Chapter 39: Meeting with Tom

As Rick got ready to go out and meet Tom for the first time in ages, he reflected on an odd irony. Emily was his girlfriend, whereas Tom was just someone he'd met in the Underground fighting ring, sometimes fighting against but more often with. In addition to the semi-illegal fighting, he was associated with people who Rick preferred to forget. Yet given how things were lately, this meeting was less likely to involve getting attacked than a date with Emily.

When Rick had gotten the call from Tom, he'd been surprised how agreeable Tom seemed, despite the amount of time that had elapsed since they last spoke. Though they hadn't talked long, Rick had agreed that they should definitely get together and discuss things. Rick wasn't entirely sure where the conversation would go, but he felt like it could be potentially productive.

The location where he was going to meet Tom seemed like a more open, less expensive version of the Recluse's Retreat training center that Emily preferred. Instead of a garden it had basketball and tennis courts, though the gym looked rather the same. Beyond the normal amenities that would appear in a recreation center, however, there was a traditional fighting octagon and several reinforced private chambers for sparring. Not exactly what he'd expected.

Then again, Tom wasn't what he expected. The huge warrior saw him from across the tennis court and loped to meet him, towel around his neck as if he'd just finished a workout. If anything, his muscles were even larger than before, but Rick was more interested in how his core offensive technique had developed. When Tom got close he thrust a hand forward and Rick shook it firmly.

"Rick, good to see you again! We miss you in the Underground."

"Sorry, but I can't say that I miss the constant risk."

"Oh, it's not so bad once you get into the higher levels. Instead of just being thrown into melees, you start headlining fights that people actually care about." Tom gave an expansive shrug. "But I completely get why you might not like it, and I hear you've done well for yourself."

Frowning, Rick searched the other man's face. "What, do people gossip about me?"

"Not really. Uh, most in the Underground are starting to forget that you were there. But I still remember the times we fought side by side, so I've been trying to keep tabs on you." Tom pulled the towel off his shoulders and set it to the side. "What do you say, do you want to try a little spar for old times' sake?"

"Sure, why not?" Rick answered casually, but there was no question in his mind that he'd take the offer. Not only was he curious about Tom's development, the chance to spar with someone like him didn't come about every day.

Though Tom moved toward the octagon at first, he then shifted to one of the secured chambers with the entrance around the other side. Rick noted that the walls were ether-enchanted and higher quality than he would have expected, given the general look of the training center. Then again, Tom had obviously chosen it for a reason.

When they stepped into the chamber, Tom quickly moved to the other side. He hopped a couple times, then cracked his knuckles in one hand. No need for any more chatting, apparently.

Deciding to take it as seriously as a real fight, Rick raised both fists close to his head and rushed straight in to close the distance as quickly as possible. Yet to his surprise Tom didn't send a blast of lightning at him, instead letting him get close before lashing out with a kick.

It had a fair amount of power, but it was just a normal kick, so Rick blocked it with one shoulder and forearm. He was still waiting for the real attack, yet Tom followed with a normal punch. Rick irritably knocked it aside and struck back, ramming an elbow into his opponent's stomach.

Except Tom caught it, and his defensive core held against Rick's blow. The taller man grinned.

So his raw physical skills had improved... but going up against a hand to hand specialist, it was still arrogant. Rick stopped holding back and delivered a swift series of blows. Tom managed to block the first two, but then Rick got an elbow into his upper arm hard enough that the entire limb flinched. After that, he lunged in and landed several body blows.

Just as he began an uppercut, he saw something change in Tom's eyes. Rick hurled himself back an instant before a burst of lightning exploded around his opponent. He'd barely landed on his feet when Tom thrust out a hand, this time launching a bolt of power instead of a simple physical attack. Since this was just a spar, Rick braced himself and took it, letting the blast send him skidding back to the other wall. When it faded, he lowered his guard and smiled grimly.

"Okay, so you've advanced too far for me to just take you on with my fists." Tom put a hand to his neck and cracked it in both directions, then shifted into a different stance. No more fists, his hands were open and flickering with electricity. Rick smiled and charged in.

As they sparred, he tried to feel out his opponent's real power. During the multi-tier tournament, Tom had fought as a welterweight, handily winning the entire tier. Now he was obviously a middleweight, though not as strong as Emily. At least, that was Rick's estimate - it was hard to tell when they were both holding back.

Had the fight gone to its natural conclusion, Rick was fairly certain he would have lost. It was just too difficult to make up the gap in power when his opponent was equally skilled. Maybe he could have used Melissa's void flame to disrupt his opponent and then strike, but he wasn't going to use that outside of a life and death situation.

They ended well before they reached that point, Tom lowering his hands and no longer flinging any bolts. Rick was actually disappointed, since he wanted to see more of how his defensive core would fare against such a powerful ability core. Full-power bolts might damage the fighting chamber, but he was willing to take that risk.

Tom wiped his neck with one towel and tossed another to Rick, who caught it but didn't use it. "Is that it, Tom? Not a bad spar, but I want to see the biggest lightning bolt you can muster."

"Oh, I don't think you do."

"Come on, hit me with your best shot."

"Nice try." Tom finished with his towel and gave him a knowing smile. "I have nothing against you, but hitting you with my best would really only benefit you. Plus, I want to keep that in reserve in case we're ever fighting each other in a tournament again."

The flattery was probably meant to distract, and Rick didn't let it, but he accepted that he wasn't going to get his chance. "You can relax about that. I think I'm done with tournaments."

"Maybe that's for the best. Alger has invested a huge amount of lucrim into my development, more than he could possibly have earned from me. I... don't want to call him blood-thirsty, but it's like... he's hungry for the fights themselves. He's starved for something and no matter how much I fight, it's never quite enough."

That hadn't been the direction Rick had expected the conversation to go, but he wasn't going to let that subject pass by. He stopped on his way to the door to look at Tom. "Speaking of Alger, is he upset with me or something? For fighting against him in the multi-tier tournament?"

"I don't think so." Tom seemed so surprised by that question that Rick didn't think he was faking. "He's not even slightly mad about losing the tournament anymore. In fact, if he was irritated about anything, it was that you quit. When you mostly won your tier, you got his attention again."

"Huh." Rick shook his head, not quite sure what to make of it. He was curious, but asking Tom questions when Alger was his patron might not be a good idea. "Thanks for the spar, Tom. I think I-"

"Is your job with the CSLA working out for you? I didn't even think about it when it was posted, but now.... I don't know, I might need a change eventually. As much as I like fighting in the arena, I'm not sure I want to do it forever."

"You're doing it for fun, then?"

"And to challenge myself, yes." Tom shrugged and leaned back against the wall of the chamber. "Did I ever tell you about why I chose the offensive core that I did?"

"No, you didn't." Rick frowned at him. "Why are you telling me now?"

"I don't know, I just feel like there's no one around me who has their head on straight. I thought you might understand. Come on, get over here and hear me out a bit." Tom patted the wall beside him and Rick headed in his direction, though he stayed at a distance with his arms folded.

"Alright, why an ability core instead of a bodily one?"

Tom smiled, though slightly bitterly. "You got right to the heart of it. I've always been physically huge - in high school I was getting scouted for all kinds of sports. But after a while, I got to resent it. So I decided to use that to my advantage in a fighting arena. With my size, everyone will be expecting me to be a brawler. The lightning takes them off guard."

"Good strategy. Not so good when you're a public fighter going up against people repeatedly."

"Yeah, I guess that's a bit ironic. What about you, Rick? What brings you to that set of skills?"

Rick didn't like to talk about himself, and in that moment of hesitation he found himself stopping and thinking back over the conversation. He frowned at Tom. "Why are you getting into all this? We're acquaintances, not friends."

"Do I seem that desperate?" Tom shrugged awkwardly. "I don't have a lot of people to confide in these days, so I-"

"No." Rick used a Bunyan's Step to get directly in the other man's face and was rewarded with a slight flinch. "No, you're talking for the sake of talking. Are you... waiting for something?"

He saw a flicker of fear on Tom's face and knew that he was right. "It's not like that. Rick, wait, she just wants to talk. She... she made me get you..."

Something about the way he said it sent a chill down Rick's spine. He heard the door to the chamber open behind them and someone stepped inside. Even before he heard the voice, he knew.

"Hello, dearie. Did you miss me?"