Jax & Xiao
Jax and Xiao walked up to a nondescript door on the ground level of Nexus and knocked on it three times, then two, then three more times. A small slide in the door opened at eye level, and a pair of draconic eyes looked down at them before opening and allowing them entrance.
They could hear the low rumble of people cheering when the door opened. As they walked in, they were immediately escorted down a side hall by the drake, who let them into the building, to a small locker room. “You have ten minutes to prepare,” the drake said, his voice a deep rumble.
Xiao bowed respectfully and said, “Thanks for your assistance.” The drake grunted and left without another word. Once the drake left, Xiao Turned to Jax, scowling, “I can’t believe you dragged me into this.”
Jax looked away sheepishly, “Sorry, but I need the money. And I don’t think anybody else would understand if I asked them.”
“Zeana would understand,” Xiao shot back, his voice steadily rising, “Haze would understand. Anybody on our team would understand!” He paused momentarily and considered, “Though I don’t think the twins and Yuki would understand, besides them, we would all understand! But no, you had to throw our fight in the tournament, and even that wasn’t enough! Why did you feel the need to get into so much debt by gambling and betting against us!?”
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“BECAUSE I NEED TO!” Jax yelled, his skin starting to glow a dark red. Realizing his outburst, he took a deep breath and calmed himself before explaining, “I have a massive crush on Cami. I could never find the right words to express my feelings and never knew the right time. I know she probably doesn’t feel the same way about me, but after what happened last night, I feel I can’t wait any longer.” The words flew from Jax’s lips in a rush as he forced everything out.
Xiao stared at him for a long moment before sighing, “So you’re trying to get a clean slate with a little extra so you can take Cami out on a date, is that right?” Jax looked a little sheepish as he nodded. “What are we doing, and how much do you owe?” Xiao asked, conceding.
“1,006 Lucre, and we’re fighting one of their teams without cores. We need to win,” Jax answered quickly.
With another massive sigh, Xiao nodded and sat on a nearby bench, and Jax joined him as they waited to be called into the ring. A few minutes passed, and a new drake entered the room through a different entrance. He pointed at them and said, “You’re up. Follow me.”
They stood and proceeded to follow the drake down the hall toward the roar of a cheering crowd, and soon entered the amphitheater. Rows and rows of bleachers on all four walls sat dozens upon dozens of cheering patrons from all races as they yelled out their bets and gave money to drake bookies, who were all frantically writing down the bets onto notebooks. In the center of the room stood a raised stone platform with three people in the center.
Two of them were golden drakes with tanned skin and long curling horns on their head instead of hair. The third person was a tall, thin man with a crown tattoo on his neck. He raised a hand, pointing at Jax and Xiao, and was about to introduce them when a loud boom filled the air.
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