Tyro's POV
I don't have best friends. I have Amo but I see him more as family because we went through a lot together.
Other than him, I trust no one.
Until King came.
"Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same" King has said that to me before. More than once. And I agree.
I trust King. I'm unsure why and I would never tell her that I do. But I have a sick feeling that she already knows.
It was the day of the final test. I was in the first ring against Domonic. Poor girl. I signalled to King, that it would take me less than 1 minute to push her out of the ring and she nodded, agreeing with me. Domonic wasn't a worthy opponent for me and it was cruel that we were matched up. But then again, we have all been training so it only makes sense they want to test how her new and improved skills fare up against me.
Not well, obviously.
I took 30 seconds to push her out. She didn't even have time to defend herself, or attack.
I pity her, but that's life. My other opponents were also unworthy of facing off with me. Amo almost managed to push me out, but in the end, he ended up on the floor like the rest of them. Eustace was very hard to catch, but as soon as I did, it was over for her quickly.
Then King. Amo once said we should get together because no one else would date our 'scary asses' but I think he forgot to consider that we wouldn't either. It was funny to me, but in hindsight – I can see what he sees. King's special in a way I cannot explain yet.
When it was King and I's turn to face off, we entered the ring and looked at each other in the eye. We have spent 2 weeks hurting each other and fighting, for it to lead to more hurting and more fighting. I know we both have an appetite for violence but eventually, they expect us to get full, right?
We continued looking each other in the eye and made a silent agreement. We shook hands and then the countdown started. "3...2..." the voice bellowed. The tension in the stadium was palpable and I could feel the stares of a million eyes on my back. They are all watching us. They don't care about the other matches. They just want to know who the best is, me or King.
I have also wondered that sometimes, but King and I both know that if we were enemies, we would be equally matched and have a very difficult time against each other. We have different skill sets but are very good at what we do – hard to beat.
"1...commence!" The announcer finally announced after what felt like days of waiting. [A/N: lol sorry guys]
King and I looked into each other's eyes before sitting down on the floor of the ring. The loud gasps made everyone look our way, even the people in the other rings. They questioned us through their gaze, what are you doing? Their faces ask. But we don't respond. We look at each other and King smiles at me.
Trust.
It's so strong yet fragile. It can be so easily broken yet can hold up a mountain. A loud thundering of footsteps headed towards us. "You have to fight or else you are both disqualified" Blake bellowed. What a sadist.
"If we are disqualified does that mean we can go back to the house and sleep?" King asked hopefully, Blake stuttered as he realised that getting disqualified was more of a reward than a punishment. "Fight or you will have 1 more week of intense training" he threatened. I shrugged and got more comfortable whilst King laughed, "Oh no, not more training" she voiced, sarcastically and then stood up from her spot. She walked towards me and offered a hand to help me stand.
The crowd grew silent, watching us – Blake too. They wondered what we were doing now, and to be honest, so was I. "Trust me" she whispered and then walked towards the rope on the edge of the ring. She stepped out of the ropes and urged me to do the same. I smirked at her, she was so defiant – my type of person.
As soon as I stepped out of the rope, we both jumped.
The announcer then spoke through the loudspeaker, "Eustace has won her match, and Amo has won his match" Then it went silent and we could hear scrambling over the mic. "No winners in ring 2" the announcer finally spoke.
There was an uproar of chatter in the stands as people wondered what was going on, and if our round counts. Blake stormed towards us, once again, red in the face and muttering all types of curse words at us before being dragged away by his guards trying to get him to relax. Our trainer walked towards us, slowly, thinking we were scared of the little pint-size being that he was. But we weren't.
We had both been through worse. Not that he knows that.
"You have both disappointed me," the trainer said, King and I looked at each other from the corner of our eyes. I scoffed, then grabbed King's hand and walked away, resisting all the foul words that would have erupted out my mouth if we had stayed longer. "Is he delusional? Why would we ever want to impress him?" King asked me, genuinely confused about the workings of the weird man's brain.
I shrugged and then let go of her hand when we reached the rest of the group. "You guys are so dead" Domo declared, wiping the sweat off her forehead with Amo's shirt, while he nodded. "You guys are so badass" Dax exclaimed, which made King smile at him. "That's true" Amo replied. "At least they can't really do much about it" Eustace claimed, but they really could.
It's the government, come on.
Domo dragged King away to the side and started whispering to her. Whatever she said made King's jaw drop and her eyes go wide. King walked back towards me, with the gobsmacked look still on her face. "What happened?" I queried, curious about what could surprise King this much, "You don't even want to know" she replied. But I did. So raised my eyebrow and gave a questioning look, hoping she would sate my curiosity. "She said something about us holding hands and other things" King mumbled.
I've never seen King embarrassed. But right then, she looked to be. I don't think I've ever felt embarrassed before so I wouldn't know. "What were the other things?" I asked, urging King to "spill the tea" as Domo usually says. She tipped-toed a bit to whisper in my ear.
New emotion unlocked: Embarrassment.
Now I know what it's like to be embarrassed. King told me how Domo would hear us at the dining table and assumed something that I'm not even going to repeat.
What a strange girl.
"Due to the... events that took place, only 4 competitors will take part in the battle royale round. Those are: Eustace, Domonic, Amour, and Dakari" the announcer spoke. I shot King a questioning look and she shrugged her shoulders. Blake walked towards us with 2 guards flanking him.
Here we go.
"You are to come with us," one of the guards said. "Or what?" King sassed. Blake clicked his fingers and an electric collar much like the one King wore when she was kidnapped was produced by one of the guards. Wait, it's the exact one she wore. I took it after rescuing her, to investigate it and Amo helped me with that. It was in my room, how did they take it?
King took a step back from the guards, shocked and almost afraid.
She stepped closer to me.
It's good to know she trusts me too.
"Or this" Blake replied, with a smirk on his face. That sick bastard. She is only 17.
"How did you get that?" I seethed, and the rest of our team also got angry as soon as they recognised what the guard was holding. "Oh, you think you could keep this vital piece of evidence secret from us?" Blake replied, tilting his head and speaking in a condescending tone.
"It seems you already know what it does, so follow us or else this" he concluded with a smile on his face.
Domo tried to lunge at him, throwing an unholy amount of curses in his direction, but Amo held her back and covered her mouth. I'm not sure if they are aware that Amo lost his arm but I guess that they knew everything. Though his bionic arm could easily fool anyone. He made a skin cover to conceal the metal underneath and he really outdid himself as it functions and moves like a regular arm. It looks like he even made fingerprints and added texture to the hands.
We still didn't move anywhere.
"Follow," Blake said. Then turned and walked away.
The rest of the team was dragged to the battle royale ground whilst King and I followed Blake.
We were escorted into a black jeep, and made to sit in the back. There was a divider between the driver and passengers so King and I were alone at the back.
"Why do we never listen?" She sighed as she lay against the window. "Where's the fun in that?" I replied as the car travelled along a dirt road towards an unknown destination. "If we ever leave this place, I'm going to need so much therapy" King voices, I chuckle at that and shake my head.
I know she knows we can't ever leave.