Once the Smoke Clears

Harrison was still trying to piece together what had happened as the round siren ended. He sat, or more accurately laid in his harness on his back resting against the supporting frame as uncomfortable as it was. He removed his helmet, several positioning cameras malfunctioning and destroying the 3D sequence that made piloting the mech so easy. The cockpit was black except for a warning light and the occasional spark of electricity through the system lighting up the switches and dials before dying again. Harrison moved to open his cockpit by switching moving the switch to his left, but nothing happened. He yanked it up and slammed it down a couple times in its groove eventually giving up and leaning over to reach the manual release. A long bar across the front of the torso that took all his effort to pull open.

With the hiss of the pistons a sliver of light peered into the cockpit as the doors began to part, and the sounds of the stadium flooded in. The sliver of light bisected Harrison sweaty disheveled figure as he released his buckles and stood up to push the doors apart. The aftermath of his fight lay all around him. Concrete, rebar, and asphalt salted the earth with a crushed or burning car placed every dozen yard or so. The artificial sky had disappeared taking the crack with it, replaced by the arena’s natural blinding light array that left no detail of the town unseen. Harrison jumped out of his cockpit not prepared for the static in his legs as he struggled to find his footing. In and Out of the rubble he saw pieces of the Pilgrim from small shards of metal to a hole leg strewn over the street, crumpled, and bruised. Almost unrecognizable from a pile of scrap. Harrison didn’t want to see the Pilgrim but as the emergency vehicles flew in he knew he would need to oversee it getting taken back to his hangar, and turned.

The largest portion of the Pilgrim laid up against the sidewalk of an intersection, head leaning on a wall and shoulders resting one up one down as the handle of Harrison’s blade prevented one from fully reaching the ground. One arm remained attached despite be horribly mangled, and the other limbs while not “Missing” weren’t ceremoniously removed either, full joints cut in half with wires and storage units lying in pieces at the cut off points, non-armed grenades strewn everywhere. It was a miracle none of them went off. As the vehicles began to descend on the carnage Harrison began to feel light and fuzzy. Mechanics and crew from his home square hooked winches and lifts up to the larger portions of the Pilgrim and used small cranes to load them into truck bays as other crew members went around with a box picking up the smaller pieces. A young mechanic approached Harrison and tried to tell him something, but Harrison didn’t hear him. The man insisted after being brushed off, but Harrison continued to tread slowly back towards his mech. Attempting to get inside before being stopped by two larger crew members. Harrison tried to push past but overestimated his punch and fell through them onto the sidewalk. They tried to help him up as he brushed them aside too. Then he saw himself.

Harrison’s own plug suit was a tattered mess. Large swathes of the leather had been torn away when buckles and restraints were forced free from the more intense attacks. Sweat caked his hair and his skin was red all over his body. Harrison held onto his consciousness long enough to see Cleo step out of a personal vehicle with his mother and they ran towards him just as he collapsed onto the pavement.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harrison woke up in his bed several hours later. He checked his clock, reading 10:30 pm. In movies when our hero passes out due to overexertion during the climax the first thing they ask when they wake up is “Did we win?”. But this wasn’t what was on Harrison’s mind. He sat up felling a slight pain in his side, looking at revealing a large bruise. Regardless he got to his feet and looked for some clothes to put on. He went through his closet finding a beat-up t-shirt and some grease-stained jeans he used when he was working on the Pilgrim, he thought he’d be needing them. Leaving his bedroom Harrison walked around his office looking for his review headset. He needed to see exactly how the Queen decimated him so thoroughly.

Opening drawers and cabinets Harrison began to grow impatient as the headset was nowhere to be found. He got down on his hands and knees scrambling around his desk and seating area thinking maybe it flew across the room when that unfortunate girl came to ‘visit’ him earlier, but alas no headset. Going to check his desk again the top drawer jammed as he tried pulling it out. Angrily he tried again but it was still stuck. Letting out a frustrated yell Harrison pulled the drawer off its rail with all his might launching across him room and colliding with the painting of Old Chicago he kept hanging on his back wall, tearing a large whole in it. “Ah hell.” he said under his breath cursing his own hot headedness as he tried to fix the painting, digging out the torn section and holding it up to the hole, only for it to fall back in.

Slumping into his chair Harrison stared at the painting. The Pre-War skyline held a certain charm to it, a calm. The contrast of the lighted variety of the city with the darkness of the lake created a contrast like none other. It probably only made him feel this way because it was home. Anyone would say something similar about their own homes but for Harrison, even though he never got to see it in person, this was home. Harrison spun around in his chair facing the front of his office and noticed his phone. He knew if he checked it he’d hear what the people were saying about him and he’d know who won the match and if his fights even mattered at all. He didn’t want to know that yet, he wanted to keep this quiet peace to himself for a short while before jumping back into it. The interviews, the questions, all the same one after another. He wanted to be the best but the price of being the best came with all these little hang ups that made the journey undesirable. So, moments of peace like this, even after being beat to hell with questions racing in his mind, he had to cherish before the inevitable interruption came in.

Knock knock knock. Harrison turned towards the door ready to shoot the person whose impeccable timing proved his point. “Come in.” Harrison said, putting on his best appearances face for whoever could be on the other side of that door. A sweet scent penetrated the room as a light and apologetic voice creeped past the door as it opened, Marjorie stepping in holding a carry out bag among other several other things. Harrison perked right up as his pessimistic thoughts vanished, sitting up straight in his chair. “I saw your light on and figured you were up.” Marjorie said, shutting the door behind her. “How are you feeling?”

Harrison wanted to complain about his aches and pains, his embarrassment over being defeated in such a brutal manner, and his anger about the destruction of his mech. But he didn’t want to spend his unexpected time with Marjorie focusing on the bad things. No matter how prevalent they were. “I’m feeling better.” Harrison replied. “I’m hesitant to walk out into the hangar so I’d like to hide in here for a bit longer if you wouldn’t mind.” Hearing this Marjorie gently set down her plastic bags on the table, pausing, scouring her mind in its own hectic array for something to say to Harrison that wasn’t bad news or worse news. “When you passed out, we all rushed down here to see you. Me, your mother, my mother. It wasn’t anything serious just some bumps and bruises, but we didn’t want you to be alone when you woke up.” Marjorie caught herself realizing she had indeed left Harrison alone to go get food, she turned to look at him, a puzzled expression on his face. He had realized it too, but he was too kind to say it out loud.

“Don’t look at me like that. Would you rather have to leave and go get something right now or have it right here right now? Cause I can still take it back if you’d like to get it yourself.” Marjorie stated cheekily lifting the takeout daintily and moving towards the door. Harrison laughed standing up catching her before she could open the door. Marjorie turned to face Harrison pushing the door closed with her hand and holding the food up to Harrison. “I got you mongolian chicken without the peppers, just the way you like it.” Harrison looked at Marjorie, the sting of the day falling away as he smelled the peach shampoo in her hair and looked into her expectant eyes. He knew what he needed to do and found a way to get it while cushioning the blow for himself. “Marjorie, I need you to tell me what happened. Before I read it in some report, before I walk out that door and hear it from Cleo.”

Marjorie lowered the bag and twiddled her fingers, trying not to break eye contact with Harrison while searching for a reason to question his request. But she couldn’t find one and quietly agreed. The two set up their meal in the kitchen and walked about the apartment as Marjorie told Harrison everything that happened after Harrison’s fight against the Queen ended. The next two rounds were fought between the Golem’s Queen against the Sentinel’s Xavier and Kinjiro. Unlike with Harrison Xavier managed to hold his own but lost the round to poor performance. Kinjiro using advanced artillery defeated the Queen by matching her attack move for move in an ocean biome focusing on taking down her flight ability. After the battles at D5 several smaller fights around the board broke out. Kiera won a match against a rook in a canyon biome and Paul managed to engage the Golem’s King in a check move but was dispatched quickly. The only difference between this fight and Harrison’s was that Paul’s mech was still in one piece. The game ended in a fantastic fight between the King of the Golem’s and the Sentinel’s Queen duking it out like two dragons for the entire duration of their fight. None giving more then an inch to the other, the final score coming down to a difference of a few 10’s out of scores in the tens of thousands in the favor of the Sentinel’s.

“When did the match end?” Harrison asked while cleaning up the Chinese food making sure to separate the disposables from the leftovers before bussing all of it to the kitchen. “About 40 minutes ago.” Marjorie said. “They’ll be holding the closing ceremony in 20 minutes or so, we told them you wouldn’t be attending but now that your awake I’m sure you could decide that for yourself.” Harrison thought about it. If he didn’t go, he could probably continue hanging out with Marjorie like this for the rest of the night, just the two of them shooting the breeze and enjoying each other’s company. But if he didn’t, the audience would view him as a coward. A dog that once down would rather retreat to lick his wounds then face his enemy in defeat. Harrison knew what decision he had to make before he could make it, but it could wait another 1o minutes or so as he tossed away the garbage and turned back to Marjorie. “I’ll go, I don’t want the others to think I’m hiding from the world in my defeat.” He said, sitting down next to Marjorie. “I think they’d understand if their upstarts mech was destroyed and he was wheeled off in a stretcher that he maybe won’t be making it.” Marjorie teased. Straightening her skirt.

Harrison looked at Marjorie and Marjorie looked back. His warm smile fell away as he knew this peacefulness couldn’t last for too much longer. He leant and kissed Marjorie on the forehead. “Thank you for this, but I need to see the damage with clear eyes.” Harrison stood up and Marjorie stood up with him. They broth rushed around the coffee table towards the door, Harrison opening it but Marjorie quickly shutting it, blocking Harrison’s path. “I need you to move Marjorie.” Harrison said, the warmth in his tone bleeding out as he spoke. “What if we stayed in tonight? What if we hung out like we used to back in high school?” Marjorie continued blocking the door as she tried to distract Harrison from the sight outside. She had been more passive with her attempts to conceal the hangar from him since he woke up, but Harrison knew Marjorie well enough to know her ulterior motives. And didn’t have the time to entertain it anymore, even if it is what he wanted most of all right now. Harrison continued reaching for the door when Marjorie grabbed his hand in hers. “We can watch videos and play all sorts of games. It’ll be just like our old sleepovers!” Marjorie said, her attempts weakening as Harrison stood unfazed.

“Or” Harrison began, stepping closer to Marjorie. “We could do something else.” Harrison lightly gripped Marjorie’s hand bringing it up to his lips, giving it a light kiss before looking at her. Just like he planned Marjorie had fully blushed. Unable to speak and unable to process the possibility of his statement Harrison gently moved her aside, opening the door. He stepped out onto the catwalk as Marjorie, disappointed in herself for getting caught up wit the prospect of intimacy followed closely behind him as they looked out into the darkness. Several small service lights leading to the emergency doors were lit up but the hangar itself was dark. The crew had probably gone home for the day or was out exploring the arena’s shops and restaurants after their shifts. Marjorie stepped up to his side, grasping at his hand with her own. Harrison quickly reciprocated and the two held hands as they looked out into the abyss.

“Marjorie, once I turn on these lights. Our little date will be over.” Harrison said preparing Marjorie for his inevitable shift in demeanor. “This was nice and all, but this doesn’t count, this was hospice care at best.” Marjorie joked. “I want my nice restaurant, and my movie, and my date in clean handsome clothes.” Harrison smiled. “Would that be a date with my girlfriend then?” Harrison asked. Marjorie paused, the word girlfriend holding a weird weight in her mind as the title was now within her reach. She clenched his hand and looked ahead into the abyss and replied, “Only if it’s a date with my boyfriend.” The two stood in silence for a moment before Harrison broke it. “I kind of expected it to feel a bit different.” He admitted looking back at Marjorie. “How did you expect it to feel, you’re a boyfriend now. Here’s your gold star.” Marjorie turned to Harrison and slapped his shoulder. The two giggled at each other still holding their hands together.

“I can think of one way that may assist in your new title-dysphoria.” Marjorie said looking up at Harrison. Before Harrison could speak Marjorie stood on her tip toes and gave Harrison a kiss, grabbing his collar with her free hand and easing back onto the flats of her feet forcing Harrison to bend down slightly more. The hangar was silent, the catwalk light exposing the passionate moment in the darkness as the two pulled apart. “How do you feel now?” Marjorie asked. Powering through her embarrassment to look Harrison in the eye. “I FEEL LIKE A NEW MAN!” Harrison yelled out into the hangar being met with his own echo. The two laughed again as the tone slowly returned to both of their minds. Harrison squeezed Marjorie’s hand as he got ready to step back into his stride. “HANGAR, LIGHTS ON THE FLOOR”.