Inner Core (Book 2) (Completed)

Chapter 18 *Nearly Done*

(The tournament is tomorrow. Everyone has been working hard on their jobs for this to work. Ruri, Shurui, Dai and the clones made the entire stadium. It was big and there were columns of seats after seats in a big oval. It wrapped around a cement rectangle for the competitors to fight. They didn't have time to plant any grass around it or anything so it's just sand and maybe some scrap metal hidden in it too. Ruri found some bits and pieces, but she didn't know if she got it all out. Mr. Clone and Yui made Mexican food and will have some of the clones pass stuff out during the tournament. She didn't get any guacamole because of Reo, but everything else she had. Mr. Clone tried to help, but he didn't do much. He helped pay for everything, so she can thank him for that. Reo, Sara, and Selene spread the word out to lots of people. The entire city is talking about the tournament. They all seemed very excited. Times have been rough with all the Cloak and Kage stuff going on, but this seemed like a great distraction from it all. Plus, Kazu will be able to pay off all his debt with his money. The entire team was in the living room looking at Kazu waiting for him to speak. Even Mr. Clone, Protector, Kirenia, and Shurui were there too.)

Kazu: "Well it looks like this whole thing was a success. It took a lot of hard work, but we finally did it. We'll get the money, and maybe a few more teammates."

(Kazu nodded to Kiriena and Shurui. Kiriena rolled her eyes and Shurui smiled.)

Kazu: "Everyone get a good night's rest tonight because tomorrow will be a nice day."

Reo; "Hey, what are the fights?"

Kazu: "Huh?"

Reo: "Who's fighting who to begin?"

Kazu: "Oh right sorry. Depending what the first letter of your hero name is, will be what place you're in."

Reo: "Soooo, who am I fighting?"

Kazu: "Well I don't know everyone who's joining. So whoever is paired up with you."

Reo: "Ugh, so I won't know til tomorrow."

Kazu: "Correct."

Reo: "That's stupid."

Kazu: "Just go to bed. Tomorrow you will know."

Reo: "Ugh, whatever."

(Reo walked upstairs to his bedroom.)

Kazu: "Well, I'm headed to bed too. Goodnight everyone."

(He gave a quick wave and headed upstairs too. Then everyone else headed up there too. Everyone fell right to bed, except for Selene. She was nervous. Afraid she would do bad. She didn't know who she would be up against. She wouldn't know their core, weakness, fighting style, nothing at all. She would have to be cautious of what they could do. She fell asleep thinking deep about this, but not everyone was asleep.)

(Jiko was staring at a flyer stapled to a pole. It talked about the tournament.)

Jiko: "Tomorrow?"

(He looked at his right arm. He then made it get covered with flames and closed his fist. He looked determined, he was ready for this. This is how he will be shown as a hero. This is how he'll get noticed. He was rea-)

???: "Hey, no using cores without a hero license!"

(Jiko turned to see one of Mr. Clone's clones yelling at him. He stopped the fire.)

Jiko: "Sorry!"

Clone: "It's ok. Don't let it happen again."

(The clone left and Jiko was by himself again, but he was still determined.)

Kage: "One more day."

(Kage had everyone bunched up looking at him. He had a few new faces too.)