Piper watched with growing wonderment as the duels played out before them, feeling every eruption of energy. Some were more vicious affairs than others, where the aggression of the parties involved could be down to nothing but hatred.
The fourth bout looked a little more like a friendly test of mettle, two female students in their early twenties who seemed to be putting on more of a show for the onlookers than actually trying to beat each other. Huge blossoms of light crashed off of shields, creating a thunderous fireworks display for several minutes until one of them slumped to one knee, calling for a truce.
At the end they embraced, and found each other with a deep kiss.
Piper examined it all with interest. For some people it seemed like an act of mutual respect and courtship. For others – like Holly Lockley – it proved to be something else entirely.
She watched the young woman stalk out into the duelling field, her stance loose, as though she was waiting for a bus. When the call to fight began, however, Holly transformed into a tornado of energy. Her movements were almost too fast to follow as she twisted, jinked and pirouetted towards her opponent.
The male student on the other end of it let loose. Arcs of destructive energy tore out across the arena, but they seemed to bend around Holly as she advanced, scorching black furrows in the metal all around her but never finding their mark.
"How is she doing that?" she asked quietly, leaning towards Odiye.
"Same principle as the barriers you've been learning," he replied, a thin smile on his face. "But she's leaving gravity pulses all around her. Hitting her's like trying to throw a nail through a bunch of magnets. It gets pulled all over."
"Wow."
"He doesn't know what to do." Odiye nodded to the other student. "She's got him."
Piper watched, awestruck, as Holly's prancing dance continued, weaving through the minefield of devastation until she was close enough to reach out and touch her opponent.
And so she did.
Her amplifier flashed out, a delicate flick of her wrist tapping its tip against the other student's chest as she corkscrewed toward him. The motion looked gentle, but the result was anything but. A pulse of energy thumped through the air and her foe exploded backwards, flying head over heels several times until he smashed into the far wall with a sickening thud.
He crashed to the ground, and he didn't get up.
A roar went up from the onlookers, even as one of the instructors scampered over to the downed student, swearing under his breath. Holly's face was a mask of contempt as she slid her amplifier back into its sheathe. Turning, she faced Ferra on the stage and bowed, flourishing one hand.
Ferra grinned, and clapped slowly. No announcement of the victor needed here.
"Doesn't muck around, does she?" Piper murmured as Holly jogged back into the cheering crowds where her friends embraced her. Her victim was carted out of the arena with furtive speed, as though if they left his limp body there it would shatter the illusion of the Sharks' gladiatorial splendour.
"My friends," Ferra called out, her voice again thunderously loud, even though she didn't seem to be putting any effort in. She stepped down from the stage, legs moving with languid grace as her eyes glided from side to side. "So ends the first portion of our evening."
Against her judgement, Piper found herself staring. Ferra dominated the room, a literal aura of power rolling off of her in thick waves. She could feel it – hell, she could see it shimmering in the air.
"Are you ready for more?!" Ferra roared suddenly.
The roar that stuck back seemed to shake the walls. Piper felt it sting her ears, and felt hundred of implants crackling with the emotions of their bearers. Fists pumped the air; amplifiers glowed. The others were more than ready and she couldn't suppress the rush of adrenaline that this place imparted.
"Then floor is open," Ferra continued, and a poison smile split her beautiful features. "And I claim the first challenge."
The roaring suddenly vanished, replaced by a collective gasp went up from the onlookers. Piper raised an eyebrow. Apparently the queen of the Sharks didn't sully herself with common duels that often.
She watched as Ferra slid her amplifier from the pocket of her jacket, and slowly turned on the spot, arms spread wide. She wanted to ask Odiye what was going on, but when she looked at him he looked frozen, eyes wide.
The leader of the Sharks turned. And turned. And turned.
Then stopped.
And looked right at her.
"Piper Russell!"
For a moment she didn't absorb the words. Piper's name hung in the air for several seconds before she clawed it into her mind and the implications struck her. She felt heads twisting towards her, disbelieving stares finding her amongst the throng. They all seemed to know who she was. She stayed still, unsure what to do. Beside her, Odiye make a small, spluttering sound of surprise.
"Piper Russell," Ferra called again, her voice sharp as a knife, amplifier drawing circles of crackling energy around her. "New blood for the Sharks."
"New blood, new blood, new blood, new blood!"
The chant thundered up through the rafters and Piper felt her heart slamming inside her ribcage, her implants boiling like a stormy sea. She started to rise from her chair but Odiye grabbed her arm in a tight grip.
"Piper!" he hissed. "Are you insane?"
She wrenched her arm loose. "What the hell am I supposed to do?!" Standing, she swallowed hard, and hopped out of the seating area. A murmur of approval rippled through the crowd behind her as she stepped out onto the duelling field, but she felt Odiye scrambling out after her.
Ferra approached, an entourage of senior duellists flanking her. Toran stood to one side, arms folded, a faintly amused smile on his face. The others held similar expressions, watching with interest as their leader stepped forward.
"So, Piper," Ferra burred. "You like what you see here?"
Piper nodded cautiously. "Pretty impressive."
"If you want to be a part of it, you will need to be initiated."
"By you?"
"If you accept my challenge." Ferra's blade of a smile cut into her. "So, care to dance?"
"Ferra!" Odiye hissed. "You can't do this."
She cast a disdainful glance at him but did not reply.
In desperation he looked to his partner. "Toran! Do something!"
"Do what?" Toran grunted, nodding to Piper. "She's been challenged. There's no rule that says she has to accept."
"Piper, this is crazy." Odiye spun towards her, grabbing her shoulder. "You can't do this. She could kill you."
"Don't be so dramatic, Tambo," Ferra hissed her amplifier snarling with tendrils of dark purples and reds. "This is not your decision to make." Her attention flashed back to Piper. "If you want to join the Sharks, accept the challenge."
"And if I don't?" she asked.
"Then get out, and don't come back."
Piper bristled, holding Ferra's gaze and letting anger simmer across her bones. Her implants strained like living things, desperate to be unleashed, wanting to tear the woman apart. Or maybe that was just her own thoughts.
She didn't want to leave. No matter what trap Ferra was laying for her, this place was the only part of the corporate hell hole she actually liked. Away from the classes; away from the real world and all the weight that was crushing down on her. Something different. Something where she could let loose and allow herself to feel every piece of bitterness and resentment.
Piper turned slowly, taking a gentle grip of Odiye's wrist. His eyes widened when he realised what she was doing, but he didn't stop her. She pulled his grip away, and looked him in the eye. Her heart wrenched when she saw the expression on his face, filled with guilt and unspoken objections.
"It's okay," she said quietly. "It's my decision."
Odiye bit down the words that so clearly wanted to come out of his mouth, and simply nodded. She managed a smile, then turned to face Ferra again, squaring her shoulders.
"Alright," she said.
The smile returned to Ferra's face in a flash. She stepped close, power crackling all around her. "Good," she said simply, before spinning on her heel and addressing the onlookers. "The challenge is accepted!"
A thunderous wave of voices greeted the announcement, and to Piper's surprise, most of them sounded happy. Glancing left and right she saw other students talking quickly to each other, pointing, nodding, surprised faces rippling through the crowd around her.
She got the distinct impression she'd passed some sort of test by not backing down.
But Piper was under no illusions about this set up. Queen bitch Ferra wanted to stamp her authority on the new girl, and had manufactured herself an opportunity. She could have backed down, but that would just send the message to every member of the Sharks that she was soft.
That she was a coward.
If everything went wrong – if she was never going to leave this place and her bones disappeared into the evergrind of Hadrian – Piper would not let that be the legacy she left behind. Not here.
"Sorry," she told Odiye, placing a hand on his arm for a moment.
Before he could reply she was walking, following Ferra out through the crowds. Her mind raced; her heart pounded. The things she'd seen already here were scary enough, and if the leader board was to be believed, Ferra was better than everyone else.
Piper tried to stamp out those thoughts, instead thinking back to what she'd practised with the others. She could defend herself, and she could attack – the basics were there. The rest of it would just be reacting, like any other street brawl she'd been in, just with a different set of tools. Second guessing herself would just get her smashed into a pulp.
Be decisive.
At least then she might not embarrass herself. Maybe all the new Sharks had to do this – test themselves against the leader to prove they belonged here. It certainly fit with the weird ritual that seemed to run through the blood of this place.
She pulled her amplifier free as she moved to the designated spot at one end of the arena, still fresh with scorch marks from Holly's duel. Breathe in, breathe out. Concentrate.
Turning, she faced Ferra down. The other girl shrugged off her jacket and tossed it lazily to one side, where Toran snatched it out of the air. Piper's glaze flickered to him, but his expression remained one of mild amusement.
"Think you've gathered the rules from the sidelines, Piper?" Ferra called.
Piper shifted her footing, ready to spring. "I think I got the gist of it."
"Very good." Shooting a sickly sweet look at Toran, she dipped her head to him. "My dear, would you care to do the honours?"
Toran smirked, sparing Piper one last pitying glance before he raised a fist, drawing himself up to his full height.
"Contestants ready?" he bellowed.
"Ready!" Piper spat in unison with her opponent.
"On my call," Toran continued, taking a precautionary step back. "Three. Two. One. DUEL!"
Go hard, or go home.
Piper gritted her teeth, taking her amplifier in both hands and letting power rush out from her core. It pulsed through her arms; the tip of the wand crackled and snarled with barely contained energy and she heard a chorus of cries rise from the onlookers.
The noise provided just a little extra rush, as intoxicating as the power thumping through her veins. She swung her amplifier like a baseball bat, unleashed an explosive crescent of gravitic force towards Ferra. The metal plating of the floor buckled and warped like a wave as the attack swept out across the room.
Ferra drew herself back, amplifier pulsing as she braced for the impact, her face a mask of concentration.
The wave struck.
A shockwave of collision buffeted every bone in the arena. Around Ferra the world seemed to warp, lines bending and buckling, hurting the eyes of anyone looking directly at it. Then every metal plate in a twenty foot circle around her was hurled into the air, some actually smashing off the ceiling.
The instructors lining the edge of the arena worked swiftly to stop any debris from flying into the crowd of onlookers. The clatter of metal on metal echoed through the space, but through it all, Piper's eyes remained fixed on her opponent.
Ferra rose from one knee, her hair slightly dishevelled and her face tight with effort, but unharmed and unmoved by the attack.
"Not bad at all," she spat, rising to her full height and giving her amplifier a graceful swirl. "For something they scraped off the docks."
Then she attacked.
The first blast of energy crashed off of Piper's barrier with the force of a boulder. She went spinning, blinking furiously as the resulting explosion of light staggered her. On instinct, she dropped and rolled, and felt the boil of heat as a second blast snarled overhead.
Twisting upright, Piper lashed out with her amplifier and a wild eruption of red fire blasted towards Ferra. Her aim was off though, and one of the instructors had to catch the bolt from flying straight into the onlookers.
The retaliation punched into her shield and knocked her flat. The sheer force of Ferra's attacks was staggering. She twisted herself to avoid a flicking tendril of force that would have launched her into the air, feeling the questing fingers of gravity snapping at her from Ferra's amplifier.
Piper tried to concentrate, but something didn't feel right. Her implants burned; her vision was swimming. She let out a frustrated yowl of pain and wrenched another vicious blast of energy into existence, flinging it at her tormentor.
This time it flew true, but Ferra was ready for it. She swiped her wand diagonally and the blast seemed to come apart, two halves scything past the other girl on either side. One melted a deep furrow in the floor plating while the other sailed up and exploded against the ceiling.
Ferra's retaliation hit her square in the chest.
This time Piper's barrier just blew apart. The massive force of the collision blasted a crater into the metal around her before the bolt struck.
Agony flared in her ribs. Her lungs filled with fire and then she was flying through the air. A blur of lights; a cacophonous clamour of feral cheering. Then she hit something, hard.
Falling.
Something caught her.
Then she slammed into the ground, a lot harder than gravity could be blamed for. She heard something crack but was too out of it to figure out what hurt, and where. The roaring in her ears could have been a million miles away. She could taste blood. Her implants screamed at her, making her limbs twitch without her consent.
Footsteps cut through the roaring of the onlookers, and a dark shape fell over her. Piper managed to focus her misfiring vision on it.
"And that's how we welcome street trash to AmpCore," she heard Ferra snarl. "Better luck next time. The Sharks will be waiting for you, when you're worthy."
Then she blacked out.
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