Chapter 38: Your name? - unexpected surprise
"Hey, wake up." An unfamiliar voice knelt beside Perros.
"Why... are we in a hurry?" Perros asked absently.
The person stood up and looked around.
"Technically no, but if you don't get your ass moving, you're going to miss out on the entry into the tournament." Person spoke again.
"It's already mornin', y'know... You have until noon..." The person added.
"Crap!" Perros hastily stood up and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Thanks, bud---" He wanted to add.
But when his hand landed on the shoulder, it seemed smaller than the average man's shoulder. Perros then started rubbing his eyes with his other hand.
"A woman?" Perros uttered in surprise.
"What else should I be?" The woman said.
"Never mind, thanks for waking me up..." Perros said and was about to leave.
"Koon sent me." The woman said.
Perros immediately stopped and turned to her.
"Name's Anna. And I was sent just to make sure you get there..." Anna said.
"Pretty lame that you have to be escorted by a woman." She added in a nudging tone.
"Wha---" Perros sounded.
"Whatever, we'll take the horse and be there in no time..." Perros pointed back to where he lay.
"You've got a great horse there." Anna said with mild sarcasm.
"Yeah..." Perros agreed, until he noticed the horse was no longer there.
"It was stolen anyway..." He added.
Perros turned around and headed shamefully north.
"Alright, let's walk then..." Anna mumbled and followed Perros.
As they got closer, the place was even more visible than before. The only structure that had been set up there was a large tent ready for the entries, but apart from that there were several wagons scattered around.
"That doesn't seem like much of a competitor..." Perros stared into the distance.
"The wagons don't measure the number of participants..." Anna said smartly.
"Do YOU have a wagon?" She added.
"Yeah, I get it..." Perros said in a slight annoyance.
Not even an hour had passed and they were already standing in line to join the tournament. Perros observed the people in the line and without hesitation commented.
"These people look weak..." Perros mumbled, putting on a smug expression.
"You don't look like much yourself..." The man in front of Perros said.
"Look at you..." He added.
"And you're what... a musician?" Perros gestured lightly to the man's back, where he wore his guitar case.
He turned to Perros. His face showed that he was touched.
"I'd have finished you off in a heartbeat if it hadn't been for that rule..." The man said menacingly.
"What rule?" Perros asked.
"No fighting until everyone registers..." The man explained.
"I'll look for you when everyone's done... What's your name?" He added.
"Per---" Perros was interrupted by Anna, who punched him and shook her head disapprovingly.
"Percy..." Anna corrected Perros.
"Percy, yup... that's my name." Perros cleared his throat suspiciously.
"Now your name, buckaroo." He added.
The man sighed and ran his hand through his hair.
"Fabricio..." He introduced himself.
"Okay, Fabio, we'll meet later..." Perros said.
"Fabio? It's Fabricio!" Fabricio fussed.
After that, Fabricio turned away and Perros turned to Anna.
"Percy? Really?" Perros whispered.
"The future Bandazai. Already moving in on one territory. You're a wanted man, fool..." Anna whispered quickly.
"What?" Fabricio asked questioningly.
"Mind your own business, okay?" Anna was irritated.
"Pfft..." Fabricio sounded and turned around again.
A few more minutes passed and Perros was already on his turn.
"Name?" The writer asked.
"Per..." Perros paused.
"Percy." He added.
"Here's your number. If you get killed, someone will take it and vice versa. It's so we can keep track of everyone." The writer explained.
"Thank God I'm not planning on dying..." Perros joked.
The writer's face was like a stone, he didn't even flinched.
"Next!" The writer shouted in boredom.
Perros with a puzzled expression exited the tent.
"What's up with that guy..." Perros wondered.
Anna stood behind the tent where many other people were standing.
"Come take a look." Anna waved at Perros.
He walked around the tent to see what was so interesting there.
Behind the tent was a board with wanted posters. Big enough to hold six wanted posters. One in the middle was completely unrecognizable because of all the bullet holes and knife marks.
First two were the Devious brothers, Logan and Landon. Each worth 120,000 minies. These two will rob anyone, even each other. They got their bounty by robbing a huge number of banks, always with a clean escape.
Next was a woman named Legless Betty. Worth 150,000 minies. Her leg was bitten off by an alligator. Because of her features, she was able to get to many secrets that the officers told her, then killing them afterwards. Her replacement leg is one capable of shooting, but she keeps that a secret.
The fourth was called Big Ben. This huge man was as tall as two and a half men. He was worth 207,000 minies and had never seen the prison bars. People who managed to survive his wrath say, that no matter how much they fired, their bullets would stop at his skin. Making him practically invincible.
The fifth was a mystery of his own. A man whose name is still unknown, but people call him Black. This walking mystery is worth 369,000 minies. They say he's been robbing and killing since he could walk. He kept his identity by dressing in all black.
After looking at all the wanted posters and seeing that some of them were actually there, Perros became curious about who was hiding underneath the scratches of the last one.
What Perros saw took his breath away.
"Is that m-me?" Perros said in confusion.
"I'M WORTH 250,000 MINIES?!" He exclaimed in surprise.
This act brought a lot of unwanted attention.
"Shut up..." Anna quickly muttered and put her hand over Perros' mouth.
Just as she did, a huge shadow enveloped them both.
"What did you say?" A man with a deep voice said.
Perros and Anna both turned to him.
"Um..." Perros hummed, but the giant lifted him by his shirt into the air.
"Damn, you're huge!" He added in surprise.
It was the man from the fourth wanted poster - Big Ben.
"Bigger than you!" Big Ben replied.
Perros' eyes rolled in exasperation as he hung in the air.
Big Ben compared Perros to his wanted poster, but Perros' hygiene routine for the last year made him look nowhere near his wanted poster.
"You're not Perros from Six pistols..." Big Ben said and dropped Perros on the ground.
"Right, I'm Percy from Lalaland..." Perros suspiciously looked away.
Anna only facepalmed and dragged Perros out of their sight.
"You're an idiot..." Anna said in irritation.
"C'mon on nothing happened." Perros chuckled.
"Not everyone goes around claiming to be the next Bandazai, and even asserting dominance over a Star's territory, y'know?" Anna explained irritably.
"You're wanted man because you pose a danger to the government itself. Not like the others. Except maybe Black, who knows what that guy's thinking..." She added.
After a while the entries were completed. An Announcer stepped out of the tent.
"Everyone gather..." Announcer shouted.
Since everyone stood before him, there was an awkward silence for a moment.
"Ehm..." Announcer cleared his throat.
"Thank you everyone for participating in this years tournament. Before we begin I would like to state the rules---" Announcer began explaining but someone cut him off.
"Same as last year?" Participant asked.
"Sigh... yes." Announcer shamefully admitted.
"Then it's settled..." The participant grinned.
"Let's get started." He added and shot the person next to him in the head.
"Disqualified!" The announcer shouted.
"What---" The participant said and a bullet went through his head and he fell to the ground.
"I didn't say...." The announcer said threateningly.
"START!" He added energetically.
Perros was ready to shoot, but a lot of people just walked away. The announcer saw Perros' confused expression.
"Ten minutes until the shooting..." The announcer winked at Perros.
"Respect the rules of duels." He added.
"That's it?" Perros asked.
"And five days to go." The announcer finished speaking and re-entered the tent.
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