Today is the day. The day of three duels. And Honey is mostly dreading it, but she is also curious about what will happen. She already figured out something with Rocky, such as his high pain tolerance and his sadistic bow, so now she is wondering what she will find with the three nuisances from yesterday.

Honey enters the simulation room reserved for the duels in the Summit City Gym, and she is immediately greeted by Dr. Neda, who barely looks up from her pad when Honey enters the room. Frank is nearby, working on the simulation pods with a technician, too.

“Back again, are we?” says Dr. Neda.

“Yep. I’m ready to duel,” says Honey.

Honey goes by the doctor, and sees Astros, Petals, and Asmund are already there. They are dressed casually and talking among themselves. Seeing this, Honey goes to them and offers a confident smile.

“Good evening, lady, and gents. Are you ready for the duels?” says Honey.

All three look at her, and briefly forget how to move as they have different levels of shock.

“Hold on, are you dueling all three of us?” asks Astros.

“I am,” replies Honey.

“Three duels in consecutive order in the same day?”

“Yep.”

“Are you mad?”

“No.”

“She clearly is,” says Asmund.

Honey glares at him. “Am not.”

“Are too,” replies Asmund.

“Am not!”

“Are too.”

“Who cares?” says Petals. “She accepted the challenges, so let’s just duel so we can get out of here and grab nachos.”

Honey nods and points at Astros. “I believe you’re the first one.”

“I am. And I promise I’ll make it quick,” says Astros.

Dr. Neda gets between them, still clutching a pair of jumpsuits.

“Yes, we’re all amused by the banter, but please get in your jumpsuits so we can get these duels done before my lunch,” says Dr. Neda. She gives them their respective suits. “There you go, and there you go. Now, get changed.”

Honey nods, and she and Astros go to their dressing rooms and change into their jumpsuits. Once they are changed, they go to their respective pods, and Honey rolls her shoulders and neck before climbing in. Once inside, she takes a deep breath and relaxes as Frank puts the sensors on her.

“Comfy?” asks Frank.

Honey nods and flashes a smile, and Frank finishes strapping her down. Once she is secured in place, Frank puts the sensor cage over her and seals the pod. Warm colors from the sensors bring some illumination to the darkness, and soon the screen flashes above Honey’s eyes and with the familiar loading bars zipping by. Once the bars are finished, there is white light and Honey is standing outside in a lush forest, grass, and fluffy white clouds on a blue sky.

Honey looks around and scratches her head at the familiarity of it all, and she snaps to some birds that caw and fly away somewhere. But she doesn’t see any avians, so she goes back to scanning the area.

“Wow… Okay, I guess I’m getting this arena again,” says Honey.

She unslings Thor-Ton and turns the dial, bringing it to hum and glow, and she traverses slowly through the forest, keeping her eyes and ears peeled for any signs of Astros.

“Now, if I was a grumpy guy upset about a suit… where would I hide?” muses Honey quietly.

Then Honey’s vision snaps to darkness.

Honey’s eyes open and her simulation pod opens a few seconds later. When Frank frees her from its restraints, she climbs out and waits for Astros to exit his pod, and after he exits, she marches to him.

“What the hell was that!?” yells Honey.

“Don’t be mad. I told you it would be quick,” says Astros.

“But what was that!?”

“I shot you in the head.”

“With what?”

“My musket.”

“A… musket?”

“Yeah.”

Honey and Astros stare at each other in silence, and a few seconds pass before she raises her hand slightly and steps closer.

“A musket?” repeats Honey.

“Yes,” says Astros.

“… Can I see it?”

Astros looks at the clock, and then at Petals and Asmund. Asmund is too busy texting on his phone, but Petals also looks at the clock and studies it for a few seconds before looking at Astros.

“Go ahead. We have some time,” says Petals.

“Good.” Astros looks at Honey. “Let me change and I’ll show you Sparrowhawk.”

Honey grins and rubs her hands together as she and Astros go to their respective changing rooms. When they are back in their casual clothes, a security guard takes the pair to the armory and retrieves Astros’ musket. When Honey sees it, her eyes widen and her mouth spreads to an open smile. She is breathless at the weapon’s beauty. The dark wood is polished, and its large silver patch box has engraving of a red ringed planet; the dark metal is also well maintained, and there is a crosshair near the front that lines up with the rear sight, and a bayonet on a rail system. And there is a frizzen and cock style system almost directly above the trigger, which has a crank system next to it.

Astros takes the musket from the guard, and they are led to the shooting range, which is pocketed with various craters and shrapnel damage. Astros removes the bayonet from the weapon and sets it down next to him while humanoid shaped gel targets are lowered with various targets marked on them.

“I’ve never seen a musket like that before. Family heirloom?” asks Honey.

“Were you expecting a flintlock musket?” asks Astros.

“To be fair when you said musket, I was… You know… expecting a musket from the time muskets were a thing.”

Astros stares at Honey for a moment before his brows quirk and his head bobs in understanding.

“I can see that,” says Astros. “And for the record, my family does own a flintlock musket. A perfect replica used by King Louis the Eighth’s guards. But that kind of weapon isn’t suitable for our world, so it is more for show. This is why my family uses Sparrowhawk.”

Honey nods. “Nice. Very nice. Can I use Sparrowhawk?”

“Absolutely not. But you are free to watch.”

Honey frowns, and Astros primes Sparrowhawk by turning the crank near the handle. The weapon hums. He aims. And fires. There is a loud crack, and a gel target’s heart explodes. Astros cranks the lever on Sparrowhawk, and after the weapon hums again he shoots another target, striking it in the lung. Another crank, another shot, and a gel target’s arm is shot in half at the elbow. One more crank, aim, and fire, and a target’s head is blown to bits. After that, Astros opens the patch box and removes the battery. Then he turns to the guard and says, “I’d like to return this to the armory.”

The guard takes Sparrowhawk and Honey and Astros leave the shooting range. When they enter the hallway, Astros pulls out a receipt and holds it in front of Honey’s face.

“By the way, that’s for you,” says Astros.

Honey sighs heavily, snatches the receipt, and stuffs it in her pocket. “Fine.”

When Honey and Astros return to the simulation room, Petals is already in her jumpsuit and waiting by her pod. There is still some time left, but Honey decides to get changed, anyway. Honey and Petals exchange quiet hostile glances as Honey goes to the changing room. After she comes out wearing the jumpsuit, the two young women go to their respective pods, get locked in, and are brought into the simulation.

Honey’s eyes open and she takes a deep breath as she adjusts to the forest she has grown to loathe. The invisible birds chirp, the leaves rustle in the wind, and Honey draws Thor-Ton and runs to cover behind a thick tree. She presses her back against its bark and listens. She doesn’t hear much of anything at first, but then she hears faint running in the leaves.

She adjusts the dial on Thor-Ton, cringing when it hums and the light in the barrel glows bright. The running turns to a slide, and then stops. Honey peeks out, and quickly retracts when a piece of the tree is shot off.

Another shot strikes the tree, and Honey goes low and tilts out to fire a ball of energy in the general direction of the shots. The explosion tears apart one of the trees, and Petals runs out of cover, carrying a bulky rifle. Honey follows Petals and keeps shooting ahead of her, forcing Petals to swerve and seek shelter.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

With Thor-Ton smoking from the exhaust ports, Honey leaves her position and keeps her weapon trained in Petals’ general direction. She reaches a small dip and peeks down but doesn’t see her opponent. Honey frowns and sweeps the area but doesn’t see any signs of movement. Then multiple gunshots ring out, and hot lead rips into Honey. She screams and falls into the ditch with blood pouring from her arm, shoulder, and side.

Her hands tremble and she hobbles to cover behind a fallen tree as more gunshots crack the air, kicking up dirt and breaking off pieces of the fallen tree. Thor-Ton becomes slick with Honey’s blood as she ejects its battery and slips a new one in. Then she turns the dial up to maximum, making it glow bright and hum loudly. The air crackles and heats up around her, and she winces as she pushes herself to her knees, and she Petals aiming at her. The light and crackling energy from Thor-Ton’s barrel is blinding and disorienting, but they both shoot each other.

The bullets from Petals strike the tree and Honey’s torso, and Thor-Ton’s shot streaks towards the young woman’s position. There is blue explosion with its shockwave blowing off all the loose leaves, weak branches, and mulch, and dirt and burning splinters fly while the ground crumbles. The smoldering tree snaps and falls with a loud crash, pushing up more burning leaves and dirt. And Honey coughs as the smoke and dust rolls over her.

Blood now covers Honey, and she stumbles around before finding her footing. However, before she can search for Petals, a barb tipped whip zips out of the smoke, wraps around Thor-Ton and is yanked out of Honey’s hands, all in a span of two seconds. Honey barely registers what happens, but when the whip returns, she brings her arm up to block it. She winces as the barb digs into her arm, and then screams when she tugged to the ground. She gets a face full of burnt mulch, and she coughs and sputters as she pushes herself up with the taste of burnt leaves and bark lingering on her tongue.

But the whip is still on her, and another tug pulls Honey down, this time the barb rips her flash, and Honey shrieks in anger and pain as more blood gushes from her wound.

“What is up with you psychos!?” yells Honey.

She finishes with a growl, gets into the kneeling position, and grabs the whip. Then she tugs the whip while moving her trapped arm like a crank, wrapping the weapon around her. The sudden tug pulls Petals out of the smoke, leading to her face planting the ground. But she is still holding the whip, and Honey keeps wrapping it. Each cycle sharply tugs Petals closer to her, and Petals rolls to a crouch position and grits her teeth as digs her feet in the ground, trying to pull her whip free. The barb keeps digging into Honey’s flesh, now scraping against the bone, but Honey continues dragging Petals closer.

“You can let go anytime you want!” says Honey.

“Bite me!” snaps Petals.

Honey gives another sharp tug that pulls Petals off her feet again, and this time she lands considerably closer to Honey. Petals once again lands face first in the mulch, and even though she still holds the whip tightly, she is disoriented, and Honey pivots around her, presses her knee on her spine and puts her in a chokehold.

Petals gags and claws at Honey’s arm and the grass as she wiggles beneath her, and copious amount of blood drips off of Honey and trails the whip or lands on Petals.

“Do you yield?” asks Honey.

“No!” says Petals.

“All I have to do is squeeze a little bit harder and your neck will be crushed flat! Now yield!”

“No!”

Then Petals twists her body and awkwardly punches Honey on the side of the head, but while she does this, a blade shoots out from Petals arm and punctures Honey’s skull. Broken bone and blood fly, and Honey goes limp and falls off Petals.

Petals gets on her hands and knees, coughing and rubbing her throat, and Honey’s vision fades to black.

Honey’s eyes open while her pod’s lid is lifted, and she climbs out after she is freed from the pod’s hold. Petals steps out a moment later, and she rubs her throat as she looks at Honey. They are quiet as they approach each other, and when they are near toe to toe, Petals takes a deep breath and extends her hand. Honey is hesitant, but gives in to politeness and shakes her hand, being mindful of her enhanced strength.

“Good duel. Now I forgive you for ruining my date. And also, next time, just crush the neck. Don’t ask for a yield. That’s dumb. It’s a simulation. No one really gets hurt in them,” says Petals.

“Thanks for the advice. How long have you been modified?” asks Honey.

Petals pulls her hand away from Honey and inspects her hand, which Honey now notices thin lines and the skin tone being slightly different from her fair skin.

“Five years. My parents are still paying for the operation using a sixty-year payment plan, and the bill will be transferred to me on my twenty-third birthday. How about you?”

“Three years,” says Honey, withholding the part where Tobias paid for it all in lump sum.

Petals grins, and Astros walks up to the pair, now dressed casually.

“Nice,” says Petals. “Yours is definitely strength modification, but as much as I want to do more comparisons, I need to change and you have another duel coming up, so I’ll leave you alone.”

Petals hurries to the changing room, and Astros and Honey watch her until she is behind the door. Then Astros looks at Honey while Asmund comes out of the other dressing room wearing the jumpsuit.

“I take it you lost,” says Astros.

“I did,” says Honey. “I almost won, but I didn’t know Petals had a blade in her arm, so she caught me off guard.”

“She has more augments than that.”

“Really? Did her parents want a cyborg for war?”

Honey’s tone is light, but when she sees Astros’ serious expression, her countenance shifts to discomfort.

“Oh…” says Honey.

“Yeah,” says Astros. “I won’t tell you anymore. If Petals wants to tell you, she will.”

Before Honey can say anything else, Petals comes out of the dressing room with her casual clothes on. Her narrowed eyes lock eyes with Astros, and he stares back at her. After some seconds of silence, Petals rolls her eyes, reaches into her inner coat pocket, and pulls out a business card. She gives it to Honey, and she inspects it while Petals speaks.

“Here’s my card. If you want to chat about something Astros hasn’t spoiled or have a friendly lunch, contact me,” says Petals.

Honey briefly looks up from the card to offer Petals a smile. “Sure thing.”

Then Asmund approaches Honey.

“You lost two duels so far. I’m feeling generous, so I’m offering you a chance to back out,” says Asmund.

“Nope,” says Honey instantly, now looking around for a spot to put the business card.

Astros holds out his hand, and Honey gives it to him after some hesitation, all while Asmund shakes his head in disappointment.

“You’re being foolish. You’re clearly out of your league.”

“Hey, we agreed to a duel, and I’ll see it through. But if you’re scared…”

Asmund scoffs. “Absolutely not. I’ll see you in fifteen minutes.”

Fifteen Minutes Later…

Honey is in a forest for the fourth time, and she groans loudly and looks at the crisp blue sky and fluffy clouds.

“Seriously!? Are there not any other maps!?”

When nothing answers her, she sighs heavily, shakes her head, and starts walking. She stays close to the trees, but as she does this, she thinks about the past three matches. The only one that went horribly was Astros, but that was because he shot her brains out with a musket at a long distance. The other two went well until they got close to her. Rocky with his exploding arrows, and Petals with her combined whip and hidden blade. She also had a hard time seeing them move around, which this realization brings Honey to laugh irritably and bang her head on a tree.

“Of course! How could I have been so stupid!”

Honey bangs her head against the tree again, and then takes a deep, long breath, and exhales slowly. She does this a couple more times before she pulls away and runs her fingers through her hair. After that, she takes one more breath before unslinging Thor-Ton and turning her dial. The weapon hums and its barrel glows, and Honey walks through the forest, keeping her senses piqued.

After walking around for a few minutes listening and watching, and still nothing, she aims Thor-Ton, and fires in a random direction. The energy ball strikes a tree, causing it to fall over with its trunk splintering. And she runs to cover and slides by another tree and waits. Birds caw and fly away while smoke lingers, and the echo of the fall gradually fades.

A few more seconds pass, and she hears rustling nearby. She looks to the general area of the source, and stares at some shrubs. The shrubs shift a little bit, and she curses and rolls behind the tree as gunshots ring out. Pockets of the ground are kicked up and start smoldering. The smoldering turns to fire, and the fire spreads as more incendiary shots strike the tree.

Honey swears again, and runs out of cover, but she runs straight ahead, and jumps into a small dip and rolls down a hill as more incendiary rounds fly over her head, striking more trees and the ground. The pockets of fire gradually grow, and Honey deactivates Thor-Ton and holds it against her chest as she presses her back against another tree. Her hear races and her breathing is heavy as the smoke clogs her nose and lungs. This hot stinging sensation brings her eyes to water, and the crackling flames mask the footsteps crunching on the ground. However, she can still barely hear Asmund approaching her.

More shots ring out, and fire erupts on the ground next to Honey, and she takes a deep breath, and runs through the fire. The flames singe her clothes, and she ducks and weaves with more bullets flying past her. When Honey makes a large turn, Asmund leaps in front of her with his rifle slung on his back, and in his hand is a large saber-like blade with a flame emitting from its crossguard. He swings at her, and she ducks and rolls, and drops Thor-Ton in the process.

Asmund swings at Honey again, slicing her across the abdomen and burning her body and clothes with the flame.

Honey curses and staggers, and when Asmund goes for another swing, her blue lines pulse and her muscles react, allowing her to grab Asmund and throw him away. He rolls upon hitting the ground, but quickly recovers as Honey stumbles to Thor-Ton.

Asmund swings at her again, and Honey uses her weapon as a shield, cringing and stumbling back as each strike sends out sparks and flames and scratches her prized item.

The fire spreads around the pair, and Honey pants and trembles as her blood oozes out and stains her torn shirt and corset.

Asmund swings again, and Honey pivots and rams Thor-Ton into his side, making him stumble with her. But as the pair quickly recover their footing, Honey flips a switch on Thor-Ton while spinning on her feet to face Asmund. Time feels like it moves slower for Honey as the cannon’s lower body and trigger morph and click together to form a handle that Honey grips tightly while she faces Asmund. The cannon’s body turns into a hammer head, and small booster ports give the hammer extra speed as Honey strikes Asmund’s side. His torso explodes, sending his legs spinning away in one direction, and his shoulders and head flying away in another. A splash of blood, pulverized organs, and splintered bones soak the ground and nearby tree, and Honey slams her hammerhead on the ground with a loud thud and grins widely with blood dripping off her face body. Then she drops to her knees and pumps her fist while the fire pixelates around her.

“Yes! I did it!”

Then comes the black out.

Honey’s eyes open with the simulation pod’s lid is lifted, and after Frank releases her, she leaps out and cheers again. Bringing Astros and Petals to stare at her curiously while Frank releases Asmund.

“Yes! I did it! I finally won!” says Honey.

“You did. Good job,” says Dr. Nera.

Asmund is helped out of his pod, and he approaches Honey who is too giddy to notice him at first, but when she goes see him, her grin widens, and she extends her hand.

“Put it there! Good duel!” says Honey.

Asmund grumbles and extends his hand, and he winces as Honey shakes it vigorously. When she releases his hand, he seethes and massages it.

“Sorry about that,” says Honey. “I’m just excited that I finally won a duel! It only took me four tries, but I did it!”

“Yes… yes, you did,” says Asmund, still looking at his hand. “I might need an icepack for this one.”

“Frank. Ice pack,” says Dr. Nera.

Frank nods and goes to a first aid box hanging on the wall. He pulls out a blue bag and medical tape, crushes the bag’s contents in his hand and tapes the bag onto Asmund’s hand. But while this happens, Honey is still preoccupied with her excitement and energetic pacing, which gets a sliver of a smile from Astros and Petals.

“Like a kid at a carnival,” says Petals.

“Indeed,” says Astros.

“I can’t believe I won! I need to treat myself,” says Honey.

That is when Astros walks up to her and clears his throat, getting her attention.

“Well, I can’t say our duel was good due to me being a superior marksman, but Petals told me what happened in your simulation. It was a good fight,” says Astros.

Petals smiles thinly and nods, and Asmund walks next to Astros.

“Ours was decent, too,” interjects Asmund.

“So, how would you like to enjoy lunch with us?” asks Astros.

Asmund snaps to Astros. “What?”

Honey beams. “Sure!”

“No!” objects Asmund.

“Why?” says Astros, now looking at him.

“She tackled me in a pond, whacked me in half with a bloody hammer, and nearly crushed my hand!”

“The duels are over. Forgive and move on,” says Astros.

“Does the forgiveness include the cleaning bill?” asks Honey hopefully.

“No. You lost the duel; therefore, you still owe me that,” says Astros swiftly.

Honey’s posture sulks. “Darn.”

Petals goes between Honey and Astros and puts her hands on their shoulders. “Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I can really use those nachos now.”

Honey nods. “Nachos sound good.”

And with that the group leaves for nachos. After Honey and Asmund change out of the jumpsuits.