The team teleported to California the morning of January 20th. Once they arrived, a Versus triple-decker Air-Bus took them all to the Arena in LA.
Calista only remembered the huge cylinder holding all the various battle maps and areas shown on the Versus HARP channel. She didn’t realize that the ‘Arena’ was the entire area. Multiple buildings surrounded the cylindrical building, one boasting the American flag.
The main building had the world flags decorating the outer wall, even more than the 32 countries participating. They were probably from the countries that regularly participated, including those that didn’t qualify for the current preliminary competition.
She stared out at the city in admiration and awe. LA was a lot more beautiful than she ever imagined. Even the virtual visits didn’t do it justice. And the festive, bustling environment of the tournament made it even better. People milled around the Versus Arena, blocked off by invisible barriers, waving flags and projecting freeze shots of their favorite fighters.
To her shock, she saw a group of girls at the front who… reminded her of her old friends. They couldn’t be older than 15. The way they dressed and fangirl-squealed was so… Socializer-like of them. One of them projected a freeze shot of Harrison, screaming like a banshee.
Ah. Of course.
Before, Calista never watched the Versus, not even to look at handsome male fighters. The SociaLights wouldn’t support it in the least. Everyone in that competition was a murderer in their eyes, even though no deaths occurred in the Versus.
In her Versus History course, Calista learned of many accidents and injuries that did end fighters’ careers, even with the technology they had. There were very few that were injured so severely on purpose, and those responsible would be charged accordingly. Thanks to the constant modifications to the armor, they were able to prevent deaths so far.
“Hey, Medley, there’s your crowd,” a voice commented behind her. She turned, seeing Hillary smirking at her from the other row of seats. “You don’t want to give your friends a hello? They might want to know how GP it is to be around Harrison all the time.”
She rolled her eyes, ignoring the snickering. She hoped she got another opportunity to kick the glitch out of her. She would have to train a lot harder, though. Hillary had treated her like a child’s game, severely underestimating her skill. Now that she knew Calista was serious, she would be a lot more prepared.
The Air-Bus stopped in front of one of the many lanes leading into the building, this one assigned to ‘Team USA’. Lisa turned to the students, standing at the front of the bus. “Student Coaches will line up and file out. Favorites come next, in order of Guild. Same goes for non-Favorite Guild members. The rest of you will file out in order of rank.”
Harrison lined up behind all 9 of his comrades. After a few moments, they were directed to disembark the Air-Bus. Calista grew nervous when the cheers outside, muted by the soundproof walls of the vehicle, grew more intense. Through the one-way window, there were scores of reporters, flying Pets, and lights waiting for them. Some Pets flitted to the window, trying to get freeze shots inside, but they wouldn’t be able to see through.
The team was dressed in their brand-new USA combat suits. They wouldn’t be using them today, but the entrance to the Arena always had the suit presentation. They were all in blue and red, the USA flag on their shoulder pads. Guild members didn’t have their patches on anymore; instead, they had a badge on the right. Favorites had an additional, smaller badge below.
The more people walked out, the worse Calista felt. With all the backlash surrounding her, she wasn’t sure how they would receive her. No one truly knew how hard she’d worked in the academy, and the reporters had pretty negative opinions about her making the team.
“Here.” Lílitha held out a glass with strange brown liquid.
Calista took it hesitantly. “What is it?”
“Panic tonic. You look like you’re about to die.”
“Oh. Um… AIDA, could you make that a raspberry flavor, please?” she asked.
The liquid turned pink and Calista gulped it down. She took a breath and tried to calm her shot nerves. Looking at Lílitha again, the little woman was staring at her with slight ridicule.
“What?”
“Does everything have to be pink with you?” she said.
“The regular one is uber-nasty. I can’t drink that.”
Lílitha only shook her head. “Alright. Anyway. When you get out there, please do not model, pose, or flirt with any of the Pets. Just keep your eyes forward, ignore the reporters, and look casual.”
“So candid shots only?”
“Exactly. No posing or anything. This is not a runway or a Miss Milky Way red carpet. Okay?”
Calista scoffed. “For your information, Lílitha, I’m not always looking for attention. I’m not as vain as you think I am.”
“Calista, I have seen you check yourself out in the reflection of your spoon.”
The girl silenced. She had a point.
“And it’s not just you being a former Socializer. It’s normal to like this part of the job. All this glamorous attention, people screaming when they see you… it’s a lot to take in. You either panic and throw up in front of everyone, or you embrace it and start showing off. But as fighters, it’s best to keep our cool and act like we don’t care. Keep the neutrality.”
Calista blew out another breath. “Got it. Don’t look or talk at anyone, don’t pose, just keep going, right?”
“No smiling, either. Don’t look miserable, but don’t smile. All neutral.”
“Okay. No smiling.”
“You can pose all you want at the shot sessions we’ll have later. Knowing you, you’ll love that part.”
She didn’t admit it out loud, but that sounded stellar. She couldn’t wait to see how awesome she looked.
The Favorites then left the bus together, Lílitha and Calista walking side-by-side at the back. The full volume of the cheers hit Calista’s ears, overwhelming her slightly. The suit detected the reaction and provided her with mild soundproofing to relieve her.
The attention was overwhelming. Voices overlapping one another, fans screaming their throats out, lights and holograms and Pets everywhere. Many of them flew up close to catch Calista’s face. Following Lílitha’s advice, she kept her expression neutral and didn’t spare them a glance.
She couldn’t help looking at the lucky fans at the front of the barrier, though. Most were cheering for the more famous fighters like Rosalina or even Lílitha. Some booed Calista upon seeing her, bringing down her spirits.
“Ignore them. Don’t show you are affected,” Lílitha said to her through their earpieces.
As they approached the door, Calista found another group of young teens screaming, one of them holding up a small projection of her. She nearly stopped, not expecting to have any fans in the crowd. The teens all looked the Socializer type, with the same fashion style and disposition.
Were there Socializers here because of her? Was her entry alone a way to unite the fighting world and Socializing world together? Surely not.
She couldn’t help smiling kindly and waving as she passed the group. They screamed even louder, jumping with joy. Lílitha quickly stretched her hand out and pulled Calista’s wrist down.
“No waving. What did I just say?”
“They were so cute.”
“Ugh.” Lílitha tried to hide her frustration. “You are not helping your case here.”
Calista sighed in appreciation when they finally entered the circular lobby. It was huge, with monstrously high, domed ceilings and warm lights filling the room. Voices echoed and bounced off the walls. The 32 teams all converged, their lines pointing at the stage in the middle of the hall. From a bird’s eye view, their lined-up teams formed a star, which would be freeze-shot as tradition.
There were all sorts of colors present. Many teams shared USA’s colors, but they could still be singled out. The UK’s suits were mainly blue, but had more white than red accents. France’s suits were white with blue and red sleeves, matching their flag.
Then there were the others. Brazil proudly boasted their green and yellow. Canada was decked out in red and white. Ukraine looked amazing in blue and yellow.
“What’s that country?” Calista eyed a blue and white team. “Argentina?”
“No, Argentina’s over there.” Lílitha pointed at a different team wearing blue suits with white and gold accents. “That’s… Guatemala, I think.”
“What about that one?” She pointed at another team with white suits, but they had blue diagonal stripes.
“Uruguay.”
Impressed, Calista said, “You’re good.”
“No, I’m just looking at the flags up there.” Lílitha pointed to the hologram flags above each archway, which had the country names below.
A Mercearthian man’s hologram appeared on the stage, towering over everyone like a giant. He spoke, his voice resonating through the room, but in an alien language. Calista’s translator activated so she could understand him.
“May I have your attention, please?”
The room quieted. All eyes were now on the man.
“Welcome, Versus fighters of Earth, to the 2350 Versus International Preliminary Games!” Cheers followed, then he spoke again. “For those uninformed, I am Secondary Chairman of the Versus Interplanetary Peacekeeping Games, Horace Charrier. I am very, very excited for this year’s games. The prelims are criminally underrated, in my opinion. So much happens in this weeklong tournament on all the planets, but compared to the Interplanetaries, not much is heard. I hope, that with many interesting contenders in the teams this year, this stage can shine through.” They applauded again.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
“With this new Versus year comes a new era. Primary Chairman of the Versus Games, Waelon Gaillart, has stepped down from his position, ending his term from 2330. For the next twenty years, we will now be under the gracious leadership of a new Versus head, who will surely preserve the Versus Peace Treaty and be the glue that holds all our planets together in this Utopia. Please welcome our new Primary Chairwoman… Bethanii Chefren, born and raised in Briegua, Planet Paeseo. This also marks an important moment in history, as she is the first female Paeseoan, and the first Paeseoan overall, to be Versus Leader. Let’s give her a hand.”
The mentioned woman’s hologram appeared next to Horace’s. “Thank you, Horace,” said the woman, her speech also translated. She flashed the kind smile Paeseoans were known for. “Welcome, brave fighters. I am very honored to have this position, and to serve as Versus Leader for the next two Earthian decades. As I do with the other planets, I see many capable, determined contenders among all of you here on Earth. Being a longtime Versus fan, I am excited to see the competition from a different perspective.”
She hesitated for this next part. “Of course, with this new leadership comes change. I didn’t think I would be changing something in the tournament so soon, but I saw it as a necessary improvement to the Games overall.”
“Uh-oh.” Lílitha crossed her arms.
“What?”
“A new rule, I’m assuming. That’s not usually good.”
“To preserve the raw talent and tremendous skill found in the admitted fighters, I have proposed a new challenge, which has been approved by the Versus Trustee Board. I know all of you are waiting for the randomizer wheel to appear and give you the games you will be playing.”
A pause. The fighters started murmuring.
“This will not happen anymore,” Bethanii continued.
The murmurs grew louder, confused “what’s” ringing out in many Earth languages.
“From now on, effective as of today, January 20th, 2350, Earth Time: Versus competitors admitted into the preliminary competition will have no knowledge of the game mode, map, or other details of the challenges planned for the weeklong tournament or the duo and/or group rounds of the interplanetary tournament.” As she spoke, the voices grew louder, now holding tones of outrage. “This is to effectively test our fighters’ mettle and see what they can do in unexpected situations during the competition.”
“You have got to be kidding. How are we supposed to train?” Lílitha said.
Calista’s heart raced. How would she know what to do if they didn’t know what the games were? How would she avoid getting eliminated?!
“Now, I know this change may be a bit sudden,” Bethanii said. “I apologize for the late notice, but I couldn’t get this officially approved until this morning, unfortunately. However, I trust that all of you are capable fighters who have earned your places on the team. You are all worthy of your position. This may be an extra obstacle, but surely, you will all pass over this obstacle with your tremendous talent.
“This will be a new, more exciting way of enjoying the preliminaries. Fighters from this stage, whether they are on the Earthian team or not, will be more recognized with more difficult rounds to face.”
The crowd only slightly calmed down when she explained her reasons, but it was evident that no one was a fan of this new change.
“This is all her fault,” Calista heard someone say behind her. Turning, she noticed a lot of her teammates glaring at her.
“It’s because of Fistborn getting rigged,” someone else said.
“Thanks to her, we’re gonna lose.”
“At least we can get rid of her there…”
“Don’t look at them,” Lílitha told her. Calista listened, turning back around, but the fear was visible on her delicate features. Was it her fault? Did the Board judge her admission so fiercely that they would pass this rule affecting the entire tournament?
Everyone on her team would be targeting her now. The solo rounds would come first, then the duo or pair rounds, and finally, the team rounds. She still had a chance of making the planet team if she stayed in the latter two stages, but the solo rounds had a major impact on her progress.
Some other country teams heard the US teammates’ grumbling, taking notice of Calista. The UK fighters started staring at her.
This was bad…
===
The fighters were taken to their rooms after the botched welcome ceremony. Each country had its own wing with 150 single rooms. The rooms were even fancier than the dorms at the academy.
Calista sat at her comfy armchair, distracting herself by decorating her room in pink. Her walls were now pastel pink and the curtains were white. Her sleep capsule, which was queen-sized, matched her capsule back home in Indiana. The furniture was candy pink-colored.
“Camelithia Courier and Belinda Adenifi have requested to enter.”
“Let them in.”
They entered, dressed in their formal school uniforms, but they didn’t have their Guild identification. “Hey,” said Cam. “Are you feeling alright?”
“Well,” started Calista, “everyone on the team wants to kill me, and everyone from the other countries probably want to kill me, too, so who can say?”
“They don’t want to kill you.”
“Did you see the way they were looking at me?”
“Cali, that new rule has nothing to do with you. Don’t worry about it.”
“I was confident before. I thought I could do this. Now, I won’t know what I’m getting into,” Calista ranted. “I’m going to end up exploded or thrown around so everyone can laugh at me, then I’ll be named the most embarrassing fighter ever.”
“Now you’re just exaggerating,” said Belinda. “Calista, not knowing the map is a challenge for everyone, not just you. And the games that will appear are still games we have played at school before. It’s not that bad. You think I feel any better than you do? I didn’t make the team last time. This can completely glitch up my chances. All I can do is train as hard as possible. We have trained, all week at school.”
The human girl sighed. She was right, but the humiliation would hit Calista a lot harder. They only had one day to prepare for the worst. “Why are you guys in uniform, anyway?” she asked, closing the dorm designer.
“They always hold a social dinner for the teams to fraternize,” said Camelithia. “It’s appropriate to wear your uniform. You should come with us. It’s good to establish some friendly relationships with the other fighters. If we get on the team, any one of them could be our new teammates.”
“I don’t feel like it.”
“Since when do you not like… well, socializing? It’ll be fun. Most of them don’t know about your situation.”
“And it’ll decrease their urge to try and specifically eliminate you tomorrow,” Belinda added.
“Or it’ll make them hate me more.”
“Come on, Cali. Please?”
She looked at them, then sighed, rising from the chair. “Alright, fine. Let me change.”
The dinner was held in a large room. All the fighters were dressed in their uniforms. Some countries’ uniforms were similar or equal to Fistborn’s in terms of design, while many others took on a more modern, non-traditional feel. Kenya had colorful shirts and pants, allowing their students to wear jewelry. Germany’s students only wore matching jackets, using any pants or skirts they wanted. Switzerland had full body suits that were red at the top, then gradually turned white towards the bottom.
“Where do we sit?” Calista asked Cam.
“Wherever our name plaques are… there.” They went over to a table where their names were hovering. Calista sat next to Belinda. On her right was a human boy from Mexico, around 16 years old. On Cam’s left was an older Martian girl from Italy.
They ordered their meals, which promptly appeared before them. Calista glanced around, nervously nibbling on the salad she’d ordered. “What do we do?” she whispered to Belinda.
“We just… talk, I suppose.”
“Okay…” Calista was usually good at starting up conversation, but with the circumstances, she wasn’t sure about talking to these people.
The Mexican boy noticed her fidgeting and smiled charmingly. “Hi,” he said, his mouth pronouncing the word in Spanish.
“Hey,” she said awkwardly.
“I’m Javier Monterrey; Sodio Fighting School.” He shook her hand. “American, right?”
“Yeah. I’m Calista Medley. From Fistborn Academy.”
The boy hesitated. “Calista… I know you. You’re the girl that got the last spot there, right?”
They did know her. Great. “Um… yeah.”
“Wow, that’s really cool.” She was relieved when his smile grew wider with curiosity. She was worried his reaction would be more hostile. “That’s a cacheful of luck, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, a lot of it.”
“Take advantage of that. Well, you’re on the team, so you must have, right?”
“I’ve been training as hard as I can.”
“I can imagine.”
“Are you here for the first time?” Calista asked.
“Yeah, it’s my first year. My brother’s here, too, he’s…” He looked around until he spotted his family member. “There he is. Daniel.” He waved to an older boy a few tables away. Calista also waved politely. “He’s been here before; it’s his second year. He didn’t make the Earth team, though, so he’s trying again.”
“I hope I get on the team, too.”
“You’ve made it this far. I feel like us humans aren’t taken as seriously. You’ve been proving them wrong so far.”
A ding sounded and the lights flashed. Everyone rose from their tables.
“Uh, what happened?”
“This works like a speed date,” Cam explained. “We go to different tables to meet everyone.”
“Oh.” Calista smiled at Javier and shook his hand. “Nice meeting you.”
“Good luck.”
Calista followed the girls to another table, but someone took the last seat before she could. Cam looked at the person; a Voraxmercurian from Canada. “Um… excuse me? My friend was about to sit there.”
He didn’t spare her a glance. “She can sit somewhere else.”
Cam was indignant, but Calista stopped her. “It’s fine, Cam. I’ll go somewhere else.” She didn’t want to make a scene over a chair.
She sat at a nearby table, freezing immediately when she saw Rosalina at the other side. The woman either didn’t notice her or didn’t care, talking to a Klausian man from Belgium. Calista’s meal appeared before her so she could continue.
“Hello, everyone,” she greeted politely.
Most of the fighters took notice and returned the ‘hello’. “I’ve seen your face before,” a Martian girl from France said. She turned to her friend, asking her something. The translator was disabled to keep her question private.
The other girl shrugged and shook her head cluelessly, glancing at Calista. The Martian girl rolled her eyes. “Where have I seen you?” she asked Calista.
“Um…” She really was a lot more famous than she thought. She would’ve been living the dream if it weren’t the negative kind of fame. “Maybe in the lobby earlier?”
“Maybe…”
Calista glanced at Rosalina, who continued her conversation with the Belgian.
“Anyway. You’re American?” the girl asked.
“Mm-hmm.”
“Cool. Is it your first time?”
“Yeah. My first year, too.”
“Wow. Good job. Getting on the team that fast is always a good look.”
The conversation with the French student was pleasant, though she kept trying to figure out where’d she’d seen Calista’s face. Thankfully, the lights blinked before she could figure it out.
Calista tried to reunite with Cam and Belinda, but the former found an old friend of hers on the British team, choosing to sit with her for the round. Belinda and Calista went to a different table, since the other was occupied.
This table was a bit more awkward. They all happened to be from more ‘sophisticated’ species, like Voraxians and Emitonians. Being the only human there, Calista felt slightly threatened. They were all standoffish and hardly paid her and Belinda any mind.
The girls then reunited with Cam, who brought her friend, a Seeyastearthian girl. “Girls, this is my bestie, Ethel. We grew up in Manchester together. Ethel, these are Belinda and Calista.”
“Nice to meet you.” The girl shook their hands. “I’m with a group of mates at a table, do you girls want to join?”
“Please. We didn’t talk through this whole round,” Belinda said.
“Why?”
“They were weird.”
They arrived at Ethel’s table, which was full of British students. “Everyone, these are my besties from America,” Cam said, presenting the two. “This is Belinda, and that’s Calista.”
“Calista?” A Mercurian girl eyed the Earthian. “As in, Calista Medley?”
Glitches. Calista paused from eating.
“That’s right,” Camelithia said cluelessly.
“Who’s Calista Medley?” a boy asked.
“She’s that girl that got into the American school last-minute.”
“Who?”
The girl slapped her forehead. “You know! The girl that took the Dnilian’s place when he got expelled.”
“Oh, yeah.” The boy she spoke to hardly seemed to care.
“I didn’t know she entered the team,” another girl commented.
“How’d you get in?” a Mercumartian boy asked.
“Um… by training?” Calista said.
“Well, everyone trains. You started at your school late. How did you learn so much in such a short period of time? There’s people that train for months and years and still don’t enter the team.”
“True. Took me two Versus years to get here,” an older man chimed in.
“I… trained before. You know, before I started school.”
“I thought you were a Socializer,” said the Mercurian girl. “At least, that’s what the newscaster said. Is that true? Or were they mere rumors?”
She didn’t like where this was going. “N-no… that’s true. I was… yeah.”
“What does that have to do with her training?” someone else asked.
“Generally, American Socializers don’t support the Versus Games.”
“Yeah, that’s true… but…” Calista cleared her throat. “Um, there’s actually a good group of Socializers that are into the Versus. But they’re not as popular.”
“It says here that your group was firmly against the Tournament.” The Mercurian girl had her AIDA band screen on, showing everyone her search results of Calista.
“Everyone…” Cam raised a brow. “She’s here now, she’s worked hard, and she’s a fighter now. I hardly think her past is any of your business.”
Awkward silence.
“Anyway… Ethel, we still haven’t finished catching up. What have you been up to with all of… these people?”
Camelithia successfully shifted the conversation for the rest of the round, but the damage was done. Calista could see the contempt and disgust in the other students’ eyes. Their image of her was now tainted, only able to see a fraud and nothing more.