you'd think they'd have something nice to say. I mean, I just died," Pinz muttered with an exhausted sigh as she wearily watched the hologram being projected from her holophone. "Do you think it will work, though?" she asked Heraclark, who sat across the campfire from her.

"I have no doubt it will," Heraclark comforted her. "They might even set your friend free now that they think you're dead."

"But they must have found out about Mert too."

"I am pretty sure they have," Heraclark agreed. "But so what? They can't know for sure you had a hand in that."

"Maybe," Pinz said resignedly. "I have never done anything like this before, you know."

"Like crashing your own helicopter?"

Pinz looked up from her holophone. "Like faking something."

She had been worried sick on the way about Seluna. She didn't really believe they would kill Seluna when they found out Mert was dead, but she was sure they would harm her in some way to teach Pinz a lesson.

An idea had begun forming. She obsessed about it over and over again in her mind, telling herself it was crazy before she finally succumbed and started looking for parachutes in the helicopter. When she finally found enough for all of them, she marched over to Jayrock and told him they needed to bail out and let the helicopter crash.

Both Jayrock and Heraclark tried reasoning with her and assuring her that Seluna would be fine, but she was having none of it.

They bailed out over the Gorven Hills surrounding the city of Brivil. They landed quite a distance away from the wreckage, but Jayrock still made his way over to it and made sure it went up in flames with one of his weapons called 'Flint Shotgun' or something.

They made their way down the slopes and then through the Gorven Woods for several hours before they made camp in a clearing using supplies they had salvaged from the helicopter. All of them, including Puff, had been extremely tired, so they were sound asleep in a blink.

They had had all the food they could find in the helicopter, so after waking up, they had to forage for more. All they could find were shrubs of the native fruit, erifi, a little, round fruit with a magenta to dark-purple skin, and a tart flavor, but it sufficed.

Heraclark popped a mouthful of the erifi as he pretended to pay attention to the hologram. Pinz had given him a description of a man who had boarded with her friend that could only be Umberton — plus, she had described a woman as well that must have been Rook. Heraclark chewed on the erifi as hard as he could and let their acidic juice fill his mouth, all the time imagining what he would do if he could get his hands on the pig again.

"Twenty-two cases of the Mad Diver's disease have been reported in the last few hours in Brivil," the newscaster was now saying. "As a result, this year's much-awaited Galactic Battle tournament has been postponed indefinitely as authorities are seeking to curb the spread of the disease."

"The tournament got postponed!" Pinz exclaimed.

"Oh? Is that good or bad?" Heraclark asked.

"I don't know. Considering my luck lately, I would say bad," Pinz replied.

She turned the hologram off and looked to the side where Puff was sniffing at some shrubs, occasionally pouncing on make-believe critters. Seeing her pet content eased her stress.

The woods were gloomy and dark, the campfire being the only source of light. The trees were widely distanced as their straight trunks shot up and disappeared into the night sky. The ground was coarse soil with sparse shrubbery. The woods echoed with the perpetual chirping of crickets just as a stream merrily gurgled by.

"Who is he talking to?" Pinz asked as she squinted over Heraclark's shoulder at the figure pacing back and forth in the distance.

"A friend," Heraclark replied absently. "Maybe."

"Could you just stand still, Jayrock? You're making me dizzy!" Gylith's hologram complained.

"Sorry," Jayrock said and halted. "You were saying?"

"So, I wired all the money from that account of yours into a new one. I just sent you the new account number and all the necessary details," Gylith said proudly. "Well, not all the money. I kept some to buy one of those Zapstromiss cars in that darned... what was that spaceship called now? Miracle?"

Jayrock stared blankly at Gylith's hologram. "Yeah, I—"

"Kidding." Gylith chuckled. "I bought it with my own money, thank you very much."

"Oh. I owe you one, Gylith."

"You owe me two," Gylith said. "I dug through some of Sandywick's classified files. The most interesting ones were about something called the 'Project Elemorts.' Anyway, your hunch proved right. The Brivil Arena doubles as a facility where they seem to be conducting experiments on supersoldiers. Actually, fighters who have taken part in the Galactic Battle tournament over the last few years."

"I knew it!" Jayrock exclaimed, pleased to know he was right. "What about the new fighters?"

"Blissfully unaware in Hotel Grande," Gylith said. "Intelligence reports suggest that experiments on new fighters aren't commenced until a few days before the tournament starts, which I hear has been delayed this year."

"I see. What about the layout?" Jayrock asked.

"Uploading to your phone right now," Gylith replied.

Pinz ran a hand through Puff's fur as she came scampering back to her and nuzzled against her hand. "You know she used to be my stunt double. Back when I didn't do my own stunts."

Heraclark lay down on his side and elbow, resting his head on his hand. "Really? You didn't do your stunts in, like, Deceptive Alliances? Or in Triple Threat?"

"Oh, have you seen those?" Pinz said happily. "No, I didn't. It was Seluna. She worked for a casting agency, but she also worked as a stuntwoman on the side. She left the agency for me. She was kind of the only one who believed in me back then."

"I'm sure that's not true," Heraclark remarked. "I, for one, did when I saw your first movie. Although, of course, you didn't know that."

"That's sweet." Pinz giggled. "But my father thought I was too immature to know what I really wanted to be. My mother wanted me to leave everything and assist her in her real estate business. My brother... ugh, my brother... I'd rather not talk about him."

"Then, let's not," Heraclark replied and sat up. "Listen, don't worry. We will each get what we came here for."

Pinz wanted to thank him, but her voice caught up in her throat. She looked away as she fought back her tears. I hope they didn't do anything to her, she thought.

"Guys, it's time," Jayrock said, standing over the campfire.

Pinz looked up and wiped her eyes. "Ready when you are," she said resolutely and got up.

"Let's get to it, then," Heraclark said and followed suit.

They set through the woods toward the east. Pinz let her eyes glow chartreuse to let Jayrock see clearly. At last, after they had walked for about half an hour, the trees thinned out and gave way to a vast expanse of green fields. Sitting proudly amid the rolling fields was the enormous Brivil Arena. It was a colossal, round structure with staggeringly tall, white walls that gave way to a partial, sea-green dome that left the fighting ring inside exposed.

The arena was situated inside an open-air plaza that was, in turn, surrounded by the Gorven Woods on three sides, while two wide driveways led to and from the south side. The plaza consisted of expanses of beautiful gardens adorned with pools and fountains. The driveways gave way to roads that twisted and turned between the gardens, along with covered walkways for pedestrians. A few smaller, yet equally exquisite, buildings were situated near the outer reaches of the plaza.

The lighting was somewhat muted as the area was not open to the public at this time. The night sky was finally visible after the woods' impenetrable gloom, and Ahore and Raimyor gently twinkled up above.

Pinz set Puff down on the soft grass underneath. "Alright, sweetie, I need you to do something for me," she said softly as she crouched and looked into Puff's big, round eyes. "I need you to stay. Stay. Can you do that for me? Can you stay?"

The cat looked back uncertainly and meowed. Then, slowly, she sat back on her haunches.

"Good girl," Pinz chirped and patted Puff's head. "I will be right back, OK? You can run and play here, but you need to stay here, alright? I love you," she said and hugged Puff tightly, who purred and nuzzled against her cheeks.

As she was on the verge of tears, she let the cat go and stood up. "I will be right back, Puff," she said softly and turned around. "Let's go," she said to the guys.

"I'm sure that must have been difficult, but you did the right thing," Jayrock said gently as they set for the plaza.

Pinz looked back one last time as the cat sadly watched her go. It was too much to bear, so she made herself look straight ahead. She will be safe here, she told herself. "Yes, it was... both those things."

They came across a low, chain-link fence, which they climbed over to hop onto one of the gardens in the plaza.

"Now, before we go any further," Jayrock said, fishing out his holophone. "Let's go over the layout once more, now that the plaza is in view."

He tapped away, and a hologram of the layout popped out. "Now, considering the arena is by far the largest building here, as far as I'm concerned, everyone of import should be in there, including Pinz's friend," Jayrock explained, rotating and enlarging the hologram with his fingers. "However, there are other buildings here that we must consider. Take this building here, for example," he said as he zoomed in on a rectangular structure near the western end of the plaza. "It's supposed to be a workshop of sorts. It's where any equipment that is needed for the tournament is put together on the spot." He looked at Heraclark and added pointedly, "You did say Umberton was seeking to build something using those blueprints, didn't you?"

"Yes," Heraclark said thoughtfully. "That pig must be there."

"We should split up, then," Pinz suggested.

"Not now. Later," Jayrock said and manipulated the hologram to show them something else. "See, there's this underground parking lot near the north side of the arena, meant specifically for the fighters. From there, several underground corridors lead to various buildings in the plaza — like the changing rooms or the gym. We can use those corridors to explore the plaza undetected."

"So, we're headed for the parking lot, then?" Pinz half-asked, half-inferred.

"No. Its entrance is likely to be guarded vigilantly. The fighting ring in the arena, on the other hand, is likely to be abandoned," Jayrock said. "The underground corridors also lead right below the ring. It's where those platforms are located, which fighters use to make their grand entrances in the ring right before a fight. We will enter the ring and simply use the platforms in reverse."

"Yeah, now that you mentioned it, there was something like that written in the pamphlet I got along with the invitation," Pinz recalled. "But, I never bothered to read it properly."

"Umm... excuse me? How do we get to the ring? Don't you think the arena's entrances would be guarded vigilantly?" Heraclark objected.

"We will climb up its walls," Jayrock declared.

"Are you crazy? I am not climbing up three-hundred feet!" Heraclark said incredulously.

"It's not three-hundred feet, and aren't you a bodybuilder?" Jayrock asked with a hint of judgment in his tone.

"I am also a bank manager," Heraclark said, wryly. "They tend to be practical. I am perfectly capable of sneaking over to that workshop. After all, the dark is a friend of Loogmorts."

"If you say so." Jayrock sighed. "What if we spot Umberton instead? Should we kill him for you?"

"NO!" Heraclark yelled. Realizing he had been too loud, he lowered his voice and added, "He is mine! Do you understand me?"

"Alright, alright!" Jayrock put his hands up. "I'll text you if I see him."

"Good," Heraclark said and started walking away.

"And Heraclark?" Jayrock called out. "The disappeared contestants from the previous tournaments are supposed to be temporarily cooped up here somewhere too. Keep an eye out for them, will you?"

"I will." Heraclark nodded and departed.

"There's the first wrench in the works," Jayrock lamented.

"Quit whining. Let's go," Pinz urged.

They discreetly made their way through the garden, crossed a road, and came across a walkway, which they followed in the arena's direction. They spotted a guard on his patrol, coming from the other direction, so they crouched behind a nearby fountain until he passed by.

They kept going and soon reached the broad road that encircled the arena. The arena itself towered above so that they had to crane their heads to look above at the roof.

It had four marquees, set equidistant from each other. They could see one of the entrances protruding out of the wall some distance to their right, where a pair of guards were posted.

"We'll climb up there," Jayrock said, motioning toward the section of the wall directly in front of them.

"Those guards will definitely see us when we cross the road," Pinz pointed out.

Jayrock did not respond and formed a deep-saffron stone in his hand. He launched it in a high trajectory so that it went sailing over the guards' heads. It landed somewhere far to the opposite side with a muffled thud. The guards instantly turned their heads toward the source of the sound, away from Jayrock and Pinz.

"Not anymore," Jayrock said as they rushed across the road and into the patch of grass and shrubbery tucked under the arena wall.

"Alright, then. To the top. I wish I had some rope, but you'll just have to pull through. I'm fairly sure you can do it," Jayrock said.

"Don't patronize me," Pinz said indignantly. "And considering I am Felitte, yes, I can."

She channeled her enertrons into the soles of her feet and released them in a burst of dark-orange energy to propel herself high up into the air. She soared through the air until she came on a level with an enormous window set in an arch.

She flipped in midair as she began to descend and then kicked off a horizontal railing of the window frame using another burst of energy. Once again, she leaped high in the air, grabbed a pole sticking out of the wall to swing higher, bounced off a balcony, and finally landed gracefully on the roof. She turned around and peered over the edge. Far down below, Jayrock seemed like a tiny, little bug among the shrubs. She waved at him and then walked across the roof to its inner lip. Uh-oh, she thought in despair as she looked down into the ring.

And I thought I'd have company climbing up, Jayrock thought wearily. He applied his palms to the wall and used rock to latch on. Then he lifted his feet and latched those on too. Slowly but surely, he made his way up, navigating between columns, windows, beams, and banners. At last, he reached the top and pulled himself over the edge onto the roof. Ahead, Pinz sat crouching over the inner edge, her silhouette outlined against the brilliant lighting of the floodlights around the roof.

"We have a problem," Pinz said as Jayrock joined her.

"Ah! The second wrench in the works," Jayrock said in dismay as he looked down.

The arena bowl stretched below them like a giant sinkhole. It could accommodate over sixty-thousand spectators. The seating was divided into two tiers — the lower half accessible to the general public and the upper half for the VIPs, split into several boxes that could be extended up into the air. A marquee ran around the rim of the partition that separated the two tiers, scrolling over which were the names of several sponsors while all the seats were aglow in a neon blue.

At the bottom of the abyss was the fighting ring, which was presently covered in a familiar turquoise glow while similar low walls surrounded it.

"You said the ring would be abandoned," Pinz complained as she shifted her gaze from the two, hard to make out figures brawling in the ring to one of the gigantic LED screens hanging from the roof over the seats. A heavily built, bald man in a white vest and black shorts was locked in an intense fistfight with a blond woman in loose, royal-blue tunic and trousers. They socked and kicked and grappled each other, outlined in a turquoise aura, and Pinz could even make out the fightsense gadgets they wore.

The din of the brawling was amplified by the sound system so that every blow shook the very air. A booming piece of background music with a fast tempo added to the thrill of the fight. Surprisingly, the bowl's acoustics made sure that they were not able to hear anything outside of the arena.

"What are they doing at this hour?" Jayrock said, annoyed.

Sitting in one of the VIP boxes was the old lady in a pixie cut whom Heraclark had called Rook. A few of her guards in black suits surrounded the box. Another Crimson Crow, I see, Jayrock thought.

The old woman was accompanied by several of the Galactic Enterprises executives and researchers, including the woman Pinz recognized as Kash. Every now and then, Rook leaned over to Kash's ear and pointed at something or the other while the other woman always seemed to nod in agreement.

"Overseeing the preparations?" Pinz suggested. "Anyway, who cares, what do you say now? To the parking lot, then?"

"No, what is with you and the parking lot?" Jayrock snapped.

"Well, what then?"

"Just let me think," Jayrock said as he pressed his hands to his temples, trying to focus through the noise and the bright lights.

...

The building was small and rectangular and seemed more like a shed than a workshop. A pair of guards stood outside the door, chatting idly.

"Last time they were transported, one of the poor souls fell out and ran into the woods. Never seen again, poor fellow," the brutish guard on the left was saying.

"It's such a bother. Transporting them back before the tournament," the other guard with tattoos all across his skinny arms complained.

"Sometimes, my heart aches, and I wish I could put them out of their misery, you know," the brutish guard said thoughtfully.

"I hear you. It'd be fun to use them as target practice!" the tattooed guard said excitedly.

I am sick of playing games, Heraclark

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