The bellowing of the mob was corporeal, a sonorous barrier, such as weakened Kaito Renshiro by banging him between his knees. Or perhaps it was the hunger. He had even missed lunch in a bid to pay admission to this exhibition match.
And in this corner, the voice of the announcer went booming down, not without a drop of synthetic enthusiasm, the local... enthusiast... Kaito Renshiro and his, Rusty Rex!
The shout had been chiefly laughter. His knuckles turned white on the toy that Kai had in his hand. Rusty Rex was a six inch embodiment of poverty. A one eyed, broken action figure of a strange knight-soldier hybrid that had apparently been found in a landfill. Which it had. Peeling paint, one shoulder pad lost, one leg fastened on with a strip of silver duct tape wrapped around and around.
Someone shouted down in the bleachers, ìt is a trash toy to a trash kid. Kai's face burned. It was something he was used to and never got easy.
On the polished chrome of the Battle Circuit arena his opponent entered. Juno Kaze did not walk, he flowed. His long coat, which was impossible to be dirty, floated behind him like something in an individual breeze. He did not recognize the screams of adoration of the crowd, and he was already staring at Kai, in some inert, cold boredom.
"And his opponent! The newcomer, the master of spin, Juno Kaze and his great Spinblade Phantom!
Juno posed with his hand on hip and a flick of his wrist. His Relic came up with a spectral hum. It was a work of smooth form--a ninja yo-yo, with divided phantom armour, the rims light with gentle light, suspended on a thread of positive energy. It was silent, deadly gracefully going round the hand of Juno.
"Begin!" the announcer shouted.
"Go, Rex!" his voice cracked as Kai screamed. He thrust the figure forward.
Rusty Rex rattled into the arena floor and effectively leaned on one side with its taped leg. It struggled its small-chipped sword up in a jerking action. It was, Kai had to say, a pitifully heroic sight.
Juno sighed, with a deep disappointed sound. "This is my opponent? An eyesore. A violation of aesthetics." He didn't even move. "Spinblade Phantom. Mirage Slash."
The Phantom blurred. It was not an attack; a statement. It was one minute with Juno and the next it was flying through the air in a neon arc and rejoining Rusty Rex. There was a sharp ping.
The sword of Rusty Rex clathed to the ground, and was cut in two.
There was a crowd of howling laughter. Kai sunk heartily into his stomach.
Pathetic, Juno said in a flat voice. "You don't belong in a Circuit. You belong in a dumpster. Phantom Bind."
The Spinblade Phantom fired a second time, and its power line stretched into fine strands of wire. They were around the limbs of Rusty Rex before Kai could even blink, and started the struggling figure up into the air. Juno gave a slight pulling motion with his finger, and Rex was hurled against the arena wall in a violent tumble, and then against the floor, and then against the wall, and so on.
Crunch. Crack. Clatter.
Every blow was a kick to the guts of Kai. The response of feedback of sickening jolt of static pain could be felt in their connection. "Rex! Get up!"
One arm of the toy was suspended by a strand of plastic. Its leg duct tape was also flaking.
"The match is decided!" the announcer called. "Winner, Juno Kaze!"
With a flick of the wrist Juno reminded himself of his Relic. He made no look at Kai as he passed by him, but his words were cold and definite. "Find a new hobby, Scrap Kid. There are certain toys that are born that way--broken.
The laughter pursued Kai as he fell onto the floor of the arena with a flushed face. He carefully picked up the fragments of Rusty Rex, at which the hard plastic was cold in his hand. This was it. He was a laughingstock. Maybe they were all right. Perhaps there were things that were broken beyond repair.
"Interesting."
The voice was logical, soothing. Kai looked up. At the edge of the arena was standing a girl, whose hair was short and silver, and who bore a sharp intelligent face. She had round crystal-lens goggles thrust up on her forehead and a cropped jacket that had pockets full of tools. He recognized her--Mira Solen. It was no secret that she was a genius at Relic mechanics.
"What's interesting?" I anticipated another insult, said Kai mumblingly.
With a stylus she pointed at the toy in his hand that had been broken. "Your Relic. Its resonance signature. It struck the wall twice the second time but this time fluctuated. A feedback spike which was not commensurate with the damage it was doing.
Kai stared blankly. "A... what?"
He met Mira whose eyes were a flashing cobalt. She seemed slightly irritated at his stupidity. "It adapted. It made a momentary attempt to maintain itself by the kinetic energy of the collision. It is a dreadful, ineffectual way, yet... not a normal response. An ordinary toy would simply have broken.
Kai looked down at Rusty Rex. The painted single eye appeared to look in this direction, rebellious even when dismembered. It hadn't just broken. It had tried to fight back.
It was still the humiliation, a powerful burden in his bosom. However, somewhere below it the words Mira said brought a spark of tiny flame. A strange fluctuation. It tried to adapt.
He put his fingers round the broken toy in a sort of protection. The Scrap Kid was beaten, but, gripping his companion, another, rebellious idea started to develop.
You're not broken. You're just different.
And perhaps, only perhaps, different was what he wanted.