Chapter 26
The next morning, Galaxy-Man and Cherry were the last to rise. They were awoken by Fu to find that everyone was huddled around two men holding clipboards.
Cherry let out a very big yawn. “What's going on, yo?” she asked.
“Wake up,” said Fu sternly. He pointed across the hanger. “Go over to that man holding the notebook and give him your PIN. He'll give you chit with a number on it.” He then walked away, nothing more to say.
“Well let's get on it then,” said Galaxy-Man as he happily picked his nose.
“What's a chit?” asked Cherry.
“Watch the language, you little bastard.”
Galaxy-Man and Cherry walked over to the men holding the notebooks. It was chaotic, like a Stock Exchange run by monkeys.
“You, with the indoor shades,” said the man, “PIN number.”
“I think he means the number on your hand,” said Cherry.
“1-9-9-1,” read Galaxy-Man slowly. “Could be 1-6-6-1, though. It really should be underlined, you know?”
The man ran the number through an app on a tablet computer. “You're number twelve,” he said. He threw Galaxy-Man a little metal dog tag with the Roman numeral “XII” on it. “And your boyfriend with the blue wig, what's his number?”
“Uh, wig!?” asked Cherry. She was infuriated.
“She's not a fighter, dude,” explained Galaxy-Man.
“Oh, sorry,” said the man insincerely.
“Go kill yourself,” said Cherry. She put her fingers to her temple like a gun. “Blow your brains out in front of your loser family so they can finally have a moment of happiness.” She pulled the imaginary trigger and walked off.
Spaceman was giving Galaxy-Man an evil stare from across the room. “Good luck. Not!” Since he was assigned into the opposite division as Galaxy-Man, the only chance they would have to fight is if they both made it to the finals, which wasn't likely as the plan was to throw the next fight after besting Fu. As much as Galaxy-Man would like to punch Spaceman in his perfect teeth, it probably wasn't going to happen.
After everyone had their chits, a mean-looking man with one arm walked into the room with an expression of disdain and scorn bitterness. He looked as though he hated the world and all the people in it. He spoke into a microphone. “Listen up!!” he screamed, not one shred of patience about him. Everyone immediately paid attention to him. “This is my tournament, and you will play by my rules! I'm gonna tell you right now, that if ANY of you... try to cheat... I will destroy you. I will DESTROY you!!”
Galaxy-Man whispered to Cherry. “With his bare hand?” he asked. Cherry let out a concealed laugh.
“Here's how things are gonna go down,” the man continued. “As you leave this room, you will be given a tracker so no one tries to leave. If you are scared of needles, then you are an idiot and you shouldn't be here. After that, you will walk down the hall and you will find a yellow circle painted on the floor. It's not that damn hard to find! You will stand on the circle and face the wall for five seconds. Five seconds! Five seconds!”
“Well is it five, or 15?” mumbled Cherry.
“On the wall, there is a camera. For those of you that don't know what a camera is, a camera is a device for recording visual images in the form of photographs. If you did not know that then you are an idiot and you shouldn't be here. This is very simple – you walk down the hall and stand on the yellow circle for five seconds. Five seconds!! If you do not find the yellow circle then you are an idiot and you shouldn't be here! After five seconds you will continue down the hall until you reach the second hallway. From here you can either go left or right. If your chit is red, you go right. If your chit is blue, you go left. Let me repeat that. If your chit is red, you go right! If your chit is blue, you go left! Depending on which division you joined, you will then enter one of two waiting rooms where you will sit and you will wait until your chit number is called. Once your number is called, you will immediately walk over to the bracket board where an assistant will ask you to sign your name on the board. I don't give a rat's boot what name you put down, but you will write a name! If you are not able to write a name, you are an idiot and you shouldn't be here!”
“'Rat's boot?'” whispered Galaxy-Man to Cherry.
“As soon as your name is on the board,” the man went on, “the tournament will begin. People have already taken their seats and they expect a good, clean fight. Is that understood!!?”
“Yes,” said all the fighters.
Everyone did as the man said, they got their tracking shots, walked down the hall, stood on the yellow circle and had their picture taken, walked either left or right down the second hall, and then sat down in the waiting room. The waiting room was fairly small and cramped for 48 people. In the room there was a window to outside. Through the window Galaxy-Man could see spectators walking into the arena to see the show. Galaxy-Man saw something he didn't expect – he saw Cutty walking into the building. The two made brief eye-contact, but it didn't last. Though she was angry with Galaxy-Man, she still came to support him. That is the action of a true friend. On her face, Galaxy-Man could see that while she didn't agree with him, she understood why he had to fight.
“Was that Cutty?” asked Cherry.
Galaxy-Man said nothing for a few seconds. “Yeah,” he said softly. He was really beginning to feel nervous now. He was sweating, his hands were trembling; Cherry had never seen him so nervous before.
“I'm gonna go sit with her and give her the skinny on the situation,” said Cherry. “You got any money? I think seating's like 10 profit or something.”
“I'm sure Cutty has enough for you both.”
“Okay. You... gonna be alright by yourself?”
“Yeah, I'll... I'll manage. You go on ahead.”
Galaxy-Man sat and waited, alone. He was terrified of the eminent fight. He wasn't so much afraid of hurting himself, he was afraid of hurting Cherry and Cutty. He didn't want them to see him in so much pain. He could see now just how stubborn he had been, to join a fighting tournament without so much as discussing it with Cutty. He could see now what a horrible mistake he had made, and he acknowledged his fault. After all, you can't learn from your mistakes if you pretend they never happen. Though he had messed up, he had to make the most of his situation.
After some time, Galaxy-Man's number was finally called. “Twelve, twelve.” A rush of anxiety rushed through Galaxy-Man's body and the number was called. He stood up and slowly walked over to a large board on the wall.
“Chit?” asked a woman standing by the board. Galaxy-Man showed her his chit. “Okay, Twelve, what is your name?”
“Galaxy-Man,” answered Galaxy-Man.
“Galaxy what?”
“My name is Galaxy-Man.”
“Alrighty then. Pick your block, Galaxy-Man.”
“Block seven, same as Fu.”
Something very, very bad was about to happen, something that Galaxy-Man should've prepared for. Block 7 was already filled up. “Taken,” said the woman.
“Say what!?” asked Galaxy-Man who didn't wanna believe what he heard.
The woman pointed to the bracket board. “Pick one that doesn't have a name, doll.”
“There's been a mistake, I'm suppose to fight Fu.”
"I don't know what to yell you, doll. That block is full. There's nothing I can do. The only way you'd be able to fight Fu is if you enter block one and manage to win the next three bouts"
"Wouldn't he have to win three battles, too? What are the odds of us both winning?"
"Fu's a force to be reckoned with. He even won the last tournament. I'm pretty sure he'll win his fights. I'm surprised you'd wanna fight him, doll."
“You don't think I could win, do you? I'm gonna prove you wrong, you'll see! Sign me up for block one.”
“Okay, doll. If that's what you want.” She took a marker and wrote “Galaxy Man” on the board.
“Don't forget the dash,” said Galaxy-Man.
“Silly me,” said woman sarcastically as she shook her head. “You'll be going up against Auran, doll.”
“Pff, what kinda faggotty name is Auran? Sounds like a total fag if you ask me.”
The woman laughed quietly to herself. “If you say so.”
After all that was said and done, Galaxy-Man walked over to where Fu was sitting.
“You didn't reserve your block ahead of time, did you?” asked Fu.
“I didn't know you could do that, man” replied Galaxy-Man. “I thought you just- I don't know what I thought.”
“I guess our fight is off then.”
“Keep dreamin', fox boy. I'm in block 1 and I'm coming for you. If you play your cards right you might just survive long enough to fight me.”
“Block 1?” Fu shuttered. “Oh boy.”
“What? You afraid I'm gonna beat him up too bad?”
“Auran is not to be taken lightly. He's ruthless and his strength greatly surpasses my own.”
“A more powerful mouse is still a mouse.”
The woman from the bracket board called Galaxy-Man's name. “Galaxy-Man, where are you? You're up, doll.”
Other people were turning on jumbo TVs so the fighter's could watch the fight.
Galaxy-Man patted Fu on the head. “Watch this.”
“Good luck, Galaxy-Man,” said Fu.
The hour had come; it was finally time. Galaxy-Man was led down a series of long, dimly lit halls to one final hall that led outside. He walked down the last hall slowly, his heart beating out of chest, sweat pouring, his teeth chattering, and his hands shaking and tingling from lack of blood flow. He was in a state of inner turmoil. Anxiety is worse than fear because anxiety is the fear of being afraid. He stood by the door for a few seconds. He took a few deep breaths, swallowed his panic, and slowly open the door to face his misfortune.
It was bright outside, still pretty early in the morning. Outside there were four white rectangular fighting rings, each about 4 ft off the ground and around 15 feet from each other. The rules are fairly simple – don't get knocked out of the ring, don't get knocked unconscious, and most importantly, don't get knocked dead. In the ring was a thin, frail-looking old man with long, wispy white hair and an impressive white beard that reached his waist. He wore a baggy blue gi with no shoes. He didn't look very intimidating, but Galaxy-Man knew that looks could be quite deceptive.
Galaxy-Man was motioned by referees into the ring. To his surprise, thousands of fans were cheering for him. They knew about his impressive breath score and many bet on him to win the whole tournament. The crowd was screaming and even holding signs with his name on it, though some of the signs were misspelled due to the chicken-scratch name he wrote on the clipboard yesterday. Galaxy-Man climbed up into the ring and looked out at the crowd. He gave a subtle smile and put his arms in the air. The crowd went wild. It was then that Galaxy-Man noticed Cherry and Cutty sitting in the front row.
“Come on, Dad!” screamed Cherry. “Kick his old man butt!!” Sitting next to her was a very worried Cutty.
In other rings, the other fighters had already begun. A referee crawling up into the ring.
“Fighters bow,” said the referee.
Auran gave a short bow, and Galaxy-Man followed suit.
“Alright,” said the referee, “fighters prepare.” Galaxy-Man just stood where he already was, not changing his stance at all. Auran got up slowly and got into position. He was a highly skilled fighter and his stance was flawless.
The referee put his arm into the air. “Ready,” he said. “Fight!” He then backed away and out of the ring. The fight had finally begun!
Galaxy-Man's heart was beating out of chest and hands were shacking like autumn leaves. He had effectively crossed the Rubicon and there was no turning back. This is very real. Auran began swirling his arms around in the air until sparks of brilliant electricity danced around his body. His eyes started to glow bright white and a powerful bolt of lightning came down from the sky and struck him.
Galaxy-Man's jaw drop. “I gotta fight a dang thunder lord!!? Dammit, I wouldn’t wanna be me right now.” He gave a big fearful grin and let out a anxious chuckle. Auran came at him fast and started punching him in the face right off the bat. Galaxy-Man tried to block, but every time Auran would touch him a surge of electricity would run through his entire body and render him immobile. It was like trying to fight an electric fence. This also meant he couldn't land any punches himself. His body was filled with electricity and he fell to the ground as if he were being tasered. Auran backed off and waited for him to get up. Galaxy-Man was already in a tremendous amount of pain, but upon hearing his new found fans, and seeing Cherry and Cutty watching him lose badly, he abrupt leaped to his feet.
“Still wanna fight me?” asked Auran. “I'd call it quits if I were you, shades.”
“I know you wanna be me,” replied Galaxy-Man, “but you can still quit if that's what you want.”
“Idiot.” Auran ran at Galaxy-Man fired beams of lightning from his fists.
Galaxy-Man avoided them, trying his best to look cool in front of everyone. “Ever think about retiring from fighting?” he asked as he danced around the bolts. “I bet you could get good job at the power plant... as the power plant.”
As Auran was about to fire another blast of electricity, he started laughing loudly, but quickly stopped himself, cleared his throat and put on his serious face. “The ring is no place for a stand-up comedian,” he said sternly. He powered up and aura of electricity surrounded him.
Galaxy-Man began to make another joke. “Hey, you know when it-” but he was interrupted by kick to the gut. He came so fast that he didn't even see it coming. He was knocked all the way to the other side of the ring, his legs hanging off, almost touching the ground.
Cutty and Cherry were on the edge of their seats, hoping and praying he didn't fall out of the ring.
“Oh no!” said Cherry.
“He's not gonna fall,” said Cutty. Cutty didn't want him to fight, but she still came to support him, and route for him. She didn't want him to fight, but she also didn't wanna see him fail.
“Come on, Dad!”
Twitchy and still regaining the use of his muscles after the powerful shock, Galaxy-Man inched his way back into the ring.
Auran started slowly walking over to Galaxy-Man. Storm clouds began to form in the sky at an unnatural rate. “Do you know how easily I could kill you, shades?” he asked, the storm above him worsening. “I can control the weather. At any moment I can create a bolt of lightning so powerful it'll turn you to sunglasses on a pile of ashes.”
Galaxy-Man staggered to his feet, panting and sweaty, yet still very much in the game and not ready to give up. “You... know when it... rains money?” he asked in a raspy tone. “When... there's ch-change in the weather.” He then threw pocket pennies at Auran's face.
Auran let out a single breathy laugh through his nose, then another. He tried to hide his smile, but couldn't. He started laughing more and more until his because became and boisterous chuckle. He couldn't hide it, he couldn't contain it. He was in tears, and he couldn't breathe. He... literally couldn't breathe. After a few solid minutes of laughter, he collapsed from lack of oxygen.
Galaxy-Man just stood there in a daze, confused and awkwardly looking out into the audience. Even the crowd was silent. Not knowing what else to do, Galaxy-Man put his arms into the air, and the crowd erupted into applause.
Cherry and Cutty were amazed as anyone.
“Wow,” said Cutty, “I think his joke was so bad it killed him.”
“Nah,” said Cherry, “he just passed out I think.”
The referee walked into the ring and raised Galaxy-Man's arm. “Winner by TKO... I guess.”
“Suck it!” gloated Galaxy-Man and pointed to his thumb.
Galaxy-Man was taken back into the waiting room with the other fighters. Even though these people were his enemies, they clapped and cheered as he entered the room. One of the biggest threats in the tournament had just been eliminated.
Galaxy-Man played things very hammy. “Who's the man?” he asked.
Fu walked over to congratulate him. “You've surprised me yet again, Galaxy-Man. You found a weakness that no one else could. I've never seen anything like it.”
“Yeah, that guy was a real pushover. Kinda felt sorry for him. Hey, when's my next fight?”
“Round two begins tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? What am I suppose to do until then?”
“Rest.”
Galaxy-Man wondered around a bit, bored and not knowing what else to do. After a bit of exploring, he ran into Cherry and Cutty in the dining hall. The fighters who had won their rounds were there along with their friends and family.
“What's up guys?” asked Galaxy-Man.
Cherry responded with something, but her mouth was too full of mashed potatoes to be legible
“I don't know,” said Galaxy-Man, “a puppy's a lot of responsibility.”
“How are you doing?” asked Cutty softly. There was still a lot of tension between them.
“I'm okay,” replied Galaxy-Man. “My hair's still standing up a little from being 'lectro-chuted, but I'm mostly fine.”
“I read the program before you went on. So you still have three more fights, huh?”
Galaxy-Man scratched his head. “Yeah.”
“You told me you wouldn't have to fight at all, that this was just about getting the dongle.”
“Hey, it still is. I don't give a rat's boot about this tournament. Believe you me.”
Cutty rolled her eyes. “Hmph, looks like you were enjoying all the attention to me.”
“Oh, I'm sorry,” said Galaxy-Man with heavy sarcasm. “I just won a fight against a damn wizard. Excuse me for being a little bit proud of myself.”
“Dad,” said Cherry, “this is none of my business, but you and Fu are like BFFs at this point. Can't you just ask him to give you the dongle and fight him some other time?”
“The gamemasters would kill me, man,” said Galaxy-Man. “The only way I'm going down at this point is by knockout or a legitimate ringout. Besides, Fu's a man of his word. He'd never just give me the dongle, even if we are friends.”
“We can find another way,” said Cutty.
“Don't you think I regret this decision enough!?” snapped Galaxy-Man. “I know I'm an idiot and this was a stupid choice. I honestly thought I'd fight Fu on round one and everything would work out perfectly and we'd all get ice cream and blowjobs at the end. I'm sorry, but I can't back down. I've already been through too much to give up now. I know this hard for you, but I need your support right now more than ever. I can't do this without you guys cheering me on, you know?”
Cherry gave Galaxy-Man a big hug. “We're here for you, Dad,” she said. “You know that.”
Galaxy-Man looked at Cutty, waiting for her response, hoping for the best, preparing for the worst.
“Just promise me one thing,” said Cutty.
“And what's that?” asked Galaxy-Man.
“Don't die.”
Galaxy-Man stood back and gave a deep bow. “This I swear to you – I shat die.”
“You really swore alright,” added Cherry.
Galaxy laughed and punched Cherry in the arm. “Shut up, ya junkwagon.”
Cherry punched back and giggled. “You're a junkwagon.”
“Just please be careful,” begged Cutty.
Galaxy-Man gave a modest mod, knowing that the situation was still far from okay, and that Cutty was still a little angry. She was more worried than anything. This was a bad situation and it was no one's fault but his own. But, as Galaxy-Man once said, you make the best with what you're given.
Cherry and Cutty returned to the Whomper while Galaxy-Man went back into the hanger to rest up for his next fight. Cherry brought him blankets this time so he was a bit more comfortable, though, he still didn't get much sleep. His anxiety made sleep a pretty difficult prospect, and even when he did sleep his dreams were of waking up to fight. Most of the other fighters in tournament took strong sedatives to help them sleep.