Gary had partly transformed his body. His forearms had partial fur sticking out of them, his teeth had elongated, and he had given up on wearing his shoes, transforming his feet and digging them into the ground as he continued to rush forward.
While running at this speed, whoever got in his way was easy for Gary to handle. He could see that there were other roadblocks up ahead that had been prepared, and instead of going forward or using his energy in a fight, he had just jumped off the highway and landed on one of the roads below.
He continued to run down, and then leapt across, reaching another road and digging his claws in, pulling himself up. They were small detours, but it hardly slowed him down with the way he was progressing.
If anything, the thought of those that were still fighting, and those that left him behind, had spurred him on, and eventually he had passed the sign welcoming him into the city.
He pushed forward until he had come off the highway, and the high-rise buildings could be seen. Gary didn’t stop there as he continued to rush, and eventually reached the large bridge over the river.
A familiar bridge he recognized. He had gone through it using the underpass, just swinging his arms through the metal underpart. Nothing was going to stop him.
Then finally, Gary had reached it—his final destination. He had rushed over the security gates and was in the open-space car park that was practically empty.
There were a few cars for staff there that were getting ready for the main event, but even now, there was still meant to be another four hours or so until the event was to start.
A meeting was to take place with the promoters, the organizers, and the judges of the event before everything was to happen. When he walked to the front entrance, he could see several vans set up.
People were getting ready with their equipment and more, and there were the familiar purple and white tracksuits, and a man standing at the entrance, pushing up his glasses onto the ridge of his nose.
It was a particular person that Kai had told him to look out for—the head of the Zodiacs, Stanley.
“It’s great to see that you made it here,” Stanley said, looking at his wristwatch. “And it appears that you have made it earlier than I thought.”
There was an odd feeling when Gary looked at Stanley. In a lot of ways, he reminded him of Kai, and if this man truly was like Kai, going up against someone like him would be a tough opponent for someone like Gary, at least without Kai by his side.
“Does it matter?” Gary said. “I’m here now, so let’s just get the preparations started. I’ve been ready for a while now.”
Stanley then tilted on one leg and looked behind Gary, and the others were even talking to each other, confused as well.
“Where’s your team?” Stanley asked. “We had a request for you to bring some people by your side. Are they not here with you? That’s a bit irresponsible of them.”
“My team will be here,” Gary answered. “They've just run into some small annoyance, a very, very small annoyance, but they will deal with it and be here soon.”
Those standing around, although they weren’t quite part of the One Gang, could tell that there was strange air and sparks going off between the two of them.
“Oh well, follow the production team and they will take you to the green room and give you your schedule for the day. It’s a rough guideline as things really depend on how long other fights last and such, and of course your event against Harvor will be headlining.
“I hope you're able to give as big a show as people are expecting. I’ve been reading the headlines, that many people think you are the hope to take the crown from the king. Even the betting odds, although still in Harvor’s favor, they seem to be the highest odds an opponent has ever had.
“It’s quite laughable though, right? If they saw what had happened, then I don’t think anyone would have this much confidence. I’m surprised if even you have a lot of confidence in yourself at winning this thing.”
Gary followed the production team—a man with a headset who looked nervous as he was trying to move things along. When Gary stepped close to Stanley, only a few steps away, he was afraid something was going to happen, and that’s when Gary stopped in his footsteps.
He stared right at Stanley in the eye.
“Everything that has happened today, I’m telling you now, all of you will regret what you did.
“It could have just been a simple fight; people could have just witnessed the fight they wished to see, but you had to resort to too many underhanded methods, and always seemingly going a step too far.
“I can see the look on your face—you think I’ll lose this fight, right?” Gary smiled as he asked the question. “But tell me, do you really think there’s a hundred percent chance I would lose?
“If you truly believed that, would you have done everything you have done? It's because you know it, don’t you.” Gary took a step closer; it was a little too close and in Stanley’s personal space, but neither raised a hand despite being so close.
It almost looked like Gary and Stanley were about to face off rather than Harvor and him.
“Every person I met, they thought the same thing, they thought that I would lose, yet every single one I took them down one after the other. That’s what I do. I’m used to being the underdog.
“I’m going to do the same now, and I’m going to take down everyone involved,” Gary said as he continued to walk into the arena.
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