Tru Grit’s Fight Pit, First Tourney (Pt. 1)

--- Maya Williams ---

“So, uh, how exactly is this going to work?” She asked Anavi who she’d somehow managed to track down in spite of the numerous people wandering around Tru Grit’s fight pit. “I mean, I doubt all of these people are here to fight.”

“No most of them are here to spectate.” Anavi confirmed for her, before messing with a tablet in her hands. “We have… sixteen fighters lined up in a bracket system based on your results from the Bloody Ballroom. We’ll be going by a double defeat system, so barring the final fight you can lose one fight and stay in. Meaning at max a person might have seven fights if they lose one, and five if they don’t lose any.”

“Wouldn’t that give the guy who never lost has an edge against the one who lost once?” She frowned, figuring that first guy would be better rested than the other.

Anavi merely gave her a shrug. “If you lose, you’ve got to fight harder to prove you’re tougher than the one who didn’t. That way no one can complain if the final fight is between two people who fought before.”

(To summarize, if you can’t defeat someone while well rested they deserve first place even if you both only lost once.) Her inner logic explained.

“I… guess that makes sense.” She admitted. (Because of course it does.)

“Don’t worry, this is your first tournament. All of this makes sense once you’ve seen a few of these, the Mad Dogs have been doing this for generations now and know what they’re doing.” The older woman assured her with a kind smile.

She blinked before repeating, “For generations?”

“It’s only been a year or two since Za’um and I fell through that Rift, but from what I’ve heard our boss Tru Grit inherited his crown from his mentor ten years ago and the pits themselves have been around since your… Rift Riots?” Anavi shook her head. “Either way, they’ve been around for almost twenty years now.”

“That’s… weird, I hadn’t really heard about the Mad Dogs or the fight pits until I found this place.” She frowned in thought, while not bringing up how in spite of how many Deviants seemed involved in this place she hadn’t found anything about them when researching her city’s Deviant Gangs. (Which is weird…)

“From what I’ve been told the Pits technically follow the laws of your land, but are bending several of them. It makes sense that they’re trying to keep their more legally gray activities underground, at least when compared to the likes of the Guild’s attention seeking.” Anavi explained, just a hint of distaste to her words with that last bit.

(I guess she’s got an issue with the Gamer’s Guild? Which given what we’ve seen of Decker…)

(Means that she should be smart enough to realize that magic is inferior and repent for the sake of her hotness.)

(Ignore her.)

She intended to.

(Hey!)

“So, uh, given the other contestants, how far do you think I can make it?” She wondered, not really knowing how strong anyone else might be outside of her own experience with the Bloody Ballroom.

Anavi made a face, as she tilted her head from side to side. “I technically can’t tell you much there, since the first round is supposed to be more or less blind and while I like you it would be dishonorable to both you and your opponents if I helped you with the tournament itself.”

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“Oh, right.” She winced, having not quite connected the fact that she was a contestant and Anavi was a host for said contest. “I didn’t mean it like that though.”

“I’m aware.” Anavi assured her with another smile. “Which is why I can tell you that I know as long as you’re smart you can win your first round, and even if you lose once you can probably make it to the fourth.”

“And my odds of winning the whole thing?” She wondered, before adding. “And remember I’m like scary levels of smart.”

The older woman let out an amused huff. “I’m aware, which is why I’ll remind you that experience is as important as intelligence if not more so in a fight. And given how you’re one of four contestants entering for the first time…”

“I’m one of the least experienced people in the tournament…” Maya finished with a sigh.

“Yes, but at the very least your side of the bracket includes all four newcomers, so everyone should be on your level until the third round. Additionally, the tournament is stacked in a way that outside the first round you should be able to watch your opponent’s fights.” Anavi consoled her with a sly smirk. “I’m sure for someone as smart as you you can learn a great deal from such an advantage going forward.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I think I can.” (Especially with my Database Scanning…) Even if she didn’t have the time to study the scans in depth here, (I can still figure out a lot with them.)

“Good.” Anavi nodded back, as she clapped Maya’s shoulder and nudged her to move. “Now while I can’t outright help you, I know you Crafter Deviants are best when you have time to tinker with your equipment. Since we’ve still got an hour to go, how about I show you to your waiting room so that you can ready yourself for your blind fight?”

“Y-yeah, that sounds like a good idea.” She admitted, not sure what part of her gear she could mess with but pretty sure that it wouldn’t hurt to do some last minute tweaks to something.

Following after the older woman she soon found herself stepping through a door in one of the warehouse’s added walls, and in a back hall, and after a bit more wandering Anavi led her through and into a small gray room. There she found a pair of water coolers next to an open door leading into a small restroom behind a large couch in front of a small table covered in snacks with a large TV on the wall showing a split screen with four different rings surrounded by chairs.

“Alright, remember that this room -room fourteen- is yours for the duration of the tournament and that stepping into the other’s rooms without permission is against the rules.” Anavi told her before picking up a remote and showing it off. “The Tee’Vee is set to show all four rings, you can focus on one by changing the channel. Unfortunately, you’re part of the first set so there’s none going on right now but in an hour or so it’ll chime with which door your fight is through.”

“Okay… Uh, aside from other people’s rooms I’m not like… locked in here, right? I mean, I can leave the room?” She checked, because she was fairly certain her Scan would not work through a TV screen.

(It will not.) Her inner reason confirmed.

(Don’t worry, I’ll add that to the upgrades list.)

“You’re free to leave.” Anavi assured her as the older woman crossed her arms. “That said, if you don’t step out the arena doors within a minute of the start time it’ll be considered a forfeit. So if you have to leave for something, make sure you’re back. Unless a fight really drags on you’re probably only going to have thirty or so minutes for a break.”

“Okay, I’ll… keep that in mind.” (I’ll also have to race home after all of this…)

“Alright, well there’s some standard tools under the couch if you don’t have any on you, but now that I’ve got you in here I do need to get back to work. I can’t just leave all of this to Za’um after all.” Anavi joked before quietly mumbling. “He’d burn this whole place to the ground.”

“It’s fine, I can figure things out from here.” She smiled as she pulled out the tool kit, (not as good as ours but enough to work with.) “Thanks for everything.”

“Happy to help.” Anavi smiled back before leaving with a wave.

Once she was alone she took a deep breath before setting her Heavy Weight on the table. “Now let’s see if we can’t fit one last upgrade in before we’ve got to fight.”

Scene Consequences

-Heavy Weight Upgraded to Mk. 1.1

--Heavy Weight now deals 2*(Strength+1) Blunt Damage.