Chapter 17: Stadium of Ghosts

Ari and Kate stood at the summit of a wet grass covered hill.

Below them was a large dome shaped stadium.

Flying high above was Cobain with a murder of crows in a circle.

"So he's in there playing?" Ari wondered aloud.

"One way to find out I guess" Kate said as she lept off the summit; sliding down the hill.

"Oh okay no game plan I guess. You good to jump-" Ari said turning to Buttons grab her from behind and hold her to his chest.

"What are-" she said before he lept forward sliding down the hill with her on his chest.

"The fuck did you do that for" Ari groaned slapping him on the stomach as she got off.

"Hey you wouldn't have jumped yourself would you. We're adventure bros remember" Buttons said as he extended his fist out.

Rolling her eyes with a smile on her face Ari fist bumped him as she chuckled.

"Adventure bros for life!" they chorused as a pair.

"Um what's an adventure bro?" Kate asked as she watched them stand with their fists on their hips like super heroes.

"It's an eternal bond to always do everything together!" Buttons shouted excitedly.

"Well my mom made Buttons for me as a kid and I basically thought of him as this karate panda character in a movie I watched as a kid. So whenever I was scared of doing something as a kid my mom told me to take him with me cause he was my adventure buddy" Ari said as she lent in and tightly hugged Buttons.

"Bleh that's too wholesome" Kate said as she sarcastically faked throwing up with a smile on her face.

"Yeah yeah so what's the plan for this place?" Ari said pointing to the tall modernistic football stadium stood behind them.

"Oh well at this point I just kinda wing it cause these fights are an endurance test. Juet get your stats up, don't get hit and eliminate the enemy" Kate said intently to Ari.

"Easy for you to say this is my third mission lol" Ari said watching Kate nonchalantly stretch.

"There's a way to do this, just pay attention. What do you see?" Kate asked as she bent over touching her toes much to Ari's fluster who turned to face the stadium.

"Um I see a big stadium. Looks like it's open at the top which makes sense if we're talking about a football stadium" Ari said looking at the the large metallic modernistic football stadium.

"Okay I need you to think about a couple things. The 4th Dimension has it's own system and rules and for some reason that system thinks it's poetic or something. There's a reason for everything you see. So why would it be raining right now?" she said slinging an arm around Ari's shoulders.

"Cause he drowned right?" Ari asked looking up at Kate who looked at the stadium intently.

"Exactly. Now this stadium is excessive. Look at how detailed and big it is. Football consumes this guy's mind and conscious, he isn't himself without it" Kate said as she stepped forward holding her arms out towards the intricately detailed stadium from its symmetrically lined dome roof to the large lion statues situated at the large entrance.

"There's gonna be a fight in there, be prepared to fight fifty thousend spectators or a massive ball monster or something football related" she continued as she stepped forward looking at Ari intently.

Holding Aris shoulders Kate looked at her with their faces but s few centimeters apart.

"Obsessed people are the trickiest. It sounds crazy but you can probably expect him to side with the monster too, people with an unhealthy relationship with a person or a thing are attached to it even if it kills them. I had an abusive mom case..." Kate said as she broke eye contact and swallowed spit.

"Kid killed himself, I go into his mind to get him out, we escape his mom who's about thirty feet tall and he's out cold on my back. His mom yells his name in bloody murder, he wakes up and starts scratching me all over to let go of him and how he needs to help his mom. The kid bites me on the neck to get away from me and his mom eats him" Kate said as she scrunched her lips fighting back emotions.

"That was the first and last time I couldn't save someone and it's going to stay the first and last time I can't save someone. You and me are going to get this done or die trying" she said through gritted teeth as she took a step back.

"Okay... what's the game plan?" Ari asked holding the back of her hoodie with her hands to wipe the nervous sweat condensating on her palms.

"Well tell me see what you and Buttons got!" Kate said shouting as she stood back at a distance.

"Oh well Buttons is basically a karate master" Ari said pointing at Buttons who just looked back at her dumbfounded.

"...Oh right" he said as he snapped into action promptly performing several spin moves and complex kicks all while maintaining his balance with his short, stubby feet.

"Yeah I can't do any of that shit I can do the basics but check this out" Ari said as she ran over to Buttons.

"Eat me" she said as she lept into the air and Buttons grabbed her and swallowed her whole much to Kate's confusion.

Within moments Ari was stood wearing Buttons as a body suit perfectly fit around her frame.

"Okay really really weird but impressive and useful. Guess you're melee fighters, so am I but Cobain provides projectiles and air support, speaking of" Kate said as she looked into the sky and whistled loudly.

Immediately Cobain broke away from his flock and flew down to Kate.

"Okay what's the situation down there" she said as Cobain flew over and landed on her shoulder.

"...Nothing, I saw nothing. It's empty. The stadium is a ghost town" Cobain said shaking his head.