“You’re an unbelievably lucky son of a bitch,” Kate declared as Tesfaye’s match ended.“Hey! Easy,” I said. No need to insult anyone’s parents — neither mine nor Jake’s.“Sorry!” Kate said, like she’d just cursed. “But you’ve got every chance of making it to the semi-finals! She got hit hard. If you blow this fight, I’ll bury you myself!”I leaned away and looked at Kate with concern.“I felt calmer when you didn’t believe in my victory.”“Don’t worry. I still don’t believe you’ll win. I’m only talking about the semi-final.”“Oh! That’s so much more reassuring!” I said with a touch of sarcasm. “Wait! This is the fourth round, isn’t it?” I remembered. “Did Marlon lose his match?”I pulled up the tournament bracket.Marlon had won his first match, but withdrawn from the next round.Reason?I’d ask later. No time for that now. I needed to draft a plan for the next fight.Apparently, Kate was thinking the same thing.“So what’s your plan?” she asked. “How are you going to counter Tesfaye? She might be injured, but she won’t hand you the win.”“How do you know? Maybe she’ll withdraw too.”“That’s what you’re banking on?”“No,” I admitted. “I’m thinking I’ll take that spear from her.”“Again?!” Kate asked.“It’s a working tactic!” I defended myself.“One she’ll be ready for! Although…”“Exactly,” I said. “She’ll only have time to watch one fight. And it’ll be the most recent.”“But in both fights, you closed the distance.”“In the first one, I didn’t. And I don’t really have a choice. Either I get close or she pokes me with those spikes.”“Speaking of the spikes. Didn’t they seem pretty weak to you?”I nodded.“Thinking of ignoring them?”“No, they’ll still be a distraction. I’m thinking You’ll block them with your shield. She loses control when they hit. You stop them, pick them up – chuck them out (...)