Dan’s ears heard the obnoxious and boisterous shouting from Angie. He looked up from Samuel’s body and saw the strawberry blond waving her hands at him. Dan replied with a simple thumbs up.
Unlike the first match up, Dan walked over to Samuel and picked up his helmet and rested it on the agent’s chest. He slid one arm behind Samuel’s neck and another under his legs. Dan carefully rose up and lifted Samuel and slowly walked over towards the nearest edge of the arena. Medical staff quickly arrived at the edge and gestured Dan over.
“Easy now,” one of them said. Dan bent his knees and crouched down. He lowered himself and Samuel’s body and two medics gently grabbed hold of the agent and carried him off the edge and onto the stretcher.
Three of Miles’ remaining teammates gathered around and looked at Dan. He hopped off the edge and onto the floor and faced the agents.
“Not bad,” James said. “Though you seemed a bit sluggish on there. You put on a better show during the deathmatch round against the Talons.”
“It’s the constriction for my team,” Dan admitted. “Let’s just say I’m working with a handicap.”
Zara, Miles’ female marksman, walked up to him with a hand on her hip. “Well, you’re a lot more graceful than that Rachel bitch. Good job.”
“Thanks,” Dan said. “You’re my opponents, not my enemies. I think we forget that sometimes.”
James playfully punched Dan in the arm. “See you in the ring kid.”
“You too big man,” Dan replied.
The three walked away while Dan turned in the opposite direction and walked towards his own teammates.
Determining the next match…
Dan made his way to Li and Angie who stood together. Angie waved him over while Li stood with his arms still crossed.
“Solid work,” Li said. “Though, you took longer than you should in securing victory.”
“Stat debuff, remember?”
“Ignore him Dan,” Angie said waving Li off. “You did great!”
The stealth specialist looked up and lowered his arms to point at the holographic text. “Looks like I’m up next.”
Dan turned his head and saw the next match up.
3rd match: Li Phantom (AC) vs Adriana Skill (PS).
Combatants, please enter the arena.
“Oh shit,” Angie whispered.
“You got one of the hard ones,” Dan said plainly. “She’s Rachel’s teammate.”
“I’m aware. I won’t hold back,” Li said coldly.
The stealth specialist lept up the edge of the raised arena in a single jump and quietly walked over towards the middle of the arena. Li’s footsteps made no noise as he silently approached his opponent, Adriana.
Dan’s confrontation with Adriana was brief back in the third round of the Combat Games. When Rachel called her for backup, Dan elbowed her in the chest and sent her into a bench and she quickly got back up.
Dan still didn’t know much about her but she was a teammate of Rachel’s and just by association alone, she was a dangerous opponent. Li was a few levels above him in rank and he unlocked a new power that allowed him to teleport. But since such a move required Li to charge up his energy, Dan had no clue how Li could use it in such a fast paced one on one battle.
The stealth specialist and the Prime Sword stood on opposing sides of the raised arena staring each other down. Li had put his helmet on while Adriana also kept her face covered. Dan couldn’t tell the emotions of either combatant but he could see Li’s straightened posture and clenched fist.
“Holy fuck it’s happening,” Angie said. “These guys gave us trouble back in the third round.”
“I have faith,” Dan said. “And so should you. Li’s one of the best I know.”
Fight!
Before Li could enter into a combat stance, Adriana rushed him with the same blinding speed as Rachel has and smashed her elbow into Li’s helmet visor. The speed wasn’t shocking as Dan remembered the deathmatch round where Rachel and Adriana fought against another pair of Alpha agents.
Li recovered from the sudden attack and ducked for a sweeping kick. He successfully swiped Adrians’s leg out and the Prime Sword fell on her ass. Before Li could follow up, Adriana threw a sucker punch to Li’s side, causing the stealth specialist to stagger back. TYhe Prime Sword flipped herself back on her feet and rushed Li once again.
“She’s good,” Dan said.
“There’s no way she’s winning,” Angie remarked.
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Li landed a jab to Adriana’s nack and halted her sudden advance. The Prime Sword staggered back and Li pressed his advantage following up with a few moves Dan recognized as Muay Thai. The swift punches and footwork of his teammate weren’t lost to Dan’s eyes. He was secretly envious of Li’s more elegant style of fighting.
Adriana continued taking more consecutive hits and was gradually pushed back closer and closer to the edge of the arena.
The Prime Sword interrupted Li’s barrage of attacks with a hard punch that sent the stealth specialist sliding back several meters. Li still stood on his feet but Dan’s jaw dropped from what he saw. He glanced over at Angie and her face expressed equal shock to the show of strength.
Dan assumed Li had the fight under control but saw Adriana blur into motion and shoulder checked his teammate off his feet. Li tumbled on the arena floor and narrowly swerved his head out of the way from a stomp that Dan swore could crack concrete.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” Dan said. “It’s the same as the third round. They can’t be this strong as borderline tier ones.”
Dan’s thoughts were abruptly interrupted when Adriana shoved her knee into Li’s abdomen and she bent down and hooked her arm underneath the stealth specialist’s groin, lifting him up above her head and slamming him down. Li’s helmet smashed into the floor and Dan instinctively winced at the sudden attack.
Li still had plenty of fight left in him as he rolled along the floor and got back on his feet. Adriana’s fast speed closed the distance between them and she winded her armback for another punch. Li ripped his helmet off and raised it between him and his physically superior opponent. Adriana threw a punch that smashed into Li’s helmet and forced him back a few steps.
Dan squinted and he caught a glimpse of the crack visor on his teammate’s helmet. He recalled a small detail Allen mentioned in passing that a typical helmet visor for Alpha agents can survive at least one bullet before fully shattering.
Adriana didn’t let up on the assault as her fists got around Li’s guard and he became overwhelmed by the rapid barrage of attacks.
The Prime Sword delivered one final punch to the side of Li’s face and sent the stealth specialist smashing into the ground.
“No…” Dan whispered.
Li didn’t get back up for a few seconds. While he still laid on the floor, Adriana turned her head to the side, briefly giving her attention to something other than the fight before she looked back down at Li and lashed her foot out, kicking the downed agent in the side.
“What the fuck?” Dan said, staring at the Prime Sword.
Adriana continued kicking Li, who had already been knocked out from the last punch before she simply hefted him up and tossed him out of the arena and into a small crowd of other agents, knocking down two of them.
Winner: Adriana Skill!
Dan immediately rushed over to the site and approached Li’s unmoving body. The two agents from the other teams staggered back onto their feet.
“Li, can you hear me?”
When Dan heard no response, he crouched down and lifted Li’ head. The agent was out cold. His concern quickly transitioned to anger as he clenched his fist. Dan jerked his head over to Adriana who stood at the edge of the arena and stared down at him.
“What the fuck is your deal?” Dan shouted. “You go the last punch in and knocked him out. He wasn’t a threat to you anymore.”
“It’s a combat tournament, you little brat,” Adriana spat. “You would have done the same thing in my shoes.”
Dan stood up and pointed his finger at the Prime Sword. “We’re competitors, not enemies. You didn’t have to kick him while he was down. And you could have injured some of the guys in the crowd by throwing him.”
Adriana stood unmoving like a statue, staring him down.
“Well, if that’s the energy you’re going to bring to this final round, I’ll match it once you face off against me, you bitch,” Dan seethed.
“Good, that’s how it should be,” Adriana said mockingly. “But I doubt you’ll be able to. You couldn’t hack it back in the third round. So what makes you think you have a chance against anyone from my team? Rachel and Clark will crush you to dust.”
“You mother—”
“Enough,” a voice said behind him.
Dan turned and saw the medics carrying Li’s body and placing him on the stretcher. One of them picked up Li’s cracked helmet.
“Settle your differences in the arena,” the medic said. “Any combat outside of an official match is strictly prohibited. You’ll be disqualified and pay a credit fine.”
Dan narrowed his eyes at the medic but reluctantly stood down. Adriana hopped off the arena and walked away from him. She stopped and flipped him the finger while still having her back to him then resumed her walk.
He watched as the medics carried Li on a stretcher and he silently followed the medical crew. Dan walked with both of his fists clenched. The anger within him boiled so brightly that he caught brief red flashes in his peripheral vision. He looked down and saw bits of red static running up and down his left arm. The other agents saw this and instinctively backed away from him as he walked past all of them.
Dan made his way back to Angie while still keeping his eyes on the medics carrying Li. He watched until the crew stepped out of the room and out in the hallway.
“Can’t believe this shit,” Dan muttered.
“Dan, are you alright?” Angie asked, holding his arm. He looked down and saw the red static had disappeared.
“I’m more worried about Li.” He squinted as he watched the armored figure of Adriana walk back to the trio of Prime Swords.
Determining next match up…
“There’s no mistaking it now. I don’t think that level of speed is normal for a tier one. There’s something about Rachel and her squad,” Dan said. “I plan on figuring that out once I meet them in the arena. I’m sure Li would like to know how he got his ass kicked so badly.”
4th match up: Barns Skyline (GT) vs Simon Temple (HH).
Combatants, please enter the arena.
Dan glanced up once and saw the name of the third Prime Sword agent from Rachel’s team. He crossed his arms and watched intently as the third Prime Sword and a member of the Hellhound team stepped onto the elevated arena and walked toward the center.
“I don’t know anything about these two,” Angie said. “Honestly, if I was a viewer, probably the only popcorn worthy matches are the ones involving anyone from ours or Rachel’s team.”
Dan didn’t respond to Angie’s comment. He kept his eyes solely on the two combatants.
Fight!
While Dan watched the match unfold between the Genesis Talon and the Hellhound agent, he was only half there. His eyes saw the back and forth punches of the two combatants, but Dan was disengaged. He found himself still occasionally glancing over and Rachel and her team at the opposite end of the arena.
After what Adriana did to Li and her lack of respect, Dan knew that when the time came, he would show no mercy towards any of Rachel’s team, including Rachel herself. He didn’t care if she was his biggest fan, as she claimed.
Dan glanced to his left and saw Angie had backed away from him. The red static returning and radiating from his left arm.