The academy buzzed with excitement from the student body. Everyone on campus— both fighters and inventors— headed to the Arena to see the next bout of challengers. They’d all been entertained by the hopefuls for the past week, secretly betting their digits on who would be a new student or simply a reject stuck with the desire.
Fistborn offered three months of summer vacation in between school years, but for Student Coaches, that time was shortened to one. While the other nine wistfully thought about their families and wished for more time, Harrison Smith thought of it as a welcome relief.
His home had become the academy. Even in non-Versus years, he opted to staying and taking classes in the Versus Fighting School. Unlike the other careers that usually lasted about four years, Versus students would take up to sixteen years to graduate, depending on their age. Having been fifteen when he started, Harrison had twelve years to go, and three Versus Games to get through. That was plenty of time for more controversies to loom over his head.
To think the other planets were angry he got fourth place… it wasn’t even a big deal. If he ever reached a more significant spot, how much more backlash would he get? They were all trying to discourage him from trying to win.
On the Student Coach penthouse floor, he left his suite, going to the common lobby to meet his nine fellow coaches. Four of them were new like Harrison while the others had been Student Coaches for over a year. Even so, Harrison was the outcast of the ten.
“What do you think about the fights?” Elisa asked. She was one of the new Student Coaches this year. She was a pale red-skinned Paeseoan with cream-colored wavy hair that was usually tied up. Harrison had never seen her with her hair down.
Catherine shrugged. “I don’t know. To me, they’ve been boring as binary code. They’re a load of amateurs.” She had a soft, violet skin tone and blond hair, a perfect mix of the Seeyastian and Earthian species. She was one of the ‘nicer’ ones to Harrison.
“I feel like Houdge has been going easy on them,” Disaris said. “She’s usually feistier than this.” He was half-Voraxian, which gave him ocean-blue skin, but he definitely didn’t inherit the height. He was a bit shorter than Harrison. However, he was very strong and sported glassy black eyes inherited from his Martian side.
“They tell her that,” Harrison said, quick to dissolve any criticisms of his best friend. Lílitha Houdge was the 150th-ranked student on their most recent team, but she was a great fighter. “They need the fights to last long enough for them to evaluate their skills. If she knocks them out right away, they can’t really grade anything.”
“That, or she’s losing her touch,” Li Mei muttered. She was a small woman who looked much younger than she was, and she was often mistaken for a full-blooded human. The distinguishing feature was her eyes; star-shaped pupils with orange irises, which made it clear she was half-Seeyastian.
“She’s not. You know how she fights. She almost bit Bark’s arm off, remember?” Harrison reminded her.
“Almost,” Reilly interjected, standing up for his student. “He still won the fight.” He was ranked as the best student in the academy. A tall, proud Voraxian with skin as white as quartz, he was someone Harrison did not get along with. Harrison always found himself irritated by his presence, especially the arrogance in his British accent.
“He didn’t win, Coach pulled the lass off ‘im,” Catherine laughed. “Otherwise, he’d’ve been a one-arm. Serves him right for slagging ‘er.”
Reilly frowned, but said nothing else. He had over a hundred students under his tutelage, but he was especially defensive about his Favorites.
He had to admit, though— his student, Bark Davies, used to be very reckless and arrogant in his first years at the academy. Being Ilamikoan, Lílitha Houdge’s childlike appearance yielded a lot of insults and species bias from the other students, Bark in particular. As expected of a Hajjian, one of the most biased species in the Utopia.
Bark had made a mistake, though, and found himself being beaten by a puny Ilamikoan woman. No one had ever forgotten the incident, and new students would eventually hear about it from the older juniors and seniors. Bark had grown since then, not usually letting his temper get the best of him, but he was still known as ‘Savage’, taking his fiery revenge when he deemed it fitting.
Fighters that received call signs were those that impressed the Versus Games audience enough to be deemed Legends. Usually, they would receive them in the middle of the preliminary international competition, but some fighters needed to work harder to get the crowd’s attention, such as Harrison. He didn’t receive his official call sign until the end of the last Versus Games.
And that call sign was ‘Cheater’.
He knew that a lot of the negative attention on him was due to his father; he had left him and his mother during his first Junior Versus and had an affair with a famous Hajjian woman. When they were caught and exposed, Harrison’s family name had taken a hit in the political world. Hajjians and Earthians having romantic affairs was strictly frowned upon. Thankfully, their species were not compatible for reproduction, so no half-Hajjians and half-Earthians would be mixed up in the whole debate.
Being his son carried a lot of weight, so the other species settled grudges in the Versus Games, as the Treaty ordered, and ruined Harrison’s reputation when the tournament was over. They wouldn’t openly say it was because of the affair, but he knew it ran deeper than him being a ‘lowly human’.
Harrison was the first full-blooded Earthian to be a Student Coach since Lisa White, so people were still skeptical of his abilities. He’d done extremely well considering it was his first year in the competition, but it was hardly cheating. People also ignored the fact that he had been training since he was a child.
The ten entered the Arena and went to the passages leading to the seats. As Student Coaches, they had access to special seats with the best view of the fight; a capsule that moved around the arena circle to see the battle at the best angle. It even had a screen that would zoom in on the fighters when it got exciting. Next to them were the school faculty, and below were the Favorites’ capsules.
Harrison slipped into the seat numbered ‘10’, which had his name beneath. It always swelled him with pride whenever he came here. Even though his rightful position should’ve been Reilly’s number ‘1’, he was contented with at least being a Student Coach.
Even though the other nine didn’t show it as much, he knew they thought the same of him. The experienced Student Coaches always playfully hazed the new ones, but he took the brunt of the force.
It didn’t help that he was the only full human among them. Most half-humans didn’t take pride in their Earthian side. They were always fiercely patriotic towards their non-Earthian half, as if they were embarrassed. Li Mei was clear that she hated being assumed as a human. She would blink her bizarre eyes, making it as obvious as possible that she wasn’t fully Earthian.
He always tried not to let it bother him. He’d ignore the whispers in the halls, the gossip bouncing between the students. He’d smile among the glares and smirks thrown his way. He’d appreciate those that granted him the barest amount of respect.
He looked down at the Favorites’ capsules floating below them. These varied between sizes, accommodating all the best members of each Guild. Students taking apprenticeship under each of the Student Coaches.
There were nine in all, but there should’ve been ten.
Harrison sighed, shaking away the feeling. He couldn’t think about this right now. It was best if he focused on the fights, as usual. He half-agreed with Catherine; it was getting boring. There were a lot of wannabes having their faces smashed into the ground in the first few minutes. The admissions board was definitely lowering their standards.
“Students of Fistborn Academy, welcome to the seventh day of the Pressure Exams!” The students clapped and cheered in the stadium seats. “Let’s welcome, once again, Ms. Lílitha Houdge— call sign ‘Piranha’—, the 150th seed of the 2346 Fistborn Versus team!” They cheered again as Lílitha walked out to the arena, dressed in the standard combat armor suit, which clashed with her indigo skin.
“I hope there aren’t any more annoying blokes who think they can be Favorites on the first day,” Catherine remarked.
“Without further ado, let’s welcome the first challenger of the day to the Arena!”
Harrison could see Lílitha shifting on her feet, stretching her limbs to their longest. The capsule glass zoomed in to show her battle-hungry smile.
“She’s going to bite this one,” Reilly said.
“Yeah, considering she’s been controlling her biting for a while, I don’t blame her,” said Delaine— one of the new Student Coaches, like Harrison. She was a notoriously attractive Martian girl with huge, sparkly, blacked-out eyes. “If I wasn’t allowed to use my best move for a hundred fights straight, I’d get anxious, too.”
“Welcome to the Arena… a talented Paeseoan from Wisconsin, scoring the required 60 on his practical test, but still showing massive potential… Anders Nilsson!”
Most of the crowd respectfully clapped as the man walked out to the arena, accompanied by boos from the more audacious bunch. He seemed confident at first, but slowed when the announcer yelled out his grade to everyone. His head ducked and he took smaller steps.
Li Mei laughed. “I hated when they told my grade to everyone. It was the most embarrassing thing I went through.”
Disaris snorted. “You’ve embarrassed yourself worse. Like in Teamwork, when you-”
“Shut the glitch up.” She held up a finger. Disaris snickered, hiding his smile with his fist.
The Paeseoan hopeful exchanged formalities with Lílitha before heading over to the indicators across from her. There were no weapons or fancy tech around, just them and the arena.
“Prepare yourselves! Ready in 10, 9, 8…”
The crowd counted down along with the announcer, stomping their feet rhythmically, as was tradition to keep the excitement high. Harrison narrowed his eyes at the Paeseoan, who visibly gulped as Lílitha flashed her sharp teeth at him.
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“3… 2… 1… FIGHT!”
Instantly, Lílitha bolted forward, her speed catching her opponent off-guard. In no time at all, she’d stretched one of her legs to wrap around his neck, locking him in a deadly wrestling hold, and bit down on his shoulder. The armor kept her teeth from breaking his skin, but the pain still registered, causing him to yell.
“Oh, my- seriously?! She just couldn’t wait, could she?” Catherine shook her head.
The Paeseoan’s legs gave out so he could slam her onto the floor. It worked, allowing him to twist out of her grip. Rage clouded his eyes as he got back into position, wincing and clutching his shoulder.
“His pain tolerance doesn’t look that high,” Disaris observed.
He charged this time, punching Lílitha in the face just as she rose. She spun, letting the momentum carry her, and stretched her foot out to kick him in the chin. She followed it up with punch in the gut and a knifehand in his throat.
His hands raised to his neck as he choked. Lílitha gave him no time to recover, throwing her whole body forward in a tackle. She somehow managed to ride his back, pulling his arms behind him and arching his back.
After a few seconds of holding him, he finally yelled out, “SURRENDER!” The crowd burst out laughing; not only was he desperate, but the correct word was ‘Concede’.
“GAME OVER!” the announcer responded. Lílitha let her opponent go at the prompt, standing and raising her arms in victory. She smiled at the cheering Fistborn students, her teeth glinting in the sun.
“She should seriously take it easy with the biting. No wonder people think Ilamikoans eat other mammalians,” St?sten remarked. He was a coffee-skinned Mercearthian with huge, beefy arms. His skin wasn’t as rocky as native Mercurians, but it had a sandy, pebbly texture, made softer by his human half.
“Well, it’s one of their best weapons. If the applicants can’t handle that, they can’t handle the school or the competition,” said Delaine.
“Our next candidate is a Mercumartian from Alaska, with a whopping 85 tacks on his practical test! Welcome to the Arena… Emos Casuuumi!”
The fights went on, most ending the same; with Lílitha either pinning them down, punching them senseless, or trying to bite their limbs off. There were a few who gave her a run for her digits, but none who beat her. She’d upped her game for these candidates, ending fights much faster than usual. The board must have given her more freedom.
Either way, they weren’t required to win against her. They just needed to show their prowess in real combat under the circumstances of a real Versus fight. The judges needed to see how they performed against an experienced fighter with thousands of people watching them and cheering for their opponent.
“I think too many of them are underestimating her,” Kalis said as a Mearthian girl left the Arena in tears, like many before her. He was a lanky, tall Mearthian with light gray skin and electric blue eyes. “It doesn’t even look like they did their homework. If they saw one of her fights, they would know to avoid the teeth.”
“Most of these are a bunch of wannabes. They’re not going to actually work for this exam,” said Delaine.
“That last Earthian gave her a good run, though. What was her name again?” Melsen Steffensen asked. He had brownish-red skin, but looked otherwise human, only having a quarter of Paeseoan blood. He was another one that was annoyed by assumptions of him being fully Earthian, and he’d try to connect more with Paeseoan audiences to dissolve this identification.
“Ellie, I think,” Reilly answered.
“No, it was Elaine. Remember, Catherine made a huge deal about her name rhyming with mine?” Delaine said.
“I didn’t make no huge deal.”
About 1,000 fighters battled Lílitha before the first break. By then, she was exhausted, and she’d even received a few injuries from the better fighters. However, the majority left the Arena crippled and crying from her powerful grips and bites.
“She’s a glatchin’ zombie,” Catherine repeated every time.
After an hour, Lílitha had completed her respite period and was ready for another 1,000 challengers. Fully energized, she was able to beat the first few with no problem. Hopes were being crushed left and right, and the Fistborn students were thriving on it.
“And now… the next challenger facing our Lílitha… a young Earthian girl from the state of Indiana… with a score of 62 tacks… Calista Medley!”
Harrison leaned forward, his sapphire eyes locking onto the human girl. She was anything but confident as she continuously adjusted her orange suit, her feet shifting as she circled to look at the crowds. The screen zoomed in so they could see the fear plastered across her face.
Delaine scoffed. “Why is she looking around so much? Focus on your enemy!”
As if she heard her, the girl looked at Lílitha, who leaned on one of her feet as she scrutinized the human. The little woman’s arms were crossed as she regarded the girl with ridicule.
“She’s bored,” Reilly observed.
“I don’t blame her. All we’re gettin’ are losers,” Catherine grumbled. “Hardly anything to fuss over.”
“The next fight starts in 10… 9…”
The girl quickly got into position, gulping. As she stared at Lílitha, her emerald green eyes hardened with determination.
“FIGHT!”
===
Calista uncomfortably twisted and turned in her combat suit. It was nothing fancy, just an elastic second skin that stretched over her body with protective padding stitched in, with the tougher parts covering the most sensitive areas. It was light and flexible enough to move around easily.
The color was torturing her. It was all orange, nothing like the suits she’d seen in the competition. Orange wasn’t even part of the school colors! What were they thinking?!
She was in the second group of challengers, waiting in the hall for her turn. The first group had already been taken to the dugout, going out one-by-one to confront Lílitha Houdge in combat.
Calista’s nerves skyrocketed with every fight that passed. Everyone was humiliating themselves by being smashed into the ground after five seconds, even the ‘higher’ species. Paeseoans, Seeyastians, Martians, Mercurians, and all sorts of mixed species had the glitches kicked out of them. By an Ilamikoan, no less. Even Earthians underestimated that species in the Versus world.
Lílitha was the most vicious fighter Calista had seen in her life. At first, she’d thought she was downright adorable, resembling a 7-year old girl with huge eyes that curled at the ends and a shining, innocent smile.
Now, she was her worst nightmare, her sharp teeth glinting threateningly each time she dug them into her opponents’ armor. It was almost as if she wished the armor wasn’t there.
She wrung her gloved hands together, sweating profusely. The cooling mechanism in the suit didn’t help her. She felt helpless and completely alone. She shouldn’t have run away. She should’ve just stayed home. She should’ve never taken the tests and just gone to the Socializer school.
Well, no use complaining now. What was done was done.
“Calista Medley to the arena. Repeat, Calista Medley to the arena. Your fight begins in T-minus 150 seconds.”
Glancing at the other waiting candidates around her, she took a deep breath, trying not to spit out her stomach. It flipped over and over again like a pancake. She could hear the announcer introducing her as she approached the arena entrance.
“And now… the next challenger facing our Lílitha… a young Earthian girl from the state of Indiana… with a score of 62 tacks… Calista Medley!”
She’d heard the announcer yelling out everyone’s grades, so she expected it, but the shame was overwhelming. She wished her helmet could hide her face.
When she stepped out onto the arena, she felt like she would die. She started hyperventilating again and her sweat glands squeezed out every drop of water she had in her. Her suit started feeling tight and uncomfortable, and her helmet seemed to tighten over her head.
Was it suffocating her? It wasn’t covering her face; there was an invisible protector surrounding her eyes and chin, but her nose and mouth were completely exposed. Yet she felt like her head was trapped in a little box.
She looked around at the crowds, gulping deeply. There were all sorts of people, but hardly any humans. The few patches of humans she found were all jeering at her. Above the seats were numerous capsules holding more people, which circled around the open ceiling.
Reluctantly, she looked at her opponent: the childlike, indigo-skinned girl with long, straight dark blue hair. She had her weight leaned on one leg, her arms crossed. Her blacked-out eyes regarded her with boredom.
They were supposed to exchange formalities as a sign of mutual respect, so Calista approached her, trying to smile. She was sure she looked like a Smiley virus instead. “Um… hi,” she started, cringing at herself. “Uh… just wanted to say good luck. Or… not good luck, but… may the best fighter win. And… I’ll do my best.”
Lílitha rolled her eyes. “Just show me what you’ve got.” She stretched out her small, blue hand for a fist bump, which Calista returned. They got into position.
“The next fight starts in 10… 9…” The rhythmic stomping echoed with Calista’s heartbeat.
Lílitha smirked, her eyes devilishly glinting in the light. Calista closed her eyes and took another breath. Don’t look at the crowd. Don’t look at anyone. Just look at her. She’s your enemy.
Her emerald eyes opened again. As she stared at her opponent, they hardened. If she could stand up to that gang in the bar, she could stand up to an Ilamikoan, right?
It was this or nothing. The academy or going back home to her mother.
“FIGHT!”
As Calista expected, Lílitha charged forward. That was something she did in every fight. She wanted to gain the upper hand as fast as she could by delivering the first blow.
At the same time, the Earthian girl snapped out her leg, her foot arching to meet Lílitha’s head. It wouldn’t be too hard, since she was about a foot shorter than her. This seemed to catch Lílitha off guard a bit as she skidded to a stop, but she managed to duck under the blow.
Calista then threw her fist down at her face, hitting her nose. The crowds exclaimed, not in concern, but in surprise.
However, Lílitha didn’t allow any pausing. She immediately retaliated with an uppercut to Calista’s chin, stretching her arm to meet the length. Her head snapped back before a foot slammed into her side, immediately knocking her off-balance.
While the suit protected her from injury, the pads were designed to take in impact and transfer it to her pain receptors. It would hurt when Lílitha hit her, but it wouldn’t damage her. It was probably to measure her pain tolerance. Unfortunately, Calista’s tolerance was quite low.
She scrambled to stand as fast as she could before Lílitha could kick her again. She blocked her foot and stood, staying on defense as she tried to find an opening.
But Lílitha found one first.
Her foot slammed into her midriff with the same force as a wrecking ball, knocking the air out of her. With her back lowered, Lílitha was able to grab her shoulder and wrap her legs around her waist, her arms snaking around her throat. Calista clawed at her hands as she choked, falling to her knees.
She tried to throw her weight backwards, but Lílitha forced her to pitch forward, pinning her onto her face. Despite the girl’s size, she somehow managed to weigh her down like a sack of sand. Calista’s fist struck onto the ground as her frustration grew. She could hear the loud cheers of all the students around her, further fueling her anger.
No doubt her former friends were watching this just to mock her. They’d make a broadcast about it for sure. They were cackling. She hated giving them that satisfaction. Them, her mother, her grandparents… everyone in the family would tell her they ‘told her so’ for the rest of her life.
Lílitha’s arm shifted to hold her under her armpit, leaving her shoulder exposed. Calista’s eyes widened when she realized she was going to bite her.
But this gave her an opening.
With all her strength, she pushed against the ground to lift herself, giving her arms just a bit of leeway. Just as Lílitha opened her mouth, exposing her sharp knives, Calista held all her weight on one arm, jerking her other elbow into her opponent’s face.
She could feel the sharp teeth on her elbow, wincing. But the hit worked, eliciting a satisfying groan of pain from Lílitha. With her hold weakened, Calista rolled over and pressed all her weight onto her enemy, practically crushing her. There was no room for her to land a good bite, so she was trapped.
However, she was able to stretch her arm out and punch Calista in the cheek. The human girl cradled her jaw as she rolled off her opponent, allowing her to breathe.
With a shrill roar, Lílitha leapt, kicking at Calista’s face. As the human girl veered to the side, she was smacked across the face, forced to turn the other way. Her arm was suddenly twisted behind her back as two harsh blows were delivered to her stomach, sending her to her knees.
She was unable to block or counter the Ilamikoan as she grabbed her head and smashed her forehead against hers. No doubt it hurt her, but it hurt Calista more. She fell on her back, wailing in pain. As a final blow, Lílitha pinned her down and punched her twice in the face.
“GAME OVER!” the announcer finally yelled.
Lílitha’s fist halted and she stood, glaring down at the Earthian girl. With a contemptuous huff, she turned to the crowds and basked in their cheers, pumping her small fists in the air. Calista remained on the ground, breathing heavily.
Her nose itched fiercely before she tasted the metallic tang of blood. She wiped her nose in surprise. The sight of scarlet red goop on her glove instantly nauseated her. Blood wasn’t something she was prepared to see or touch.
The adrenaline faded, replaced by exhaustion and horrible pain. It seemed that the invisible protectors left her nose exposed, probably to further test the hopefuls’ tolerance. Calista had an answer for that.
She passed out.
