Pepper sat on the couch in the living room. The rest of the group appeared to be intently focused on the alien battle being portrayed on the holoscreen. They had equally decided to let Wilson choose the movie that night. He had been soundly defeated in the third round.

  Marcus had also sustained a critical blow which ruptured his power core. He at first appeared eager to get repairs done in time, but was approached by Skull Crusher Systems and offered a full sponsorship. They were more on the lower end of quality, similar to Quintek, but… at the end of the day it was a full sponsorship. The contract that Marcus signed forced him to resign from the SEC invitational. Their reasoning was that they wanted him to be fully outfitted with their product before he went into another match.

  Zeklor had joined their group and was laying on the couch that ran along the side wall. He had dominated his match, all thanks to his new Arcaic Light rune. The majority of fans in the arena were immediately angry with the runes use. Everyone in attendance had been blinded and couldn’t enjoy the match.

  Zeklor had basically taken a welder’s helmet into the arena with him and quickly placed it over his head before he activated the rune. The heavy duty tinting was enough for him to see past the miniature sun and practically had free reign on pummeling his opponent to dust. Zeklor came out with a score of 88 which propelled him into third place within his cohort. The cost of that though was the rumbling rumors that the SEC was going to ban the rune from being utilized, claiming the rune was a loophole which needed to be closed in order for fans to enjoy the experience.

  Though the movie seemed to be entertaining, Pepper couldn’t pay attention to it. His mind kept going back to the notification for his next match. He had wanted his revenge ever since the last time they had met. The current top five list had left him sitting high in second place, right behind Mika. The thirteen point lead over his nemesis wasn’t enough for him though, he knew he wouldn’t be satisfied until he left Tamin’s golem nothing more than a pile of shattered remains. Pepper opened up his holodex and looked over the list once again.

  Mika – 265

  Pepper – 261

  Tamin – 248

  Erynn – 234

  Chase – 226

  Marcus’s voice sarcastically called over to him. “Pretty sure the rankings haven’t changed since the last time you checked them P-Dub.”

  He closed his holodex and sighed. “I know… I just can’t help it.”

  “It’s like an itch you can’t scratch.” Pepper turned to see Zeklor was repositioning himself on the couch. “It will be here before you know it.”

  Marcus turned back to him. “You face off in two days, right?”

  “Yeah. I’m gonna get as much training in tomorrow as I can. Then… a sleepless night filled with nothing but anxious restlessness.”

  The group all collectively as they all related the feeling. The movie surprisingly ended sooner than they realized it would and they granted Zeklor the privileges of choosing the next movie. It was the pain in his neck and back that had awakened Pepper and when his eyes opened he saw it was already daylight outside.

  He slowly shifted around and picked himself up off the couch. The few stretches he worked through helped to ease the stiffness his body was in from falling asleep in the awkward position he had. He choose to skip breakfast that morning, but felt the slight headache arrive and made his way to the laundry room to grab a can of Big D Energy.

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  His hand latched on to the first can it felt and when he looked at the cartoon duck deviously smiling at him, he remembered. Crap, I need to call Ryan and tell him I made a deal with Jay. I hope he’s not too mad. He pressed his thumb over the can opening as he popped the tab. The muffled pop and crack of the can did its’ job of not disturbing the others.

  He quietly navigated his way through the living room and made his way outside and towards the firepit in the backyard. The fresh air was a welcome relief and he took a few deep breathes to really take in the new day. He clicked open his holodex and video called Ryan.

  To his surprise, Ryan answered the phone. But that wasn’t what caught Pepper off guard, it was the business suit that Ryan was wearing. His hair was slicked back with product and had name brand sunglasses on.

  His neighbors classic giant smile quickly appeared and his welcoming Canadian charm quickly followed. “Well look at who we got here, aye? The ever-amazing Pepper Walker. Well shoot, I do say that this here guy is going to soon be competing in the SEC Regional League, seeing how good he’s been crushing it down there, don’t you know.”

  Pepper chuckled and felt a calm peace come over him in seeing Ryan so optimistic. “Hey Ryan. I’d say you’re looking better than me with that nice suit you got on.”

  “Oh geeze, well your kind to say such things Pep!” Ryan quickly lifted his hand up to cover his mouth as he dry coughed. “I gotta say, this monkey suit is sure not my style, but our new marketing director insisted that I put it on for our press conference.”

  “Press conference? What is that all about?”

  “Well, I guess it’s no secret seeing how I’ll be spilling the beans here publically in about an hour. But…” Ryan paused and lifted his hand towards the camera. An attempt Pepper assumed was to build some suspense and excitement. “Big D Energy is acquiring Tiger’s Blood and Lucky Lightning energy drinks!”

  Pepper could see the excitement on Ryan’s face and he grinned and nodded. “Well, congratulations Ryan. That sounds… really great.”

  “Doesn’t it!” Ryan leaned in towards the camera. “Every day I come to work Pepper, I am blown away by how much Big D Energy is making an impact. This whole, journey… it’s been life changing.”

  There was a slight ache within his head that seemed to spike within that moment. He lifted his can of the highly caffeinated beverage and took a sip. It was there in that instant he had the realization. He turned back towards the camera as his lips smacked. “Ryan… do you ever worry about Big D Energy?”

  “Worry? Well, what exactly do you think we should worry about?”

  “Well, I was just thinking, do you ever worry about Big D being addictive?

  Ryan’s expression immediately shifted to one of serious concern. “Oh sure, in fact. Many people have told us that once they’ve had a Big D, nothing else seems adequate.”

  Pepper brought his hand up and slammed it against his forehead. His hand clawed at his face and he regretted asking the question. He took a deep breath and tried to compose himself. “Please tell me you’re not going to talk about that at your press briefing right?”

  “Well goodness Pep… I had not even thought about it until now, aye. But you certainly bring up a valid concern, don’t you know. Do you think I should?”

  He couldn’t get his answer out fast enough. “No! No, no… that won’t be necessary.” Pepper immediately thought of an alternative and was rapidly snapping his fingers as he continued. “You know what? You should just let your new marketing director handle that one there. Just leave it in their hands and they’ll know exactly what to do with it.”

  “Well, they can already handle a Big D, Pepper. Heck that is a part of our on-boarding process.”

  Damn it! “Ryan…” He paused, as he fought the internal urge to just yell out.

  “Say Pep… you doing okay? Something sure does seems to be eating at you, aye?”

  The light bulb came on and we remembered why he had originally called. “I… well Ryan, I need to be upfront with you on something.”

  “Well, spit it out there Pep.”

  “I kinda made a deal with Jay Berez down at Jay’s Crazy Circus.”

  “You did? Well, what kinda deal was it there Pep’s?”

  “I told him we’d do a professional photo shoot and have him be a rep for Big D Energy.”

  Ryan’s face formed a disgruntled expression. It quickly disappeared and he shrugged. “Well… I get it Pep. In the future, please don’t commit the company to any other deals. At least, not before talking to me or our Director of Operations. Thankfully, that deal is something I think we can easily do for him. But, yeah… thanks for letting me know and I’ll start getting the team on that.” Ryan then looked up and it appeared he had waved at someone away from his view. “Okay Pep, gotta go. Good luck down there and we’ll be in touch soon, aye! Bye-bye.”