Chapter 35: Registration
Two days passed before Johan and Pedro reached the front of the line.
The people doing registration were soldiers who took potential fighter's mana prints and then forwarded them to small tents to get a physical done from doctors to make sure they were fight healthy. Johan and Pedro were led into separate tents by soldiers.
The solider leading Johan stopped at the at the tent door and said, "Go in, the doctor is inside waiting to do your physical. Leave your weapons with me."
Johan handed the solider his swords, pulled back the tent curtain and entered the tent to find a pretty petite brown doctor sitting on a chair in front of a patient examination table.
"Come in, come in, sit here on this table" she said, "I'm Rey, I will be your doctor today."
"Hi Rey," said Johan, "I'm Johan, nice to meet you."
"Tell me about yourself Johan," said Rey, "how was your day?"
"Is this part of the examination?," asked Johan.
"Well," said Rey, "I like to get to know my patients a bit."
Johan shrugged and said, "Well, why not."
Johan went and sat on the examination table in front of Rey, and said, "My day has been alright, I spent most of it waiting in line. I am from a planet named earth like everyone else in the Looking Glass Realm."
"What a coincidence!," said Rey, "I am too! I used to pretend to be a nurse back in the day ... so much fun!"
"Huh?," said Johan.
"MmmmMMMMmmMM!"
Johan heard a muffled voice and turned to see five naked men gagged and tied up with hospital blankets behind a table in front of a medical supplies closet in the tent. Most were unconscious and covered with scars and bruises. One had just woken up and was struggling to get free.
"Whats wrong hun?," asked Rey smiling innocently.
"There are men tied up and gagged men behind the table," whispered Johan.
Rey's expression turned surprised as she glanced at the men behind the table. She gestured with her index finger for Johan to come closer. Johan brought his ear closer to Rey and she whispered to him, quietly, "The lock have broke on the closet."
Johan looked back and forth from the visibly assaulted tied up men to Rey to the open medical closet.
"Impossible," whispered Johan.
A petite innocent looking girl like Rey couldn't possibly have done this to so many large men herself.
"Do you need help?," whispered Johan, "Are you in danger? Who did this? "
"Shhh!," hushed Rey and she put a finger to her lips, then she gestured for Johan to come closer while looking around anxiously. Her eyes teared up as a sea of emotions she'd been hiding suddenly shone through.
"What is it?," whispered Johan bringing his ear closer to Rey's lips, "I am a fighter, if you are being physically intimidated, I can do something about it."
"I've been working continuously since registration began," Rey said as tears poured down her cheeks, "I am so sleepy. I want them to send someone to take my shift or at least help me with the physicals. But I need the extra money for snacks, so I am doing all this myself. My supervisor won't think I am competent if I give up."
Confused Johan glanced again from Rey to the men and said, "I was asking about the men."
"Oh them," said Rey, "I'll have them removed if they bother you."
"Removed?," said Johan.
"ATHYNE!," yelled Rey, "THEY GOT OUT!"
The tent curtain was pulled back and a large familiar ominous man stepped into the tent casting a shadow over Rey and Johan. A chill was sent down Johan's spine the minute he saw the man. He was certain he had seen this man before.
"Athyne," said Rey sweetly, "can you be a dear and knock out the man that woke up and put them back in the closet?"
"Being a vegetarian ain't cheap," sneared Athyne, "I hope being your assistant gets us enough monies to buy some decent vegetarian snacks ... Not having high quality vegetables makes me a grumpy boy ..."
This man Athyne was the man who killed his parents back on earth prior to Gadra resetting earth's timeline. The same man Johan had killed in earth's current timeline to prevent his parents deaths.
"YOU!," gasped Johan shocked.
Athyne raised his eyebrow and glared at Johan.
"Hmmm," snarled Athyne, "that isn't a polite way to greet your elders young man ..."
"Squeeall!," the tied up and gagged man shuddered in fright upon seeing Athyne.
Athyne walked up to the man.
"CRACK!"
Athyne's foot rammed into the man's head and knocking him unconscious. He then threw the unconscious men in the closet and closed the door.
"FIEND!," said Johan standing up pointing a finger at Athyne, "LET THOSE INNOCENT MEN GO! I WILL NOT ALLOW A MURDERER LIKE YOU TO HURT INNOCENTS!"
Rey quickly picked Johan up and put him back on the examination table.
"Don't make a fuss," said Rey, "Luisa told me that you were a nice level headed boy."
Johan didn't know what to be more surprised about, the fact that Rey a petite innocent young doctor who must have weight at most half his weight, picked him up and put him on the examination table like he was weightless, or the fact that she knew his girlfriend's name, or that his parents murderer from an alternate timeline had survived and was currently in the same room as him, or about the fact that several naked tied up unconscious men just got thrown into the closet by his parent's alternate timeline murderer.
The entire situation confused Johan on multiple levels.
"Whats going on here?," whispered Johan to himself.
"YOU," said Athyne having a revelation as he pointed a finger at Johan in horror, "I remember you ... you're the teenager with hormone issues! You attacked me and tried to kill me! YOU CRUEL MONSTER! You put me in the hospital!"
"Gasp!," said Rey looking at Johan in shock, "you are the beast that put Athyne into such a reached state? If I hadn't used my doctor voodo, he'd have died!"
"H-h-he was going to kill my parents!," exclaimed Johan.
"Is this true Athyne?," asked Rey quickly snapping her head to look at Athyne.
"Well they used to be my managers and they fired me and my pal!," sniffled Athyne, "we suffered for so long and went years without a job while they lived happily and good. Our careers were ruined. Plus, he never mentioned our meeting in the alley, when I beat a man to death, and with one punch murdered a hot blond. He is a very poor arguer!"
Johan paled as he recalled the alley back on earth, the day he realised that there was much more to the world than he had imagined. The day he saw a man turn into a monster.
"That was you!?," gasped Johan.
"Behave," sneared Rey, "both of you! Or else!"
From her pocket, Rey produced a fake mustache which she put on her face.
Athyne immediately went quiet.
"Remember," said Rey, "I know Luisa and where she works! As do my friends!"
Johan paled and froze in shock. Was this woman affiliated with the mustache gang? They knew where Luisa lived? Was she threatening him?
"A-a-re you even a real doctor?," stammered Johan.
"SEXISM!," cried Athyne dropping to the floor and curling up into a ball, "YOU BEAST! YOU FIRST ASSAULT ME! BERATE MY CHARACTER AND MAKE ME LOOK BAD IN FRONT OF REY! AND THEN ... (DRAMATIC SOB*) ... SAY BECAUSE REY IS A WOMAN, SHE CAN'T POSSIBLY BE A DOCTOR! DESPICABLE SEXISM!"
"I didn't say that," said Johan slowly looking at Rey confused, "This has to be a joke, right?"
This entire situation didn't make sense. Situations like this didn't occur in real life.
Tears started to flow from Rey's eyes as she gazed into Johan's eyes.
Rey then said, "I spend all my days slaving to help people as a doctor. I haven't slept in so long doing these tournament health checks! I studied so hard for so many years in medical school ... and this is the respect I get because I am a woman?"
"How am I suddenly the bad guy!?," exclaimed Johan.
Rey grabbed Johan arm.
"You passed your physical! You'll get a message sent to your gym for when, where and who you'll be fighting," sobbed Rey wiping tears from her face with her sleeve, "I never want to see you again!"
With unnatural strength, Rey tossed Johan out of the tent as if he was a small stone. Johan flew up and into the sky above Looking Glass Realm, he was reeling from the shock.
"Is this a dream?," whispered Johan.
Looking down, Johan found himself soaring above the ghettos of Looking Glass Realm.
[I am going to die if I fall from this height,] thought Johan.
But despite his current predicament and the fact that he was most likely going to die, questions flooded his mind.
Did Athyne have the ability to change from a man to that monster still?
... the eerie white monster from that night in the alley
... the monster he had seen as an ally in his future vision?
Was Rey associated with the mustache gang?
How did Rey know Luisa?
Why was Rey so strong?
How did he pass the fight tournament physical without Rey doing any checks on him?
How did Athyne survive?
How did Athyne remember the events from prior from both time lines in earth's realm.
What were those men doing tied up and beaten in the closet?
Would Armyka get away scott free after all she had done to him?
Where was Neil? Why hadn't he said anything for so long?
[Neil,] thought Johan, [If you are out there, do something. If you don't I am going to die.]
Johan got no answer from Neil and realised that he was alone.
He would die if something didn't happen.
"SCREEETCH!!!!"
A large black bird with a huge beak let out a enthusiastic cry as it came flying out of the yellow clouds above towards Johan. Its slick black feathers and large yellow beak made it look like an oversized pelican, its body was the size of a van and it had a wing span the size of a small plane. The bird swooped towards Johan and took hold of him with its claws.
Upon being caught, Johan saw that the sky was littered with hundreds if not thousands of these large magnificent beasts.
What were the bird's plans for him?
This is not how Johan had expected registration to go ...
But at least he wasn't in immediate danger of dying
... from falling!
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
RatTurtle
RatTurtle A reunion of sorts!
An unforeseen turn of events!
Until next time!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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