This is just like the Final Exam, Nic told himself, and you passed that. You can do this. Just accept the pain as a cost of doing business!

Both squads, the red proxies of Team Scarlet as well as the green-colored players of Team Malachite, tore off across the downsized battlefield. “Not sure what advice to give for this one,” Nic muttered in team chat. “Uh... Punch them real good and try not to get punched yourself!”

“This is just bad RNG giving us a raw deal,” said Maqsud. “Leave it to fate to choose the game mode the other team’s sponsor corporation picked before giving us a familiar mode. That has to be it, right?”

“I don’t know about any of you, but I’ve never used a Berserk,” Perri agreed.

“I have,” Nic admitted almost guiltily. “It’s how I won the Final Exam. This could just as easily have been Red Terraforming’s decision. To be fair, we lost both other game modes we do have experience in, so maybe they were trying to mix things up.”

Jarek was the first to defend him. “Not your fault, man. We just gotta rise to the occasion, right?”

“That’s right,” said Maqsud calmly.

“Let’s punch their lights out!” Perri chimed in with renewed enthusiasm.

“[I agree,]” said Shanti’s robotic thought-to-speech voice. Nic wasn’t used to the automated voice yet. Once the startle factor wore off, though, he was pleased to hear her voice amongst the team chatter.

“Try to remember our tavern brawl quest in Elvenchant,” Nic told the squad. “Fists up high. Good fighting stance. Don’t get pinned—get up as fast as possible if you get knocked down. Get those callouts going! We can do this!” Nic ran toward an astrosteel plinth bearing a glowing red Berserk Upgrade Pak. He saw a green proxy heading for the same prize. “Engaging hostile for Upgrade Pak!”

He skidded to a stop, planting his feet in a solid stance, left foot forward, hands in front of his proxy’s face. His green opponent was still barreling straight toward him when he threw the first punch—a muffled metal crack as he connected.

KHRIS [97%]

I see why the Upgrade Paks are necessary, Nic thought, throwing his next punch. 3% apiece would take forever without a Berserk!

Khris, whoever they were, started fighting back. Nic took a hit to the jaw. Ow. I forgot how much the Realistic pain setting hurt. Briefly, he flashed back to Joe on Ducenti, the old man with the fried nerve endings constantly shaking, probably always in pain and discomfort. He hoped he wouldn’t end up like that.

While he was distracted, he got hit again, this time hard on the nose. He staggered backward.

Nic leaned back to dodge another swing and fell prey to a surprise leg-sweep. He hit the ground hard. “Supine! Trying to—” He rolled to avoid getting stomped on and then somersaulted onto his feet. “Back up! Engaging!” Khris reached for the Pak—Nic grabbed it first. “Upgrade Activate!”

NIC [93%] >>ACTIVE UPGRADE PAK: BERSERK<<

Nic’s HUD filled with a holographic hue to reflect his current upgrade, staining everyone and everything around him a muted red the color of bloody spit. Khris remained outlined in a neon green that popped visually against the background. It highlighted the Malachite player’s fearful body language, the slight sidestep, the hesitation in the fighting stance. Nic did not hesitate.

He charged the enemy player, swinging with his overcharged melee power. “Berserk active! Reengaging Khris!” Even in the near-airlessness, Nic heard his next punch hit home with a satisfying crunch.

KHRIS [90%]

“Upgrade Activate!” Jarek cried out. “Engaging!”

Nic didn’t even have the capacity to celebrate yet. He had a rage within him that needed satisfying. Right hook. Left jab. Uppercut. Gut punch. Some of his fighting fundamentals were slipping, like which moves to do in which sequence, but it didn’t matter—he was dominating. Still, he didn’t let up.

KHRIS [54%]

His Malachite opponent stumbled back toward the plinth where he’d seized the Upgrade Pak. “That as hard as you can punch?” Khris asked, panting.

Nic scoffed and delivered another blow. Don’t get caught up in trash-talking, Nic coached himself. Just focus. He swung again.

“Your Upgrade Pak must be glitching,” Khris went on taunting him. “I can’t even feel a difference. You should report that to RTIFIS—might be a bug!”

Left jab. Right hook. Left swing and a miss. Nic planted his left foot and utilized all his core muscles for his next right-handed punch—Khris ducked between his legs at the last moment.

Crunch went Nic’s arm impacting a half-meter of solid astrosteel. The force of the collision with the immovable object sent shockwaves of pain through his arm and the right half of his torso. “GAH!” he choked out into his helmet. His right arm dangled limply at his side. “Oh... you... that...” It would have hurt plenty ordinarily, a full-strength punch to something infinitely stronger than him. It hurt twice as much with double the melee strength behind it.

So much so that Nic lost 11% off his health just by missing a punch.

NIC [82%]

Khris snickered. “Stings, doesn’t it?” Then Nic felt another fresh lightning bolt of pain straight to his crotch—he doubled over from the attack long enough for his enemy to escape his reach. “All that power and you can’t even use it!”

“Engaging Team Malachite,” Perri said into the team chat. “They really want this Upgrade Pak!”

Nic hoped the other members of his squad were feeling better than he was at this moment.

You lost the moment you landed, kid.

Nic ruminated on the words of Team Azure’s squad leader Edith. This Khris character was far from as cocky and toxic as Edith, but Nic couldn’t help but be reminded of her anyway. He tried to lift his right arm to protect himself—more electric pain sizzled through his neurons.

I still have one good arm, he thought venomously. Prepare to get to know it very well.

Khris swung—Nic ducked and punished with a left jab. “Oh,” said Khris before another left jab, “right arm still—” and another one, “still feeling kinda—” and another. “Oh, he’s mad!” Nic didn’t even let his adversary finish a thought. He kept jabbing and jabbing over and over and over again as fast as his proxybot would allow him. Double the damage of a non-dominant punch was still plenty of damage, and Nic couldn’t risk getting knocked on his back or caught in a sneak attack again.

It was beginning to work. Khris fought back valiantly, but even with Nic wounded, there was little a base-strength proxybot could do against a Berserk one.

KHRIS [26%] NIC [70%]

A few more hits was all it took. Team Scarlet’s squad leader had the enemy on the ropes now, even as his Berserk upgrade ran out. The green proxybot’s bravado waned proportional to its health. With his opponent’s health now below 5%, and pinned below Nic’s weight after some sloppy footwork, it would only take one more punch to finish their fight.

“Wait!” said Khris, holding up two hands of surrender, panting heavily and grunting with the pain. “Just hold on a second. I... I wanted to ask you just one—”

Crunch went the robot’s head as Nic caved it in with his fist.

KHRIS [DEAD] >SCARLET: 1 | MALACHITE: 0

I don’t need the use of my right arm. I don’t even need an Upgrade Pak. I just need another target.

“One down!” Nic announced. “Team Scarlet, status report!” He felt a tap on his shoulder. Spinning around, expecting Jarek or maybe Shanti, he saw another member of Team Malachite.

MATSUNO [100%] >>ACTIVE UPGRADE PAK: BERSERK<<

“Oh sh—”

Nic took the dead-on punch and saw stars.