Wishing to catch a drink before heading to the Wolf’s pool club, Gary had stopped by in his local convenience store. As he was there he bought a few drinks along with a few snacks, as well as packets of uncooked meat.
He had a sudden moment of realization remembering back to when he struggled with the thought of buying raw meat, and now it was a natural thing for him to snack on away from the eyes of others. How quick one person had to get to their situation and destined to such things was quite an amazing thing, but there was one thing he still couldn’t get used to.
“Wait, you're Gary Dem, right?” the shopkeeper said as he scanned a few items. “Do you mind if I get a photo with you, a selfie?”
The shopkeeper had finished, and Gary nodded his head. He then awkwardly held the customer's phone while making a half-smile, and right after Gary was done, he could see the sparkling eyes of a few teenagers in the shop as well.
Gary was a well-known figure in Slough for multiple reasons, and his fame seemed to keep growing as well as the power of the gang. From the TV report when he first had his match in Slough, to the business tycoon who had invested in Slough.
Then the fight with Sin that was broadcasted to all the people, and the people of Slough were very aware of who saved them. Yet still, he could live a fairly normal life, and with all things, they eventually died down as they went on to live their normal lives.
It was a shame but Gary was a hero, not a celebrity, and heroes quickly got forgotten about as their images weren’t constantly in the media.
That was until recently, with the constant wins in the AFC, and Gary’s videos going viral one after the other, there wouldn’t be a nan and her grandson who didn’t know who he was with his green hair.
Having just taken a few photos, now there looked like there was a large queue and eventually Gary felt someone grab onto his hand and pull him. He was startled at first but seeing who it was he calmed down when they eventually exited from the streets and ran down an alleyway together.
“What are you doing?” Marie asked. “Haven’t you learned that you should say no by now. If you say to one person then a crowd will quickly form.”
“I’m sorry, but it’s just hard to say no, and a photo is such an easy thing to take.”
Marie shook her head at the sometimes innocent Gary, and from the corner of her eye she continued to stare at him, remembering the time when she had been saved by him. Nearly all sides of Gary, she didn’t have a problem with.
“Are you ready?” Gary asked.
Startled, Marie shook her head.
“Yeah, let's go, Kai said he had something for us,” Marie answered.
The reason the two of them had met up wasn’t a coincidence, it was because they were both heading to the Wolf’s pool club along with the other core members. As they made their way there they saw Ice heading to the venue, and inside everyone else had appeared as well.
With all the attention the Howlers got, the Wolf’s pool club was still one of the best places that was unknown by the general public.
Using the top floor, everyone was sat down mostly by the black felt seats. Gary decided to sit down and there was a space for him between Austin and Ice.
“Sit between those two for me,” Kai said with a smile, but Gary could feel the smile was strange coming from Kai; it was forced.
Bree was currently in the room as well, having arrived before the others, and with everyone present that needed to be present, Kai had pulled out the projector.
“I’m here to inform you all that we finally got a response from Harvor,” Kai said.
“A response, does that mean the fight is finally going to happen?” Marie asked. “That Gary and Harvor are going to go against each other.”
“I guess that’s why all of us have been gathered then,” Park added. “Because we need to be ready to move.”
Kai went to the projector and hovered his finger over the button.
“Just watch the video.”
Pressing the button, Harvor appeared on screen against a black background. He was on his own and no one else was in the video.
“Gary Dem, and your little gang of Howlers!” Harvor said, ecstatic, clapping his hands. “It seems that there are many people that have a grudge against me, and that includes you as well.
“I have to say that I’m a big fan of yours. I’ve watched every one of your AFC fights, and I’m pretty sure if there wasn’t one person in the AFC, you might even become champion. But unfortunately for you, there’s one person that you need to beat and that’s me, and that’s just impossible.”
Harvor then sighed.
“I thought you would have learned your lesson from last time, and I didn’t respond thinking you might be clear-headed, but instead you wanted to be humiliated in the ring, and you want the same thing done to you as what was done to Jayden.” Harvor started to laugh.
Already Gary was tensing his fist and both Ice and Austin were keeping an eye on Gary.
“Very well, I accept your fight, let’s make it happen, you and me in the ring, but that would be boring, right.” Harvor then stood up and moved to the back, and with his hand he pulled the curtain down falling to the floor.
Underneath the curtain the full sight was revealed. A person was tied up, heavily; they looked malnourished and frail, but the grey hair could be seen as well as other delicate features that Gary knew well.
“Whoever wins this fight gets the grand prize, Xin Clove!” Harvor declared.