The next four days were both surprisingly busy and shockingly uneventful. Flowers, decorations, catering, clothes, all the things we’d already done needed to be followed up on, and all the things we hadn’t still needed doing. I’d barely had time to get the two hundred eighty points of Fantasy from the four days of wishes. Finally though, we got everything finished two nights before the wedding. Just in time for Benny’s big night out.

“But I want to go catch light sprites with you too!” Whined Bethy. “Why can’t I go?”

I shrugged. “You can, but you have to go to the grudge match too. We’re doing everything in order.”

“It’s going to be a blast.” Said Abel with a grin. “Red Tiger and Blade Reaper have been feuding for decades. I used to read their comics when I was a kid.” At my surprised look he coughed lightly. “When I was bored or in the hospital from all the fights I got into. I wasn’t like…a nerd or anything. But their fight is going to be great.”

Bethy sniffed contemptuously. “How barbaric.” She said in a lofty voice. “I’m a caring and compassionate person. I don’t want to see two big brutes beating each other up. I prefer to kill my enemies with kindness.”

“Isn’t kindness the name of the huge double headed battle axe your dad makes you leave at home?” Gabe asked suspiciously.

She huffed. “Fine! I don’t want to watch some backwater E-rankers fight. It sounds boring! We’re all way tougher than them. But Callie’s stupid night out dancing sounds way dumber. She’s going to that ice cream place after though with over ten thousand flavors. I want to do both things!”

“Well you can’t.” I said bluntly. “We’re not letting you switch halfway. And since it’s impossible to be in two places at once…” I paused. “Ok, it’s impossible for YOU to be in two places at once. Probably.”

The whole guys and girls night thing had ended up being messy and kind of a pain. Cark was more interested in the ice cream thing, Chelsea wanted to see the light sprites, and Mel wanted to watch the fight. We’d decided to just let everyone decide whose party they would go to, and Bethy was the last person to pick.

Except she wasn’t picking, she was waffling, and nobody was having any luck convincing her to stick with something. After a minute or two more of complaining, she finally just pouted and said. “Fine. I’ll go to the stupid fight. It’s going to be so lame though. That steak better be good.”

“You shouldn’t judge people from this world so harshly.” Gabe said reproachfully. “Abel and Mel are both from here.”

She shrugged. “Mel is super awesome though. And I don’t even know that other guy you mentioned.” Abel gave a long suffering groan and put his head in his hands and we all burst out laughing.

“You sure you don’t want to come with us Zeke?” I asked my uncle. “You know you're definitely invited. Mom, Alex, and Amelia are going to Callie’s party.”

He snorted. “Sure, because it’s specifically about entertainment. You’re all going to be hunting light sprites. That’s competitive. Do you honestly think there’s any competition you could beat me at? No thanks. I’ll be staying home and taking a well deserved nap.”

Callie gave him a knowing smirk. “Been working up a sweat lately, huh?”

Stella glared at my fiancee, cutting her eyes towards Ian, who was chatting happily with Jessie across the room alongside his girlfriend Clarissa, who I hadn’t had a chance to actually meet yet, even if I’d heard of her.

Chuckling, Callie changed the subject. “Anyway, enjoy your nap old man. The cool kids will be out dancing the night away.”

“Please.” Said Benny derisively. “You nerds are missing out. I planned the best party ever.”

I rolled my eyes. “Can we just go, please. We’re going to miss the fight. Who’s with us? Bethy, Gabe, Chelsea, Abel, Camden, Nat, Mel.” I paused. “Wait, why is everyone coming to my party E-rank?”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Because light sprites are a pain in the ass to catch.” Said Benny emphatically. “They’re E-ranked themselves, and they’re FAST. Plus the aurora is sort of weird. You can actually walk on it, but only if your rank is high enough.”

I glanced at Ian, Alden, Sloane, and all my other lower ranked friends. It was a shame to ditch them, but if they wouldn’t be able to participate letting them hang with Callie and co for most of the night was fine too. “Alright, then let’s head out. Where’s the fight at, anyway? A local arena or something?”

“Nope.” Said Benny proudly as we headed for the shuttle. “I didn’t mention that the fight and steak were at the same place. Road Rage’s Bar and Grill. The fights are live entertainment, and I had to bribe them to move the grudge match to tonight. Luckily, the economy of this planet is WAY underdeveloped compared to the universe at large. D-rank chits go a long way here.”

I remembered that, actually. They basically didn’t exist on this planet. I laughed, clapping him on the back happily. “Sounds like you really went all out man. I appreciate it.”

Abel nodded approvingly. “I didn’t realize you’d convinced them to move to the date. Look at you, moneybags. I’ll have to keep that in mind for my trip to fight the volcanic ape. I’m planning it after the wedding, since killing those Wendigos helped me make some progress. I’m positive that I’ll be able to advance my path.” We chatted a bit during the ride, but I was too busy soaking in the sensation of comfort and warmth to mind. Not physical warmth, it was kind of chilly (though not arctic), but spiritual warmth, knowing my friends were doing so much for me.

Finally we reached the restaurant, and climbed out of the shuttle. “Pretty nice place.” I said appreciatively. “I like the aesthetic.”

Road Rage’s Bar and Grill was pretty unique. It was built into the side of a hill. The building portion was mostly rustic wood, with only a few windows, all shuttered in such a way as to make the facade look like one piece of wood with a few painted spots.

We walked casually up to the door, and Benny knocked. The door opened almost immediately, and Benny passed a wooden token to the door guard, who examined it, then nodded, stepping back so we could enter.

The inside of the place was much less woodsy. While the floors were lacquered planks and the tables were shiny dark wood, the trim was all chrome and steel, creating a somewhat sterile, almost surgical aesthetic that someone made the inside look bigger than the space itself would imply.

Of course, the space was already pretty expansive, given the spatial enlargement, but even so, they’d made excellent use of it.

In the middle of the restaurant, where a bar would normally be, was a recessed pit filled with sand. The edges were gold and gems inlaid in a dizzying array of enchantments and wards to prevent any attacks from getting out of the pit. We were escorted to an especially large table off the side of the fighting area, giving us an excellent view.

As we sat down, empty glasses were set in front of us, and then, in the middle of the table, on a metal slab set into the wood, a fifty pound steak was dropped. A loud hiss erupted from beneath it, showing us that the table was in fact, a grill.

“To get your drinks, simply lift your glass and speak your preference into the mouth.” Said the server who had appeared with the steak. “The meat is only a few inches thick, it will be correctly seared in only a minute or two. If you’d like, you can cut your own section, then flip that, or you can all flip it together and cook it in one piece.”

He bowed to us solemnly, then turned and scurried off. I sniffed deeply, enjoying the aroma. “Damn.” I said with a sigh. “That does smell good though. I’m for medium rare? Anyone else?”

“Medium.” Said Chelsea. We took requests, and ended up splitting it about halfway, medium rare and medium. “Well it’s good that nobody wanted it well done. I guess we would have had to cut a small section for them.”

I grinned at her. “No need to waste meat. I have a spare pair of boots in my space ring. If someone wants to eat shoe leather, I don’t have a use for them anyway.”

That got a laugh from most of my friends, and we used a supplied knife to cut the steak down the middle, waiting just a minute before flipping the half I was eating from, while the others left theirs on a bit longer.

Finally, the lights started to dim. “Oh shit.” I said excitedly. “Showtime.” I’d heard of Red Tiger and Blade Reaper too, if not quite as thoroughly as Abel. Tiger could summon a magma cat and even clothe himself in the material like a power suit, and blade reaper could summon bladed weapons of varying sizes.

As I watched them jump down into the pit, I was surprised to see them shrinking, and by the time they landed, they were only a few inches tall. With my Perception that wasn’t a problem, but it took me a second to realize it was the same perspective shifting trick they’d used on the Tricorn, just much less sophisticated.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” Boomed a voice from the darkness. “Thank you for coming to tonight’s show. As you may know, this particular battle is one many of us have looked forward to with great relish. These two old enemies have been battling for decades, but tonight, for the last time, they will cross swords to decide the victor. Whoever wins will claim the title of master of Seerkel City, and be installed as the guild master of that place, either overtly or in the shadows. The other will leave Callus forever.”

I whistled. “Wait, the loser has to leave? That’s rough. Why now though?”

“Because they both topped out.” Said Abel, staring at them clinically. “They’re peak E-rank. No further to go while still on-planet. In reality, neither of them is losing out, but it’ll be a good fight either way.”

The announcer said a few more lines about their backstories and capabilities, but I mostly tuned it out. I was too focused on the two fighters getting in position. Finally, the announcer called to start, and the fight began.

From behind Red Tiger, a wave of magma erupted, forming into a giant tiger’s head that lunged forward to bite down on Blade Reaper. Red Tiger was a fairly unassuming looking man in normal street clothes. The sole nod to his identity was the red tiger head mask he wore, the eyes lit like candle flames.

Blade Reaper was wearing a fitted black bodysuit lined with strapped down weapons. It mostly seemed like theater though, because without touching them, he flicked a hand and a pair of colossal bladed whips erupted from the sand to wrap around the magma tiger.

Red stepped back into the magma, and the tiger jerked as an entire human upper body tore itself free. In real size it probably would have been a hundred feet tall, but because the distortion it was more like five or ten. The arms reached up, grabbing the bladed whips, which began to smoke and warp.

With a massive heave, the lava golem tore apart the chains, and was immediately impaled on a hundred spears as they erupted from the ground to pin it in place. I turned, grinning at Benny as things started to heat up. “Ok.” I admitted. “You were right. Best. Party. Ever.” He just grinned back and we settled in to watch some violence. It was going to be a good night.