Kate and Boris walked out together, Kate nervously glancing at the civvie the entire way up the stairs of the platform. She had a helmet the lower ranks used, with body armor covering her torso from her belly up, flashbangs, and knives practically falling out of the pouches strapped to her chest.

  She carried what looked like the two small constructs she had used previously but with some upgrades. Their bodies were made from fire extinguishers, a single assault rifle attached to each one, and their legs fashioned from what must have been a chair.

  The large construct on her back was almost one for one the same as the last time she used it, a table and two full chairs for the body and legs, but this one used broken mops for arms, the heads tied around two pistols each.

  Boris had a shield and a chair leg.

  I scowled at the Colonel as he lounged next to me. “You say a submachine gun is too much, yet look at the weaponry she is carrying.”

  “Provided by anonymous sponsors that were all in agreement, not just randomly given to a runt who was not even supposed to get this far. Now be quiet, I want to see this,” he retorted, munching on chips and sipping his coke as he looked like he was about to watch an excellent spectacle.

  “Now for the last match of the day! Tomorrow, one of these wonderful contestants will be in the final! Place your bets ladies and gentlemen, and let's get ready to rumble!” Major Shange roared into the microphone, fireworks and music flooding the stadium.

  The crowd sat silently, every eye glaring at the man walking calmly to his position.

  The bubble started forming around them, as Boris’s voice rose through the air, “Kate! Let’s make a bet! If I beat all your constructs, you will surrender! Okay?”

  She didn’t reply, just stared at him. Boris stood ready, waiting for Kate to finish deploying all her constructs. She had not planned correctly, as it took her a solid thirty seconds to deploy them, glancing back at Boris with sheer panic as she frantically scrambled around the amalgamation of things she had assembled. He just paced impatiently, his shield deployed and dice long since finished rolling.

  The moment she tapped her left arm the constructs stood up, all of them instantly attacking. Boris looked startled as the bullets flew his way, getting the shield up in the nick of time as the sheer weight of the bullets flying towards him made him take a step back.

  Kate stood behind her constructs, making the smaller ones fan out while they fired scarcely, making sure he stayed in place. The big one lumbered forward, the pistols shooting at the floor everytime Boris moved the shield to block the bullets coming toward him.

  He started shimming along the wall to his left, his shield covering him from head to toe as he tried to line the constructs up so they would fire at one another. But he moved too slowly, all of them circling while maintaining the formation perfectly.

  Impressive, I thought to myself. Kate showed an excellent understanding of tactics. Surround your opponent, look for lines of fire, and make sure they are not cornered, or else they might become desperate. I was immensely impressed with her performance.

  I was even more impressed as I saw that as Boris was moving, Kate was as well, as she stalked along the bubble wall toward him. She had a flashbang primed and ready, and Boris’s full attention was on the constructs in front of him.

  Kate threw the flashbang.

  “Yes!” I said out loud, half jumping out of my seat as it flew through the air beautifully. She threw it as if she were a professional baseball player and had trained her entire life to make this throw.

  And as it came within a meter of Boris, he whacked it with his shield, the flashbang hurtling back towards her far faster than she had thrown it. She covered her face as it went off in front of her, her constructs mirroring her movement perfectly as they stumbled backward.

  “Ha! I did that, never celebrate too soon or you jinx it. I’ve done that three times in this tournament and each time it ended in disaster,” The colonel said next to me with a chuckle.

  In the time it had taken the Colonel to speak, Boris had sprinted forward into the construct on his left, ripping the gun off as he hit it with his chair leg.

  He must have hit it hard, as the fire extinguisher exploded in his face. He covered up frantically as he flailed back wildly. He clipped it with the shield, and the entire thing hurtled away and fell apart as soon as it landed.

  Boris, in his infinite wisdom, did not continue his attack on the constructs but furiously rubbed his eyes. I held my chin up with pride, certain victory was now almost guaranteed. From the way he was behaving, she had blinded him. And his vision wouldn’t be restored for a while.

  “Jinxed, am I?” I said smugly, gesturing at the scene before us.

  The Lieutenant laughed as she said, “You really do ask for it, don’t you?”

  I frowned at her. What does she mean? Of course, the stupid brute was a glutton for punishment, but I don’t think even he could fight while blind, let alone win. Boris was still spitting up foam and wiping at his eyes in some vain attempt at relief.

  Kate recovered quickly despite the flashbang going off two feet in front of her. She watched him struggle for a moment, then sprinted towards her broken construct as the ones remaining leaped back into action, each one firing at him with no regard for ammunition. Kate realized this was her best chance to win.

  Boris backed up into the wall as soon as the first shot was fired, covering himself desperately as the only small construct immediately turned and started circling in a perfect flanking maneuver. Kate had run over to the fallen construct and was desperately tying everything still whole back together.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  When the remaining small construct was in position, it took its sweet time aiming. I could have hit him with my eyes closed from that distance. He wasn’t even moving.

  Finally, it fired, and the bullet simply clanged off the shield as Boris moved it in the way.

  “What?” I said aloud, and I think half the stadium reacted in the same way. The constructs continued firing, the big one trying to get an angle while taking potshots, but every time one of the constructs pulled the trigger, he would have his shield in the way before the bullet left the gun.

  “Enhanced physicality, Sofia. Us times two. His enhanced senses alone would probably keep him alive in this situation. She needs to get rid of that shield of his, or she’s going to lose.” the Lieutenant said sadly, as if she had already seen the outcome.

  “You said you liked all the B ranks, yet you still defend him even when he rips them apart. What is wrong with you?” I said as a bullet finally grazed his exposed ankle. He didn’t even glance at the wound.

  The Colonel turned away from the match and looked at me.

  The lieutenant sighed, looking down at the empty chip packet in her lap, “I do like the B ranks. And yes, watching them die at his hands is… it’s hard to bear. But they aren’t really dying. They just come out a bit shaken, and it’s actually good they see what it’s like when someone is genuinely trying to kill you. The tower won’t pull its punches, after all.”

  My mouth set in a hard line, “You think this is good for them?”

  “Your mother sets the rules. If you think it’s bad for them, why don’t you ask her to change it?” she shook her head, “I am trying to look at the silver lining, so next time I see him I won't beat him,” she said coldly.

  She hadn’t even looked at me while talking.

  “Now you—”

  “Shut. up.” Colonel Walker said slowly. I obeyed, looking away just in time to see an even worse disaster.

  The large construct had run out of ammunition. Boris didn’t waste the chance, as he sprinted towards it, too quick for the small construct to even aim at correctly. Boris slammed into the thing so hard the wood it was made of splintered.

  He slammed the shield into the things ‘legs’, cutting both chairs in half with a single motion, before throwing his chair leg in the general direction of the small construct as it fired at his back.

  It bounced off the outstretched rifle, throwing its ‘hand’ backward as he continued destroying the large construct in front of him.

  It swiped at him with a broken mop. It had some power because he was thrown off his feet despite absorbing the blow with his shield. As he was standing up, a bullet tore through his abdomen before he got the shield back up. The large construct pulled itself toward him as he hid behind his shield.

  Kate finished with the broken one, stepping back as it sat up. It didn’t waste a single second, firing at him again. All he could do was hold the shield up, wiping at his eyes as he backed into the wall again.

  Boris’s face contorted with frustration, his hands clenched so hard his knuckles turned white. Ignoring all sense of self-preservation, he ran straight at the construct which had flanked him. A bullet flew through his shoulder, which made him make a single misstep before he slammed into the thing. He grabbed it by its ‘neck’ and cut it in half with a single strike of his shield.

  He got shot in the back of his shoulder, blood exploding out of the wound as turned back to the construct Kate had just fixed. His face ugly with rage, he held his shield up as he marched toward it.

  Kate had not been idle, as she was trying desperately to reload the large construct, ignoring its broken legs for now. She abandoned her attempt, before throwing a flashbang at him again. It was not set up tactically, and it wasn’t even thrown well. And yet, it must have sounded like a gunshot, because Boris whirled toward it, holding his shield up in a desperate bid to keep himself safe.

  A bullet tore through his neck. I saw his eyes widen with surprise as he gulped like a fish. I sighed with such relief and openly smiled as if I had won the lottery.

  “Finally!” I said, closing my eyes as ecstasy rolled through my body. And I only exaggerate slightly at the sheer joy moving through me. She had won. Hitting his neck meant she had damaged the carotid artery. He would bleed out in seconds.

  I opened my eyes to see Boris had somehow crossed the distance to the last construct. He only had to hit it once for the construct to break. It’s okay, he is only quickening his own death, I thought to myself.

  The big one was still hauling itself toward him. He walked toward it, like he had all the time in the world rather than mere seconds, holding his neck as he casually dodged a desperate attack from the thing.

  He put his foot on the table, used his shield arm to grab the broken mop, and then ripped it off its body. The second arm followed not long after. He still wasn’t falling. And worst of all, he wasn’t even slowing down.

  All three of the constructs were broken. Boris closed the shield, then turned around as if to show off the extent of the damage to his neck.

  It had hit the trachea, the front portion of one's neck. He would suffocate rather than bleed out. Kate had still won, I reassured myself, even as fear whispered in my ear, all that joy from earlier long gone. All Kate would have to do was keep her distance, and wait for the lack of oxygen to do its job.

  And then Kate tried to tackle him. And that fear turned into dread.

  Boris didn’t even wait for her to finish getting her arms around his butt, just grabbed her by the forehead and lifted her off her feet. He couldn’t ask her to surrender, but he let her dangle long enough to get the point across.

  Kate decided to disappoint him, as she looped a leg around his shoulder, using his destroyed neck as an anchor and her hips as a fulcrum, and wrenched his arm in a perfect standing armbar. From the way he tried to scream, I knew she had not hesitated. She had simply snapped his arm in half.

  Boris dropped her in response, still holding his neck as he hunched over from the pain. Kate sprang up with a knife in her hand and charged toward him. He backed away from her, holding his broken arm out to defend himself as she started stabbing him.

  She stabbed his thigh, and he fell to his knees. She stabbed at his neck, screaming furiously. He caught it, the blade going straight through his hand as blood dripped to the floor. She started punching him in the face, once, twice before he stood up and head-butted her.

  He grabbed the knife handle with his teeth, ripping it out of his hand with a growl. She had a wild look in her eyes as blood dripped from her nose, and after she wiped the trickle away, her face turned animalistic. She screamed as she charged at him, determined to finish him off.

  He slapped her. Her helmet flew across the platform.

  He held his hand up in front of him, expecting another strike. When none came, he brought his hand up to his neck and jumped back three meters, putting his back against the bubble's wall. Then he stilled, listening for her movements.

  When there were none to be found, a confused look passed over his face. He sniffed the air, then walked over to her, leaning down. Even from up here, I could see the way his shoulders fell as he came to realize how skew her neck was.

  He had won. She was dead.

  “How is this happening?” I whispered.

  “He fought hard, he fought with heart, and he didn’t give up. Hard to beat that,” the Colonel said with a shrug.

  Boris had sat back, a distraught look on his face as he stared at the floor. I had never seen a victory make someone so sad. And his victory had made the entire stadium sad.

  Tomorrow, he would fight in the finals. And tomorrow, the sixth high ranker among my year would reveal themselves.

  I would not let it be him.