by Joseph Bonis
Tracy nodded uncertainly back to Tina, who pulled out a dictaphone and clipped it to the front of her suit coat. With an attempt at a professional expression just barely repressing the excitement bubbling inside her, Tina took a pen from an inside pocket. She quietly stated the date and time into the dictaphone as she wrote them at the top of the page, then took on a louder, 'show' tone as if she was speaking to a camera. “Today is an unusual day - we've never had a High Lord challenge a newbie before,” Tina started. “It's an unexpected occurrence which has surprised the community and inflamed their imaginations. Lord Pax has refused comment, so we're here, Tracy, hoping that you can give us a little more information.”
Tracy noted that Tina was using the 'royal we' of the press. She smiled back and laughed, deciding to put on just as much of a show. Just an impromptu theater skit, like in high school. “I'm sure I wouldn't know, Tina, it's the first formal challenge I've really ever seen, so it's as normal as any other match violating the laws of physics and disrupting my entire view of reality.” She gave a soft little laugh again, realized that the laughter sounded a bit nervous, and hurriedly continued, “But I'd love to give you a bit of the story! What would you like to know?”
“Well,” Tina brightly replied, “Just for starters, do you have any idea why Lord Pax is so interested in you that he'd put aside tradition and push the boundaries of the law just to challenge you?”
Tracy shook her head. “I'm sure he didn't give two thoughts to me, Tina. He just went through me to get to Jacob. That's his real target.”
Tina's eyes, already excited, sparkled brilliantly. Tracy suspected she'd just won a wager or something. “And why would he want to get to Jacob?”
“Quite simply, Jacob has his first charm, his heart stone, his core rune, whatever you want to call it. Jacob's mind charm used to be Lord Pax's, and Lord Pax decided to challenge Jacob to win it back in a convoluted and roundabout manner rather than try to trade for it.”
“Through you, because he's your mentor,” Tina stated, which Tracy confirmed. “Which brings us to our next question - Jacob hasn't acted normally towards you, either. There are dozens of us that Jacob turned in for a year of service to Lord Brin's ersatz little shadow government. Why did he let you become one of our few free newbies? What makes you so different?”
Tracy shook her head. “Merely timing, nothing special about me,” she assured Tina. “I was the first newbie he encountered after leaving Lord Brin's required year of service. This may seem to all center around me, but I assure you I'm pretty much just caught up in politics between other people and am mainly an observer.”
“That's not entirely true,” Jacob interrupted. “Well, the timing part is true – it was just pure luck I ran into Tracy in the circumstances that I did. I never liked my job; that was just my own year's requirement. But Tracy is not just an observer. There were several times she could have chosen to take an easier way, but didn't. Instead, she did the right thing. Tracy is an incredible person with a quick mind, genuinely qualified to join our community by more than just her possession of a token. She's got a real sense for how we do things.”
Tracy laughed. “Aw, thank you, Jacob! But no, I'm just a book nerd,” she assured Tina. “If any of this stuff seems normal to me, it's because I'm still half-convinced it's a dream made from falling asleep reading one of my fantasy novels.”
From there, Tina went on to more community-interest questions, looking over Tracy's charm bracelet, asking after the first time she used her powers. Tracy found herself recounting the entire story of Craig's attack on them, including the revelation that Craig had been blackmailing Lord Pax, though she left out Lord Brin's comments on what that blackmail was. She really didn't need Lord Pax hating her even more. Tina looked like it was Christmas all over again as she asked a series of questions about Craig's exile and tried to get more information about what the blackmail might be. As Tracy refused to comment, Tina started suggesting a couple mild conspiracy theories.
“I really don't have anything more for you,” Tracy assured Tina. “You're really asking me to get into guessing, and my guesses wouldn't make for a good story.”
Tina laughed and nodded, pulling out her dictaphone to turn it off. “Thank you so much for your time,” she happily chirped, “And I really do hope you kick Pax's butt. He's a jerk.”
Tracy laughed and nodded, and she and Jacob headed into the arena as Tina stood there taking a few final notes in her notebook, obviously trying to catch some inspired phrases before she forgot them, the reporter oblivious to the half-dozen people stepping around her to enter the arena.
Ilsa looked up and gave Tracy a wan smile that didn't translate over to Jacob, her harried expression returning rapidly. She was wearing a low-cut off-white blouse with some sort of interesting double-fold over the breasts and a loose maroon jacket, today, looking more professional than usual. Tracy signed in and gave her an apologetic grin. “Sorry about all this fuss,” she said softly.
Ilsa shook her head. “Not your fault,” she responded calmly, “This happens, sometimes. Just part of the job.”
Tracy suddenly realized that Ilsa had been there every day she'd come by, weekday or weekend. “Don't you get any days off?” she asked suddenly, a worried crease in her forehead.
With a laugh, Ilsa nodded. “I've been working more lately cause one of the girls is on vacation, we're covering for her.”
Tracy nodded, smiled, and handed the sign-in sheet back to Ilsa. She hadn't seen Lord Pax's name on there. “What next?” she asked Jacob.
“I always like to get a look over the arena, first,” he replied. “Get an impression of how it's laid out today.”
Tracy followed Jacob. She was getting used to the layout, but there was still plenty of the building she hadn't been to yet. He led her up the stairs, forgoing the elevators, to the very top. As they walked along the fifth floor corridor, he gestured to a row of double-doors stretching along one side. “That's the auditorium,” he said lightly. “It looks out over the arena, protected from the fight by three-inch-thick transparent aluminum.”
“Transparent what?” Tracy asked, perplexed. “They have such stuff?”
Jacob grinned. “It's something one of our own geeks whipped up … takes a little 'oomph' from a tech and a metal token to make it work. You'll see a lot of stuff like that, actually. Of the non-elemental tokens, tech's the most common by far. Almost as common as the elementals, actually, and more common than many of the dual runes. We get some of the best toys, stuff most people would think of as only sci-fi.”
Tracy laughed in return. “Heck, even without tech charms, we're getting a lot of sci-fi stuff out there.” Jacob nodded in agreement. They slipped into the auditorium, where people were already starting to gather, and walked down to the front to look down through the windows.
Tracy touched over the window in wonder - it was clear, like glass, though with just a slightly different gleam to it, but the cool touch under her finger was unmistakably metallic, as was the slight metallic tang to its smell. She noticed some white streaks here and there along it, and realized it was scratches that hadn't been buffed out yet - it scratched very whitely. Perhaps it was oxidization? She'd have to find out.
She looked past the transparent metal, then, into the arena itself. From how they'd been talking, she'd been half-expecting fake grass and trees - or possibly real ones, grown quickly through some charm or another. Instead, it was many geometric shapes, all varying shades of dull gray. There was a pool of water to one side, a few open-topped barrels scattered around, and the ground was hard-packed earth. “Where's the traps?” Tracy asked.
“Concealed,” Jacob said, amusement in his voice as he teased, “otherwise they wouldn't be very good traps. A few of them will have accidental triggers, some of them have activation triggers hidden around down there, and still others just happen on a regular or random basis, whether or not there's someone there to be caught. Of course, someone with a tech token can trigger an
y of them at will.”
Tracy nodded, trying to fix the layout in her mind. “Lots of cover down there,” she said quietly. “But I guess some of that cover is trapped.” Jacob nodded. “Well, we'll manage,” she continued confidently.
After a few more minutes in silence, looking down over the arena, Jacob nodded and Tracy followed him back out. They slipped through the corridors down to the more familiar halls leading to the locker rooms. Three men were there, waiting for them - Slate and the other two from the weight room. They'd been with Slate when she'd met with him on Thursday, too. She wondered if they went everywhere with him, then suppressed a giggle as she pictured them calmly holding the soap and shampoo for him in the shower, his nice suit sopping wet.
“Slate,” she greeted him, and met each of his companion's eyes for a couple moments.
“Rose,” he replied, his easy grin on his face. “I just wanted to wish you good fortune in today's match.” She remembered his words on the phone, when she'd asked him for help. “Earth body against Metal body?” he'd asked, “There's no way I could miss that fight. Of course I'll help.” It seemed that a lot of the community thought of metal body as an 'upgrade' of earth body, as being superior to it, and Slate and his friends were rather insulted by the attitude.
Tracy smiled in return. “I'll do my best,” she assured him.
“You won't let me down,” he replied. His eyes briefly flicked to Jacob, and then he walked past, and away, and Tracy could almost feel the chill between them.
“What did you do to him?” she asked, surprised at the depth of the animosity.
Jacob sighed, and walked again towards the locker rooms. “Pretended to join his group,” he admitted, “To learn how to use earth better. When I left a month later, it … didn't go over well. He feels very strongly about betrayal.”
Tracy gave her own sigh. “He probably would have taught you just as well if you'd come to him and straight-out asked him for training,” she pointed out. Jacob nodded with a glum look, his expression telling her that he'd already figured that out in hindsight. “And he wouldn't accept your apology?”
Jacob shrugged noncommittally.
Tracy looked at him with a furrowed brow. “You did apologize, right?” she pushed a little harder.
Jacob let out a soft noise. “Well, I tried to explain,” he said. “He wouldn't listen. It wouldn't matter; I've already pissed him off. Everyone hates me, one more doesn't matter.”
Tracy sighed. “Jacob, don't give yourself a martyr complex. If you want to start being a little less hated, the first thing you'll want to do is learn to say you're sorry. You've already learned everything else about these charms.”
Jacob shrugged again, and Tracy let it ride. They had to focus on the fight now, anyway, as they split up to each go into their separate locker rooms.
“Hey there!” drawled Tyra's voice as Tracy walked into the locker room.
Tracy smiled happily, her face brightening. “Tyra!” she exclaimed. “I wondered why you weren't out there!”
Tyra grinned and grabbed Tracy for a strong embrace. “Just wanted t'give you some last minute tips. Nick tends t'be a bit wordy.” She grinned and giggled. “Ah mean, Slate.”
With a shy laugh, Tracy shook her head. “I'm never gonna live that down, am I?”
“He's already havin' folks call him that who don't even know where it started,” Tyra replied with a big grin. “He thinks it sounds pretty bad-ass.” Tracy hid her own grin behind her hand.
Tracy had been warring with herself back and forth as to whether to wear her Aikido outfit or just jeans and a t-shirt in today's fight. Finally, she decided that the mental boost it would give her - wearing the right clothes for what she was doing - was too important. Some folks might think she was showing off, but she didn't care about them, she just cared about getting through today. “So what do you have for me?” she asked Tyra as she set down her sports bag and started to change.
Tyra sat back, her eyes flicking with interest to the clothes Tracy was putting on. “Basically, darlin', just wanted to assure you Anthony ain't no thing. Metal likes to think it's all big and bad, like it's better than earth, but it's just tougher. We're stronger. It cancels out, and it just comes down to who hits harder without stones. Anthony ain't smart, he's just tough, an' he relies a lot on his wolf. Whatcha wanna watch out for is Pax. He's sneaky.”
Tracy nodded. “That sums it up in a nutshell,” she agreed, cinching her new black belt around her waist. A thrill went through her as she did so, a confidence. She passed her black belt test. She wasn't Kyu Tracy anymore. She was Dan Tracy. She took in a deep breath, and as she exhaled fiercely, she pictured all her worries and fear rushing out along with the breath.
“That all real?” Tyra asked, gesturing to Tracy and her clothes.
With a nod, Tracy grinned at her. “Right down to the black belt,” she replied. “Thanks for the help.” Tyra gave her another hug and a wish of luck, then Tracy was by herself again, walking out the far side of the locker room and down the empty hall to the arena proper.
The arena seemed a lot larger down here than it did up there. Tracy's eyes roved upwards, looking over the windows she couldn't see through from this side, the small cameras everywhere, the giant monitors facing four directions in the center of the ceiling. Her eyes came downwards to the various geometric shapes scattered around. She felt like she was stepping into a really fancy light-tag arena.
Jacob was already there, waiting for her. He was wearing his jeans and a leather jacket, as usual, but his normal sloppy shirt had been replaced by something that looked rather like a SWAT vest, and he was wearing a helmet that wrapped snugly around his head but left his field of view unencumbered save for a clear visor.
“Where'd you get that?” she asked in surprise, tapping the hard, armored chest of the vest.
He looked a little surprised, himself. “Lord Brin,” he said, a bit of hesitant confusion in his voice. “It's really light. Not as bulky or clumsy as it looks.”
Tracy considered a little bit… “I think,” she said, softly, then paused. At Jacob's curious expression, she continued, “I think he wants someone to like him. Not just kiss up to him, not fear him, but like him.”
Jacob let out a soft snort, but looked thoughtful as well.
“Now what?” asked Tracy, standing there nervously.
“Now,” replied Jacob, “Now we wait for the signal to start. Just stay in the starting zone.”
Tracy looked down. They were standing inside a chalked-out half-circle in the dirt, so she nodded and sat down cross-legged, resting her hands on her knees. She knew if she thought too much, or went over the plan too much, she'd go nuts second-guessing herself. Instead, she went through the exercises to clear her mind and empty it of thought. She sat there with her eyes closed, focusing on her breathing - slowly in through the nose, slowly out through the mouth.
She wasn't sure how long she waited, but it seemed quite a while before the speakers crackled to life. “This is a challenge match,” said a voice that might have been Lord Brin's, “The challenger is Lord Pax, with Anthony as his second. The challenged is Jacob and Tracy.” The speaker went through the conditions of the match, each of their names and what elements they were using as she got to her feet and brushed at the seat of her pants to get rid of the dust and dirt. She wondered why they didn't use last names. Heck, 'Pax' probably wasn't even his real first name.
“All combatants are in the arena. Let no one interfere in the fight. Begin.”
Jacob grabbed Tracy's hand and sprinted into the maze of geometric shapes, hiding the two of them behind one large block. Tracy smiled to him, then murmured, “I'm sorry. We'll need to move again soon, I'm about to do something that might give our location.” Jacob looked a little confused, but nodded.
Tracy cupped her fingers to her mouth and called up some air, the charm disappearing from her bracelet as she used it. Her breath misted through her fingers as she shaped the air into something sim
ilar to Hans' whisperwind. “Anthony,” she said calmly into her cupped hands, her voice echoing across the entire arena. “I know you feel your metal body is a strength, that your inability to feel pain is a strength, but against me it is a weakness. For your own sake, if I get you in a hold, please surrender the fight. Against me, the pain protects you from serious injury.”
Then she dropped her hands and grabbed Jacob's hand. They both sprinted across a clear space before diving into cover somewhere else. They waited a few moments, watching the sky. Then Tracy grinned to Jacob. “No fireballs.”
Jacob sighed. “Why'd you do that?” he asked, but before Tracy could respond, Anthony's voice was sounding across the arena in the same way. He must still be with Lord Pax, to be able to use Pax's fire/air charm that way.
“Tracy,” said Anthony's voice, “Your warning is noted, but needless. I don't know what Nicholas told you, but you're outmatched. For your own safety, I'd suggest you give up now.”
Tracy frowned and fought down the surge of annoyance at that. A week ago, someone threatening her might have made her feel scared, nervous, and uncertain. But between Jacob and Tyra's training and Grandmaster Lee's help and advice, now she couldn't help but feel just a little insulted. She'd tried to give him advice, and he'd turned it into trash-talking.
“I had to warn him,” she told Jacob, answering his question. “Now whatever happens to him is on his own head.” He shrugged, obviously not agreeing, but knowing there was nothing he could do now. “All right, Jacob,” Tracy said firmly, attending to the business at hand. “Where are they?”
Jacob pulled the mind charm from the base of his knife where it hung from its chain, lifting it to his forehead and closing his eyes. “They split up,” he said, his voice a bit distant. “Anthony's over there,” he said, pointing one direction, then slightly altered the angle. “Pax is over there.”
“Splitting up?” Tracy asked. “Why?”
“So we can't sneak up on them and jump them at the same time. Far enough that they can't get caught in the same trick or trap, close enough that they can watch each other's backs.” Jacob's head jerked up. “Move!” he cried.