The Knot That Binds

Nine: Takes Two To Tango

All the pairs began congregating together to prepare for the tournament to start. Looking over I can see Barefoot with his upturned chin, talking down to a stoic criminal who is staring right at us.

"Got all that?"

Gambit asks with a frown.

"Sorry, I spaced out. What?"

"We'll never win if you don't pay attention. Seriously, how hard could it be to focus for like two seconds?"

"You're right."

His eyebrows furrow at my sudden dispiriting.

"Look. If you're scared, it's fine. Just hide behind your shield and occupy your opponent until I can get over and take care of them."

"Sounds good."

Gambit throws an arm around my shoulders and forces us to look at Tatsu and his lanky friend.

"Listen up. Tatsu uses a short sword that's pretty much used like a one-handed katana. He also has a skill that lets him throw knives, so it's likely at any moment he'll reach into his belt and toss a kunai at you. B.L. on the other hand really only uses this spear kinda thing, I don't remember what it's called-"

As he's discussing with Tatsu, I notice the lanky man pull out a poleaxe. It's as simple as it sounds, a spear with an axe head hanging on the side.

"-but those two aren't anything to worry about. We don't know the bracket yet, but I'll tell you more once we know who we're facing."

I look around, still not seeing that last pair.

"Who are we waiting on exactly?"

Gambit's eyes light up, like a kid's when they see a superhero.

"It's this guy named Bolder, he's badass! The dude has no weaknesses at all! He uses heavy ass armor and a two-handed sword, but he's still fast as shit."

"Who's his partner?"

That one halts him, his eyes going blank.

"I- uhh- don't know. He used to just compete by himself."

What the hell? Does he really just say screw it and take everyone on?

"There they are now!"

He screams while pointing to the entrance. I don't see anyone but can figure our last competitor must be here because the crowd is going absolutely mental right now. Anticipation builds within me, I don't know or care who this dude is, but he somehow has a massive crowd cheering for him. What loop or circuit is this PvP shit in that's gaining so much popularity? I know they publish stories about it in the paper, but I never read them and they all look brief. Expectations or prior knowledge be damned, there he is. Bolder looks about as majestic as he was hyped up to be. Tall and muscular, but not like a bodybuilder, he's more fit like a football player. His armor is not too different from mine: a dense outfit made of hearty leather and pieces of denim that are pockmarked by heavy metallic platings. His face is hidden behind a fairly boxy-looking knight's helm. At his side is a peculiar figure, a woman that seems rather heavily clad. I say woman, but it's entirely possible it may be a man with an extremely feminine figure. Only the curvature of the hips and lack of general mass tells me that the fully armored player is a woman. While Bolder's gear is all a standard steel color, not even painted or changed, the woman's gear is a majestic pearly white with quartz armor fittings. The hyped knight has a massive sword that looks like something straight out of an anime, the woman opts for a two-handed sword as well but one not nearly as large.

"Who the hell is that dude?!"

Gambit exclaims suddenly, pointing at the woman.

"His teammate I assume."