He held my eyes through his blood soaked face, before Major Shange found her wits and said, “Well… his reputation is certainly uh… accurate. I hope you enjoyed that,” she said to the silent stadium as the bubble started to deform.

  A moment later Zach and Boris were standing across from each other. Zach immediately grabbed his face as he fell backward, his eyes showing nothing but pure terror when he looked at Boris.

  Boris said nothing, he just turned and walked off the platform.

  An hour later I was walking through a long hallway filled with doors, a bare carpet and substandard lighting hanging overhead, benches lining every third door. I marched with a purpose, every person that stood in my way rectified that error quickly with a look of sheer panic in their eyes.

  Zach was sitting on a bench, wide eyes staring at the floor like he was still watching a fist fly towards him. When he saw me, he snapped a sharp salute instantly, his face expressionless.

  I walked past the absolute disappointment, and continued on to another door down, wrapping my knuckles against the wood as I waited patiently.

  A girl almost as tall as Calder, with a square jaw and a small scar on her lip, answered the door. Her mouth fell almost to the floor upon seeing me, and she immediately saluted, shouting, “Good afternoon, ma’am!”

  I stood there, waiting. She seemed confused before she said quickly, “Please, come in! Make yourself at home.”

  I walked in as I scanned the room, coming to a stop at the center of it, and turned to face her. “I need you to do something for me, Abigail.”

  She kept saluting, “Whatever you need, consider it done!” she said enthusiastically.

  “The last person I asked to do something for me said the same thing, and yet they failed. Will you fail, Abigail?”

  She shook her head from side to side, her hand locked onto her forehead, “Absolutely not ma’am!”

  I nodded slowly, turning around the room and examining the ‘weapon’ she used earlier. A pile of plates, stacked high, which she had thrown at her opponent as she closed the distance. She still had around half of them left.

  “Good, good. I am glad to hear that. You will be placed against someone tomorrow and I want you to win. You will show your opponent no mercy. You will not hesitate. And you will kill them. Do this for me, and you will be the next high ranker.”

  My tone was deadly serious, and even as I examined her room I saw her gulp at the words. She even stopped saluting as she thought about it, before she nodded, “Whoever you put me against will lose, and they will die in the process,” she said with steel, which only seemed to highlight her naivety even more. She hadn’t even asked who she would be facing.

  “I can beat anyone in the tournament, after all,” she continued, trying to sound tough as she rolled her shoulders.

  “But can you beat the civvie?” I asked as I turned away from her unmade bed back to her, the question freezing the “yes” that was halfway out of her mouth.

  She didn’t speak for a single second, and that hesitation alone was enough of an answer, “...yes. Well I do like him, that doesn't change the fact that I can beat him. And I can most certainly kill him,” she said after a moment, her eyes just a little wider, her mouth a little firmer. She swallowed hard as I just kept staring at her.

  I almost walked out of the room right then and there, as I realized she was one of the B rankers who agreed with Boris about the execution. But I couldn’t, her chances were better than her peers, so I just grit my teeth and accepted her horrid answer.

  “I shall have either Bongi or Viktor deliver weapons for you later, is there anything you would like?” I said, moving on to the formalities, already thinking about who I could use as insurance.

  She only requested a gun and a flashbang. When I offered knives and body armor, she simply tapped her left shoulder, and a bone with a sharp end jutted straight out of her chest.

  “I see, well you shall receive the weapon soon. Good day,” I said, turning and walking out the door.

  Before I fully exited the room, I stopped, turning back around to lock eyes with her, “Oh, and Abigail? Do not fail me on this,” I said, the warning in my tone making her eyes widen in shock before I closed the door.

  On my way to the next location, I whipped out my stream and contacted Bongi, “I need you to do something.”

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  “Of course, what do you need?” He said as always. When I needed a personal visit I usually involved Viktor, but all the weapons and other things I needed smuggled in for my contestants were always done by Bongi. He was proving to be a loyal and useful subordinate.

  “I need you to steal a certain something from a certain someone so that he no longer makes such a mockery of the tournament. Do you know what I am talking about?” I asked, testing him while making sure none of the B ranks could report to the Colonel about my orders.

  “Oh, the civvies shield will be long gone by the time he wakes up tomorrow,” he said, and I could hear laughter in his voice.

  I put down the stream as I kept walking. The tournament had eighteen contestants, and after the first day, it had been whittled down to nine. One person would have to fight twice tomorrow, and I knew just the man who would have such an unfortunate stroke of luck.

  Now, who would be a good fit for his possible second match? I considered the options that I had considered the other day. Then I thought back to the match, at how easily he had beaten Zach the moment he got his hands on him. Well, if he wanted a brawl, I would give him a brawl.

  I arrived at the room of the B ranker who could make shockwaves with his fists, and wrapped my knuckles against the wood.

  A man with red hair and freckles lining his nose answered the door, and he looked as wide eyed as Abigail had before I brushed past into his room, my patience long worn thin.

  The room was bare except for the essentials, and I don’t think he had even used any weapons in his early match. No matter, he had won, so he had some potential. Hopefully, luck would be on his side, rather than on the civvies for once.

  I turned back toward him as he kept saluting through his bewilderment, “I need you to do something for me, Liam.”

  “Consider it done!” he said enthusiastically, his eyes wide like he had just won the lottery.

  I walked out of Liam’s room twenty seconds later, feeling cold disappointment sitting in my chest. One close look at him and my estimation of the chance he could beat Boris in a one-on-one altercation had dropped significantly. He had been eager, and he hadn’t hesitated as Abigail had… which somehow made my estimation of him drop even more.

  I scowled as I considered throwing Kate at him if, by some possibility, Boris should beat both of the opponents I would set for him tomorrow.

  I was walking down the hall, planning on asking Slava where I could acquire a flashbang when I saw the strangest thing.

  Calder walked out of Abigail’s room with a confused expression on his face, like he could not believe what he had just heard. He froze, Abigail’s door half closed when he locked eyes with me.

  He burst out laughing a moment later as he shut her door, “Fancy seeing you here,” he said, walking towards me.

  “Nice to see you, Calder. What were you chatting with the B ranker about?” I asked, testing him.

  “Well, the same thing you were apparently. Wanted to surprise you, but guess you're always a step ahead, huh?” he said as he stopped a little ways away, looking down at me with an easy smile.

  “It is my job to make sure our brigade runs smoothly, it is a prerequisite to my position,” I said proudly, lifting my chin high in the air as I started walking past him.

  He fell into step beside me, “Well, you still have to win this tournament, the midterm battles, and the final battles, but I think with a little bit of help,” he said with a wink, a smile still on his face, “that we will make sure that happens.”

  I considered his words. He had insulted me, saying I needed him to win. But he had also shown forethought, knowing exactly what was entailed for the rest of the year.

  “Yes. I need to win those battles, and since you are our only front-line combatant you will have privileges the others do not. And as long as you make no more mistakes, you might even get to keep those privileges,” I said over my shoulder, letting him know I had not forgotten his little mishap.

  His smile vanished as he looked away, and I thought I saw him clench his hand into a fist. He stuffed his hand into his pocket, looking forward as we walked, “Listen. I am genuinely sorry about the casualties. You must know that while it is regrettable, I would do it again.”

  “Excuse me?” I whispered, stopping to stare up at him.

  He stopped a little ways in front of me, before turning around as he sighed, “Listen. I know the long term problems could be bad, like you have stated many times,” he added quickly with a small smile, “and yes, I know if they find out it will ruin our chances, but…” he paused, before he sighed deeply looking up at the ceiling then back to me.

  “It was like you said. The civvie can not be allowed to ascend. That is far more important than if the lower ranks found out about the fire. Why worry about cancer that could kill us in five years when there is a knife coming towards us now?”

  He held my gaze. He did not look away, he had not hesitated with his explanation. I gritted my teeth… because I agreed with him. The civvie was the worst problem I had ever faced by far. He needed to lose, everything else could be dealt with after.

  I kept walking, and he followed soon after as I said, “That is correct, however when you are the one to cause the cancer it becomes a different conversation… but enough,” I said, waving my hand dismissively, “we have discussed this topic twice already, and I believe you have learned your lesson.”

  I stopped walking, and he seemed bewildered as he turned back to me. I put my hand on his shoulder, which made his eyes widen even further as I looked up at him, “And it was very thoughtful of you to talk to her for me. Thank you,” I said, still a little impressed he had remembered her from our conversation on the bus.

  I continued walking, and he followed after a moment, “Walk you to your… wherever it is that you're going?” he asked.

  “Of course.”

  We walked in comfortable silence for about five minutes, before he said, “So… uh what's the plan for tomorrow?”

  “Tomorrow? Oh, tomorrow, we will make sure he loses,” I said, ice crawling back into my voice.