After a hours of heated debate we arrived at a conclusion. We'd set up a position that would allow someone to speak for the Feral's best interests. For the most part, Feral's didn't understand the complexities of our budding society, all they wanted was food and friends. Anything else was trivial to them. A few days after the community meetings were organized I'd received a few messages, one stood out amoung the others.
"Hey I've heard you're a good fighter Panzer, I'd like to challenge you to a fight. Before all of this I used to practice some martial arts with my brother, actually I was a high ranked fighter and people are saying you're pretty damn good. I'm traveling to California from Panama and been having fights every few days. Been on the road for 2 and a half months, beating all challengers easily. I'd like to end my trip with a last fight, against the Prime himself, hopefully you're more than just rumor."
Nik read the letter and looked at me flatly as he handed it back.
"Dude sounds like a douche-bag. You should definitely kick his ass."
"I mean, there's no harm in accepting though, right?"
"Only limb, not life." Yora spoke while walking behind a cart of parts he'd pulled from another area of Shinimorte.
"What?" The non-sequitor-like statement hit flat.
"You know that saying, 'risked life and limb'? Your lives are probably safe, but some bones might be broken."
"Oh yeah, I mean, it's not like he's fighting to the death or anything."
Catty looked partially confused by the letter.
"Where the fuck did he get a pen and a piece of paper, let alone a fuckin envelope?"
"Well there's salvage everywhere. Some of it has to have held up after all this time... but at least that courier service is running as smooth as ever, even during the transformations."
Emmeth was quiet as he took the note and looked it over. He grunted before handing it back and sitting down. "Douche-bags aside, has anyone else felt a pull from the east?"
Catty arbitrarily sniffed the air.
"Now that you mention it, yeah."
Nik looked awake for the first time since he'd gotten back from his restaurant.
"We should go check it out!"
Catty felt differently. "How about we wait till after Panzer's fight. I wanna see him beat the shit out of this guy."
Nik shrugged his shoulders, he was good either way. "Yeah but dude didn't even sign his name! How are we supposed to know who they are when they get here?"
"Just look for the buffoon tooting his own fanfare." Nik laid back in a sofa he'd fashioned out of disparate parts.
Emmeth burst out in laughter at the word buffoon, confusing Yora in the process. Catty shook her head dismissively and Yora left it at that.
It was 4 days later when the mystery fighter arrived, he'd stopped by the edge of the town for a while, prompting a few people including us, to see what he was doing. It looked like he was fumbling with something, then music started. We were shocked.
"He... he actually has his own fanfare..."
"Is that, 'Eye of the Tiger'?"
"We're still asleep aren't we. This is just a shared dream right?"
Catty slapped Emmeth.
"Oh my god this is actually happening."
It was a wolf with brown fur and piercing eyes who was one of the few who decided clothing wasn't really necessary, not that you could see anything important. He had a fairly thick coat of fur but you could still see the definition of his muscles. He was wearing a cheese grin and looked pleased with himself as he walked forward confidently, rolling his traveling cart behind him. It must've been at least a few weeks since he transformed because he wasn't doing the "new-born wobble". The group stood there, some with their mouths agape at the spectacle coming towards them.
"This is good, yeah. I like this entrance."
Catty scrunched her eyebrow and shot Nik and Panzer a confused look.
"Did yall just hear that?"
"I did actually."
"Yeah."
She looked around as the voice continued thinking.
"What's wrong with them?
I'd say I'm making a pretty good entrance,
chest out, legs solid.
I even brushed my teeth last night."
I squinted and looked at the wolf walking towards us before speaking telepathically. "Is that you speaking, Wolf?"
He stopped in his tracks and the grin slipped off his face. He was still a fair distance away so when he spoke out-loud his voice was low. "Dude whaaaat the fuck was that?"
Before I could think, Catty yelled loudly. "What's your name!"
"...Frantz!"
Less than a second passed after he said his name before Nik bolted as fast as he could towards the Brown Wolf. The Wolf wasn't sure what to make of a Komodo Dragon racing towards him so he did the only thing that made sense. He screamed in a high pitch, let go of his cart and ran away. The cart tipped forward and all of his things tumbled out of it. Catty jogged over to it quickly.
"Frantz? Shouldn't we calm Nik down?"
"Long story short; Frantz is Nik's brother... he's another member of the family..." Her voice picked up and lowered in volume as she saw some of the things Frantz collected.
She stopped all together when she saw a picture. Emmeth was ahead of me as we walked over and when he reached the cart he dropped to his knees, grabbed the picture and started crying. I caught a glimpse of it before Emmeth's head blocked it from view. It was a large group photo with at least 10 people huddled around each other. I wanted to ask who it was but even though I'd just met him - again, I knew Emmeth was inconsolable in that moment. I just helped Catty put the stuff back in the cart and we waited for Nik to either catch or lose Frantz. He caught him.
It wasn't too much later when everyone had calmed down enough to actually speak. We sat down where Frantz dropped his cart. He showed us some of the things he'd salvaged from our old homes in New York. I wasn't ready to see what he'd found from mine.
"Man this is impossible! We have to be the luckiest people on the planet."
Nik was talking while holding his head with his hands trying to come to terms with how many of us were still alive. Frantz didn't get why we were lucky.
"Why'zat dude?"
"Because so many of the people we knew before the crash are still alive, idiot."
It didn't take long for Emmeth to return to his abrasive self, he was still smiling though. Nik managed to tell Frantz about Emmeth's fragile state and not to call him by his nickname before they got came back from the impromptu game of tag. He'd caught himself a few times before calling him "Emmy", one of which I was sure Emmeth was going to rip his throat out for. We spent the next hour or so catching up. When we got back to Section 6, Lancieta and the other Androids were outside. We introduced Frantz and mom hugged him so hard she lifted him off the ground. Frantz's stomach garbled and Lancieta insisted we all have lunch together at the restaurant.
It felt familiar; the talking, smiles, laughter, name calling... But still, no memories came. Catty nudged me out of self pitty as Frantz continued talking while eating.
"... I've spoken to a lot of people since I woke up dude and they all basically want the same thing. They need someone to fight. From what Emmeth said about his village I know this isn't just one or two communities of people. It's probably like, a global thing you know?"
My eyes widened as a thought came to mind.
"It could also be the cause of the hostility towards the Ferals."
Emmeth shrugged it off. "People have been racist and unable to accept people who're different than them long before we were turned into animals."
I couldn't disagree. "But it all fits is what I'm trying to say. People need to do something besides just sit on this planet and rebuild shit. We're filled with the rage of an entire civilization, we need somewhere to vent it or we'll eat each other alive."
Nik saw where I was going. "Correct me if I'm wrong man, but you're talking about joining a War! A fucking galaxy-war, man!"
Lancieta cleared her throat before correcting Nik. "It's universal at this point."
"Even worse!" Nik said gesturing to Lancieta to prove his point. "It's not some playground brawl against the older kids who stole our ball! These are incredibly dangerous, not to mention deadly, aliens we're talking about."
Frantz swallowed his food hastily. "Isn't calling them aliens racist?"
"Then what do we call them bro?"
"Halgred. Their race is known by the name Halgred." I had managed to read the room incorrectly, as usual, which the sudden silence made perfectly clear.
"Panzer, you see what I'm saying though, right?"
I nodded in agreement. "I remember seeing a lot of movies and reading books with stories about how all of humanity needed to give up our self destructive ways because of a threat so large that we had no choice but to work together."
Emmeth glared at me from across the table. "This ain't a fuckin book Mannie, this is real life."
"I know!" Before I knew it the words shot out of my mouth and I almost jumped out of my seat from Emmeth's admonishment, accompanied by a furrowed brow and a bit of a snarl. It caught almost everyone off guard but Emmeth wasn't phased.
"Sorry... but I think-if we're going to become active participants in this war we can't just tell the 2 point whatever billion survivors they have no choice in the matter."
Frantz was still sure of his assertion. "Trust me dude, people are itchin for a fight."
Lancieta looked worried. "This isn't just a 'fight', this is war unlike any of your people have seen before."
"You're right mom." I looked at the others and the few restaurant goers who were unintentional listeners to our conversation. I noticed they all looked resolute in some way, as if they'd already made up their minds, before I continued. "Given the toll it's taken on us already and the fact we're still here... if the people of Earth want to go to war, we will bring the rage of 8 billion with us. That is something the Halgred have never experienced."
"So is that it? Are we gonna ship off to the front lines now?" Frantz said, partially enjoying the prospect.
I sat back down, concern painted across my face. "It's not that simple Frantz. Us Ambassadors may have mentioned it in passing, even if reluctantly. We still have to have the backing of everyone else."
Nik pushed his empty plate away.
"Shouldn't you be having this conversation with them, man?"
"Well like I just said, we've spoken about it here and there; avoiding conversations at length though."
Emmeth sighed. "The time for casual conversation was finished when that fuckin Dreadnaught destroyed our lives Panzer. That includes your life too Lancy."
I let out an unsteady breath. "Well I don't know if everyone will be around right now, you know, time-zones and shit."
"Let's go dude, I'm telling you, people are restless about this!"
I exhaled slowly, trying to settle the anxiety climbing to the surface. We finished our food as fast as we could before heading to the Communication room. I had Mei-lin and the other members of the council meet us there. It didn't take long for us to start either.
"It's not enough that we want to fight?" Frantz spoke impatiently. "So how long will all this take?"
Lancieta put a hand on his shoulder. "They'll have to speak to basically everyone on the planet, get their approval. Then travel to the Inter-Galactic Political Stadium and formally change your status from casualties to participants. I'd say that would be 8 months, then you can start training with Military Liaisons."
"Don't you think that's kind of quick, mom?"
Ioana exhaled. "As your friend Frantz said, people want to fight. It won't be hard winning them over. I've seen a few of the fighting villages myself. Furthermore, we have the 'blessing' of what the Genetic Weapon did to our bodies." She readjusted her wings before continuing. "From talking with Eriks and Ro-el we're almost as, if not equally, robust as the Halgred are. Seeing how much of a problem they've become, I'd bet there aren't many races who can take them head on?"
She asked looking at Lancieta. "Head on? Outside of a guardian suit no, not many. There are the Xenos. Rarely, small groups of them have pushed the Halgred back and even off planets but they're more interested in ascending to energy beings than war. Any other civilizations whom aren't members of the Political stadium have either stayed away from the conflict or have peace treaties with the Halgred and The Stadium. Besides the Xenos there may be 5 other races who can stand toe to toe, each contributing anywhere from 100 to 700million soldiers."
My friends and I were speechless at the numbers. Enakai filled the silence.
"How large is the Halgred race Lancieta?"
"Honestly, we're not sure. Best estimates put their population at 200 Billion. They're trained as soon as they hatch and can join battle as young as... I'd say 13 Earth years. 'Eggs' as they call them, are the only ones most races can fight with on an even footing. Adult Halgred..."
Kyung cut her off. "Wait, there are child soldiers in this war?"
Jaina shook her head in opposition. "Nuh-uh, I can't kill a child."
Lancieta nodded her head, understanding the apprehension. "Their growth and maturation rates are incredibly fast. I said 13 Earth years but that's just how long they've been alive relative to your life cycle. In that time however, they're more equal to... I'd say 25-30 year olds in terms of development, mentally and physically."
"Holy shit." Star's jaw dropped.
Ade ruffled his mane. "No wonder you've been having trouble with them."
"Trouble is an understatement. After learning about the life cycles of most of the other races, the Halgred said they alone deserve the universe. We're all just wasting space."
Catty snarled. "Suddenly I don't think I'd feel so bad."
Frantz had been shifting around uncomfortably for the past 15 minutes and finally spoke up about why.
"Dude, Mannie/Panzer, I appreciate that you're all ambassadors and have to run the planet and shit but, Panzer and I have a fight on schedule."
Jinrai smirked from beneath his hood. "I thought you two were friends?"
"It's just an exhibition match, he'll be fine!" Frantz said, then immediately started laughing which drew some concern from some of the Ambassadors and Lancieta.
Jaina squinted at Frantz's odd display before speaking.
"I would not say we have agreed to anything but we all know we cannot ignore this issue any longer. In the least we have a silent agreement about what we should be doing... I guess each of us should finally talk with our respective council's. First Emmeth comes from a village centered around fighting and now Frantz says there's more communities like that? Not to mention Ioana didn't even mention hers."
Star flattened her whiskers and exhaled loudly while slumping into her chair.
"I didn't mention it before but, I do occasionally jump into the ring every now and then."
Kyung didn't look surprised. "Even with all that fur, we can still noticed bruises on your face, Star."
Star looked at A-435 surprised by the statement and he nodded his head in agreement as Jinrai spoke up.
"When all the water has boiled away, the pot is destroyed by the flame."
Kyung exhaled slowly. "Why are we the Ambassadors again?"
Enakai stood up from his chair and stretched. "Because people look up to us and draw their strength to keep on living from us."
"Mainly because we woke up first." Ioana answered flatly.
"I can't wait for people to start protesting that. I hate having all of this responsibility." Star said as she slowly slid down as if she were getting ready to take a nap.
"It's not that bad, we're basically the leaders of the human race!" Enakai said with a smile in his voice.
"That's what I don't like." Star groaned, now barely visible in her chair.
Ade bowed his head and was the first to leave. The others followed suit soon after and I tried to get some sleep for tomorrow's exhibition fight.
*****
The ring didn't have any ropes around it's edge, it was a raised platform in a clearing. When they were setting up Frantz said it reminded him of the ring from the movie "Ip Man". He had a smile on his face where as Panzer just looked focused. A small crowd had formed while they were setting up the arena but Frantz made it a point to say he wasn't fighting for a crowd.
"I just love the challenge, the sport of fighting. You remember dude?"
Panzer nodded his head. He wasn't sure why but he felt similarly. It was a feeling he had when he fought the Halgred, albeit now he was feeling less anxiety and terror. Frantz started stretching and doing light warm-ups. After a few awkward seconds Panzer decided he should do the same. He'd never been able to prepare before fighting, it was 0-100-0 mph. It was the same with the two people who jumped him Catty and Yora. Right now, this situation felt strange. That's part of the reason why he didn't fight in Japan.
The referee gives the go ahead and they square off.
Frantz charges, catching Panzer off guard with his speed. His knee connects with Panzer's gut, sending him reeling to the edge of the arena. Frantz groans in pain and grabs at his knee.
"Damn dude! You got armour skin?! NOT fair!"
"Sorry. It just... activates."
"First time I heard that."
Frantz bends his knee a few times and stomps it down taking a Muay Thai stance; head low, forearms angled forward, knuckles pointing upward, forward knee slightly bent.
Panzer takes a more basic stance, unsure of what to do next as Frantz bolts towards him again. He goes for a right knee to the gut and misses as Panzer narrowly dodges out of the way. While maintaining his momentum Frants brings the leg down and pivots on that foot, readying another attack. This time it's a left elbow to Panzer's bicep catching him off guard again. Panzer stumbles from being knocked off balance, Frantz doesn't relent. He gets impossibly close in the fraction of a second. A right jab connects, sending Panzer to the floor, almost out of breath.
"Ho... Holy shit... Are you super fast or something?"
"Sorta. I think my reflexes got the hook up from the genetic rewrite. I'm fast but I don't think it's super-speed like some people got."
"Huh."
Panzer says just as he sweeps Frantz's feet from under him. Frantz's hand taps the ground and he vaults over Panzer, landing back on his feet. Panzer rolls over and springs up before going on the attack.
Round house to the head. Frantz ducks.
Reverse kick to the gut. Frantz bends around Panzer's leg, his eye's widening with surprise.
Then an elbow, seemingly from nowhere, fills up Frantz's view. All he can do is cup Panzer's elbow before it meets his cheek. Panzer looked happy that he connected but in the corner of his eye he saw Frantz's feet push against the floor. He refocuses and sees that Frantz was on the opposite side of the arena rubbing his cheek but standing tall.
"Wait what?!" Emmeth was confused, as was Panzer.
"What just happened?"
"That's called momentum dude. My feet weren't planted so I absorbed most of that hit without damage."
"Damage? This ain't Marvel vs Capcom, Frantz!"
Emmeth was yelling from the sideline but Panzer didn't notice it. He was trying to figure out how to win. Frantz smirked at Emmeth and walked towards the center of the arena changing his stance up one more time. He got on all fours and howled as only a wolf could. Panzer was caught off guard again, unsure of how to approach that.
Frantz bolted straight ahead for Panzer but he squared off, ready to take the tackle head on. His fur hardened and seemed to shine like a diamond before Frantz made contact sending them both off the ring. They turned sideways and the referee clambered to the edge of the ring as they fell to see who would hit the ground first, which would count as a loss.
"Panzer takes it!"
Only their friends cheered, everyone else politely clapped. Frantz jumped to his feet as if he'd just been taking a nap.
"That was fun dude! We have to fight again!"
"Sure but I think I was a shitty opponent. You were too fast."
"Nah! It was fun! We were pretty awesome weren't we Emmy?"
The world seemed to slow down as Frantz's hand clapped Emmeth on the back. Emmeth spun on a dime; muscles tensed, rage in his eyes. Emmeth raked his claws across Frantz's face and instinctively lept backwards to put some space between them, landing on three limbs with his hand ready for another strike.
Frantz grasped at left eye and staggered back a few steps before screaming at the top of his lungs. His screams seemed to snap Emmeth out of it and he looked down to his hand and saw it was covered in blood. He looked back up at Frantz and saw blood streaming through his hand as his brain tried to catch up with what happened.
"What the – what the – what happ - DUDE WHAT THE FUCK!"
"I'm sorry, Fran! I... I DIDN'T MEAN TO!"
He moved towards his friend but Frantz recoiled with fear in his right eye. Emmeth stopped dead in his tracks as the medic rushed to Frantz's side as his screaming reduced to whimpers. Emmeth barely got a look at him as people were swarming around with angry faces. He glimpsed back at Frantz, he'd passed out. Emmeth clambered backwards and ran as fast as he could in the direction that had the smallest amount of people in his way, knocking down the ones who were. Catty and Nik were dumbstruck, they didn't know how to react and to be honest I didn't either.