"Neoclash Showdown is a sports event only for those who watch it with beers in their hands, betting on the Champions and cheer at every good punch. For us, it's something completely different. It's not merely a sport, it's a matter of honor. We train for months or even years to get here and once we do... everything is personal. Holding this in my hands doesn't mean I'm the strongest. It means I had the biggest willpower to face all the opposition and win. Neoclash isn't about strength. Willpower is the key."
Konstantin (aka. Odin) after winning the title Champion of Champions for the first time
In my relatively short career, I've fought many Champions in ridiculous costumes, but this guy still kinda stands out. I mean, so far, I haven't seen a Champion wearing a suit with a bowtie, the less with a goddamn top hat. Combine it with shaggy, bright blue hair and mischievous grin.
This is Blackjack, my quarterfinals opponent. We face each other in the arena. His careless smile gives away he has no idea what's going on here. Judging from his behavior during matches, he takes Neoclash as a funny game he is good at.
"Hey, sweetheart, what scared you so much it turned your hair white?" he teases me, but there's nothing malicious about it. It seems he just likes to mock people in a friendly way.
"Your internet search history," I return the mock.
"Good one!" he laughs. "Let's see if you can fight just as good!"
"My pleasure."
Our arena is called "Birdcatcher". In short, small holograms which look like shiny golden birds appear randomly in the arena. The Champion who "catches" one of them earns a Clash point. I've fought in this arena before and I have to say I'm pretty good at catching them.
Arena configuration complete. INF system active. Champions on their spots. Ten seconds for preparation remaining.
Get ready. Begin.
I hear multiple bird chirping - this sound can be also used to locate the birds. One is fairly close to me, but I also have to watch for the opponent.
"Let's get the party started," Blackjack smirks and points his fist at me. Even though he's still several meters away from me, I stay cautious - I know what can his prosthetic arm do. A moment later, I hear a sharp hissing sound as the fist disconnects from the artificial forearm and flies towards me.
This is his main weapon - a fist that works like a missile. It's a rather expensive proth from the SoulRaven company which is known for various models bordering with rules. I've heard controlling it and learning how to handle it isn't easy at all, but it seems Blackjack mastered this technique to the fullest.
I observe the missile fist getting closer and I get ready to evade, but, to my surprise, the fist misses me by half a meter. Why was he so inaccurate?
It hits me as soon as I hear the bird's trill behind me. He launched the hand to catch the bird. I want to turn around, but at that moment, the detached fist connects with my jaw and sends me staggering. The hand then flies back to him and re-attaches to the rest of his arm.
"Double score!" he cheers. He used the flying hand to catch the bird and hit me on its way back. I have to watch out for that hand more. It's a dangerous thing.
___|___ | Tempest | Blackjack | ___|_OO
I look around and see another golden light about twenty meters away from me - another holographic bird. I run straight to it, ready to capture it before my opponent does.
As I run, I hear the loud hiss again. This time, I'm ready. I lay on the ground and let the fist fly above me, then I stand up again and continue running. The first comes back to him like a boomerang again. I can easily evade it. I get to the bird first. I touch it, earning a Clash point and making it disappear.
Then, I focus on my opponent himself.
I rapidly turn tail and rin back towards him. Blackjack launches the missile again, but I avoid it by jumping high in the air. Blackjack raises his artificial arm, making the fist change direction, but its maneuvering options are rather limited. It flies straight up into the sky, but I'm already away from its reach.
As I land, I spring forward and greet Blackjack with a rapid hook kick. He gasps and stumbles backwards. I grab his shoulders and push him, then duck down. Bingo. The returning fist lands on Blackjack's chest and knocks the air out of him.
Sometimes you have to use the opponent's strength against them.
___|__X | Tempest | Blackjack | ___|_OO
The fist rebounds from Blackjack's chest, lands on the ground and then faintly re-attaches to the arm with a click. The guy gives me another amused grin. "Not bad at all, girl. I thought I learned to avoid my fist when it comes back, but..." He doesn't finish his speech as he rapidly aims his fist at me and releases it. I shriek as it hits my chest at full force. Then, Blackjack waves his hand upwards, striking once more. This time into my chin.
I fall on my butt and gasp for breath. "Never let your guard down," Blackjack grins.
A nearby sound of chirping gives away another bird is available. It's rather close to Blackjack. I look at the golden bird and make sure he notices. Then he turns to the bird, too, and aims his detachable gauntlet at it.
Here's my chance. I jump on my feet and get ready for a crushing tornado kick which would score me a direct Fatal point. I jump up, ready to strike However, Blackjack turns around and stops me in the mid-air with a perfectly timed punch.
"Did you really know this will work on me?" he chuckles and casually fires the hand towards the bird. He catches it, scoring another point.
___|__X | Tempest | Blackjack | XX_|__
...
Damn. Blackjack looks like a careless idiot, but it's undeniable he's got some skills. He's not easily fooled. But I can't let him defeat me. Too much is on the stake.
"Tempest! Tempest! Tempest!" the audience cheers. Of course, they are also rooting for Blackjack, but for now, I try to absorb the shouts calling my name. I can't let down my entire team. I stand up, ready to fight back. However, Blackjack doesn't hesitate.
He fires the gauntlet at me again, this time with open palm. I have no choice but to try to block it with my wrist guards. Bad idea. The hand's fingers wrap around my forearm and the device starts to drag me towards Blackjack. I have to focus on not falling down; all I can do is to keep pace with the hand's returning speed.
Blackjack already awaits me with his organic hand raised to strike.
As he unleashes his hook punch, I duck down and evade the attack. I wait until the detached hand clicks, connecting again with the rest of the body. Then I kick Blackjack's kneecap and as he doubles over, I yank my arm away from his grasp.
He uses the artificial hand and tries to counterattack with a weak direct punch. I take inspiration in his own tactics - I grab his forearm with my both hands and yank it down, throwing him off balance. Then, I can finally perform my signature kick - a little too fast and sloppy, but enough for a Fatal point.
O__|_XX | Tempest | Blackjack | XX_|__
Okay, I managed to get out of the worst shit. But nothing is settled yet.
Two golden birds appear in the arena. We both run for one of them. I expect a loud hiss meaning Blackjack tries to hit me with the missile fist, but this time, it seems he's really after the bonus point. I run as fast as possible, which is hella fast. I grab the bird and turn around, trying to prevent Blackjack from reaching his point. Now, only one Clash point is enough for me to win.
Even though I run fast, it's too late. Blackjack caught the bird.
OO_|_XX | Tempest | Blackjack | XX_|__O
Then he swings his arm to the side; the fist makes a wide turn and aims towards me. I jump to the side to evade it, then watch for it as it returns. Woah, that was dangerous.
"You ain't giving up easily, right?" Blackjack smirks.
"If I did, I wouldn't be here," I reply. This time, I watch out for sudden moves in case he would want to make an unexpected attack again, but he's aware I won't fall to the same trick twice.
"In that case, I have a special treatment for you," he says.
He points his fist at me again, but this time, it's different. There are thin streams of white smoke emerging from his wrist and the whole arm is trembling. I start to run away before something horrible happens.
Then, I hear a hiss louder than before. I turn around to see the fist approaching me at rocket speed. Crap. He must have launched it with additional force which makes the weapon even more deadly. I jump up and the projectile swooshes underneath my legs, quickly making it to the other side of the arena. There, it makes a turn and flies towards me again.
Behind the roaring of rocket-fueled fist, I hear another golden bird appearing in the arena. However, it's too far and before I could run to it, Blackjack's amplified flying fist would get me. Too bad. It would be a golden opportunity to win the fight and make it to the semifinals.
Unless...
My plan is so suicidal it's ridiculous, but I have to try it.
As the fist flies by, I don't run away from it. I just step slightly aside and grab it with my own hands. I scream as the rocket gauntlet yanks me off the ground and takes me for a nice trip across the arena. The wind is so intense I can barely open my eyes. I have to hold on tight, otherwise I'd fall and probably lose the battle. That was a bad idea. Really, really bad idea.
I finally see flickering golden light somewhere below me. I release the hand and fall down, grabbing the bird in the mid-air. The buzzing gives away I won the battle.
...
"Damn, girl," Blackjack and me leave the arena together after the commentator announces my victory. "I fight for about... three years already, but what you did was the first time. No offense, but... you fight like your life depended on it. Like you can't take it as fun!"
The Champion manages to keep his smile even after his defeat - and, strangely enough, his top hat stayed on his head throughout the whole fight, like it was glued to it. "You're right, Sasha," I reply; I remembered his name from the final leaderboard. "The things are more serious than you think."
"You confuse me, sweetheart."
I look into his eyes, dark blue and surprisingly intelligent. Would it be safe to tell him everything? I may be wrong, but I think there's not a chance he could be one of Nightingale's henchmen. And he may be a possible ally if something goes wrong.
I decide to trust him.
"Well, the thing is... Nightingale is actually a fraud and criminal," I tell him. "We're after her, I mean me and some of my friends, but she isn't going down easily."
"Nightingale, you say?" Sasha raises his eyebrows. "She's hot, powerful and all, but you're right, there seems to be something wrong about her. She's a fake ass. One day, during a tournament, she just knocked at my door and downright tried to seduce me. Like, no hesitation and stuff, she just flirted with me for a bit, then just started to undress. My ding dong hated me for that, but I sent her away, even though she was persistent. There's something in her I don't trust and who knows what would happen if I succumbed."
"I can tell you exactly," I say and tell him about Nightingale's cheating strategy. I'm actually surprised Sasha was able to resist her temptation as he looks like the type of guy who enjoys everything the life has to offer. He listens with his mouth open in shock.
"That bitch," Sasha utters. "And you really can't do anything about that?"
"She seems to have influential friends," I reply. "At least I managed to destroy her braker needle, so the rest of the tournament will be fair. Our best option to stop her is to defeat her. I have no idea what is she up to. And honestly, I don't want to find out."
"If you ever needed... some kind of help, just ask," Sasha gives me a goofy smile. "Blackjack is always ready to fight injustice. Me and my iron fist... you were riding!"
I laugh. "Man, that sounded so wrong."
"My specialities: Neoclash and dirty jokes. I have no idea in which one I'm better."
He raises his hand, asking for a high-five which I give him. Then he takes his hat off and bows to me theatrically; so the hat isn't glued to his head. Strange. "You're really good, girl," he tells me. "If someone has the guts to defeat Nightingale, it's you. I'll be rooting for you!"
"Thanks!" I say and aim to the dressing rooms where I take a shower and change into my casual clothes. Then, I can finally meet my team and share their joy from my victory. Even Svetlana is here, even though she looks rather diffident - something you're not used to when you know her.
However, not even all the fries and chicken we have can't stop me from thinking about the hardest fight that waits for me tomorrow. I will have to face Isaiah, my biggest weakness.
The responsibility is too big. And it gets worse every time I remember I wouldn't make it this far if Nightingale didn't "help" me.
However, for the sake of my friends, I try to act cheerful and optimistic.
But the bottled-up emotions start to manifest when I fall asleep. Throughout the whole night, I'm plagued by nightmares where Isaiah kills me. He snaps my neck while whispering hateful things into my ear. Pulverizes my face with his artificial hand. Melts the flesh off my body with the steam cannon.
I wake up with a headache, which is not a good sign.
...
It doesn't get much better later in the morning.
As soon as I step outside, I see a swarm of Wardens and police officers standing around one of the huts. I try to see what's going on, but the crowd of rubberneckers is already too tight.
After a while of meaningless investigation, I meet Sasha, my opponent from yesterday. I probably wouldn't recognize him in casual clothes without the hat if he didn't have his blue-dyed hair. "It's you, Zoya," he says. "Ya probably wonder what's going on. Someone murdered Pyroclast."
My face turns pale. "M...murdered? What do you mean?"
Sasha rolls his eyes. "Someone involuntarily ended his life in a violent way."
"I know what does it mean. But who did it? And how?"
"I'll give ya a hint," Blackjack replies. "Who was supposed to fight Pyroclast today? And who will benefit from his death by advancing into the final round right away?"
"Nightingale," I voice.
"Correct answer for one million royals!" Sasha says. "Damn, girl, I'm into this conspiracy shit for several hours and it makes bigger sense to me than it does to you."
"I'm just kind of... shocked. I need to proccess it a bit."
The police tries to make the investigation as secret as possible - that, obviously, means that everyone knows what happened before afternoon. Pyroclast was found dead in his accommodation with three huge gashes in his throat. Of course, Nightingale was the first suspect since Pyroclast's death qualified her straight into the final round. However, Nightingale has alibi for the whole night. She spent it in one of the bars on the infamous local Stodolní street known for its immense number of pubs and wild nightlife.
However, we already know it means nothing since Nightingale doesn't work solo.
The news about the murder on the eve of the great Neoclash finale overshadowed everything else. Even though there may be some drunk riots or Yeomen manifestations, the tournaments are usually free of any kind of violence outside the arena. This year seems to be exceptional. First, the murder attempt in Greece. And now... someone finally managed to successfully finish it, even though the target was different.
The committee led by Chairman Havel spent the whole morning by discussing whether the tournament should be paused or even discontinued. But it seems that in Neoclash, the phrase The show must go on is especially important. My fight with Isaiah is still at the daily schedule.
The fans are angry since they will miss a semifinal fight. Our hopes rise up a bit when they start to demand bringing one of the eliminated Champions, either Comette or Sotiris, back and let them fight Nightingale. But the committee decided Nightingale will advance to the final round by deafult.
The atmosphere considerably changes. During previous days, the numerous bars near the stadium were filled by cheering Neoclash fans drinking beer in a friendly atmosphere, sometimes starting a fight since they couldn't agree on the best Champion. These are immediately captured by the police and banished for the rest of the tournament. Alcohol excesses aren't tolerated in this world.
But now, the only place which is alive is Pyroclast's hut. The police is still investigating and they also have to deal with the murdered Champion's hysterical partner, a Nordic-looking man named Nicolas. The mining towers silently stare at the crime scene. If only the police could interrogate them, they would probably know who was the murderer.
And I would love to know, too. We already know Nightingale just gave the instructions - she was on a pub crawl all night to get alibi. Maybe it was the orange-haired woman from the committee. It would be a wise move - who would blame her, a honorable employee of the Neoclash society?
My mind is racing and I can't think properly. Maybe, if I won the fight with Isaiah, I would meet a similar fate. Nightingale is unstoppable and I'm nothing but a bug below the artificial talons on her feet. I feel like having a target on my back. At Nightingale's mercy. With just one gesture, she can send me to the same place Pyroclast is right now. And I'm not ready to go there yet.
I even think about discontinuing the tournament, but that would be unfair to my friends who still believe I can make it somehow. But it will be hard. And additionally, I will have to fight the most emotionally draining battle. Me against the person who used to be my best friend. All alone.