When the sun cracked the clouds over Minneapolis Saint Paul Codi had already been awake for an hour. Her kit bag hung over one shoulder, already packed, and on her back was a rucksack filled with a handful of personal possessions and clothes that she had felt worth taking. She stared out of the window of her apartment, basking in this moment of calm. It was the last one she would get for a while.

The sky cars were already moving, rattling back and forth across the cityscape in lines of metal and blue fire. People had started to seethe through the streets like a single living mass, spreading and spilling across every gridiron intersection.

Today the whole world got up early.

Codi swallowed a deep breath and turned from the window. She thought she'd have been used to the nerves by now – after last year, after all she'd put herself through at Battlecast she thought she would be ready. But no, there they were, churning up her stomach like a cement mixer. She wondered dimly if the other Battlecast recruits in the accommodation block were feeling the same way.

Over the months her body had changed. Even under the Battlecast tracksuit her lithe, sinewy frame was clearly defined. She could feel a power in every step she took as she walked towards the exit, borne out of pushing her body to its limits. Codi felt like a coil of iron – hard, unyielding and waiting to be unleashed. She felt ready.

In that time she'd also adjusted to conquer the ground-leg that the turbo elevators caused. She stepped smoothly out into gleaming foyer focusing on her breathing, only allowing a tiny part of her mind to contemplate what today meant: the culmination of everything she'd been working towards. More than just the past year, it felt like her whole life had been one long, arduous grind to finally end up where she belonged. Sixteen crushing years had been a small price to pay to feel what she felt now.

Today the normal compliment of Battlecast regulars was severely depleted. Those not competing would be ferried to the arena in their own bus as VIP spectators. Only Codi and her elite companions were making the trip now.

Ripple and Leela were waiting, along with a boy named Jaxo Samas – another returning contender from last year's contest. The trio seemed oddly subdued. They exchanged greetings, smiles, nods; handshakes. No-one really knew what to say. This was the moment, but until they actually reached the arena it didn't seem quite real. The Battlecast fighters hung in a limbo between normality and the thrill of the Gauntlet.

Eventually, Codi grinned at them. "Let's go win this thing."

They walked side by side out into the blazing glare of the summer day, the heat washing over them, gathering them into its arms in a welcoming embrace. The rays glinted viciously off the glass of the waiting Battlecast shuttle bus. The doors hung open, inviting them to glory.

After a short ride through the humming morning streets they descended again toward the massive pyramidal sprawl of Battlecast. The grounds buzzed with life already as the people worked to organise exoskeleton transport and transit for coaches, technicians and support staff. The sight of the academy logo made things just that bit more real. This was their final jumping off point before their journey to the arena.

She could see the media were already in evidence too. While the main phalanx of reporters would be waiting like vultures at the arena itself, the junior correspondents further down the pecking order would have been shunted onto coverage of the various Earth academies on their home turf before they embarked on their journey. No stone could be left unturned when bringing the Gauntlet to the masses, Codi had realised.

Their shuttle descended into the middle of it. Cameras tracked them like turrets, operators pointing and shouting to reporters. She saw the unmistakable Sol-Net logos plastered on the equipment.

Then they entered the hanger, vanishing from the prying eyes. When they disembarked they found that the other fighters were already assembled, clustered in a rough mass of blue and cyan, their individual kitbags and backpacks hanging from shoulders and hands as they waited.

On their arrival the faces turned and a good-natured chorus of whoops and jeers helped settle Codi's nerves as she led her companions to join them. She slotted into a space next to Gareth in the centre of the group. He looked at her and mouthed the word: late.

Bite me, she mouthed back, grinning, before turning her attention to the line of instructors that faced them. There were five – Bronagh Llewellyn in the centre and she saw Thradd Winters' cragged form standing off to her right. Two other men and a woman, the group leaders of Red, Green and Orange completed the compliment of adults who would lead them through the Gauntlet.

"Well, today's the day," Llewellyn declared simply. "How are we feeling?"

"Could have used another hour in bed," someone said and Codi joined the others in the fight to stifle their laughter.

For her part, Llewellyn smiled at the remark. "I'll take that as an 'okay' then." Then her normally iron-hard tone softened, just for a moment. "Whatever else happens there, enjoy the experience. You're about to be a part of something a lot of people can only dream of."

*

Even the vaunted Battlecast Academy couldn't really justify using the massive bulk of the Hercules for an inter-continental trip, so the twenty-five fighters of the team made their way aboard a more modestly sized – but no less luxurious – sky yacht, fifty metres long with enough space for every fighter to have their own ludicrously oversized reclining chair. It would take them maybe an hour to cross the Atlantic and it seemed that the Battlecast contestants were intent on enjoying themselves for every second of that time.

Codi lounged; sipped at a glass of water. She felt the rumble below decks and watched as their transport ascended gracefully back into the sky. Up and up they went, far above the sky-lanes that criss-crossed Minneapolis St Paul until they hit cruising altitude for planet-locked transports. Then the main engines gently yawned into life and their journey began.

The steel and glass of the city flew by beneath them as the sky yacht built up speed, churning the land beneath them into a blur, like spilt ink mixing with water. Before long they breached the outer district of the city, bursting out over a sea of green and gold. Geometric blocks of perfectly maintained trees filled spaces between the silver ribbon highways that connected Minneapolis St Paul to the other mega cities on the continent. Like a web the metal lines blossomed out over the landscape – all of it carefully and determinedly maintained.

Still the yacht climbed, and soon the criss-crossing slashes of metal were barely visible to the naked eye. The cities they passed over became smears, tiny marks of iron grey, but inside the sky yacht Codi couldn't feel a thing. If it weren't for the window and the engine hum she wouldn't have even known they were moving.

She looked away from the dizzying heights, into the body of the passenger lounge where the other fighters were busy enjoying themselves. Some of them were arm wrestling – she watched with some amusement as Ripple gave Chris O'Leary a run for his money before he eventually slammed her hand down against the table. Others played fighting sims on their personal dat-pads. Two boys stood facing each other, each with a hand behind their back, taking it in turns to try and land a light strike to a part of the opponent's body.

Part of her wanted to join them; part of her just wanted to close her eyes and wish this journey away. She just wanted to be there already. This commute was the last barrier, and it was driving her crazy.

Her gaze drifted back to the window, to find that they'd cleared the eastern coast of the old American continent and were now over the undulating blue mass of the Atlantic. It may have shrunk over the last few hundred years, but the spectacular body of water still filled her with amazement. The planet she'd grown up on didn't have seas or oceans. Hell, they were lucky to have a lake. She caught glimpses of other craft following their course – distant and glittering in the sun.

After clearing the Atlantic they skimmed the edges of London before hitting the continent proper. A veritable hive, its spires were jammed together so close that you could have jumped from one to the other. Clouds of shuttles and sky-buses were ascending into the air, spewing out of the enormous vertical ports that gaped in the sides of some of the buildings, turning their trajectories in towards the mainland of old Europe.

It took them another twenty minutes, soaring over the green and steel of Earth's delicately crafted worldscape before they reached their destination.

There it was, Berlin One, home of the Gauntlet Arena. It sprawled out a dozen miles in every direction, it too boasting architecture that was different but no less impressive than Minneapolis St Paul. Gone were the mountainous spires, replaced by squat, interlocked buildings like gleaming upturned cigar tubes. Bands of blue glass ringed them; windows marking out dozens of levels on each one. Walkways jutted out at almost random angles, locking the whole city together like a gigantic net.

Now the sun was high in the sky. They may have left home bright and early, but the time difference meant that they were descending on the carpet of glassy, blue tinged buildings in the middle of the day. A blaze of searing light rebounded into the sky and Codi had to squint against the glare. Around them the traffic had intensified too – ordered lines of civilian vehicles snaked across the sky in barely contained queues. She wondered how many of those hundreds were going where she was going.

They kept descending into the crush of civilisation and, pressing her cheek against the window to see what lay ahead, Codi finally spotted the pillar-like colossus of the Arena itself.

It dwarfed everything around it, a monument to the sporting event that had snared the imagination of a galaxy. It stood twice as tall as the nearest structure, sheathed in enormous bowed walls of crystal. Academy flags the size of cars were emblazoned up and down its massive bulk. From a distance it formed a wash of colour, but as they drew closer Codi began to pick out individual liveries and emblems. Right in the centre of the highest band she could see the blue and cyan of Battlecast and pride surged inside her.

Their sky yacht joined the flood of ships fighting for space at the Arena's main docking bay. As well as the conventional sky cars from the city itself, hundreds of other ships descended in spirals from the atmosphere – shuttles disgorged from one of the dozens of orbiting space stations, or interstellar craft that brought people from billions – trillions of miles to join in the spectacle.

Codi stood up well before they hit the ground. Her heart raced; she could feel sweat on her palms. She needed to be off this ship and inside the Arena. She'd been waiting long enough.

The shift in atmosphere among her companions mirrored her own. Slowly their levity faded away and faces became charged with anticipation. She could see people drumming fingers on chair-arms, bouncing knees and biting lips. Some checked and repacked their kit over and over. Everyone was ready.

Finally the sky yacht clunked into place in the landing area and Codi joined in with the wordless roar of approval from the twenty-five caged animals in the passenger compartment. The coaches led them down the ship's boarding ramp and into a hurricane of noise. A long walkway specifically for competitors led straight to the staggering tower of the Arena. In other paths on either side fans thronged, screaming and waving signs at the sight of Earth's premier academy. The cameras jetted along with them, swooping and diving for close ups and the ocean of voices washed over Codi like a salve.

There was a time she'd hated all this – the attention, the clamour, the glamour and spotlight. Now that she was back in the middle of it she knew this was where she belonged. This year she would give the baying spectators exactly what they wanted: the best the Gauntlet had to offer. She even found herself smiling; waving to the crowds. She saw signs bearing her name – banners bearing her face. It was surreal, but perfect all at the same time.

They marched through the crowds, following their privileged path straight to the glass slabs of the Arena's main doors. A small army of security and administrative personal manned the series of entrances, stamping order on the barely contained frenzy of human flesh the seethed and swirled before them. A brief halt at the doors. Then the Battlecast representatives were ushered into the Arena, accompanied by a tidal wave of cheers.

Codi physically shuddered with joy, unable to keep a smile off her face. Walking beside her she saw Gareth grinning, his eyes wandering up and around the inside of the building. When his gaze descended again and found hers there was not a trace of the animosity that had so characterised their encounters for months. Now he just looked giddy – drunk on the atmosphere. Her own smile broadened and she almost started laughing. Eventually she managed to control herself, and with the roar of the crowd still ringing in her ears, she looked back over her shoulder.

Codi stopped dead at the sight that met her eyes.

It had been different a year ago. Coming in as an outsider, barely making their check-in time, the last and least academy to arrive, there hadn't been a chance to take in the spectacle. Now, as she looked up at the blizzard of shuttles and transit buses descending on the Gauntlet Arena, her soul caught fire.

Craft of all shapes and sizes plummeted through the atmosphere, their under-plates glowing from the heat of re-entry, plumes of blue fire streaking out behind them. Their hulls blazed with academy colours, whether ferrying fighters or spectators. Human beings from all corners of colonized space had come here, for the greatest contest in civilisation.

People streamed into the great Arena like a living tide; coaches, fighters, fans, reporters, friends, families – all of them flooded through from a dozen different doorways, sorted and directed by the ferocious efficiency of the Arena staff. The noise of conversation swelled like a benevolent thunderstorm and cameras whirled overhead, trying to track the ebb and flow of movement.

"Hey, come on," Gareth chuckled, tugging her along by the arm. "You don't want to get left behind!"

Reluctantly she allowed him to drag her away from the sight, and she rejoined the march of the Battlecast fighters as they advanced on the main lobby, the sliding aperture where only those fighting in the Gauntlet could pass through. Her heart raced; she had to fight and control her breathing. Her body was bursting with adrenaline, desperate to launch back into the thrill of Gauntlet combat.

A rank of desks manned by a dozen administrative staff formed the final blockade. Bronagh Llewellyn took the lead, going through the formalities. The clerks in attendance took one look at the blue and cyan of the fighters, made a brief skim of the documentation and then waved them through.

"Welcome to the Gauntlet."

And then they were inside.

It was like the practice tournaments multiplied a hundred times. The whole place blazed with colour and noise – a stray spark would have ignited the air. Codi found herself trying look at everything, her head swivelling left and right. It was just as she remembered it. The massive Lock-Tech station for exoskeletons dominated the far right wall, along with its phalanx of technicians, but this time she didn't have to bother visiting it. Battlecast had people who were employed to do the leg work.

Straight ahead of them the long line of enormous display screens glared down on them, alternating between huge messages of welcome and displays of assigned accommodation. This was something that Codi had, in an odd way, been looking forward too. The Battlecast Academy outstripped every other in technology – in sheer spending power – but here everyone received the same treatment. Everyone got the same billets within the Arena, and everyone used the same training facilities. Inside these walls they were equals

Her eyes roved around the room as the Battlecast contingent moved towards the screens and she knew who she was looking for. To her disappointment she could not see the black and white of Zulu Forge amidst the seething mass of colour, but she did notice someone else.

It took a moment before she was sure, but as the grey-clad boy moved closer, flanked on either side by three or four others, she became certain. His body was a little more evenly proportioned than last year, but he still had the same unmistakable lanky gait. His blond hair hung a little longer now and he'd let the beginnings of a beard take root around his mouth.

"MAX!" she shouted above the noise, waving.

Her old team mate's head snapped up at the call and after a moment his eyes zeroed in on her. At first his expression was confused, but when he realised just who had called his name his eyes lit up. He didn't look like he quite believed what he was seeing, but seconds slipped by, and then he surged forward, weaving and worming through the bodies. Codi moved to meet him and they crashed into a clumsy hug. She started laughed as he picked her up, squeezing tight, as though trying to prove that she was really there.

"Throw me into a black hole," he exclaimed, putting her down and holding her at arms' length. "Codi James? Is that you?!"

"In the flesh," she replied. "It's been a long time!"

"Too long." He looked her up and down, a slightly bewildered smile on his face. "The Battlecast look suits you."

"I like to think so." Codi didn't even know where to begin. Emotions thundered through her at the sight of him. She'd never been interested in him in that way, but she still felt a connection with the lanky fighter on some level. Both of them had journeyed into the Gauntlet – both had come out as veritable heroes. While in the grand scheme she knew she'd overshadowed him, Codi was in no doubt that Max's achievements in last year's contest deserved just as much praise. It looked like he'd found an academy that felt the same.

"Wow I...I don't really know where to start," he laughed. "I mean, after last year my dad kicked in the funds and let me get shipped off to Knossos. I – you know I wondered how you were doing. Then I saw the ratings come in and, damn."

Codi felt herself blushing. "Well, you know..."

"It's cool – I'm happy for you."

"Really?" She raised a mischievous eyebrow. "You know we're on different teams this year."

"That just makes things more interesting." He glanced around the main foyer for a moment. "You haven't seen the others, have you?"

"The others?"

"Lucas and Lazlo."

"What? They're here?!" she gasped.

"You didn't know?" Max shook his head in amusement. "I haven't seen them yet but I checked the rosters. Those two knuckle-heads are around here somewhere. They're with Ursa Major."

For a moment Codi found herself stunned by the news. That accounted for four of the five members of her old team. "One big happy family, eh?" She ran a hand through her hair. "And Lita?"

"Hah, no, no, she was the smart one. She's back on Kantha with a real job."

"Oh, so..." Codi bit her lip. "So you and her...?"

Max shrugged. "Long distance is tough."

"Yeah, tell me about it."

"What about your buddy, Kye wasn't it?"

"He...is also around here somewhere," she admitted, casting another cursory glance around. "He's coaching at Zulu Forge this year."

Then their conversation was cut short when one of the other contestants from Knossos City called Max over. He looked at her apologetically. "Damnit, I gotta go."

"It's okay," she said. "Me too. I'll catch you later."

"Alright then." He extended a hand, his face radiating happiness. "It's good to see you again" he said. "I'll catch you in the arena."

"Count on it."

She took his hand and pulled him into a final, brief embrace before letting him rejoin his team mates. Max pivoted long enough to throw her a cheeky salute before turning his back. Codi watched him go, grinning from ear to ear. Everything just felt right, as though she'd slotted into her perfect piece in the great puzzle of life. Whatever the next four weeks brought, she knew there was nowhere else she'd rather be.

Right here, right now, she stood at the centre of the universe.

AUTHOR NOTE

Okay guys, so as usual thanks for your patience! Would appreciate a wee bit of extra feedback here - one of the reasons this chapter took a while is because, aside from the fact I am a very busy person, I was working really hard to try and ramp up the actual Gauntlet to a suitable level of epicness - the spectacle needed to have a bit more build than the practice tournaments (which themselves had a lot of work put into them). My question to you lovely people is, do you think this return to the Gauntlet is big enough? It needs to feel huge, kind of overwhelmingly so - at least that's what I was trying to convey. All thoughts and constructive criticism very much appreciated in this regard!

Thanks in advance! :)

Jamie (words_are_weapons) over and out.