by LM. Preston
Raiko saw stars, then blackness. She was gently patted on her left check and heard a voice, “Raiko, wake up, wake up.”
“Is that you, Carter? But you are out of the simulation,” she whispered. “You are out of the simulation! Dang!” Raiko said as she shot up and opened her eyes to see Carter smiling at her.
“Yep, and now so are you,” Carter said as he picked her up to take her across the room and out of the simulation area.
“Put me down, you oaf! I gotta go and help Scott!” Raiko said. She jumped down from Carter’s arms to run toward the simulation area. Carter had long legs on his side and pulled her back.
“Raiko, you cannot go back or Scott will automatically forfeit, and Mr. Faulkner will pull him out. Do you think that’s fair to Scott? You know he’s a guy that likes to finish his own fights,” Carter said.
“Fine. Fine,” Raiko said as she turned around and followed Carter to look at the screen. She glanced behind her at Scott. Scott continued to fight Damien, who was in the simulation area at the end of the line of simulation chambers.
Chapter 21
Damien had his knee in Scott’s chest and was getting ready to throw his next punch. Scott grunted, and with every bit of strength he had in him, he pushed Damien off of him, which caused Damien to fall back into the sitting position. Damien wasn’t angered at the lengthened fight, and he appeared to be happy to fight a bit longer. With a shake of his head, Damien started to get up. Scott scrambled to get on top of Damien before he could fully regain his balance. However, Damien kicked him in the face as he came toward him, throwing Scott over and causing his lip and nose to bleed. Scott looked at Damien and got up quickly, ready to fight. He squatted and prepared for Damien’s next attack. Damien walked and then ran toward him. Scott ducked his punch just in time to land on Damien’s stomach. Damien hammered his fist down onto the top of Scott’s head and ignored the sharp pain in his gut. The blow Damien made to the back of Scott’s head made Scott slip and fall onto his chest. Scott quickly got on his knees, sat down on his leg, and punched up and onto Damien’s right leg as it bent and Damien slipped off balance a bit. Damien quickly reacted and kicked Scott in the face with his left leg, and Scott knew if this was in real life, Damien would have broken his nose. It sure felt like he did. Scott fell back with the impact of the kick to see Damien as he charged him.
“Man, this is fun!” Damien yelled to Scott, as he ran forward, jumped on Scott, and then planted his left knee brutally into Scott’s chest. Scott tried to push him off, but Damien’s leg felt like a lead ball on his chest. He tried to wiggle Damien off and still could not budge. Damien smiled down at Scott with a look of triumph on his face, and he pulled back his fist and punched Scott in the face with such force that Scott simply blacked out.
Scott woke up as someone shook him, but he was trying to go back in and fight Damien.
“Scott, Scott? You okay? You okay?” he heard Raiko’s voice exclaim.
“Raiko, are you okay? You okay?” he said, with eyes closed and his head moving from side to side.
“Yes, I guess. I lost our supply pack. I am out of the simulation, and so are you,” Raiko said as she stopped shaking Scott. Scott opened his dark brown eyes and stared into her almond-shaped ones.
“What? Tacitus attacked you, didn’t he? I knew he would sneak up on us. If he wasn’t there, we both could’ve taken Damien!” Scott said, then hit his fist against the floor. He stood with Raiko beside him. “Well, hopefully Aadi and Eirena stand a chance. I never wanted Damien’s butt beat so bad!” Scott said. He walked over to the screen to watch the rest of the teams in the simulation.
“I don’t know about that. I think it is Tacitus they need to watch out for. In the simulation, he is sort of invincible,” said Raiko and followed.
“I doubt that. Tacitus is weird and slow to start. Maybe you are just saying that because he overpowered you. You know, you are pretty petite and easy for a stronger guy to bring down. I can’t deny you have grit and skill, but unless you have the power to back it up, you will not win against us guys. I don’t know… maybe he took Aadi’s advice a little too seriously. Heck, we all took this seriously. I really wanted to win this and would have done so by any means necessary. Damien definitely seemed to be out for vengeance and had such malice in his attacks in these simulations lately. I can only guess how he is holding back when he is with us from day to day. It looks like Damien and Tacitus will clinch this thing if Aadi and Eirena don’t pull through. I am still betting on Aadi and Eirena, though,” Scott replied.
“I have seen Aadi’s and Eirena’s skills in the past simulations, and they are great. It’s just that today, something has changed about them. We don’t feel the need to stay within our boundaries. Today, it is all or nothing,” Raiko said.
Chapter 22
Eirena got to the flag first. Aadi came up beside her at the edge of a puddle of water. Their supply pack was buried in the first puddle of water they had seen since they landed on the simulated world. The stake shot straight out of about six inches of water from what Aadi could tell, and the puddle was rather wide.
“Eirena, you stay here, and I will go get the pack. That way, if there are any surprise dips, you won’t sink too low into the ground. You look around, because I have a feeling that we will be having company sooner or later,” Aadi said as he started to walk into the shallow side of the puddle. The water was clear. The sand was so hard-packed that Aadi noticed that there was no mud or sand that floated up to the top while he walked slowly forward and looked at the ground below the water. He had only a couple of feet to go, and he didn’t have the luxury to go slowly. Taking a deep breath, he glanced down at the water for danger spots as he ran toward the stake. Finally, he came up to the stake with the orange flag. He realized the only option would be to pull it out since the laser beam didn’t work in water. Sometimes it couldn’t keep its direction and would cut in the wrong route when cutting in water. Aadi wrapped his hands around the stake, planted his feet on each side, and while digging his feet in the ground, he pulled hard. He tried to get the stake to jerk out. Aadi stumbled back from the force of the pull and saw a silver chain handle floating in the water.
He looked behind him to check on Eirena and yelled, “All clear?”
“All is clear so far, but I see something in the distance, so hurry up!” she yelled back. Aadi quickly looped his hand in the chain and pulled it out with all his strength.
Tacitus walked over to Damien, gave him the pack he retrieved from Carter, and said, “Here you go. What now?”
Damien and Tacitus took a moment to look at their locator devices and to survey the land. They looked out at the sinking yellowish moon and the red, dry terrain, with mountains and a warm, dry wind.
“Well, let’s head over to where Aadi and Eirena are. I don’t want to fight too close to the Communication Center. We can get them out of the simulation and win this in record time to beat the other Cadets playing on the other teams. If we win this, we lead the pack in the first trip to Mars and bring Aadi and Eirena down in the process. I am no longer in the mood to play nice, and I hope you aren’t either,” Damien said as he adjusted the new supply pack on his back. He squinted his eyes and pressed his lips together in thought.
“Who is it you want me to take out?” Tacitus asked while he intently watched Damien make all the adjustments for the pack. He casually crossed his arms as he looked toward the direction they had to travel to get to Aadi and Eirena.
“I really want to get Aadi, but I have a score to settle with Eirena. I never forgave her for that move after the basketball game. I want to teach her that if she wants to hit like a boy, she has to finish the fight like a boy. The only reason I didn’t settle this with her before was because I didn’t want to get kicked out of camp. The thought of going home sickens me. I won’t risk that, even to give her the beat-down she deserves. After you finish with Aadi, you go get the last pack and meet me at the Communication Center. Then, we will win this chal
lenge and take Aadi down to second in command, where he belongs,” Damien said with a frown on his face as he tightened the straps on the supply pack he got from Tacitus.
“So be it. I’ll take Aadi out and meet you at the Communication Center,” Tacitus said as he turned to Damien and gave Damien a slight smile.
“I think I am going to like you being my partner, Tacitus. Let’s go,” Damien said as he started to run in the direction of Eirena and Aadi. Tacitus ran in the opposite direction of Damien in order to catch them by surprise by hitting them on both ends.
Aadi took the supply pack chain and put it on his wrist. It was a rectangular metal box that could be put in his hand rather easily. He swung the chain up and caught the box in his hand. He turned to see how Eirena was doing, only to find Damien running at top speed toward her. Aadi wondered why Damien attacked Eirena first. He wanted Damien for himself.
“Eirena! Damien’s coming at you! Turn around! Now!” Aadi warned as he turned in her direction and started running out of the water to try to help her.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Aadi heard Tacitus calmly state before he felt the tight grip of a lasso yoke him and then jerking him back into the water. He let out a grunt as the suffocating rope tightened on his throat. Aadi fought to think clearly. I have to get this rope off my neck. He let the metal box fall, and the chain was still wrapped around his wrist. He struggled to fight to keep his balance. Then, he wormed his fingers between the rope and his neck and started to stand up as Tacitus stood behind him. Tacitus jerked the rope to force him back down onto his back.
Frustration filled him, and Aadi suddenly got angry. He quickly stood, twisted around, grabbed, and then pulled the rope. It jerked Tacitus within punching distance. He swung the metal box up into his hands against Tacitus’s arm with all his might. Tacitus lost the tight grip he had on the rope and Aadi. Without thought beyond the anger and determination he felt, he pulled the rope out of Tacitus’s hand. Aadi wanted this off his neck. He put his hands through the loop and yanked the rope from his neck while he held the other end of the lasso in order to use it on Tacitus. Tacitus quickly recovered, and before Aadi could swing the lasso at him, he punched Aadi in the chest. Aadi went into flight and fell on his back in the water.
Aadi felt the cold water splash around his form-fitting helmet, and the sharpness of the impact caused him to see light between his eyes. He fought through the sensation and quickly jumped up to a squat. Determination hit him as the tingling sensation of adrenaline pumped through his blood. He felt a surge of anger as he jumped up to a fighting stance with the metal box in one hand and the rope in another. Aadi thought, I’ve got to bring him down. He knew that Tacitus wouldn’t let up, but neither would he.
Aadi then whipped the rope around to land a smack to Tacitus’s face and ran to slide across the water to build momentum to land a blow to Tacitus’s nose with his hand holding the metal box. He didn’t think but felt the rush of adrenaline before he delivered a failing blow to Tacitus’s nose. Tacitus’s head jerked back with a sharp turn to the side, only to snap back in place as he landed a blow to Aadi’s chest. A large gust of air burst from Aadi’s lungs with the blow as he slid back a few feet from where Tacitus stood. He was too focused on winning to let the sharp, piercing pain of the blow falter him. He wrapped the rope securely around his hand and swung the lasso with precision.
The lasso flew at Tacitus and snaked around his neck. Aadi charged at Tacitus, and with his hand wrapped around the metal box, he punched Tacitus with all the strength that the adrenaline rush gave him. It bought Tacitus to his knees, and Aadi sighed relief as Tacitus was a hard fighter - much harder than he would have ever anticipated.
Tacitus slowly turned his face toward Aadi. Aadi started to prepare to land the fatal blow. Then, Tacitus lifted his hand to catch Aadi’s hand that held the metal supply pack and said “Fun is over… this is mine.”
Tacitus jerked the rope that Aadi held with his left hand and pulled the metal supply pack off Aadi’s other hand, holding it firmly in his hand and with the metal box firmly in place. Tacitus returned Aadi’s look of frustration with a grin and used the metal box to land the fatal blow to his jaw.
Aadi thought, Duck, duck! But it was too late, as he saw darkness and felt a piercing pain on the left side of his head.
Aadi woke up to someone calling his name. “Aadi! Aadi!” Scott said as he shook Aadi’s arm. “Aadi, wake up! Wake up!”
“Ugh, man, my head hurts… bad!” Aadi said. He sat up and bent his knees, then put his hand to his head.
“Uh, Aadi? You do know you are out of the simulation?” Scott said, then put a hand on Aadi’s shoulder.
“You’ve got to be kidding me! Who is Eirena in there fighting? Damien and Tacitus both? She’ll never survive. They’re fighting dirty,” Aadi said and rushed to stand, He took a moment to balance himself on Scott’s shoulder.
“Well, it looks like she only has Damien to deal with. Tacitus is moving toward the last supply pack. However, I think she is still in for quite a battle,” Scott said.
“Aw, man! Why did I come out first? I really wanted to bring Damien down,” Aadi said. He finally got his equilibrium back and could stand on his own.
“Because Tacitus just wants to get it over with. Damien, though, just loves to drag out a fight,” Scott said and patted Aadi on the back. They both left the simulation area to view the big screen to watch the rest of the simulation play out.
Chapter 23
Eirena looked on in horror to see Tacitus lasso Aadi to his knees, only to turn around and find that she had very little time to get her bearings straight before Damien came upon her. Eirena loosened up to get ready for the fight she knew would come. She took a deep breath, turned around to face Damien, and then gestured to him to come closer.
“Well, Aadi, you are going to have to handle Tacitus yourself. I got a fish that I have been itching to fry. C’mon, you creep… come a little closer so I can teach you what it feels like to get your butt kicked by a girl,” she said as she grinned to herself and nodded at Damien who came toward her at top speed.
“Eirena, I see you are waiting for the whipping I’m about to give you. I’ve been waiting three weeks for this. Yummy! Hey, I’ll do you a favor and take you out quick. Ha! I lied. I want to drag out this for a slow, painful departure for you to remember,” Damien said as he came to a stop a comfortable fighting distance away.
“Take your best shot, creep. I dare you to make the first move! I know your type. You hate me beating your butt all the time, so you think you got to teach me a lesson. Whatever. You aren’t the first boy who I beat up, and you won’t be the last one either. So c’mon. What are you going to do about it, punk?” she said as calmness came over her while she tried to goad him into getting angry and sloppy. She shimmied to the side as he lunged forward with his first punch. Damien got frustrated when he missed.
“I am getting a warm feeling inside thinking of how much fun I am going to have bringing you down,” he said with a smile. Then he leaned in and landed a good punch to her right cheek. Eirena felt the sharp blow and shook her head as she recovered.
“That’s all you got? I can take a hit, stupid. I got two brothers. You know what? I can give a hit too!” she said. Quickly, she leaned in to punch him and then faked it, only to follow through with a hard roundhouse kick to Damien’s jaw. Then, without hesitation, she landed a right cross punch which brought Damien to his knees. He grunted as he fell.
“You… Your but is mine!” he roared.
“Now, here comes the dirty part!” she said, as she straightened her hand and gave Damien a scissor swing to his neck. She knew she had to act quickly and not give him time to recover. Her heart raced from her exertion, and she lifted her leg to land another side kick, hoping it would bring him to his knees.
Damien’s head snapped to the side with the impact of her hand connecting with his neck. He shook his head and quickly recovered, seeing her foot coming to follow. He turned to
her, smiling. “Oh, this is gonna be fun! Just the pump up I needed. It hurts so good,” he said. Damien saw her leg coming and grabbed it. He used her momentum and her body weight to throw her to the ground. Quickly, he got up to a fighting squat and went in to attack.
Eirena landed on her side and spied Damien on his way to sit on her to make it easy to punch her face. She side-kicked up, and it landed on his nose. Damien fell from his squat to his knees beside her, giving her the leverage she needed to deliver an uppercut to his nose. Damien’s fury showed brightly on his face, and he licked the blood from his lip and giggled.
“Is that all you got? I can do this all day long,” Damien said. He steadied himself from the blow to his nose and grabbed her by the neck. She coughed at the strength of the squeeze, but she fought it to focus on the next move that could bring him to the ground. A mischievous smile formed on her face, and she kicked him in his groin and giggled.
“Oh, I’m gonna get you,” Damien choked out, and he grabbed himself to steady through the pain. Eirena knew she had to move fast, so she jumped up to a squat and quickly put some space between her and Damien.
“Come and get me then, you punk!” said Eirena. She hopped around in a boxing stance and looked to see what other weak points she could attack next. Although, Damien was hurt, he was too angry to stay focused on it and charged in to land a punch. Eirena saw it coming and did a front kick to Damien’s chin that landed with precision.
“Yeah, c’mon, baby!” she said, elated that she had landed her intended blow. She knew he would get angry and would charge her, so she braced herself. Damien fell back, kneeling on the ground with the blow. Eirena knew she didn’t have too much time to gloat, so she ran over to him and forced him down with her foot to his neck and her knee in his chest.
“Ugh,” he grunted.
“You ready for me to end this for you, Damien? Just tell me where your supply packs are, and I’ll do it real gentle-like, like a girl would,” Eirena said and smiled down at him as she spoke sweetly.
