The Battlefield

~~~ 3 Hours Later Abandoned Warehouse District

"Are you sure this is the place, hermit? I feel like I should shower just from standing outside of it. If anything…" Tyler was interrupted by the two huge burly men standing outside of the building guarding it. 

"Go home little ones, this isn't a place for you to hang out. OH, little Ollie. I didn't see you back there, are these kids with you?" The man with the star tattoo on his left cheek asks with a smile on his face while the other is staring past the group.

"Yeah, I believe Mr. Wylan should have given you a heads up about my guests who will need to be personally escorted around the place while I get everything set up for the fight tonight. If not, I can get a hold of him for you." Oliver says reaching for his watch as the two men look at each other before looking back towards the group, Tyler and Vanessa are holding onto each other as Elijah is confident in Oliver.

"NO no that's okay we may have heard something like that, but you know we really don't hear about what goes on inside they like to make sure we don't know too much in case the police come and check things out. Come right in, and we will radio Deangelo for you 3." The one with the star on his cheek scrambles for his walkie as Oliver leads the group into the dingy looking room. 

"Wow, this place is so foggy, is that for aesthetic purposes or…" Tyler is about to say as 4 burly men with cigarettes in their mouths cross their path.

"Nevermind. I think I figured out where the fog is coming from." Tyler looks over at Oliver wondering how he got them into this situation, but Oliver walks past them and snatches the cigarettes from the mens mouth and crushes them underfoot. Vanessa and Tyler have worried expressions on their faces wondering what's about to happen, but Elijah is just looking at Oliver trying to figure out when his friend got so confrontational.

"Gentleman what have I said about you all smoking in this dingy little room you're going to give everyone black lungs like the ones you have underneath all that gut. Apologize to my friends for nearly drenching them in your toxins." The 4 men look at the teens and bow sincerely before looking over at Oliver and laughing wildly together.

"I was hoping you were off today boy wonder, but I guess they called you in for the big event. Don't worry about the smoke we will go around and snatch all the other cigarettes from the place and make sure to vent all the excess smoke out." The bigger of the men places his arm around Oliver before getting a dirty look from him and pulling his arm away quickly. Oliver and his group walk past the men as Elijah turns around and notices the dirty looks they are giving them.

"Those guys don't look too happy, Ollie. Are you sure that was the right idea?" Elijah whispers in his ear as Oliver stops as he notices a man walking over to them.

"Elijah, Ms. Davis and the other, I need you all to act like you've been in places like this before, because I won't be able to protect all of you when I'm in the middle of my fight. These guys only respond to confidence and if they smell fear they will make your life a living hell, I learned that on my first night. I had to fight and claw my way up to earn the respect they give me, but that doesn't mean they all like me and no matter how badly or alone I was feeling I had to shove it down and survive. Look ahead, the man making his way over is Deangelo. He will keep you all safe, but you need to stay strong as well." Oliver says never taking his eyes off of everyone in the room, the others stiffen up and put on their best confident faces as Oliver pulls a paper from his pocket. It's Violet with a white seal in the middle of it.

"Here, this is proof you're my friends and friends of the Violet Eyes. Don't worry it's nothing too bad, but they are the ones in charge of this whole event and my uncle is the branch leader here. You, I need you to hold onto it because Ms. Davis is too nervous to stay calm if questioned and I need to protect my best-friend, so you're the last option." Oliver says while handing the paper to Tyler without turning around, but as Deangelo gets closer his shoulders lax and he turns towards the group. 

He pulls in Tyler close enough to whisper something, "You and I come from similar cloth, so I need you to channel a bit of that while you're here. I won't tell Ms. Davis, but I need you to make sure the both of them are safe."

Tyler looks at him dumbfounded as he nods softly, but before he could say anything Deangelo is standing in front of them. "Ah, I'm glad to see you all. Including you Oliver, we had a poll to see if you would actually show up. You made me a very rich man."

"Oh yeah, I should be entitled to some of that money. You really believed I would show up here, didn't you?" Oliver looks at the only other person who has taken care of him over the past 3 years, trying to hold back the smile as the man tousled his hair before walking past him towards the group.

"Of course, me and the boss had no doubts in our minds, but we wanted to make sure it was your idea not ours, now let's get your friends all settled up in the bosses box to watch the fight with us. We…" In the middle of greeting everyone a foul smelling big man walked right up to them and shoved Oliver aside.

I didn't know it was 'Bring your Children to Work Day', Mistah D. I think we should get better guards to keep the little kiddies away from places that could get them killed. The girl seems to look lovely if I do say so myself." The man licks his lips looking at Vanessa as Tyler stands in front of her without an ounce of fear in his eyes while Vanessa is holding onto his arm tightly. Oliver walks in front of the lumbering smelly giant and places his hand on Elijah's shoulder. 

"Deangelo, it would be best for you to take my friends and get them somewhere the big oaf can't torture them with his presense or his stench. I will stay since the match starts soon, but you may go."

Deangelo looks at Oliver who just nods at him softly as they leave towards the elevator at the end of the hall. Briick looks at Oliver with disgust, wondering how he has fallen so far down to be facing a child. "Do you think it was wise to let them go, kid? What would a little pipsqueak like you do if I were to charge you and rip your head from your body?" 

"Hmm, interesting take. I wanted them to leave, because I didn't need them throwing up or getting sick being around your stench, dirt or whatever it is your name is. You can try it, but you will end up face first against that wall behind me and I will just watch with a smile on my face." Oliver retorts not looking the man in the eyes but fiddling around with the key around his neck.

"Briick and you will remember it, slug. Big talk for someone too scared to look me in the eyes. I might take you up on that, boy." Briick lunges towards Oliver who sidesteps him and shoots his leg out towards the man causing him to lose balance and land face first against the wall and drop to his knees.

Oliver looks around and notices that everyone is looking at him, but he doesn't care and stares at the huge angry man getting up off the floor. He is slumped over with a hand on the wall using the other to check and make sure his forehead isn't cut, and turns his fury towards Oliver. "You little shit. I don't know what you did, but it won't happen again. I will rip your throat out like I did with the other fighter."

Oliver has a worried look in his eyes, but does his best to disguise it with pure confidence as a loud voice rings from outside the building. "Crest won!! Crest won!! There you have it ladies and gentleman the undercard has officially ended for tonight with an upset. Crest has come from behind and slaughtered Grace with ease, so let's give it up to our two competitors!"

Briick has a sinister smile on his face as he shakes off whatever he was feeling, but starts to make his way towards the area. "Little man, make sure you bring everything, because I won't hold back just because you're a baby. Oh yeah, if I win I plan to take that little girl along with me, so fight strong."

Briick laughs his way out of the building and heads towards his stage as Oliver feels a pair of soft hands press on his shoulder, the anger subsiding from his body. "You don't have to do this to prove you belong on the team you know. I would gladly fight for your spot for you."

"Ms. Davis, this is for me to prove I have what it takes to make my parents proud. Whether they accept me on the team or not will not stop me from challenging the world." Oliver turns around and notices it's Tyler standing there instead of Vanessa. He smirks as he notices the wide eyes of Oliver.

"Hmm, it seems you can be surprised. I will relay the information to her when I get back, but I just wanted to ask how you know about my past? I don't like people having something on me." He takes a step back when he notices the men looking at him from around the room. Oliver clears his throat while adjusting the watch on his wrist. 

"Tyler Matthews, former runner of the Crimson Note. I had some of my friends look into you and Ms. Davis while you all were inside eating with Tor. They allowed you to leave because they felt you could earn them big money if you did well in basketball, so that's why you went to Elextrian. Although from what I hear your development hasn't been what they expected and still have you doing runs for them which is why you are either late or miss practice. How am I doing?" Oliver is talking while not even looking him in the eyes, which angers Tyler as he presses his forearm into his neck and drives him into the wall not caring what the repercussions would be.

"HOW!! Why do you know all this! THEY…they said it would be a secret from everyone. You're going to out me to the school when we get back huh? Tell Vanessa or Elijah and ruin my relationships with…" Oliver puts his hands up stopping everyone from ganging up on him as Tyler turns around and notices all the people with weapons out a few steps away from him.

"Mr. Matthews, if I was going to do that I wouldn't have given you my color, would I? I gave it to you because you understand the severity of innocents being in a place like this and I just had a question for you. Will you join the Violet Eyes? They will keep the Crimson Note away from you and the only thing they will have you do is protect me while we are in New York." Tyler loosens his grip on Oliver unsure of what's going on which was a mistake as Oliver grabs his wrist, twists his arm, and shoves him face first into the wall.

"Now I don't need protection, but this is so you can play basketball with your heart again and give Ms. Davis the boyfriend she deserves. I will only ask you once, so choose wisely Tyler." Tyler has tears in his eyes as he looks back at the room Vanessa and Elijah are in.

Oliver lets go of Tyler as he turns around and looks him deep in the eyes. "Protection, huh? That's not going to mean you're my boss, hermit. I accept, so what do I do now, cut my hand and sign with my blood." 

"What are you on about, just tell Mr. Wylan you accept the position and he will take care of the rest. Now go, I have a fight to win. Just make sure you never tell them because they wouldn't understand your situation. Just say, Project Boy Wonder. He will understand." Tyler looks at him and before he could say anything Oliver presses his fist into Tyler's chest, which makes him smirk as he returns the gesture before rushing back over to the room.

"Hmm, maybe he's not as bad as I thought. Mother, I'm sorry things turned out this way but I promise I'm still your little Ollie. It seems the fight's about to start, so keep your eyes on me my ascent is going to be so much fun." Oliver has his eyes closed taking 3 deep breaths before opening them and walking through the door to loud and unending cheering coming from the stands. 

"BABY!! BABY!! Walk him, Behemoth!! Kill him!!! Crush him!!" The cheers are vibrating the room as Vanessa looks around with a nervous expression on her face, Tyler sits back down next to her with a stern look on his, as Elijah is on the phone with someone. 

"Is everything okay? You were gone longer than I thought you would be." Vanessa asks, grabbing his hand and looking him in the eyes. 

He kisses her forehead with a smile and says, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just being around all those dangerous people makes a guy nervous. Oh yeah, Mr. Wylan?"

Turning his head slightly to the side he looks towards Tyler never moving his eyes away from the arena, "Oliver wanted me to let you know, Project Boy Wonder." 

Mr. Wylan's eyes widen slightly as he looks directly at Tyler before nodding softly and returning his gaze back towards the arena. Vanessa looks at Tyler who just shrugs slightly before wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her close to him. "Let's just see if the hermit can fight as good as he can create. We will have to leave later than intended, so we won't be able to stop on the drive over unless it's for an emergency for gas. Is that fine with you two?"

Elijah looks at him and gives him a thumbs up as Vanessa just presses herself closer to Tyler. "Yeah, I think that will be fine. I can't wait to see what's about to happen, but I'm a little nervous about the intent of the crowd. Do you think he will be okay?" 

Mr. Wylan was about to say something, but Elijah spoke a little faster. "Don't worry about that, people like to assume he wanted to be an inventor growing up, but his one and only dream since the age of 6 was to be a robo fighter for the RLC. He trained his mind and body for that until the accident, so he has the abilities to win all that matters is will his opponent be able to keep up with him."

Mr. Wylan smiled softly as he gestured towards the left tower. "Look, the match is about to start, so let's all settle down, children. Let's see if he can really challenge the world or has it finally surpassed him after 3 years away."