2-2

Was the screaming of the crowd always this loud?

Hands up, Aika.

The curly-haired brunette with a heights figure nearly destroys my face with her next elbow. She doesn't even hesitate to leap up with a knee immediately after. I can't tell if she's another Lightweight in a different age group or a Middleweight in mine, but either way she hasn't wasted any time getting to me. Time has ticked by fighting her, though. Sparring with Evren makes you used to elbows but the knees and sweeps are not things I usually come up against, even in MMA. The NCC is a lot showier than those rings.

The combat isn't going to last long if I keep letting her nearly catch me.

Focus. I need to focus. Don't listen to the crowd, don't look for Evren, don't look anywhere but in front of you. Breathe in, breathe out, tense your stomach to take the edge of that roundhouse you can't completely dodge.

There is nothing else in the world that matters right now except taking this girl down. Jab. Feint. Hook. Grab. Trip. Cross.

Finally.

She's down.

"Knockout, Noor Khorasani, by Aika Inoue!"

Is that me laughing or Noor? I feel sweat running down my back as I stand back up. The crowd is roaring again, but I don't have time for them right now. I'm almost at my limit and I need to find-

She's right there. Always has been, huh? Evren: Commander of Space, four years into her undefeated streak, standing in the middle of this giant stage with no one but me knowing her secret. Her eyes are sharp and focused. On me.

"The Battle of the Unusuals!"

'Unusual,' huh? You don't even know the half of it, Joe. The NCC this year brought more surprises than I think any of us expected. No no no, now's not the time to be thinking about the dating crap.

"The duel for the title of Grand Champion."

That's right, we're in the NCC. I shake out my hands. We're here to fight. From the beginning, Evren has been my goal.

It's finally time to get up close and personal with the Commander of Space. In a different way.

She's on me immediately, but I knew she was coming. I've been able to catch it more and more often when I pay attention: the brief glimmer, the blur, when she bends her space and steps into mine. She redirects my jab by catching my wrist and her forearm is already there underneath to swipe away my uppercut. One quick circle and my arms are tangled and she's got me.

Almost.

Her knee's buckled. Wait, why is it-ow! Aika! Pay attention!

Ok, I'm untangled but, no, her knee is not supposed to look like that, and neither is her face, but... she's just smirking?

"Thought I'd even the playing field." How can she laugh about this?!

"Well," I heave, "you're not still winded like I am, so... you're still winning." 60 seconds of recovery after a 10-minute long struggle (maybe longer) was nowhere near enough.

"Oh, do I take your breath away?"

"Evren, what the f-!" I duck as Evren throws an incredibly obvious haymaker.

"Is everyone going to swear at me in the Battle Royale?!"

I can't help the chuckle that escapes me, but I don't let her distract me. I hold my squat for an extra second and then fast-forward my elbow into her gut.

Evren has a good dodge instinct, but her choice of leg was a bad one. My backhand overshoots and I know that must mean she got closer. Luckily I have a good dodge instinct, too, and I can accelerate mine.

Being forced to block with a healing but still torn wrist, on the other hand, is my bad choice. Shit, it stings. No doubt that friction burn on Evren is, too, though. She wasn't entirely wrong: we're both injured. I've had recovery time but the pain is easily re-triggered. Evren's damage is fresh but she still has adrenaline on her side.

"No amount of cardio training will get you to her level in the time we have." Nevaeh's voice is still in my ear even when she's the farthest she's been from my fighting form in the whole NCC campaign so far. Speaking of, she's probably losing her mind that we're doing this one-on-one.

"I don't think you can beat her alone."

Well, based on her current form and that extra exhale I just heard as her fist whipped past my ear, I actually think I can.

"You won't win if you go at this fight like you've done with the others." I've tumbled through the previous ones. I've pushed and pulled, focused on knocking them out with the punch of a fist I currently can't use unless I want something permanently broken. Pulling isn't going to work with Evren: close range is exactly where she's most comfortable. Kicks to keep away have also never been my strong suit. Besides, she'll just use her space-folding figure to get back into the range. And I'm not enough of an asshole to whale more on her knee. Then she'll be The Collapser.

Wait.

That's it.

Arms in, hands by the face, short jabs and fast legs. Get closer, Aika. Push.

She's trying to step out to circle me. She knows I'm backing her up. That's right, Evren, you know I'm trying to corner you, just like your uncle tried to do in that training video. What you don't know, O Great Commander, is that that is exactly what I'm counting on.

Stay close, Aika. Don't drop too low, don't extend your arm completely. Don't think boxing. Get in even closer. Accelerate even faster.

At this distance we could probably hear each other whisper and maybe if I was in a different situation my face would be boiling and I'd start sounding like Mom's old kettle. Maybe I already sound like Mom's old kettle as I squeak in my recoil from a poorly-blocked vertical punch to the solar plexus. Evren steps out to try to escape my forward bombardment but it's on her bad leg again. I jab her calf with the ball of my foot and it takes her a second longer than usual to recover. I'm already back in her face.

Her gaze hasn't changed since the start of the fight. Her eyes are still locked on mine, still sparkling with delight. I doubt that my expression is as cool, but I know we're feeling the same thing. I also know it doesn't take a lightning figure to feel the crackle of energy in the inch of space between us.

The crowd alternates between shrieking and barely gasping, usually timed with either of us landing a hit or wincing from accidentally aggravating our injuries. I decide that Lev owes me ice cream later, regardless of the result of this final fight. Evren and I both take extra hits - we're finally tiring out - so I decide it's now or never. I kick off to throw my uppercut and she's forced to block, but I have her off-balance. Now it's time to rush forward to tip her past the threshold, with a little bit of help from some figurative (literal) acceleration.

I slam into her and she tilts back. Yes!

Then I'm slammed into her again. Shit! She's bringing me down with her!

We both thud onto the floor. My hand is out of bounds.

No, this can't-

"Out of bounds, Aika Inoue!"

No!

"And Evren Kinnunen-Mwangi!"

...Huh?

Holy shit.

He's right.

I look up at Evren to say something but I forget entirely what I was thinking as I watch her huff, still glowing at me. She's sweating just as much as I am and her leg is finally starting to shake. I'm pretty sure my hand is also shaking. Or maybe it's my whole body, actually.

"Folks, hang tight while our judges check the cameras."

Is this really how one of us is going to win? By a millisecond on a judge's call?

"Hey," Evren's voice nearly makes me jump out of my skin. "You know, we're still on camera." She somehow manages to keep smiling. How is she always smiling? Her voice lowers. "If you hold my hand much longer, it might be suspicious."

I look down. My palm is pressing hers down onto the floor.

"Not that I mind," she adds. I can hear the pain setting in, though.

"Do we need the med team?"

"Eventually."

"Should... should we get up?" Evren grimaces. Oh my god, Aika, her knee. "Right! I'm so sorry, knee, what-what even happened?"

Evren just shakes her head. "Tell you later." She grips my hand.

"I thought we agreed on no PDA," I murmur.

She rolls her eyes, but I can tell she caught my joke as her lips tug upward even more. "How about you help me up, Timelady."

I do. The crowd is chattering away and I finally spot Nevaeh on the sidelines, staring straight at me. I can't tell what her facial expression is from this far, but her arms are folded, and the tension catches.

"All right, judges have deliberated." Joe's back on and the stadium is so silent I could suss out the scuffle of Lev's sneakers if I really tried. "This really is the Battle of the Unusuals, because we have an extraordinary moment here." We're all hanging on every word. "The verdict is in: we don't know who touched the ground first." Are you serious? "It's... a draw."

But there can't be a draw. Joe doesn't need to say it, because the whole crowd is shouting about it in several languages, only a few of which I recognize. I look at Evren.

Evren just stands there, leaning a little against me, still holding my hand. Her blue hair, strands falling out of a now-messy bun, seems to ripple against the shine of the spotlights. She scans the crowd slowly, her face set in a neutral stare. She shifts her attention to Joe, then to the judges, then to the cameras, then to me.

Then something changes. I know that smile anywhere: Nevaeh makes it when I catch the focus mitt she's suddenly thrown at me; Lev makes it when I find the highlighter he was 'missing' in his front pocket; Takumi makes it when I get to the front seat of Dad's car first. Evren grips my hand tighter and raises her other hand high in the air. She's making the face everyone else does when-

"I submit."

-I win.