CHIULU VS KALTER
“Our next fighter is the first of the Fiends from the Central Peace, contracted to their Fiend Crime Division. She’s the clumsiest person on Rathe, but she gets results. Hopefully she hasn’t broken anything in our staging area. The Bumbling Bureaucrat, Chiulu!” The woman came waddling out in her padded suit, slowly making her way to the arena, heavy step after step.
So Rallie didn’t bother waiting until she made it onto the stage before moving on. “The second Fiend is angry…That’s it. The Anger-Issues Athlete, Kalter!” The man in question came stomping out of his side, a scowl already on his face. He made it to the arena before Chiulu did and hoisted the dolly he was pulling behind him up onto the platform.
Eventually, Chiulu made it up as well. She was stuck on the lip of the stage for a while, having to flop on her stomach and then roll. And after that, she struggled to get back to her feet, so Rallie got impatient and helped her up. “Both fighters have elected against obstacles. Let the match begin!”
“I had a feeling they’d put me against you,” Kalter snarled. “They almost certainly know what happened that day and arranged this so we could have a rematch. Well that suits me just fine. I came prepared!” The Athlete ripped the cover off of his dolly, revealing a stack of manhole covers. Given their cleanliness and the words etched on them, it appeared that they’d all been stolen rather than bought new.
“And I already know that I can’t penetrate that suit of yours, no matter what I throw at you. So I’ll just have to knock you off the stage! Get ready to have the zjik beaten out of you, ya damn punching bag!” Kalter picked up two manhole covers and lobbed them both. They whirled through the air like giant metal frisbees and struck Chilu dead on, one on the helmet, and the other in the gut.
From both hits, she was sent stumbling backwards, but only a few feet. And the covers didn’t drop there. After bouncing back from the attack, they swerved right around and went for another set of strikes. Kalter must have actually aimed for the back of her suit. Otherwise, these items would have lost any momentum they had when they made contact. So in essence, he was purposefully missing to be able to attack Chiulu endlessly.
Two covers certainly wouldn’t be enough, so he launched a half-dozen more. Moments later, Chiulu was being pelted from all angles by a flock of angry metal discs. Hit after hit, they bullied her back, all the way to the edge of the arena. But just as it seemed like she’d be pushed off and eliminated, she suddenly tripped over her own feet.
The woman fell and started to roll, riding along the rim. Her momentum carried her as she crested the bend and was sent tumbling straight at her opponent. Kalter had to desperately dodge out of the way, nearly getting steamrolled by the giant padded suit.
《Chorus: So apparently Chiulu has never actually met anyone in our group. Odd for someone so involved in Fiend law enforcement to have never crossed passed with a single member.》
《Xard: From what I understand, she purposely avoids us. Apparently, she believes that there is a good chance she’d accidentally hurt one of us, or slight us in some way, and trigger direct conflict between the CP and the Fiends For Hire. Not that there hasn’t been plenty of that already.》
《Chorus: So let’s talk about Kalter. A few good people in our audience would almost consider the two of you as rivals. It’s a shame we won’t get the chance to see the two of you duke it out.》
《Xard: I’m not really sure where that came from. I’ve only met him in passing on a few occasions. The only time we’ve actually directly interacted was that time our groups competed in a mission.》
《Chorus: Well, the reason they believe that is because I absolutely spun it that way! Who doesn’t love a good rivalry? And the comparisons write themselves. The hotheads, you and Kalter. The eccentric women always off doing wacky and creative things, Kada and Alk. The loyal and brutal second-in-commands, Lieu and Phon. And of course, the leaders who are shy and try and avoid the spotlight, yet always find themselves front and center, Drim and Creti, may she rest in peace.》
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
《Chorus: I imagine there’s a bit of animosity in this fight since Chiulu was there that day, taking part in the CP raid that took Creti’s life. Oh, oops, did I accidentally just spill a bit of confidential information on a livestream broadcasting across the world? But that piece isn’t that important, since actually all the Central Peace Fiends participating in the competition took part in that raid. Oopsie, more secrets.》
《Chorus: In fact, you could almost say there’s far more drama between the CP and what remains of Above. Us in the Fiends For Hire are just spectators in their war. I wonder if we’ll see any more pairings clash in this competition.》
After a few more failed attempts to knock Chiulu out of the arena, the woman finally managed to land a blow herself. She stumbled into Kalter, headbutting him right in the chest. This sent him flying backwards, the wind knocked out of him. Fortunately, Chiulu’s mobility didn’t allow her to perform any sort of quick followup, but his own momentum had been wrecked. All the manhole covers he’d been controlling clunked to the ground.
“Damn it!” Kalter slammed a fist into the arena floor as he pushed himself back onto his feet. “Guess I’ll need to remove myself from the equation.” The man darted to the two closest covers and stepped on them. They lifted off the ground and started flying, but not at Chiulu. He had likely targeted some prop of the coliseum, like a camera—something fixed in place that he could continually target and just alter his course.
He began riding the two covers around the arena in a circle, only staying a few inches off the ground. The Athlete swerved around, touching the idle covers one at a time until they were all flying alongside him, his own personal barrage of metal fists. Kalter then did a pass over Chiulu, knocking her back with each cover at the same time, a full wall slamming into her.
They then circled back around and did another sweep. Time and time again, they just pushed Chiulu back inch by inch, steadily thrusting her towards elimination. Each hit didn’t move her very far, but it was more than she could recover between barrages. Kalter was purposefully taking it slow, acting careful to not knock her over and trigger her Curse.
But it was all for naught. When she was just a few feet from the edge, Chiulu fell anyways, rolling right back to the center of the arena and erasing all progress. “Okay, I get it,” Kalter swirled around her low, like a hunter circling its prey. “As long as there’s a way you can escape, your power will defy all odds. So I’ll just have to remove your body from the equation!”
The manhole covers stopped trying to push her back, and instead they started trying to hit her upwards. Each one attacked from a low angle, scraping along the side of her suit and riding up towards her helmet. And finally, there was liftoff.
Chiulu was launched off the ground, but only a few feet. Kalter had to keep the momentum going—not let her feet touch the ground again, not give her any chance to recover. Hit after hit, she was knocked slightly higher, being juggled by the manhole covers without reprieve.
《Chorus: Even I feel bad for that one. Being knocked around senseless without mercy, and to think that’s basically her daily life. It just makes me dizzy thinking about it. And it’s a shame we can’t see the expressions she’s making.》
《Xard: Yes, it does seem rather miserable, doesn’t it? As Fiends, we have strong resistances to the usual nausea. But I experienced it firsthand when trying to fly. Being thrown around sucks at first, but you get used to it. I imagine Chiulu has one of the strongest constitutions around, able to weather any misfortune.》
《Xard: And despite her suffering, Kalter doesn’t have it easy either. This endless use of his Curse is clearly draining him. You can definitely see it on his face. And if he messes up even once, he’ll have to start over entirely, and it would give Chiulu a chance to knock him out again. I’m not sure he’ll be able to get back to this point, so he’ll have to make it count.》
And the man did just that. After raising Chiulu dozens of feet in the air, he swung all the covers around for one last hit, including the two under his feet. They made a giant hand, though not quite the proper shape, and swatted Chiulu out of the sky. She was sent soaring, and with no way for her Curse to save her, she was flung out of the arena and slammed into the secondary barrier that protected the audience.
The medical team rushed over to check on her and pulled off her helmet. She was a bit rattled, but not really worse for wear. If anything, she just had a look of frustration from how helpless she’d been.
“Kalter wins!”
~Unfulfilled Wish~
Chiulu: (Official Wish) For the nation of Fiendish to join the Central Peace.
Chiulu: (Actual Wish) For the Fiend Crime Division to go independent and receive unlimited funding.