“They call it the ‘Heats’. It’s more like a football or team sports league, if you will. Each person gets a position within a certain division based on the ‘heat’ they have. Heat is just the amount of buzz around your name, which is basically just how good and entertaining you are.”
“The more you win, the more heat you get that’ll get you more money per fight, and the more you lose, the less heat you get that’ll get you less.”
“How much do you get per fight?” Leo asked, leaning forward with intrigue.
“It really depends. If you do really badly they’ll happily tell you to leave with nothing. For a starter, you should be looking to get around 50 to 200 based on who you’re fighting.”
Leo’s eyes lit up upon hearing this. Per fight? 200 dollars per fight?!
No wonder people called this path ‘fast money’. This was exactly what he needed. As long as he did some fights, and used his time slowing powers to give himself the edge, it wouldn’t be long before his struggles would be over!
He’d pay off his oga, and save up enough in case of anything coming from Kam and his father.
“Again, I must stress to you that this is a danger. It might sound easy now but trust me, kiddo, some people enter that world and die in it. It’s dangerous, I left that underworld for a reason.” He furthered.
Leo took a few seconds to truly take heed of his warning. Of his parents’ warnings.
There would be danger, especially in a place like this, but his mind continued to return to the fact that there was no choice. He didn’t to be fighting in some underground arena, but there was just no option left for him.
“Fine, here’s the number. Call this and I’d recommend using some form of burner phone. Give them as little information as possible about you; it’ll stand you in good stead.” Mr Dae-Ho commented, before writing the number down.
“Thanks so much.” Leo replies before taking the note for himself.
“You call that and say you’re calling for the heats. They’ll give you a time and place to show up and you not be late. These aren’t people to mess around with. You think the people out in the stack are rough, just wait until you backstab one of those guys.” He stated.
“I won’t be. Thanks a lot, Mr Dae-Ho, it means a lot. I won’t be doing it for long.” Leo assured him.
However, there was a sense of concern and disappointment in his face, and Mr Dae-Ho could see it. He didn’t even have a phone to call them, and on top of that, he didn’t even have a dime to try and buy another.
“What’s wrong, can you not call them?” The man asked.
“No. Some guys that work for my Oga came and repossessed my stuff. My phone, TV, washing machine.” Leo stated.
Mr Dae-Ho swiftly revealed twenty dollars from his pocket, in one ten dollar note followed by two five-dollar notes.
“No, really, it’s fine. You don’t have to give this money to me.” Leo insisted.
It felt wrong to waltz into his home, ask for so many favours and take 20 whole dollars from him, after ghosting him for so many years. He just couldn’t bring himself to do it.
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“Kid, you have to take that money. Just give it back at some point if you absolutely must. You were always the selfless type, I respected you for that, but you have to take this money.” Mr Dae-Ho stated.
Leo had to take it; he was right. There’d be no point trying to be so stubborn, not when he was at this low point in life.
There had been so many points in his life where he had been taken advantage of by those around him, mistaking benevolence for true good intent.
“And you shouldn’t be in there for long. If you need anything else, just come to me. It was great to see you again.” Mr Dae-Ho said, before going in to dap him up.
“It was nice seeing you too. Enjoy the rest of your day!” Leo said, as he approached the door.
“Thank you, and you stay safe in this stack, yeah?” He stated.
“I will.” Leo said, before turning to walk down the narrow street.
He had to skip past a massive puddle of water, filled with unknown substances he didn’t want to think about to try and identify. He was soon down the street and at a nearby lift, heading straight back to the thirtieth floor.
There was no time to wait. He didn’t care if he got to school late or tired – it wasn’t his priority as of right now.
What he needed to do was to get in those heats.
He dressed in the clothes he usually did for his shadowruns, minus the weapons of course. It would be safer to keep himself armed, but he didn’t know how those people would take that.
He’d bought a new phone, that was small but was still a smartphone, nonetheless. It was insane how much you could stretch money in the stacks. Negotiating with cashiers and finding dirt cheap items were commonplace here.
He called the number and heard the phone ring for about 10 seconds or so. After this time, the ring cut short.
They had answered.
He was hoping for them to say something, but he realised that would be stupid. All he got back was this incessant crackling tone.
“I want to fight in the heats.” He blurted out.
There were a few seconds of silence, before a dark, raspy voice replied.
“Number 97, Cave Avenue, Floor 9, Blim Square. Be there within the hour.” He said with boldness and clarity.
“I will do.” Leo replied, before the man hung up right after.
He heard the man. There was no need to wait around.
He immediately headed on his way through the labyrinth that was blim Square, but he knew this place like the back of his hand. Arriving at a lift to take him down 15 floors or so, he navigated through the other murky, narrow streets to arrive down at the ninth floor.
One immediate thing he noticed was the space in the streets. Some of them were so wide he could reach out both of his arms and not even touch the walls. Both arms!
It was an insane sight, these guys were basically like those on the outside.
The lighting wasn’t a dim, gold, but instead a brighter, purer golden hue. Some of the streets were properly paved, even if they did have holes here and there.
He soon arrived at the correct street from the looks of things, noticing the Cave Avenue sign at the adjacent street.
It was a decently long walk, 5 minutes or so, before he arrived at door 97. There were basically no adjacent doors for tens of metres to this single one, a flimsy looking wooden door.
This was it.
He could already hear a deep, faint rumbling from behind the door, and could feel it in his shoes. It was clear that there’d be an intense atmosphere in there.
Firmly knocking on the door, he received no response for a good few seconds.
About fifteen seconds passed or so, before someone opened the door for him. It was a tall bald man, with sunglasses to hide his appearance. As soon as he opened the door, he promptly backed away and did so with pace.
Was that him? He hadn’t had enough time to see his face, and didn’t understand why the man just retreated like that.
In the very next moment, though, someone else appeared from his side. Another guard, that was seemingly his antithesis. Long, flowing dark hair with a slimmer, slender body. However, he didn’t seem elegant in attitude, but merely in appearance.
“Come in.” The man said, giving him space for him to enter.
His voice almost commanded him to move ahead, and he swiftly gave a glance to the street before shutting the door.
The noise was almost deafening, and he could feel the intense heat as soon as he walked in. Not only that, but he looked around and was surprised with just how big the place was. There seemed to be 10 main cages in the centre of the stadium, illuminated by bright white stage lights positioned directly above.
Each cage seemingly had a fight going on at all times, and there were wooden walls used to cage them off from spectators.
Around the walls were stalls where people were stationed, readjusting betting rates and taking bundles of cash from those thinking it would be their lucky day.
“You’re here to watch aren’t you? Head to that station to get to your seat.” The man pointed.
“No, I’m here to fight.” Leo replied.
