Chương 45: Round One

//I have the final brackets from the company's net page, Hector. // Hector held up a finger, interrupting Sass, who was trying to explain to him why the Redwick Mining Consortium had such a storied history with fighting tournaments. She closed her mouth with an audible click of her teeth, then lifted an eyebrow.

"What is it?"

"Fight brackets." Silently, he thought, Go ahead, Evie, and a window appeared on his AUI, populated by the information: Final-tier Fights: Round One: Jack Sparks vs. Liquid Lee Round Two: Vek vs. Hector Valerius Winners fight in the final round!

"The hell is a Liquid Lee?"

"That's the other high ranker?" Sass asked, craning her neck to the right to look down the bleachers past a heavyset man in front of her.

"Don't see anything. Almost done with the ring, though." Hector nodded.

"You up first?"

"Round two."

"Against who? Liquid?"

"Vek. That's the synth, right?"

"Right. He's, um, fast -fast." When Hector didn't react, she added.

"At least you've got a minute to rest." Hector arched an eyebrow at her.

"I guess you don't need it." She snorted, looking down, then she shook her head and said, "Anyway, like I was saying, when the miners started organizing fights down in the pit and people from the town started showing up, the corpo-suits naturally smelled bits and decided to get a piece of the pie."

"So they started all this up, huh? How much do these people pay to get in here?"

"Way more than the cost of the prize pots, but that's the smallest bit of the income. They stream the fights all over the planet and manage live bets." Hector groaned, slapping his palm to his forehead.

"Gimme a minute, kid; need to message somebody."" Kid?" Sass's voice rose an octave in outrage as she leaned back, looking down her nose at him.

"I'm your age!" Hector chuckled.

"Yeah." //Who will you message? // Contact Grando. Tell him about this fight. Tell him to bet heavy on me. All of it goes to the rift, and I want proof. //Understood. // By the way, any word from Lemon? //No, I'm afraid not. // Hector frowned, the uncomfortable, icy grip of worry taking hold of his heart. When had he started to care about what happened to Lemon? Message her again. //I will. // Hector turned to Sass to find her staring at him. He scowled.

"What?"

"So weird to see people with AIs. I want to get a chip. Do you think I should do that first or—""Save your bits for a good aura system—it's an AI."

"Yeah, but I heard they're terrible at regular assistant stuff."

"I said a good one." She nodded, the silver in her eyes glinting from the dark hollows of her eye sockets.

"Tell me more about aura! How could you ever lose a fight when you can make a blade like that?" Hector scoffed.

"It's nothing."

"Come on!" She leaned forward, grabbing his wrist. He reflexively twisted his arm, breaking the hold.

"I mean it. Compared to high-level aura users? Some have barriers, some can blink, some can erupt like a geyser of fire—I could go on for hours, but I don't like to talk." He stared pointedly, locking his pale blue eyes onto hers. She blinked first.

"Fine, but, like, what if we never have time to talk again? You're going to be fighting soon, then, after the fights, you're going to be busy because everyone and their cousin is going to want to meet you—I mean, if you win. Here's my chance to talk to a guy who learned from an Invicti, a guy with an aura system I can only dream of!" Hector sighed, leaning back and stretching his lower back. He'd been sitting on the bleachers too damn long, but something about Sass made him want to talk.

He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, letting the warm, damp air fill his lungs, trying to ignore the body odor and food smells that permeated it. After a long, slow exhalation, he nodded and turned back to Sass.

"Where are you going to buy a system? When you've got the money, I mean?"

"Nearest city, I guess. Helio."

"I'll give you a way to contact me. If I'm still around, I'll help you find a good one." Sass practically vibrated with excitement, leaning forward to grab Hector's arm again. He rolled his wrist and broke the hold. She hissed in frustration, but didn't try to grab him again.

"Seriously? You'll do that for me?" He nodded.

"I will." Of course, he didn't mention that the odds were good he wouldn't be there. It didn't matter; he meant what he'd said. He'd be glad to help her out if he were still around. He stood.

"Come on. I can feel the pressure in the air. The fight's about to start." She looked at him with narrowed eyes, then she closed them and inhaled.

"You know what? I think I can feel it, too!" If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Hector chuckled, nudging his way through the mingling crowds in the stairway aisle to descend to the floor. He'd been given a pass to get through the plastic and laser-light barrier they'd set up around the single remaining ring.

More than that, the fight staff had even set up a little staging area for him in one corner inside the barrier—some chairs, a first-aid kit, and a mat to stretch or warm-up on. He showed his pass to the security synth—a sexless, metallic model with black marble eyes. It nodded and lifted the barrier, but when Sass tried to follow Hector through, it held out a metallic hand to stop her.

"Hey!" she said, looking toward Hector. He reached out to nudge the synth.

"She's in my corner."

"I have identified this individual as Sass Jane, a fighter in the tournament who was defeated in the second round of the—""She was fighting, but she's also in my corner. Let her through." Hector pushed the synth's shoulder a little harder; something hot stirred in his skull.

"Um, easy, Hector," Sass said, backing up.

"I don't have—""Apologies. Sass Jane has been added to your training crew, Hector Valerius." As the synth lowered his arm, Sass hurried forward and put herself between them. Hector blinked, focused on her white and black skull-face tattoo, and then nodded.

"Thanks." He jerked his head toward the far side of the ring.

"Come on." While they walked, Sass hurried beside him and asked, "What was that all about? Your eyes lit up! Were you going to pull an aura move?" Hector shook his head but didn't answer. The honest answer was that he wasn't sure. He was pretty sure it was the Berserker, and he thought it was odd that some irritation with a security guard brought it out more than a straight up fight. It's your state of mind, idiot. You were calm and controlled in your fights.

He couldn't argue with the scornful voice of his inner monologue. None of the fighters had really tested him yet. In fact, he'd had fun with Sass; it had felt like being back in the Guard when he'd sparred with younger recruits. Monstro had been over before it started, and—"Woah!" Sass said, interrupting his train of thought.

"Why were we sitting up in the bleachers?" She laughed, plopping down in one of the folding chairs and kicking one foot over her knee as she watched the custodial staff finish with the ring.

"Now this is what I call ring-side!" Hector nodded, moving over to the mat that had been laid out beside his little ready station. As he stretched, trying to force his mind to stop worrying at the many problems and concerns vying for his attention, he practiced one of the early drills he'd learned when he'd been recruited into the Invicti. It was the foundational mental exercise that led to many others—embracing nothingness and pulling it around oneself to shut out extrinsic and intrinsic stimuli.

He wasn't sure why he was doing it at that moment; it wasn't like he was awaiting the first fight he'd had since waking up. He supposed part of it was because of Sass—because of how she'd got him thinking about the Invicti and his time in the elite unit of the Imperial Guard. Hector had been tough prior to getting pulled up, but the Invicti remade him; they broke down the iron of his spirit and reforged it as tempered steel.

Cliché, his inner voice growled, and Hector realized he was failing miserably to achieve the void. Sitting on the mat, legs folded beneath him, he opened his eyes and watched the ring. The ref was moving around, going from corner to corner to talk to the two fighters. It was almost time. As if he'd read the announcer's mind, the main convention hall PA crackled to life for the first time during the tournament: "Are we ready for the main event, Redwick?" The crowd cheered and stamped their feet in the stands.

It was funny to Hector, how similar the man in the announcer's booth, wherever that might be, sounded like Pete down in his dingy fighting pit. The announcer continued to whip up the crowd's excitement. Meanwhile, the ref brought the two fighters into the center of the ring, and Hector got a look at the two. He studied them closely, knowing that he'd be fighting one of them for the tournament championship, assuming he won the next fight. He'd rarely seen two men face off with such contrasting builds and styles.

Hector had seen the bigger guy, Jack Sparks, in earlier fights. He hadn't watched him closely, but he'd certainly glimpsed him fighting in one of the other rings. He wasn't a giant like Monstro, but he was a big man—Hector's height with another fifty pounds of muscle. Sparks was built like a V, and it looked like his flesh was mostly natural, though his athletic shorts revealed a left leg that was cybernetic from the knee down.

He paced his side of the ring like an angry gorilla, lumbering back and forth, throwing glowering glances at his opponent. Liquid Lee was someone special; Hector could see it immediately. He was tall and lean, and he moved like someone who spent his every spare moment stretching and doing calisthenics. None of his muscles bulged, and his skin-tight red bodysuit revealed narrow shoulders and hips. If it weren't for how he moved, and the utterly confident look in his eyes, Hector would have dismissed him.

As it was, he thought the man would win; there was just something about the way his arms swayed like serpents as he took long, gliding steps back and forth.

"He's a weird-looking guy," Sass said. Hector glanced at her, surprised to see she'd come to sit beside him on the mat. Better get your head out of your ass. Shaking off his angry inner voice, he nodded.

"Yeah, but he looks dangerous."

"You think so?" Hector grunted in the affirmative as the announcer finished his latest spiel, "… three more fights, and they might go fast! Too late to put any money on this one, but the odds won't change on the final match—not until this one is over! Uh-oh! Looks like Ref Jim is getting ready to start! Buckle up!" Hector stood, irritated to find his fists clenched, his heart-rate climbing, and his armpits getting moist. Was he nervous? Get your head right. You've fought Praetorians.

You stood in the breach at Prism Cloud. The ref stepped away from the two fighters, and, as Hector reminded himself of his storied history, the tone sounded and the fight began. Jack charged, dropped, and swept his cybernetic leg at Liquid Lee. The blow connected, smacking into Lee's right leg, but the man didn't go down. He moved with the impact, cartwheeling over the bigger fighter, to land near his shoulders, where he delivered a whip-crack of a hammer blow right into Jack's chest.

Jack's eyes bulged out, and he coughed an inarticulate curse, but he recovered, rolling over his shoulder to clamber back to his feet—barely in time. Lee was on him, throwing out long, snapping jabs by the half dozen, his fists a blur. At first, Hector thought he must just be wired, but then he caught the subtle, almost invisible, yellow aura around the man's arms. He had a system, and he was damn smooth with it.

More importantly, as Hector watched, he continued to channel aura, second after second, his arms a windmill blur as punch after punch connected with Jack's flesh— slap, slap, crack! After a few seconds and more than twenty landed punches—against which Jack seemed helpless to defend—Lee backed off, and the aura shimmered and faded from his arms.

Jack was staggered, his face bloodied, his eyes unfocused and dazed as he weaved, backing away, swiping at the air with murderous haymakers, unaware that the onslaught was over. Hector had to give him credit; he'd taken a hell of a beating and he was still up and swinging. Liquid moved around him, gliding like a creepy gymnast. His white eyes were modded so they had no irises, and he watched Jack like a praying mantis regarding a cricket.

Hector thought he was out of aura, but then he felt something he hadn't before—a rush of hair-raising tingles over his arms and the back of his neck. As he sucked in his breath and clenched his fist, Liquid Lee made his move. The lanky man feinted left; Jack took the bait and whirled, jumping up to spin into a wild roundhouse, clearly hoping to end the fight with a bone-crunching kick from his cybernetic leg. Liquid wasn't there, though.

Hector had seen a lot of moves in a fight, but even he was surprised when Lee stretched one leg forward and simply dropped to the ground, demonstrating his unnatural flexibility. As Jack's leg whooshed through the air, Lee drove his fist up, and this time it wasn't just outlined in a faint yellow aura; it was blazing like a magnesium flare. When his knuckles found Jack's groin, everyone in the arena gasped or groaned—even Hector.

Jack Sparks vibrated from the blow, his entire body convulsing as a deadly charge of aura-fueled electricity crackled through him. His hair stood on end, his eyeballs burst, and smoke curled out of his ears as he toppled back in slow motion to fall to the mat—stone dead." Angels," Sass hissed. The convention hall was silent as the crowd's brains struggled to reconcile what they'd just seen with what they'd expected. Hector felt the tension bleed out of his shoulders, his fists relaxed, and he slowly nodded.

The crowd gradually came alive, clapping hesitantly at first, then far more vigorously as the ref, too, came to his senses and grabbed Liquid's wrist, hoisting his arm high.

"Winner by knockout…at least— Liquid Lee!" As the audience went wild, stomping and cheering, Sass grabbed Hector's arm and shook it until he looked down at her. When she saw his face, Sass took a step back.

"Um, why are you grinning like that?"