Lexie snatched her eyes away from the man before he could see her, staring straight ahead. Her heart raced, her fists clenching and everything inside her cautioning her to stay on her guard. A conversation between Xena and her uncle continued but it was drowned out by Lexie's thoughts.

What is he doing here?

Unfortunately, she could think of many reasons why the [Hero] would be here. It was a large violent event and he might be here for security. Moulding was also a major city-state so he might be here for a [Hero] work. Or he could just simply be here to watch the game.

There's no reason to believe he's here for you or Xena actually.

But ever since Lexie had seen him, something about the guy just hadn't sat right with her.

The line shuffled forward as the three chattering teens far in front of them moved through the forcefield.

Once some of her apprehension died down, Lexie snuck another look in that direction, wanting to see if she had been spotted. Luckily, she didn't think she had.

But he had been spotted though.

Despite his baseball hat, the [Hero] had clearly been recognized seeing as how he was surrounded by a group of eager teens, clearly looking to take a picture with him. Another group of adults with T-Dog shirts waited in the wing, throwing him glances as though waiting their turn. But he was patiently carrying along his conversation with the teens, seeming interested in whatever they had to say.

Lexie wondered if the interest was real, or if it was just something he did to lull people into a false sense of security.

She looked away before he could catch her again. That was none of her business, and she doubted he even noticed her. She was probably just being paranoid again. After all, Xena had said she didn't think anything had been done to her and there was no lasting damage from it. Maybe Lexie just didn't like the guy for reasons she couldn't articulate or because of the circumstances of their meeting. But he hadn't actually done anything wrong, so her feelings were probably misplaced here.

She just needed to focus on the game and spending time with her friends today. Plus, they were almost to the front of the line. It was about to be show time.

Xena was so far doing a great job of keeping Max distracted with questions about AK-47's and Emma had gone off to one of the booths outside to get food. But Dewie looked a little nervous, glancing around surreptitiously, his fingers twitching nervously. Poor guy. It was clear that he wasn't used to doing things like this and Lexie felt more than a little bad for him. Anyone who looked at him would instantly know that they were up to no good, so Lexie tried to distract him.

"See anything interesting Dewie?" she leaned in to ask.

He gave her a look and then pointed in the distance. "That lady is carrying ostrich eggs."

"Oh?" She glanced at the lady in question and said, "Oh no that's real. Although I don't know why she's doing it."

"Are the ones on her eyes real too?"

The woman's eyes looked normal to Lexie. "No...that's definitely a thing. We'll add it to the list."

Dewie smiled, happy to have done something useful.

The line moved again. Two more people and then it was them.

"When you go in, you all stay in your seats, okay?" Uncle Max cautioned. "Don't talk to anyone, don't follow anyone, don't do anything that calls too much attention. And if anything happens, Lexie just shoot me a quick Code 6, and I'll come get you, even if I have to blow the place up to do it."

Uncle Max smiled and Xena and Dewie chuckled at that. Lexie didn't. She wouldn't put it past her Uncle at all.

When there was one person left in line ahead of them, Xena drew Max back into the discussion, Lexie materialized the <Out of Mind, Out of Sight> card from her inventory letting it slip into her hand. She glanced around her casually making sure no one was paying attention to her. And no one was except Dewie.

"Don't look at me or you'll make it obvious," she murmured out of the side of her lips and he snapped his gaze away, looking straight ahead stiffly. She sighed internally.

Dewie never could have pulled it off, and Lexie was glad that she'd given him one of the real tickets so that he could get in legitimately. He wouldn't have been able to convincingly break the rules. Not that Lexie was familiar with breaking the rules and sneaking into places like this either. She'd been a rule follower all her life and so this was new to her.

But she was frankly getting a little too used to it.

Her heart raced, and her palms were sweaty. She tried not to think too hard about what she was doing or it would show on her face.

No big deal, she thought to herself. People sneak into concerts all the time. Mickie even told her about the one time she snuck into an over-eighteen club, although that had involved a lot of flirting and conversation.

Lexie couldn't flirt. But she could do magic.

The thing that comforted her was that even if she got caught, it wouldn't be a big deal. She'd checked online and punishment for sneaking into a fighter's game ranged from a warning to a fine or, at worst, temporary suspension to the next few AFC matches. But it would probably just be a stern warning for Lexie since she was a child and it was her first offense.

So there was really no reason for them not to try.

And then suddenly they were in front.

Lexie seamlessly flashed the <Out Of Sight> card to the forcefield, hiding the shattering glass of the card with her body. She now had twenty seconds to pass through. As she pushed her leg into the forcefield, there was a slight moment of resistance, a second where she felt it wouldn't work and her heart sank with dismay. She was prepared to deal with it. She'd given Xena the other card, and she was prepared to live with only Xena and Dewie getting to watch the match between Top Dog and Conrad Grace. She loved Top Dog–as a fighter that is–but she would get other chances to see him. This match was far more important to Xena than it was to her. If Conrad lost this match, this might be the last time she ever watched him fight again.

And as for Dewie…well, she just didn't want him to feel left out. She had a feeling being included was important to him.

So she was prepared to step back with a smile and bid her friends on as they left. And then she would make up some excuse to her uncle about how she didn't want to go anyway. They'd wait outside and maybe she'd watch the show on her pad. That would be almost as good, right?

Whatever it was, she'd do her very best not to show her envy and dull the rest of the night for her friends.

But then the forcefield morphed around her leg and her limb popped through. Next, her entire body was moving through.

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It worked! She was so happy.

Xena moved through too, and so did Dewie with their individual tickets.

They then turned to wave at Max, and Emma who was returning with the drinks and popcorn in the distance.

And in the corner of Lexie's vision, she could see the Hawaiian shirt [Hero] still surrounded by a crowd, none the wiser to what she had just done. Good.

"I can't believe that worked," Dewie said as they walked into the stadium surrounded by the crowd moving in the same direction. "The forcefield didn't catch on or anything?"

"Nope," Lexie said. According to her research the force fields at the arena disallowed things like weapons, bombs or certain powerful magical items. Not cards. And since it didn't use facial recognition, it made things even easier.

Lexie glanced at one of the PHORBS floating in the air. Had they caught what she did? Were they even being monitored or were they just there as a deterrent? If there was one thing she knew about concert security it was that they were pretty lax. Besides, no one would suspect a little girl of something like that.

"Yeah, I'm surprised at how easy that was," Xena said, excitedly. "But I knew it would work. That card's pretty cool. Also, Lexie, I think your uncle might have a rocket launcher in his garage. Did you know?"

Lexie shrugged. She didn't know but once again, she wouldn't put it past him. Probably better she didn't know for sure though, just in case. Plausible deniability and all that.

But despite her nerves and the feeling at the back of her mind that she would get caught, she still couldn't help the excitement as they walked the long stretch of land to approach the arena.

It was magnificent.

Rows and rows of thousands of seats surrounded a coliseum shielded from the sun by a dome. Stretches of metallic shards encased the stadium, with force fields separating the crowds from the arena. Giant black pads bordered each side of the stadium suspended in mid-air, announcing TOP DOG VERSUS CONRAD GRACE. They also projected the image of both boys on opposite sides of the screen, with their leaderboard stats underneath them. Another pad was floating in between them, issuing a countdown. And around the pads, dozens of small black PHORBS whizzed in the air, vibrating with readiness to start flying around and recording the action.

I can't believe I'm here.

As the trio approached the steps leading up to the seating area, there were ushers there to direct them. Lexie had a moment of panic, wondering if they would check her tickets, but Xena confidently stepped forward and said "VIP Booth 12, please." She said it in the snooty voice of a rich girl, that reminded her of Veronica. "Reserved by Dewitt Azure, Governor Azure's son."

The woman raised an eyebrow and a man behind her who was attending to other spectators rolled his eyes. But she seemed to buy Xena's rich girl act and gestured up the stairs.

"That way, ma'am," she said. "First row."

"No need to follow us," Xena told her dismissing her with a flick of the wrist as she walked up first, followed by Dewie and then Lexie. Lexie gave the annoyed woman a grateful and apologetic look as she passed.

They went onto the lowest rung of the multi-tiered balcony, closest to the arena, each booth semi-secluded and encased in smooth, circular black material.

It's so close, Lexie thought as she looked over the railings. We can see everything. We may not even need to look at the projection pads.

"Dewie," Lexie said.

"Hmm?" Dewie turned to her.

"Have I told you how amazing you are yet?" she asked. "Because you are."

He laughed and then blushed and looked away. They finally found their booth, with the hologram B12, on it.

In the booth was a very cozy long cushion that was probably only supposed to seat two adults. Luckily, they were three kids and Lexie and Dewie were both small, so they could comfortably fit in. No one from any of the adjoining booths could see them and with any luck, no one would come to check in on them, at least until the game was over.

"Should we order some wine?" Xena said and Lexie and Dewie both gave her a look.

"I'm just kidding," she chortled. "Geez, lighten up."

Lexie didn't know if she could relax yet, at least not until the match started. She wasn't sure she was in the clear. She didn't want to get caught and thrown out. That would be embarrassing.

Not to mention that she promised her dad she wouldn't get in trouble and he would probably be disappointed if she did. That was almost worse than the embarrassment.

Lexie twiddled her fingers while they waited.

As the arena began to fill up, more and more with people streaming in, excited buzzing filling the air, the countdown clocking down, Lexie's anxiety became anticipation. They were almost there. It was only a few minutes and the game would start.

Xena had gotten quieter too. Lexie could see the anxiety on her face, and not for the first time, she wished that Conrad was facing a different opponent. Maybe if it was anyone other than T-Dog, Lexie could make a comfortable prediction that he would come out unscathed.

But this time, she was pretty sure that Top Dog would win. He had been undefeated so far, and Conrad had been fighting like crap lately. He was losing matches because he was getting in his head and he didn't seem to know how to fix it. Top Dog also had a clear understanding of Conrad's fighting style and his weaknesses and would have made contingencies to accommodate for his own weaknesses giving him a rock-solid defense. There was simply very little chance of Conrad coming out on top here.

But the chance wasn't zero. And against all odds, she did want Conrad to win just to give him and Xena this victory.

It was why she hadn't bet against him for the match, out of respect for Xena and to give herself room to hope. Maybe with a little faith, it would happen.

Yeah, but it probably won't.

"Oh God, it's happening," Xena said and she gripped the seat tightly. "I think I'm going to be sick."

There was one minute left on the countdown when the founder of the AFC walked out in a white suit, gleaming in the sun.

He was a short, paunchy man in a cowboy hat and his son who was behind him was his spitting image. As they came out, the announcers who had been giving running commentary on both players' past matches fell silent. A microphone tap echoed around the stadium and everyone else straightened up.

"Greetings," the founder said. "Welcome to another Spring Golden Glove Exhibition Match. This is an unprecedented rematch in that it has broken all our viewership and ticketing records. It's the tenth most viewed stream on Video Alley at this moment. Isn't it incredible what we've made of this sport in just a few decades?" The crowd cheered and he beamed at them, gesturing wide. "As you know the vision behind these games was to give Fighters a chance to live life on their terms. For so long, our Fighter kids have been forced to choose between being [Heroes] or joining our military or dungeon delving. All very dangerous careers. But here, at the AFC, we watch out for their safety. Here all they need to do is to entertain with their skill. They no longer have to risk their lives to have a viable career. They can earn lots of money while testing their mettle in a safe and televised manner." He clicked his tongue. "And two such fighters, two young men that I'm proud to know and have as a part of my circuit, are here today to prove their strength once again. Gentleman, have a roaring-good match."

Another chorus of applause echoed through the crowd as he walked away and a horn blared from a distance. Everyone rose and put their hands over their chest to recite the District Anthem.

After it was over, they sat and another horn blared to announce the players were coming out onto the arena.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," an announcer called. "Let's welcome our main players onto the arena today. From the left corner, comes our B-Rank Spellcasting Weapons Meister, A-Rank Brawler Type Fighter, Number One in the entire Under Twenties subdivision, and number two in the league, TOP DOG!"

The arena exploded with screams, including Lexie's, as people jumped to their feet to cheer for Top Dog as he walked into the arena. He was in his signature canine gas mask and techwear. He swaggered on and pumped his fist to the crowd, and the energy was incredible. People leaned far over the railings as though trying to catch an even closer glimpse of him or maybe to touch his aura.

The ecstatic hollering took its time in dying down, and the announcer had to shout over them, "And emerging from the right corner, the challenger of this exhibition match, A-Rank Berserker Type Fighter and currently number six in the league, we have Conrad Grace!"

The cheering was not as loud as Top Dog's, but Lexie wouldn't call it subdued either. Clearly, the man still had tons of fans in the audience, including Xena who forgot all about her cool-girl image and shouted his name over the railing, "You go, Conrad!"

Conrad didn't wave or smile. He walked out rolling his shoulders, a distinct tension in his face and body. He really wasn't good at hiding his emotions or hiding how nervous he was about this match. But maybe that was a good thing. Maybe that meant he would take it seriously.

Lexie also noticed something wrapped around his wrist, like a strange button watch.

"What's that?" Lexie asked.

Xena frowned. "I'm not sure. I guess we'll find out."

The two players approached each other and then shook hands, before retreating to the far sides of the arena to wait for the bell to ring.

And then after a few tense seconds, a clang echoed throughout the arena and the game was officially on.

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