The Next Morning

“Ha! Looking a little tired there, dweeb!”

“Ngh…” Austin grunted and scowled, barely passing Pierce a glance before responding, “shut up…”

“Some tournament attitude,” Pierce retorted, his arms crossed as smirked at Austin. “You better get your shit together, dweeb. We’ll never face each other in the tournament if you keep on like this!”

“Tch…” Austin snorted in annoyance, but offered little more in reply as he idly surveyed his surroundings. Nary a cloud could be seen in the blue skies above, allowing mid-morning sunlight to shine down on a dusty training field to the north of WCU. The actual campus training grounds were reserved for students who still wanted to get some training in before their qualifying matches; the matches themselves were held a short distance away from the campus, so as to not distract other students. And currently gathered near the field, awaiting their qualifying matches, were the eight Keys: Austin, Spike, Sky, and Twy in a group to the left, while Pierce, Phoenix, Conrad, and Kestrel stood a little to the right. There weren’t many spectators around, but Davídrius and Kaoné were busy doing a once-over of the field before starting the day’s matches.

“…Welp,” Conrad commented, drawing everyone out of their idle thoughts, “today’s the day, huh.”

“That it is!” Sky remarked, “after that practice we got in yesterday, I’m feeling good about today!”

“Practice could have gone better…” Phoenix muttered as she passed Pierce an annoyed glance, “but, all-in-all, I agree with you, Sky.”

“Hey now,” Pierce quickly replied, “it’s not my fault that Mote had to come in here acting like a raging asshole. I came back and trained with everyone after lunch, anyways.” He then shot Austin a look. “I even helped the dweeb over here prepare for facing off against Davídrius.”

“I didn’t ask for your help,” Austin responded.

“Sure you didn’t, but you sure as shit needed it.”

“It doesn’t really matter now, anyways,” Twy stated, her gaze lingering on Kaoné. “…Our matches today are against Kaoné, not Davídrius.”

“Whoa, really? How’d you know that?” Spike questioned.

“It was posted on the campus bulletin board. I checked it before we came over here.”

“…I didn’t know there was a bulletin board…” Austin muttered.

“And I didn’t even have the presence of mind to check it…” Phoenix shook her head, as if disappointed with herself.

“I know you all aren’t morning people, but come on,” Pierce retorted, “don’t make me carry your asses! I will if I have to, but I’d rather not.”

“How modest of you,” Phoenix deadpanned.

“Still…” Twy commented warily, “if we’re going to face Kaoné… I think we need a plan.”

“I’m all ears,” Spike remarked.

“Ah… sounds like I’ve picked a bad time to interrupt.”

The Keys all stopped talking to turn toward Kaoné, who had just approached them. Unlike the Earthians — who all wore some manner of athletics ware, in anticipation of a lot of action — the Dean was wearing her normal outfit, consisting of a dark blue jacket with a shawl wrapped just around her shoulders, as well as a blue half-cloak that attached to her belt and extended down to her boots around her black slacks.

“She’s not even dressed for physical activity…” Phoenix muttered, her voice low enough that only Pierce, Conrad, and Kestrel could hear her. “Is she taking us seriously…?”

“It’s up to us to show her the error of her ways, then,” Pierce replied in kind.

“Now…” Kaoné spoke up, her hands clasped in front of her as she swept her gaze across the two groups. “I’m glad to see everyone showed up on time. You all seem really eager…”

“Well, it is a tournament!” Sky replied, “and a chance to fight a whole bunch of different Chaotics! That should be exciting for anyone!”

“I suspected you’d say that…” Kaoné sighed in resignation before continuing, “anyways, I’ll be the one scoring your qualifying matches today, with Davídrius acting as referee. I’m sure you all know what that means?”

“Means that we’ll be fighting you, right?” Conrad questioned.

“That’s correct. Use of lethal force is, of course, prohibited; anything of the sort will be an instant disqualification. But, aside from that…” She swept her gaze across the Keys again, this time with a doubtful frown on her face. “…The Annual Chaotic Tournament is an extremely competitive event, and as such, our scoring for the qualifiers is harsh. I just want you all to understand that before we start.”

“That doesn’t sound ominous at all…” Austin muttered.

“But ‘extremely competitive’ is just how I like it!” Pierce remarked with a challenging grin. “Bring your worst! We’ll show you that we aren’t just a bunch of novices!”

“…Well, alright, then,” Kaoné replied. She then turned toward the field again and walked off toward the left half, shouting over her shoulder as she did, “the first team, arrange yourselves on the starting mark over there! Let’s get started!”

“Here we go…” Conrad said with a resigned sigh. “Well, who’s first?”

“As if you even have to ask!” Pierce retorted, already moving onto the field and toward the mark that Kaoné had indicated. “Let’s show ‘em how it’s done, guys!”

“Can’t argue with going second for this,” Austin commented dryly.

“Either way, good luck to the four of you on your match!” Twy cheered as Phoenix, Conrad, and Kestrel followed Pierce’s lead.

“Yeah, same to you!” Phoenix remarked. “Let’s all give it our all, so that both of our teams can participate in the ACT!”

---

20 Minutes Later

“Well, uh… huh. That… sure was something…!”

“Yeah… I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a one-sided fight,” Luke remarked, passing Danielle a glance before looking over to his left. “Uh, that is, I mean…”

“Tch,” Pierce snorted in derision, a scowl upon his face as he pointedly ignored the spectating gazes of Luke, Mark, Danielle, and Liask — who had all shown up to watch just as the Keys’ qualifying matches began. And now that the matches were over, the entire group was trudging through the streets back to the WCU campus… with all of the Keys wearing sullen expressions.

After all, both teams had just failed their qualifying matches.

“…Well,” Conrad eventually said, clasping his hands behind his head and looking up at the skies above. “…Not like I didn’t expect this result.”

“We really got swept up in the energy of the tournament, huh?” Twy replied with a forlorn smile. “But, in hindsight, I suppose it was a little silly to expect us to make it…”

“That doesn’t make this any easier to swallow,” Phoenix retorted. “At the end of the day, we failed because of our own shortcomings… that’s all there is to it.”

“At least you have the presence of mind to realize that,” Mark said from off to the side. “That’s a good first step to improving. Besides, you were up against Kaoné, an experienced Materiatechnic. I don’t think you should blame yourselves too harshly for this outcome.”

“She sure was experienced,” Spike responded. “So experienced, she could afford to hold back against us…”

“Ha ha, leave it to the martial artist among us to be able to tell that!” Sky replied with a smile, though it was clearly forced.

“Well… this was the first time you all tried out,” Liask pointed out, and then passed Pierce a hopeful look. “Maybe you’ll do better next time?”

“Of course we’ll do better next time,” Pierce retorted. “The problem is that we didn’t do well enough this time.”

“Hey, I mean, she’s got a point,” Austin commented. “After all, in all the stories and stuff, the protagonists rarely ever win the first tournament they join. Now that we have that out of the way, though, we’ll totally win next time!”

“Oh, so you’re calling yourself the ‘protagonist’ now?” Pierce snorted. “That’s rich, coming from you, dweeb.”

“Don’t get mad at me,” Austin shot back. “I’m not the reason you lost. It’s your own fault that you opened with the most obvious move in the book, and let Kaoné trap you in a box!”

“It’s obvious because it works. Most of the time,” Pierce countered. “How the hell was I supposed to know that she could react fast enough to stop a straight-on dash? I’m literally supersonic! Besides, at least I did something. You just floundered around for your whole match!”

“Th-that was, I mean, look, this Imperator stuff is hard, okay?!”

“Alright, y’all…” Spike muttered, moving to interpose himself between Austin and Pierce. “Our failures are our own to talk about and fix. Yellin’ at each other ain’t gonna help one bit.”

“And, for what it’s worth, I think y’all really did do a decent job,” Luke added. “I haven’t had much of a chance to see y’all in action, and now that I have, you’re all better than I expected. You still have room to improve, of course, but you’re making good progress.”

“Mm…” Kestrel grunted in acknowledgment.

“Yeah…” Phoenix sighed. “’Better than expected’ still doesn’t mean good. We have a long way to go…”

“Yeah… we all do…” Liask commented, and then looked over at Pierce and Conrad. “But, hey, like you told me yesterday… when you’re feelin’ bad, food helps. Maybe you could go get lunch?”

“For a friend of Pierce’s, you’re actually pretty reasonable,” Phoenix remarked.

“Aren’t you friends with him, too?” Danielle questioned cluelessly.

“Oh shut up, the lot of you,” Pierce retorted, and then turned back to Liask. “Either way, it’s still mid-morning. Little early for lunch.”

“It’s never too early for lunch,” Conrad declared. “If you want, just call it brunch.”

“No fuckin’ thanks. But I’m down for hanging out. Anything to get my mind off these stupid qualifiers.”

“I’m just gonna head back to my room…” Austin commented.

“If you’re goin’ to play some games, then I’ll tag along,” Spike said.

“Guess I’ll take it. Twy, Sky, y’all in?”

“Might as well…” Twy replied.

“If Spike’s in, then I am, too!” Sky exclaimed.

“Leave it to the dweeb & co. to spend a nice day like this inside,” Pierce observed with a smirk.

“Oh, let them have their fun,” Luke said. “Even on a day like this, we’re still in a desert town, after all. It’ll still get warm later.”

“If you think it’s gonna get warm today, then you might have a problem when summer comes,” Liask pointed out.

“Heh, well, we’ll just have to cross that bridge when we get there.” Luke then turned to give Austin a casual wave. “Anyways, I’m gonna go get some shooting practice in. I’ll see you later, Austin, Spike, Sky, Twy.”

“I think we’ll go ahead and get out of your hair, as well,” Mark commented as he softly grasped Danielle’s shoulder. “I wanted to show Mote and Kate around the city, anyways.”

“Sounds like this is where we all split up, then,” Conrad remarked.

“Seems like it,” Spike replied, nodding toward each of the other groups. “Good matches, everyone.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Pierce responded dismissively, already walking off down the street away from WCU, more than prepared to try and take his mind off of the events earlier in the morning.

---

*

“What a waste of my time…”

“What are you complaining for?” Kate retorted as she passed Mote an incredulous glance. “You’re the one who suggested watching in the first fucking place.”

“Ngh…” Mote grunted in annoyance, his gaze turned downward as he and Kate walked the streets of Compound Tresnon. Unbeknownst to the rest of the Earthians, both Mote and Kate had shown up to watch the Keys’ qualifying matches — albeit from afar, so as to not make their presence known. Now that the matches were over, however, the two had little to do but to walk the dusty, sunlit streets.

“I really wonder what the fuck compelled you to watch those idiots, anyways,” Kate remarked. “We already knew they weren’t shit, it’s not like we had to verify.”

“I had hoped that they’d be better by now,” Mote muttered. “They’ve been here for close to two months, now. The whole reason for SERRCom handing them over to the Nimalians was because the Nimalians were supposed to be able to teach them better and faster than us, but I just don’t see that kind of improvement.”

“Well, they’re just a bunch of wannabes, so go fucking figure.”

“But that’s the thing. They do ‘want to be’ good, and they talk a big game — particularly Pierce. And they have improved since we saw them last. But they’re still making so many amateurish mistakes, and getting in the way of each other instead of properly working together. You saw how Pierce opened with the most predictable move in the book, didn’t you? I’ll grant that he’s fast, faster than I thought, but you don’t need fast reaction times to counter a move as predictable as that. Dean Densalin rightfully punished him by trapping him in a box, leaving Phoenix, Conrad, and Kestrel to carry the rest of the match themselves — and Conrad didn’t even do anything! So Phoenix and Kestrel had to win by themselves, which they, of course, failed to do, due to being on the defensive the entire time, which they can’t afford against a massively superior opponent. Not when half of their team is dead weight!”

“…You’re really fuckin’ invested in this, huh?”

“It’s not ‘investment’ to be able to point out their flaws. If anything, it infuriates me that they would be so arrogant as to think that they even had a chance at participating in this tournament. The lack of self-awareness to realize that they wouldn’t even pass the qualifiers — that is a basic level of ignorance. They should know their own limits by now.”

Kate passed Mote an amused glance. “You’re one to be talking about fucking ‘self-awareness’, ha! Do you know how fucking often you bite off more than you can chew? Remember when you faced off with Telregina? Or when you decided to take on that Metallitechnic on Sunova almost single-handedly?”

“I knew exactly what I was getting into in both of those situations, and acted accordingly,” Mote countered. “You’re the one here who lacks self-awareness.”

“Oh, wow, the classic ‘no u’. What a fucking convincing response.” Kate made an exaggerated show of rolling her eyes as she replied, “look, don’t start with this shit with me already, Mote. It isn’t even fucking noon, yet.”

Mote opened his mouth to respond, only to stop himself and scowl. His gaze diverted, he said, “…sorry. I didn’t intend to take out my frustrations on you.”

“Huh, an apology? From you? Now that’s fucking rare. I’ll take it, though.” Kate then glanced at Mote again. “…What’s your deal with the recruits, though? Seems like you can’t make up your fucking mind about them. Back in September and October, you sounded like you wanted nothing to do with them, but as soon as we learned we weren’t responsible for them any more, you started throwing a fucking fit! What’s up with that?”

Mote fell into a prolonged silence, not once meeting Kate’s gaze as the two continued idly walking the streets of Compound Tresnon. After several seconds, he eventually replied, “…It’s hard to say. You’re right… I’m not fond of the idea of having to teach them. They have no manners, no respect, and no discipline. And yet… leaving their training up to the Nimalians makes SERRCom look incompetent, like we don’t know how to train our own Chaotics. Clearly, we do — look at us. That’s what I’m ‘throwing a fit’ over. I just want SERRCom to be self-sufficient, and to not lean so heavily on others.”

“…I guess.” Kate simply shrugged in response. “Personally, I don’t see the problem. The Nimalians have a lot of cool fucking tech that we could borrow, after all.”

“But that’s the problem, isn’t it? That SERRCom is so far behind everyone else. We’re just playing catch-up all the time. Don’t you want to do more than that? To eventually be equals with the rest of the galaxy, or even better than them?”

“Sure as hell I do, why else do you think I’m sticking around with this shitheap of an organization? Making and researching tech for SERRCom is the best way to beat everyone else. Doesn’t mean I can’t also acknowledge all the cool shit that everyone else has, that we don’t. And if people like the Nimalians want to give us free fucking help, then who am I to say no?”

“Nothing is free. If someone isn’t making money off of an exchange, then they’re getting something else out of it. The only question with the Nimalians, is what…”

“That’s pretty fucking obvious, isn’t it? That Pallan guy with the stupid book and the doomsday prophecy or whatever the fuck. He thinks the recruits are key to saving the galaxy, or some shit. Which is pretty fucking nuts, honestly, but I don’t feel that bad about taking advantage of religious zealots.”

“Yes, but as I understand it, most Nimalians don’t actually believe in those prophecies — which means that the Deans here must have some other reason for accepting the recruits. If we can’t tell what the reason is, then there’s a good chance that they’re just taking advantage of us. Of SERRCom.”

“Damn, Mote, that is one hell of an adversarial take. And that should mean a fucking lot, coming from me!”

“Am I wrong?”

“Eeesh…” Kate made a show out of shrugging and shaking her head in resignation. “I really don’t care enough about this conversation to argue with your stubborn ass.”

Mote shot Kate an annoyed look. “All you’ve done all morning is complain and argue with me. You had even less of an interest than me in checking up on the recruits, yet you still came. Why are you even here?”

“Well there isn’t exactly anything better to do in this fucking hellhole,” Kate retorted, and then gestured around her, at the dreary sand-colored buildings and the layer of sandy dust over everything. “You see this shit? Nothing to do here. I’m still pissed the Colonel dragged us all out here.”

“And so you felt the need to antagonize me?”

“I can’t very well go antagonize the fucking Colonel, now, can I?”

“You certainly didn’t care about antagonizing your superiors a few months ago.”

“Yeah, before Hamasaki’s stuck-up ass fucking grounded me. Me! An adult! Can you fucking believe that?”

“As a matter of fact, yes, I can.”

“Alright, you smartass, listen here…”

With that, Mote and Kate continued taking shots at each other while walking under the bright morning light in Compound Tresnon, content to while away the time in each other’s company.