It's been 9 nights since Femi and Arwan registered as Galactic Wanderers.
And they were in the midst of their 5th night in Sin City.
Arwan sorted out Eina's bodysuit and found someone to fix a temporary identification card and documents for her in the first two nights, on the third night he had gotten what he required.
Following that, he spent his days buying things for Rimora like equipment for certain rooms, energy refills for the ship engine, etcetera.
Eina napped on her new bean bed that was placed on the bridge. If she wasn't, she spent her time with the other mates when they were on the ship.
Femi had spent all his night time in Sin City at the Arena.
After beating The Brass, he had fought and beat different people including one other top participant of the Arena. He even fought The Brass again, which he won without going through much trouble compared to their first fight. Femi was becoming better at fighting a single opponent. Additionally, he was getting better at controlling his strength.
Femi had gathered a lot of reputation as Scarlet, a man who was on a win-streak in the Arena.
As days passed, more people kept coming to watch his fights and more people bet on his wins.
Tonight, Femi would be fighting throughout the night. The Arena proposed that he should participate in an event where anyone could challenge Femi throughout the night.
Femi, who was already getting tired of these fights, accepted. After his first fight at the Arena, only a fight against the other top participant proved a bit difficult.
Asides from that, all other fights weren't as thrilling as he didn't notice any faults in his swordsmanship nor did his physical strength show any signs of evident development.
The event where anyone could challenge Scarlet had begun.
Femi stood in the sandy arena, his back facing the third person he had defeated tonight.
As everyone cheered, Femi felt his feelings twist and react to the thoughts and words his hunch fed his mind.
Femi felt anticipation rise within him. The happy feeling that had been stale for the past 4 nights rose as his eyes set on an individual walking through the crowds.
The announcer spoke but Femi paid no attention.
His eyes were glued to the individual, his hunch telling him that was the person he had been waiting for.
The person that will add impact to his journey to come, Femi couldn't control his feelings.
*****
"Look, it's him."
"Hey, hey. Look there."
"Who's that?"
"It's Gabriel."
"Gabriel? That guy?"
"What's he doing here?"
"Is he also interested in fighting Scarlet?"
"Noone knows what that madman is thinking!"
The whispers didn't end there.
The individual named Gabriel walked through the crowd inquiring what the current situation within the Arena was.
After confirming that it was the famous Scarlet that was on the stage, Gabriel glanced at the center stage.
He immediately made eye contact with Scarlet making his pierced lips contort to form a smile.
Gabriel was about to sit down and watch as usual, but seeing Scarlet's inviting red eyes, he sighed and made way down the stairs that led to the stage.
The news of Gabriel appearing in the Arena spread wide amongst those who knew him.
Gabriel walked down, ignoring the stares and whispers, mumbling a quiet tone as he moved.
The Announcer did his job, his voice vibrating through the speakers. He said:
"Hey, hey, hey! Folks, an unexpected individual is walking towards Scarlet!"
"Ladies and gentlefolks… The Mad Freak! The Lone Wanderer! The one and only Gabriel is going to be facing Scarlet!"
"For those who don't know him, Gabriel has only fought with the Arena's strongest members and he won them all! On top of that, he was someone who participated in the freefall but pit himself against 49 people and still came out without any major injury! He is the only person with a clean sheet till date since this Arena was created!"
"He has said he only faces the strong and worthy. Folks, it seems that Gabriel has seen in Scarlet what we can't see in just one night!"
"What is this development?! I did now expect to see Gabriel versus Scarlet tonight!" The Announcer spoke with an evident hint of surprise and reverence in his voice.
Gabriel kept smiling, his once lazy eyes grew active as he approached Scarlet.
Reaching the center Arena, he stopped meters away from Scarleti.
Gabriel said, "Oi, you heard the man, I only fight the worthy." He chuckled, "Don't disappoint."
"I've been waiting too long to come and do such a useless thing." Scarlet replied.
Gabriel raised a brow, "Hoho, you've been waiting for me? Hope I didn't keep you waiting for too long?"
"Actually you did. In fact, I already got tired of this place," Scarlet shrugged.
"Ah, sorry. I would have come earlier after I heard how you were disgracing the so-called powerful people of this weakling infested place." With a sigh, he continued, "But I had lots of sleep to catch up on."
Gabriel scanned Scarlet, his eyes peering deep into Scarlet's body as if looking through his secrets.
As he peered into him, Gabriel smiled… devilishly. "I thought I'd be disappointed but you're.. Let me say you're intriguingly interesting."
Scarlet tilted his head, with a confused tone, he asked, "Why?"
"Let's just say my standards are high. No need to worry though, you're very interesting to reach those standards." Gabriel replied, "We've been talking for way too long, I feel like my mouth is about to fall off, let's start already."
"Okay then." Scarlet replied, getting into a battle stance.
*****
Femi looked at his long-awaited opponent.
Gabriel's height was six-feet-two, taller than Femi. His short hair was yellow with green strands popping out here and there. His eyes were yellow with green hidden underneath like eyes that had central heterochromia. Under his right eye, there was a natural yellow line and under the left, there were two yellow lines. His face also had different piercings.
He donned a white shirt with green tie and white trousers, a yellow jacket worn on top of the shirt.
Femi tilted his head again. He unknowingly blurted out, "Eh, you're not wearing a bodysuit."
Gabriel laughed, "Hahahaha! Took you long enough. The conditions to beat me are different from others."
From his pocket, Gabriel brought out a rope with a tether battery linked to it. He tied the rope to his hand, leaving the battery dangling.
As he finished, he explained, "You just have to cut this rope, and you win. That's easy right?"
Femi said with indifference, "I don't feel like that'd be easy. In fact, I feel like this will be the hardest fight here."
"What good intuition you have there. This is definitely going to be your hardest fight here." Gabriel said with a welcoming smile, "Okay now. Come at me before I get tired of this."
Femi went back to his fighting stance.
Seeing they've stopped their discussion, the announcer said, "A battle between two individuals with clean sheets. Whose streak will end here?"
The crowd's cheers burst, becoming louder.
"The Mad Freak against the Red one drenched in Black."
"Gabriel versus Scarlet. Fight!"