Leaving the fight, Gary and Innu went to a little area that had been set up a small distance away from where the host was. Here, there were tables laid out, where they had money processing machines, laptops and a little more.
All of them looked to be older than the fighters and others that turned up, and when Gary saw them he could clearly tell that they were gangsters.
“They look scary, right.” Innu whispered to him. “But you know, someday we might be running something like this as well. Do you know why no one fights at these things? Outside of the ring I mean. It’s because the ones that organise these types of fights in the smaller tired cities and towns like us, don’t belong to the gangs in this area and they themselves they belong to the gangs in the cities above, the higher tiers.
“If anyone causes a fight, messes with the ones organising this or is crazy enough to go after their money, it would very likely get the entire gang behind it involved.” Innu explained.
Eventually, Gary could see Kai and Marie heading their way, but what came as a big surprise to both him and Innu, was the person who was following behind the two.
“Austin, what is he doing here?” Innu asked, shocked.
“Say hello to our newest member.” Kai answered in a grin.
“I haven’t agreed to anything!” Austin corrected immediately. “It’s just an interest.”
At a closer look, Austin realised that Gary didn’t look as bad as he thought. Although he had been hit a lot, the markings on his face and even the kick to his face hadn’t bruised up.
This was all due to Gary’s Energy. Now that he was no longer fighting, his Energy was passively being used to heal his wounds. He had plenty of Energy this time, not using a lot of skills, nor breaking his bones due to his strong Endurance.
Unlike his fight with Billy, the system hadn’t even issued out any emergency healing, which was why the markings were now less visible than before.
Kai went ahead towards the desk, and after a little bit of talking back and forth, he had returned with four bundled up wads of cash. Gary couldn’t even imagine how much he was carrying right now.
“Alright I have good news and some bad news.” Kai said, approaching the gang. “Let’s start with the good news. You’re now looking at 4k.”
Straight away, money signs were appearing in Gary’s eyes. With this much money, he could pay for his mother’s hospital stay, food, electricity and other bills they were behind!
However, it did make him wonder just how much money Kai put up in the first place. Although he had ended up resorting to spending the money from those he had eaten at the Kobe Karaoke Club, their total cash had amounted to around only a few hundred.
“The bad news, it won’t be as easy to make this much cash from fights like this again. For one, you’ve managed to defeat a quite well-known as well as skillful pair of opponents, so after today our gang’s name will be quite known, so our future odds will be far less ‘generous’.
“As for the other reason, after talking to the guys for a bit, I’ve learned that these venues aren’t meant to bring in this much cash in the first place. There are a few hundred people here, and with how much we bet and won, they won’t be making any money from your fight, and only off the others. We could go to higher events…but we’re not ready for that yet. Unless one of you is an Altered, or think you can face one.”
There was silence from Gary on that part.
“At the end of the day, this event is still like a business. Luckily for you lot, my silver tongue managed to get them to pay our share for today at least.” Kai explained.
It was pretty bad news, but still if he could make a stable income through these fights then Gary was fine with that, though perhaps Kai had another way to make money. The first thing the upperclassman did was keep one of the bundles to himself.
“This one’s for the gang moving forward. We need the seed money, so we can start investing in ourselves. Besides, all these clothes didn’t come for free.” Kai explained. He then pulled out some of the cash and handed it over to Marie, and kept the rest for himself out of another bundle.
“Wait, why did Marie get cash when she didn’t even fight?” Gary asked. He felt bad about doing this, but at the end of the day he desperately needed their money while the others looked less needy. Most of all, he felt like he had rightfully earned that money with his sweat and tears.
“Gary, you’re the gang leader, but as a leader you also have to reward those that follow you. One of your most important duties is to make sure that you keep everyone happy in our group. Everyone in your company has helped you out somewhat today.
“You wouldn’t have known about this place if it wasn’t for me, if I hadn’t put up the seed money we wouldn’t have won as much as we did. Without Marie and her mother, we wouldn’t have been able to come here without problems. Also Marie has many uses for it. Trust me, you won’t regret paying her her share.”
Gary felt a little guilty after that, he had been thinking only about himself, yet Kai was right. If it wasn’t for Marie’s mother, then he and Amy would have had a lot of problems in the hospital. He might not like it, but he owed them.
Finally, Kai threw two of the bundles to both him and Innu. After seeing the 4k, it had quickly gone down to one. All of those hopes he just had, paying rent, the apartment and hospital bills… all seemed to be down the drain.
“It’s not enough.” Gary mumbled. He held his head down, and everyone could tell that Gary was somewhat down now, compared to his mood from before. Whatever his situation was, they could tell that he needed the money, the problem was…it was the same for them as well.
“Come on, before I take you guys back, I want to show you guys something. Maybe it will make you all feel better. Austin you come along as well.” Kai said.
———
Sren and Leng felt completely defeated. Trying to make up the money that they had lost from the betting ring, they had placed a bet on themselves winning tonight’s match, leading them to lose their pride as well as their money.
This was the second time that the green haired boy had gotten in their way.
“What should we do, Leng? We could call up everyone from Eton High and raid their school. Or get all the guys to beat every Westbridge student they see!” Sren suggested.
“What’s the point?” Leng questioned back. “He can beat us. If we can get some guys, what’s stopping him from doing the same? The most important bit is that he can just beat us again. Unless we get some extra help on our side, going after him would be useless.”
“Maybe I can be the help you guys need.” Raven offered as he approached the twins. “You two seem to lack that extra little bit of strength to beat those Howler guys. I just so happen to have something that can provide you that certain boost.”
*****
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