Epics of Noche 6, MoveCity

EON CH 09

FIRST ROUND.

1777, JULY 20th, WEDNESDAY 9:30am.

Noche sat on a metal bench in a waiting room of sorts. It was a rather spacious area filled with training dummies and practice weapons. The tournament had started some time ago and a few rounds had already taken place. Her turn would be coming up soon, but for the blonde, it wasn't soon enough.

The tournament itself took place on a flying island. Well, it was more accurate to say it was an island being held up with telekinesis by Raptorman's lackeys. Milkman and, what's her name, Melody?

Either way, the island was floating just above the chaos desert right outside MoveCity. Needless to say, the thought of being above that desert had Noche on edge. As if a thousand ants were under her skin and trying to gnaw their way out.

"And there you have it folks, the winner of this round is the café girl wonder, Autumn!"

Noche's eyes drifted up to the screen. The girl being broadcasted looked familiar, but the blonde's mind was on other things. Some of the other fighters who came before were pretty talented while others were outright pathetic. Either way, everyone that came on screen was much stronger than a normal Cross soldier.

Almost everyone used a Drivemetal weapon of some kind or a Grim gun. One person even used a giant silver spoon. Then there were people who only used create, like the guy that used it to fire lasers out of his mouth. The thought made Noche chuckle; she thought she was dramatic.

It would be a few rounds before it was her turn. The blonde let out a sight and laid her chin in her hands. This was interesting to an extent but not really awe-inspiring. Unlike most of the fights she's had in her life up to this point. They just felt lackluster – like it wasn't as intense.

Could it be everyone she's seen so far was too weak? Was it because it wasn't life or death? Hard to say, only apathy filled her. The next few minutes went by in a blur. More fights that were alright, more people with decent moves. Then her ears pricked up.

"Next up, Ms. Grim!" Raptorman said. "Verses, Dart Wickerbottom!"

Noche stood up, stretched, and followed a man to the arena entrance. She walked out onto the stadium with was a five-hundred-foot square platform in the center of a crowd-filled stadium. After watching so many fights she knew the rules by heart. Touch the ground outside the platform and you're disqualified. If you get knocked out or if you surrender, you're disqualified. Other than that, anything goes.

For a fraction of a second Noche was standing on the platform of the Cross entrance exam. The sensation caused her to clench both her fists to the point of popping her knuckles. Despite the desert heat combined with the massive crowd, a chill ran through Noche. She shook the feeling away.

"Not this time," she muttered. "I will never lose again. I will never fail again."

Dozens of blimps were flying overhead and Raptorman's face was on screens attached to all of them. Somewhere out there he was watching this fight. She doubted he would immediately suspect her just because of her last name. Not while she wore her favorite lighthouse cloak at least.

She reigned in her train of thought as she approached the center of the stadium and faced her opponent. Repeating the motions she saw from dozens of fights before, she raised her hand to shake his.