Colosseum - Round 1, Group B - Adam Gaite vs Ballad

[Roger Smith]

This was going to be awful. That was all there was to it. Never mind the fact that there were so many fucking people in the stands, all of them watching. Never mind the fact that death was apparently a very real possibility, if his opponent was of such a gruesome mindset. But on top of all that, he had checked in one last time on the Dateverse just before stepping out into the arena and had been met with something that was most definitely... Well, it was off-putting.

#ExecutionerBallad

The audience was on his enemy's side in this one. Adam might have been the one on the side of the Kingdom's colors, but he was most definitely not the favorite in this particular engagement. Not that he was ever the favorite in anything, mind. It was fine by him. It was just fine. It was fucking perfect.

"This entire god damn situation is full of shit. All of it. It is one giant mass of shit. Of the bull variety."

Squinting his eyes to try and get a look at his opponent, he couldn't really tell much. Lots of dark clothing covering just about everything, what looked like a god damn ax of some description strapped across their back, and some vaguely gun-like device in one hand. Dear god, it was fucking Arctic Survival Lumberjack McWestern man. Fuck.

When the gong sounded, Adam flinched visibly,shooting an accusing glare toward the source of the ringing noise, before he spun on one heel and all but launched himself at the weapons arrayed for his use. He snatched a crossbow off the rack and then promptly made a beeline for the nearest barricade, scooting into cover behind it. "Okay, okay, Adam, think...you can do this. You can totally do this. You survived freaking SBURB, this is nothing. Don't panic. Stop panicking. Stop fucking panicking."

He did not stop panicking.

He took several deep breaths to try and calm himself, closing his eyes to try and focus on less unpleasant thoughts. "Okay, okay, okay... I got this. I'm good, I'm cool. Don't think about dying. Do what Rhys told you. Focus on one thing at a time. This is just like the game session." He opened his eyes,staring at nothing in particular. "Right. One thing at a time. Firstly, gotta see what this fuck is made of."

With all the grace of a drunken camel, Adam scrambled to his feet and darted out of cover, the crossbow he had swiped raised and ready to fire as his eyes scanned the other side of the arena portion. He was interrupted from his scanning by the unexpected sound of a gunshot, and the sharp crack of bullet meeting stone. Stone powder and splinters were the next thing he saw. And that was all he needed. He was off. Low to the ground, heading for the nearest barricade once again. There was another gunshot and a new hole presented itself in the ground, uncomfortably close to having lodged itself right in Adam's leg.

He hit the dirt -- literally -- in cover and quickly rolled to the opposite side of the barricade, leaning out on his back, and he just up and threw the fucking crossbow he was still holding in the approximate direction of the gunfire, before bringing his own cleverly-concealed weapon to bear, and staring down the sights. He saw movement as his thrown distraction that had been intended to be a crossbow hit the dirt, his very, very green opponent leaning out of cover to see what the fuck had just clattered into the ground, and Adam took his shot to return fire.

There was a hiss from the barrel of his rifle as he fired, and a red laser burned a scorch mark on the stone barricade his opponent made use of, and they hurriedly retreated back behind it. "Shit...can't believe I missed that..." Adam grumped at his own failure, keeping his aim trained on the barricade for any sign of his opponent emerging to either try another shot or move somewhere else.

It was time for the waiting game.