A Sequel to the Quillan Games

Chapter 10: Meeting the Enemy

It was an early start to a long and not so eagerly awaited day. Bobby had just been slumbering away, all caught up in a great dream with an endless supply of all you can eat Garden Poultry Fries with a bucket of warm, gooey gravy when suddenly, he felt a hard, uncomfortable arm shaking him lightly. He groaned, opened his eyes to see a short dado, a robot standing over his bedside staring down at him with blank, unblinking eyes. It was Fourteen.

"Good morning, Challenger Red," said the dado formally.

"Little early, don't you think?" he mumbled.

"No sir," said Fourteen. "Don't you remember? Your training begins today. You've got a long day ahead of you. It's important to assure you're awake, fed well and fully prepared."

"Huh?" said Bobby sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

"The games are tomorrow," Fourteen explained. "Have you forgotten?"

"Oh!" said Bobby, just remembering. "Crap, right. Yeah, thanks for the reminder."

"It is my job," was his simple answer.

"Is Layra awake?" asked Bobby.

"Thirteen is currently on his way to get her," Fourteen told him. "I'm sure the two of you will be wanting a decent breakfast to start you off, am I right?"

"Yeah!" said Bobby, feeling quite hungry and a little tired and irritably cranky. There was nothing more Bobby hated than being woken up early, right out of a dead sleep when all you want to do is lay back, sleep in and get some z's. There'd be none of that today.

"Very good," said the dado. "Come with me and I'll take you down to the dining hall. I expect your friend and your partner, as I've been told, Layra, will be awaiting your arrival. Oh, and I'll advise you to change into your Challenger shirt. All Challengers are expected to be wearing them, in tradition of the upcoming games. You must wear the appropriate gear, as you're representing the trustees and the very company of Blok. Not wearing them simply wouldn't do. Though I'm sure you're well aware of that by now."

"Great," thought Bobby. In all honesty, he hated those shirts. Not because they were ugly or itchy or scratchy, but because whenever he wore that striped shirt, it meant he pretty much had a fifty-fifty chance of being killed. Each time he put on that shirt, he was putting his life on the line. Not exactly a shirt you'd want to be wearing.

As Fourteen strolled out of the room, waiting out in the hall for Bobby to get changed, Bobby sleepily and tiredly, crawled out of bed, walked over to his practically empty drawer, dug through and pulled out his red shirt with the diagonal black stripes. His old Challenger shirt.

He never thought he'd have to wear that stupid shirt again, yet there was, about to wear it again. The only reassurance he got with the upcoming games was the fact that he wasn't going to be competing in these horrid events alone. At least he'd have a partner and with that, hopefully the two of them together would have what it took to overcome those two champions, Challenger Gray and Challenger Brown.

After quickly getting changed, he joined Fourteen and soon, the two were casually strolling through the halls, on their way to the dining hall. Many of the Challengers were up and about already, some hanging about the halls, chit chatting about either the Rune Dance, the upcoming games or what was no surprise to Bobby, himself and Layra, Challenger Red and Challenger Black. It looked like the two were becoming a heavily talked about topic and the games hadn't even started. He wondered how popular they'd become when the games were officially on and they were out, struggling and fighting for their lives and not to mention possible thousands who placed wagers on them. Bobby had a real sick feeling these games were going to be huge, huge as in even grander and greater than the notorious Grand X.