Pepper didn’t know what else to say except. “Wow… well congrats Rob.”

  “Thanks Pepper.” Rob said with a smile as he leaned back in his seat. “I’m excited for this new chapter in the Golem League.”

  “No kidding.” Pepper took another sip of his coffee and then had another thought which came to mind. “You know, still thinking about it. If I am going to a gym to compete, it’s not like I have a workspace like I do here at the arena. So, how would I work on Mala? Would there be places or spaces for me to rent to make repairs? Swap out runes, and reconfigure settings if I would need to?”

  Rob turned to Stephen and Pepper shifted his focus. Stephen had a playful expression and was nodding along. “Let’s just say my little duck dude… to keep an eye on the rune archives. You’re more than likely going to see an announcement drop that could seriously change everything we know about golem crafting.”

  Pepper couldn’t help but be on the edge of his seat. He lifted his hand up in irritation. “Dude! You can’t do me like that, what is this whole game changer of a rune?”

  Stephen laughed. “I’ve already said too much. But seriously, keep that under wraps as well as what we’ve talked about here today. We wanted to get a new comers take on everything and Rob is going to be giving a speech to the entire Golem League executive board and investors in three days regarding his proposal. But I told Rob you were a little duckling we could trust with this proposal.”

  Pepper smiled. “Hey, secrets safe with me. I am honored that you would even consider asking for my thoughts on it.” Pepper chuckled. “I can’t lie, you’ve got me excited, that’s for sure.”

  Rob then addressed a notification that buzzed on his holodex. “Okay, I need to go get prepped and setup for a phone call, then I have to call my wife and family, check in on them and then on to my speech.” He minimized the screen and looked up at Pepper. “Pepper, thanks for hanging out with us man. It was great to meet you and I really look forward to seeing you climb the ranks in the league. I’ll be keeping my eye on you.”

  Pepper smiled. “Thank you. I really appreciate that and thanks for letting me hangout with you guys,”

  All three stood up and Rob shook hands with Stephen and Pepper before he left. Pepper pointed towards Stephen and motioned towards Rob departure. “Are you not going with him?”

  Stephen shook his head. “Nah man. I don’t do the big business thing. I just like to hang with my duck squads peeps and have fun. Rob and I stay connected through back door channels on some things, but for the most part, I like to keep my feathers to the ground and stay up-to-date on the comings and goings of other things.”

  Pepper arched an eye brow, “Don’t you mean ear?”

  “What about my ears”

  “Like… keep your ear close to the ground… not feathers.”

  Stephen’s face distorted and he raspberried. “Same thing my man, same thing,”

  The two started to walk back towards his golem bay. Pepper couldn’t help but take notice to the fact that the area had practically quadrupled with people now moving about the hallways, corridors and bays. The two were now actively weaving their way through the crowd.

  “This is the worst part about invitationals and why I normally don’t come early.” Stephen called out loudly to try and reach over the commotion. “You’ve got everything from competitors to family and friends. Then there are all the sponsors who show up, social media and news content makers, contracted companies trying to come in and make last minute adjustments on system settings.”

  Stephen let out a frustrated sigh. “Ah! There is no getting around it lil-duck. Embrace the chaos or be drowned in the chaos.”

  There was a commotion up ahead of them and a large crowd was gathering around a focal point. Pepper tried to lift up on his tip toes to get a glimpse of what exactly was at the center of the excitement, but he couldn’t make it out. He turned to look at Stephen who simply shrugged in now having a clue either. It was then that they realized the swarm of people were drawing near to them and the crowd naturally started to separate enough for them to see.

  Pepper felt himself freeze up for a moment but Stephen’s voice cried out with excitement. “Panda-Panda Duck Cakes! The Panda Supreme, the one and only, Golem Master himself!” Brandon stepped through the crowd and walked over and embraced Stephen in a giant bear hug. The two laughed and Stphen then cried out. “Panda cake bear hugs are the best.”

  Brandon then turned and noticed Pepper and realized he was clearly there with Stephen. He reached out his hand and gave Pepper a firm handshake. “Hey, I’m Brandon.”

  Pepper could hardly get the words out and felt a slight stutter begin. “I know…”

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  Brandon chuckled and continued. “And you are?”

  “P-P-Pepper. Pepper Walker, but my friends call me Pep or P-Dub.”

  Brandon smiled and nodded. “Nice, well, it’s nice to meet you P-Dub.” Brandon then leaned to the side and motioned with his hand to a child standing next to him. Pepper had not even noticed the child until Brandon and drawn his attention towards him. “This is Aiden. Aiden, these are my friends Stephen and Pepper,”

  Uhh… Brandon Benard called me his friend! Pepper cried out internally.

  “Hewo.” Aiden replied. The boy’s brown eyes sparkled as he smiled at Pepper and slightly waved his free hand. Brandon reached down and ruffled the dark black hair and Aiden playfully giggled in response. Pepper couldn’t help but notice the deep purple colored Panda Cakes hoodie that Aiden was wearing. In that moment, Pepper thought of how much Aiden and Meg would have probably enjoyed running around throughout the area together.

  “What’s up lil duckling! You keeping Brandon under control?” Stephen asked playfully. He had leaned over and gently poked his fingers against Aiden’s ribcage and the boy giggled into a laugh.

  “Stop it!” Aiden cried out laughing.

  Stephen then stood upright and nodded towards Brandon. “You one of the guest judges?”

  “Ha, you know it. It’s always fun coming to the invitationals. Get a little motivation with a little side of inspiration. You never know what these up-and-comers are gonna bring.” Brandon smiled and his eyebrows danced with excitement. “I think I am going to be with Michael Chatfield, Seth Ring, and Rose Reynolds. I’m sure they’ll tell me about five minutes before the start of the match.”

  “Sounds about right.” Stephen replied.

  Pepper’s eyes widened in surprise and his heart raced with anxiety. I could be judged by the Golem Master himself? Whaaaaaatttttt…..

  The buffer was quickly dissolving and more fans were collapsing in and around them. All begging Brandon for his autograph while other gladiators were trying to ask questions. Everything ranging from build strategies to attack sequences.

  “Well, we should get out of hear. I think this little panda bear needs a hot dog and then I need to link up with a few others to talk business.” Brandon shrugged as the inevitable moment had to be said.

  “For real my dude. I actually need to head out as well. You take it easy, Master.” Stephen placed his hands together in front of his chest and gave a ceremonial martial arts style bow towards the gladiator.

  Brandon laughed and then gave each of them fists bumps before he and Aiden waved them goodbye and shuffled past them. Pepper waited for a few seconds while the rest of the crowd navigated around he and Stephen. He turned and gazed back in appreciation for the moment but then turned back to his companion. “Dude, that was so awesome!”

  Stephen formed a grin and nodded. “Yeah, Brandon is awesome like that man. I wish we had more time to hang with him so you could get to know him a little more. But the dude is totally supportive of the duck squad.” Stephen then tapped Pepper’s shoulder and gave him a gentle nudge. “Don’t be surprised if he starts following your progress in the league.”

  Pepper turned his gaze back to Stephen. “Seriously?”

  “Seriously big duck.”

  Pepper was nothing but full throttle energy by the time Andrea returned to the bay. That was partially due to meeting the Brandon Benard, but also the fact that he had downed two Big D Energy drinks. He was rattling off a thousand words a minute and kept reliving the moment while imagining the conversation from multiple different angles. The entire time Andrea just sat there giggling and smiling as she loved seeing Pepper so excited over the encounter.

  It was then that a friendly face appeared at the entrance to his bay. Pepper stopped what he was doing and narrowed in of the guy who started walking in towards them. Bhis brown hair was parted off to the left side of his head. His square framed glasses seemed to perfectly fit his face and were complimentary to the beard and mustache he sported.

  Pepper started to walk towards him to close the distance. The more he analyzed the man the more he took notice of the fact that he was a few years older and had him by a few inches in height. It was the Golem League designed sports jersey, however, that stood out the most and left Pepper. He assumed that some random fan must have snuck in early and needed directions to the bathroom or what not.

  “Hi, can I help you?” Pepper asked.

  “Hey, I’m Derek. Derek Atwater, but everyone calls me Zeklor. I’m a gladiator competing here at the invitational. I’m your bay neighbor.” Zeklor pointed off to their left.

  Pepper blinked rapidly once the new arrival clarified and he shook the mans hand. “Oh, right on. Well, I’m Pepper Walker, but you can call me Pep or P-Dub if you like.”

  “Awesome! How cool is this, am I right?” Zeklor smiled even more. “I mean, can you believe the tools and setup they have here? This place is crazy compared to back home in Ohio.”

  Pepper smiled and nodded in agreement. “Ohio, nice.” He turned and motioned towards he and Andrea. “We’re originally from Michigan.” Andrea then made her way over, shook Zeklor’s hand and then wrapped her arm around Pepper’s waist. He brought his arm up and rested it across her shoulders and continued. “Yeah the scale of everything… it’s, it’s kind of hard to take in.”

  “Right?” Zeklor’s face scruntched and he chuckled. “I was telling my wife that on our video call earlier. Like, it’s one thing to watch the Golem matches, but to now be here and see it first hand.” Zeklor’s eyes grew wide and he pointed down in the opposite direction of the corridor they had entered through. “Hell, they even have Astro Ape here on display for people to check out!”

  “Seriously?” Pepper exclaimed.

  “Yeah man. They even have a platform setup so you can have your photo taken at eye level with its face!”

  Pepper turned and looked at Andrea with a serious expression. “We have to do that!”

  Andrea laughed and smiled while giving him a soft squeeze. “Okay babe. We can get your photo taken.”

  To their surprise, Marcus and Wilson both walked to Pepper’s bay. Pepper went about making introductions to Zeklor that the group all conversed over all the amenities the invitational offered them. Marcus mentioned the exhibitor hall filled with booths, and Wilson then confirmed Pepper’s next thought that yes, there was Golem League TCG cards available for purchase. And yes… Wilson had already bought some and spent time sifting through them in his golem bay.

  The group was then interrupted by an announcement overhead and the entire area grew quiet. “Attention all gladiators. Attention all gladiators. Please make your way over to the small theater room where we will give you your welcoming briefing. Again, please make your way to the small theater, your briefing will begin in ten minutes. Thank you.”