It's already dark, but the arena is intensely illuminated. However, the light pollution isn't strong enough to drown out the stars on the sky which are especially bright tonight. The spectators are chanting our names. Comette's is a bit more frequent since she already showed what is she capable of in the Neoclash Showdown.
The people also wear our merchandise. I'm happy to see so many spectators wearing black T-shirts with a hurricane symbol (Ryan didn't forget to mention the sales went straight up after my victory in semifinals). Comette's symbol is a silver eight-pointed star with a tail of sparks aiming up.
I try to control my nervosity. I focus on petty things, like the touch of cold breeze on my face, shoulders and thighs. I stand on the platform which floats above the arena; it takes longer than usual, probably so the viewers can take a closer look on the combatants on the huge holographic screens.
I see myself on one of them and I can hardly believe I'm actually here. Scrawny, white-haired girl with insecure expression and thin legs with a rather wide gap between them. I don't look either strong, determined or beautiful. Still, some of the millions of people watching this fight support me. Some of them even entrusted their money to me, even though the odds are still in Comette's favor.
My opponent is a completely different league. She's older and much better-looking than me. She has shiny silver hair which look like molten steel and her eyes bear the same color. The silver pattern also applies to her full-body spandex suit with short sleeves and pant legs spiced up with savvy cutaways revealing her midriff and back. Like me, she's also wearing forearm guards, stylized in cyberpunk style.
About her proths. She has artificial feet, silver just like the rest of her outfit. They have several small Counter-gravity diodes attached to its soles which allow her to glide above the arena like she had high-speed roller-skates without wheels. She's also wearing elastic straps wrapped around her knees which help her to minimize the energy needed to reach the peak speed.
That's right - her main weapon is speed. Just like mine.
I can't let another hot woman defeat me. This one at least doesn't have wings.
The lid covering the arena opens. It's rather fitting for Comette - it's an arena nicknamed "Alien planet". Most of the surface is gray, covered in dust, with several protruding rocks creating obstacles. About one third of the arena is stylized like a seashore. Several floating rock platforms of various sizes hover above the calm water. There are also several craters which spit out a surge of fluorescent blue liquid in random intervals.
Finally, the platform descend and let us enter the arena. This will be a long fight since the final round of each Second-grade tournament is fought for five Fatal points.
Comette smiles at me. "Good luck," she tells me with surprisingly high-pitched, soothing voice.
"Same to you," I reply. "But don't expect this to be easy." I wish I felt as bold as I sound.
Arena configuration complete. INF system active. Champions on their spots. Ten seconds for preparation remaining.
Get ready. Begin.
Comette's feet lose their contact with the ground as soon as we hear the signal. The woman skims above the arena with unbelievable speed. She moves zig-zag so I can barely keep track about where she is. She's like a silver flash preparing to strike.
Finally, Comette finishes her initial maneuvers and aims straight towards me. I see her silver eyes fixed on me. When she's finally in the attacking range, she elegantly chains several kicks; the diodes on her soles enhance the fluidity of her attacks even further and I have a hard time avoiding them. If I wasn't as agile as her, she would easily score three Clash points one after another.
After I avoid the last kick, I do a backflip and then immediately rush forward. I try to surprise her with a hook kick, but she leans backwards. I react by making a forward slide, hitting her artificial foot. The Counter-gravity diodes are a good thing, but they can also be tricky. When Comette's foot moves, it throws her off balance and, for a change, makes her lean forward.
That's where I introduce my knee to her face. As she gasps in surprise, I chain my trademark tornado kick at her head. It connects, but it's not enough for a Fatal point.
OO_|_____ | Tempest | Comette | _____|___
...
Comette recovers from the impact by doing a handspring and landing back on her feet. Then she gains speed again, circles around me a few times and then strikes. The attack is so sudden I can't defend. She thrusts her fist into my stomach. I double over as she elegantly jumps over me, moving behind my back and kicking my lower back area. I stumble forward and expect another impact. It doesn't come.
Too late I realize I lean above one of the goo craters. Before I can move away, it explodes and splashes the strange substance all over my face. I shriek, but the goo gets into my mouth. It's awfully sticky and tastes horrible. I can't see anything and moreover, the explosion scored Comette a Clash point.
I try to remove the goo from my eyes, but I have a feeling this won't end up well. And I'm right. A moment later, I feel Comette's arm wrapping around my waist. Then she gains speed, carrying me with her. "Nice try, Little White," she whispers into my ear, "but I'm just getting started."
I let out a groan as she slams me against one of the rocks. Triple buzz.
OO_|_____ | Tempest | Comette | XX___|___
I fall on my face, the sticky substance still slowing me down. At least I can take a look around.
Bingo. Close to me, I see glistening water surface. Before Comette can attack me again, I jump on my feet and more or less blind run towards the water at full speed. I cross the remaining distance using a long jump and then finally, the water accepts me.
The pool is rather deep, enough for me to submerge. I finally feel the goo washing off my face, allowing me to see and move freely again.
From my underwater position, I watch Comette's next steps. She skims forward to the pond. Surprisingly enough, the diodes allow her to glide even above water, even though the unstable surface makes it harder to keep balance. I'm sure there's a way to use it to my advantage.
Since I'm almost out of breath anyway, I surface and reveal my head to the opponent. Comette immediately notices it and skims towards me. When she's almost at my position, I hold my breath and quickly submerge. The swirling water messes with Comette's balance and she falls with a short shriek.
As her body hits the surface, I firmly grab her waist, just like she did to me a while ago, and use the power of my artificial legs to submerge deeper. She struggles, but it's no use. When we're deep enough, I raise my fist and drive it into her chest. The impact, weakened by the water resistance, isn't powerful enough to score a Clash point, but my intentions are different. I want to knock the air out of her.
I have to do it three more times before Comette is forced to open her mouth and release the remaining air in form of bubbles. Mission complete - the triple buzz indicates I managed to drown her. I release her and resurface; I need some more air myself and also, I have no idea if the INF can prevent actual drowning.
OO_|____X | Tempest | Comette | XX___|___
Comette surfaces and gasps for breath. In the meantime, I reach the shore - my leotard is waterproof, so I don't have to carry additional weight (if I don't count the soaked hair clinging on my face). I plan my next step - I activate the mechanism in my legs and jump on one of the hovering platforms above the pond.
Comette recovers, reaches the shore and starts to look for me.
"Up here!" I shout.
Comette notices me and frowns. I guess the trick with drowning ruined her good mood. Her wet hair now look like mercury. She calculates the quickest way to get to me and then makes the first jump, landing at a small hovering platform near the shore.
With a few more jumps, she gets closer to me. When she's almost there, I jump on a lower platform which is almost touching the water surface. Comette lets out an annoyed grunt and also moves lower. At that moment, I jump up and grab the edge of the platform she's standing on. My weight throws the small platform out of balance and Comette has to try hard to not fall.
However, the woman smirks and raises her foot. Then she stomps on the platform.
...
The impact is shockingly powerful - it seems Comette's feet have a second use besides gliding. I lose my grip and fall down with a scream. Comette doesn't hesitate and dives towards me headfirst. She catches up in the mid-air, grabs me and delivers a crushing kick which sends me back to the shore. Unfortunately, I land back first on one of the small rocks. I gasp in pain and collapse to the ground.
OO_|____X | Tempest | Comette | XXX__|__O
If it was a normal fight, Comette would emerge victorious by now. But since this is the last battle, nothing is lost. For a second, I can just lie down and watch the stars above me, trying to regain my strength. I can imagine Ryan on the verge of heart attack, devouring one chocolate bar after another and slowly reconciling with my defeat. I can't let him down now. This space woman mustn't defeat me.
I stand up, my artificial legs offering me much needed support. Comette stands nearby, floating above the water surface. Immediately after I regain my footing, she gains momentum again and skims towards me. She doesn't seem half as disconcerted as I do.
I know it's cowardly, but I run. I have to prevent Comette from scoring more points before I think up some strategy. While running, I almost step into the blue substance oozing from one of the craters. If I stepped on it, it would be the end of me since it would slow me down too much.
Comette tenanciously glides towards me. I get an idea, but it would be so dirty move. But does it matter? The stakes are too high to always play fair and one of the unwritten rules of Neoclash is to use the arena you're offered to the fullest.
As she gets closer, I grab the blue sticky goo into my hand. Then, as she prepares for strike, I fling the nasty liquid into her face. Great. Comette screams as the fluid blinds her. Even better - her feet connect with the ground and as she tries to regain her sight, she stumbles forward. She steps into the goo. She loses her temper and curses loudly - ouch, such language is fined when used in live broadcast.
She can hardly lift her foot covered in the fluid. Now is my chance. First, I rush towards her and disorient her even further with a well-aimed uppercut. After that, I can time and aim my crushing hurricane kick perfectly. It's even powerful enough to get her foot out of the goo.
___|__XXX | Tempest | Comette | XXX__|__O
"Curse you!" Comette shrieks as she gets on her feet and stumbles around, hardly able to lift the dirty foot off the ground. Several spectators boo me and I blush in shame. This was really a dirty trick.
Theoretically, I can take my chance and kick the life out of her now when she can hardly defend. However, I decide it was enough foul play for today. "The pond is right behind you," I tell her. "Go and wash yourself, I'll wait here. I promise." This gesture turns the booing into appreciative clapping.
Comette steps into the pond and removes the fluid from her body. Then she steps back on the shore. She doesn't seem to appreciate my courteous offer as she stares at me like I spoiled her the ending of her favorite book. Okay, gloves off. Her secret weapon emerges.
The area of her shoulder blades opens up, revealing the machinery in her upper back area. It creeped me out when I saw it for the first time, but now, after my talk with Maria, I realize it's natural. Some of Comette's organs, probably a different part of her lungs, wasn't working properly and had to be replaced by a machine. However, much like Maria, Comette turned her handicap into a secret weapon.
There are two hollows in her back. They hide Comette's ultimate weapon she uses only when it's going tough - a pair of chain whips consisting of numerous razor-like segments connected by a firm wire. They glisten in the limelights like a starry sky.
Comette grabs one wire with each hand and skillfully spins them like nunchaku. Even though she's my opponent, I have to admit she's a master of her trade. I watch in awe as she spins the chains without hurting herself or entangling teh chains into each other.
My awe is gone as she rushes towards me with a battle cry. She can still skim above the arena - she uses her arms to keep balance as the chain whips stream behind her. When she gets close enough, she descends, continues by walking normally, grabs the whips and furiously attack me.
...
The whips are hard to notice and it's hard to evade them. I think that about half of my evasions was the matter of instincts rather than senses. It's almost impossible to counterattack since the chains are everywhere. This is the secret of Comette's victory. This is why she made it almost to the top last year.
Comette slashes one of the whips from above; I evade it by jumping aside and the weapon rings as it impacts on the ground. However, the other chain flies through the air horizontally and before I can react, it wraps around my waist. Comette tugs her hand, unwrapping the chain and spinning me like a peg top.
Before I can find out where is left and right, Comette slashes me with one of the chains. It goes from my shoulder to my back. Even though the INF prevents it from shredding me into pieces, I still feel it pretty well. I yowl in pain as Comette prepares for another strike.
However, I manage to jump backwards and with a series of jumps and handsprings, I leave the dangerous range around my opponent.
___|__XXX | Tempest | Comette | XXXX_|___
I still have two Fatal points to score with no idea how. This five-point rule is probably just making my suffering longer. Comette is a world-class Champion. And who am I? A tiny Castaway girl with a dream. A girl who got so far only because the sheer power of will.
But not even the willpower can stand a chance against the best of the best.
Yet, I still have to try.
Comette skims towards me again. What chances do I have? I can't use the sticky substance again - she wouldn't fall for it twice. Right now, the biggest problem are her chain whips. How can I stop them?
For a while, we just play the cat-and-mouse game - all I can do is run away and evade. It seems that after the promising start, the spectators are no longer amused. They have a feeling, just like me, that I'm only delaying the imminent defeat.
That's not fair. After I got so far...
"It was a great fight, but I guess we should end it now," Comette smiles sweetly. "Good job... for a no-name like you. But now, we should give them the winner they desire."
"You're right," I smile. Then, before Comette can prepare, I lash out at her. She grabs her razor whips and prepares for battle. As I see the whip flick in the air, I jump low above the ground. The whips wrap around my artificial legs and entangle them.
It's hard to keep balance with my legs tied together. But right now, such tiny detail can decide my fate.
With a bit of luck, I manage to land on my feet, comically flapping my arms to keep balance. Comette gives me an amused, victorious smile. She has no idea what's about to come. Before she can knock me to the ground, I activate the mechanism in my legs and dart up.
Comette screams as her razor whips tighten and lift her feet off the ground. I'm actually surprised how powerful my legs are as they can carry Comette's weight. It is, however, too much for the whips which slip off my legs. Comette hits the ground back first.
I land next to her and raise my foot to stomp on her chest. She manages to raise her arms and catch my foot as it's about to stomp her to the ground. Her face turns red with effort as she competes with the powerful hydraulic machinery inside my Valkyries.
I'm not giving up. Her organic arms are inferior. Just a little more...
Finally, her resistance breaks and my foot finishes its short journey. It connects with Comette's chest with the strength of a drop hammer. She lets out a long, painful gasp; Comette's collarbone area shines as the INF system prevented me from crushing her ribcage.
___|_XXXX | Tempest | Comette | XXXX_|___
Good. Now we are even.
This one Fatal point is enough to inject a surge of hope into my veins. I still have a slight chance to win. Turning Comette's strengths against her is probably the most efficient way to deal with her. I jump back and let her recover. None of us is willing to give the last point easily.
...
It seems Comette has a rather short temper. Her face stays red, but I suppose it's due to anger now. She grabs her starry razor whips and immediately rushes into attack. She doesn't attack recklessly now, when I showed her how can I take advantage of her mistakes.
Her slow, precise attacks are now even harder to avoid. And it's only a matter of time before I make a wrong move. One of the chains strikes my chest and I'm lucky it wasn't enough for a Fatal point. I stagger backwards and barely avoid the attack of her second whip.
___|_XXXX | Tempest | Comette | XXXX_|__O
Two more Clash points remaining.
I can forget about using her whips against her again. I think about what I thought about a few minutes ago: turning her strengths into weakness. Now, she has one strength covered. What are her next strengths? Pretty face and attractive body? Oh come on, Zoya. Her tenanciousness? Perfect technique? Speed?
Speed...
A crazy idea runs through my head. There are so many things that can go wrong, but if I succeed, I'll win and make the crowd love me. I have to try it.
With several long jumps, I leave Comette's presence and run to the other side of the arena. I look over my shoulder; the woman pursues me, but the margin between us is big enough. I turn around and face her, watch her as he skims towards me, her arms, hips and legs moving in perfect harmony. Roller skates without wheels. Moving with minimum energy needed.
I count down meters, at least roughly. She doesn't seem to wonder why am I standing still.
Then, when she gets close to me, I focus all my remaining power into my legs. She expects me to lash out and attempt one last crushing kick. Well, she's right... but only indirectly.
I jump behind a rock I was standing next to until now. I clear my mind and focus. My heartbeat slows down. Comette looks surprised, yet still determined. I jump up and kick the top of the rock with the full power of my artificial leg. I land on the ground. For a while, the leg I used to kick is numb and immobile.
Did my intention succeed?
My kick broke the rock and a piece of it, roughly as big as a large grapefruit, flies towards Comette at lightning speed. Comette running fast in the opposire direction multiplies its destructive power as the piece of rock connects with her chin.
She only lets out a short gasp as the impact knocks her down. I managed to enjoy the split second of absolute terror in her face as the projectile was about to hit her. It was enough to score a Fatal point which means I won. This crazy idea won me the whole tournamment.
"GOAL!" I shout and raise my arms. The audience laughs and cheers. Loud, upbeat synth-rock music blasts from the loudspeaker and large, holographic letters appear above my head: WINNER: TEMPEST.
Out of exhaustion, I lean against the remains of the rock. I barely hear the commentator's speech telling about my journey to the top and surprising victory. I can only rest for a while. Ryan somehow entered the arena and now he rushes towards me and hugs me tightly.
"Zoya, I can't believe it," he squeals with a high-pitched voice. "My research... I'll be finally able to finish it! All thanks to you! When I bought you as a Castaway, I thought you'll just make me some pocket money for food. But now... my Champion is a winner. I'm so happy. I love you so much, Zoya. So much. But no romance intended, you know."
A girl from the Neoclash committee wearing a fancy dress approaches us and pins the golden badge on my chest. I take a look at it and it still feels like a dream it's actually mine. A buton badge with a shiny white center and golden outer rim with a gentle pattern.
WINNER
Second-League Tournament
Bifröst Challenge, 21st - 25th November 132
TEMPEST