Marezi continued eating her meal and didn’t look up at Vincent. There was an obvious dismissal of Vincent’s proposal that she was showing, and that annoyed him.

Still pointing at her, Vincent reiterated, “I know ya heard me—we’re gonna fight. I gotta be the top dog here, and it seems like I have to fight you for that.”

Swallowing the last of the food in her mouth, she took a deep sigh and set her utensils to the side. She then slowly wiped her face and took a drink of her water. There was an obvious arua of importance that radiated around her.

Finally, she looked up at Vincent with a blank expression and said, “You’re the newby, huh? Sit down.”

“No,” Vincent replied.

She took another deep sigh and annoyingly said, “Typical.”

She then pushed her chair back and stood up, almost matching Vincent’s height. That being said, her presence itself made it seem like she towered over him in all aspects. Even though her outward expressions were generic, blank, and showed her obvious annoyance with the situation, there was still a sort of invisible weight behind everything she did.

“Listen,” she began, “guys like you are a dime-a-dozen here. You wanna prove yourself, get the top spot, and make your way out of here. It ain’t that simple.”

“Sure it is.”

She shook her head. “You’ll find out soon enough. Trust me, having the top spot won’t mean shit, especially if you get it so soon. If you want to fight me, work your way up and we can have a big match or something.”

Marezi then started to grab the rest of her belongings. The leftover food was scraped into a trash bin that was right next to her and her utensils were left on the plate.

“Do yourself a favor,” she continued, throwing her bag over her shoulder, “just try and find the most comfortable way to live here. Don’t try to cloud your thoughts with useless goals.”

Just before she started to walk away, Vincent spoke up. “Trust me, I’ve never reached for anything grand, like a goal,” he replied, deadly serious. “I just wanna show everyone here that there’s hope.”

Her eyes and head slightly twitched at the words that he spoke. Turning around, she looked Vincent dead in the eyes and spoke into them. “Hope? There’s no hope here.” And with that, she started to walk across the cafeteria, towards the exit.

As she started to leave the cafeteria, Vincent yelled across the room, “Some leader you are, showing everyone that the only option is to be a slave to the system.”

The entire room fell silent. Every eye was focused on Vincent and Marezi.

Marezi stopped, her back still to Vincent. After a few seconds, she turned her head slightly behind her—not enough to be looking back, but enough to show that she was talking to someone behind her.

“One week,” she said.

And with that, the deal was sealed. In one week’s time, the fight between Vincent and Marezi would take place.

***

Back in their cell, Vincent, Eliot, and Fang were discussing and arguing about what took place in the cafeteria.

“What do you mean it’s not a good idea?” Vincent protested.

“I’m just saying, Vince, that was really impulsive of you,” Eliot explained. “Like Zander would say, ‘you should’ve thought that through a bit’.”

“Awwww what does he know? It seemed like a good idea at the time. Besides, I already took down one veteran of the ring. How hard could it be?”

“That’s what I’m talking about, Vince, you’ve been growing cockier and cockier lately. More than usual.”

“Is he not normally like this?” Fang asked.

“I mean...kinda,” Eliot replied, scratching his head. “He can get like this at times.”

“And why shouldn’t I be confident?” Vincent chimed in. “I’m pretty damn strong. Even Zander admitted it...I think.”

“How can you be so sure that you're strong enough to take on the Collider’s champion?” Fang questioned. “I’ve heard people talk that have seen her fight, and they say that her fights aren’t even close.”

Flexing his biceps, Vincent responded, “I mean, I’ve taken down a giant muscular guy, a freakin’ kraken, and that crab dude. I’d say one fighter isn’t too much to handle.”

Fang’s eyes went wide for a second before they fell naturally back in their sockets. They then asked, “A kraken?”

“Hell yeah!” Vincent exclaimed while laughing. “That thing fuckin’ destroyed the ship we were traveling on.”

“Oh, well that’s quite intense,” Fang responded, visibly a bit taken back.

“Yeah, it was somethin’ else. I kicked the kraken and its controller’s ass, too.”

“With the help of the rest of the entire crew,” Eliot reminded him.

“I mean, yeah...” Vincent replied, a tiny bit deflated. “But that’s not the point.” He shook his head and regained his confidence. “All I’m saying is that I got this.”

With a deep sigh, Eliot seemed to resign himself to the conversation. “I hope you do. I’m just worried about you and all of this.”

Something about those words seemed to strike true in Vincent’s heart. It was a bit strange. He didn’t know why, out of everything said, what Eliot just said affected him so much.

“I know, I know, but I actually think this is a good idea,” he said

“And how’s that?” Fang questioned.

“Well, I mean,” Vincent started, “we’re tryin’ to get enough money to get outta here, right?

“Yeah? That’s right...I think,” they responded, taking a quick glance at Eliot.

“Well, what better way to make money than to be the champion? Plus,” Vincent added, snapping his finger, “it might even get a couple of people on our side.”

There was a bit of quiet while each of them silently contemplated what Vincent had just said. While Eliot seemed to be in deep thought, Fang glanced back and forth between Vincent and Eliot. It was as if they were trying to get a read on each of the other two. While it seemed casual, there was definitely some concentration behind the Fang’s relaxed eyes. Vincent could tell that much.

“Well…” Eliot started to say before getting interrupted by Fang.

“We-uh-I mean I’m good with that. It sounds like a fine idea,” Fang interrupted.

“I’m going to have to agree with Fang, I think that should be something to go for,” Eliot added. He then took a bit of a quick, but deep breath. “Besides, I don’t think there is much else we can do.”

“Exactly!” Vincent exclaimed. “Now, all we have to do is—”

CLINK CLINK CLINK

Turning around, Vincent saw what made that sound: it was the guard outside. The guard was banging on the iron bars of their cell.

“Time for the fight,” the guard plainly stated.

Vincent looked back at Eliot and then to Fang with an eyebrow raised. Confused, he asked “Fight? I’m pretty sure that’s not until next week.”

The guard looked past Vincent and pointed his finger deeper into the cell. “Not you,” they said. “It’s time for your fight.” They were looking directly at Eliot.

With his eyes wider than ever before, Eliot gasped, and with a whimper, asked, “Me?”