The Arena (Book 1)

Competition

It's been 2 days since I first started training. I've made progress but not enough. The arena battles start in a few days and I'm not even close to being ready. I and David are heading to the stadium today, just to access my fighting grounds. As we enter through the gates for competitors only, I see another group. From far away, I can't tell which one is the robot and which one is real.

"Who are they?" I quietly ask David.

"That's Alea Ruthie and her robot, Fire Fox. Alea's pretty nice, but her robot couldn't get crueler if she tried." He frowns slightly, "Alea entered in last year and lost because her robot let the other opponent win. I think that's why this year she made hers pretty damn harsh."

"Hmm, well I won't let anyone win that's for sure," I say, thinking curiously of letting someone kill me just to win.

"Yeah, please don't. But anyway, Fire Fox specializes in close up combat with her katana, just make sure you don't get too close to her. That's of course if you even have to fight her." He explains.

"Got it, so if I stay far away, I should be safe?"

"No, but you should be safer." He says as we enter the lower levels of the building. I turn around and see another pair following us. David sees me looking and starts to explain without me having to ask, "That's Kiki and her robot Guillotine."

"Wait, her name's Kiki. Just Kiki." I laugh a little to myself.

"I wouldn't be laughing if I were you, her robots are always the most...brutal killers. Also, your name's 004 you hypocrite!"

"And who's fault is that?" I squint at him. He rolls his eyes but continues to explain.

"Yes, she goes by the alias Kiki. No one knows her real name. But about her robot...theirs a reason he's called Guillotine. He kills his opponents by decapitating them. I hope for your sake you don't have to fight him." He says reluctantly. As we keep walking, we pass a few rooms with people working in them.

"Wait, are people building the robots in there?" I ask.

"Yeah, its for competitors that don't have a personal work space, they can come here and work. Truthfully it makes no difference in who wins or not....Look." He points into one of the rooms, "That's Luke Eston. His family has won back to back competitions. But if anyone, I would be careful of his brother, Liam Eston. He's won more competitions then his siblings have combined." He says, I shiver at the thought of versing him.

"Who are his siblings?" I ask.

"Well, there's Luke and Lily Eston. All of the Estons have entered in at least three times. I think Lily's won two years, Luke three, and Liam six."

"Six years?! You're kidding!" I say in astonishment.

"Nope, not kidding at all. Of course he hasn't won six in a row, but still it's impressive."

"How many times have you won?" I ask.

"Oh, uh, well this is actually my first year entering." He says sheepishly, "Come on, we're going to see who you're first fight will be with." He says as we're lead by security into another room. On the wall is a screen that has the fight layouts. As I scan the list, I come across my name.

004 versing Teddy Bear.

"Well that doesn't sound so bad." I sigh in relief, "Right?" I look over to see David staring, wide eyed at the screen. He puts his fingers to his temples.

Taking in a deep breath says flatly, "We are so screwed."