Kell kicked at Barron, pushing him away. Landing on the ground, she stumbled backwards, tripping over rubble from the shattered roof. Finding her footing, Kell raised her spear. Barron raised his fists, the steel gauntlets shining on them.
"Hey little Squall," said Barron, "Fancy meeting you here."
Kell found a rock with her foot and kicked it at Barron, forcing him to duck out of the way.
"Only my friends can call me that," said Kell.
"We used to be friends."
"We used to get drunk and throw parties, there's a difference."
"Oh don't be so cold to me," said Barron, feigning hurt. "I miss the days we used to spend drinking together. I would complain about the women in my life and you would complain about never getting enough action. Then we would get really drunk and I would complain about my father and you would get all melancholy and talk about your aunt."
Kell's foot found another rock and she kicked it at him, aiming for his face. Barron swatted the rock away with his fist. Kell followed up with her spear, stabbing at Barron's heart. Barron defended with his gauntlets, sparks flashing as steel met steel. Barron laughed.
"What little Squall, don't like talking about the good old times."
"Piss off you psychopath!"
Kell redoubled her efforts, swinging harder and faster, the force of her blows whipping up the wind and forcing Barron back.
"Come on, we're just having a little fun."
"You were fun until you started being crazy," said Kell, her lips curled back in a snarl.
"I've always been crazy," said Barron, narrowly dodging and blocking Kell's blows. He was grinning but his eyes were wide and sweat beaded on his forehead. "I was the only one crazy enough to keep up with you. Don't get all pissy at me because I remind you of yourself."
"I never involved innocent bystanders in my street brawls." Kell was beginning to sweat. Trapped within the walls of the sand and stone building, Kell's mobility was limited and she couldn't swing her spear as wide as she wanted to.
"Champions, gladiators, bystanders, dungeon fodder; they're all the same, just people waiting to die. So what if we killed a few on accident. People die all the time."
"Kell stop!" Nul's voice cut through Kell like a sword. She slowed mid-strike, pulling back and disengaging. "He's antagonizing you. He's another distraction. Ignore him."
Barron frowned as Kell backed up further but, taking Nul's advice, she ignored him. She looked around the building they were in. Barron had shattered the roof and the top floor, dropping them two floors down. With a little finesse, Kell could jump out of here easily.
"What, tired already little Squall?" said Barron, taking a step forward.
"Save your energy for your girlfriend," said Kell, hunkering down. Leaping up, Kell cleared the first floor and grabbed onto the ledge of the roof.
Scrabbling against the wall, she managed to pull herself free from the building and back onto the rooftop. The roof was shattered so Kell made a careful jump to the nearest building. Catching sight of her, Jorgen grimaced and pressed a couple fingers to his neck, his mouth working quickly.
Kell was already leaping to a second rooftop when Barron emerged from the broken building.
"Oi, where do you think you're going," he said.
"To make some money," said Kell, plotting her course along the rooftops up to the tower where Jorgen waited.
"What, you think you're better than me?"
"I don't think," said Kell, "I know."
"Kell..." began Nul, whispering in her ear once more.
"I know," said Kell. "He's a distraction. I'm moving."
"It's too late," said Nul.
The crowd roared, cheering and clapping. Spinning, Kell saw that Kameron was standing on the blue team's tower, striding confidently towards the glowing orb. The man with the scimitar was sprawled out on the ground, a few shallow wounds weeping blood. Kell swore and looked around. Trying to figure out the fastest way back to the tower.
"Kell, you have to hurry back, Kameron is about to grab your orb."
"I know!" snapped Kell. She leapt from the roof top to one lower down, back the way she came. The roof cracked and sagged.
"Watch your step, Squall," said Barron, a smug grin on his face. "I managed to weaken half these buildings by the time you got here."
Kell swore again. She pressed a couple fingers to her neck. "What's the best way back?" she asked, hoping Nul could tell which rooftops were boobytrapped and which were safe.
"The um...you should...hold on."
Kell paused, shifting from foot to foot and tapping her spear nervously against the roof. Looking up, she watched Kameron lay her hands on the blue orb. It glowed and swirled and shrunk until it fit comfortably in the palm of her hand. The orb was small but it gave off a bright light, proclaiming her position to everyone in the arena. The orbs were easy to move, but impossible to hide.
"Roran says to ignore them and head forward," said Nul.
"What?"
"Ignore everything and head straight for Jorgen. Take the orb."
"But they already have our orb!"
A pause, then, "It doesn't matter. They don't win until the orb is back on their tower. If you claim their orb, it becomes a stalemate until one of the orbs is recovered. Ignore Barron and Kameron. Take out Jorgen and claim the orb. After that, you can fight everyone head on."
Kell grinned. "Now this is a plan that I like."
She turned and resumed her climb up the valley of rooftops, heading for the red orb. All she had to do was beat Kameron back to the tower and she would have the advantage.
"Where are you going Squall?" Barron called. He started jumping after her but Kell was faster and more agile. The distance began to grow between them. From the blue tower, Kameron began hurrying along the rooftops, trying to beat Kell back to the red tower.
Kell ignored him. Now that she knew he was a distraction, one chosen specifically because they had a history, it was easy to tune him out. Kell remembered Barron as an unstable, manipulative, asshole. He was still the same person, only now he was being an asshole towards her instead of others.
"You're a scared little girl, running away from me like this!"
Kell cleared a tall building, landed with a roll, and leapt again. She was halfway to the red tower already. Kameron was closing in but not as quickly. Kell was going to beat her.
"Nobody will ever love an ugly bitch like you!" screamed Barron.
Kell laughed. He was getting desperate. Kell jumped again. She was close enough to see the red orb spinning and swirling.
"You're short, and scrawny, and the whole world hates you!"
Two more jumps. Kell was close enough to see the sweat dripping down Jorgen's temple.
"You're ugly and I wish I never slept with you!"
"You're repeating yourself," said Kell, enjoying Barron's failed attempts to insult her. "You're as pathetic as I remember," she said, "And I'm glad I was so drunk that I don't remember sleeping with you."
Red in the face and gasping for air as he tried to keep up with Kell, Barron screamed, "Fuck you Kellsinora, your aunt was right about you!"
Kell whirled. Her vision went red as fire poured through her veins. Snarling, she reared back and hurled her spear as hard as she could. Aided by her focus markings, the spear whistled through the air, finding flesh, passing through, and smashing into stone, pinning her target to a building.