The sign at Famiglia International Airport's exit doors was dramatic, bold. It showed an image of the chief Enforcer of la Famiglia; the chrome, red-eyed helm of the infamous Eyeball, the Titanslayer; standing imperiously to the side beneath the far more geneal image of Governor Russo, beside the listing of basic rules for those passing through the doors.
1: No killing without a permit. Permits must be acquired from the Enforcers. If you have killed or broken other laws outside of Famiglia, we will not extradite you from here unless you've intentionally killed multiple civilians. * For purposes of this ruling, 'Civilians' explicitly does not included anyone armed and attempting to intervene in your activities, whether they be soldiers, police, mercenaries, security guards, or the like.*
2: You will be searched for drugs when you leave. All drugs are legal on la Famiglia, but in the event we find them as you depart, our security teams will hold you back in order that you can find more secure methods of shipping. Don't be an idiot and get arrested out there for something legal here! Use it before you go!
3: No stealing from a citizen without a permit. All businesses and citizens of La Famiglia pay protection to the family, and tourists are encouraged to buy a security pass before departing the airport. Citizens or pass-holders who are the victims of an attempted robbery are encouraged to either respond with lethal force if capable, or contact the nearest Enforcer.
At the bottom of the sign was a directory listing; offering addresses and contact information for a variety of brothels, 'Pharmacies' offering drugs illegal in most of the world, various hot tourist destinations like 5-star restaurants, shooting ranges to try out and buy weapons illegal in most of the world, directions back to the booth for anyone who had forgotten to pick up a Protection Pass, and, of course, directions to the reason most people had flown out on the Airport's opening day; the Arena.
***
"Hello there, viewers! This is Tina Lamarc, for Headline news, reporting live on scene for the first time in years! Exciting developments at La Famiglia today, as The Arena, and Famiglia International Airport, both had their opening day today; technically, private planes have been landing at FIA for weeks now, but the first flights of each major airline were launched today to bring the thousands of people going in to attend the Arena's opening shows!"
She stepped forward, letting the camera pan out over a wide open stadium, thousands of seats; nice, comfortable seating, with screens scattered around to give details and zoomed-in views of the action; all surrounding an enormous bulletproof glass dome. People were already filtering in, and the noise would have been absurd if the camera weren't filtering it out.
"As those who haven't been following the news may be surprised to learn, the Arena will be a publicly viewed stage for gladiatorial combat among both metahumans and normals; convicted death penalty criminals from other countries have been imported, and volunteers recruited, to form teams and participate in a series of battles, ultimately ending with a single victorious team. Former death row inmates will be given their freedom, and citizenship here in Famiglia; granted, should they try to leave, any other nation with an extradition treaty will likely send them back home to meet their fate. For the volunteers, victory will lead to an enormous cash prize; a percentage share of all ticket revenue generated by the Arena, for at least ten million for the team, while those who lose, but survive, will get a smaller cut; or for the inmates, the option to try again."
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
"These teams have been given armor, weapons, and time to train and prepare; and exhibitions of the training battles featuring re-purposed 'Pale Ones' steering the fallen have drawn hundreds of millions of views online, while helping to build interest among both viewers and the gambling community. To make things more 'fair' among the teams, some teams are larger or smaller based on their membership, and the arenas will be optimized to make battles fair, but entertaining. Each team will be participating in one battle each week for the next two months; with the final battle to decide the ultimate winner scheduled on May 6th."
"Notably, each round, some teams will be given a pass, allowed to skip the fight; something giving them an intense advantage as the tournament goes on. These teams will be those voted most entertaining by the audience, and those with the least fatalities among the opposing teams."
"With this major event to start off, and lesser events occurring daily, with everything from fights to powers demonstrations by elite metahumans from around the world... this event has already drawn more tickets than last year's Superbowl, and promises to be an enormous tourist draw for the small island nation."
***
Thanks to herculean efforts on the part of seventeen nations, mostly funded by China and the US, the region once known as Mexico had recovered. The northern area had now become the twelve Southern Territories; all bearing the names of old Mexican states, and, for the most part, shaped roughly the same way. The southernmost section; with a tiny fraction of the population thanks to the actions of Tai during the war; had become the Mexican People's Protectorate, an almost-colony of China; though they were taking steps to try to avoid Imperialist overtones.
Compared to the hundreds of billions of dollars spent there, the rise of la Famiglia was less significant; once the initial mass construction had been done, most of its immigrants were technicians, soldiers, hardened criminals, and the wealthy. The lack of rules regarding research, weapons, prostitution and drugs brought in wealthy and talented individuals from around the world; and by the end of its first year, Governor Russo had made good on his promises; the tiny nation and the ring of both real and artificial islands that surrounded it, had developed a population of over a million; and was well on its way to becoming one of the wealthiest nations on the planet.
Fortunately for Eyeball, the 'Chief Enforcer' position was mostly just a title; as the owner of the island itself, and of a research lab mostly focused on developing the various Russian mad-science projects he'd recovered; as well as further developments of the drug Reflex; his income was sufficient that he didn't really need to concern himself with pay; and he could instead focus on his next adventures... whatever they might be. His friend Clone had given him a line on some work that he might be interested in if he felt like making things harder for his American 'Frenemies' in the DMA... and of course, Emerald kept putting off the wedding until after they 'dealt with' her family.
All this and the exhibition Odin had made, publicly showing real magic on a scale that hadn't been witnessed in modern history, had given Eyeball a keen interest in adding magic to his repertoire if he could; and he had a line on a few secretive trails he could run down if he wanted to investigate that community.
So many choices, all with so much potential. The only question was... where would he go first?