Chapter 31

We stood out in the food court and waited for Rodger to appear. Dean stood wearing the same borrowed clothes he had been given at the clinic and was playing with his broken phone. At some point in the fight last night his phone got a direct hit and the screen had shattered.

Jenny nodded and we turned as Rodger walked up to us a big smile on his face. He held a coffee in his hand and part of a sub sandwich in the other, two long sandwich bags around his wrist.

"Long time no see…" He frowned. "What, not eating?" He looked at his watch. "Suppose it's a little early, oh well, come on." He waved us to follow him then sniffed as he passed Dean his eyes narrowing.

"Where are we going?" Mathew asked.

"To my office." Rodger waved a hand. "It's too open to be talking out here." He looked around. "Danica, could you get my key card out my left pocket." I went to take his coffee to free his hand, but he pulled it away and sipped at it. I rolled my eyes and slipped my hand into his pocket and frowned.

"Just your wallet." He smirked.

"I meant the other left …" I pulled his belt sharply and he yelped as he twisted around slightly. I pulled out the key card and he nodded at the door. With a slice I put it through the card reader and the door lock clicked open. As the door swung a little, I pushed it wide, and Rodger skipped inside.

Jenny hid a smile as Dean let a little growl leave his lips and he watched Rodger disappear into the hallway. She nudged him in the rips and lent closer to whisper in his ear.

"If you can't behave you'll wait outside." He frowned and whispered back.

"I get the feeling he doesn't like me…" She rolled her eyes and waved for him and the others to follow her inside.

As soon as we stepped into the hall, I saw the new upgrades. I stopped and staired in wide eyed awe. The first room looked like a ticket office and new security doors had been installed. To get into the seating area you had to show your ID and ticket then step through the turn gates. It almost looked like a prison. However, Rodger simply pointed to a gate and I used his key card again and it opened.

On the other side of the security gate the walls were lined with life sized posters of fighters in heroic poses. The first fighters we came across were the rising newbies in the Yellow section. Following that was the orange section this was where long-term fighters that didn't participate too often were. As we moved into the green section, I heard a squeal as the guys shot forward. This was where the better-known fighters began to turn up.

Mathew pointed excitedly and giggled as he looked to Jenny and me. We approached and he smirked.

"When I was here with Derick they didn't have the posters up yet… Look! The Falcon. He's a middle weight fighter that hasn't lost a fight yet." Rodger slurped his coffee loudly.

"And a massive pain in the backside." The group turned to look at him. "Seriously, if he stopped partying with groupies and drinking too much, he wouldn't have to pull out of so many fights." He shrugged. "But then again he was meant to fight the Crusher, but he pulled out and the Banshee turned up instead." I saw Mathew nodding.

"I saw that on the tv… amazing fight!" Rodger winked at me and nodded.

"Very awesome… and put that fake bitch in her place." There was a few growls and the guys nodded. We walked on passing by more images.

We entered the Blue section then Brown and I could feel the tension between the guys rising as they began to whisper stats. It wasn't long before we reached the Black section and only a few fighters posters were up on the walls.

I heard a long breath leave Chad's mouth as he looked around. He turned to Rodger and pointed.

"Why's that pink bitch on the wall here?" I looked and saw someone that looked like the Banshee on the wall but her costume was pink. The poster straddled the wall between brown and Black and there was no name under her image. Rodger sighed.

"Like it or not this nameless bitch is a fighter now and the other manager, who she fights for, wanted her put up… although I would have put her down in the green section she's not this skilled but he seems to think she is." Jeff snorted.

"So, what position does the real Banshee hold?" I saw Rodger smirk as he continued to lead the way. We entered a red and white candy stripped section then into a royal red section that contained ten fighters with the biggest posters.

I stopped and my mouth gaped open. Each of the ten posters were encased with a simple gold frame and the back grounds were animated as flames leaped up behind the fighters.

"The Banshee!" There was a joint squeal from the boys and they skipped forward. Even Jenny was caught up in the moment and ran forward. I slowly turned my head to Rodger and he grinned.

"Best spot in the house." He giggled then looked to the other images. "These ten are the pinnacle fighters of the club." With a bite of his sandwich he shrugged. "Since the Banshee is now all warmed up after that sabbatical, she's going to be participating in more matches with better opponents no lower than Brown teer now." I saw the excitement as Mathew nodded.

"Would you happen to know when the next fight is?" Rodger shrugged.

"No clue at the moment but its likely to be in the next few days…" He leant closer and whispered so only the group could hear him. "I hear one of the other managers is wanting to put the Bulldog up against her." Jeff's eyes sparkled.

"That's fucking awesome!" I frowned.

"Who's the Bulldog?" Jenny nodded.

"Yeah, I have no clue either." We were led back to a Black tear fighter who's poster was on the other side of the hall from where I had been looking. I gulped as I looked at the massive muscle bound frame and immediately remembered seeing one of his fights nearly a year ago. The brutality of it had haunted my dreams for weeks.

This man had been an annihilator class fighter for years, he was brought into fight to ruin winning streaks and more often than not he would wipe the floor with his opponents. The Bulldog was a Lycan and had stalked the halls of the Phantom Plaza for decades. In the middle of fights he would end up shifting to his wolf or Lycan forms depending on how worked up he got and it was rumoured that his strength could destroy the bars on the ring if they took a direct hit.

Rodger shrugged as he took another swig from his coffee then turned and walked away towards another security door.

"Well come on, no time like the present." The others nodded and as I turned to leave I could see the concerned look on Deans face as he staired up at the Bulldog for a few more seconds then turned to follow us.