CHAPTER 7
"GAME, SET, MATCH"
PREVIOUSLY:
Our hero, Lizy, accepted a challenge from the mercenary, Rex, who seems to have a personal interest in the villain, Cruel.
He couldn’t help but start stepping back towards the edge of the circle and try his best to defend, which didn't really help at all.
"There’s no way Lizy could stand up against that!" exclaimed Chubby with surprise.
"Don’t give up Lizy!" called Sandy.
Then, with a mix of luck and determination, Lizy somehow managed to block one of Rex’s attacks. The two stood with swords locked, and with Lizy's feet no more than an inch from the edge of the circle, and defeat. The crowd went wild!
"You can do it, Lizy!" Sandy cheered again, this time with Slingshot and Chubby joining in.
Lizy built up his courage, and began to go on the offense. But it was no use. As he let up his quard, Rex let out a counter-attack, the of which caused Lizy to loose his balance and the next thing he knew, he had fallen outside the ring. Rex had won. A hush fell over the crowd.
"Your enemies will cower in fear of my saber," Rex concluded, as returned his sword back to it’s sheath.
Sandy, Chubby, and Slingshot helped Lizy up on his feet and dusted him off.
"Perhaps we could use some help from Rex," suggested Slingshot, "I don’t know much more about this sort of thing than you do, but he appears to be rather good."
"Rather perfect is more like it," Chubby added.
"From him?!" exclaimed Lizy, as he leaned to catch his breath against the old oak tree that sat in the very center of City Square. "But the King’s dependent on me to get the job done!"
"True, Lizy," began Slingshot, "But you don’t have to do it all yourself. You could use some help!"
"That still doesn’t clear up the money problem," Lizy continued.
"Why don’t you try to work something out?" asked Sandy. "I’m sure if you bargained hard enough, you might strike a good deal."
"A swordsman that good?" Chubby cut in, "I doubt it, Sandy."
"It’s worth a try," shrugged Slingshot.
"Very well then," Lizy sighed, "I’ll try my best."
"Well?" asked Rex, "What do you have to say?"
"It seems we may benefit from you assistance," Lizy began slowly, "But we can’t afford to pay you much. What is your asking price?"
Rex was desperate. "Room and board!" he answered quickly without thought, much to his own surprise and dismay.
Lizy was taken aback. "I must be a better negotiator than I thought," he said to himself. Then he spoke up, "In any case, that seems like a bargain. We’ll pay for your room and meals at the Lizard City Hotel as long as you’re pulling your weight. Tell them to charge it to the Royal Treasury under my name."
"Cruel is as good as gone!" exclaimed Rex. This delighted the crowd immensely.
"Mr. Guardian! Mr. Guardian!" called a voice pushing it’s way through the crowd. At last, a construction worker made his way up to Lizy. "Mr. Guardian," he pleaded, "You have to come quickly! A water main has broken, and it’s all a mess! We need your help!"
"What am I supposed to do?" Lizy replied, rather confused.
"Begging your pardon," the lizard continued, "Br Mr. Line before you was always on hand at times like this, keeping everyone’s effects focused on the same goal."
"You’d better go save the day," teased Chubby.
"This doesn’t sound so hard," Lizy thought aloud, "I think I can handle it. Let’s go!"
"We’re right behind you!" called Sandy, as she, Lizy, Chubby, and Slingshot hurried off. As they left, the crowd pulled in tighter around Rex.
"Mr. Rex!" one lizard called, "What are you going to do now?"
"Well, I was thinking of getting something to eat," began Rex, a little startled at the crowd’s reaction.
"Are you really going to defeat Cruel?" asked another.
The fame was starting to go to Rex’s head. "Sure," he bragged, "He’s never seen anything like me before! I’ll trash him!"