Chapter 5: The Tournament Car

Samantha remained curled up on the pillow as if she were a rounded loaf of bread. Her eyes were still closed, and she emitted a soft sound that both Jam and Amelia recognized.

"She's … purring," Jam said. "But I thought cats purr when they're happy."

"They also purr when they're in pain," Amelia told him.

From underneath the pillow, twelve orb-shaped robots crawled up, heading toward the cat's head. The moment one of them touched Samantha's face, she jumped off the pillow and stared at them while the fur on her back was slightly raised.

"The tape extractors!" Amelia said.

Samantha sighed. "I never should have allowed him to gather these. He thought they were cute."

Jam poked at one with his armored finger. "They seem cute to me too."

"Well, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree," Samantha said.

Jam stopped smiling, becoming serious. "Amelia, now that I know what is going on, it's time I gave you some answers regarding me and my brother."

"I'm all ears," Amelia said, taking a seat on the bed and gathering the extractors in one spot near her.

Samantha distanced herself from Amelia while giving her a mean stare, tail wiggling slowly.

The softshell began to narrate. "My brother and I woke up in that room you've mentioned. It felt like home to us, but something was off about it. The husk of the dead creature on the couch didn't help, but we somehow came to the conclusion that it died while defending us from something. We also were very used to each other's presence and seemed to share memories, so we immediately considered each other brothers. We've used that house as shelter, played video games, ate blackcurrant jam – which was the only food we could find in that car – and went outside to explore from time to time. Ghoms came through the ceiling openings of the car, and caused us to hide. Two weeks later, we've discovered the opening that led us outside. Boy were we surprised to find ourselves on a train! A train we both suddenly remembered boarding."

"Of course," Amelia said. "That was the last recorded memory I had in that tape."

Jam nodded at her. "We crossed the bridge and entered the next car. There, we found a similar place to the one from our car, except the houses there looked more complete. The gravity was broken in some areas too. To our surprise, we found turtle people there. But they weren't very welcoming. We were both in human form, and some of them pointed at me and said, 'Haven't you caused enough trouble for today, Apex scum?' Then my brother and I were attacked by tall, really buff tortoise guards who carried sporks. Freaking sporks, can you imagine?"

Amelia chuckled. "I've seen stranger things in those cars."

"They chased us through the entire city," Jam said. "We thought they did something to us, because we had both turned into turtles as we ran for our lives. Good thing we found the exit, because my brother's shell was slowing him down. The next car's world looked even more broken. Its incomplete houses were either upside-down, or were made of jam, or had turtle shells for rooftops. The gravity was so broken we ended up swimming there instead of walking. It looked like a war zone, because there were bullet holes in houses and in the floating turtle shells. One shell had a deformed skeleton sticking out of it. That was a scary place, but we had to hide there while also searching for the exit."

The mention of that place caused Amelia to have a somber look on her face. "That car was … my worst creation. Things went horribly wrong with it. So wrong that One sent the Steward to have all of my experiments in there be put down."

Jam's eyes widened. "One executes denizens?!"

"Not normally," Amelia said. "This was a special case. None of them were able to live a good life. They were all extremely deformed, suffering, violently and mindlessly thrashing around, sometimes biting or devouring each other or even themselves … I was disgusted with myself for what hell I've created for those poor beings. What One did was drastic, but at least they are at peace now."

"That's so messed up!" Jam said. "I'm glad we weren't there to witness that massacre in person. We were shocked enough just passing through that car. Ahem. As soon as we've found the exit, the angry mob caught up to us. We were on the bridge, and the soldiers were ready to battle it out with us. Just then, we saw a pack of four ghoms fly near the train. My brother instinctively screeched at them – a call for help. The ghoms came to him, but they seemed undecided on whom to attack. Alrick pushed one of them into the crowd, and it was then that we've heard the turtle people call the creatures ghoms. We left them there to fight it out as we snuck into the next car. It had turtles that acted and looked like … well, regular turtles. They didn't speak and didn't do anything but roam the area and eat plants."

"Ah yes, the tortoise car. It was much more successful than the terrapin car, since I didn't add fish for those."

"Oh. So that's why the next car had so many empty shells and softshell turtle skeletons. Poor creatures. Anyway, Alrick and I went through probably a dozen cars with the same college campus theme with exposed green orbs before finally finding a car that looked different. It was a city full of cats. A group of them, led by a cat named Stanley, chased us away because he saw my human form and mistook me for your coworker. He said the Apex killed his daughter."

"Yes," Amelia said. "I've met those cats before. They saw Grace watch her tape and found out that she and Simon ordered the wheeling of several denizens, among whom was Stanley's daughter."

"Alrick and I were met with hostility in almost every car we've passed through, except for the black market car and the junkyard car. We've obtained materials from the junkyard car, made some trades with the slugs from the black market, and we've built our power armors with the parts we've obtained. We've spent many months learning about how the train works, and we went around stealing things so we could improve the armors. This helped us defend ourselves against the many angry mobs we've met as we've traveled the train in search for a home. But one day my brother said he had had enough. He suggested we should take over the train, separate the locomotive from the rest of the cars, and build a world where we can live in peace. After I've told him what you've told me, he believes he was your dead partner and hates my guts because he thinks you've replaced him with me. He's now hellbent on pulling off his plan." Jam looked into Amelia's eyes with worry. "I don't want him to get hurt."

"Then we must find him as soon as possible," Amelia said, getting up from the bed. "One doesn't normally ask the Steward to harm anyone. He was very forgiving with me, even though I mocked him as I trashed his place with my mech and tore him out of the control board. God, I was acting like a brat back then … One might not be as forgiving now though. His failure to protect the train still torments him, and I'm afraid he would go as far as to hurt your brother if it means avoiding another coup. Do you know where your brother is right now?"

Jam looked at his right arm's screen. "I can track Alrick. He's stationary, approximately forty cars away from here."

"Good," Amelia said. "Then lead the way."

Samantha jumped off the bed. "I will be joining you on your quest."

Amelia raised an eyebrow at her. "Why?"

"You're the reason I've lost Simon," Samantha said, squinting at her. "I won't let you doom his son too."

"Fine," Amelia said. "Just don't expect me to save your tail if you get in trouble. And speaking of trouble ..." She gathered the tape extractors and the player, then shoved them into her backpack. "I can't let the kids mess with these."

Samantha muttered, "I hope you trap yourself in your own tape and rot there."

Amelia heard that, but only glared at her for a moment before gesturing to Jam to lead the way. He nodded and headed out, with Amelia and Samantha trailing behind him.

While Amelia used the harpoon pack to hop from car to car, Jam used his jets and carried Samantha in his backpack. They continued like that for thirty nine cars and stopped in the middle of the bridge leading to the fortieth's door.

"My tracker indicates that he's in the car up ahead," Jam said, looking at his screen.

A ghom landed on the bridge behind the group and slowly approached them while growling.

Amelia assumed battle stance.

"Don't start a fight with it," Jam said. "It's not hungry. It's just protecting its territory."

"Can't I just kick it off the train so it can go back to its territory?" Amelia asked.

"No. Just ignore it and keep walking slowly until we get to the door."

They turned their backs to the beast and went on their way. The ghom approached them and used its feelers to touch their legs.

"Just keep walking," Jam said. "It'll soon make a fuss about being ignored. Just don't give it any attention."

True to Jam's words, the ghom screeched at the travelers and stomped the bridge. No one cared.

Jam opened the door and gestured to Amelia to go first. Before she could enter, he realized things were about to get nasty. "Oh no!"

The car was a city full of colorful car denizens, all traveling at high speeds on the streets. Their movement caused the ghom to rush right in, screeching at the top of its lungs.

"No, no, don't!" Jam said as he chased after the frenzied ghom. He used his jets to land closer to the creature, then wrapped his armor's arms around it.

The ghom started sucking his energy from his left arm.

Jam quickly plugged the ghom's mouth with his left palm. Then he took the creature to the exit. "Out you go!" He threw the ghom into the air, allowing it to fly away. In a flash he was back inside and slammed the door in case the ghom decided to strike again. "That was close."

"Is your brother still in this car?" Amelia asked.

Jam looked at his tracker. "He went to the next one. He's not running, so I doubt he's on top of it. But he is moving around."

"Then let's get there before we lose him again."

"The tracker can find Alrick on a radius of about two hundred cars, so as long as we're close to him, I can see him. But we must keep in mind that he can also see me, because he too has a tracker."

They made their way through the car city, walking on the sidewalk and making sure to cross only during green lights. Jam maintained his turtle form and hoped that nobody around there heard about the trouble he and his brother had caused. Fortunately for his gang, the car denizens minded their own business and didn't even look at him with their headlamp eyes.

After exiting and looking around in case ghoms roamed the area, the gang crossed the bridge and went into the next car. There they were welcomed by a city during night time, with colored neon signs everywhere advertising various products. At the center of the city there was an arena with two holograms of giant creatures fighting each other. One was a muscular, bipedal, green lizard with silver spines on its back. The other was a brown gorilla, just as muscular, and almost as tall. They punched and kicked at each other before being replaced by a text that said, "VR Battle Tournament, starting in 1hr 28 m. Sign up! The champion will win ..." Then an image of a bulky silver weapon appeared, accompanied by the text "the arm-mounted net launcher!"

"A weapon!" Jam said. "I think I know why my brother decided to stay here."

Amelia looked around. "Where is he?"

Jam pointed at a line of denizens of various species that stood in front of a booth. "Over there."

Alrick, still in his tortoise form, waited in line for his turn to sign up for the VR Battle Tournament.

"We can't let him acquire that weapon," Amelia said. "We must sign up!"

"I don't want to go against him at this," Jam said. "He always beats me at video games."

Amelia smiled, "My Alrick used to beat me at fighting games almost every time. But that didn't stop me from trying to win. And this won't stop me either, no matter which version of Alrick I'm about to face. I'm signing up!"

Jam said, "Okay. I will go try to bargain for some food with the locals." He looked at the cat in his backpack. "Samantha, can I get you anything?"

"No, but that's very kind of you," Samantha said. "I ate this morning. I see you keep a jar of jam in your backpack."

"You can have some if you want."

"No, thank you for the offer. I was just making an observation."

"Well, let's go find someone willing to trade for metal nuts or – worst case – the jar of jam."

As Jam and Samantha left, Amelia took her place in the queue. Alrick had noticed Amelia and peeked at her from the front of the line. She smirked at him.

Jam managed to bargain for some crackers and even got to keep his jar of jam. He got busy at a round table at a terrace, making jam sandwiches out of them. Twenty pieces was the result.

Amelia arrived there and took a seat opposite to the cat's. "I've signed up. The rules aren't really in my favour. They said projectiles and close combat weapons are allowed, but not force fields such as my sound shield. All attacks must make contact."

"I could lend you my armor," Jam said. "It has hatches where you can load almost anything liquid or solid as projectiles."

"No. I will face Alrick with what I have: my muscles and my frying pan."

Jam had a puzzled look on his face. "You … carry a frying pan in your backpack?"

"On my backpack to be exact," Amelia said while showing him the object in question dangling from her backpack's right side.

"Well, this is going to be interesting to watch," Jam said.

Samantha joined the conversation. "Oh, Amelia, I will enjoy seeing you become a punching bag for your creation."

Amelia glared at her.

Trying to deescalate the tension, Jam pushed the plate of cracker jam sandwiches toward Amelia. "Want some?"

Amelia remembered she hadn't eaten anything that morning. "Just five, thank you." She set the sandwiches aside.

"So, when is your first match?" Jam asked.

"In about half an hour," Amelia said before taking a bite out of the cracker sandwich. "Hmm. They actually go well with blackcurrant jam."

"Yeah, I was pleasantly surprised too."

She took out her e-mail device from her backpack and checked to see if there was a reply from Hazel. A smile appeared on her face when she noticed there was a message from her.

Sender: Hazel Hughes
Subject: Yay! Two more siblings!

What do they look like? Did you find out their names? Why can they control ghoms? Could I do that too? Please give updates soon!

Love, Hazel & Grace.

Amelia's smile turned into a straight line. "Explaining this to her is going to be difficult. I'm not sure how she'll take the news."

Jam looked at her. "You mean you haven't explained to her how you've made her?"

"I have, but not in great detail. I only told her I've created her using a scanner and my memory tape, but I didn't tell her she used to be a ghom. And now I know things got even more complicated with Simon's interference and possibly that other child having something to do with why Hazel's complexion is darker. I think I know who might be the origin of that, but I'm not sure. I'll have to ask."

She typed out the e-mail.

To: Hazel Hughes
Subject: Regarding your brothers

I have managed to befriend one of them. His name is Jam, and he can shapeshift between human and turtle. He told me that his twin, who calls himself Alrick, can shapeshift like that as well.

This may sound crazy, but Jam looks almost exactly like Simon when in human form. The reason for this is because when Simon was younger he was scanned along with my tape. Young Simon wore a school vest just like the one you had when I've met you. This means Simon might be, in a weird way, your father. He for sure is Jam's.

Grace, answer me this, please. On that day when you've met me in the pumpkin car, did you also happen to have visited a car where there were many robots and tapes? If the answer to that is 'Yes', then did you interact with the machine that projected green rays out of a cannon onto a tape's projection?

Amelia Hughes.

Behind her, the slightly faded images of the first two fighters appeared. One was an anthropomorphic fish lady, the other was a rat. They jumped at each other and threw kicks, punches, and tail slaps as the audience cheered around the arena.

Jam, Amelia, and Samantha watched them for a few moments. The fight seemed brutal, but Amelia was glad it was all in virtual reality and no one was really getting hurt there.

Alrick was in the crowd too, although barely visible. Jam stared at him, then said, "Amelia, you said you've been trying to recreate your dead fiancé, right?"

Amelia was taken off guard by the question, but she cleared her throat and answered. "Yes."

"Assuming our memories are exact copies of those from your memory tape and that my brother looks like your Alrick did 33 years ago, if you had met my brother exactly when he and I hatched out of the ghom and you saw him as a human, would you have made him your romantic partner?"

Amelia's eyes went wide. "Well, I ..."

Jam pressed her for an answer. "Would you have gone through with that in spite of him being at least 33 years younger than you, as well as him kind of being … you know, your son?"

Amelia hid her face behind her palms. "What was I thinking back then?! I'm glad that Tulip girl stopped me from continuing with my crazy plan." She revealed her face again, and it was red with shame.

Samantha grimaced in disgust at her as an unnerving silence settled over the trio. Trying to get her mind off her past, Amelia resumed eating her cracker sandwiches while the redness in her cheeks slowly faded away.

Two matches later, the hologram from the arena displayed the red text "Amelia Hughes vs Vespi".

"You're next," Jam said. "Good luck … mom."

Amelia looked at him for a second, then said, "Thank you." She left the table and headed for the arena.

"This will be fun," Samantha said, watching the arena while resting her chin on the backs of her hands.

A silver android guided Amelia to the tall but narrow VR room, where horizontal, green scan lines moved up and down over its glass walls. There was a control board there, displaying an energy blast on a screen next to which there were two round buttons.

In a monotone voice, the android said, "This room will replicate your movement and appearance onto your virtual reality character. You are allowed to choose between button number 1 for the standard qi projectile, and button number 2 for custom projectiles including detachable body parts – provided you have them in real life. Projectiles will be regenerated every thirty seconds after you've used them. Good luck, ma'am."

"Thank you, but I'm not the one who will need good luck," Amelia said, entering the VR room with a look of determination on her face.

The android closed the door to the room and stood guard next to it.

Amelia selected button number 1. A flash of light surrounded her from the room's walls. It was as if she had entered a memory tape. Except instead of being sent into a world made of memories, she found herself in the arena, towering over the other denizens. She looked at her hands. They were see-through. She became the hologram.

A wasp denizen's hologram appeared in front of her, with four fists raised and ready. From somewhere in the crowd behind the wasp, Alrick watched.

Amelia raised her fists too, and the sound of a loud gong echoed throughout the city. Each of the competitors was given a large, green health bar that hovered high above the arena and displayed the bar owner's name.

"Fight!" a robotic voice shouted.

"Oh, oh! It's starting!" Jam said.

Samantha squinted at Amelia's hologram. "I hope she gets stung."

The first to attempt a punch was Vespi. Amelia blocked the attack with her left arm and delivered a kick to the giant wasp's left leg. The wasp took one step back, then delivered an uppercut to Amelia's chin.

Jam gasped. "That wasp sure is brual!"

Samantha smirked.

Amelia made a comeback with a left hook to Vespi's head, then avoided the wasp's counter-attack by bending backwards as the insect's fist swung past her chin.

"I suspect Amelia's been in fights before," Jam said. "Those reflexes are incredible!"

Amelia dodged attack after attack and landed three kicks and a punch on the wasp.

Vespi swiftly turned around and whacked Amelia with her wings before launching her detached stinger at Amelia, who kicked the needle away just before it reached her.

"You move pretty fast for an old passenger," Vespi said.

Amelia smiled. "You're no slouch either."

The wasp bent her knees. "Let me show you another cool move." She jumped at Amelia while using her wings to fly and deliver a punch.

Amelia ducked and punched her from below, then dodged a tail swing. Then she kicked the wasp's legs, tripping her before grabbing her by the wings and throwing her to the floor.

Vespi's health bar was completely red, and her hologram faded away.

"Victory!" the robotic announcer said. "Amelia Hughes goes forward!"

Amelia had a huge grin on her face.

Samantha muttered some nasty words that Jam couldn't properly hear.

Amelia returned to the table, looking smug.

"Not bad for your first match," Jam said.

Samantha sighed. "Beginner's luck."

The hologram announced the next competitors. "Alrick Timmens vs Ice Burg".

Amelia scowled. "He really believes he's a dead man, doesn't he?"

"At least he had a name to use when he came into existence," Jam said. "It took me a while to decide what mine would be."

The holograms of Alrick and a bulky, bipedal iceberg creature appeared in the arena. After the gong rang, the health bars appeared and the announcer said, "Fight!"

Jam watched the match and calmly said, "My bro's gonna go wild on that opponent."

Indeed, Alrick spared no second and attacked. He was the first to land a punch, straight in the chest of Ice Burg. The ice creature tried to land a kick, but the tortoise jumped in the air with his jets, then raised his fist. He let himself land the punch hard on top of Ice Burg's blocky head, pinning him to the ground and shattering his ice body all over.

The creature's health bar only had a small green line left.

Alrick gently kicked Ice Burg's left flank, adding another crack. This resulted in Ice Burg's health bar being completely depleted.

"Impeccable victory!" the announcer said. "Alrick Timmens advances!"

"Quite a violent fellow," Samantha commented.

"In video games, he goes all out," Jam said, "but in real life, he's a bit more restrained. He doesn't want to hurt people, but he does enough to convince them not to mess with him again."

Amelia watched the arena with a stern expression on her face.

Another half an hour later, it was Amelia's turn to fight another denizen. She entered the VR room and became one with the hologram again.

This time she had to fight a slug creature from the black market car.

"This doesn't seem fair," Amelia said as the gong went off. "This denizen doesn't even have limbs."

The mustached gray slug glared at her and said, in a masculine voice, "Don't get too cocky, old lady! I didn't get this far by being bad at this game."

"Fight!" the announcer shouted, and the match started.

The slugman jumped at Amelia and wrapped himself around her, constricting her as if he were a snake. This drained a quarter of her health bar.

Amelia used her right arm and grabbed the frying pan from her backpack, then placed it between the slug's body and hers, freeing herself and delivering a kick to her opponent.

The slugman rolled away as if he were a tire, but then returned at full speed toward her.

Amelia dodged and kicked him, causing him to flip on the side. Then she smacked his head with the frying pan.

That wasn't enough to stop the slugman. He secreted mucus out of his skin and flicked his tail, launching a green ball of stickiness at her.

Amelia took the hit in the right shoulder. She looked at her health bar. It was down by one third of its length. Still in a better state than the slugman's, which was down by half.

"You came here straight from the kitchen, haven't ya?" the slugman asked. "Is that why your weapon of choice is a frying pan?" He chuckled at her.

Amelia had a bored scowl on her face. "You're going to regret that." She put the frying pan back and charged at the slug, grabbing him by the tail and spinning him around before letting him go.

The slugman's hologram flew into the arena's invisible wall and slammed into it hard, fading away as his health bar was down to zero.

"Victory!" the announcer said. "Amelia Hughes makes it to the final!"

Amelia joined her companions at the table again.

"That was awesome!" Jam said.

"You'll run out of luck eventually," Samantha told her. "If Alrick makes it to the finals, I don't think you stand a chance."

The hologram announced the next match. "Alrick Timmens vs Cen Taurus" was written above the arena.

Alrick's hologram appeared, then was joined by that of Cen, a red denizen that looked like a horse with the head being a goat-humanoid upper body with a head that had two long, forward-facing horns.

Looking bored, Jam said, "Yeah, my brother's going to win this one too. No doubt about it."

Alrick's hologram stood there, hands on hips and waiting for his opponent to make a move.

Cen looked for a weak spot in the tortoise's armor, then charged at him with his hooves.

Alrick simply stepped to the side before karate-chopping Cen's horse back. The attack cut down one third of Cen's health.

"Sneaky one, aren't you?" Cen asked. He put his arms' goat hooves together and launched from between them a red ball of fire at Alrick.

"Heh," Alrick said before jumping into the air and avoiding the attack. "My turn." He joined his wrists.

The hatches on his armor's palms opened up and fired a blue blast that hit Cen in the face. Cen was down to only one third of his health bar.

Cen spat onto the arena's floor, then said. "Your armor's doin' all the work. I bet you're slow as an actual tortoise if you take it off."

Alrick smirked. "Is that a challenge, mate?" He came out of his armor, revealing his bony tortoise shell as well as his dark brown hoodie and white pants.

Cen saw this as the perfect opportunity to attack. What a fool his opponent was to let his ego get the best of him.

Alrick saw Cen's hoof and grabbed it with his hands. Then he delivered a kick to Cen's horse ribs.

Cen was down to a quarter of his health. He glared at the tortoise and said, "You don't even hit hard like this. You're slow and weak."

"Indeed, I am no match for you without my armour," Alrick said mockingly.

Cen stomped the ground with his right leg, then fired a qi blast from his hands.

Alrick retracted into his shell and dropped on his back, avoiding the blast. Then he used his legs to turn his shell around and brought his arms and head out. He joined his wrists and fired a blast back at the centaur, landing the hit.

Cen was down to only a fifth of his health. "How is this possible?!"

"Maybe if you'd stop underestimating me while I have my armour off, you'd stand a chance," Alrick said.

"Maaah!" Cen shouted as he charged at Alrick, ready to trample him.

Alrick flipped himself upright by rolling to the side, avoiding the legs of the centaur. He turned around and delivered an uppercut to Cen just as the centaur turned to face his opponent. The last bit of Cen's health bar was gone.

"Impeccable victory!" the announcer said. "Alrick Timmens goes to the final!"

"I knew he'd win," Jam said, "but I didn't think he'd pull it off while putting himself at a disadvantage against his opponent."

Samantha grinned at Amelia. "I think you should quit before he embarrasses you, Amelia. You won't be able to deliver one punch before he knocks you out."

Amelia slammed her hands on the table. "No. I can't let him acquire that weapon. I must do this."

"I wish you all the luck in the world, mom," Jam said.

Amelia smiled at him. "Thank you. At least someone here believes in me." She then turned to look at the hologram.

The text "Amelia Hughes vs Alrick Timmens" appeared hovering over the arena.

It was time for her to go head to head with her creation – her son.

Amelia entered the VR room. Sweat poured off her forehead as she worried about how things would go. She knew how good her Alrick was at video games, and she witnessed how good this Alrick was at this tournament. Was there any hope for her to win?

Alrick's hologram already appeared in the arena. It stared at her through those red glasses that almost fully obscured his eyes.

Amelia put her backpack on the floor for a moment. She took off her shirt and tied it around her waist with its sleeves, then put her backpack on again. The VR room sent her mind into her hologram, and she found herself face to face with Alrick.

"Amelia," he said. "It is I, your former fiancé! Remember me?"

Amelia scowled at him.

He sighed. "I guess you don't find it acceptable that I have returned from the dead. After all, you have already tried to replace me twice."

"You are not him."

His mouth remained open for a second. "Pardon?"

She closed her eyes. "You are not Alrick Timmens. He is gone forever."

"Oh, you wish I were gone forever! Then you could enjoy your new relationship with that murderer you've brought back to life!" His blood boiling, Alrick threw a punch at Amelia.

She blocked the hit with her left arm, but even so it cost her one fifth of her health. "Calm down, son!"

"Son?" Alrick asked. "So now you think of me as a toddler, huh? Was I not your man?" He kicked at her legs, but missed. "Am I not worthy of your respect anymore?"

"I have created you," Amelia said calmly. "I have the right to call you 'son'."

"You've brought me back to life just so I could suffer!" he said as he threw another punch aimed at her chest.

Amelia blocked it. "No. That's not true."

"Not true? Not true is all this stuff you're telling me!" He managed to land a kick on her left leg.

The pain wasn't as bad as it would have been in reality, but it still told her the hit was a nasty one. Her health was already down by a quarter.

"You could have left me to rest in peace, but you just had to have both of us!" He joined his armor's wrists and fired a blast at her.

Amelia quickly dodged the shot and almost landed a kick on Alrick. Unfortunately for her, he jumped to the side and avoided it.

"I will kick your arse again, just like I did countless times before when we played on the console," Alrick said. "Oh, I still remember the look on your face every time you realized you were doomed to lose! You were holding on to that joystick as if it was your lifeline. Yet you've lost to me over, and over, and over ..."

"I won a few times!" Amelia said as she tried to deliver a punch to his chest.

He blocked the hit and kicked her, causing her to fall flat on the floor. "Yes, while I was sick."

Amelia tried to get up, but received a kick that sent her rolling to the edge of the arena. She stopped just in time to avoid having her face smacked against the wall. Then she got up and grabbed her frying pan.

"You used to make some amazing pancakes," he said. "I guess now only he will get to enjoy them." He pointed at Jam.

Amelia pointed the frying pan at Alrick. "You can both enjoy them after you stop this mad quest of yours to make your own train."

Alrick crossed his arms. "You like playing both sides, huh?"

"I'm playing no one!" Amelia said. "You are not who you think you are."

"I am Alrick Timmens!" he said as he punched her right in the chest.

She resisted, but her health was down to half. Before she could retaliate, she received a qi blast too, ending up down to only a third of her health, but still standing.

Alrick used his jets to launch himself at her, then attempted to whack Amelia with his right arm. He missed, so he tried to kick her, but she avoided the attack.

Amelia raised the frying pan and said, "You are not him!" She swung the weapon.

Alrick blocked the attack with his armor's right hand. She had managed to put a small dent in his health bar. "Pathetic," he said.

Samantha said, "I agree. This is pathetic."

"There's got to be some way for her to win," Jam said.

Alrick and Amelia kept trying to land punches and kicks on each other, but both of them dodged the hits. They became familiar with each other's moves. Not even the qi attacks were a surprise anymore. But there was only one thing Amelia hadn't used yet during the match.

"What is she doing?" Samantha asked.

Amelia grabbed the harpoons of her pack. She launched them at Alrick's chest, then pulled herself to him. Once she was close enough, she swung her left leg and kicked him in the chin.

Alrick's health was down by one third.

Amelia retracted her harpoons and grinned at him. "Didn't see that one coming, did you?"

"I'll watch out for it next time," Alrick said, wiping his mouth with his armor's left hand.

"Oh, I'm not that daft to repeat the same trick," she said.

"Then bring on your next move! I'm getting bored of this." He charged at her and tried to punch her, but missed again.

She ran toward him, and he ran toward her. She shot her harpoons at his shoulders, then pulled herself toward him again.

Alrick put his arms in front of his face, and Amelia stepped on them, jumping off him. By the time he lowered his arms so he could see what was going on, Amelia fired a qi blast at him, then pulled herself toward his head, knocking him out with her boots.

"Victory!" the announcer said. "Our new champion is Amelia Hughes!"

Amelia exited the VR room while staring at the number in her right palm. It had decreased to 33.

An android presented her with the prize: the net launcher. She took it and held it above herself, smiling smugly at Samantha.

The cat hissed at her, making sure her fangs could be seen.

Jam raised his right fist in the air as he cheered at Amelia.

To Amelia's surprise, Alrick came up to her. He didn't seem angry about losing. Instead, he had a smirk on his face and was in his human form – a perfect version of Alrick with long hair. "Congratulations, Amelia! You've beaten me at a game for the first time in what seems like forever." He took off his red shades to reveal his normal pair of glasses, as well as a good view of those eyes Amelia hadn't seen in over 33 years.

To be continued.