It was the afternoon of the next day, the day of Vincent’s first fight in the Collider, and he was ready. The newfound strength and motivation given to him by Eliot was in full swing. Now all he had to do was deliver his promise to never lose and to get them both out of there.

Vincent was escorted out of his cell to the main arena, flanked by two large guards. The guards towered over Vincent, which was impressive in its own right. He was then led through many different winding hallways. The air was stagnant and reeked of body odor, sweat, and a concoction of other things that shouldn’t be in the same scent.

The walls of the hallways were made of a sand-colored stone that was rather generic in its design. There was little in the way of design, carvings, or really anything besides natural cracks on the walls.

As he walked for the next ten minutes or so, Vincent passed by dozens of cells that were similar to the one he and Eliot were thrown in. Inside about half of the cells were at least one person, with some containing as many as four people. The one thing that each person shared in common was the way they looked—not necessarily in terms of skin color, hair color, or physique, but in demeanor. It was obvious that there wasn’t a single person that wanted to be there. Even so, it was eerily quiet as he passed by each and every cell. Whether that was because everyone’s spirit was crushed or they were simply intimated by the guards, Vincent had no idea.

Eventually, he was brought to a rather large set of double doors at the end of a hallway. The doors were lined in gold and it definitely stood out when compared to the rest of the hallways he traversed. The guards then stood on either side of the doors and waited.

Silence. A minute of complete silence passed as Vincent and guards just waited at the doors. Getting a bit irritated, he thought about just walking through the door himself, and he very nearly did.

As he reached for the doors, one of the guards swiftly knocked his hand away and said, “Not yet.”

The other guard, not looking at Vincent, added, “Wait for the cue.”

And so Vincent gave up and just stood there. In that silence, however, he began to hear something. It was faint, but there was definitely a sound coming from somewhere. At first, it sounded like a faint wave from the ocean, but there was more to it.

As he focused in on the sound, he realized that it was coming from the other side of the doors. The sound grew louder and louder, and there were other sounds being mixed in with the initial sound.

It took him a second to recognize what he was hearing, but he eventually came to realize that what he was hearing was not the ocean...it was applause. It was a crowd. It was hundreds of people in a crowd cheering, clapping, and making all sorts of noise, and among that crowd, there was a certain voice that boomed above all of them.

“Understood,” one of the guards said, seemingly to no one.

The guard then looked at the other one and then placed their hand on one side of the doors. The other guard followed suit and then looked down at Vincent.

“Enter,” the guards both said, opening the doors.

As light began to pour in from the opened door, Vincent strutted onwards without hesitation.

“And here he is!” the booming voice said, clearer than ever. It was now obvious to Vincent that the voice came from a microphone, which was probably being used by an announcer of sorts.

Vincent Huron then stepped out in the open and immediately knew where he was—he was at the main arena. The arena itself was circular and wide. The pit that he stood in, which was in the center of this arena, was a hundred or so feet in diameter.

The floor of the pit had a similar coloring to the sandstone that seemed to make up most of the arena, but there was also a layer of dirt or sand that was on top. That being said, it did look to be somewhat well kept, seeing as there was no obvious sign of conflict or blood.

Looking around, Vincent saw what the rest of the arena looked liked and he was taken back a bit by the sight. The rest of the arena looked straight out of a Roman coliseum of sorts where the greatest soldiers and heroes would fight mighty beasts for the amusement of the masses. The only difference between this arena and an ancient coliseum was that this coliseum, the Collider, was actually underground. There was clearly a stone ceiling above that covered the entirety of the top of the arena, and it was a bit disorienting.

“Ladies, gentleman, and everyone in between and outside,” the announcer began, “welcome to the Collider, the world’s most exciting and most literal underground fighting arena!”

The crowd, which Vincent could see was about 500 or so people, began to go crazy and cheer. It was strange though, because unlike any other crowd that he had been in front of, this crowd didn’t seem like it was cheering for pleasure. It seemed like everyone in the crowd was cheering out of desperation—desperation for an escape from their reality.

He wasn’t sure how he came to that conclusion, but Vincent somehow arrived at that answer from feeling the energy of the room. It was a bizarre sensation, but one that oddly felt natural. No matter how he thought of that, it didn't matter because his introspection was cut short by the announcer.

“This is brought to you by the wonderful Lucretia, and boy did she bring you all something special,” the announcer enthusiastically continued. “Today, not only do we have a Resonator battle, but we have the debut of a rookie fighter, specially endorsed by the Lady of the House herself.”

Upon hearing that name, Vincent began to feverishly search the crowd for her. It didn’t take long for his eyes to land on the exact spot that she was at: inside of an ostentatious luxury box towards the top of the arena. Even though she was so far away, he could easily see the smug, arrogant, and dominant smile that curled across her lips.

If he wasn’t motivated before or had any nervousness about the upcoming fight, the sight of Lucretia was more than enough to get Vincent’s blood boiling and his heart pumping into overdrive.

“In this corner,” the announcer stated at the same time a light pointed at Vincent, “is that rookie, Vincent. Known for his short temper and urge to fight, this man has already made a bit of a following among fans. He was only brought in yesterday for assaulting one of our most beloved recruiters, which shows how much of a blatant disregard he has for people!”

The crowd began to boo at Vincent.

“But don’t you worry,” the announcer continued, “our recruiter is recovering and is doing just fine.”

The crowd began to cheer again.

“That unpredictability and fire is what makes him a perfect fit here! Perhaps we’re going to see the birth of something quite special here today.”

As the announcer continued to ramble on, something that Vincent couldn’t stop thinking about was how the announcer knew the word Resonator. Resonators hadn’t even been a thing for that long. But that wasn’t something that Vincent had time to think about at the moment, because there was a battle to fight.

“And in the other corner is someone you all should recognize!” the announcer said, just as the double door on the opposite side of Vincent began to open. “A veteran who had been under the radar until the recent revelation of his powers...give it up for Stefan, the Hermit!”

Stepping through the doors was a man of shorter stature, almost a whole foot shorter than Vincent. The way he carried himself was slow, huddled, and meek. His extremely skinny build wobbled and waned as he sheepishly moved into the arena. He seemed like the exact opposite of someone who should be in a fighting arena.

After moving a few feet into the arena, the doors behind him closed and he awkwardly waved to the crowd, who just ate it up.

“Now,” the announcer boomed, “are you ready for the main event?!”

The crowd erupted to a level that was louder than ever before.

“Then let the fight...BEGIN!”