by Drew Briney
Given his strong feelings against Jerron for killing the magic woman and falsely charging Blaze with treason over the death of Dr. Boyd, he readily discerned that his feelings could prove a disadvantage in this particular matchup if he did not guard them well – especially given his frustration over how this tournament was set up. Not allowing Blaze his weapons of choice left him with a disadvantage – albeit a small disadvantage. The larger drawback was his emotional reaction to that clear violation of standard protocol. Then there was the first simulated environment. Creating a terrain that Blaze struggled with seemed ethically questionable. Blaze couldn’t prove it but he suspected that holographic imaging had been captured while he was travelling to or from the native village and that they had seen him struggle with this unfamiliar terrain. Given the mismatch, the terrain was a good choice to level the playing field a little. Of course, the terrain choice could have been randomly generated … but the young warrior harbored some serious doubts about that.
Left only to his suspicions, Blaze brewed over these details for longer than he felt he should have – but he couldn’t shake it either. If the tournament was rigged, he needed to be especially cautious of every little detail – and reviewing every detail would serve him well. If these were genuine shortcomings and bad luck, focusing his attention on them would only prove harmful to his ultimate performance – they would be nothing more than a bad distraction. He was beginning to feel that every facet of his life was becoming one giant catch twenty-two: cursed if you do; cursed if you don’t. Ten minutes passed as he pondered over these conundrums.
Moving through his favorite short sword form, Blaze found his movements becoming somewhat exaggerated and mentally noted that he needed to check himself. Besides, it would be wise to cool down a little now – his fight would be starting very soon and he was breathing a little too heavily. Just as these thoughts passed through his mind, the lanky man opened the door and appeared again. “Okay Blaze, you’re on.”
No contractions, he intuited but then came to a conclusion he hadn’t considered before: it seemed that other Orders had no rules concerning contractions – they used them frequently – and Dr. Boyd used them frequently. Perhaps this had only been an experiment with Blaze’s Order. This made him wonder – although fleetingly – whether or not each Order was an experiment, a social experiment overseen by Dr. Boyd, research that each Order was independently unaware of, part of some greater plan that only Dr. Boyd knew about.
His thoughts couldn’t rest on these new ideas for long. The crowd was cheering Blaze’s entry into the simulator. Although it was traditional to cheer each competitor when they entered into the simulator, Blaze couldn’t help but to feel that this crowd seemed to carry a strong energy for his entrance. Perhaps it seems louder because there are so many people here, he modestly considered. But part of him knew there was something more happening – and that fact was more evident when the cheers for Jerron were noticeably quieter and less raucous.
Blaze bowed towards Jerron as he entered the simulator and made strong and conscious efforts to focus his mental energies towards more pressing concerns. Tradition encouraged competitors to perform some flashy moves for the crowd’s sake and to move through some katas to engage the judge’s attention. Blaze frequently moved through only very basic katas that required nearly none of his conscious attention so that he could analyze his opponent’s style. He saved the flashy moves for the final moments of each matchup.
For now, his eyes feasted upon his opponent, looking for clues as to anxiety, as to cardio endurance, as to experience in the simulator, and as to skill. He analyzed every footstep, every breath, and every movement. He noticed that Jerron was breathing through his nose – Vardn had breathed through his mouth. He noticed that Jerron’s lead foot pointed forward more like a Jeet Kune Do stance than other traditional martial arts – Vardn’s had pointed at an angle like a boxer. He noticed that Jerron’s movements were slightly overly linear. He noticed too much weight went on Jerron’s lead foot when he stepped forward and that he leaned slightly too far forward when doing a warm up lunge. These critiques were relatively minor but at Blaze’s level of competition, these details could offer a strong advantage if the opportunity arose to take advantage of them.
When the traditional tones rang, the simulator’s environment began to appear. Unexpectedly, the terrain was unnatural. Typically, the topography of the simulator was designed to mimic real life conditions on a planet to encourage and prepare the participants to fight in real life conditions. It was also designed to keep participants constantly aware of their surroundings. It appeared that the first reason was utterly abandoned in this situation – the terrain was relatively smooth like sandstone but random spikes protruded out of the ground like the spines of a cactus. However, rather than the spikes being vertical like they would be found on common species of cacti, these spikes were found at every angle imaginable – including horizontal ones lying on the ground. Blaze made a mental note of a few of these horizontal spikes and wondered if they were attached to the ground. He would make a deliberate effort to approach Jerron from an angle so that he could test his theory that these spikes could be picked up and thrown.
There were also clusters of spikes made to appear something like oversized goat-head thorns and thistles that dotted the terrain. To enhance the ambiance, lighting was reduced and the terrain changed hues and colors until there was nothing left but dark grey textures everywhere you looked. The edges of the simulator were similarly decorated with spikes and what appeared to be branches hanging from the simulator ceiling were dark grey spikes as well. Viewers would see the simulation with better lighting but Jerron and Blaze were clearly going to be fighting this contest in relatively dark conditions.
Two more tones rang, announcing that the fighting was to begin. Good luck! Blaze heard in his mind. Evelia’s enthusiasm was contagious. He twirled his blades in each hand and slowly circled towards Jerron, angling slightly away from the soldier so that he could step on one of those spikes to see if they were loose. Puzzled that Blaze was not approaching him straight on, Jerron modified his path towards Blaze to adjust for his circular trail. It was a full eight seconds of walking one towards the other before the first clash of blades was heard.
The moment metal touched metal, Blaze knew he was in trouble. His right hand nearly instantaneously went numb from an electrical shock sent by Jerron’s long sword. Chosen to give him a longer reach than Blaze, Jerron’s sword was enhanced to deliver electrical pulses that were illegal under all tournament rules as they gave their wielder a definitive and unfair advantage over his opponent. Involuntarily, Blaze dropped his sword and reeled backwards from the blow. The movement left him tripping backwards and trying to catch himself from falling with his nearly useless right arm. Because the feeling in that arm was temporarily compromised, Blaze didn’t notice how hard of a blow he had taken to his elbow as he fell backwards but several moments later, those bruising sensations began to surface. Barely masked triumph crossed the lips of Jerron as he leered towards his fallen opponent. A sardonic smile followed as he saw the look of confusion and fear overtake the eyes of Blaze.
But the young warrior was known for his quick wits and his creative thinking during simulations so Blaze was pleased to see Jerron’s growing confidence even as the soldier kicked Blaze’s short sword several feet away. Already prepared, Blaze executed a reverse somersault, tucking his neck to the side and pushing sideways with his right leg so that his roll would be diagonal and to his left. Grabbing the loose spike, he held it with as tight of a fist as he could make, the tip of the spike pointing towards the ground. A tight grip will increase the blood flow, he instructed himself. Good circulation will restore the nerves quicker. Testing the spike against his blade, he determined that the spike was very strong – perhaps even as strong as metal. With his left hand, Blaze swung at a nearby cluster of spikes and smiled when the blade stuck in the material but did not break it. With any luck, Blaze thought,
reconsidering his strategy, this will work like a sais. He bent his wrist and pressed the spike along the edge of his forearms and rotated it slightly. The spike tip extended a couple of inches past his elbows. Perfect.
Despite his quick thinking, Blaze was mentally pushing back a great degree of anxiety. Sure, this was only a tournament but the young warrior felt like a lot more than this competition was at stake. Somehow, it seemed like this was much more significant than a tournament to determine guild ranking. And because Blaze was now convinced that his matches were rigged, he concluded that there was more going on here than he was aware of. And in making that conclusion, he determined that he should play this game with exceeding caution.
But that decision wouldn’t last long.
By now, Jerron was lunging towards Blaze. Telegraphed, the move was easily dodged. As he stepped aside, Blaze took the opportunity to spin, delivering a strong blow with his elbow that was punctuated with the tip of the spike. Although the blow was somewhat imprecise – the spike was angled so it delivered less of a stab than a tear – the damage was significant. And just as quickly, Blaze spun the other direction to deliver a strong slice to Jerron’s right thigh. Partially blocked, Blaze reeled backwards again from the electric shot.
This time however, the electric blast was not as significant for two reasons. First, the swords only quickly brushed one against the other. Second, as Blaze’s sword sliced Jerron’s thigh, the bulk of the transfer of electricity ended up going through Jerron’s leg rather than Blaze’s arm. Nevertheless, the shock sent Blaze backwards far enough to trip over one of those spike clusters, significantly cutting the back of his calves.
That moment was defining in every way.
Assessing the severity of damage he had just suffered, Blaze looked over his leg as he struggled to his feet. The simulator was designed to mimic blood loss and to simulate blood flow so that the combatants could determine the severity of one another’s damages and use it to their advantage whenever possible. However, the simulator was specifically designed to not appear too true to real injuries so that if a competitor accidentally – and really – became injured, the mandatory safety monitor would turn red and the real flow of blood would become apparent enough to stop the competition. It was very apparent that Blaze’s leg was injured in fact – not just in simulation – as the blood flowed freely. For some reason, his protective suit, designed to stop any real injury, was not functioning properly.
A few audible gasps came from the audience. Blaze looked down at his safety monitor and quickly determined that it was not working – it glowed bright green as if everything was just fine. This is no competition. This is supposed to be an execution designed to look like an accident. He tore off the mandatory safety monitor and threw it across the simulator in an overt act of disgust towards whomever was in charge of this flagrantly rigged tournament. If he was destined to lose, he would at least leave some evidence of foul play.
Then again, he wouldn’t casually concede to a loss.
Taking advantage of Jerron’s self inflicted shock, Blaze quickly dropped the spike, unsheathed a blade attached to his right leg, and threw it with all of his force towards Jerron’s primary sword hand. Whether or not it stuck, Blaze estimated that the force of the throw would injure the hand enough to limit is usefulness. Before he even bothered to see if the blade met its mark, Blaze reached for a second knife sheathed on his left leg. That knife was thrown with equal ferocity but was aimed at Jerron’s wounded leg. Then, as he assessed the damage of each throw, Blaze picked up the dropped spike, and charged his opponent who was limping into an upright position.
The first knife only glancingly hit Jerron’s hand but the damage was not insignificant – it was cut and bleeding and nearly caused Jerron to drop his own weapon. The second knife hit its mark more successfully and dug deep into Jerron’s thigh. It was only with significant effort that the soldier was able to stand up and Blaze estimated that his mobility was now significantly disabled. Blaze silently hoped that Jerron was foolish enough to pull the knife out of his leg – it was a natural reflex but it led to increased blood loss. Disappointed, Blaze observed as Jerron only passingly considered this option before allowing his training to guide his decisions: the knife continued to protrude from the leg.
Blaze had been prepared to use the spike to block the blows from Jerron’s long sword so as to avoid some of the electrical shock that would result from contact with Jerron’s weapon. However, now that Blaze’s protective suit was not functioning, he began to wonder whether or not Jerron’s weapon was a real weapon rather than a simulator enhanced weapon whose lethality was limited to simulated combat. If it was a real weapon, deflection with a simulated spike may not be effective with the result that Blaze could lose his arm. On the other hand, this simulated geography inflicted real damage to Blaze and his test moments ago gave him reason to believe that this simulated spike might maintain sufficient strength to hold its own in combat against a real weapon. Only time would tell.
Still charging, Blaze’s mantra blared in his mind: liquid misdirection. Attacking with his left sword raised high as if preparing for a downward blow, Blaze angled the blow at the last moment and successfully but barely arched it around the hilt of Jerron’s sword. Then, grabbing the sword with both hands, Blaze misdirected the sword’s blow upwards and deep into the underside of Jerron’s upper arm, slicing into both his biceps and triceps on that arm. Effectively neutralizing the potential power of Jerron’s strikes with his primary hand, Blaze began to feel more confident about the blocking power of the simulated spike. He took a quick hop backwards while maintaining a guarding stance with his feet and trading weapons between his hands.
Then, lunging forward, Blaze blocked Jerron’s weakened strike with the simulated spike while simultaneously thrusting his short sword through Jerron’s abdomen just above his hip. Like a rag doll, Jerron crumbled in pain and dropped his sword. Electrical currents transferred from the spike to Blaze and from his blade into Jerron’s abdomen, delivering Jerron’s body into severe and prolonged shock. Simultaneously, the jolt tossed Blaze’s blocking arm counterclockwise away from Jerron, causing him to mime the letter “t” and to twist the blade simulated to be inside of Jerron’s abdomen.
Involuntarily trembling from the electrical surge that coursed through his body, Blaze failed to immediately notice that his left arm was numb or that real blood was flowing from his forearm on each side of the spike that he used to deflect Jerron’s blow. Nevertheless, he soon regained enough control over his body and enough presence of mind to pull his sword out of Jerron’s body and to cut off Jerron’s left arm. Simulated injury or not, that is going to hurt, Blaze mused.
Then, without thinking through what he might really be doing, Blaze chose a theatrical final blow: he picked up Jerron’s long sword, stepped slightly away from his opponent, spun around, and swung the sword like a baseball bat, decapitating his opponent.
Only this time, the injury was real.
BLAZE CUSTOMARILY BOWED towards the audience after the final blow and held that bow as the simulated topography transitioned back into an empty arena. While he held his bow and leaned upon Jerron’s long sword, audible gasps, murmuring, and a single scream echoed from the audience. Until that moment, Blaze hadn’t realized what he had done. In his mind, he hadn’t fully determined whether or not Jerron’s sword was simulation designed or fully functional. Caught up in the moment, he had forgotten to consider that gamble before making the final blow. Now, as he turned to face Jerron, whom he expected to be slowly regaining consciousness, he discovered his error: Jerron was beheaded in reality, not just in simulation. The horror of the moment was apparent to everyone watching: Blaze’s visible reaction was so genuine, it was clear he was not feigning his response. In his moment of shock, Blaze’s gratification for his particularly vicious win over a particularly hostile opponent was entirely lost as the stakes were raised once more.
He quickly understood that he had several prob
lems: First, he had been a prisoner before the tournament, on charge for possible treason in plotting the death of his only senior officer. Then, in front of his fellow crewmen, he beheaded the officer who had brought treason charges against him – the same man who had been enforcing Blaze’s imprisonment. Further, these same crewmen remained unaware of Dr. Boyd’s original plans so they had no context within which to understand the magic woman’s dying statements that had implicated Blaze in Dr. Boyd’s death in the first place. And lastly, as a sudden chill briefly overtook his body, Blaze intuitively understood that he needed to take control of this situation before it irretrievably took control of him.
Apart from these considerations, there were other issues that he didn’t consider – issues that could suggest that he deliberately killed Jerron: he had thrown away his safety monitor with disgust; he had noticed real wounds on his arm after being attacked with the long sword – right in front of everyone. Despite the quick pace of the contest, his use of the real weapon after observing these details in the simulator could have made it look like anything but an accident after all.
Fortunately, Evelia was present, level headed, and ready to help.
The tournament emcee stepped up to the podium where she traditionally named the victor, announced the next competitors, and made other announcements. Despite his preoccupation with the several problems that were immediately confronting him and despite his conscious concern that he needed to take control of this situation, Blaze couldn’t help but notice that the emcee was a stunning knock-out. However, he did fail to notice that her dazzling beauty would serve him well in this situation. Between her show stopping appearance, her soothing voice, and her calming mannerisms, she quickly gathered the attention of the crowd and calmed them down as they focused their minds upon whatever she might have to say. While Jerron’s gruesome corpse was being covered by simulator personnel, she gathered her composure and began to speak.