The reporters found her after the Mayhem.

She'd been safe in the main fighters' lobby where the paparazzi were forbidden except by specific invitation. Out in the main body of the building, however, no such rules could be enforced, and a tide of jabbering bodies and cameras surged forward as soon as she stepped from the main entrance tunnel.

A blockade of security staff kept her and the other four winners from being swamped, but Codi still had to shield her eyes from the flashing of cameras. She could barely pick out a coherent question, but she heard her name being mentioned dozens of times.

"Are you always this popular?" Wren Cutler chuckled from just over her right shoulder, speaking in a sharp accent with faintly rolling r's.

"These days," Codi replied, squinting at the sea of squawking faces.

The other girl grinned. "Well you're welcome to it."

Thanks a bunch, Codi thought as they made their way through the noisy human corridor. One thing she knew with a sense of crushing inevitability was that she wasn't getting out of giving interviews. Last year, when no-one had paid any attention to her until the closing stages, she hadn't given the matter a second thought. Now...now she needed to try not to embarrass herself on a galactic news network.

Her track record with the press was adequate at best, but she suspected everyone knew she hated the whole circus. She preferred to do her talking in the arena.

But fame had its price.

Sure enough, Bronagh Llewellyn awaited them along with coaches from the other academies and a dozen or so other fighters in their academy tracksuits who'd been watching the Mayhem unfold. She caught sight of Ripple, Gareth and Chris amongst them – the two boys were all smiles and waves. Ripple held one hand with a thumb up. I guess that'll do.

Not far behind lurked the handful of special correspondents from news nets across the human colonies, camera drones hovering beside them like gun turrets. These were the professionals, the high ranking reporters with years of experience under their belt covering the sport. That meant special favours from the big academies.

Codi strode up to them with Leela close in on her elbow. Llewellyn held out a hand which she accepted – a markedly different congratulations than last year. She had to remind herself that Battlecast fighters were expected to get through their Mayhems. All she had done so far was meet the expectation.

"Well done, both of you," Llewellyn told them, and at least she sounded like she meant it. "That was some impressive work."

"You know I like to put on a show," Codi murmured, her gaze wandering over the head instructor's shoulder to the small gathering of reporters beyond.

She spotted a grimly familiar face amongst the paparazzi too – Elias Sonnengrad, the dolt who'd interviewed her back in training at Battlecast. His eyes landed on her and lit up like those of a hungry wolf. For her part, Codi felt her body tense reflexively. He had a very punchable face.

And she had a formidable right hook.

"Your work's not quite done yet," Llewellyn continued. "Our friends are itching for an interview with last year's returning challenger."

"Can't they wait til I've changed?"

"They prefer the interviews to be raw, straight out of the gate. Plus, it looks more interesting on the network to have the fighters in their armour instead of their tracksuits. It's all part of the show, Codi."

"Terrific."

"Just try to be civil." She smiled thinly and turned. "Mr. Sonnengrad? I believe we're ready for you."

"Maybe you are," Codi muttered under her breath as the reporter came mincing forward to greet them. Leela was led away to speak to one of the smaller news outlets; it seemed the heavy hitters were out to collar 'underdog Codi James' and no one else.

She straightened up and pasted a smile onto her face as Sonnengrad approached. The grin he wore only compounded her disdain, and she braced herself for a shuttle-crash of an exchange.

The camera drone hovering alongside him stopped a few feet away, locking onto her and she cast a disdainful glance at it before returning her attention to the reporter himself. He extended a perfectly manicured hand to shake and Codi reminded herself not to squeeze too hard. With the exoskeleton on she could easily break his fingers.

"So good to see you again, Codi," Sonnengrad crooned. "Thank you for agreeing to talk with us on the big stage.

Like I had a choice. "My pleasure." Even that took an effort of will to make it sound convincing.

"Well let's begin shall we?" He turned to face his drone, standing alongside her, hands clasped behind his back. The lens of the camera flicked from red to blue and he started talking.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. This is Elias Sonnengrad reporting live from the Gauntlet Arena in Berlin One, and I have been lucky enough to catch Codi James fresh out of making it through her Mayhem in this year's contest. You'll all remember Codi as the runner up last year, rising from obscurity to fame in a few short weeks at the Gauntlet. Since then she's taken up the challenge at Battlecast, the dominant academy in colonial space and she's started as she means to go on, entering this year's tournament as the number two seed."

Following his own cue, he swivelled to face her and Codi had to fight every muscle in her body not to recoil away from him. "Codi, good to speak to you."

"Good to be here," she managed, inclining her head to the camera.

"An impressive opening display and coming off the back of some big pre-season results, you must be feeling pretty good about your chances."

Codi shrugged, her brain whirring as she tried to gauge the best response. "The training schedule at Battlecast is tough, but it's given all of us the tools we need to win this thing. Yeah, I feel good, but this is only the Mayhem. There's still a long way to go."

Sonnengrad grinned, simpering a response and she caught Bronagh Llewellyn's eye from where she stood, just off to the left of the camera. Her coach nodded once. So far so good.

"You've become quite the celebrity since last year," the reporter continued. "How have you dealt with becoming a household name in the Gauntlet? It's quite a change from where you started."

"It's different." She gave him a nod of agreement. "But it's nice. Walking out there and having all the Battlecast fans shouting my name – it means a lot to me. I've worked hard for them as much as for me." Only half-true, but she suspected that would play well over the colonial news networks. "They've really embraced me straight away, so I hope I do them proud this year."

The way Sonnengrad's eyes lit up told her that she'd guessed correctly. Two questions down and no major wrecks yet. She exhaled a long, slow breath and readied herself for whatever was coming next.

"Turning to the Mayhem itself," he said. "Your performance definitely raised a few eyebrows, in more ways than one."

"I do what needs to be done."

"I'm certain no-one would deny that, and you've shown you really want to take the fight to other contestants. However, I was referring to the end of the Mayhem, where you and your team mate seemed to make a bit of an alliance out in the Arena."

She frowned. "And?"

A predatory smile flashed across Sonnengrad's features. "Typically fighters from the same academy aren't meant to help each other in the Mayhem," the reporter said, an edge of smugness creeping into his voice as though he though he had her trapped. "It's considered poor sportsmanship."

"Uh-huh?" Codi raised an eyebrow. "Show me where it says that."

"I'm sorry?"

"Show me where it says that," she repeated. "It's a simple request."

Sonnengrad laughed. "Now, Miss James, you know as well as I do that it's not written in any official rulebook-,"

"Then it's not a rule," she interrupted.

"It's more of an unwritten rule."

"Well if there's any kind of 'rule' that's made to be broken, it's an unwritten one." She gave him a pitying look. "Is this seriously all you've got?"

"Excuse me?"

"First of all, none of that would have happened if whoever was controlling all those gizmos didn't toss me into the middle of that mess. Second, give me a line of five other fighters and I can tell you now, I'm not going to take my first swing at the one in Battlecast colours." Codi gave her instructor an exasperated look. "Do we really have to listen to this garbage?"

A thin smile spread across Bronagh Llewellyn's face and she inclined her head. "I believe that concludes the interview."

"What?!" the reporter spluttered indignantly.

"Mr. Sonnengrad, as I'm sure you can appreciate, Codi's time is in high demand right now. If she does not feel your questions are valid, I see no reason to make her answer them." The head instructor gestured to the dozen other interviews going on around them. "There are many other people we could talk to."

Codi could have hugged the woman then. Leaving a blustering Elias Sonnengrad to recover what remained of his dignity, she let herself be guided away from the questions and cameras and crowds. Once they'd slipped into a quieter passage Bronagh pulled her gently to one side, out of the way of the ebb and flow of Gauntlet fighters and personnel.

"That was certainly different," the woman laughed softly.

"Thanks," Codi said. "I hate interviews."

Llewellyn's smile faded at that. "I understand that, Codi, but please try not to make a habit of insulting reporters on live broadcast."

"Huh?"

"I'm quite happy to let you show your belligerent nature," she continued. "But only now and then. Whether you like it or not, what you do outside of the arena is just as important as what you do in it. Sometimes it's good for the networks to be thrown a curveball with someone like you, but they'll adapt. The next person you speak to will have seen all those interviews. They'll be ready for you. They'll take that blunt, confrontational part of you and turn it around."

Codi felt her skin crawl. Being under the limelight was fast losing its charm. "So why did you let me go off like that?"

"You are who you are, Codi. I have no wish to change that. And frankly-," she glanced back to the reporters. "I don't like him."

*

Watching Mayhem 18 unfold, Codi felt an uncomfortable sensation settle in her gut. Keefer Darkwood was on the march, and so far she'd seen nothing to suggest his staggering analyst score was unwarranted. He moved mechanically, striding through the melee like some kind of sentinel, swatting aside those who were brave or foolish enough to get in his way.

A boy from Eilbarder Academy barred his path. Keefer barely broke stride, sidestepping a jab, crouching and then exploding forward, crashing his fist squarely into the other fighter's face with such force that it knocked the boy flat and sent him skidding a dozen feet backwards.

"Youch," Gareth muttered from beside her. "He hits like a hydraulic ram."

She nodded in agreement. Her team mate had trundled through his own Mayhem a day ago, adding a handful of knockouts to his tally, and leaving only one of the Battlecast big names to take to the stage in the preliminary rounds. Ripple's fight would take place tomorrow, so right now she also stood with them, watching with her usual impassive stare as they got their first good look at Keefer Darkwood's Gauntlet skills.

Another fighter went flying under his thunderous onslaught and Codi folded her arms, watching with increasing concern. He was hitting so hard that even by the standards of the exoskeletons it didn't seem natural. And she had reason to care – this Mayhem featured two Battlecast fighters, one of them a veteran – Joshua Bayden. Bayden managed to climb as high as the 35th seed on entering and his presence in the groups would be a welcome one.

However, if he ran afoul of Keefer Darkwood, Codi didn't fancy his chances. Looking at the one man wrecking machine she didn't really fancy anyone's. Although he didn't seem to be particularly concerned about chasing for eliminations, Keefer simply flattened anyone who got in his way; it didn't seem to matter if they were new bloods or seasoned fighters. No-one lasted more than a few seconds with him.

"I've never seen anything like this," Ripple said. "The way he moves – the way he hits – he's mechanical. It doesn't seem real."

"I tried to tell you," Codi replied. "You should pay attention to this guy."

"I guess this is the last time we ignore you," Gareth chuckled nervously. "Whoever gets this guy in their group is in serious trouble."

She gave him a playful nudge in the ribs. "Scared?"

"Are you not?"

"I haven't decided yet."

They halted their conversation as a flash of blue and cyan appeared on the screen and Codi realised with a hollow pang of dread that Keefer Darkwood had found his first victim from Battlecast.

It was one of the newer fighters, and this individual didn't seem to have got the memo that he was dangerous. She went hurtling in headlong. This time, however, rather than simply bat her aside as he had with the others, Keefer stopped, lowered himself into a fighting stance. Codi's eyes widened. She knew what was coming next.

In less than thirty seconds the fighter from Battlecast lay in a beaten heap on the floor. Keefer had stayed with her and pummelled her into the floor plates until the klaxon sounded her elimination. Once it did so he strode off as though nothing had happened, in search of fresh prey.

Then it hit her.

"That lanky scud," she hissed. "He's targeting our fighters."

"What?"

"That's the first person he's stopped to actually eliminate!" She rounded on them, pointing furiously at the screen. "He's gunning for Battlecast. Everyone else is just getting in his way."

"I hope you're wrong," Gareth said.

She looked back to the screen and her heart sank when she saw Keefer striding into the middle of a melee involving at least six other fighters. Again, he more or less ignored anyone not in a Battlecast uniform, only pausing to remove them as an obstacle. All the while he closed in on Joshua Bayden.

The burly, shaven headed teenager notice the oncoming colossus in the nick of time and turned to ride the first thunderous volley of blows.

"C'mon," Codi whispered. "Just survive."

Compared to everyone else who'd had the misfortune to face Keefer Darkwood, Bayden held up well, but it didn't take long to become apparent that he was hopelessly outmatched. He absorbed a punishing onslaught before a crunching blow to the side of his head sent him spinning to the ground. He rolled away from the follow up stamp and kicked wildly at his attacker, only to be caught and lifted bodily.

"Crap," Gareth spoke through gritted teeth. She could see his fists clenched, white-knuckled by his sides with impotent frustration.

Then they had to watch as Keefer lifted their team mate like a ragdoll and slammed him three times against the decks with bone-crunching force. When he released his hold Bayden didn't get up and another klaxon blared.

Codi ground her teeth together in fury. So, one of the most dangerous fighters in the whole contest, the number one seed, had been sent into the contest with explicit instructions to go after the competitors from Battlecast.

Now she had a very good reason to hate Keefer Darkwood. This had become very personal, very fast. Whether it was his decision or the order came from Battlecast's old coach, she didn't care. Now all she wanted was to have the boy in the Arena with her so she could exact a measure of revenge.

She watched with a sick feeling in her stomach as the rest of the fighting played out before them. The final klaxon sounded to end the Mayhem, and Codi's eyes narrowed on the tall, shadowy figure from Black Horizon. He stood alone – by the end the other fighters had started actively avoiding him.

"Well," she growled. "It looks like Keefer Darkwood is for real."