Chloe Antoni, 12
District Two "Male"
Chloe was honestly upset to see that Damien had to run and do other challenges during lunch. The morning challenge was so short that maybe he would have a break and he could spend it with some other kids! But it seemed as though Damien was either competing or resting the whole day. It was sad that he couldn't make friends with the other kids! That was something that Chloe was really thrilled with: her new friends. When she was with Wins and Ramona and Alder and Alexei, and even the slightly older Morrel and Sinsya, she was more outspoken and herself than she'd ever been before! Wins especially had made her feel so worth it and so liked. Chloe felt so lucky that she'd met all of them through the Events.
'Cause I remember the rush, when forever was us
Before all of the winds of regret and mistrust
Now we sit in your car and our love is a ghost
Well I guess I should go
Yeah I guess I should go
"Good afternoon, competitors! If you have not done so already, please put on your outfits for the afternoon challenge. Please note that this is not your standard athleticwear attire, so please make sure to put on the new outfit that we have selected for you, including all of the padding. Then, please make your way to Competition Zone One. When you get there, please go right into the door in your personal color and await further instructions."
Chloe went into her room to find laid out for her a red top and bottom. So that was nothing different. The difference today was that there were also red elbow and knee pads, and a red helmet with a red number two on it. As Chloe had stupidly chosen the same color as her district color, she didn't know what was supposed to be her red and what was District Two red. She figured she'd just have to see someone else's outfit to figure it out. Not that it was all that important. She was just curious.
Before going to the competition zone, Chloe checked in with Milky White quickly. While she had let the cow go a couple of days before, it kept coming back to her house. So, she figured the cow had adopted her as a pet. Chloe didn't mind. She liked having a pet! And it could go all around and graze, which was even better. "Hi, Milky White! Are you having a good day?" The cow mooed. "Great. I'll see you later!" She confidently made her way to the competition zone.
When she arrived, Chloe found herself in front of a large white building, wider but shorter than the warehouse from two days prior. Looking around, she caught sight of a bright red door. Remembering Violet's instructions, she entered the room, hearing the door lock behind her.
After a few minutes, Violet began to explain the challenge. "Competitors! Welcome to our afternoon challenge for District Two! Now, as you know, Two has a long history with various forms of physical training. Not only have they produced the highest number of Victors, but they also were responsible for military, Peacekeeper, and police training before that job was reassigned to District Thirteen. So, today we will be paying homage to the physical history of District Two through a jousting tournament!
"We have randomly assigned you to a bracket of one on one matches. To compete, you will stand on a podium with a jousting stick. All you need to do is knock your opponent off of their podium, and you win the match! First to win two rounds wins the match and advances to the next round. The loser is eliminated. Please note that any overly hard hits to any body part will automatically deem the hitter a loser."
"Your placement within the group of losers who are eliminated in your bracket will be based on the total number of points you have accumulated. The top ranking competitor on each side of the bracket will receive a bye after the first round.
"I think that's it. You will be escorted to your various matches by a Peacekeeper-referee. Good luck!"
This was a challenge that Chloe had a possibility of succeeding in! She was trained, after all. She might not love training, but she was trained. And she was energetic! She was cute! She could totally win.
A few minutes later, a door opened, and a Peacekeeper came in to escort Chloe to her battle room. Unfortunately, when she arrived, she found that her opponent was Sol, who was like a foot and a half taller than Chloe and much larger than she. But Chloe could still give it a chance!
"Competitors," said a Peacekeeper, acting as referee. "Please take hold of the jousting sticks and step onto your podiums." Chloe obliged, grabbing hold of a stick that was nearly bigger than she was. "Each round will begin after I count to three. One, two, three!"
Chloe was, unfortunately, quite clumsy with the stick. When she attempted to hit Sol to knock him off, she wasn't even strong enough to make a dent. Lucky for her, Sol had actually missed on his first shot, swinging the stick over Chloe's head. The second time, however, Sol basically booped her on the head and it was enough to knock her onto the padding below.
"The first round goes to competitor Mikkelson. Please set up again."
Unfazed, Chloe took her place back on her podium. One little loss wouldn't hurt her! She still had a shot against the taller boy. Confidently, Chloe stood back up on the podium. This was going to be a piece of cake!
"Begin on the count of three. One, two, three!" counted the referee.
This time, Chloe elected not to strike first. She watched as to try to judge the older boy's moves. Unfortunately for her, Sol managed to boop her on the head again, just barely nudging her, but it was still enough to knock her off of the podium.
"The second round, and the match, goes to competitor Mikkelson."
Sol stepped down off of his podium and helped the young girl up. "Sorry to do that, Chloe."
"Don't worry! You did well. Good luck in the later rounds!"
Alder Howe, 12
District Twelve Male
This was probably not going to be Alder's competition. That was natural, though. He was a younger kid, and not built particularly strongly. But even if he wasn't going to win, he was going to put up a fight. Maybe he'd weaken someone else enough that they'd be easier to beat later on.
Alder didn't know how long passed before it was time to go. But after a little while, he was retrieved by a Peacekeeper and brought to one of the arena things. He couldn't think of what else ot call it other than an Arena. He was the first to arrive, so he carefully tightened his mint green armbands and kneepads while waiting for his opponent. Soon, his opponent entered the room.
No! It was Crixus!
Alder couldn't fight right against Crixus. They were buddies! They were friends! Crixus was basically Alder's role model! Only one of them could win now that they were against each other. And that was really sad.
"Well, it looks like it comes down to us, Alder," Crixus said to the little guy.
"It seems so. What are we going to do?"
"I guess we're going to have to fight," Crixus stated the obvious. He offered his large hand to the little boy to shake. "Good luck."
"You too."
The referee began the first round between the boys. As soon as he counted to three, Alder's competitive spirit burst through. He took his jousting stick and began frantically whacking Crixus in any way he possibly could. Alder wasn't particularly strong, but he was doing an effective job of disorienting Crixus, at any rate. He did so especially well when he managed to whack Crixus in his private parts. "Ouch!" Crixus exclaimed.
"Oh, I'm sorry! Are you all right!"
Crixus carefully straightened up. "Yeah," he grimaced.
"Do you need a hand?" Alder asked.
"Nope. Let's just keep fighting."
Alder squared up again. This time, however, Crixus came on a bit stronger. Alder found him attacking Crixus less and defending himself more. Eventually, Crixus came on so strongly that Alder was just… knocked off.
A little kid like Alder had no shot against Crixus.
Clearly distraught, Alder stepped back up onto the podium. "Ready to go again?" Crixus asked.
"I guess so."
"What's wrong, Alder?"
"I can't win. You're definitely going to beat me. Why even try?"
"Come on. You don't know that. Let's fight again."
Reluctantly, Alder squared up again. When the referee began the fight, he half-heartedly flung his stick in the general direction of Crixus. He wasn't even looking at the older boy. So when the referee called the round for Alder, the younger boy was quite surprised. Maybe Crixus wasn't unbeatable.
"See, Alder? I told you you could beat me!"
"I guess so!"
"You see, even if it might be hard for you to win, it's more important to at least try because you never know when you'll succeed. You'll always be your own biggest opponent, and when you overcome it, you feel the most proud. Now, are you going to give me a real fight this round?"
"YEAH!"
Alder was totally ready to fight again. Maybe he really could beat Crixus! He grabbed the jousting stick more confidently than he ever had before and eagerly prepared to fight Crixus. Maybe he could really win this one! He'd already beaten him once before. It would be easy to beat Crixus again!
When the round started, Alder barraged Crixus again with the stick. He was more ferocious than ever before! The problem came when he leaned too far forward while trying to hit him. Alder's own weight and his jousting stick pulled him forward until he fell off of his podium, flat on his face, giving the round, and the match, to Crixus.
"Are you OK?" Crixus asked.
"Yeah." Alder sat up and thought for a moment. "You were right, Crixus. I am my own biggest opponent."
"I told you."
"Yeah! You see, I was the only one who was able to beat myself! You couldn't even beat me!"
Sawyer Burns, 18
District Seven Female
"The third round, and the match, goes to competitor Burns."
Sawyer stepped off her podium. "Good fight, Jess!"
"You too, Sawyer," Jess smiled. "This was kinda fun, actually."
"I agree." She helped Jess up. "I like competing against other people. It makes things more fun!"
"So, now what happens?"
The referee stepped in. "I'll escort competitor Burns out first, then Competitor Rogers. Another Peacekeeper will come to escort you to your next round, competitor Burns."
"Well, I'll see you later, Jess."
"Bye!"
The Peacekeeper-referee led Sawyer back to her initial holding room through a bunch of winding corridors. After quite a while, another Peacekeeper came in and brought Sawyer to another battle room. Though, for all Sawyer knew, it was the same battle room. It looked exactly the same, after all. Except that the podiums were a little bit smaller this time than they were the time before.
After a moment, Sawyer's opponent entered the room. And, unfortunately, it appeared to be Silas. That did not bode well. But Sawyer was bold, not someone who would just give up because she was facing a strong opponent. She could definitely win if she put up a fight! The question was how to do so.
The Peacekeeper refereeing the match set the competitors up on their podiums, then formally began the first round of the match.
Sawyer's first approach was to allow Silas to set the pace of the battle. She held her jousting stick straight up, protecting her chest and her crotch area, so that Silas could not hit those, but loosely enough that she was totally ready to move it to block Silas's attacks. The problem was that it seemed as though he… they? They were taking the same strategy. The two stood at a stand-off for quite a few minutes, each waiting for the other to attack.
After a while, Sawyer elected to be the one to take the first move. She lightly swung the stick out, almost as though she was attempting to poke Silas in the head. Silas effectively blocked it. With her body unprotected, it freed up Silas to go for her chest. Luckily, Sawyer's reflexes were just as good, allowing her to block herself.
Now that the ice had been broken, it was time to actually fight! Silas's attacks came on very rapidly. It took all of Sawyer's reflexes to dodge them, as Silas quickly switched between attacking her upper body and her lower body. Eventually, they were going so quickly that Sawyer just couldn't keep up, leaving the middle of her body exposed for Silas to hit strongly enough that she fell off of her podium.
"The first round goes to competitor Rune. Please set up again."
Sawyer decided that she needed a different strategy for the second round. This time, maybe it was better to come out attacking instead of defending. As soon as the referee started, Sawyer lunged at Silas. Luckily, she was able to catch them off guard. Silas took a step back, but there was nowhere to step back to. He lost his balance and nearly fell off, but using impressive coordination and core strength, he was able to recover, dropping his stick in the process.
Ha! This was Sawyer's opening! She could totally knock them off while they were bending do… wait. They already had the jousting stick.
Darn it.
Now Sawyer, who had lowered herself to get a better shot at Silas, was in the dangerous position. She needed to stand up without losing her balance and without getting hit. Unfortunately, it did not work. Silas seized the opportunity to attack Sawyer, hitting her in the side and knocking her off the podium again.
"The second round, and the match, goes to Contestant Rune."
"You were a worthy opponent, Sawyer. It was a pleasure to fight you."
Sawyer was a bit disappointed that she didn't manage to win. But at least she was able to put up a fight!
Ventus Gorva, 16
District Six Male
This was not a challenge that Ventus was particularly thrilled about. Ventus, who had spent so long trying to shake his Career identity. Who had spent so long trying to stop fighting, to stop feeling that he was obligated to be belligerent. Who had done everything in his power to shed the Career identity forced on him by his origin. Ventus, who was now supposed to fight to get more points.
It simply wasn't fair.
This was Ventus's third fight. The first one against Mal had been pretty easily his. Mal wasn't great at balancing, not to mention that she wasn't all that strong. Ventus had tried to be delicate with her, and as far as he could tell, he'd succeeded. The second match was against Crixus. Now, he'd actually fought in that match. But the act of fighting made Ventus feel uncomfortable. And he was actually rather unhappy that he'd already won. He didn't want to be known as a fighter anymore. He didn't want to be known as a belligerent Career.
He just wanted to be Ventus.
He didn't even want to be Ventus. He wanted to be… someone else.
Luckily, it seemed as though Nell was on his side, which was a first. She had been so kind while talking to him the day before! And she hadn't really ever talked to him before that. Sure, she was writing it down. But if there was anyone who could help fix his reputation, it would be a journalist. And Nell was quite an intrepid journalist, to say the least. But for now, it seemed to Ventus as though nothing would help. He was just stuck where he was.
And that sucked.
A Peacekeeper came in to escort Ventus to his next match. Reluctantly, Ventus followed. If there was one thing that he didn't want, it was to not follow Ruby's instructions and get kicked out like Rochas did. Granted, Ruby had only kicked Rochas out because Rochas was being destructive. Ventus wasn't being destructive.
Ventus entered another battle Arena to find himself up against Sol. While Ventus didn't know for sure, he assumed that Sol had been trained; after all, he was from a Career district. There was no way that Ventus could beat him.
He might as well give up.
The Peacekeeper-referee officially began the match between the two. In the first round, Ventus half-heartedly fought against Sol. He was kind of lightly swinging the stick back and forth, not wanting to really fend off Sol's attacks. He basically just... let Sol hit knock him off of the podium, not putting up much of any resistance.
"Are you OK, Ventus?" Sol asked.
"I don't really want to fight."
Sol laid down his jousting stick. "If you don't want to fight, I won't fight you. All you need to do is step down next time. I promise."
"OK."
The Peacekeeper set up the next round. Sol and Ventus took their spots on the podium again, and when the round started, Ventus simply stepped off.
"The second round, and the match, goes to Competitor Mikkelson."
"Thank you, Sol. I really appreciate not having to fight."
"Of course. Any time."
The Peacekeeper escorted Sol out first, and then led Ventus to the exit of the building. "You're free to go," the Peacekeeper said brightly. Ventus nodded and made his way over to the courtyard. He planned on going right over to his house, but before that could happen, Nell intercepted him.
"Hi, Ventus!"
"Hi, Nell."
"So, did you think about my offer from earlier?"
Ventus didn't remember the offer at all. "What offer?"
"To join the group to take Aviel down. You'll get to make a positive difference in the Events and in the country!"
"I genuinely can't think about that right now, Nell. I just need some time to myself."
"OK. Well, if you need anything, let me know. I can be your friend if you need."
"Thanks."
Ventus entered his house and closed the door, then just lay down on the couch. He would end up sleeping there that night, not having the energy to move.
Here it is: the legendary boop chapter! I've been so excited about this for so long and here it is! What did you think about this challenge and the fights? Who do you think won?
We have reached another check-in chapter! For this check-in, please rank the seven competitors you would want to win; not necessarily the ones you think will win, and you may not rank your own competitor. The check-in word is BOOP.
I'll see you next week for another chapter!
-goldie031
