Pepper and his group watched as the two new golems slowly made their way into the arena. He could see the smug expression on Tamin’s face when he entered with his golem in tow. Once Pepper’s eyes locked onto his nemesis’s golem, he understood why.
“Are those… stone fists?” Reggie asked.
“It sure looks that way,” he replied.
Pepper kept his eyes intently focused on Tamin’s golem. The match began, and he could see that the gladiator was struggling to maneuver his fighter around the arena. It appeared that the stone hands were a new addition and he had not spent enough time training with them.
Tamin’s golem had a slight lean forward and had to hold its hands up at an odd angle. This unusual fighting stance gave Pepper the impression that the golem didn’t have a gimbal rune inside it. This was causing it to compensate for the imbalance of the weight distribution.
The match began, and the two new gladiators squared off with their golems in the arena. Buck looked intimidated by Tamin’s rock fists and Tamin took advantage by moving his golem to the center but slowly kept closing the distance towards Buck’s fighter.
Buck didn’t challenge Tamin for the center of the arena, rather it looked as if he was merely waiting for an attempt to counter whatever move Tamin would make first. It was good couple of seconds of inactivity before Buck finally launched a salvo of strikes. Jabs began to fly with a good amount of speed, but the accuracy wasn’t there to match.
Tamin easily blocked them with his rock fists. What made it even worse was that Tamin’s golem had started to chip away at its opponent’s hands. Buck’s clay fists were now cracking under the stress of impacting the stone.
Buck tried to change and go for some blows against his opponent’s ribcage. Tamin was ready, however, and countered with two massive jabs. The first one cracked Buck’s shoulder; with the second chipping away chunks of clay, which pelted the arena floor.
The crowd reacted with suspenseful gasps, while others erupted into cheers. Tamin had now pressed Buck’s golem into a corner. The damaged golem did what it could to try to land successful strikes against Tamin, but nothing seemed to work. Buck was too afraid to get in close to his opponent. All it would take was one lucky hit from a stone fist and he would be done for.
Tamin finally reached out with a stone hand and, with one quick step, pressed Buck against the arena wall. Tamin’s left hand held him in place as his right hand flew in and with two mighty blows finished the fight. The midsection of Buck’s fighter crumbled and the creature collapsed on the arena floor.
“Well, that is going to be hard to beat,” Reggie muttered.
“What do you think you’ll try to do against him?” Pepper asked.
“Well, not what Buck did, that’s for sure.”
“Pretty sure you’re going to wind up just like that anyways.” Jackson’s voice chimed in. The two turned and looked at him. He gave them a beaming smile in return as he continued to enjoy his newly acquired snack.
By the time Pepper had turned his head back around, he heard fast-paced footsteps come to a screeching halt in front of him. “I made it! What did I miss?” Before anyone could respond, Brent continued. “Hi, Summer!” He was smiling as widely as Jackson when he ended his greeting.
Pepper turned back far enough to see Summer’s empathetic grin. “Hi, Brent.”
Brent plopped down on a seat in front of Reggie and Pepper but kept his body twisted around to face them. “Yo! I just saw the last few seconds, but man, those stone fists look serious. You think you’ll be able to counter them at all?”
Pepper looked down at his friend. “Dunno. I haven’t figured out what to do. Even if I tried to use my energy absorption rune, the strength of the stone would crack and crumble my clay underneath it.”
Reggie distorted his face into a perplexed expression. “Yeah, that ain’t going to be easy.”
“What about your energy shield, though? You could still use that, right?” Brent continued.
Pepper tilted his head. “Yeah, you can use the shield, but remember it stays in one place, like a wall. He can just move around it or wait until it dissipates.”
Reggie tilted his head. “What’s the cool-down period for the rune?”
“Fifteen seconds.” Pepper replied.
Reggie shook his head. “That’s too long to make its continued use effective against hardened fists.”
“That’s my thought as well,” Pepper said. There was a slight pause and then he continued. “My only idea is to try and get Tamin to start swinging a volley of punches. Overload his power core and then try to counter him in rapid bursts and then retreat.”
Reggie lifted his hand and started to massage the back of his neck. “Force him to use his energy elsewhere and then hit where he is weak.”
“Precisely,” Pepper muttered.
“Too bad you both suck, otherwise that would be a good plan. I’ll still cheer for you, though,” Jackson chimed in.
“Jackson Miller, you know better than to be mean like that.” Summer scolded him again.
“Sorry…” Jackson said.
Brent nodded. “No, I kinda think Jackson is spot on. You both suck.” He finished with a chuckle.
“I’m starting to see why you spend so much time alone,” Reggie said softly, then stood up to leave. “All right—time for me to go get Black Mamba ready for his fight.”
“Wait! You have a snake golem?” Brent exclaimed.
“Heck, no—I can’t afford that. That’s just the name I gave him,” Reggie replied and waved as he left.
“Oh. Man, that would have been cool to see, though—if he did have one, that is,” Brent said, then moved up and took a seat next to his best friend. “You worried about Tamin?”
Pepper laughed and rolled his eyes. “Brent, I have like three matches to get through before I even arrive at Tamin. I don’t have time to worry about him.”
Brent didn’t believe his friend and gave him a deadpan look while he just stared back. His best friend kept the look plastered on his face.
“Okay, fine… yes, I am a little worried about it.”
“That’s what I thought.” Brent changed his demeanor and turned his attention to his heart-throb. “So, Summer, what’s new?”
Pepper sprang his hands out in defense. “Okay then, I will let you two catch up.” He rose to his feet and started to wander back towards the holding cages.
He heard all three of their voices in unison. “You got this, Pepper!”
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“All right, Golem League fans, don’t go anywhere as we prep for our next to competitors, Jake versus Wendy!” the announcer finished, and Pepper heard the cheer of the crowd behind him as he walked down the access tunnel into the holding cages.
The security guard held his hand up towards him. Pepper flashed his access pass and continued as the guard lowered his stance and waved him through. Pepper had just returned to his cage when he heard Tamin’s voice proclaiming his presence to everyone else in the holding cells.
“Y’all should just pack it up and head back home. This KBVS match win is as good as mine!” Tamin mocked as he walked down the passageway.
Pepper shook his head and bit the inside of his cheek. He hated even hearing Tamin’s voice, and his nemesis’s confidence was nothing more than poison landing upon his ears. But he couldn’t deny the fact that Tamin had brought a huge game-changer to the club.
He could feel jealousy build inside him. The KBVS Club used to be the place he could escape everything. Must be nice to buy a win and not earn them like the rest of us, Pepper thought. The sound of the announcer cut in and gave him a welcome distraction.
“All right, everyone, we’re ready for our next match! On the left side we have Jack. And on your right is his opponent, Wendy… let’s give them a warm KBVS welcome!” The crowd cheered, but not enough to please the announcer. “Oh, come on now, y’all can do better than that! I said let’s give them a massive KBVS welcome!” The crowd responded and roared twice as loud.
Pepper was about to look up at the screen mounted in the waiting area but noticed Reggie across the way from him. His friend was staring into a small mirror that he had mounted within his golem cage. His finger pointed at the mirror while it looked as if he was muttering under his breath to himself.
You got this, Reggie … I know you do, Pepper thought. He couldn’t help but remember what it was like when he had started competing. Pepper was no rockstar himself and was still struggling on the club circuit, but he certainly wasn’t a new kid on the block either.
Soon it will be you and me going to the Regional Invitational, Reggie… just hang in there. His thoughts were interrupted by the crowd roaring with excitement. “And that is it! Jake has pulled off the win.”
Pepper saw the program assistant walking down the center aisle. “All right, Reggie, Matt, it’s time. Get to your starting areas. Reggie, you’ll be on alpha side, and Matt, you’ll take side bravo.”
“Let’s go, Reg! You got it, big man,” Pepper called out. Reggie only responded with a pointed finger and a confident smile.
Pepper made sure to devote his attention to the screen. It took a few minutes for the club personnel to swap out the competitors, but finally the match began. To Pepper’s shocked amazement, Reggie didn’t merely defeat Matt, he destroyed him. he launched a volley of punches that continued to chip away at Matt’s golem and left it in a crumbled pile for the cleanup crew to attend to.
Pepper was all smiles when his friend returned. Reggie maintained his tough demeanor at first but finally cracked and beamed with exhilaration. “Yoo! Soulless, did you see that? Did you see what I did? I was all bap-bap, pop-pop, pow! I gave him the business, you know what I mean?” Reggie’s hands were swaying back and forth, reliving the moment.
“Haha, I saw, man; I saw.”
“I knew it! I knew it was going to happen. I told myself, this is the day, and bam! Here I am with my first win under my belt. I’m telling you, P-Dub, this is just the first of many.”
“No doubt, Reggie. No doubt at all.”
“Thanks, lil man. You’ve been one of my biggest supporters and motivators since I started. Gosh, yo, this feels amazing! All right, I gotta go and call my little girl. Catch you in a bit, Soulless.”
Wait… Reggie has a kid? Pepper shook his head as he returned to his cage. He took a seat and tried to pay attention to the other matches. The reality was that he couldn’t. His mind started to worry over everything that could possibly go wrong with his golem. Both DJ and Sabrina won their matches, but both fights were nothing more than a blur to him.
“Pepper and Bryan, you’re up next. Pepper will be at alpha starting point, and Bryan, you’re on bravo.”
Pepper powered up his golem and gave it the follow command. The two exited their holding cages and he was given shouts of encouragement from Reggie, Sabrina, and the others nearby. He soon arrived at the alpha starting point and heard the announcer come on.
His stomach was in knots. He quickly grabbed hold of it as the sensation surged upward and he felt as if he was going to puke. He took deep breaths and swallowed. Come on, Pepper. Not now…
“All right, everyone, it’s time for our next bout. To the left we have Pepper, facing off against Bryan! Let’s give them a loud welcoming KBVS cheer!” the announcer proclaimed.
“Okay, kid, head into your starting position,” the assistant said.
Pepper began to walk forward, then took command of his golem and led it to its starting position. There was a small set of stairs off to his right, which led up to his gladiator platform. His command interface flickered and failed to display properly upon his arrival at the starting position.
No! Not now, you piece of crap. His right hand reached over, and he firmly tapped his fingers against the left bracelet of his 7 Seas Explorer. He hated the command interface, but it was the only option he could currently afford. The flicker ended and the display appeared as if nothing was wrong. He adjusted the controls quickly and saw his golem shift from side to side. Thank goodness… That’s the last issue I need to have right now. He saw his power level indicator tick away as the reading hovered just around 114 kW.
The announcer let out the final instruction to begin and the match started. The crowd was muffled to him. His eyes were focused on his opponent, who started to move towards him. Pepper’s power level started to rise, and his reader showed 175 kW with the energy rising quickly. He kept his golem in position in order to get the energy level to 315 as quickly as possible.
Bryan’s golem started to hesitate as it drew near. Pepper was sure Bryan was aware that he was up to something. His opponent now appearing to be far more cautious and more mindful of his game plan and how he’d utilize his tactical approach.
Pepper’s energy level hit 274 kW and he made his first movement. He commanded his golem to move into a side hop and followed that up with some more sidesteps. He quickly got a feel for his golem, and it seemed to move with the agility he’d been hoping it would.
Bryan countered his move and shifted to the opposite side. Bryan’s golem lifted his knee and started with a front kick. The attack missed completely and left Pepper believing it was more of an initial test rather than an attack—a way to judge the distance between the two golems rather than believing it would actually connect.
The two danced around and continued to counter each other’s movements. Pepper’s core energy level hit 305 and he started a punch attack sequence. His left hand reached straight ahead, and he continued to jab for another two punches. A quick shift after the volley and he finished with a large sweeping right haymaker.
Bryan’s golem was backpedaling and remained just barely out of reach of the strikes. Once Pepper had finished his attack sequence, Bryan tilted his golem back and started to lift its knee. Pepper read the golem’s movements as another front kick.
He reared his golem’s right hand back. The front kick started to come towards him, and he unleashed the right. His strike landed directly on his opponent’s leg and sent it crashing to the arena floor.
The countered force sent Bryan’s golem into a forward-leaning position. Pepper took advantage of his own momentum and twisted his golem around. His golem’s left elbow snapped around at the apex of the twist and cracked against his opponent’s head.
Bryan was able to backpedal to safety again, but not before a large crack rippled its way down his golem’s poorly shaped face. There was a roar from the crowd, but Pepper ignored it and continued to pursue his opponent. He commanded his golem to perform another side hop, but this time he tried a sweeping side kick.
Unfortunately, Pepper’s efforts failed miserably. He completely missed his target. His golem’s leg swept across from right to left and landed back on the arena floor. The dirt surface, however, was unwelcoming and his golem’s footing failed him.
His fighter looked like it was doing the splits in the middle of a combative match. Pepper frantically tried to regain control of his golem and get it back into a ready position. Bryan took notice of the situation and immediately went for another sweeping kick.
Pepper adjusted his golem at the waist and the kick flew over his fighter’s head with only inches to spare. He sighed in relief. A quick adjustment and he was able to get his golem to roll backwards and spring up into a leap.
The rapid movements and counter adjustments had drained his power core’s energy level, and he would have to get it to recharge in order to activate his energy strike rune. His strategy all along had been to land a massive rune-enhanced blow directly to Bryan’s chest area. The current situation left him thinking that his strategy may need to be adjusted.
Bryan started to approach from his right side. Pepper began to retreat, his power core’s energy building back up the entire time. He was able to read Bryan’s golem and felt his opponent was preparing to send another front kick towards him. He chose to act on his guess and dipped his golem down slightly at the waist.
Bryan’s golem started its kicking sequence and Pepper reacted. His golem lunged forward and caught the kick in the crook of its left arm. His golem stood upright and now had his opponent teetering back at a disadvantage. The crowd erupted with excitement, and Pepper’s power core level finally reached the 315 kW he needed.
He activated his energy strike rune and watched as the faint blue light glowed from his golem. Pepper sent the energy surging down into his golem’s right arm and commanded it to perform a forceful karate chop down on his opponent’s suspended leg. His golem’s strike shattered the leg where the quadricep would be. Bryan’s golem tilted slowly for a second and then fell, defeated, onto the arena floor.
“And the win goes to Pepper!” the announcer called out.