"We will be in your care then, Uncle Lu," Max said politely, and the old scientist smiled at him, eager for the fights to begin.
"You're in for a treat. Though I suppose it's not so new to you. Fighters with higher quality Systems are still fairly rare here, but I have it on good advice that one of today's contestants has a base 2 strength. We've never had the chance to see Alpha Rank level strength in action." Uncle Lu was clearly a fan of the boxing matches.
Everyone took a moment to change in the beachfront showers, picking outfits from the Hotel's selection. Max went for casual jeans with a button-down black shirt rolled to his elbow and comfortable leather boots. Nico went for a Kimono in black with gold embroidery. Uncle Lu was a bit more formal, coming out in a business suit instead of his lab coat, looking uncomfortable without his lab coat but excited.
"If we exit the Hotel and take the conveyor, it will take us there. The venue is on this line. They've got a dress code, but we should all be good. I'm not a Chen for nothing." Uncle Lu laughed, leading them past the startled nobles who didn't expect to see the eccentric scientist in public.
Today the conveyor was busy even in the yacht district, as Uncle Lu called the station section around the Hotel. When they got to the entertainment district, it was packed, though the bodyguards that followed Uncle Lu around everywhere earned them a little space.
When they approached the VIP entrance to the venue holding the fights, there was some commotion in the street, but Max couldn't make it what it was over the shouting.
"It looks like we might be delayed. " The bodyguard in front sighed, leading them forward as far as he could with the densely packed crowd near the entrance.
It was just a bunch of drunken soldiers causing trouble for the staff who would not let them in the VIP entrance. In a few minutes, the Military Police would be here to break up the fight, so Max checked all the insignia to ensure none were from the units aboard Abraham Kepler.
The station was large, with multiple ships docked at every entrance pier, so it was hard to guess units unless the uniform was distinctive. Fortunately, Max didn't see any of their own in this particular mess. Instead, these were infantry from a regional patrol ship.
"Could you defend yourselves against that?" Uncle Lu asked as a soldier threw one of the security guards ten meters before he hit a wall.
"You missed the show on the beach this morning. The kids didn't believe it either, but yes, we could take them all at once." Max explained.
"Then do we have to wait? We're already running behind."
Nico smiled and stepped forward, looking delicate and elegant in her black kimono. "Officer On Deck!" She shouted, using her augmented voice box to let all the miscreants hear her.
She pulled her wrist device from her clutch and activated the identity hologram, showing her as a Major. Max did the same, lighting up the Golden Battle Cannon icon that designated him as the Commander of a mecha unit.
"Piss off, little girl." The closest man snarled, throwing a punch with all the might that a Delta Ranked veteran could manage.
The sound of bones splintering as his hand hit her face silenced the crowd, who thought he might have killed the petite officer. But she was standing exactly where he was before he attacked while the soldier held his mangled hand.
"Feth, she's a combat Cyborg." Someone called out, breaking the hesitation, and the crowd scattered.
"I suggest that you run," Nico told the man who was still in front of her, cradling his injured hand. He didn't need a third reminder and began sprinting back toward the military docks for a medic.
"Problem solved with minimal violence," Nico said happily, taking a compact from her clutch to check her makeup.
She wasn't using foundation, so there was only a small mark left behind by the man's hand and a tiny bit of blood which she touched up with a tissue. After a few seconds of work, her face was flawless again.
"Perfect. Now, shall we, gentlemen? It would be a shame to miss the opening fights."
Her suddenly sweet demeanor threw Uncle Lu off balance, and the older man heard many murmurs in the crowd about how Nico would be watching fights she would have no problem winning. That wasn't the point, though. Even if you could do it yourself, it was still entertainment.
The girl at the door checked their tickets and assigned an usher to bring them to their seats. Uncle Lu had them all sitting one row back of ringside, which seemed odd to Max, but it could be related to Uncle Lu's eyesight.
The countdown to the first fight had already begun when they were seated, warning everyone to return to their seats. It wasn't a square boxing ring like Max expected. The arena here on Comor station was a round, sand-floored pit with padded walls three meters high.
"Once upon a time, the walls were stone and were part of the fighting tactic. Now things are more civilized, and there are no weapons or deaths." Uncle Lu explained.
Reading everyone's thoughts, Max learned that boxing was a loose translation of this event to benefit foreign sensibilities. It was more of a gladiator fight, mixed martial arts with no padding, taking place on a sand floor.
With three rounds at five minutes each, the format was familiar, as were the victory conditions of tapping out our judge's decision.
Uncle Lu picked the second row because the ring girls and vendors would circle the pit between rounds and he hated getting bumped or flirted with. The major cause of his annoyance was that he had a high enough position and enough money that his age was irrelevant to many power-hungry youngsters, as he called them in his thoughts.
The first match was between a pair of burly dark-haired men that seemed to be Delta Ranked. Or perhaps they didn't have a System and were incredibly powerfully built.
The organizers had done a splendid job of the arrangements, and only one fight of the eight before the finale had been a lopsided blowout. But, unlike most, their group of three chose not to gamble on the matches, just watching and cheering.
When the two last fighters came out, the first thing Max noticed was the prison tattoos all over them. That explained how they had found two prize fighters with Beta Ranked system compatibility out here on the edge of the Empire. They had bailed them out of jail to fight.
'Who am I to judge? I bailed a bunch of them out to fight to the death on the front lines.' Max thought, wondering what the Captains were up to right now.
If it weren't so crowded, he would have known they were cheering from up in the nosebleed seats above him while Paul and Vincente did their best to try every one of the foods the vendors offered.
An additional cage dropped above the ring for the finale since the three-meter walls were nothing to the two fighters, and one of them could easily be thrown into the crowd without it.
The bell rang, and the two men slammed fists into each other, beginning a brutal brawl with no technique, little finesse, but an incredible amount of entertainment value. They weren't fighting to kill. Instead, they had been paid and freed to put on a show at superhuman speeds.
Much like every other form of mass entertainment, the final fight was staged, but fun. Max could see in their thoughts that the winner wasn't determined, only that it should happen in the third and final round or go to a decision.
Unethical, but not unexpected. It was a great show, and the flying elbow from the top of the cage ended the fight with thirty seconds left in the final round was a masterful touch.
The fight was sure to be on every social media highlight reel for weeks.
The trio waited for the crowd to clear out before getting up to head to Uncle Lu's shuttle so they could make it to the gaming tournament. They still had twenty-four hours, but the scientist wanted to show them around the Capital first.
It was his hometown, and he was pretty proud of the attractions it held. Most people outside the lab found his constant talk about Mecha tedious or dull, but these two listened, so he wanted to do what he could to show them a good time.
