When Ava got into the ring, she raised her eyebrow a little. Her previous opponents had all looked like fighters, but not this girl. She was maybe five feet tall, tops, and seemed young- even younger than Ava, maybe thirteen or fourteen, in a knee-length black skirt and a matching button-up blouse. Something didn’t seem right here.

Sam was watching her from the outside of the ring, a look of confusion on his own face as if to confirm that something was off; he noticed Ava looking at him and gave her a thumbs up, as if to say “you’ve got this.”

The tournament announcer looked up, holding her microphone up and yelling into it as usual.

“And on the entrance side, finally, after we’ve waited so long for her, Ava Hidalgo, representing Lockheed Martin!” she shouted, sending the crowd into a tizzy. Some of them, angered by her lack of punctuality, were booing, but… most of them were cheering.

The bell rang, and Ava heard screaming inside her skull, sending agony through her as her ears rang and she doubled over to her knees.

Well, at least I’m fucking fully awake now, she thought to herself. The girl laughed, and Ava looked up. Wait, shit, she can hear me!?

What did you think “Mind Stalker” meant, exactly? Another person’s thoughts were ringing out in Ava’s mind. I’m not really the creative type, the girl thought for her.

Okay, I already hate this with every fiber of my fucking being, can we please just regular talk if we’re going to handle it this way? Ava thought.

Trust me, I would, Mind Stalker thought through Ava. But I’m gonna take a wild shot in the dark that you don’t speak a word of Korean, and I only speak a little English. This way, my Code translates for us. Mind Stalker was still smiling, standing over Ava as the latter remained on her hands and knees; the pain had stopped, but it was in Ava’s interest to pretend it hadn’t while they had their conversation. After all, nobody else knew what the hell her opponent was doing.

So, let me guess, you can see in here? All my memories and such? Ava thought to herself.

I mean… yeah, Mind Stalker thought through her. Again, kinda my thing.

I’m guessing that has a lot to do with why we’re talking this out and you’re not just killing me or trapping me in a nightmare world based on my worst memories, Ava thought.

Bingo, Ava could hear the internal voice say. I’m not stupid. That screaming? That was me keeping you occupied for a second while I went and took a look around to see what I was dealing with. I wasn’t expecting another kid, so you got my attention.

So, what’s your take? It’s been a lot lately, and I could actually use a little advice, Ava thought.

My advice: Sam’s cute, and he really likes you. You need to stop being wishy-washy about it and hang on to that boy for dear fucking life, Mind Stalker thought through her.

Jesus, I have shippers now, in addition to fans? Ava thought.

Is it really shipping if you kissed him and spent like four hours cuddling with him? Mind Stalker thought, raising an eyebrow and looking down. I mean, come on, that’s a ship that’s already sailed that you’re just not admitting to.

So you’re not killing me because you think my new relationship is cute? Are you joking with me right now? Ava thought.

No, I’m not killing you because you’re the first person I’ve been thrown at in this tourney who isn’t a monster, and who I can have just, like, regular-ass girl talk with. Cripes, the voice thought. Like, come on, this place is like the G1 Climax in the Tokyo Dome but for war criminals, and we’re the headlining acts. Consider the types of people we’re up against, for the most part; I’m just glad I’m up against someone normal who hasn’t destroyed any Afghani villages.

Well, I appreciate the gesture, Ava thought. But yeah, anything else?

That gets to reason number two why I’m not killing you, Mind Stalker thought. I saw what was in there about the tournament committee wanting you to kill Konstantinov, and I saw what happened to your friends. I know if I fuck with that in any way, Bad Things are gonna happen to me, whether it’s them killing me for getting in the way of the job or you killing me for getting in the middle of your vendetta, and it is in my best interest to not win this fight. But I need a way out that doesn’t involve you killing me. What’s your suggestion?

Ava stroked her chin for a second, and thought back to the fight she’d had with Wolf Rogan.

You mentioned the G1 Climax. You like wrestling? Ava thought.

Don’t love it, but I know a little New Japan, Mind Stalker thought. My big brother likes it.

You know how to sell a punch that doesn’t hit you? Ava thought.

I think I get the gist, Mind Stalker thought. Overreact like hell, try and send myself staggering and flying out of the ring, that sorta thing.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Perfect, Ava thought. I’m gonna sell a bit myself, so that you don’t have to do anything to make it look like a real fight, but then I’m going to throw a punch at you, with my Code, and pull it at the last second. Sell it like it hit you.

Got it, Mind Stalker thought, and Ava got up.

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From Sam’s perspective, what he saw was Ava thrashing around wildly, throwing punches at anything and everything. To his eyes, it looked like the fighter known as Mind Stalker had trapped her in some sort of hallucination, and the small Korean girl was giggling with an evil look on her face all the while.

He ran up to the side of the ring and started yelling, cheering for her to snap out of the hallucination, but was surprised when she looked directly at him and winked.

What the fuck is she up to? Sam thought to himself.

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Eventually, Ava’s thrashing came to a stop, and yelling like a maniac, she threw a punch directly at Mind Stalker’s face, pulling it at the last second just as promised in order to prevent it from making contact.

Mind Stalker, for her part, sold it magnificently, going flying out of the ring like a human football with a force that mystified even Ava.

Christ, girl, you have a potential career in this, Ava thought, hoping the girl was still hooked in enough to hear her.

The announcer counted to ten as Mind Stalker laid there like a dead fish, occasionally doing a full-body twitch for the sake of selling her supposed unconsciousness, and the bell rang, signaling the end of the fight. The Korean girl immediately picked herself up and patted the dust off of her body as the announcer lifted Ava’s arm.

“And our winner, yet again, Ava Hidalgo, representing Lockheed Martin!” the crowd roared, as Ava pulled her arm away and hopped down from the ring on the side where Mind Stalker had fallen.

Ava reached out to her to shake hands, in the universal gesture among showmen that indicates a worthy opponent; Mind Stalker reciprocated, and brought it in for a full-on hug.

“Thank you,” the girl said in heavily-accented English. Ava smiled.

You’re welcome, she thought. The Korean girl burst out laughing as Sam came running up to them, a look of absolute confusion on his face.

“So, this is the cute boyfriend! Introduce me,” Mind Stalker said, grinning, causing Sam to blush and nearly fall over from shock.

“Okay, Ava, you’re going to have to explain to me what the hell is happening, because I am… deeply confused right now,” he said, looking her directly in the eyes. “Wasn’t this girl making you hallucinate shit and punch the air a minute ago?”

“The too-long, didn’t read version is that she’s actually cool. She’s basically another kid who got dragged into this shit like us,” Ava explained. “She went in my brain and saw the whole mess we’re in, and decided she wasn’t getting in the middle of it, so we basically came up with a way where I could win and pass right by her without killing her.”

We’re friends now! Sam heard a feminine voice say in his head, loud and cheery, making him clutch the side of his head. Sorry, the voice added, sheepishly.

“Yeah, sorry about that, she only speaks a little English,” Ava said. “Her Code translates back and forth when she uses it on people, but that means she kinda has to… think through you, if that makes sense. It’s not the most comfortable at first, but you get used to it. Also, speaking of getting used to things, if you’re hearing her talk, she probably knows all your secrets.”

“So we have a new ally now, and she can do mind fuckery?” Sam asked. “Is that what I’m supposed to be getting from this?”

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Ava said.

Sam blinked for a second.

“Oh my God, we have this Konstantinov fucker in the goddamn bag!” he yelled, cheering, as he took one hand from both of the girls and dragged them into the concourse.

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The three of them sat at a table outside one of the food court stands in the concourse, Ava and Sam hungrily eating large hamburgers and Mind Stalker poking at a salad.

Swallowing a bite, Sam looked at the Korean girl.

“So, what’s your name, anyhow? Mind Stalker’s kind of a mouthful,” he asked.

“I’m sorry, my English bad,” she said, blushing with embarrassment.

Shit, sorry, he thought. What’s your name? Like, your actual name, not Mind Stalker.

Oh, my name! The unfamiliar voice in his mind rang back out. I’m sorry, I should have caught that.

“Soo-jin,” she said, out loud. Sam extended his hand to her over the table.

“It’s nice to meet you, Soo-jin,” he said to her as she shook his hand gently and delicately.

“Dude, I told you, she’s fucking dope,” Ava said to him. “So, uh… what do we do while we wait for the finals? It’s only like eleven, and the finals don’t start until three, so we’ve got a few hours.”

“I dunno, relax a bit, plan out our strategy?” Sam suggested. Soo-jin blinked, fairly lost.

We’ve got some time to kill before we need to be back, do you have any suggestions? Sam thought to her. She beamed and grabbed both of their hands, running towards the exit to the building as they followed.

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As the two exited the building, Soo-jin led them up the mountain path that led over the arena. It wasn’t a terribly difficult walk, but it was strenuous, and all three found themselves sweating before too long.

Eventually, Soo-jin stopped at a particularly wide spot with a bench, and sat down on it.

“See?” she asked, gesturing at the view. “Pretty!”

Ava looked over the fence, taking in the view of the Gulf of Mexico and the rest of Isla Refugia.

“Man, I wish I had some weed with me,” she said.

“Gotcha covered,” Sam said, fishing a grape-raspberry-flavored disposable vaporizer out of his pocket, taking a quick puff of it, and coughing before handing it to Ava, who did the same.

“I try?” Soo-jin asked, gesturing at it.

Hey, it’s okay, you seriously don’t have to work yourself that hard, Ava thought. We’re both cool with the thought communication thing.

I wanna practice, though, Soo-jin thought. My grades in English class are bad, and having a friend I can try to speak English with is nice. But yeah, can I try that? That shit’s super illegal where I live.

“Oh, sure, absolutely,” Ava said, handing it over. Soo-jin took a puff from it, coughed harder than either of the other two, and then immediately fainted.

Ava rushed to her side, holding her head up to keep it from hitting the ground too hard as she woke back up.

“Jesus, girl, are you okay?” she asked. Soo-jin smiled.

“I am okay,” she said. “I feel good.”

Ava looked up at Sam and started laughing.

“Holy shit, she’s stoned as fuck,” Ava said to him. Sam checked his phone and saw the time reading 2:50 PM.

“Oh, shit, we’d better start getting down,” Sam said. “What’s the plan for Maxim?”

“Well, ideally, I go in head on, punch him, and my Code is strong enough now that it cracks him open,” Ava said, walking down the path back to the entrance and carrying Soo-jin in a fireman’s carry. “Plan B is we take advantage of Soo-jin here. Have her pop into his mind and say hi, throw him off his game with some nightmare vision kinda stuff so I get an opening to do something.”

Sam was surprised. For once, Ava had a plan and was taking this completely seriously. What’s more, it was almost the same plan he had been thinking of from the moment he realized Soo-jin was an ally.

He looked up to check for flying pigs in the air.