An Unlikely Duel

In all her years in the Dreamscape, the battle with Bane was the only one Noble felt she had no right to have won. The power difference between them had been far too great.

But instead of destroying her, the mysterious duelist had gifted her with a few valuable lessons and a continued unblemished record. A record which had stood until last night.

After their duel, the professor had seen Bane in the Dreamscape a few more times. He had offered her a chance to join his clan, but she had silently declined. 

By the time Bee felt competent enough to challenge Bane for a rematch, the blind powerhouse had already left the Dreamscape to ascend. 

Noble only knew that last bit because he and his wife had come to visit her at the academy a few years later on unrelated business.

Other than a strange pun about a joke of hers being a 'stinger', Bane had given no indication of being aware of the professor's alter ego, and shortly after the meeting, Bane had dropped off of the grid entirely.

'I wonder what he is up to these days,' Noble mused idly. Some mysteries would have to remain unsolved. 'I do hope he is well.'

The walk down memory lane had seemed much longer than the walk through the house to get to Noble's dojo. Time was a funny thing where the mind was concerned. Years of thought could be packed into a moment and a single, deep contemplation could take years. 

'Enough daydreaming! Time for some Dreamscaping.'

Noble shut and locked the door to her dojo before facing the simulator. Since she wouldn't be able to lay down in the enclosure anyway, both this pod and her regular one were specially modified for Noble to float up against the roof without injury to the pod or her body. 

After a moment of preparation, the professor climbed into the simulator's cradle and summoned both her armor and the [Fraudulent Facade].

Noble was unsure how soon or how much the Saint who helped run the Dreamscape could perceive, and she didn't want to be caught with the powerful member of the House of Night suddenly knowing her identity. 'Can't be too careful.'

Ready, Noble allowed the lid to close around her. 

"Enter Dreamscape?" 

"Yes," the professor focused on the appropriate answer. 

Noble's vision darkened as she found herself in a void of endless stars. 

"Welcome, Queen Bee!" The voice seemed almost relieved to see her. 

Noble shook her head, 'It sounds the same as it always does.'

"Please, choose the dream of your liking." 

Scrolling past the amateur dreams, Noble selected a spot that looked appealing.

'Should have a good group this time of night. Let's do this.'

The void disappeared and was replaced with a mountaintop. A circular set of seats was carved around the peak which was sunken in to make an uneven, permeable surface. 

Once an ancient volcano, the lava had long cooled and solidified, leaving the porous pumice behind for the duelist to use as their stomping ground. To add to the drama, the air here was warm and smelled slightly of brimstone, as if the mountain might vomit molten rock at any time. 

"Challenger Queen Bee has entered the Mountain Top!" 

Noble took a deep breath and raised her chin. Her usually soft shoulders pushed back as she stood tall. With the help of her trusted mask, the woman's entire demeanor changed. A myriad of colors swirled in her eyes as they glowed with dangerous excitement. 

After this startling transformation, the Awakened could no longer reasonably be called Noble. 

She was Queen Bee. 

Nowadays her appearance usually drew all the attention from the entire arena. But just now the announcement of her arrival was overpowered by the noises of the crowd. Something was already ongoing. 

Bee didn't mind. She didn't crave the fame. On the rare occasion she was able to enter unnoticed, she took full advantage of the opportunity. 

The Queen edged her way toward one of the stone walls which protected the spectators from the gruesome battles. Up in the gallery, people were booing and cheering in equal measure. Whatever was happening had the crowd split on the response. 

'There are a lot more real spectators than usual.' Bee looked around curiously. 

Normally, the Dreamscape generated a false audience with a few semblances of actual people interspersed. It helped the duelists be more motivated to battle. But just now there were almost as many real people, if not more, than those who were pretend. 

Among those in the stands, Bee spotted the intrepid, 'nonsense-free' journalist, Frey. The man was watching intently, careful not to miss a single detail of what was happening below. 

Up until that point, it was possible that these were some leftover excited fans from the tournament the day before. The presence of the press changed things. 'If he is here, something must really be going on.' 

Back in the arena where hundreds of battles should have been going on, only a handful actually were at that moment. Most had either finished, paused, or not started due to one very polarizing figure. 

With his own battle freshly ended, a tall, bald man clad in a camel skin vest was blowing kisses and waving at the crowd. One eye was covered by a dashing eye patch while the other winked at any beauty that caught his eye. 

Bee leaned away from the wall and strained to hear what the pirate look-alike was saying. 

"Thank you, ladies. You are too kind. Oh, come now! I cannot help that your girlfriend likes me better than you!" The man flashed a charismatic smile before rubbing his hand across his bald head. The dome was so shiny that Bee found it almost blinding. 

Someone in the crowd shouted back at the Awakened duelist. 

"Oh? You want to fight me! Come out of the stands and show me what you've got!"

Bee's mouth dropped open. She had never seen someone openly taunt the audience like that. Of course, most arenas did not allow such closeness between the battlefield and the spectators. 

If the camel-man really wanted to battle the audience member, he would have to go to a location where they could both fight. This was an elitist dream. Only the top fighters were allowed to enter. 

The threat was an empty one and everyone knew it. 

The member of the crowd stood angrily and disappeared from the stands. 

"Challenger Inha has entered the Mountain Top!" 

"Inha has challenged Lemac!" 

The voice of the Dreamscape nearly overlapped itself with the two announcements. The man from the crowd–who Bee now knew as Inha– was suddenly in the arena and covered in alloy armor from the neck down. 

Lemac turned around just in time to see his fate. 

Without a word, Inha balled his knuckles. Instantly his hand grew to the size of a small house. Pulling the gargantuan fist back, Inha bashed Lemac into the wall, pulverizing the perpetrator into a fine mist.

With one punch, the plucky pirate was no more. 

Sparks rained down as the crowd erupted into cheers.

"Inha has won!" 

"Pirate puncher! Pirate puncher!" 

As Inha's hand returned to its normal size, he bowed to the crowd with a flourish. Then he disappeared from the field of play and resumed his place in the crowd. 

Bee was speechless. 

The person standing beside her was not. "Get that man a stream if he doesn't have one! I would watch it any day of the week!" 

The Queen turned her head. She hadn't even seen one of the most famous duelists appear next to her. But she knew his face immediately. 

'Leo Striker!'