The fighters' lobby hummed with energy and anticipation as the competitors gathered. Those who had progressed from the group stages arrived with their team-mates for the official announcement, delivered well in advance of what the press would receive. A steady rumble of conversation buzzed in the air as every group discussed every other; strengths, weaknesses and everything in between.

But Codi didn't fail to notice Keefer Darkwood, conspicuous by his absence, had failed to attend. This went beyond some kind of contempt for the other competitors. After their confrontation in the halls of the Arena she got the distinct impression that Keefer's coach was trying to keep his contact with the other fighters to an absolute minimum. Everything about their meeting had twisted all her perceptions of him out of place; trying to square the awkward, timid giant that she'd encountered with the juggernaut of the Arena.

There was nothing for it now though. He might not have shown his face in the lobby, but everyone else who mattered had turned up. All the heavy hitters who'd advanced stalked through the room, surrounded by coaches and team-mates. Dustin Morto, Norv Davies, Darien Fallow, Rokkie Thakker; all of them could be seen along with the highest ranked Battlecast fighters.

Codi was joined, unsurprisingly, by Ripple, Chris and Gareth. Beyond the top four, however, a handful of other Battlecast contenders had also bludgeoned their way into the knockout stages. Cardle North, the boy from their flag team, was there – so too were Prissa Alder and Cassandra Riven. All in all, the statistical chance of a Battlecast podium sweep was getting better by the day as they made up almost a quarter of the remaining contenders.

But that all depended on how the brackets panned out.

The Battlecast team's spirit was buoyed, however, by Leela's presence. The days had ticked by and now the rookie fighter could move around almost as normal. Although the regenerative brace still encircled the break in her leg, the ungainly hobble was long gone. She moved with the smooth speed that characterised her formidable form in the flag matches. Along with many of the other fighters who had missed out on a spot in the knockout bracket, Leela exemplified what really made Battlecast an academy to be reckoned with: its unity.

Having secured one of the comfortable loungers in the lobby area, Codi flung her feet up onto the table, right in the middle of a pond of blue and cyan. Leela sat on one side – Gareth the other. Ripple leaned across the back of the chair, glassy eyes flickering impassively around the room. Nearby the fighters from Olympus Mons had taken up residence, clad in their blood red tracksuits and centred on Darien Fallow's sturdy frame. On the opposite side sat a group of fighters in the stark white of Nebula.

A coil of unease swirled in Codi's stomach when realised that none of the fighters from Zulu Forge were present. None of them had made it out of the group stages, despite Kye's best efforts, and that realisation felt bitter. Whatever their disagreements, Kye had been a good fighter, making it all the way to the quarter finals of last year's contest, and she didn't doubt that he made a good coach. She couldn't help feeling that he deserved better than that.

There would be time to dwell on that later. Pushing those thoughts away, her eyes scanned over the competition, looking for targets. And threats. Now that they'd cleared the group stages there was no such thing as an easy fight. Every person who progressed needed to have won at least two individual matches and made it through a Mayhem, which meant none of them could be ignored.

She repeated that phrase inside her head as she looked around, making herself believe it. As the Gauntlet had unfolded she realised she'd been partially swept up in the giddy hype train that drove Battlecast's fighters on relentlessly. Now that they'd reached the hardest part of the contest she knew she needed to drag herself back down to Earth.

The gore-red of Firequake's contingent snagged her gaze, and she saw Rokkie Thakkar talking animatedly with the handful of team-mates who'd joined him to watch the brackets unfold. A maniacal grin was plastered on his face as he made wild hand gestures, but Codi couldn't hear his words.

A few minutes later the bank of enormous screens built into the far wall blazed into life, pulling Codi's attention back. Each massive display showed two separate brackets of sixteen shining blocks, all vacant for the moment.

Giving Leela a knowing glance, Codi folded her arms and settled back in the lounger, her vision closing off everything but the screens that would shortly define her entire tournament. The boldly functional blue lines of the brackets glowed softly, replicated on each of the enormous displays, and she found herself holding her breath without even meaning to.

No more waiting.

The first name thundered into prominence and a jolt of anticipation shot through her.

Dustin Morto.

The organisers weren't messing around, planting one of the title favourites front and centre in the first bracket. After a couple of seconds the name shrank and slotted into its place, first match of the first bracket, and a bubble of noise swelled from the nearby Atlantic contingent. Codi was not alone in glancing in Morto's direction – he was tough to miss – but until he knew who he was fighting, the giant from Atlantic wasn't giving anything away. He just stood there like some kind of ancient totem pole, watching and waiting.

The organisers were going to drag this out mercilessly, however. The next name was the first from the opposite bracket, and it was from Battlecast. Codi joined in the whoops and roars that rose from her compatriots as Cassandra Riven's name slotted into place. The girl was a seasoned veteran, going into her fourth year as part of the Battlecast roster, and had flown fairly under the radar in this year's contest, quickly and quietly scything her way into the knockout stage.

Next came Mantis Academy's rookie talisman, Wren Cutler. The girl had proved that her thirty-sixth seed was warranted, finishing second only to Dustin Morto in her group. A respectful rumble passed through the lobby and Codi joined in, her gaze flickering to the small group of fighters clad in Mantis's bright green.

And so the draw continued, bouncing from bracket to bracket, and gradually the picture of the Gauntlet's final stage began to take shape. At a glance, Codi felt an uncomfortable sensation turning in her stomach. The first side of the bracket definitely presented a harder challenge. Already she knew if she ended up there she would have to contend with Darien Fallow, Norv Davies from Alpha Centuri and Dustin Morto.

Something happened then, however, that filled her with conflicting emotions. The opponent everyone was watching and waiting for arrived, and he was in the second bracket. Keefer Darkwood's name sent a palpable chill through the lobby. Codi bit her lip.

That left her in something of a quandary. She had the options of either a long, hard grind through the first bracket to reach the final, and hope that he did the same. Or she could end up in his bracket and risk not even making it if she ran across him in an early round. Balling her hands together with fingers interlocked, she pressed them against her lips, curling her legs up on the lounger and watching intently as the brackets rolled on.

And the first bracket just kept getting worse. On top of the dangerous fighters already named, she watched grim-faced as both Chris and Gareth were drawn. So far the third, fifth, sixth, seventh, tenth and twelfth seeds were all in the same half – brutal didn't quite say it. Along with them she couldn't suppress a smile when Max's name appeared. Making good on his twentieth seed, he'd scraped through his group in second place to reach the knockouts. She located the blotch of grey that marked out the Knossos City Academy and waved to her lanky friend. He gave her a nod of acknowledgement, but that was all they had time for as the names continued to be drawn.

At last, her name arrived to a chorus of cheers and boos in equal measure that rolled around the fighters' lobby. It blazed there in gleaming cyan letters for a moment, before shrinking and filling a box in the first bracket.

So there it was – no Keefer Darkwood, but an arduous battle through some of the most highly touted fighters left in the tournament to have another shot at the title, not to mention two of the top competitors from her own academy. She glanced at Gareth, who simply shrugged.

"There's the one problem with Battlecast doing so well," he chuckled, folding his arms. "Guess we'll see you in the Arena?"

Codi smiled wryly but didn't reply. He was right – with so many of them getting to the knockout stage it was inevitable that they would end up facing each other sooner or later. She extended a hand back over her shoulder without needing to look, and felt the heavy shove as Chris O'Leary bumped her fist with his.

Now to find out whom they would all be facing, as the next round of names began to fill in the empty slots.

In the second bracket, Cardle North's name slotted into place in the opposite bracket, facing off against a fighter from Everest called Victor Roosenberg. He was joined there by Ripple who, with the exception of Keefer Darkwood, was the most dangerous individual in that half by some margin. Her opponent was a boy from Galactic Force, seeded forty-sixth; on paper a wild mismatch.

All things considered, the Battlecast fighters had a good run for the opening round. Chris drew Evelyn Jukket from Alpha Centuri, seeded twenty-seventh. Gareth landed the eighteenth seed from Atlantic – Kelton Murno.

Not everyone was so lucky, however. She grimaced, and a low ooohhh rumbled through the lobby, as Keefer Darkwood's first round opponent appeared.

It was Rokkie Thakkar.

Looking across to him, Codi saw that the wild fighter from Firequake didn't seem particularly concerned, but then again, he did come across as ever-so-slightly unhinged. Some of his team-mates, though, looked very uneasy. He was their last, best hope of getting a good result in the singles matches and it looked like that hope would be cut abruptly short. She couldn't help sharing their concern, and didn't relish watching Rokkie face off against Black Horizon's enigmatic demolisher.

Still, she thought, a lunatic like him probably stood a better chance than most of upsetting the number one seed. If nothing else, Rokkie Thakkar didn't seem capable of feeling fear. In fact, he seemed to be relishing the challenge as he realised that everyone was looking in his direction. He spread his arms wide, his half-crazed grin clearly in evidence, and took a comically theatrical bow. The tension in the room faded as scattered laughter passed through the assembled fighters.

Then, two places later, she forgot all about Rokkie Thakkar as the name of her opponent was locked in at last.

Chalyze Bamber: a third-year veteran and number eight seed from the powerful Orion Gauntlet Academy. Codi hadn't faced the girl in a Gauntlet match before, but she knew the name by reputation. If the analysts were to be believed, everyone had a thumping first round clash to look forward to between them. Her eyes flickered over to the Orion contingent, clad in tracksuits of blazing yellow and black, like a swarm of wasps. In the middle she caught sight of the girl, tall and slim, with impossibly black hair. Their eyes met; Bamber gave her a small nod.

Codi returned the gesture – showing respect to the other fighters would embed the notion into her brain that she couldn't view anyone as anything less than a barrier to her success. Don't take your foot off the gas, Thradd's words echoed in her mind.

She leaned back in her seat and took stock as the last few names shimmered across the lobby screens. Her challenge had been laid down in no uncertain terms. If she wanted to go all the way to the Gauntlet final and get her hands on Keefer Darkwood, she had a long, long road ahead.