Ray
allowed the two finalists to take a break for a few minutes and
prepare for their final battle. Fletch talked with Jay and Kip about
what had happened in the battle.
Jay said, "He didn't know his
ability. Invisibility was a power of his Robo, not himself."
"Still, it's a cool thing to be able to do," Kip commented, then added, "I do kinda feel sorry for him, you know?"
Jay changed the subject, "On the other hand, Fletch, you discovered your power! Strength in arms, huh? Cool!"
Fletch, "The best thing about it is that it means that I'm not the one who caused whatever happened to Kip."
"The bad part is, now we have no clue who's responsible."
"Well, it's better than thinking Fletch is, isn't it?"
"Yeah, I guess so. Well, we shouldn't worry about that right now. As long as nobody else enters that room, Fletch, it won't happen again."
"How do you know that?"
"If the one who's doing it were there, they wouldn't have let Nick attack for so long. They would have made it a lot easier for you to win."
"OK. Well, if I can get Ronnie in the same hold I had Nick, I should be able to get him to surrender."
"In case you haven't noticed, Fletch, you won your last three battles because your opponents gave up."
"Well, it works."
"Yeah, but Ray might think your Robo is illegally upgraded, since it can break through safety switches."
"By the way, Jay, do you know how that's happening? How am I breaking through the protection of my safety switch."
"My guess would be that you're just overloading it with power. Your strength is so immense that the switch overloads and allows real damage to be done to your opponents."
"Sounds reasonable. Something's weird, though."
Kip inquired further, "What's weird?"
"When I was battling Nick, and I had my grip on him, I felt… like I had done it before."
"Done what? Grabbed Nick's arm?" Jay joked, but Fletch was serious.
"Yes. Before the battle, Nick said I looked familiar, then when we battled, I felt like I had seen his Robo before. His customization. Defeated him the same way, everything."
The three of them were quiet. Kip wished she could say something to make Fletch feel more secure, but none of them could think of an explanation.
"Something's going on," Jay said.
"I know," Fletch said.
Jay paused a moment, then said, "Ask Ronnie."
"Why?"
"Something's going through his head that may have the answer."
"Can you read exactly what it is?"
"Not at all. But he's thinking about you too much to not know anything. And he's worried."
Ray interrupted their thought conversation, "Ronnie, Fletch, take your places at the holoseum. We'll commence the final round of the tournament momentarily."
"Good luck," Kip said.
"Yeah, but get some answers, too," Jay added.
"I'll
try. Thanks guys." Fletch stood across from Ronnie.
Fletch was
about to ask Ronnie openly what was going on, but Ronnie started off,
"After how badly Wade beat you, I'm surprised you made it this
far."
"Thanks Ronnie," Fletch said only half-heartedly, "Spearhand was a bit more willing to help than you guys at Darclaw were. About infinitely much so."
Ronnie shook his head slightly, "Spearhand, huh?" He sighed. "You really have forgotten everything, haven't you?"
"Look, Ronnie, I've been confused and bewildered ever since I entered this tournament. What's going on?" Fletch demanded. Ronnie looked puzzled, but Fletch could tell he wasn't really. "I know you have the answers, Ronnie."
A smirk emerged on Ronnie's face, "That I do. But you don't have the right questions for them."
Fletch thought, then sighed, "Why did Nick think I was familiar? Why was he familiar to me? What happened to-"
Ronnie interrupted him, shaking his head again, "No, no, no, Fletch. That's too specific. If I were to answer that, it wouldn't tell you anything. What do you want to know that can answer all your questions?" Fletch was silent. He had no idea what Ronnie wanted him to ask. Ronnie asked Ray, "Can you give us a moment?" Ray nodded, and Ronnie continued talking to Fletch, "How about I ask you a few questions first?"
Fletch sighed, "All right, fine. What do you want to know?"
"I already know the answers. I'm just giving you something to ask yourself."
"Ask away, then."
"Where were you this morning?"
"At Darclaw, where I got turned-"
Ronnie interrupted, "That's enough. Don't say more than you need. Where were you before you applied to Darclaw?"
"I was looking around for a team to join."
"Was Darclaw your first option?"
"No.
I was turned down from-"
Ronnie stopped him again, "Answer the
question, nothing more."
"… Well… then no."
Ronnie nodded slowly, "When did you get your Class–D license?"
"Two weeks ago." Fletch knew these answers off the top of his head like he was being asked his own name. "Ronnie, this isn't helping. What are you getting at?"
"These are the things you know easily. Do you remember where you took your license test?"
"Yes. I went-" Fletch stopped himself this time.
"Do you remember waking up that morning?"
"Yes."
"Do you remember going to sleep the night before?"
"Yes."
Ronnie paused for a moment, "Do you really?" Fletch thought for a moment, then gasped when he realized that he couldn't remember. He was speechless, so he just shook his head. "How about when you first became interested in Robos?" Fletch shook his head again, not remembering. "Can you remember anything about who you were before the day you got your Robo license?"
"I… I don't… remember." Fletch was perplexed at why his memory just ended on the day he got his license. It was like there was nothing there. He looked down.
"The answers you seek lie beyond that barrier where your memory stops," Ronnie said. Fletch looked back up at him. "Do you want to know who you were before you forgot everything?"
"If I beat you, will you tell me? Will you tell me everything?" Fletch paused, then disdainfully added, "Please?"
Ronnie smirked again, "All right, but only if you beat me, and even then you might not want to know once I've told you."
"Deal than. Let's battle."
They dove into the holoseum. Fletch had a lot more than just a prize riding on this one.