“Are you sure this will even work?”

“It might, it might not.”

“Well that’s not reassuring.”

Aspen said with a slight worry in his voice.

“As long as we stick to the plan, chances are we won’t die.”

I was hoping that would be reassuring enough for Aspen to follow through with the plan, but he still seemed a little unsure.

“Woof…Woof.”

A faint bark came from the duffel bag I was holding with the zipper unzipped just a bit so the dog could breathe. We decided not to return the dog back to the shop earlier since he would be the perfect fit for our plan, the best part about it was he wouldn’t take anything from the contract payout. Maybe I should’ve just become a pet master so I could have a partner that works for free all the time.

On the side of the pet supply store was a large alleyway where at first glance looks like an ordinary alley, but by the push of a button from their underground system, a large chunk of the ground would sink creating a ramp for cars and people to enter. Once all of the cars were inside of the alley the ground was raised back to normal level so that way they didn’t raise any outside suspicion.

Dozens of cars were parked in a secret underground parking lot that had plenty of space for everyone. Men in fancy suits and tuxedos exited their cars with women in beautiful silk dresses and made way for The Main Arena. There was no question that people of importance and other wealthy spectators were here to view the violence performed for their entertainment. I guess when you have everything in the world you find horrible weird ways to entertain yourself.

Aspen and I kept with the crowd as everyone began to be guided by armed security down the hall. It was a large spacious hallway, it felt as if I was in somebody's mansion, rows of butlers and maids held trays of champagne and other alcoholic beverages for the guests to take with them. They were also handed betting cards in order to place bets on the animals fighting.

There were three paths to take. The path on the left and right had stairs going up to the second level of seats and the center one took the guests to the lower more expensive seats. As we tried to sneak in with the crowd, a guard had stopped us after hearing muffled barks from our bag

“What are you doing in this area?”

“We’re apart of the event tonight.”

“Trainers and their fighters aren’t supposed to enter through here.”

Everything was going right so far. We had no clue where the animals were being kept so a guard giving us the golden ticket to our answer was almost too good to be true. He pointed us towards our true heading.

After some walking we ended up in a room full of caged angry animals and their shady looking owners. The room was obnoxiously nosy, but part of me couldn’t blame the animals since they were being mistreated. The owners were how I expected them to be. Nothing but a bunch of careless crooks in it for the money. Some of the big time trainers that had winning fighters had guards around them, and looked different from the others, they looked of higher class, dressed in nice suits and pricey jewelry. The amateur trainers looked the complete opposite, most of them looked like they haven’t got a good night's sleep in a while, or a change of clothes.

Animals were being poked and prodded with needles attached to tubes with purple liquid flowing into them. They were kept in their cage because instantly after being injected the animal became enraged with intense anger and hatred, I had never seen animals so bloodthirsty before.

They all stared at us with gazes of intimidation. Though none of them actually intimidated us they tried to. We walked along the line of caged animals trying to see if we could spot the clients dog, until a strange man asked us a question.

“Looking for a fighter, my boy?”

“Huh?”

I turned around to be greeted by a short man in an oversized suit with a spectacle, and devious smile.

“You appear to be looking for something, got a type of animal in mind?”

Doing business with this guy seemed shady but if he had any idea of where the dog could be then that was information I could use.

“Woof…”

The man began to eye my bag with a smile after a small bark was heard.

“A baby German Shepherd. With enough time they can be developed into fierce fighter dogs. One week unfed and some development drugs and you might have a contender.”

Some of the trainers heard and began to eye my bag as well. A couple of the top trainers even began to stare. The strange man obviously knew what he was talking about, it was crazy that he was able to tell the dog's breed just by hearing it bark.

“He’s not for sale if that’s what you were getting at.”

The man began to laugh.

“Hm…Hm…Hm. Fair enough I won’t pressure you over it, but just know that dog would go for a pretty penny around here.”

Aspen had stopped searching and walked over to see what this odd man was about.

“I don’t see him anywhere.”

“So you are looking for something after all.”

The man jumped at us with excitement. I finally realized this guy would be like gum on a shew and stick to us drawing unneeded attention. I could see it in his eyes, he was interested in us there was no denying that.

I pulled the photo of the dog we were searching for out of my coat pocket and he began to gaze upon the picture.

His eyes glittered and he lit up while glaring at the photo.

“It just so happens my boy…I received an animal just like it the other night. A feisty one he is.”

Aspen and I looked at each other with smiles on our faces, we could finally wrap this shit show up and call it a day.

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“How much for him?”

“He’s pricey.”

“How much?”

I repeated.

“$4,500,000 in cash.”

Of course he’d be pricey, the dog was an expensive bred dog. It’s clear I wouldn’t be able to afford it. The strange man could tell by my expression that I wouldn’t be able to afford it.

“Well…I am always open to trade.”

Continuing in what he had to say would be pointless, I already knew where he was heading. If I accepted this trade I’d willingly be sending an innocent dog to his death, but if I didn’t the client's dog would soon die.

“What if we made a bet?”

I presented an alternative option.

The strange man's eyebrow raised and I could tell he was even more interested now.

“I had a feeling I’d like you. What sort of bet do you have in mind?”

“First show me you have him.”

“Smart business my boy. Smart business.”

He went in the back and brought out a scared innocent looking puppy that was curled into a ball. He didn’t look like the other animals that were fueled with madness.

The strange man got close to my ear and whispered with an evil smile.

“I know you’re not a trainer…Assassin.”

“Ugh…”

I froze for a second as I tried to figure out what to do next. Aspen looked ready to unsheathe his sword.

“No need to be concerned, I’m enjoying our interaction too much to end it over something so pointless.”

I looked down at the strange man and put my hand out.

“We’ll bet on the next dog fight.”

The strange man smiled and shook my hand with enthusiasm.

“Follow me, gentleman.”

We were taken to a private booth in the arena, this guy must’ve been special enough to get his own booth. We watched over the entire arena which looked like an opera house with the stage being in the center of everything, rich spectators watched from the other balconies with binoculars that were attached to a long thin handle. They laughed and cheered as a giant dog with pulsating veins fought against a small but speedy fox with razor sharp claws and piercing teeth. The fox ran at the dog slashing it, blood flew from his snout. The audience cheered like we were at a baseball game and someone had just smacked a homerun over the fence. The dog and the fox wrestled around for a little while longer until blood puddled the stage. The fox had finally been defeated by the dog as it clinched its neck between its teeth. One trainer cheered as the other threw something to the ground that I couldn’t see from here.

“Well what do you two think of the show.”

Aspen felt the need to answer first.

“It’s dishonorable to say the least. It sickens me that people can watch and gamble upon another's life.”

The strange man smiled because he knew what we were doing was no different, I guess the only excuse was that we were gambling on one's life to save the lives of two other dogs. The strange man looked interested to hear my opinion.

“I’m not here to judge the show, I'm just here for business.”

I simply answered.

The strange man pointed in disappointment.

“Well that's no fun.”

I was beginning to put pieces together from all this and figured out who this man was.

“Your name’s Aldeen, correct?”

The man was startled at first to hear his name be called on by a stranger but then brought back his condescending smile.

“That would be correct, my boy.”

“What do you think of your show?”

He took a couple of seconds to think as we waited for the next fight to begin.

“I think it is profitable, so whatever brings profits brings me enjoyment.”

He was a class act businessman. He could care less about the lives of the animals or the entertainment, he just knew as long as a cash river flowed it was the right thing to do.

“Fair enough answer.”

I replied.

The next show began and the competitors stepped onto the stage. There was no point in introducing their wins or losses because if you did lose there wouldn’t be a next fight. We both observed the competition which was two cats both of different kinds that I wasn’t educated on, one was black and the other orange. There was one main difference between the two and that was that the orange cat looked skinny and weak, while the black cat seemed stronger.

“So who will you place your bet on?”

I took a second to decide. Aspen encouraged me to choose the black cat.

“...”

“Well?”

“We’ll take the orange cat.”

Aldeen stared at me full of confusion, he looked at me and started to question if I was crazy for choosing the cat that looked clearly weaker.

“What are you doing?”

Aspen concernedly questioned.

“Relax, we’ll see how it plays out.”

Aldeen continued to look at me like I was about to do something to cheat and win the match, but there was no trickery, just my risky bet that I placed onto the table.

DING!

A bell rang and the two cats were released onto the stage which had a cage around it just in case an animal attacked the audience, which in this case I wouldn’t blame them.

The cats intensely battled it out. The black cat looked to be winning but the orange cat was ferocious and constantly scratched the black one. After back and forth slashes the black cat began to slow down, and Aldeen looked worried. The orange cat took some scary blows as well that looked like it would be game finishers, but the cat pushed through. The orange cat jumped onto the black cat biting and scratching at it. The black cat had finally been defeated by the orange cat. Just as the orange cat was about to eat the black cat it was pulled from the cage and fed its first meal in a while since it managed the victory. Most of the crowd was groaning and booing due to betting on the wrong cat, while only a few celebrated their winnings.

“How?”

Aldeen asked.

“The black cat was strong, no doubt there, that’s why he lost. The orange cat was hungrier. So I placed my bet on the cat that was willing to eat its opponent alive compared to the cat that was only beefed up on that little drug you forced into them before the game.”

Aldeen’s face lit up with joy, he seemed impressed.

“Well with that knowledge and observation I have no doubts you played a fair game. So I will uphold my part.”

The fights were still going on but we had no reason to watch something as inhumane as what we had witnessed. We left with both dogs safe and unharmed, although the client's dog was hungry so we decided to buy some dog food from Aldeen before we left. We didn’t want to support his business but it was better than allowing a helpless dog to starve longer.

When we returned the dog back to its owner I became one contract closer to becoming a ranked assassin. She was grateful and kissed her dog everywhere, and I mean everywhere, she was so grateful she even paid more than she originally offered in the contract. Even though we left without shutting down Aldeen’s business we did report it to the client. She posted a new contract for higher ranked assassins to form a raid and take down his operation, but when the assassins prepared for the raid everything was already cleared out, nothing but empty cages, seats, and that fluid they were pumping into the animals pre fight.

My caseworker walked up to us with some paperwork and a new contract folder in his hand.

“Whiskey… Aspen. We had the lab run tests on the liquid found at Aldeens arena and it matches with a crystalized drug that people have also been overdosing on within the city. Are you two ready for your first city job?”

Aspen and I both looked at each other with smiles on our faces. I confirmed back to our caseworker.

“Whatever you need, consider it done.”