Barcode: Cavern of Youth (35 page)

“Come on man! A few extra sips would’ve been cool. He’ll be too drunk or brain dead now.”

“His tolerance is way too high for it to kick in yet. Seth drinks more than you think. And...” I tap the bottle gently on the wall. It shatters to pieces. “...his skill is terrifying.” Seth staggers wildly while shaking his head. He probably doesn’t know where he is anymore. I run behind him and wrap my arm around his waist. “In front of you is Spencer’s killer. Patrick. We don’t want him dead, but once we’re done, we’ll torture him for a week straight. Don’t let his girl get in the way either. Knock her out.”

As the lies resonate in his ears, I hold him back. The crowd falls silent as Seth loses his mind. He screams and reaches towards Patrick. Currently, he’s so drunk that he can’t find my hand on the back of his collar to stop me from holding on to him. That’s a good thing because I’m too short; if he stood up straight, I’d probably lose my balance.

“You upset because he’s forcing you to forfeit, Seth?” Patrick chuckles. “If you’re all scared of us, I don’t blame you, but just quit and stop wasting time. I could be asleep.”

“No, Patrick. Pick up your weapon please. I want you at your best when your ex-boyfriend beats your ass.” Selena turns to Patrick. He darts his eyes back to us as though he hadn’t heard a word I said. The gothic girl’s mouth drops as she finally recognizes the truth. “What? I told you he was gay. You should see the things he does with Addison while you’re using egg whites on Malik.”

Patrick and Selena inspect each other from the corners of their eyes. The little guy charges his barcodes viciously. I’ve done my part there. Now to turn my attention back to the lunatic in my hands.

Seth’s still going insane and repeatedly mumbling, “Let me go.”

“Wait for the announcer,” I mutter. “But hey. If you really want to beat him, use
them
.”

I unlock Seth’s leg pouch. The goo he acquired in the dungeon last year rushes out and attaches itself to his arms. Seth stands up calmly as though he’d just gained control over the toxin. He watches as his weapons swirl around his arms.

The nerd activates his bullhorns, turning them a bright red. Both wads of goo completely cover his arms. They change into a mechanical armor that stretches up to his biceps. His palm glows with a golden light and four black marbles hover around his hands.

Seth’s been training with those weapons in the hills for the past three months, possibly longer. He always practices in the morning and usually starts his jog before I’m out of the dungeon. I became suspicious of his training when I first noticed his scratched bottles.

Last week, I skipped one of my dungeon duties to recover. I heard him working to control his weapons. They seem to try possessing him when he’s sober, but if he’s extremely drunk, they obey his every command. This should be the most they’ve ever listened.

I rush towards the gate as Thomas starts the match. “Let the forfeit begin!”

Selena takes a seat on the ground and Patrick converts his handgun into a large military assault rifle. It’s three times bigger than the one Crusty had at the crack house and ten times larger than anything he’s used for finals. Patrick’s mainly resulted to handguns for his opponents.

Holding it up, he fires off what sounds like a thousand rounds. Seth drunkenly stumbles towards the onslaught. Though he’s staggering left to right, he’s actually dodging the bullets. That upsets Patrick. He converts his current bulky weapon into a shorter assault rifle with a large barcode over the drum magazine and a red dot scope. After shouldering the beast, Patrick quickly side steps and focuses his attacks more steadily.

Seth turns his back to the weapon. Yet, when the first bullet grazes his shoulder, he lifts his left hand. The four balls hovering around his arm twists into a whirlwind. They devour all of Patrick’s projectiles. The crowd clamors about
thequitters
finally fighting.

“Spencer,” Seth mumbles before charging Patrick.

Selena’s eyes widen as Seth approaches at a very threatening rate. She prepares to move out of the way, but he seemingly trips over his own feet and rolls over his shoulders repeatedly. Somehow, Seth continues blocking the shots with his left hand. With a sudden burst of energy, he stops rolling and leaps out at Selena, kneeing her in the face.

She’s out. Cold.

No longer blocking the bullets, Seth actually outruns Patrick’s aim while dashing around his enemy in an arc. His drunken run appears out of control and it’s completely unpredictable. Patrick converts the gun into a missile launcher and immediately fires a heat seeker. I consider helping, but I’m too involved in watching.

For a second, Seth out runs the rocket, but it catches up to his heel. The explosion causes him to fly across the field, skidding for some distance. Patrick places his rocket launcher on the ground and kisses it.

Seth lies motionless in the dirt.

Thomas announces, “It appears that two warriors are out of the fight. This leaves a match between the mysterious Kay and my protégé, Patrick Gibson. Don’t let me down youngin’!”

That’s when Patrick remembers me. He transforms his gun back into an assault rifle and arrogantly declares, “Don’t worry. The bullets aren’t the real thing because the professors won’t allow it. These buggers explode on your body at contact. Still, they’ll manage to do some organ damage.”

Remembering Ra’s finger movement at the bar, I shake my index. “You should know better than to listen to Thomas. He always calls matches too early.”

Patrick whips around with his eyes wide open. Seth stands to his feet and whispers, “Spencer,” constantly. He opens various compartments on his mechanical arms and a swarm of tiny black metal spheres fly out. Seth extends his hand, firing the miniature bullets at Patrick.

Patrick shoots down each ball, one by one. A few slip by and pierce him in the leg and tear his skin, but he doesn’t lose focus. He fires until Seth’s ammunition depletes and hundreds of black steel balls are on the floor.

Seth has already closed the gap between the two and they engage in a one-on-one fist fight. The two men punch and kick, elbowing each other in the ribs, cheek, and legs. Patrick’s attacks are eloquent but fierce. He looks like a ballerina that knows Kung Fu. Seth on the other hand couldn’t appear more disoriented and wild. It’s as though he’s trying to remember years of training, but can’t. Still, he’s managing to keep up with Patrick’s skills. Eventually, Patrick hits Seth with a low blow and my teammate crumbles over.

Taking the moment of weakness to his advantage, Patrick flips Seth over his shoulder and holds a Glock to Seth’s head.

“Sorry to do this, but I want to win, Leo.” Seth struggles to raise his arm. It looks like he’s trying to shake Patrick’s hand. “I’m not falling for that.”

Seth flicks Patrick off and the hundreds of marbles on the ground all attack the flamboyant warrior, ripping off his clothes and pieces of his flesh.

Patrick falls backwards, passing out. All the parts of Seth’s weapon swiftly return to the components on his arms. The goo slides back into his pouch.

He stands up and tries stomping on Patrick’s head, but I stop him from crushing the guy just in time.

While dragging him back, kicking and screaming, he frees himself from my grip and pukes. Once he’s unconscious, I lift the savage nerd and carry him inside.

That’s one big win out of the way.

When I make it to the benches, Carmen and Richard tend to Seth’s wounds. Jamie approaches me and says, “Now I see why you gave Seth the drink. I didn’t know Patrick was so strong.”

I flop down on a bench and wait ten minutes. When the next match’s window opens, I program Richard and Carmen’s names. Standing behind them as they treat Seth, I rest my hands on their shoulders. “You’re up.”

The two nervously walk to the gates leading to the field. Carmen grabs Richard’s hand and squeezes it twice. “You said I’d do better this time in finals. I need your help for that.”

Richard reveals his charming smile, which appears to lift a large weight from both of their shoulders.

We’re up against Yukio and Abby again, but this time the two seem dead tired. They almost lost their last match an hour ago and their fatigue still shows. This battle is about endurance and these two are holding their team together. I hate to have my teammates crush their last hope this early in the morning, but I’m not losing today.

Thomas starts the match, but a Mexican standoff occurs. No one moves.

This is Carmen’s first fight since last finals and she’s a bit shaky.

Richard finally initiates combat. He chases down Yukio to match up with power, which is perfect. Abby zips past the teddy bear and heads straight towards Carmen. She tries planting a punch on Carmen’s chin, but her fist lands flat against a clear wall. The shield is a part of Carmen’s invisible weapon that appears from nowhere. Currently, it’s a transparent blue barrier.

Abby applied too much force to the punch and fractured her hand. She hides her left arm behind her back and tries running away.

I taught Carmen well. She capitalizes by crushing Abby over the head with a staff the same color as the shield. Instead of allowing Abby to pass out, she assaults her ten more times—as I instructed—though she lightens her strikes near the end. Carmen’s not the type to finish someone off ruthlessly.

Now, the ratio is set in our favor, but Richard’s slow punch is countered by Yukio’s speed and dragon strength. The hook he connects on Richard’s chin is mind blowing, but Rich would know better than anyone else. My friend crashes into the ground without applying any brakes.

I think Thomas learned to stop calling the matches early. He’s waiting to see if the big guy will get up.

Yukio assumes that his opponent is no longer a threat; he chases down Carmen.

I tighten my hands around the gate, wondering if Carmen’s too nervous to move. “Hey, Ms. Love. Run!”

It takes a second for her to wake up, but she does just that. Her speed is too much for Yukio. He removes his staff to try and lengthen his reach. It doesn’t work.

As Richard rolls on the ground, I try to think of a strategy. His breaths seem as restricted as mine. It’s almost as though a huge weight were on his shoulders.

Why?

His armor is the same as it’s always been. Big. But he’s been putting on more weight every day, no matter how much we make him run.

A light shines over my head in some dimension.

“Rich! Where’d you get your new armor?”

He sits up and shakes his head. “It’s the same one.”

“No it’s not. Who’d you let modify it?”

“Seth!”

“Take off the chest plate and save Carmen before she’s hit. Now!”

Richard shakes his head. “Do you know how fat I am? Dog, I’m not taking off my chest plate in front of all these girls.”

Carmen trips over a rock and falls next to Richard. Yukio takes a moment to catch his breath. He fires up his codes under his bandages and chases down the two.

Passionately I roar, “Now or never. You know you’d never let a woman get hurt.”

Richard breaks his armor in half by pulling it apart. Then, he throws both pieces over Yukio’s head before catching the dragon’s staff with one hand. When the two fragments land, the ground crumbles and debris raises over the field. Richard smiles and breathes freely.

Shaking his head at his opponent, he hums, “Sorry Yo.”

Richard grabs Yukio’s face and drags him along the field at a blazing speed for nearly two hundred yards. In a matter of seconds, Richard smashes Yukio directly into the Colt Stone.

Yukio doesn’t scream or cringe because he passes out on contact.

Our second win happens in a flash.

When the two make their way back to the locker room I announce, “Now, I’m sending you both out for the rest of the day. Richard, don’t let Carmen fight. I need her for later.”

He looks disappointed when replying, “I’ll do my best.”

“What about her?” Carmen asks, while pointing at Jamie?

Jamie’s on her knees, calmly watching Seth sleep.

“I’ll use her when Richard gets pooped.”

“You’re going to let her fight the last ones and we haven’t even seen her in action?”

Jamie continues staring into Seth’s face.

“She’s my secret weapon. She won’t lose.”

After fifteen matches, seven back-to-back, Richard returns to our side, out of breath and energy. Carmen had to help him a lot on the last one.

Though he’s proud to now be the fastest man on campus, he admits his defeat. “I never fought for four hours. I’m sorry Kay. That’s it for the day. I tried to save some energy for one more later on.”

“You kidding? Come on man; you’re our savior today. This wouldn’t be possible without you.”

“And Seth,” he corrects me while resting his hand on Seth’s leg. The drunk is still motionless and I’m starting to worry. I may have pushed him too far. “I never would’ve beat Patrick. When Seth wakes up, tell him that he’s the savior.”

We shake hands. Now that the soppy moment is out of the way, I approach Jamie. “Hey love, you said you’re my weapon, right?”

She blushes before removing her armored white shirt.

Whoa. Jamie has a nice figure. I don’t know why I couldn’t notice in the suit, but she’s definitely curved nicely. I’m starting to second guess my choice with Carmen. If I ever become a shallow jerk, I’m going to choose the emotionless weapon.

Luckily, Richard is falling asleep because I reveal my barcodes and finish undressing her with my eyes. Strangely, her back still sounds like an empty space. It’s a black spot in my vision.

Once she turns around, I see the most horrifically frightening tattoo I’ve ever witnessed in my life. It’s Spencer’s cross with many of the Yang Arena’s male warrior’s tattoos integrated into it. I see Arnold’s signature X and several other tattoos of men that I’ve killed including the most recent, Geb and Mel.

Naturally, my hand drifts towards it.

Carmen screams because I saw Jamie’s breasts and I’m about to touch her back. She angrily grips my wrist, digging her nails into my bandages. With a graceful movement that’s more terrifying than anything I’ve ever seen, Jamie grabs Carmen by the throat and heinously throws her into a locker, causing it to cave in.