The group was on the move, now having been forced to bring two more of them along. Herbert had already organised a minibus for them and their group to head to the venue. Apparently it wasn’t a place one could just walk to, as it was done a little outside of the main parts of the city and away from most of the factories.
Now, they were on the bus, and it would be around an hour or so drive to the vicinity. Everyone was sitting inside, and Vlad had already gone around collecting everyone’s phones so they weren’t able to contact anyone ahead of time.
Austin sat in the front, next to the driver, while the rest sat at the back. The two of them weren’t wearing their masks at the moment, as they were a bit uncomfy so they took it off for now. Besides, everyone on the bus already knew what their faces looked like.
“Hey kid!” Herbert shouted out frustrated, looking at Vlad.
Austin immediately turned around and gave a look at Herbert making him flinch. It was a warning for him not to try anything.
“Look, I’m just telling you guys, what you're doing isn’t a smart idea okay!” Herbert stated. “You should know that better than anyone. I know who you are, word already spread around about you.
“Well not you, but about your father. The Scavengers wanted to give a clear message, if anyone wants to mess with them, then they’ll do the same to them. It's not just you that will get hurt in this, it’s you and your whole family.”
Thinking about the situation, Vlad gripped his trousers so hard. Austin had actually told him he didn’t have to come. At the end of the day, it was very likely that they would try to use him again.
Maybe take him as a hostage, if it came to it, Austin would continue fighting, he had to, otherwise it would increase their chances of losing this whole thing. But, Vlad wanted to be there, he wanted to see first hand the destruction of the Scavengers, and especially of Nox.
“I guess you're not afraid now you have your big Altered bodyguard, but you guys have no idea what you're running into.” Herbert explained. “The Scavengers ain't your normal tier-4 gang. They already had an Altered in their gang which is strange in the first place.
“Do you think they could afford that sh*t! No, that Vixen guy was handed to them, and now, all the squad leaders are Altereds as well. They have 11 Altereds, you're just one and if you think you can go against that, then you're dreaming. What happened to your father, is going to happen to all of us because we brought you there.
“If you decide to turn back now, we’ll go to the Phantom Brawl and pretend we never saw you.”
Austin would have answered for Vlad, but he felt like it was his decision to make. To leave things as they were, or to put everything at risk, and put his hope in Austin.
“I know I’m being selfish, but I have nothing else, and I trust Austin. It’s a selfish request to rely on him, when I can’t do anything… but I want this anger in me to go away!” Vlad answered.
What Herbert didn’t know at the moment, was that there were actually only nine Altered. Austin having already defeated one, and another having fallen in a factory somewhere.
Eventually, they had reached their location. It appeared as if they were in the middle of the countryside, as they could just see fields and it looked like they were at a farm. A parking area had been made in part of the fields, and it was filled with a number of cars, around thirty to fifty of them.
Then there was the venue itself, it was large in size as if five or six barns had been put together, but it had been renovated. It was, after all, the same location that was used for the Phantom Brawl all the time.
Putting on the masks, the group exited out of the vehicle and walked to the entrance. Here they had eight guards on the outside, all of them members of the Scavengers. An envelope was pulled out by Herbert, and Austin stood close to him.
“All of these guys are with me.” Herbert stated, giving a motion with his finger in a circle. The guard looked at the invitation a second time, and then stood to the side as he slid the door open to them.
Finally, they had all entered the Phantom Brawl. It felt as big as a stadium inside, but was a lot more luxurious and grand. One of the most notable things was the flooring in the place was marble.
In the centre of the room, there was a ring at least twice the size of the one at the underground fight Austin had appeared at. Then there were a number of tables with fancy cutlery and china spread all over the place.
There was also a stage at the back, with a large screen placed so people could get a better view of what was going on inside the ring. The set up, it wasn't at the level of a tier-4 city, but more like that of a high production tier-2 set.
Many guests had already arrived, they were sitting at their tables all dressed relatively differently. Some of them were in rough rugged clothing. Others were in hoodies and a few were in suits.
They weren't all part of the Scavengers and the gangs within the current city, but some of these were gangs that had appeared outside the city. The group moved to one of the empty tables, and all sat down on the round chairs.
There were a few friendly waves and such between the other gangs and a couple had come to talk to Herbert, but Austin kept a close eye the whole time in case there was anything suspicious said and done.
Then finally, out near the stage, the table that was relatively close to the fighting area, the five sisters had entered the room. Everyone’s heads turned as they all came out in stunning dresses that were tight fitting to the body, revealing all the curves and well toned body they had.
Vere had come out in a sparkling black dress, and when she sat down in her seat, she looked over to Austin, who had his mouth opened as he continued to stare away.
‘Tonight is the night.’ Vere thought.
She thought Austin was on the same wavelength as he looked that way, but he had another thought in his head.
‘She’s beautiful.’
******
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