Paragon (Season 1)

Tournament Opening Round 1: Colbie vs Boedhi

"Hey, Colbie? Colbie! Where are you?"

"Maybe she's upstairs, with the rest?"

Adilah and Katie walked through PREP ROOM D, where Colbie was slated to be before the first match. The arena was a large place, and it took them a while to find the rooms that had been given for the competitors to prepare. Upstairs, they could hear the roar of the crowd as the announcer regaled them. A lot more people had flooded in in the last 20 minutes or so; it seemed most of Paragon had shown up to watch, including more than the fair share of tourists.

As Adilah passed by the third set of lockers, she saw Colbie sitting in the corner, back turned. "Oh! There you are!"

"GAH!" Colbie fell off her tiny stool, recoiling from the shock. There was a big thud as her armored body hit the ground.

She rubbed her back. "Ah, Adilah, Katie, it's just you."

Katie spoke up. "What were you doing?"

"Just, ah, getting prepared!" Colbie laughed it off, quickly standing up to chat and towering over the other two.

"You are up against Boedhi in the first round, right? That's interesting, probably the only one in Class A who can match you in strength." Adilah put her hand on her chin thoughtfully.

"Unless he's charging." Katie noted. "Then he'll be hard to stop."

"Tell me something I don't know." Colbie knocked her head against the wall. "I could take him in rough terrain or water but, hell, it's an open slab!" Katie was seized by the shoulders with large reptile hands, and shaken back and forth.

"GAH IF ONLY I COULD FLY LIKE YOU, YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN PERFECT."

Katie, while being crushed, gave some words of encouragement. "Well, gah, well ah, not as much!" 

Colbie put her down, and Katie pulled out the tournament informatic. "Looks like the boundary lines also extend upwards, meaning I wouldn't be able to just zip around the arena. And I wouldn't have been able to hurt Boedhi, really, if he grabbed me, he'd probably just calmly walk me out of bounds."

"Actually," Adilah added, "that may be his strategy with you as well."

"Heh?" Colbie stared. 

"Boedhi is a pacifist; like Mr. Morrigan said, he doesn't take the initiative. He'll probably just wait for you to charge him, and then he'll wait for you to make a mistake and he'll toss you out of bounds."

"Yeah." Katie smiled. "Especially considering the city is watching! The tournament isn't just to show off, it shows the people of Paragon the type of hero you want to be. The type of hero they can look forward to." 

She put her hand on Colbie's massive shoulder. "I bet Boedhi's more afraid of seeming aggressive than he is of losing itself!"

Colbie thought about it. Boedhi's calm demeanor. They were right; his biggest flaw was hesitation.

Adilah pumped her fist, causing an obvious line of aberration to flux in the air. "Yeah! So if you go all out, and don't make any mistakes, you'll be sure to win!"

Katie glanced at the informatic. "Mhmm! And let's see... Hannah, Tadashi, even Chimlin, I think your quirk is a great matchup against them! If you can beat Boedhi here, I think you have a great chance of getting to the finals, at least!" Adilah nodded her head vigorously in agreement.

Colbie thought about it. They're right, it makes sense, she thought. Her hands clenched, nervousness fading away.

This is kinda like my biggest challenge.