Space and Time

ΔQ=mcΔT

Hand wraps tightly wound? Check. Gloves on? Check. Wait, let's make sure they don't slip... Ok, we're good, definitely Check. Hair's up and away from the face and Nevaeh's nodding her head, so it looks like I'm good to go.

"Remember, Aika, Gabriel is fast – faster than you are – so you need to be patient," she says. "He thrives when he gets a rile out of people so don't let him frustrate you. I don't know what stage you'll be fighting on, but if you get stuck in something convoluted, make sure you get to an open space. You'll have the advantage there. You got it?"

I make an affirmative noise but Nevaeh doesn't seem to hear me because she repeats herself, with a bit more bite. "Yes, Nevaeh, I've got it. Don't worry, I'm getting to the top one way or another," I say loudly as the announcer steps onto the stage to welcome us to Round One. He starts in French and I completely ignore him, tuning out all the noise of the crowd and the feedback from the microphone to breathe deeply.

"Here in this ring we have an interesting matchup: the flighty Gabriel Lavoie versus fast-forwarder Aika Inoue." Oh, this is in English. "This is Aika's first NCC fight, so I'm sure that all of us will be looking forward to seeing her skills," one of the overhead cameras shifts to face me and I try to look calm and collected. I'm starting to feel tingly, "But even with her command of time, will she be able to match the infinite speed and stamina of our water bearer? Hmm, an interesting match indeed.

"The rules are the same as always! The winner is the last person standing in the ring, unless an opponent submits or the external judges call a draw. The winner of this match will receive one point to their total points tally. The loser, minus one. These are high-stakes matches, folks. I expect we'll see plenty of intensity.

"All right, fighters, please step up onto the stage." I give Nevaeh one last glance and she nods encouragingly. I climb the steps and place myself on the edge of the stage. This is it. Take a deep breath, Aika, you're finally here. I can see Gabriel on the other side of the stage, looking confident. He's got a head of height on me, at least, but we're in the same weight class so he's quite lean. He won't overpower me with weight. I do need to watch out for his reach, though. "Excellent. S'il vous plaît, dévoilez le stade. Please reveal the stage."

The wide open circle in front of me begins to rumble with the clanking of machinery. I remember that this was my favourite part to watch when I was a kid. Every stage is randomly chosen.

Six large walls start springing up from the floor, two by two, and they rise higher and higher until they form a pretty daunting three-row hurdle. The space between each row is minimal, same for between each side-by-side wall. There's no way around this weird partition unless we cross out of bounds. It looks like this will be a very close quarters fight.

I take another deep breath as the announcer prattles on about safety and discretion. The whole 'don't kill your opponent' spiel they had to implement after the Lethal incident. Then, everything goes silent and I hear the loud beeping of the countdown.

I need to win this fight quickly if I stand any chance. The longer I delay, the more exhausted I'll be. My strikes will be weaker. Gabriel's weird sweat-water will be more plentiful. Focus, Aika. You can do this. You need to do this.

The klaxon fires.

I run towards the partition walls. The divides between each wall seem to be in different places for each row because as I cross through the first space I come face to face with concrete. I jerk my head around and see the next divide on the far right. There's not a lot of space to move in here. My running is a little awkward and my elbows keep nearly scratching the sides of the walls sandwiching me. I get to the space and turn on my toe as I barrel through it, blindly throwing a right hook.