Chapter 979 - Claiming champion positions (1) (1/2)
~ Austin, Black & White club ~
Sarah entered the Black & White club through the main door this time. The noisy throng reminded her of the last time she was here. She entered through the side door and Aiden held her close, protecting her from one of her biggest fears: the crowd. Sarah inhaled sharply and reminded herself that she is here for a reason, and Aiden is not. She can't allow herself to be weak, not now.
It was an impressive scene. Sarah in the middle with Ade and Jamari slightly in front of her and Jesse and Haru slightly in the back. Four of them enclosed Sarah in a square-shaped formation. All five of them wearing completely black outfits and black face-masks which cover top half of their faces. Five of them were cordoned from the crowd by two rows of bodyguards who work under White family.
Announcer enthusiastically screamed: ”Ladies and gentlemen, Nyx is in the houseeeee!”
Three huge screens high above fighting cage form a triangle, and each of them showed blinking 'NYX' for few seconds before switching to:
'1. Mr. A -> Wins: 723 wins, Losses: 0 losses, Ties: 1
2. Shift -> Wins: 151, Losses: 3, Ties: 0
3. Blackstain -> Wins: 124 wins, Losses: 3, Ties: 0
4. Nyx -> Wins: 12, Losses: 0, Ties: 1
5. n/a'
Ade and Jamari had difficulty not to bounce up and down from excitement. But they stopped themselves because they had to look cool.
”Hey, Chad!”, Sarah greeted the handler in the glass-enclosed booth. ”Thank you for arranging this.”
”No problem, Miss Nyx!”, he greeted her back. ”The pleasure is all mine.”
Chad glanced at the four companions and asked Sarah: ”These are?”
”Future champions.”, Sarah responded. ”This is our first stop. Do you have the list ready?”
”Yes, yes. Just a sec…”, Chad dashed back to his original spot and started going through the papers on the table.
”Shift and Blackstain are not here?”, Sarah noticed that other than Chad no one else is here.
”Shift is in the Black Hole club and Blackstain… should be here soon. He said that he will stop by the White Valley club, but only to check out the status.”, Chad responded when he returned by Sarah's side.
”I want to verify: for a champion, they need to win 10 fights without losses?”, Sarah asked Chad.
Chad confirmed. ”New rules are that as long as there is a vacancy, ten wins are enough. But if all spots are filled, then they need to knock down a champion. And… five wins are enough to challenge a champion, but even if the challenger wins, he will not get the position on the board, but that will cause the defeated champion to lose his spot.”
Sarah nodded in understanding and turned to her four companions. ”Did you decide which one goes first?” There is only one spot available, and she is the only champion present. There is no point in them fighting against each other, they do that daily. Goal of coming here is for them to experience different fighting styles.
Sarah saw that all of them want to go.
After some time, she puffed her cheeks while exhaling in frustration. ”Come on! From here we will go to the next club, and before we head back everyone will get a title of a champion. Do I need to pick who goes now?”
They all nodded, so Sarah picked: ”OK… Jesse, you go first.”
Jesse grinned at Sarah's words, and Ade, Jamari and Haru frowned but they didn't dare to object.
Jesse left toward the fighting cage and Sarah sat with Chad to discuss things he prepared.
She reminded Ade, Jamari and Haru not to sulk, but to pay attention to Jesse's fights. Because they can learn from watching, and they will get their chance soon.
Chad handed Sarah papers with information on clubs, handlers and current champions. The list has data on fights, as well as confidence level in their loyalty. He has another list ready with promising fighters who he believes are a good match for what Sarah requested.