Narrated by Alex
I walked out if the cave, and man, what a sight it was!
A huge and lively city was in front, and it felt like the city itself radiated positivity. The sunrays illuminated the city with a brilliant golden glow, and the city was filled with colors. The buildings had a variety of tints and shades of different colors, and each building stood out, but in a good way.
"This....." John marveled, a super shocked look on his face,"is Mira?"
Benji smiled, and walked out,"Yes! It hasn't changed a single bit!"
"It's so... colorful."
"Yep! The people here know how to make anything look unique."
"But it looks pretty good." I said.
"That's the speciality of Mira. Here, everything looks different, but all look equally good."
"I definitely wanna be inside the city, not outside!" I yelled, and ran towards the city.
"Alex, slow down!" I heard Benji behind me, but I was enthralled by the city's appearance, that I didn't care.
I came in front of the gate, and ran in, but a buff man knocked me down.
He gave me a disgusted look, and said,"Ain't seen ya from around here. Whatcha want?"
"What do you mean? I'm going inside!"
"Show me an ID." He held his palm out.
I didn't have an ID, so I did nothing.
"Show me an ID." The man repeated.
"Hey! If it ain't Cryser!" Benji said behind me.
"Benji?" The man asked, baffled.
"How you doing, my man?" Benji held his hand out to the man.
The man shook it, and said with a smile,"Oh, I'm great. What's up with you, and who're these kids?"
"Oh, they're my students. I suppose you've met Alex already?"
"Hi." I said, still sitting.
"You've got students?!" The guy looked pretty shocked,"Benji, you're a teacher now?"
Benji shrugged,"Yeah, I guess."
"But, you know what happens in the school, and still-"
"That's why I'm a teacher. To do what my master did. To help these students unleash their potential, and show that every person is special in their own way."
"That's good.... And I suppose you came here to enter the tournament?"
"Not me, my students will."
"Oh," he stuck his hand out to me,"Sorry for not letting you go. Shoulda told me you were Benji's student."
I grabbed his hand, and got up,"You shoulda told me that you knew Benji."
The man laughed,"I like your style, kid. See you around!"
Benji waved to him, and we made our way inside.
Mira looked like one of those 'Rainbow Cities', where the seven colors are spread out everywhere, to make a colorful and vibrant city. There was a blue painted building, right next to it was a lime green one, and to the other side was a hot pink one. The roads were normal, and the pavements were cobalt blue.
The air carried a sweet sugary scent to it, like cookies, but the scent was faint. The street was busy, and horns were heard all over the place. The people knew their clothes, and most of the people wore really fitting clothes with great color combinations.
John said to me, still admiring the city,"This place looks great, doesn't it?"
"Great? It's like heaven!"
"On Earth."
"Yeah."
"Also, Mr. Benji told me that this place has a reputation for great arcades."
"THEY'VE GOT ARCADES HERE?!"
"Yep!"
"What are we waiting for then? Let's go!"
"You sure know the way to the arcade."
"I do...n't."
John turned to Benji,"Uh, Mr. Benji, where could we find the arcade?"
Gordon snapped from his boredom,"They've got arcades?"
Benji nodded,"Yes, they do."
Anne's eyes lit up,"Then let's go!"
Benji interrupted,"Not so soon! We're gonna have to check in for the tournament first!"
"Check in?" Gordon asked.
"Yes. We'll go to the tournament arena, and give our names there. They'll verify us, and hand us the room keys."
"We've got a room?" I asked, getting impatient now.
"Of course. Where do you think our team would stay for the rest of the week?"
"One week? The tournament is that long?"
"This is the Bender League! It only comes once every seven years! Of course it would be a one week event!"
"Thought it would be only one day long, like, it would end today or something."
"No! It doesn't start today! Today's the check in day. Tomorrow, the first qualifier will take place, then the Round of 32, or Round 1 on Tuesday, Round of 16, or Round 2 on Wednesday, Quarterfinals on Thursday, Semi Finals on Friday, and the Final on Saturday."
"Wow, that's...." Now I understood why John said he had six days at the most, to pull it off. If he somehow managed to get to the finals, and had to face the other guy, that would be the sixth day.
"So, let us go to our room, freshen up a bit, and then we could check this city out?"
"Sure!" I said, and was thrilled about the arcade.
We went to the Mira National Bending Institute, and a huge stadium had been erected nearby. The tournament was gonna be held there, and the thought of fighting in front of such a huge audience excited me.
The Institute was unlike the one we had at Stronghold, and instead of three huge buildings, there were several small three-storey buildings scattered around the campus. There was oy one building that had five storeys, and it was the main building.
We went to a counter near the building, where a man wearing a pair of thin glasses sat on a chair, and worked on his laptop. He looked at us, and asked,"Entering the tournament?"
"Yes. Oliver Benji, Stronghold City." Benji said.
The man typed something in his laptop, and looked at us again. He nodded, and opened a drawer under his desk.
He fumbled around, until he produced a key, and handed it over to us, and said,"Welcome to Mira City! Hope you enjoy your stay, and all the best for the tournament! You can find the hotel right next to the stadium!"
Benji nodded and smiled. The hotel was a big building, at least fifteen storeys high. The key in Benji's hand read,'7C'.
We went to the seventh floor, and the third room was ours. It was big, but meant for around six people. Guess each batch got their own room.
The room was pretty spacious. Or was it a room? There were around four rooms for us. The living room had couches and recliners, and a 90 inch T.V. I didn't bother to look at the kitchen and bathroom, but the bedroom had six small beds, and each bed had a desk and chair next to it. The bedroom opened to a balcony, from where I got a pretty good view of the city.
I placed my bag on the bed closest to the balcony, and began unpacking my stuff.
It was over soon, and we had some breakfast, and went to the arcade, since we had nothing to do. We played there for a pretty long time, but John left early, and Anne followed soon. Benji chatted with his friend Cryser.
I and Gordon played for what seemed like forever, and eventually came out of the arcade.