The day went on, and the competition continued without ceasing. For the first few bouts, Danton studied the combat with his keenest eyes, recording what he could in his notebook. However even he could pick up on Romanoff’s exasperation. When it was getting clear she was both bored and hungry, he stowed his book away and offered to join her for some food. McVaughn wouldn’t tear herself away. Any cravings she had were sated by her smokes, and a pile of butts began to litter the floor.
Chione beat Rover, but then Vil beat Chione and became the new emperor on the field. The bald fighter was varied in her tactics, using both offence and defence when suited. Subsequently she won further matches against Cheshire and then Patch. It was finally Melissa’s turn to challenge the champion, and while she had been energised earlier by Cheshire’s kiss, all that confidence had since drained, and a timorous girl approached the VA1.
“Heh, think we all know where this is headed,” remarked the trainer, scratching her hip beneath her loose shirt. “Hey, Zaklin! Vil’s gonna match your record soon. Four wins right? I’ll be sending Roksolana next so we’ll see if she gets her place first.”
Zak rebuffed her with a glare but said nothing.
Once Melissa was in her machine, McVaughn commenced the bout. That’s when the unexpected happened. Melissa spun around, and ran away. More accurately, she used the VA1’s legs to kick off and used the thrusters to aid her leaps. For a moment, Vil was too stunned to take her shot, although she recomposed herself. She began to fire, but at this range her lasers kept missing.
“Wuaaaaagh!” Melissa was yelling, fretting around with her controls.
Then she threw her machine to the ground, completely prone, but with her rifle laid in front of her. Gliding towards her with the jets, Vil closed the distance and continued to shoot. Melissa was frightened, trembling down from her lip to her toes, but her machine was still and steady. She fired.
“I’ll be,” remarked McVaughn in the box. “That kid’s got some gall in her.”
“Well I do know how to pick them,” said Cheshire.
Melissa was beside herself with both joy and the flood of nerves. Her glory was short-lived of course; as next up was Roxie. The red-haired girl helped Vil come down from their VA1 and patted her friend on the back, before turning to the machine herself. Springing from the ground, she kicked her way up the plating, propelling herself onto the top with a sideways flip, and then jumped through the hatch in one.
Thus began, in McVaughn’s words, Roxie’s ‘legendary run.’ She beat Melissa with ease, then took on Patch, Rover and Cheshire in quick succession, bringing her streak up to four. McVaughn chose Vil to go up again. This was despite the questioning glance from Chione and the sullen, hunched figure of Rigoletta in the background –– both had been out for a while now, and the latter was itching to get some wins on the board.
Though more evenly matched, Roxie was quick-thinking against Vil’s shifting combat style. By keeping close quarters at all times, and forcing Vil to use her mechanical arms to block, Roxie prevented her from executing any one tactic in particular. This scored her a fifth victory at 3-2. As this happened, McVaughn surveyed the room, her gaze first passing over Rigoletta, before landing on Chione.
“Fridge, you’re up again.”
Chione nodded, and pushed herself up from the wall. But as she got to the exit, Rigoletta suddenly stood, drawing up to her huge height. She grabbed Chione’s arm and held her back.
“Remember, Fridge, Roxie’s one of my pack. You can try mess with any of us, but we’ll sooner spread your asscheeks and screw you down. Got that?”
“Let go,” Chione said, staring ahead with a flat affect.
“Hey, you fucking hear me?”
Chione blinked.
“There’s a competition on, did you hear? You don’t want to hold it up, do you?”
Rigoletta unclasped her hand, but continued to bear down on her, even as the girl turned and entered the arena.
Once again, Chione climbed into the cramped cockpit, and locked herself into the brace and chains. Across from her, Roxie had so settled into her machine that she was hopping around in the low gravity, raring for the next round. Her voice crackled up on the comm.
“Yoohoo, you ready already?”
Chione didn’t say anything, but the other girl pressed on:
“Hey, tell you what. You let me win, Princess, and I’ll let you do whatever you want to me. Sound like a deal?”
This time, Chione glanced at the panel, wondering if she had heard properly. What sort of proposition was that? She couldn’t think of anything she wanted to do with that girl except maybe slap her.
Then, as McVaughn signalled the start again, — three, two,— Roxie’s voice came in loud and clear.
“Mmm, ohhh! Princess~”
Chione gasped, almost choking as she looked over at the comm system again. Right at that moment the enemy lurched in, forcing her to jam her levers down, blocking the attack with her arms. Somehow, despite the ensuing melee and fraught struggle for control, Roxie was still making those noises.
“Ohh, ohh, darling my head’s in a spin just thinking about you!”
Snarling, Chione spread her hand over the switches, and pulled down again –– her VA1 shot up into the air, but so did Roxie’s.
“I’m sooooo close!”
“Gnngh!”
Chione slammed her fist on the comm, shutting it down. But the split second cost her. Roxie flew higher into the sky, blocking her ascent, and threw down a heavy, metal fist. Chione’s VA1 fell, and midair Roxie took aim. She fired.
Chione smashed into the ground. Her mech dragged across the rock for a few metres while a cloud of dust swept up around her. Even though the comm was down, she could envision Roxie’s triumphant laugh by the way the enemy VA1 was circling in the air. Setting both herself and her mech upright, Chione scowled and found herself unable to calm her writhing stomach.
It was clear she couldn’t beat Roxie. The red trickster was totally in her element, while Chione was still rattled over how the first round went. By the end it was 3-1, and Chione had to extricate herself from the VA1 still simmering. As she walked back to the box, she tried to ignore Rigoletta’s arrival. The big girl had at last been sent on again by McVaughn, and watched the defeated Chione with a grim smile.
“Told ya,” said. “And just wait till it’s you and me.”
As Chione reached the others in the box, McVaughn was calling the match to begin. Chione stood by the glass and watched. It was clear which was Roxie, who seemed fully embodied in the little dances and flourishes of the metal machine. Despite her anger, there was small lift in Chione’s chest seeing this display. At the very least, she’d get to see Rigoletta defeated again.
But then something strange happened. The two machines exchanged blows, but then the one fell down to its knees ––like a knight to its lord. The standing one lowered its rifle, and took a direct hit to the core. To everyone’s surprise, it was Roxie who jumped out of her VA1, skipping her way back.
“Heyo,” the girl sang as she arrived, “you bitches got some water for me?”
Vil tossed her a bottle and the other girl poured it over her face, much of it trickling down her neck and staining her shirt.
“Rig got you in the end?” asked Vil.
Tossing the empty bottle back, Roxie smiled.
“Yeah of course. I wanna be the one in her bed tonight. I know she’ll remember it when picking.”
Following this, Rigoletta won a match against Rover, and then faced Vil –– who didn’t share Roxie’s approach to loyalty. She defeated Rigoletta 3-2 and for the second time became the emperor -of-all, the first to reclaim the title today. But McVaughn shrugged and turned back to the green-haired girl, still resting on the floor.
“Alright, Changriy, it’s your turn again.”
Zak nodded, while Patch patted her on the shoulder. She gave her a smile, one that made her heart bounce. Back in the cockpit, it was like Zak’s streak never ended ––first she bested Vil, then defeated Rover, and at last faced her final challenger in Cheshire. At the end, the tally was seven victories out of eight, making her the second to qualify and the woman with the most victories: beating Roxie by one.
It was maddening ––if not for the one fight, Zak would have had a perfect score.
With that, it was over for the first day. Romanoff and Danton had returned, with the warden deciding it was late and with twenty-two matches they were half-way done. Patch rushed into the field to meet Zak as she was exiting the VA1, and gave her a strong hug. Zak let herself be absorbed by the taller girl’s arms. A deep hope welled within her, wishing the hug would never end.
But in the corner of her eye, she saw the flash of white hair. The figure was walking away, but Zak stole a glance at her, and a pit in her stomach yawned wide, swallowing her happiness whole. An ache spiked in her jaw, confusing her for a moment until she realised that she had been gnashing her teeth.