Space and Time

P=AI

My gloves are on again. The bright lights inside the stadium are illuminating the raised platform that I will be fighting on in t minus two minutes. I'm feeling more confident. Zuzanna's the same age as Evren, but she doesn't have her years of experience. She's a judo practitioner, according to Google, although now that I see her standing across from me I can very well see that myself. She's small but bulky. Built. Both her arms and legs are well-muscled, and her hands aren't hanging by her side lazily. Every movement she makes is controlled.

I won't beat her in a ground fight, so I need to get in close, jab her a few times, and then get out quickly before she can grab me. This one I'll probably have to win by knockout, because she does not look like a person ready to submit.

"All right, Aika, remember: Zuzanna is relying on you stumbling off balance," Nevaeh says to me as the shuffling of the crowd of spectators starts to die down. "Keep your legs bent and your guard up, and stay light on your toes. The moment you dig that foot into the ground with too much of your weight, you become a Jenga tower leaning on a single block. You'll be toppled over. She doesn't have your speed, but she does have your strength – maybe more –, so stay focused."

"You got it," I say confidently. If Evren thinks I can level with her, then Zuzanna should be no problem. I just have to play keep-away for as long as possible.

"That's the spirit," Nevaeh says as she gives me a wide smile.

"Welcome! Bienvenue! Round Two of the National Combat Championship is upon us!" Oh, the announcer's beginning to introduce us.

"You sure you don't want me to go grab Lev to give you his signature 'go get 'em' push?" Dad says over the voice of the announcer.

"No," I immediately say. I'm still mad at him for his whole stunt at the Haunt. I'm not sure what his game was – it was probably well-intentioned because it's Lev – but he should have let me do things by myself. I only got to yell at him a bit after the party, but I suspect he forgot it all due to his drunkenness. At least I got to see Lillian win the costume contest and rub that in his face. Double revenge.

"Well, all right then, I guess I will go have to deal with the kicked puppy," Dad says. I sigh.

"He's being dramatic. He'll chill out by the end of the match, when he sees me win."

I can see Dad smiling and he gives me his thumbs up for approval. Nevaeh also nods proudly.

"...le stade. Please reveal the stage." Oh, shit, I should already be up there. Nevaeh pushes me up the last few steps to the public arena and I prep myself for another fight. My second NCC fight. I can already feel the tingling of excitement.

The stage rumbles and I can hear the crowd whoop in anticipation. A large circle pops up out of the floor and creates a giant circular stage a few inches off the ground. Then a smaller circle pops out of the large one and creates another few-inch layer above the first. The circular layers keep popping out of each other and stacking until a small platform remains at the top of this giant layered hill.

I blanch. That kind of ring is perfect for a judoka like Zuzanna. Small, close-range. Falling off of that platform would easily land either of us out of bounds.

The countdown begins. Ok, deep breaths, Aika. Deep breaths. Roll those shoulders back and go in loose. Light on the feet. This is just another opponent you have to beat to get to the top. You can do this.

The klaxon fires.

I hop onto the first platform layer to test its strength. It's not completely solid. It wobbles a bit under my feet like hard foam or springboards would. Well, that's annoying. I need to get up to the top fast, or Zuzanna will have control and knock me off it before I can even stabilize my balance. Time to put that speed to use.

I focus on my feet. I need to switch my target for every step, so I need to concentrate hard. This is what I've been training with my figure for. I feel a shift in the air around me and I launch myself up the steps of the layered stage, one by one, by employing some figure-enhanced physics. Maybe this figure is better than a snail-speed one...

I get to the top before Zuzanna. I could end this fight early. I stand at the edge of the circular platform and watch Zuzanna run up the last few layers. I tense and lower my stance, readying a knockout punch. My heart is beating wildly. I've got this.

BOOM.

Crap. Her figure. Her figure, Aika!

Before I can react, my balance is completely thrown off by the literal thunderous force of Zuzanna's figure. The shockwave completely destabilizes the already somewhat unstable platform, and I'm knocked back onto my butt. Now she's almost on top of me.

No, no, no, no, we can't let this get to grappling. I'm screwed there.

I flatten my back to the floor as Zuzanna goes to grab my shirt, likely to pin me. Now I'm rolling the hell away, off the platform as fast as I can. And now, I'm standing here, three platforms down from the top one, and Zuzanna has control.

God damn it.

I can see her smile from here. She knows she has the upper hand. I need to think fast. What do I do? What do I do? Oh no, she's lifted her leg up. She's going to pound down her figure again. That force will ripple all the way down this layered platform. I need to either find something to hold onto or stop her.

...Or both.

Just as Zuzanna goes to stomp down onto the platform, I sprint up the steps and throw myself at her. I tackle her to the ground, but her foot still manages to stomp down onto the platform.

BOOM.

I hear the deafening thunderclap and feel the entire stage shake from the impact. Zuzanna immediately tries to manoeuvre herself out of my grip, but the instability of the platform is working in my favour here. The stage rocks around a bit and I take advantage of Zuzanna's disorientation to wind up a right hook. She sees what I'm doing and blocks her head, but that won't help with the force I'm about to put into this fist. I focus on my target and wind up. I feel the gravity shift and I go in for the K.O.

I miss.

I can't believe my lack of accuracy is coming to bite me in the butt right now of all times. This springy stage is not helping. Now Zuzanna's on top of me, having taken advantage of my momentum and flipped me over. I'm pinned.

"Give up?" she asks me, a little breathlessly, as she pins me with one hand and winds up the other to clock me out.

"No," I say defiantly. My head is spinning. If I don't get out of this, I'll be out of the running for Grand Champion. This can't be happening. Think, Aika, think. What can you do?

"All right, I gave you the chance," Zuzanna says as she tenses to employ her figure. This is my only chance.

My glove is just inches from her ribs, but she has both my hands trapped under hers. My legs and feet are also pinned down by hers. I only have one option left. I turn my head a bit to lessen the impact, concentrate, and headbutt her with the force of a rhino.

That hurts!

But it's worked. I'm dizzy and I clutch my head, my hands now free. Ok, I need to at least make sure that worked. Where is Zuzanna? Ah, there. The blurry blob. She's still moving, probably reeling like I am. I hope this won't be a bad concussion. She's getting closer. I need to stand up.

Now we're both standing, and staggering. Or maybe it's just me who's staggering. I don't know. But what I do know is that I need to take this chance. I just need to go in for the final blow. I can't focus on getting my figure to work, so it looks like the old-fashioned way will have to do.

Hands up. Light feet. Feint right, cross left.

She's down.

I can hear some warbled cheering and the announcer guy is saying some muffled congratulations that I don't understand. I can't tell if my head is warbling the words or if he's speaking French.

I carefully make my way down the layers of the stage; oh, now I'm accompanied by the medical squad. Looks like they're worried about a concussion too. But hey, I won. I won. I'm moving on. That's all that matters.