Cumbria rolled her shoulders as Berks stretched her arms. With a nod to the spectators' booth, three bleeps sounded before one loud long one, signalling the start of the fight. They thundered towards each other as long metal poles began to rise out of the ground with a hiss. The gap between them shortened at a rapid rate and once they were within range, Bria clasped a pole and swung herself around Berks, slamming her boots into her back. Berks tumbled but recovered quickly, rolling and jumping back to her feet, spinning as Bria ran at her.
Back in training, before she became a Freelancer, Berks had found hiding among the scenery worked best toward her advantage, but now she realised that tactic wasn't always available. Thin metal poles were a tough object to hide behind.
She kicked off the pole nearest to her and used the momentum to kick off the pole on the opposite side, working her way up to the top. Berks practically skipped on the tops of the poles, keeping a perfect balance. She remembered Buck's talking advice but decided against it. Bria was probably used to it. It wouldn't surprise her. She was immune if she had spent as much time around Buck as Berks suspected.
Instead, she took a path where the poles became less organised in rows and columns, a route where Bria would have to focus on as she ran below. The plan worked; Bria slowed so as to not run smack into anything and her attention of opponent above her was no longer a priority. When Berks saw this, she flipped, leaving her balancing act as she slammed into the ignorant form below. Bria was strong and managed to throw Berks off but she wasn't finished. Berks jumped a kick that Bria sent out before returning one of her own. She feinted, going for the head which Bria defended, before smashing her boot into her chest. Bria flew back, cracking into one of the metal poles which snapped against the force.
Bria stood and grasped the pole in her hands.
'No weapon combat just turned into one sided weapon combat,' Berks thought bitterly, raising her fists in a defensive position. 'Alrighty then. That's fine.'
Bria lunged and Berks flipped backwards, hoping to catch her opponent's helmet with her toe. Bria had seen this move plenty of times and tilted her head back, Berks' foot missing her completely. The pole twirled in Bria's grasp as she stepped ominously towards Berks as she jumped to her feet, taking equal steps back. It reminded her of those baton-twirling cheerleaders on American teen football films, marching with a sparkling grin as they danced and pranced in support of their favourite team.
But this 'cheerleader' wore armour instead of a miniskirt and had a helmet to mask her sparkling pearly grin. Not that she would be smiling anyway. Berks was gonna make sure of that.
Seeing an opening, Berks struck Bria's side with an extended hand and retraced it before the pole could strike her back. Bria winced, losing her pattern, and fumbled with the pole, giving Berks another opportunity to kick at her opposite side. It caught her perfectly and Bria rolled to recover but Berks was already on her, tackling her to a passive position. They wrestled, Berks desperately trying to pin her opponent to the ground. She was managing, until Bria tugged the pole from beneath her and whipped it around, catching Berks on the side of the head. She released her hold to adjust her helmet but that was all Bria needed to scramble to her feet. Berks was thrown off and landed on her side with a grunt. She caught sight of the severed pole loosely hanging in Bria's hand and sent a well-aimed kick from her horizontal position. The pole flew from Bria's grip and as she snapped her head towards the direction of the weapon, she didn't see Berks stand and run at her.
Her boots smacked against her chest, once again sending her flying. She hit the ground and Berks kicked at the nearest pole to her, snapping it and snatched the makeshift weapon. Bria raised her head and shifted her weight to stand before Berks brought down the pole with a 'thwack!' against her head.
Bria's head fell back and she lay still on the floor.
"Oh, shit!" Berks tore her helmet off and spun with a panic-stricken face towards the spectator booth. "I think I killed Bria!"
She dropped the pole as she fell to her knees, lifting up the prone form. Her index finger tapped against the side of Bria's helmet and the readings displayed on her visor.
"Thank God," Berks breathed, realising she was just unconscious.
"Hey, so you've secured second position, Berks," Buck's voice crackled through the speakers, "but we may have to charge you for damage to Freelancer property."
"Are we talking about the poles or Bria since if we still have lawyers I think she might sue," Berks sucked air through her teeth, putting her helmet back on as she lifted Bria up over her shoulder. "I'm gonna take her to the infirmary."
"Sure, then come back to get the recording."
"Will do."
Berks jogged down the corridor, trying to avoid the other Freelancers as she headed for the infirmary. Those she did pass said nothing but cast strange looks in her direction regarding one of the best Freelancers hanging off of the newbie's shoulder.
She rested her on a plain white bed once she reached her destination and called over a nurse to see to the unconscious Freelancer. He nodded and took off her helmet to reveal a nasty bruise on her forehead.
"She took quite a hit," he grimaced, placing a cold cloth over it before it swelled up.
"Yeah..." Berks shrank away and thanked the nurse before returning to the training room.
She ascended the steps to the spectator booth, quietly and slowly as her legs were tired from the fighting and the running back and forth. She made a mental note to not knock out any more opponents.
"-Chester, I've told you, I'm just not interested in Bria anymore."
Berks stopped as she heard Buck's voice come from within the room. He hadn't heard her.
"What, so a pretty girl comes along and you just forget about Bria like that?" Berks heard Chester click his fingers. "You were trying to impress her for ages, since she joined- what was it, last year?"
"Yeah, but that's the thing. If my mind can change that quickly, I don't think Bria was right for me."
"Buck, dude, who cares if she's 'right' for you, she's hot, bang her, end of."
"Come on, Chester, you know I'm not like that."
"Yeah, you're one of those crappy 'relationship' guys."
"Can you please stop doing that quotation mark thing with your fingers?"
"Fine, so you're into Berks now, yeah?"
"Yeah, I guess. She's really good looking and a hell of a fighter."
"Oh God, you're not into that kinky fighting sex thing, are you?"
"What? Chester, seriously, how many times do you think one thing when I say another?"
"Like seventy five percent of the time."
There was a silence.
"Okay, eighty."
Again, silence.
"Ninety."
Buck still said nothing.
"Fine, a hundred percent I literally say the first thing that jumps into my head after you say something."
"You're such an idiot."
"Yeah. But what if another pretty girl comes along after Berks? Will you drop her like Bria?"
"Okay, to start with, I'm not 'dropping Bria'-"
"Now you're doing the finger thing-"
"Whatever, I'm not dropping her since I'm not dating her. And... I don't know. I guess it'll have to happen before I can find out."
Berks swallowed.
Oh crap.
She had to admit, she was really attracted to him and it was nice to hear that relationships still existed instead of the standard one night stands.
Berks pretended to walk up the stairs, making her feet heavy before she stopped at the ajar door and knocked. The men coughed, breaking their conversation and called her in.
"Take a look," Buck stood, presenting a tablet, showing a video of the fight.
She cringed at the successful moves Bria made, slamming into her back, making her stumble, smacking her with that pole. She subconsciously rubbed her cheek.
"It's not a fluke," Chester joined, pointing out Berks' pivotal moment as she knocked out Bria, "you're really good. You deserve the number two position."
"Oh, shit!" The muffled recording exclaimed. "I think I killed Bria!"
Chester and Buck laughed and Berks covered her face in embarrassment as they paused on her panicked expression, standing over the unconscious body.
"Shut up." She mumbled but found a grin as Buck caught her eye.
"I'll file this," Buck said, laughter still in his voice as he saved the video in Berks' documents, "show London later."
"Oh, please cut out that last part!" She begged, making a grab for the tablet.
"Nope, not a chance!" He grinned, holding it out of reach.
"You bastard," she pointed and folded her arms in defeat, "I would have deleted it if it was you."
"Really?"
Berks paused.
"No. I'd share that shit everywhere."
"Ah, you're made for each other," Chester put a hand on his heart as he began to retreat out of the spectators' booth.
"Chester..." Buck growled and curled his hands into fists. His mischievous friend squealed at the threat and darted out.
"Chase me! Chase me!" He called and Buck snarled under his breath as, with a smile, tore after him.
Berks laughed as she watched them run like schoolchildren until their shouts faded away with her laughter and that ever lingering silence settled around her.