“Period 3 has ended. All students, please proceed to your Break period.”
Calista stood from her desk, descending the steps to the classroom entrance. At first, Armory class was one of the more ‘boring’ Theory courses, but after a while, she realized, it was like a fighter’s fashion course. During the last rounds of the tournament, Versus finalists got to customize their own armor, without the need for their planet colors, and they could keep the armor as a souvenir of their career.
It was now her Break period. She’d taken more frequent rests, slept at a decent hour, and spent more time at the spa, regaining her previous beauty. With her new routine, her body was beginning to transform, too. Her sleep capsule was equipped with a compression blanket, which she used to relax her muscles and recover from the effects of her sudden routine change.
She’d gotten used to sweating, as Lisa White had advised her, and her muscles were getting harder and tougher. Her strength had increased well enough, though her pain tolerance remained an issue. It was a challenge, having bruises on her body after Combat classes, small as they were.
Calista entered the gym and powered on one of the many CDSims available. She had to work on her pirouette kick. It wasn’t common to incorporate ballet into fighting, but it wasn’t nonexistent, either. The girl was determined to revive the lost art of dance fighting.
The CDSim beeped red as she tried to follow the hologram. She was only 5% off the accuracy. The complicated spin would disorient her, making it hard to aim properly, and her leg wouldn’t stretch out in time.
“Hey, human, cut it out! You’re distracting us!”
She turned, seeing a familiar Paeseoan girl across the room. Wasn’t she in her Teamwork class? Hillary Kaye, if she remembered correctly.
“Don’t let anyone intimidate you,” Harrison would tell her. “That’s a key point in fighting. We try to make ourselves ‘bigger’ than our opponents. If they growl at you, growl louder. If you get all shy, you’re letting them know you’re weak and easy prey.”
With her Student Coach’s advice in mind, the Earthian girl ignored Hillary, returning to her repetitive training.
“I’m talking to you, Earthian!”
Her heart quivered, not wanting any confrontation, but she stood firm. As much as it scared her, if she had to defend herself, she would.
Her guard rose when she heard footsteps approaching. She continued her exercises, as if the other girl didn’t exist.
“Hey. I told you to cut it out.” Hillary now stood next to her.
“Why? I’m training. That’s what the gym is for,” Calista retorted, keeping her eyes forward.
“You’re distracting everyone around you.”
“Isn’t there a lot of noise in game maps? Like, the Chaos Rounds? Those are loud, right? So does it distract you?” She grunted as she kicked again.
“Don’t try to be a smart-code with me.”
“You came up to me. I’m training, okay?”
After a few beats, Hillary walked over to the computer and turned off the program. Calista sighed, vexed, and pushed down any rising fear in her stomach. She turned the program on again.
“You’re wasting space for a fighter who deserves to be here.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it all. I don’t deserve my position here, someone else should be in this school instead of me, blah, blah, blah. Heard it all already.”
“Clearly, you don’t know how to follow advice.”
“No, I don’t know how to listen to virus-heads.”
She gasped as her foot suddenly flew off the floor, landing on her back. The impact caught the attention of other students around them. Calista sighed again, carrying a bit of resignation. It seemed that this would end in a fight, after all. She stood and faced the Paeseoan, who was just about her height.
“Hill, are you done?” The Hajjian man from the cafeteria approached. What was his name…? Bark?
“I shut her up now. We can train properly.” Hillary smiled smugly, tossing her blue ponytail.
“About time.” Bark glared briefly at the human girl.
“Or you guys can train somewhere else where there’s no noise.” Calista got into position to resume her training.
“So you didn’t get my message.” Hillary turned off the CDSim once again and got in Calista’s face. “We are training. You are wasting time. Go to your room and live your fantasy without annoying the rest of us.”
The close proximity of the woman roused Calista’s anger. She flattened her hand on Hillary’s face and shoved her harshly. Bark quickly reacted, shoving Calista to the floor.
“What? She was in my face,” Calista retorted, standing up. She hid her hands behind her so she could twiddle her fingers. Her heart pounded with adrenaline and her legs were tempted to carry her out of the gym to safety.
“Okay. You want to train, human?” Hillary pulled Bark aside. “AIDA, initiate a personal combat ring. Hillary Kaye and Bark Davies versus… Cheater’s student. Whatever her name is.”
“Acknowledged. Initiating sanctioned personal combat sequence: Bark ‘Savage’ Davies and Hillary ‘Gravity’ Kaye versus Calista Medley.” A square highlighted around them and students hurriedly rushed to the sidelines to watch, their AIDA bands and Pets at the ready.
“Wait, what?” Calista looked around, panicked. She tried backing out of the square, but was pushed back in by the barrier.
“Hillary, we don’t have time for this,” Bark groaned unenthusiastically.
“She should know the consequences, shouldn’t she?” Hillary cracked her knuckles. “If she’s such a tough fighter, she should have no problem sparring with us.”
“Kelha, I don’t feel like feeding into your personal-”
“It’s too late now. How will it look if you turn down a fight against a pathetic Makakian like her?”
“You did not just call me a Makakian,” Calista snapped. “And how is this fair? Two versus one?”
“Are you scared?”
Calista’s fists clenched and her teeth gritted. She was trapped now. All she could do was her best. Bark didn’t seem that excited, but he rolled his eyes and got into a fighting position, along with his girlfriend, and they circled around the Earthian girl.
Calista noticed Bark was crouched down low, like a predator ready to pounce. Hillary had her arms protecting her chest, her legs spread out widely. Calista wasn’t familiar with either of these styles. She took a basic fighting position, recalling Harrison’s words: “Evaluate your opponent’s style so you know which style to use yourself.”
Bark struck first with a calculated punch. Calista evaded, but then had to weave to the side to avoid Hillary’s foot. She lost her balance momentarily, allowing Bark to trip her. Thankfully, she rolled to her feet instantly, having ingrained that in her muscle memory.
Hillary struck next, aiming a knifehand at her throat. Her sharp nail just barely grazed Calista’s neck, leaving a small cut behind. She followed up with a high kick, hitting Calista’s chin. Her head snapped back and she fell on her rear. She cradled her jaw in her hand, dizzy from the impact. She heard a collective chuckle from the formed audience.
“Tired already, human?” Hillary taunted.
“In your dreams.” She stood, raising her fists again.
As the fight escalated, the gymnasium filled with more students, including Student Coaches and other Favorites. Calista stayed on defense, trying to find an opening, but focusing on both was hard. Being a couple, they naturally worked well together. After a few minutes, she was running out of energy.
Hillary flew into a strange kick that completely caught the human girl off-guard. She grunted as her head snapped to the side, her neck aching, and she landed harshly on the floor. Bark approached and grabbed her arms, twisting them behind her to hold her down. Hillary smiled eagerly and moved to kick her face.
“Hill!”
“What?”
“Don’t do that.” Bark hardly struggled, his strength incomparably greater than Calista’s.
“Why not?”
“Do you want us to get reported? You know what will happen if we do.”
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“It’s a spar. They won’t-”
“Hill, I’m not taking chances. Just fight clean for me, please.”
Calista couldn’t help the curious perk of her ears. She grunted, her face flattened on the mat, and scanned the crowd for a helpful face.
“You have to move. Be conscious of every inch of your body. Know what weapons you have available. Your body is your weapon.”
She couldn’t move her arms, her head, or her-
Her legs were free.
With a grunt, she kicked her heel into Bark’s rear full force. He gasped, his grip weakening. Calista pulled out with all her strength and got to her feet, albeit clumsily.
“You’re babying the girl!” Hillary snapped. “What, do you like her or something?”
“What?! Hillary, I-” He groaned when Calista threw a kick to his stomach, but wound up striking lower than intended. The Earthian’s hands went to her mouth as Bark fell to his knees.
“Oh-my-God, I’m so- aah!” She dodged a swipe from the Paeseoan girl. She tried pulling her opponent by the wrist, but this only propelled her forward, allowing her to headbutt her. With a cry, Hillary threw Calista back on the mat and kicked her a couple of times.
The human panted, coughing lightly. The crowd was now rowdy, many shouting for Hillary to ‘finish her’, as ominous as it sounded. To Calista’s surprise, there were students rooting for her. It was as if the spectators had divided throughout the fight.
Bark stood, recovering from the earlier kick. His face was now dangerously dark and his blood-red skin sizzled with rage. “Nowhere left to run, human.”
Calista looked up at her two enemies. She stood, backing against the wall. The wall… a hard, firm surface. That would help. If only she had another weapon…
“You know, I could help you out if you just let me,” Lindsay piped up.
She paused. Duh.
“Play something for me,” she whispered.
“What?”
“You pick.”
A cover of an electro-pop song played in her ears. She glared at Hillary, trying to hide a smile. “Come on, glitch.”
The woman growled and charged forward. Calista stepped out of the way, giving her a shove into the wall. She didn’t wait this time, immediately kneeing her in the stomach.
Bark’s strong arms came around her from behind, locking her arms behind her head so she couldn’t use them. She panicked momentarily, pressing her feet down. Realizing she had momentum, she kicked against the floor, following Bark as he dragged her backward. He gasped as they both fell, her weight pressing on his chest. It wasn’t enough to incapacitate him, unfortunately.
Bark’s forearm pressed against Calista’s throat. While she could breathe, it was a tight squeeze, enough for her survival instincts to kick in. She grabbed his arm and pulled down, but couldn’t stop him. He flipped her face-down and squeezed hard.
What’s your move?
She poked her long fingernails into his eyes as the beat dropped in her ears. He exclaimed, reflex tears spilling, and loosened his grip. Calista pushed off the mat and flipped over so Bark could land on his back. She elbowed him in the face and rolled off, gasping for breath.
For the first time, she was thankful she’d skipped a mani-pedi.
Hillary chose to intervene and engaged in hand-to-hand moves, punching and striking wherever she could. Calista followed the fast-paced rhythm of the song until it suddenly changed to a slower-paced pop rock track.
Her rhythm broke and a bruise formed on her cheek, then her lip. She leaned backwards, dizzy, and the barrier pushed her back to her feet, forcing her to continue.
“What did you do?!” she told Lindsay.
“You can’t have the same rhythm, remember? I’m helping you!”
“Help me out by doing something!” The distraction allowed Bark to punch her in the face. She growled in frustration and struck his throat, then scratched at his cheek. “Stop touching my face!” she shouted.
“Oh, trust me, your pretty face is the least of your worries.” Hillary blew her blue hair out of her eyes.
“You have to tell me to attack, otherwise, I’ll stay sitting here.” Lindsay huffed as she detached from Calista’s belt, her wings turning into helicopter rotors. She spun around Hillary at high speed, distracting her. “Hit her!” she yelled as her rotors smacked Hillary’s face.
With the slightest hesitation, Calista punched her. Lindsay’s rotors turned back into wings, which elongated and strengthened to wrap around Bark’s arm and pull him to the floor. He grunted, annoyed, and summoned his own Pet, which slammed into Lindsay with explosive force. The music in Calista’s ears stopped.
“Pathetic.” Bark stood and swept Calista’s feet, pinning her to the floor again. She was exhausted. She wasn’t sure she could take this any longer. If they attacked again, she would surely be beaten to death.
“Alright, that’s enough.” The crowd parted, letting a coach through. “The AIDA bell is about to ring, so clear out. This fight is over.”
“It’s not over,” Hillary protested. She stood, holding her bleeding nose, which was covered in green. “It was barely five minutes!”
“You’ve been fighting for 15 minutes,” the coach corrected her. “I was supervising. When I say it’s done, it’s done.”
The AIDA bell then dinged. “Break period has ended. All students, proceed to your Period 4 classes.”
The crowd grumbled in disappointment as they cleared the gym. Bark let Calista go, shoving her as he stood, and summoned his Pet back to his belt. He arrogantly scoffed at the girl and went to help his girlfriend, who continued ranting.
Lindsay was slightly broken as she retreated into Calista’s belt. “Well, you just made Savage and Gravity your enemies,” she said. “You gave them a good run. They underestimated you.”
“I don’t want to fight them again,” Calista breathed.
“Just keep doing what you’re doing and practice. You have to get used to sudden cha-anges.” Her voice glitched out. “O-okay, I’m going into sleep mo-ode. You can access m-me in about an ho-our.”
Calista exhaustedly stood, still a bit dizzy, and headed to her Battle Tech class.
===
“Dalirena. Are you coming in?”
“Just one minute.”
Dalirena’s glassy black eyes regarded the night sky. She had such a perfect view of the Washington D.C. skyline from her balcony. In the distance, she could see the numerous trees hiding the Fistborn Academy campus.
Ruhirians carried a large weight on their shoulders. They were meant to be messengers of God to all members of the Utopia, no matter what species. He would grant them the privilege of peeking ahead and saving people from danger or bad decisions. They weren’t supposed to outright tell people what would happen in these visions, but they would drop hints, warnings, and choices wherever they could.
Unfortunately, with that power came greed and arrogance. Dalirena had fallen into the former of these, thinking she could make an extra digit off of the gift she had. She sold visions to hundreds of people, on many different planets. After the Ruhirian Planet Seers discovered her betrayal of the code and their purpose, she and her family were banished from their planet to Earth for nine Ruhirian years until she would amend her mistake. Herself, her sister, and her mother.
For a year on Earth, she’d refrained from sharing visions. Her punishment was to not have any at all during the first six months, which was quite unbearable. It brought her a sense of unease and worry. She’d followed the conditions of her banishment, kept every promise, protected her family.
Even then, their planet still wouldn’t take them back. It had been five Earthian years since they were banished— 15 years in Ruhirian time. They had long exceeded their sentence, yet they weren’t allowed past their planet’s atmosphere. They wouldn’t forgive her, no matter what she did.
So she kept going. She feared the impact this would have on her soul, the consequences this dangerous, illegal business would bring on her and her family. But Ruhirians didn’t have a lot to live for on Earth. It was the largest source of income she had for them; otherwise, they would starve to death on a foreign planet.
Her sister would never know her secret— hopefully. They were close, but there was that underlying resentment and mistrust, reminding Dalirena of what she did. If she ever found out about her continuing her business… she would never forgive her. For now, she thought she was teaching Ruhirian languages to Earthian residents.
Misusing her gift would cost her one day. It would bite her back, corrupt her soul. But the more Dalirena continued, the deeper she sunk into the void.
“Isa, come on,” her sister, Pustani, beckoned. “It’s going to rain.”
“I’ll be right in.”
Closing her eyes, she let her vision eye open. The golden iris glowed in her forehead. Her mind fell into a state of tranquility, her soul pulsing. She could feel herself getting closer to God.
She now saw time fast-forwarding, the movement of the city bustling and the sun and moon flying across the sky.
Then, she saw her.
Nylon black hair, emerald eyes, a perfectly Thinned waist. But now… she looked different. Stronger. Her body was tougher than before.
The vision then transformed, showing the human girl in a combat suit, but the colors were off. It looked like a mix of the academy and planet colors. It was as if it were unclear whether she would make the Earth team or not.
Dalirena felt herself traveling backwards on the timeline, now seeing the girl’s sister, the one with matching eyes, but blonde. She was crying, sitting in a corner. She looked dirty and tired, maybe beaten. There was an aura of danger and fear around her. What was this? How did it connect to Calista’s fight?
She gasped, shot forward again. Now, she saw Calista running with… a boy? Curly brown hair, blue eyes… that was Harrison Smith.
She returned to the scene of Calista’s fight. The girl punched and kicked with the grace of a ballet dancer. Her opponent still managed to subdue her, grabbing her by the neck and holding her over what looked like… a pit of some sort. Dalirena couldn’t tell. It had lava at the bottom— a volcano?
The opponent’s face was shaded, but she caught a glimpse of sapphire blue eyes staring intensely at Calista. The girl herself looked terrified, staring at them with tears. The vision blinked, cutting to Calista falling into the pit of lava. Dalirena could feel the sharp blade of death nicking at her throat. As the vision faded, she could hear various screams, many desperately shouting familiar names. The feeling of death and danger got heavier.
Her vision eye stopped glowing and closed, returning her mind to the real world. She panted, overwhelmed from the wild travel through time. The thrusting back and forth had made her dizzy and nauseous. Her visions didn’t often do that; usually it was linear, showing snippets of events in order. This one was very unclear, confusing, and unorganized.
Realizing what she saw, she covered her mouth. One thing she understood: letting that girl into the academy was a fatal mistake. It was her doom.
She ran inside, heading to the office. Pustani was there, browsing on an AIDA screen. She exclaimed when Dalirena shoved her out of the seat and logged on.
“What is your problem?!” Pustani yelled in their native language. She huffed and dusted herself off.
Dalirena stopped, realizing she would be outed if she used her own AIDA. She ran down to the front door.
“Where are you going?”
“I’ll be back!”
She needed to warn Lisa and get the human girl out of that school. Whatever happened during the Versus, it obviously meant danger for her, and possibly her family, or even the other students at the academy.
She scrambled out of her Air-Car and ran into the alleyway. She stopped in front of a glitchy door.
“Pass-s-word?”
Dalirena spoke a word in her Ruhirian language. She was granted access. She rushed to one of the available stations, using her secret account to message Lisa.
“Lisa, get that girl out of the school. Whatever you do, do not let her compete. It is a life or death situation. Do whatever you can; expel her, frame her… even if it is an unjust reason, just get her out-”
An alarm sounded and the screen shut off before she could finish. The other patrons grumbled, annoyed by the interruption.
“Wa-arning. SECURE officer breach. Warning. SECURE offi-icer breach.”
Dalirena cursed. She wasn’t cautious enough. She exited to the back, where all the other law-breakers were converging to escape. But SECURE seemed to have predicted that, barring their way when they opened the door.
“You are under arrest,” the SECURE bot said. “Crime or crimes committed: Piracy, bootlegging, fraud, digit laundering, hacking.”
Dalirena was quick to run out and try to find another exit. She couldn’t tell SECURE about the vision without outing herself as a criminal. They would all be done for.
Thankfully, she found a trapdoor leading to the abandoned underground tunnels. It was a very treacherous path, but she couldn’t use her Air-Car or be seen returning home. She’d already exposed enough in her desperate run to contact Lisa.
She would have to find another way, and soon. If she saw that girl in the Versus, she would surely get on the team. She needed to break her vision before it was too late.