14

You take Poe's side.

"Well what do you know? Fuck the both of you!" Jane turns and storms off, and Poe breathes a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, even if you only said that because you don't like Jane. I really appreciate it. At least one person will stick up for me." He gives you a genuine smile and stretches out his hand.

"Goodbye! If you ever need anything…just ask!"

You have the feeling you may be able to call on him again someday. He's not much of an ally, but he's better than nothing. Not by much, but still.

Well, the night's still young. Why not do something else?

Tired? Okay, but you may have missed something.

You head home and go straight to bed, exhausted with all the fighting you did today. You doze off as soon as your head hits the pillow.

Next

The next morning, you feel invigorated and get up very fast. After eating breakfast, you check your phone and see that you have a new message.

"Hello there, Candleshaper. I heard about what you did last night. A run-down club like that is not worthy of your time or anyone else's. We at the PG want you, and we know you don't want to waste time in a shithole like that again. We're off of Foundation Road under the parking garage. And be warned, we don't have many rules here, so don't hold back."

Seems like you know your next stop. Looks like word spread pretty fast. Good.

Now you have to decide what to do until tonight.

You have until tonight for yourself. What do you do until then?

Already preparing for tonight, huh? Okay. You should have time for one type of exercise.

You head to the gym and get lifting. You lift all types of weights, constantly trying to push yourself to lift something heavier. You focus entirely on getting stronger and stronger.

You're almost done with a barbell when a buff, dark-haired guy walks up to you. "Hey. That's my barbell, dude. Give it." He has a confident grin on that makes you want to punch him as soon as he walks up.

"What?" you reply. "I'm not done yet. Wait."

"Nah man, I always start at three and end at six. That's my first workout. You must not show up on Thursdays much dude. Hand it over."

"I'm almost done here. Give me a minute."

"Nah, I told you, I start at three and I end at six. I always start with that and I'm not changing my routine. Just hand it over, you don't want this to get physical, trust me." He flexes a bulky arm.

What do you do? If you want to fight him, keep in mind that you're feeling pretty winded. You may need some stamina in order to give him what for.

His grin turns into a look of surprise and then one of rage.

"What! No one talks to me that way! You fucking jackass, put 'em up!" He gets into an offensive stance, so you drop the barbell and get up. This douchebag needs to be taught a lesson!

He winds his fist back, then tries to hit you in the stomach, but you bring your leg up and block his punch. He hits harder than you expected, though, so you end up falling on your back. You even hit your head on a barbell.

He laugh and brings his foot up as if he's going to stomp on your face! Uh-oh!

"Stop right there!" someone to your right shouts.

You look and see a ginormous African man in a purple singlet hurrying over to you. At the sight of this, the douche turns and hightails it out of there. The big guy considers going after him for a moment but decides against it and looks at you.

"What was that about?"

You inform him that the man he just scared back to his mother's house had come up, demanded the barbell, then called you a racial slur. You told him politely to leave you alone, but he didn't listen and attacked you.

"I'm sorry you had to deal with that. Rest assured, if I see him in here again, I'm going to give him a stern talking-to." Considering that this guy has fists the size of the average man's head, you find it a bit comedic that he'd rather just speak to him than come to blows. Then again, with those veiny muscles, maybe that is all he needs to do.

He tells you that you did the right thing not engaging with the other guy and says he hopes the experience doesn't deter you from his gym. Soon, you shake hands, and then he leaves so you can finish pumping iron.

You have to stop early because of the throbbing pain in your head. It seems you hit that barbell harder than you'd originally thought. Damn. You feel like you've gotten a bit stronger, though, so at least this wasn't a total waste. Still, you should probably go buy some ice for your head.

There are a lot of stores and a lot of time left. You head into the shopping district, and the first thing you see is the enormous Style Is Us store. You could go in there and get some new threads for tonight's match. It'd be a good boost to your charisma. Do you?

You always head here first—you love sports gear more than anything else. Probably because no football player is complete without a football jersey on.

You find yourself an epic sports jersey with your team's logo on it. It even has your exact number! Anyone who sees you in this will recognize you immediately.

You put it on and fist pump. Woo! Your confidence boost does wonders for your charisma.

Next up, you pass a small shop that has a sign saying "Novels, Comics, and More" on it. Purchasing some new reading material would help out your intellect.

You'll make good use of these later.

You're walking down the street when someone calls out, "Candleshaper!"

Turning, you find someone you don't recognize running toward you with a huge smile. It's a young man with a large nose and a green visor on, and he's wearing a red shirt that says "Vanilla" on it.

"I saw you last night! You fought at my favorite club! Can I have an autograph?" He pushes a pen and notepad toward you.

"Jerk!" he shouts at you. You chuckle. What was he expecting?

Well, the day is just about over, and your fight nears. It's time.

You head home and go to the garage for your vehicle. But what type of car do you have? Or do you ride something else?

You have a purple Cadillac, and you love it. The inside is fitted with fur seats, so it's as amazing on the inside as it is outside. The steering wheel is even painted green.

You've spent a lot of money personalizing this car to your preferences, and you love driving in it. Hell, you could just sit in it and smile. Yeah, this is the only car you'll ever need. Everyone already envies it.

You hop in and drive out of the garage. It's late now, and the city is illuminated by signs, other cars, and streetlights on every corner.

As you drive, you reflect on everything a bit. This is your second night in the circuit. Your first night was surprisingly fun, but that could have just been because it was a new experience. You still feel a bit jittery about going to another club, but it's better than when you were driving yesterday. Yeah, you were nervous as hell back then….

But this is another night, and you're up for another saga of sweat, pain, and blood. And that won't deter you, not one bit.

You pull into the parking lot and see that the first floor is filled with cars. Is it because this venue is popular, or are they all in that four-star hotel nearby? You'll find out soon enough, you suppose.

You head up to the second floor and park. When you get out, you head straight to the elevator in the middle of the place. Sure enough, it has one floor under the first floor labeled B. That must be where you're heading. You take one deep breath, then press the button.

Next

When the door opens again, you find yourself in what largely resembles a basement…oh, you get it. There are a moderate amount of people in here, but most of them are in jackets or other cheap-looking outfits. Seems you haven't risen much above the club you were in last night, but hey, better is better.

The place is illuminated by a few white dome lights. Other than that, it is nearly completely barren except for a few tables with patio chairs set up around them. Mostly, people are drinking or playing chess on them. More people have alcohol in their hands than you'd expect for a place with no bar. Hmmm…

You scan the room and spot a few coolers in the middle of all the tables. Want some cheap beer?

You don't drink alcohol. If everyone else in here does, that is up to them, but you're not drinking any of that. Besides, you should see where you'll be fighting.

Soon you realize that there doesn't seem to be any type of makeshift ring here—not even some tape to make one like in the last place. This is very surprising…. "Well, look who it is." Your thoughts are interrupted by a snarky voice. Looking to your left, you come face-to-face with someone you really didn't want to see. The greatest enemy you have: Royal.

You and Royal have hated each other since the two of you were in elementary school, and you have always tried your best to avoid them. What gender are they?