Since childhood, Noah was not a people person. He used to shy away from strangers upon entering the orphanage at the age of 3. He was not able to socialize with other kids, only Melv being his roommate.

Growing up, he distanced himself more and more. He didn’t like to hang out with other kids of his age or play around. He didn’t find those things interesting. When kids used to play in the academy field, he sat on one side idly immersed in his own thoughts.

Rather he would spend time with aged people like the old janitor or the gatekeeper or some old merchant in a pawn shop. He liked hearing stories of old times. How things were then. Old Battles, its Generals and certain mythological events seemed interesting to him.

Once he received an old device from a scrap collector, who told him it used to be called a coffee maker. He disassembled it and tried to make something out of it. He called it his own soda maker. On the first try when he used instant soda powder, the whole room got full of soda bubbles. Later he fixed it and gifted it to Melv as compensation for using his soda powder.

He started having a knack for gadgets and devices. He used to disassemble unused gadgets to get a feel of their workflow process. Due to limited resources in the orphanage and of course monetary constraints, he was only able to get his hands on the scraps and obsolete devices. But he somehow remodeled them into something useful.

If not working on a device, he would be the lazy person he is. Taunts didn’t even sway him.

Melv got up early in the morning and left. He didn’t return till noon. Noah was still sleeping as he was up for 36 hours straight. At around 3 PM Melv returned and woke Noah out of bed.

“All’s done. I am ready for the match.”

“What’s done? Why are you so eager, it’s only 3..” said a drowsy Noah.

“Since it is my last day on this planet, I went out and ate all that I wanted to eat. Everything.”

“Where did you get the money? Did you take whatever was left of the bet money?”

“Relax, it didn’t cost a single penny. Asked them to put it on my credit. I will pay them next time. But next time I won’t be alive on this planet anymore. After the Battle today, I will transmigrate on some fantasy planet as the Hero to kill the Demon Lord. I will have lots of food, drinks and of course a harem of beautiful girls.” Melv was having a nosebleed.

“Snap out of it. What if you reincarnate as the female lead’s slave or a powerless slime?”

“So, stop thinking. Focus on the match”

“You just had to squeeze the fun out of it. I was just not thinking about the battle”, said Melv as his legs were trembling.

“Don’t worry, will think of something. Our won't be this short of a story.”

...

It was almost 6 PM and the Underground Battle Arena started filling up. The arena was built on unfinished underground construction from a long-lost time. The Black Market folks utilized this place and made an arena here. Lots of people come here daily to watch fights and put on bets. The Corps knew about this but turned a blind eye as the fights kept other criminal activities in check. So, they deemed it a necessary evil.

Melv and Noah reached the arena as matches were already going on. They started warming up for their turn. Pax gave them a smirk from a distance.

The announcer went on stage.

“In Today’s Main event we have our beloved fighters, the X-Punk team. 37 Victories 0 losses. 32 of which resulted in the death of opposing team members.”

The crowd started shouting, banging drums for their favorites.

“...and the challengers are…. What’s their name again? Well, who cares. They are gonna die anyway. This will be a cage match. No Rules. No DQ (disqualification). The match ends when either team is incapacitated or result in death. The match will begin in 15 mins. So put on your bets for the Super Sunday 3v3 Death Match “

X-Punk Team - 2

Noah Team - 20

The odds stated such that no one would put their money on the Noah team.

“Did I hear it wrong; did he say 3v3?” asked Melv.

“That punk changed the rules in their favor. We need a teammate; else it will become a 3v2.”

“But where will we find a third member? As if he will drop from the sky.”

“You were saying? But am not a ‘he’...” a voice sounded over Melv’s shoulder.

A surprised Melv turned around to see a girl standing behind him. She put on a kind of half mask and was quite slim and tender.

“What do you want? This is a place for battle. Small girls should go home.”

The girl phased through him and rotated his arm at the back.

“Ow oww oww. That hurts.” Shouted Melv.

“Does that qualify?”

Noah was watching the whole thing and finally broke the silence.

“Ahmm. Release that fool. Let us talk.”

“I saw your predicament in the fight about to happen. I can lend you a hand. But it will not be free.” The girl released the lock on Melv.

“How much?”

“Well, 50% of your earnings. I will put a tab for you.”

“What if we lose?”

“My loss then, you don’t owe me anything.”

“Seems too good to be true. But will go with your offer for now. Don’t change your mind later.”

“By the way what’s your name?”

“Let’s think of it this way, as I bring fortune to a couple of lost souls like you. I will be your Miss Fortune.” The girl gave a fake smile.

“Use these masks to hide your identities. It’s not good to reveal it here.” She handed the masks.

“As you wish then. We have to make plans. Do you know their abilities?”

“Won’t you ask mine?”

“You can phase through stuff, so it has something to do with diffusion properties or controlling your molecular density.”

“My my... I am Impressed. With one look you got it! Seems you have some talent after all.”

“Then, which one is it?”

“The latter one. I can control molecular density and use it in various ways.”

“This is Melv, he has the ability of dung…”

“Hahaha, suits him.”

“Grrr..”, sounded an angry Melv.

Anyways they continued planning as their 15 min of preparation time came to an end. The match was about to start as all bets were closed.

Both teams were asked to enter the Caged Arena after scanning in the Holo Tablet. It is a device like a scanner that can read the EQ and ability stats of a person. As both teams entered the cage, their stats were shown on the Large screens.

…

*Team X-Punk

Name - Pax

Name - Qax

Name - Tommy

Age - 21

Gender - M

EQ - 19

Ability Power - Iron

Strengths - Power

Age - 21

Gender - M

EQ - 19

Ability Power - Iron

Strengths - Agility

Age - 19

Gender - M

EQ - 17

Ability Power - Fat

Strengths - Bounce

*Team Noobs

Name - Noah

Name - Melv

Name - Miss Fortune

Age - 16

Gender - M

EQ - 11

Ability Power - NA

Strengths - Intelligence, Hope

Age - 16

Gender - M

EQ - 12

Ability Power - Dung Beetle

Strengths - Heavyweight

Age - 17

Gender - F

EQ - 19

Ability Power - Phase

Strengths - Unknown

The crowd started roaring and cheering for their favorites, Team X-Punk. As expected they had the most chance of winning hence the bets had gone their way. The manager of the X-Punk team was a wealthy man operating in the Black Market area. He had a guest this evening in his personal gallery box, someone high up in the Corp ladder. He was watching the match closely as he seemed to be intrigued by something or rather someone.

“Bunch of losers. Kill’em fast. Go Go Pax.”

“Don’t die off soon. Give us a show.”

“Noobs will be noobs. X-Punk rocks!!” The crowd kept shouting.

The challengers were already getting the vibe that some scary eyes were looking at them from the gallery outside the arena. A sudden chill went down the spine of Melv and Noah.

This is gonna be a tough battle for them.

….