Exiting meditation, Kyle felt a little better about his circumstances, though he still had a general sense of frustration and unease. Am I being an idiot? He didn’t think he was, though he couldn’t help but feel that he should have asked more questions, gotten more information. There was still so much he didn’t know about D Grade, saying nothing about the state of the wider universe. He stretched as he got up, and was about to ask C.H.A.D.D. for its thoughts before a loud pounding on his door made him jump.

Looking at his nav bracelet, he saw that the message he’d missed earlier was from Skippy, and he had three more that were sent after. Opening the door, he was unsurprised to see the diminutive grey alien – Skrell – tapping its foot on the other side.

“Chester told me you weren’t on mission today. I want to spar. I’m going to break that shield if it’s the last thing I do.”

“Good to see you, Skippy. I’m afraid I’m not particularly in the mood right now, maybe we can – “

“No, we’re going now.”

With that, a four-fingered hand grabbed Kyle by the forearm, dragging him out of the room.

“Skippy, I’ve got a lot on my mind right now, I don’t think that this is a great idea.”

“No better way to process than with a good fight. Already got the training room set up. People are going to watch. It’ll be fun.”

“Skippy, I don’t want to spar right now.”

“That’s too bad. I do. It’ll be really boring for everybody there if I win without you putting up a fight.”

Kyle was starting to get a bad feeling.

“Why would it matter if it’s boring? It’s sparring. It’s not supposed to be exciting.”

At that, Skippy grinned, showing lines of sharp teeth.

“It’s not every day E Grades get to watch D Grades go at it. From what I understand there’s quite a crowd waiting.”

Kyle groaned internally. He didn’t want to fight Skippy. He had one more shot.

“Skippy, we both know you’re stronger than me. There’s no point in me fighting with you, or Duroc for that matter. Why don’t you spar with him?”

“Duroc is boring. I know how to deal with him. I don’t know how to break your shield.”

Kyle was surprised to hear the Skrell describe the other D Grade alien as boring, but looking at the expression on the grey alien’s face he didn’t see a hint of bravado or boastfulness. From what Kyle could tell, Skippy genuinely felt like a fight against Duroc wouldn’t be interesting. Resigning himself to his fate, Kyle asked one more question as they walked down a set of stairs towards the training area. “How long have you and Duroc known each other?”

Skippy thought about it for just a moment before responding.

“We met about five cycles ago, about four of your years, but didn’t start working together until three cycles ago, right after I broke into D Grade.”

“How did you meet?”

“Story for another time. We’re here.”

The duo walked through a large set of metal doors, beyond which was a training facility nearly fifty meters long and almost as wide. There was a variety of different equipment, the majority of which looked to be sized for humans. Kyle did note several smaller pieces, which he assumed were for the little green aliens. He still wanted to learn more about them, though he expected he wouldn’t get much of a chance with his spar coming up.

In the center of the facility, a large circle was clear of equipment and sealed off with transparent glass. It had the telltale look of an arena, and the crowd milling around it made it clear to Kyle this is where they were supposed to fight. There were around fifty people surrounding it, and he recognized several faces in the crowd. Many of the men and women from his last expedition had joined, and he was surprised to see both Rochelle and Chester among them, chatting quietly with each other. Spotting him walking with Skippy, both of them approached.

Rochelle spoke first.

“You’re full of surprises, Mayhew. Didn’t think you’d be spending your day off getting the stuffing beaten out of you.”

“Captain Rochelle, I’m sure that our friend here will show enough restraint not to seriously injure Mr. Mayhew. Isn’t that right, Skierepallix?” Chester’s voice carried a warning, which Skippy seemed to pick up.

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“Of course, foreman. Just a friendly test, that’s all.”

Skippy gave an encouraging smile and slapped Kyle on the back.

“We’re just having a bit of fun, I’m sure everybody will enjoy it. I’m going to make sure it’s set up properly.” With that, Skippy left to go discuss something with a small green alien standing in front of a series of panels. When he left, Rochelle turned to him.

“I take it this wasn’t your idea?”

“Absolutely not.”

Frowning, she looked at Chester.

“Then why did we gather people here at all?”

Chester gave Kyle a quick, sad smile before looking back to Rochelle.

“I think it will be good for all parties involved. Given the crew’s feelings towards Skierepallix and Duroc, I find it would be beneficial for them to see those two in a different light. It’s also a chance to build some credibility for Mr. Mayhew before the next departure.”

Rochelle frowned, even as she nodded.

“Good luck in there, Mayhew.”

She and Chester returned to the crowd, and Kyle walked up to where Skippy was standing with the green alien.

“Are you ready?” Skippy asked, trying, and failing, to keep the grin off his face.

“Before that, sir, do you have any environmental requests? I can’t slant the training arena too much in any direction, but I can add any features you need to use your skills.”

Kyle shook his head.

“This will be fine. I don’t suppose my weapon or armor are available?”

The green alien tossed a sharp look at Skippy, whose grin suddenly turned sheepish.

“I may have… forgotten to tell you to bring them. We can go get them though if that’s a problem!”

Kyle sighed and shook his head.

“It’ll be fine. Not like they’d do much against you other than get broken.”

With that, he stepped into the arena.

The air inside was dry and cool, all the sounds of chatter outside instantly faded. He walked to one side of the arena, while Skippy walked to the other. The two stood about ten meters apart, eyes fixed on one another. The sound of a bell tolled through the dome, and Skippy immediately attacked, flames wreathing his hands.

Kyle instantly activated HASTE and dodged back, narrowly avoiding a flaming strike.

“I told you I want to break your shield! Use your shield!”

It was Kyle’s turn to smile.

“That’s not how sparring works and you know it! If you want to see it, make me use it!”

While he knew he would have to use STORM SHELTER sooner or later, he got far more satisfaction than he should by not simply using the skill as his opponent wanted him to. Skippy rose to the taunt, speeding up with each movement until Kyle couldn’t easily keep up, even with HASTE active. Definitely a D Grade mobility skill, he thought, impressed by the acceleration. Kyle had one more thing he hoped to try before he was overwhelmed, and he attacked Skippy with an open-palm strike, trading it for a heavy blow from the Skrell.

It was only for a second, but RESONANCE was able to activate and connect. Kyle didn’t try to do any internal damage, though he was easily able to shift the movement of mana in Skippy’s body enough to disrupt the skills he was using before Kyle was thrown away. The return strike that landed blasted Kyle nearly to the edge of the arena, and he was relieved that Skippy wasn’t pursuing. He’d have a nasty bruise from the impact, and he didn’t relish the idea of taking more strikes like that if the Skrell followed-up.

Skippy was looking thoughtfully at his hands, which were no longer wreathed in flames. He stood like that for a couple of seconds, as if trying to process what happened to his skill. Looking at Kyle, he approached, this time more cautiously.

“You’re weird. You’re really weird.”

With that, his skills all blazed to life once more as he charged. It was time.

Kyle activated STORM SHELTER. BOOM! The echoing sound of Skippy’s strike against the shield echoed inside the arena, followed quickly by more strikes. Soon, a rolling thunder rumbled through the area as Skippy’s attacks became faster, more ferocious. For his part, Kyle analyzed his skill. It took quite a bit of mana to use, but once it was up and running, it didn’t put a consistent drain on his resources. He could feel that the construct wouldn’t last indefinitely, and he had something he wanted to try.

Placing a hand against the interior of the barrier, he activated RESONANCE. It didn’t feel like it did when he connected to a living being, as it was his own mana that created the shield. Instead of being swept up in a river and having to wrest control, Kyle was the river, allowing his energy to flow into the reservoir that was the skill.

Skippy’s endless attack hadn’t let up, and small cracks were beginning to form in the barrier. As Kyle connected to the skill and put more mana into it, however, the cracks began to mend. It was nowhere as efficient as it was simply using the skill, but Kyle wasn’t complaining. In the span of moments, the cracks were mended, leaving Kyle standing inside the barrier and Skippy still trying to smash through. Seeing that he couldn’t break through this way, the Skrell hopped back and tilted its head, looking at the barrier thoughtfully. Kyle hoped that would be the end of it, until he saw the grey form hold out one of its hands.

Kyle’s Auric Perception felt mana condensing around it, and in many ways he was reminded of the energy that had whisked Valentine away after their encounter. Skippy was visibly straining now, barely containing the energy held within. He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up as he felt energy build behind him. This is bad. Kyle released his connection to STORM SHELTER and hit the ground as Skippy took a step forward and punched.

Kyle saw the alien’s hand disappear into a portal, as a similar portal opened up right behind where Kyle had been standing, the fist punching out of it. Another portal opened right above Kyle’s head, and he rolled out of the way in time to dodge another strike, then a third. He saw his opponent panting as he threw one more punch.

This time, four different portals opened up around Kyle, each impossibly projecting Skippy’s fist through it. Kyle dodged one but was struck three times with a powerful punch, once in the face and twice in the body. He landed hard on the ground, and could taste the iron of blood in his mouth. Skippy looked worse for the wear, too. His body was several shades paler than before, and he looked unstable on his feet. STORM SHELTER came to an end, and an announcement played across the arena.

“THE MATCH IS CONCLUDED. PLEASE STAY WHERE YOU ARE. MEDICAL STAFF WILL ARRIVE TO EXAMINE YOU BEFORE ASSISTING WITH YOUR EXIT.”

He looked at Skippy, who returned his look with a grin.

“Good fight. You win. For now.”