102 - Match Number One

Lexie spent the day before her fight watching the video Cara mentioned again. As much as she tried to resist, her brain warning her that watching herself on video would probably be cringe-inducing, she did it anyway. 

There were about ten videos uploaded about it, but only the top one got her in detail. 

The video was taken from behind someone else and the man’s back obscured some of the action which meant the person was holding a PHORB as opposed to having it zooming around. Maybe they are trying to hide the fact that they were filming. 

The video was focused on Lane and Ken in the beginning except for a brief Lexie cameo during which someone said "What? Why would he pick a kid?" and another person noted, “This is going to be hilarious.” She also heard someone murmur, “How unlucky for them, they got deadweight as a third.”

Lexie was seen again when she mentioned that she was a card user, and someone else said something about how she was so small. When the fight started though, they started calling out bets, and the footage was dominated by Lane and Ken trying to take down Conrad. It switched to Lexie right around the time when she pulled off the first maneuver and exploded the confetti in his face. The PHORB caught the action and the gasps from the spectators. Someone yelled, “I can’t believe she got him!”

People around him cheered at that, and the cheers only grew as time went on. The video tried to focus on all three fighters but increasingly there were more and more Lexie shots. The crowd chuckled a little when she started ordering them around and when the flag started floating in the air toward her, the anticipatory silence was deafening. 

Lexie grinned and pointed the flag at Conrad and the applause broke out again. 

The top comments on the video were all talking about her and how well she’d done. Some people in the comments doubted she was just a card user and it had devolved into a lengthy thread with about three hundred comments underneath it debating why and how she would hide her card usage under spells.  Even Nani232, the famed Theo Firebringer and Dust Bunny fan, was in the comment section, calling Lexie a little munchkin. Of course, the conspiracy theories had also begun asking Lexie who she was, where she was from, and other seemingly vital details. Some said she was an heiress. Others said she was a magical prodigy studying at a hero academy.

There were surprisingly a lot of guesses alluding to her being a hero’s daughter.

In like the fiftieth comment, someone wrote, She goes to my school! Her name is Lexie and her father is the archmage!

The replies underneath that were some variations of ‘The Archmage has a daughter?’ or ‘Holy shit. No wonder she’s good. Do you think she’s entering the circuit this year?’ or ‘I don’t know if she doesn't look old enough for the youth division. That’s eleven and above.’

At that point, the person who started the thread clarified that Lexie was definitely eleven.

Someone else mentioned in the thread that they’d heard a rumor that after she’d retired, Jane Phoenix had gone off and sneakily married the Archmage in a very lowkey ceremony. They then figured that Lexie was Jane Phoenix’s and the Archmage’s child although a few people still thought that was bullshitting. 

It was strange how quickly people had deciphered the truth and how with a few clicks of the button strangers could know everything about her. She wasn't sure how to deal with it, since she'd never experienced anything like it before.

Lexie didn’t think that she was famous or even close to it; the video only had about 100,00 views which wasn’t much at all in Earth 9.  There were less than a thousand comments.

Still. That was a lot of people to be talking about her.

Lexie focused on the name of the person who’d mentioned that they went to school with her. She narrowed her eyes when she saw that the username was SocksofDoom. 

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

She immediately copied the video link and sent it to a group chat involving Abernathy and Doyle. 

Lexie: Doyle, are you SocksofDoom? 

Doyle responded after a full minute. Lexie could almost see his brain working, trying to formulate a convincing lie.

Doyle: Maybe. 

Lexie: You told everyone I was the Archmage’s daughter.

Doyle: Is that bad? They would have found out anyway.

Abernathy: Doyle, why would you do that?

Doyle: Don’t pretend like you didn't know about it

Abernathy: Yeah but you only told me about it after you’d already done it. Sorry, Lexie. Hope it didn’t cause any problems for you.

It didn’t. At least not yet. It wasn't like she was hiding her parentage from the world, and she wasn’t hiding her competing from Aiden either. Though she hadn't gone out of her way to mention it, if he asked, she would tell him about it. She would also tell him about the cards, although she didn’t think she would mention how she made them. She’d gone through a lot of trouble to conceal the fact that she was using cards made in a dungeon.

First of all, she planned on using each card at a low enough potency that it didn’t require further investigation. They would simply think she was combining cards and she would mention that she was merely performing experiments under the observation of a scholar. Hopefully, that wouldn’t get Elvira in trouble, but she didn’t think it would. Tinkerers did experimentation all the time with their masters and as long as no one got hurt, there wouldn’t be an issue. 

And to make sure of it, she’d bought a few decks that could mimic the effects that she’d used on her cards. It helped that some of the cards had been prototyped before she bought them and even with those that weren’t, probably could be created by some combination somewhere. There were tons of different decks so she didn’t think anyone would go through all that just to catch her in a lie.

As a last-case resort, if all other excuses failed, she would simply say that she'd been given the cards by a Fae Ambassador and hadn't known anything about their origins. Her ambassadorial key would prove it.  Given that Fae ambassadors couldn't really be investigated by human law enforcement, that would get her out of trouble.

The major issue she faced now in her upcoming fight was how to make it entertaining enough. She wasn’t necessarily scared to lose, as long as she lost with grace. But keeping a fight going for at least fifteen minutes…she wasn’t sure she had the stamina for that. 

She’d worked on it, on her endurance and her speed. She’d built it up to a level but she wasn’t sure it would be enough. 

Lexie only really started getting nervous on the bus. The first set of matches were at an arena in Jamespoint, a town near Arcadia, and Conrad rented a private airbus for all of them to travel together. They met at the dojo, all wearing their costumes underneath jumpers and track pants. Lexie’s costume was a simple sky blue ballerina top and shorts, with shiny sneakers on her feat courtesy of Conrad.  When she sat down and the bus set off, that was when her nerves began rumbling in her stomach.

She tried to tell herself that it didn’t matter because she didn't want to fight in the circuit anyway. This was all for fun. Nevertheless, she also didn’t want to make a fool of herself in front of the whole world or at least the few thousand that would probably watch the video. Especially Nani232–she was known for tearing subpar fighters apart.

“Are you nervous?” Tate asked. He was sitting beside her with his eyes closed, head rested back on the seat. His costume was a black long-sleeve turtleneck and cargo pants with combat boots. 

"No,” she responded. “You?”

He smirked. “I’m the only mundane person in the circuit. What do you think?”

He glanced at the mechs around his wrists and rolled them in place. 

“Who are you fighting?” Lexie asked. 

“Arachnid,” he responded. “He’s another mech user. He has this thing on his back that has extendable pincers like spider legs.”

“Neat.” She said. “

“The last guy he fought got poisoned and two dislocated shoulders.”

“Not so neat.”

Tate smiled. “You? Who are you fighting?”

“Tank Smith,” she said. He was the run-of-the-mill brawler with high speed and high strength.  “Big and strong but fairly predictable.”

“You shouldn’t underestimate anyone in this circuit. That’s how people end up losing.”

“I won’t,” Lexie said as shuffled her first five cards again. She hadn’t yet set her starter Deck, just in case she had to get investigated, so she was doing this raw. Plus she didn't really think she needed to, after watching Tank fight.

She'd watched a video of him online, sparring with a brawler friend of his.  They’d been going at it, grappling, wrestling, striking. His hits were powerful and he was fast, but seemed to prefer wrestling more than kickboxing. There was also nothing special about him and he tended to be very straightforward with his attacks.

Which brought Lexie’s problem of making the fight last. She couldn’t just finish him off in one blow that wouldn’t be entertaining. She had to make it a dance and become the character.  

Plus, as Tate said, she also couldn’t underestimate Tank. Just as she’d been watching his videos, he might have watched hers, and that might have given him a few tricks up his sleeve. 

She needed to prepare for that.

The nerves made her jittery so she clenched her hands into fists and did breathing exercises until they arrived at the arena. 

It looked like a miniature version of the stadium in Mouding: about half the space and a quarter of the seating, but the same black metallic slabs protected the bleachers from the arena, two large black screens that would protect the match, and a forcefield at the entrance which they accessed through keycards Conrad handed them. 

As they approached the field, they were met by Ushers who directed them through a door underneath the elevated balcony where the VIPs sat. They were early and by Lexie’s estimation, there were only about a hundred people in attendance right. More than half the seats were empty, probably because this was only a preliminary match with relatively unknown competitors. Good, Lexie thought. At least not too many people were here. She’d been tempted to invite Doyle and Abernathy, but she’d been too nervous to do so. There was enough pressure. She didn't want anyone she knew to watch her too.

Though they might do it anyway.

Lexie and her group were led to a backstage room, with a nice comfy-looking couch, a black screen to project the match, water, and snacks on a counter behind them. 

“This is where you’re staying for the duration of the match,” their usher, a woman with a messy bun, said. 

Her eyes met Conrad and her expression turned apologetic. “Sorry, we couldn’t give you better rooms but…”

“It’s alright. We understand.” He gave her a charming smile that made her blush.

“Each candidate will be taken one by one to be evaluated. Someone will also give them a rundown of the rooms, have them sign the paperwork and all that good stuff."

“Yup, I remember how it works.” Conrad glanced around. “Seems like just yesterday I was here for the first time."

"Your first match was here?" Jan asked.

Conrad nodded. "Believe it or not, it was."

"Cool."

“Yes, well I’ll leave you to it then.” The woman seemed reluctant to go but kept putting her hand on her ear like someone was communicating with her, probably telling her to get going.

She gave Conrad a wave as she left. 

“So guys,” Conrad said as he turned around to address the group. “Here we are. Your first official AFC fight. You guys are lucky in that you're all fighting in the same stadium today. It won't always be that way. For now, try to relax. Eat some snacks but not too much or you’ll throw up. Trust me I learned that from my first match.”

He caught Lexie’s gaze and he went over and patted her head. “Have fun. Breathe in and out. You guys will do fine.”

“Easy for you to say,” Ken said who also looked pretty nervous. 

“Of course it’s easy. You all have worked hard. Even you Kenny. And your fighting style is so distinct from Lane’s now. Shadow's faster. Umbras and Cara have improved their balance.  Tate is turning into a mini-beast...You guys are doing great. I’m super proud of all of you.” 

“Aww, thanks, Dad,” Boris said 

“Everyone except Boris,” Conrad said and his students managed a chuckle.

They tried to relax and watch the screen. Boris was the first one to get ushered out to read his stats, and though he complained about age discrimination again, Lexie was the second. 

She was taken into a room that reminded her of a high school gym coach’s office, hopped on scales like the ones in Conrad’s dojo, and then was asked to give them access to her system screen. 

Once she did, the man reading it raised an eyebrow

“Is this for real?” he asked and she nodded.

His eyes bugged out. “You’re a level 7 mage and level 7 scholar?”

Lexie nodded again. 

He shared a look with his assistant. “Forgive me, I’ve never seen anyone that high who was as young as you before.”

She shrugged. She didn’t know what to say but they were clearly waiting for an explanation.

“I pre-awakened,” she said.

“Ah,” they said simultaneously, although they still didn’t look sure. 

She informed them of her skills, was given the rulebook, and was told that none of her weapons could cause deadly harm.

And that was that.

She returned to the backstage room to find the group a little tense. Another boy was leaving when Lexie was entering and he only shot her a brief smirk as he passed.

“Who was that?” Lexie asked. 

“Some asshole,” Boris responded glaring at his back. 

Conrad was the only one who looked unbothered. “He’s a representative of the AFC. A kind of scout.”

“A scout?” Lexie asked.

“An asshole one,” Shadow said, in rare agreement with Boris.

“I don’t think he’s that big of an asshole," Conrad said.

“I’m sorry did you not realize during that conversation that he was being an asshole and making fun of you?” Cara asked. 

Conrad shrugged. “Fine he's an ass, but he’s a useful ass. Just make sure you don’t lose to any of his people or I won’t hear the end of it.”

“One of them is Arachnid. I think you’re up against him Tate.”

“Great,” Tate remarked. 

“Did you figure out your ending look yet?”

Tate nodded. 

“Good. Because I think you’re up first.”

Tate paled, but his eyes glinted with eagerness. “I’m ready.”

Tate's fight wasn't for another thirty minutes, and by that point, the number of people in the audience had doubled. Still not record-breaking by any means but a decent enough size that it made Lexie doubly nervous.

Tate stepped out on the pitch to polite clapping. Someone jeered, "Hey mundane! Don't get too messed up!" and other people mockingly chanted, "Tate The Mundane."

Tate ignored them. He and Arachnid, a medium-height boy with a metallic dome strapped on his back and spider legs tucked against it.

"Shame that my first fight's against a mundane," he said loud enough to be picked up by the PHORBS.

"Shame you're going to lose to a mundane," Tate responded.

"Hell yeah, Tate," Boris said. "Show him who's boss."

The countdown began a few seconds later. The bell rang.

The two boys immediately jumped into action.

The spider legs shot from Arachnid's body extending towards Tate jabbing at him. Tate was quick though, his mechs glowing as his body moved avoiding all the hits.

At one point, he flipped over in the air, landed on a pincer, and thrust his dagger at Arachnid. Arachnid dodged but the move created an opening for Tate to rush to his side, grabbing the dagger on the way and thrusting him at his midsection.

Arachnid knocked the dagger away with spider legs and another thrust toward Tate.

Too close to avoid it, Tate blocked the pincer with the dagger but it slashed to his arm. Tate gritted his teeth. Lexie recalled what he said about poison.

Arachnid smirked. "Hurts, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," Tate said. "But unfortunately for you, I'm used to it."

Lexie snorted. How edgy. Was that part of his character or was it real? Was he remembering Robbie?

She lost her train of thought when Tate leaped back into action.

Arachnid continued sending his spider legs at Tate and Tate kept dodging and waiting for opportunities to get close. He started targetting the legs themselves, jamming his dagger in their joints, and managing to damage two of them.

Arachnid, clearly surprised, went on the defensive then and stared maintaining a distance between them. Tate didn't give him breathing room, charging right at him. The fight had the audience's attention now. It was already more than they'd expected from the mundane, and the fact that he had Arachnid on the defensive was unprecedented to them.

But Lexie had had faith in Tate from the beginning and she smile.

He was going to win.

***

Far away from the crowd, in one of the most exclusive gyms in a business district, a few people were watching the match on a screen.  

"That kid is really something,” a man commented while doing bench presses. “You sure he's mundane?”

“Yeah apparently," Top Dog responded. He'd paused his workout to watch the match, his eyes tracking every movement.

"How is he moving like that?" Anna asked.

"They say he uses mechs.” Top Dog tipped his water bottle over his lips gulping down water.

"Maybe Conrad knows what he's doing after all," Anna said. "Another of his students is going up against Tank I think."

“They gave Tank a bad matchup," TechnoCrat said. "He's going up against a little girl. A card user of all things. How is he going to beat her in a way that doesn't make the audience hate him? Even worse, he has to make the fight last long enough for people to engage with it."

Top Dog nodded vaguely but remembered the flashing eyes and the calculative gaze of the only card-user fighter he knew. He remembered the focused way that little girl had fought. He smirked. 

“Tell Tank not to underestimate her,” he said and found himself strangely eager to watch her fight too.