Freedom Planet: Trinity (CANCELLED)

Chapter Three

It had only been a few hours after Aya and Neera had gotten their blessing from the Magister to find Spade and bring him back for questioning, when they found themselves in Shang-Mu, "So why do you think Spade is here?" Neera asked as the two stared up at the BattleSphere.It sure was a sphere made for battle.

"Spade's a battlesphere contestant. I've seen him enter the tournament dozens of times. He doesn't usually make it that far but uh...I like watching him. It's nice to be able to cheer for my home," Aya said, shrugging a bit.

"Spade is a criminal," Neera added, scoffing slightly at Aya.

"Yeah I know that, duh. But he's still the brother of King Dail," Aya said, lightly pushing Neera's shoulder, "Let's just go find him, alright?" Aya sighed and walked into the Battlesphere entrance.

Neera groaned. She sheathed her Frost Spear on her back and entered the Battlesphere with Aya, looking around at the building, and the many people attending. Aya and Neera quickly combed the crowd, looking for any sign of Spade, "He's not here, let's go," Neera said, "This is a waste of our time."

"He could be a contestant, they've got their own lobby," Aya said, pointing to the entrance to the Contestant Lobby. Outside the door stood a large, bulky Bear. He was very obviously the guard.

Neera groaned, and walked over to the Bear, "By order of the Magister, we need to be let through," Neera said to the Bear.

"Sorry, missy, not gonna happen. This is for contestants only, "The Bear growled.

"What did you just call me?" Neera asked, her face burning red with rage, "It just so happens that I AM THE ROYAL GUARD TO THE MAGISTER! DO NOT CALL ME MISSY!" Neera shouted, before being grabbed by Aya and pulled away from the door.

"Neera!" Aya squealed, holding tight onto Neera's hands. Neera was fuming, her face still a shade of pink.

"This is a waste of our time!" Neera grabbed her Frost Spear off of her back and turned towards the Bear.

"Neera wait!" Aya grabbed hold of Aya's arm, and pulled her back, "I've got an idea!"

"What is it?" Neera asked, looking at Aya. Aya turned and looked at the Contestant sign-up desk, "Oh no...no, nope, out of the question!" Neera said, pulling out of Aya's grasp, "Not gonna happen!" A few moments later, Neera found herself signing up to be a BattleSphere contestant, "This is a terrible idea," Neera groaned as she had her picture taken for her ID card.

Aya, however, didn't need to sign up, "Aya-Fae, please," Aya said to the person on the other side of the desk. They ruffled through some old drawers, before grabbing an ID card and handing it to Aya. Aya smiled down at the card, "Wow..."

"Wait," Neera said as she stepped over to aya, Contestant ID in her hand, "You were a Battlesphere contestant?"

"For a while, yeah. Before I joined the Shuigang Royal Guard," Aya handed Neera the ID card. The picture of Aya was old. Really old. She looked much younger, and she wore neon green face paint right under her eyes, and she had her hair put back into a ponytail, "Pretty ugly, right?" Aya chuckled, taking the ID card from Neera.

"Hm," Neera didn't quite know what to say. She had never taken Aya for this type of person, "Why didn't you ever tell me this before?"

"It never seemed that important to me," Aya shrugged, and stepped up to the guard, handing him her and Neera's ID card.

"Alright ma'am, you're both free to go in," The bear said, opening the door for the two to enter. Aya and Neera quickly scurried into the contestant lobby, and scanned the room for Spade. Not here.

Just as the two were about to leave, a voice came from behind the two, "Wait...are you Aya?" Neera and Aya swiveled around to see who was talking to them. It was a short, Auburn fox. Her tail swished left and right excitedly as she saw Aya, "OHMYGOSHYOUAREAYA!" She squealed.

"Oh uh...hey. Do I know you?" Aya asked, blushing, slightly embarrassed.

"OHMYGOSHIAMLIKEYOURBIGGESTFANYOUARETHECOOLEST!" The fox squealed in delight, running up to Aya and wrapped her arms around Aya's waist, hugging her tight.

"Oh gosh, uh, you know who I am?" Aya asked, feeling as the air in her lungs was being squeezed out.

"OFCOURSEIDO!" The fox pulled away from the hug and took in a few deep breaths, "You're Aya! You were a battlesphere contestant! You were the best! Seeing you compete got me into the sport! AND I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU SAVED THE WORLD!" The fox shrieked.

"Oh, I didn't save the world alone. I mean...I had so many others help. Like Neera," Aya softly wrapped her arm around Neera's shoulder and squeezed her close.

Neera didn't seem to be amused by the small Aya Superfan, "Who are you?" Neera asked the fox.

"Me? OH OH! I'm Synergy! Uh...stage name, of course. My real name is Sally Cordear," She chuckled a bit, before striking a pose.

"Oh. Well it's nice to meet you, uhm, Synergy," Aya smiled a bit, "I'm happy we'll be able to compete together."

"WAIT YOU'RE COMPETING TODAY?" Sally shrieked, beginning to excitedly bounce up and down, "I GET TO COMPETE AGAINST YOU?"

"It appears so," Aya smiled. Before the three could continue their conversation, an announcement came over a small speaker attached to the roof.

"All battlesphere contestants, please make your way to the stadium, the events are about to begin."

"I'll meet you out there!" Sally shrieked, before sprinting off towards the entrance to the stadium.

Aya glanced at Neera, and Neera looked at Aya, "Nuh uh, nope," Neera turned around to leave, but Aya grabbed hold of her arm.

"Neera, please, I am begging you. We have to compete. Please," Aya begged,dropping onto her knees and pleading with Neera, "I will do anything if you let us compete! She was so sweet, I don't want to disappoint her!"

Neera groaned, and looked down at Aya. She bit her lip and thought for a few seconds, "Ugh, fine! Just get off the floor, it's humiliating."

"You think it's adorable," Aya chuckled, and lightly punched Neera's arm, "Thank you thank you!" She sprinted out with the other contestants, excited to finally compete.

Neera sighed, "I hate that you're right."