The rest of the week was a blur to Pepper. He hardly slept that night. By the time he finally drifted off, it felt like his alarm sounded and awoke him to the new day.
He had packed everything into his bag that he would need for the match. The energy drinks that Ryan had given him. A few snacks. Tools he may need to make some adjustments. His nerves told him to take another inventory of everything, so he did.
Rune power relay analyzer, check. Power core RPL tester, check. SRT meter, check. Epoxy, check. Why do I always feel like I’m forgetting something? Pepper finished going through the list and repacked his backpack. He activated the garage door on his workshop and then realized. Why isn’t Dad’s truck here?
He walked back to the house and through the back door, which led into the kitchen. “Mom?”
There was a far longer pause than he wanted, but eventually she replied, “What is it, Pep?”
He paused and his eyes caught sight of the five small silver coins on the kitchen counter. There was a yellow note next to them, and Pepper walked over as he asked, “Where’s Dad?”
He immediately recognized his dad’s handwriting on the note. “Good luck” was all it said. The five silver coins stacked next to the note were five 10 Flex coins—the same amount he had asked his dad for the previous week.
“He got called in to work,” his mom replied from his parents’ bedroom.
His heart sank in his chest. “But he was going to take me to my match today.”
“Well, put the pieces together, Pepper. Doesn’t look like that’s going to happen now, does it?”
He balled his hands into fists and glanced at the closest door. A temptation arose within him to hit it as hard as he could.
“Just order one of your Rover things,” she added.
Well, I guess that means Mom isn’t coming to the match… again, he thought and rolled his eyes. “Bye,” he said over his shoulder.
A quick tap on his holodex and he loaded up the Rover Ride application. He ensured he selected the golem tow option, ensuring he didn’t have another incident like the one that had occurred last year. The local drivers were aware of the match going on today and were ready to respond to the few individuals competing. His holodex pinged with an alert that a driver was already on the way to his location.
Pepper waited till the driver’s location showed they were only a minute or two down the street before he powered up his golem. He activated the auto follow function and the controller rune took over and followed his command interface, which remained in Pepper’s back pocket. The golem walked up onto the trailer towed behind the truck of his Rover Ride and Pepper went about strapping the golem down.
His driver was nice enough to help him out, and the process was over sooner than he had anticipated. The drive down to the fairgrounds and the old national guard armory was uneventful. Brent had messaged him and asked if he was already on his way there. Pepper confirmed, and Brent replied that he would see him soon.
The drive didn’t take too long, and Pepper saw what appeared to be a decent turnout for the club match. He counted at least twelve golems in the parking lot, all waiting to undergo the registration process. The driver pulled up close to the end of the registration line so that he wouldn’t have to travel too far.
While he waited, another two individuals arrived and positioned their golems directly behind his. The gladiators greeted each other, as the majority of competitors had all competed against each other in previous bouts. A large tractor slowly crawled back to them at the end of the line and towed a large scale off the back end. Each golem made its way onto the scale to ensure it met the requirements.
“Hey, Mr. Sisic,” Pepper acknowledged as the club regulator approached.
“Good morning, Pepper. Again, as I have said before, it’s totally fine for you to call me Jeff.” The gentleman was old enough to be his grandpa. A heavily worn and weathered blue ball cap with sweat stains was on his head. The gray hairs of long years and experience were peeking out from underneath.
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Jeff adjusted his glasses and started to type away on his holopad. “Okay, let’s see. Pepper Walker,” he mumbled to himself while going through the registration screens. “Ahh, yup, there it is, and enter that over there.”
“So how many do we have today?” Pepper asked and shifted his weight to one side.
“Oh, well…” Jeff paused and leaned back slightly as he shifted his gaze down the line of gladiators waiting to register. “Looks like we have sixteen so far if nobody else shows up.” He smiled at Pepper, then tilted his head to see better through his glasses.
“Not a bad turnout.”
The old man chuckled. “Just enough to make it interesting, that’s for sure. The Clark County club currently have thirty-two people registered for their event today.” Pepper’s eyes widened. Jeff glanced up, saw his expression and chuckled. “That was my expression too when I heard the news.”
“That has to take forever to go through,” Pepper replied.
“Well, you figure that the first round will take us easily two hours to get through. That is, if everything runs smoothly, heh-heh, but we all know that never happens. So you can probably imagine that their first round will take them roughly half the day just to get through. If their club matches continue like that, they’ll have to do a two-day event just to keep competing.”
“You think they’ll form another club if they do?”
Jeff pressed his lips together. “Well, they certainly could, I guess. Make a North County and South County club or something like that. It’s certainly possible. But if prices keep going the way they are right now, they’ll probably start to see a decline in participants. The same way that we are now.”
Pepper rolled his head. “That isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”
Jeff chuckled. “Sure… it helps you get your club wins that you need to qualify for the Regional Invitational Tournament, but that only means who you are going up against stronger competition there. No easy way to skin the cat there, Pepper. The road to victory is one filled with bumps, bruises, and just a little bit of luck.” Jeff finished with a chuckle. The elder tapped a few more options on the holopad and then glanced back at him. “All right, Pepper, you’re all set and good to go. Good luck in there.” Jeff winked and moved on down the line.
Pepper walked over to his golem and slapped his hand against the hardened surface of its shoulder. “All right… we made it through registration, now let’s get you to the waiting area.” Just then Pepper’s stomach grumbled. “And then I’m gonna get me a snack.”
He had to wait a little bit longer, but the match bracket finally came on display for everyone to see. Daniel vs Terry, Tamin vs Buck. Well, that’s an easy win for Tamin, Pepper thought and sighed before continuing. Jake vs Wendy, Reggie vs Matt. Oh, that could be really interesting. DJ vs Clint, Sabrina vs Sean. Sabrina had better win that match. Bryan vs Pepper. Haha… right on! You better bring your A-game, Bryan. Pepper chuckled. Emmanuel vs. Sasha.
“Not too bad,” he muttered.
He felt a nudge and turned to see Sabrina standing next to him. “Hey, Pep.” Her hazel eyes and warm smile greeted him. She had on her lucky Season 7 Golem League ball cap, a black polo shirt, and high-cut blue jean shorts. Her holodex sprang to life with a notification. She barely glanced at it and swiped it away. “You ready for your match with Bryan?”
“Heck, yeah. I was just thinking about that and hoping he gives me a challenge.”
She rolled her eyes and smiled. “Ahh, you’ll beat him just fine. I just hope he doesn’t beat up your golem too bad. I want to do the honors of knocking you out all for myself.” A confident smile remained on her face.
He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know about that, Sabrina. I fully expect you to wipe the floor with Sean, but then you’ll need to take out either DJ or Clint. Both of them have been making serious improvements to their technique. They’ll be tough for you to get past.”
“Tough? Pep, do I not look tough to you?” She stretched her arms out and started to flex. Her teeth practically glistened in the sunlight as she smiled during her poses. “Not only can my golem do damage, but my looks could also kill.”
The two laughed. Sabrina was one of the few club gladiators he had come to enjoy getting to know. She lived two towns over from Pepper, and the club matches were the only chances they got to see one another.
“Sabrina,” a voice called. The two looked in its direction and saw Wendy calling her over to another group.
“Hold on a second,” she replied. Her attention returned to Pepper and a big smile of excitement came over her. “Did you hear what the prizes are for first and second place?”
Pepper shook his head and smirked. “No. Anything good?”
“Good? It is pretty a-huh-mazing! First place is an elemental rune made by Brutal Barbarian… and second place is a gravity rune by Dark Dwarf!” Sabrina’s eyes sparkled as she finished.
“Holy cow! That elemental rune would be amazing!”
“No kidding! Everything Brutal Barbarian puts out is top tier. Like… these are prizes you would expect to win at a Promina match. Maybe Regional, but certainly not a club matchup. I don’t know who hooked up our tiny little community club, but they are certainly my new best friend for life.” Sabrina pressed her fists onto her hips and nodded with a serious expression. The look only lasted for roughly three seconds before she lit back up to her usual optimistic self.
“Sabrina! Come on!” Wendy pestered.
“Uhh, fine!” she replied. Her feet started to slowly carry her off, but she turned back towards Pepper. “My fans are calling me. It was great to see you, Pep. We’ll link up later, yeah?”
“Sounds good,” he replied with a smile.