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| Everyone gets their ass kicked. |
Chapter 2: Lashing Out
The gymnasium wasn't just a normal sports gymnasium. It happened to be way too big to be some kind of sports arena. The top of it was open, the ground looked like solid stone, with white paint denoting certain markings atop it. Instead of bleachers, they were stadium seats. Each side had a large screen resting on top of it. Some big events must have been held there or something. The group entered up the stairs and through a tunnel, underneath the seating on one side. Sienna led them to a circle near the center before stopping all of them. “We're here.” She said, walking off to a small rack set up earlier and pulling out four wooden swords.
“This will be what you fight with. They're not sharp or anything, but I still wouldn't want to be hit in the head with it.” She spoke, throwing each of the swords at one of the girls. Morgan and Robin caught their blades, Lily dropped hers, and Maria got smacked upside the head. “We're going to have a small fighting tournament,” Sienna stated, looking at Maria grumbling and rubbing the slight bump she just got on the head. “Each of you will have a fight with each person one time. We'll tally the scores when we're finished, and the person with the worst score will pay for the lunch of the people with the highest.” Maria sighed at that, she didn't even have any money on her at the moment. So either she'd have to cook the lunch herself, or figure out how the hell to get the money if she loses. This game just got much higher in the stakes, clearly.
Maria raised her hand again “Who goes first?” She asked. Sienna responded casually. “Well.. Whoever wants to go first, really.” She began to slowly pace back and fourth between all four of them. Maria stepped forward, placing the wooden sword in her hands and resting it on one of her shoulders.
“I'll do the first couple of fights.” Maria stated eagerly, even with her stoic voice, everyone could tell she was pretty driven to not pay for lunch. Sienna grinned at that, pointing at Robin and having her step forward. “Alright! Robin vs Maria! Let me tell you the rules.” She said, guiding both of them into the circle, Maria and Robin standing on each side of it.
“This circle is 14 feet wide, if you fall outside of it during the fight, you're the loser. If you fall and cannot get up for 10 seconds, you'll also be the loser. The fight will continue until one of those prerequisites are fulfilled.” She raised both of her hands, crossing them over one another. “Are you two ready?” She said, her voice much louder than usual. It seemed like Sienna was kind of excited to be hosting this mini tournament. Both of them nodded and Sienna lowered her hands to signify the fight was starting. Robin spoke up, bringing her arm to her stomach and giving a courteous bow.
“I wish you the best of luck, Maria.” Maria sighed and crossed her arms, remarking with a quiet “Whatever...” They both slipped into a fighting stance, Maria holding her blade laxly on one side, not putting up any kind of guard. Robin held her blade out and upward, looking like she was more prepared to block something. They slowly circled one another, before Maria quickly dashed in for an overhead strike. Robin quickly reacted, crossing her blade against Maria's and making a hollow strike sound as it was blocked. Maria quickly took a step backward, evading a quick counterstrike from Robin. She dashed to one side to try and flank her, and even if Robin spun on her feet to keep up, Maria was surprisingly elusive.
Maria quickly struck her blade into Robin's side, making her grunt a bit from the sudden shock of pain. But Robin quickly responded with a swift strike on the back of Maria's shoulders since she tucked down for that dash. Maria slipped on her feet, landing right onto her chest and face against the solid stone ground from feeling it topple her balance. Maria quickly composed herself and got back to her feet, she was expecting Robin to take the initiative and hit her while she was down, but she was in the exact same position as before, it seemed like she wanted this fight to stay as fair as possible. 'Is she looking down on me?' She thought to herself, she would have totally hit Robin if she got knocked down... Is she trying to be courteous, or rude? She got back into her stance, but saw Robin broke out into a charge, instead of going on the defensive, Maria tried to trade strikes.
Robin struck Maria hard onto her shoulder, so hard it actually began to sting and feel numb for a couple of seconds, Maria pushed into the strike, using the momentum of Robin's dash to smack her firmly on the chest. Robin winced, but stayed focused, stepping back and ducking low to land a spinning blow on Maria's leg, causing her to almost trip once again. Maria caught herself this time, pushing off a leg to make a quick leap a couple of feet away, before spinning around and making a blind slash at the air. She missed, but Robin once again charged in, this time landing a combo. Her chest, arm and side were all hit as Robin smoothly connected these moves together. Maria growled in pain, gritting her teeth and reaching up to swing and smack Robin upside the head.
It actually connected and a quick gasp of pain came from Robin. She shook her head a couple of times to recompose herself as Maria leaped in for more strikes. Jumping into the air and bashing her on a shoulder, before ducking back down and smashing her weapon into Robin's thigh. Maria backed off again, looking down to notice that Robin was standing only a couple of feet from the edge of the circle. If she could topple her, she would win this match. Maria spoke out under her breath, panting between breaths as she was starting to get worn out.
“Just one more...” Robin responded, hearing what she just said even if it was spoken quietly. “I'm right here you know, give me your best attempt.” Maria growled before charging her, and Robin quickly smacked her weapon on the side of Maria's neck, using some quick footwork and pushing Maria to the edge instead, Maria stopped her momentum, noticing her position, but she was in a pretty terrible spot to maneuver. Robin cornered her in one swift step. Maria decided that the only way out of the situation was to turn on some major hurt.
She began to swing as hard and fast as she could, some hits whiffed, some would firmly strike Robin on her chest, shoulder or the side of her stomach. Just swinging a barrage of hits left and right, hoping the offense would make her back away so she could reposition. But Robin just gave a straight glare at Maria, she was somehow shrugging off all those wild hits thrown her way. She responded with one swift, upward strike. It smashed into Maria's chest so hard the breath escaped her lungs, toppling backward and falling onto the ground, just outside of the ring. That hit Maria so hard she was dizzy, even her ears were ringing, but through the haze, she heard Sienna yell. “Robin wins against Maria!” Robin turned around and smiled at her instructor, before turning back and extending a hand. “You're quite intense,” She said to Maria, offering to help lift her up. Maria sighed and got back up using her sword as a crutch. Robin continued. “And you fought bravely, I commend that.” Maria responded with “I don't need this...” She skipped the handshake, just hobbling back to the rest of the group frustrated at her loss. Morgan gave a friendly chuckle from seeing how that fight turned out.
“Wow.. Robin beat your ass.” The amusingly remarked, hoping that Maria might see some humor in the situation. Maria said nothing, just taking a seat on the ground beside Lily and Morgan instead. Lily then commented “You did really well, Maria...” Maria rubbed her shoulder to ease some of the pain, looking up at Lily quite nonplussed. “Then why did I lose?” Maria stated to Lily, but Lily just smiled reassuringly, it was hard for Lily to ever get mad at her. “You have two more chances, don't act like its over.” She said, ruffling Maria's hair in her left hand. Maria just sighed to herself in frustration.
Sienna pointed to Lily and gestured her to come over. “Lily and Morgan will fight the next one.” Lily nodded, walking into the circle, Morgan following and heading to the other side. Morgan chuckled to herself, commenting to Lily. “Oh this is going to be fun... Beating up a hypocrite for a bit.” Lily sighed, shaking her head a couple of times. “I'm not going to even bother commenting on that one... Lets just fight.” She said frustratedly at Morgans accusations. Lily held out her blade nearly straight, getting into a stance that almost looked like she knew what she was doing. Morgan bounced back and fourth onto each leg, before shifting her weight down and gripping her sword with two hands. Lily took a deep breath, waiting for Morgan to make the first move. Morgan launched into the air with jump, slamming her sword downward against Lily, who tried to knock it away to parry it, but she didn't have enough strength, the blade bashing her right into her shoulder hard enough to make her slide back a couple of feet. Morgan following it up with a heavy strike right into her stomach, forcing her onto one knee as she smashed the sword into her back, Lily bounced off the ground once before smacking right back into it, groaning in some pain, before noticing Morgan was going for another overhead blow, she rolled onto her side and quickly stood back up.
Morgan took another swing, but Lily shifted backward to dodge it, going in for two compact swipes at Morgan's chest, it was quick enough to make an audible snapping sound as she swung the blade, Morgan quickly shoved her back so she couldn't land any more of the combination, before taking another big swing, this one whiffing through the air. Lily realized that she couldn't afford to keep getting hit with how hard Morgan could swing that wooden sword, if she got nailed hard enough she could either lose her balance or get knocked straight out. So she kept to her strategy, every time Morgan would go for a swing, she'd try to flank her and land a couple of hits, hoping the damage would build up and chip away at Morgan's stamina. And for the most part, it was effective. Morgan got more frustrated and her swings became more predictable, thus safer to dodge. Her breathing started to get heavy from all the movement Morgan had to do to keep attempting attacks, while Lily would continuously duck in and out to hit and run her way to her own victory.
'She must be tired enough to actually fight, now.” Lily thought to herself, diving in to see if she could land a final blow, when all of a sudden, she heard a ringing sound. The entire stadium was sideways, and she was laying on her side against the cold, hard stone floor. In the distance, she heard “And Morgan beats Lily!” She shook her head and sat up, having no idea what happened. All she could see was the black haired girl walking away, setting the sword on her shoulder and grinning like an idiot. Lily sighed, getting up and walking over to Maria. “What just happened?”
Maria looked over at Lily, as Maria had enough time to recover her stamina. “It looks like you got your head caved in by Morgan when you went for that final blow. It sounds like you had a blast.” Lily sighed at Maria's explanation. “I don't even remember getting hit...” Lily said quietly. “Well if it makes you feel better, I remember you getting hit.” Maria responded with a flat sarcasm to her tone. “Lily crossed her arms, one of her hands reaching up to rub the welt on the side of her head. “That doesn't help at all, Maria...” Lily remarked, kind of missing the boat on Maria's jokes.
Sienna walked over to the side and pointed at Robin. “Since Morgan seems pretty eager to go, we might as well get her second fight out of the way.” Robin nodded, heading into the circle. “I'd be honored to have my second fight with you, Morgan.” Robin said, giving another bow. Morgan smiled and spun her sword in her hand a couple of times. “Save the formalities, Robin. It's just a fight, not a banquet.” Robin chuckled lightly, giving a grin to Morgan.
“Respect is the highest honor you can give someone you're fighting.” Morgan shrugged at that, reaching up and scratching the back of her head with a free hand. “If it's the highest respect, I wouldn't be giving it out to everyone.”
Robin nodded some, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a hairband, pulling her hair into a ponytail before wrapping it into a loose bun of golden brown hair to keep it out of the way for the next fight. “Yes, but I consider m-” Maria cut off Robin's speech with a loud heckle. “Oh my god, Shut up and fight already!” Maria shouted, hands over her mouth to try and make it louder. Robin sighed and shook her head, saying quietly under her breath. “Kids...” Morgan responded by shaking her own head. “Yep... Kids.”
They both got into their fighting stances, both opting to hold the weapon by two hands. They slowly circled one another, waiting for the other to strike. Morgan approached, going for a heavy overhead swing, but Robin tilted her blade to the side, quickly making them clash and effectively blocking the move. Robin responded by knocking the blade aside and smacking the sword into her side.
Morgan swings from one side, and Robin blocks it again. Before pushing Morgan back a couple of feet with a quick shove. “Wow... you actually are going to face me and not just run all over the place.” Robin retorted, not breaking her sharp gaze at Morgan.
“I'm a fighter, not a ballerina dancer.” Robin lunged at her with several strikes to the chest and shoulder, before Morgan countered with a heavy blow to the side that made Robin wince. The fighting continued, Morgan's attacks were vicious but Robin kept a tight defense, either blocking or parrying her attack, or exchanging hits. Morgan’s hits retained their power, but began to slow in pace thanks to Robin's constant focus on negating damage and whittling her down with hits. Over and over again, sharp counter strikes continued to whittle away at Morgan's power and patience. Annoyed, Morgan began to ramp up her assault once more, pushing forward with her attacks to make Robin's blocks cause her footing to step backward so she wouldn't lose her balance.
Morgan ducked down, spinning and striking at Robin's legs with enough force to actually cause her to fall, Robin quickly got back up onto her feet, but Morgan took the advantage. Slashing upward, smacking her right in the chin, making her fall straight onto her back, just outside of the circle to signify her victory. “Two wins in a row for Morgan!” Sienna shouted, Morgan raising one of her fists into the air as she walked back to the bench. “How 'bout that?” She smirked at both of Maria and Lily. Maria just stood up and walked right past her without saying a single word, and Lily did the same.
“H-hey! At least pay attention...” Morgan complained to no one, Lily helping Robin back onto her feet so they could fight next. Robin walked over to sit on a nearby bench, rubbing her chin as it was quite sore at the moment. Sienna grinned seeing Maria and Lily step up to the plate, they both had a pretty big loss and were looking to make their record at least break even. “Alright! Childhood friend combat it is. Lily Sterling vs Maria Roth!”
Lily smiled at Maria, who was adjusting the cuffs of her coat, unbuttoning both of them and blowing some air to move her bangs out of the way. “I hope you do your best, Maria.” She said, giving a little bow. Maria just glared up at her, “Do you think if I hit the other side of your head hard enough, your ears will stop ringing?” She said sarcastically. Lily sighed, placing her hands onto her hips.
“Does everyone have to come up with some weird comment to tell me before I fight?” She wondered aloud, since it was the second time this sort of thing happened.
Maria without a moments delay answers. “I was legitimately curious. Now let's go.” She said, lowering, holding her weapon somewhat in front of her, but low to the ground in a fighting stance. Lily responded by going back into her fencers stance, the fight begins by Maria shouting and dashing toward Lily.
Maria slashed a couple of times, once high, twice low. Lily dipped backward, leaping over one strike before sidestepping around the second. Maria quickly turned on her heel and dashed again, taking a flying leap at her for the next attack, but completely whiffing it once again to Lily's footwork. She dashed one more time, which shocked Lily when she noticed Maria's crazy swing and movement speed. Making her assault a constant barrage of attacks and moves. All Lily could do was retreat, even if Maria wasn't hitting much, it seemed like getting too close to her was dangerous. She noticed that Maria was trying to corner her by putting her in a position where she couldn't sidestep her attacks without leaving the area. So when Maria ran in for the next attack, she did the only thing she could, smash her sword into Maria's leg. She instantly stumbled past her and went careening out of the arena, landing face first out of the ring with a thud. She quickly stood back up and was about to step back into the ring when Sienna stopped her. “Lily wins in under a single minute!” Maria looked shocked, but gritted her teeth to shout in frustration. “THIS IS A FARCE!” She said, screaming. “You need to restart this right damn now...” She demanded of Sienna to start that fight over, but Sienna shook her head.
“Sorry lil sis, you fell out of the ring, there's nothing I can do.” She said, sounding a bit sad she had to tell this to Maria, but it was still true. “S-she tripped me up! We should start over...” Morgan began to break out laughing at Maria's colossal screw-up. “Sienna sighed softly. “Sorry Mary, that's two losses.” Maria stomped at the ground once or twice, muttering various profanities as she returned to sit with Robin and Morgan. “Wow Maria... You just totally blew it.” Morgan commented to her, Maria turned her head and shouted at her. “YOUR MOUTH IS MOVING. STOP THAT!” she said, seeming to forget some of the basic conversational skills she used to have.
“Pfft.. Whatever Maria.” She said with another laugh, Lily crossing her arms and waiting for Robin to walk up for the next fight. “It seems like you've had formal training, Lily.” Robin observed, walking into the ring, her sword currently slipped under the belt just above her skirt, Lily nodded gently. “My father set me up with an instructor for a couple of years, once he learned that I wished to join Spectrum.” Lily replied. Robin drew her sword and Lily got into her combat stance.
“I'd like to inform you something about combat,” Robin remarked to Lily, Lily's expression unbroken. “No matter how much footwork and swordplay you learn, a real fight is more about being adaptive and efficient. There's no room for flair or panache, you need to stay practical. Who taught you how to fight?” Robin asked, Lily inspected her sword a bit more before looking at her. “Cyrus Laurence, Fencing gold medalist and one of the best swordsmen in Rosewall.” Robin smiled some. “Ah... that makes much more sense. That man probably learned how to fence for points.. but it's still not an actual fight.” Lily growled slightly at that, slashing the air with her blade. “He taught me well, I'll show you how much I trust his style...”
Robin nodded, and the fight begun. Lily spun her sword a couple of times, before lunging at Robin. Robin responds by firmly guarding, but Lily spins her wrist for a quick second smack. It was very light and Robin didn't even react to it. Lily leaped back a step before launching another lunge, but the blade was swatted down by Robin's before Lily could even react.
Robin quickly swung the blade back upward, smashing just under Lily's chin. She groaned and had her head launched back, before stumbling away to recompose herself, but Robin decided to follow up, lunging in to get a couple of free hits in. Lily felt the stinging of the blade hitting her flesh, and quickly picked up a guard, constantly blocking Robin's blade with her own. Wooden clacks echoing through the area. Lily dashed under one of her swings, spinning and landing two hits while twirling on her toes. But Robin quickly swung to the side, turning on her heels instead of toes. The hit was hard enough to send Lily onto her back in the center of the circle.
Robin allowed Lily to stand, getting back into form before they both dashed at each other. Lily swung low to hit Robin in the stomach, but Robin swung and sharply stuck on the side of her neck. Nearly instantly causing it to welt and bruise. She didn't hit anywhere as hard as Morgan did... but it felt like Robin was whittling her down with hits at the exact moment she wouldn't want one... She took every opportunity to strike, waiting patiently for each one to show itself. Robin's face showed incredible focus, just glaring at Lily's body motions like a hawk. Lily was forced to take the defensive once again.
Robin stood completely motionless, blade ready to strike, but not reaching out for a blow. Lily began to dance with her feet, taking any opportunity to dash or sidestep just in case Robin comes after her, since two can play at that game... but it just didn't happen. Robin waited to strike and it felt like she'd be here for an eternity unless she take the risk. Lily gulped, dashing in to strike. But as soon as she did, Robin lunged in as well, striking her firmly in the stomach hard enough to cause the air to escape her lungs. She groaned and tried to shift her weight back to escape, but her legs slipped from the constant forward momentum. Taking the full blow and just backing away normally instead.
Robin jumped on that opportunity, Dashing in and landing more and more blows onto Lily. She got more focused and began swaying her body, hoping to land some hits, but the swings were so relentless that ant hit she landed was too light, so he was forced to back away... She backed away more and more, and suddenly Robin stopped attacking. Lily stood there confused for just a brief second before looking down...
Her leg stepped over the line, She just lost. Lily sighed, looking at the floor disappointed, before Robin took her hand and smiled at her. “You did much better than I expected.. But don't ever feel like you can't improve on what you have so far. As soon as you think you're done, you've given up on learning.” Lily smiled at that, shaking her hand gently and quietly giving her a “Thank you.” between her heavy gasps for air. Sienna applauded the both of them as they returned to the nearby bench, Maria getting up and walking back into the ring for the last match along with Morgan.
Morgan smirked a little bit at Maria. “You ready to be 0 and 3, Roth?” Maria just glared at her, quietly responding with “I'm not going to lose again.” Morgan chuckled. “Oh really?” She bemusedly asked. “I learned how to fight against people on the street, so I know what I'm doing. You just picked up a weapon, probably for the first time. There's a reason you're inexperienced.” Maria smirked at that, throwing her sword away, it bouncing a couple of times before sliding to a stop. “You're right, actually. I never used a weapon before,” She said, taking off her jacket and tossing it aside, leaving her in a long sleeved white blouse and a black tie. She loosened the tie and punched her fist into her other palm. Morgan grinned at that, tossing her weapon away as well, balling her fists some.
“Oh... So THAT's how you want to fight, it's your funeral, kid...”
“I am NOT losing again...”
Maria spread her legs wider, dipping down and pulling her fists up to her face. One arm was leading, and the other was pulled farther back, Morgan just had a looser stance, her fists up as well. Lily noticed this and looked over to Sienna. “Is this alright for them to do?” She asked her, Sienna sighed. “Looks like it's going to happen regardless.” Lily looked over and nodded, Robin speaking up to comment. “Maria seems to be using a pugilist's stance. I didn't know she was that type...” Lily commented on that statement. “Is Morgan also using a pugilist style?” Robin shook her head. “I think that's just something a brawler would use...”
Their conversation is cut off as Maria dips in, ducking her head to quickly land a short one two combination into Morgans stomach. Morgan swung at her, but Maria quickly dipped her head backward, swinging another punch at her face. Morgan shook her head, Maria didn't really hit too hard, but her punches had a sting to them and were fast as well. Morgan swings a heavy haymaker upward at Maria, but only glanced her face as she backed off, bouncing on her two feet just a bit to get ready to make another dive. Morgan gestured her to come at her again, and Maria dived in, this time swinging a hook at Morgans face. But Morgan blocks with one arm, squeezing on it so she gets slightly delayed in pulling away and drilling Maria in the side of the face with a wild hooking blow. Maria’s head snaps to one side, before tucking in, swaying her head and landing a hook into her side. It wasn't a super heavy punch, but Maria was trying to wear her stamina down.
Maria was shaken up by how hard that hook was, but honestly it didn't seem like she cared. She grit her teeth as her ears rung, and Morgan took a swing at her stomach. It was like she got hit with a sledgehammer, all the wind bashing out of her stomach, it was actually a hard enough punch to make her briefly lose contact to the ground from it lifting her. Morgan then swung an elbow onto Maria's shoulders, smacking her into the ground, but Maria rolled into it, ducking off to the side and getting recomposed. “Want more?” Morgan asked Maria. Maria chuckled a bit and smirked at her. “Keep trying.” Morgan dove at her, pushing off with her legs and quickly closing the gap, smashing Maria in the side of the face, before Maria began swaying through the punches. She suddenly leaned up and clocked Morgan with an elbow of her own. Morgan growled in pain, rubbing her face as Maria followed it up with four punches into the chest and then the face. Morgan stomped down on Maria's foot, making her grit her teeth and stop her swaying, Drilling her in the side of the head hard enough to knock her down.
Maria rolled over, standing back up and quickly continuing the assault. Slamming a knee into her gut to give her a similar reaction to Morgan's earlier gut punch. Morgan was briefly stunned, and Maria took the opportunity to give a heavy overhead swing, cracking her straight into the jaw. She got knocked for a loop, stumbling around just a bit before shaking her head. The vision of Maria looking blurry as she dashed to continue the onslaught. Landing fast punches into her stomach and rib cage, before landing a leaping hook into her chin, causing her to stumble and fall onto her side. Maria looked like she was backing off, but ran up to slam into Morgan's stomach with a kick while she was on the ground. Hard enough she slid away and coughed loudly from it.
She released a shout of pain as Maria kicked her again and again, Morgan, sick of this grabs her leg on the fifth kick, standing back up and holding her by the leg. Maria gently hopped backward so she couldn't be toppled over. Maria put up a guard, but Morgan just punched straight through it. Smashing her in the face a couple of times before lifting her leg high enough where falling over wasn't an option anymore. Maria fell flat on her back, Morgan diving onto her and beginning to slug her over and over in the face.
Maria grit her teeth as her face got nailed from the same side of her face over and over again. The heavy punches smashing into the side of her, it started to feel kind of wet, and she noticed that she was bleeding out of the mouth, a red stain forming on the gray colored stone underneath. Maria was getting just pummeled on, Lily covered her eyes from how violent this was getting. “They're out of their minds, someone needs to stop this!” Sienna sighed, it was a cringe worthy sight, but she still wasn't sure she could stop this without causing a huge rift on day one. She replies to Lily. “I'll stop if it goes too far... I promise.”
Maria was still getting drilled, but her head was starting to get fuzzy. The only sound she was hearing was the ringing, and the pain slowly dulled into a numbness. Her vision began to tunnel.. Right on Morgan's angry face. Maria suddenly snapped back into consciousness, blocking her punch with on arm and gripping firmly onto Morgan's head. Shouting loudly and smashing her head right into Morgan's. Morgan shouted in pain as Maria lurched back and started slamming her head over and over into Morgan's skull. The dull thud sound was horrible to hear, and both were shouting in pain, but Maria wanted Morgan to get the hell off, so she just smashed her head into hers over and over. The pain was still dull, but she could feel her head rattle with every heavy hit. Morgan finally backed away, rubbing her head from just the sheer amount of pain that was. Maria, felt her legs quiver. Those headbutts hurt her way more than it did Morgan, but she got off and that's all that Matters.
Morgan suddenly looked shocked, Maria looked at her confused until she lost sight in one eye, she groaned and started rubbing it to see again. Once she pulled her sleeve away, she noticed it was now soaked with fresh blood. She was busted wide open from all those headbutts and the warm, wet substance began to pour in a crimson mask over the rest of her face. Morgan commented, still surprised but not wavering in confidence. “Damn, Roth... You're not afraid of anything are you?” Maria took a couple of breaths before shouting back at Morgan. “I. AM NOT. LOSING!” Maria lifted her hands over her face, sliding up it to wipe all the blood off at once. Her bangs being pulled back to reveal the huge gash right in the center of her head, her face still looking kind of red from the leftover blood, she clenched her blood soaked fists and gestured Morgan to come at her again.
Morgan dove in, slamming a punch into her stomach. Maria coughed up another large amount of blood and began to stumble. Morgan landing more and more punches to her face, sides and stomach to cause her to waver, but not fall. Maria swung wildly at the air, missing more and more as Morgan piled on the punches. Maria got more desperate, her swings getting heavier and wider until she hit a strike against Morgan. She turned her body toward her, she realized that she couldn't go on the defensive anymore. She felt her body beginning to give up on her and she needed to get Morgan down before she ran out of energy. She took Morgans punch, before returning her own. She no longer backed away from Morgan, instead leaning into the punches so she had a shorter swinging arc.
Morgan began beating down on Maria, but Maria would trade a punch for every single one Morgan gave, before it literally turned into them just standing in the middle of the circle, trading hooks back and fourth. Morgan would slam Maria, Maria would drill Morgan,this would go back and fourth over and over again. Morgan beginning to bleed from the mouth as well, but much less blood than the red fountain Maria became. Maria leaned even more into the punches, pressing her body so close to Morgan's that they touched, smacking her in the jaw with one hand, and the side in the other. Morgan pushed back against her and returned her own punches, before pushing Maria away. Maria stumbled back to near the edge of the circle, stopping just before it so she couldn’t fall over.
Morgan backed up to the other side, panting deeply from all the punches they were trading. “Sorry kid.. it's over.” She said, lunging down to dash in, ready to strike Maria and knock her out of the circle. But Maria met Morgan with a surprise. Leaping up just high enough to smash her knee right into Morgans chin. It was such a huge hit that it almost like Maria just kicked her head off. She ran into that with ALL of her momentum, along with Maria's jumping momentum just caused a train wreck of a hit. Morgan shouted in pain, standing up and gripping her face from just being absorbed by how much that hurt. Maria shouted at her. “I WILL NOT LOSE!” She said, diving in to land hooks left and right on Morgan's face. Her head swaying left and right with little resistance to Maria's tired, but passionate punches. Maria felt like she was on the brink of passing out as well, but she needed to hold on for as long as she could. She just swing left, then right, and then left again. Just constantly barraging her with punches, Morgan slowly backing away, but she wasn't focused enough to reposition.
Maria ducked down very low, before leaping up and slamming a huge uppercut into Morgans already damaged jaw. She got sent slightly upward before falling back like a cut down tree, smacking into the ground... and just outside of the circle. Maria noticed this, gasping in shock and then raising her fist into the air. Leaning her head to one side to spit a bunch of the blood out of her mouth.. It tasted like copper and it was awful. She turned away, slowly stumbling back to the bench, before taking a seat on it and lurching over, breathing shallow, pained breaths.
“That was viscous...” Lily muttered, surprised by how savage and out of control that fight just got. “Maria... Are you out of your mind?” She wondered. Maria couldn't talk, just breathe in sharply. Sienna walked over to Morgan, who was slowly getting up. She actually wasn't in as bad of a condition. She just walked over while holing her head, looking down at Maria's hunched over form and sighing. “You are possibly the most insane person I've ever met, kid... But you at least know how to kick some ass..” She said, walking away from the whole group.
Sienna went after her, trying to get her to stop. “Wait, you're both hurt! We need to get you to the physicians and healers..” Morgan looked back at Sienna, shaking her head. “I'll go see them when I think I need it. Take your sister there right now, Crazy girl needs it..” She said, slowly leaving. Robin helped Maria up onto her feet, as she lost all of her strength, Lily pulling Maria's arm over her shoulder, Robin grabbing the other as her feet slid along the ground. Sienna started to walk with them.
“Well... When we get Maria to the nurse, I'll start making notes about what you guys need practice at.” Lily nodded and sighed. “Sienna..?” She said, Sienna replying. “Yeah...?” Lily looked down at the floor, looking visibly upset. “Maria's different...” She stated, her voice somber and a bit upset. Is this what the death of her parents turned her into? She's nothing like she used to be, and it was actually a bit frighting to see her teenage friend only a couple of years later not even caring if she spilled blood all over the place just to win a petty fight. Sienna nodded, and gently rubbed Lily on the top of her head. “Yeah... She's nothing like I remember. But she has you and me in her life again... Maybe she can get better.” She acknowledged, finally getting to the office, stopping just before they head in. Lily sighed, looking at the bloody pulp Maria turned into, and then looked at the automatic doors of the clinic. “I hope so...” Lily said, still unsure of herself.
“We can do it, together.” Sienna affirmed, the door swinging open and both of them walking inside with Maria, as Robin turned to head back to the dorm.
The gymnasium wasn't just a normal sports gymnasium. It happened to be way too big to be some kind of sports arena. The top of it was open, the ground looked like solid stone, with white paint denoting certain markings atop it. Instead of bleachers, they were stadium seats. Each side had a large screen resting on top of it. Some big events must have been held there or something. The group entered up the stairs and through a tunnel, underneath the seating on one side. Sienna led them to a circle near the center before stopping all of them. “We're here.” She said, walking off to a small rack set up earlier and pulling out four wooden swords.
“This will be what you fight with. They're not sharp or anything, but I still wouldn't want to be hit in the head with it.” She spoke, throwing each of the swords at one of the girls. Morgan and Robin caught their blades, Lily dropped hers, and Maria got smacked upside the head. “We're going to have a small fighting tournament,” Sienna stated, looking at Maria grumbling and rubbing the slight bump she just got on the head. “Each of you will have a fight with each person one time. We'll tally the scores when we're finished, and the person with the worst score will pay for the lunch of the people with the highest.” Maria sighed at that, she didn't even have any money on her at the moment. So either she'd have to cook the lunch herself, or figure out how the hell to get the money if she loses. This game just got much higher in the stakes, clearly.
Maria raised her hand again “Who goes first?” She asked. Sienna responded casually. “Well.. Whoever wants to go first, really.” She began to slowly pace back and fourth between all four of them. Maria stepped forward, placing the wooden sword in her hands and resting it on one of her shoulders.
“I'll do the first couple of fights.” Maria stated eagerly, even with her stoic voice, everyone could tell she was pretty driven to not pay for lunch. Sienna grinned at that, pointing at Robin and having her step forward. “Alright! Robin vs Maria! Let me tell you the rules.” She said, guiding both of them into the circle, Maria and Robin standing on each side of it.
“This circle is 14 feet wide, if you fall outside of it during the fight, you're the loser. If you fall and cannot get up for 10 seconds, you'll also be the loser. The fight will continue until one of those prerequisites are fulfilled.” She raised both of her hands, crossing them over one another. “Are you two ready?” She said, her voice much louder than usual. It seemed like Sienna was kind of excited to be hosting this mini tournament. Both of them nodded and Sienna lowered her hands to signify the fight was starting. Robin spoke up, bringing her arm to her stomach and giving a courteous bow.
“I wish you the best of luck, Maria.” Maria sighed and crossed her arms, remarking with a quiet “Whatever...” They both slipped into a fighting stance, Maria holding her blade laxly on one side, not putting up any kind of guard. Robin held her blade out and upward, looking like she was more prepared to block something. They slowly circled one another, before Maria quickly dashed in for an overhead strike. Robin quickly reacted, crossing her blade against Maria's and making a hollow strike sound as it was blocked. Maria quickly took a step backward, evading a quick counterstrike from Robin. She dashed to one side to try and flank her, and even if Robin spun on her feet to keep up, Maria was surprisingly elusive.
Maria quickly struck her blade into Robin's side, making her grunt a bit from the sudden shock of pain. But Robin quickly responded with a swift strike on the back of Maria's shoulders since she tucked down for that dash. Maria slipped on her feet, landing right onto her chest and face against the solid stone ground from feeling it topple her balance. Maria quickly composed herself and got back to her feet, she was expecting Robin to take the initiative and hit her while she was down, but she was in the exact same position as before, it seemed like she wanted this fight to stay as fair as possible. 'Is she looking down on me?' She thought to herself, she would have totally hit Robin if she got knocked down... Is she trying to be courteous, or rude? She got back into her stance, but saw Robin broke out into a charge, instead of going on the defensive, Maria tried to trade strikes.
Robin struck Maria hard onto her shoulder, so hard it actually began to sting and feel numb for a couple of seconds, Maria pushed into the strike, using the momentum of Robin's dash to smack her firmly on the chest. Robin winced, but stayed focused, stepping back and ducking low to land a spinning blow on Maria's leg, causing her to almost trip once again. Maria caught herself this time, pushing off a leg to make a quick leap a couple of feet away, before spinning around and making a blind slash at the air. She missed, but Robin once again charged in, this time landing a combo. Her chest, arm and side were all hit as Robin smoothly connected these moves together. Maria growled in pain, gritting her teeth and reaching up to swing and smack Robin upside the head.
It actually connected and a quick gasp of pain came from Robin. She shook her head a couple of times to recompose herself as Maria leaped in for more strikes. Jumping into the air and bashing her on a shoulder, before ducking back down and smashing her weapon into Robin's thigh. Maria backed off again, looking down to notice that Robin was standing only a couple of feet from the edge of the circle. If she could topple her, she would win this match. Maria spoke out under her breath, panting between breaths as she was starting to get worn out.
“Just one more...” Robin responded, hearing what she just said even if it was spoken quietly. “I'm right here you know, give me your best attempt.” Maria growled before charging her, and Robin quickly smacked her weapon on the side of Maria's neck, using some quick footwork and pushing Maria to the edge instead, Maria stopped her momentum, noticing her position, but she was in a pretty terrible spot to maneuver. Robin cornered her in one swift step. Maria decided that the only way out of the situation was to turn on some major hurt.
She began to swing as hard and fast as she could, some hits whiffed, some would firmly strike Robin on her chest, shoulder or the side of her stomach. Just swinging a barrage of hits left and right, hoping the offense would make her back away so she could reposition. But Robin just gave a straight glare at Maria, she was somehow shrugging off all those wild hits thrown her way. She responded with one swift, upward strike. It smashed into Maria's chest so hard the breath escaped her lungs, toppling backward and falling onto the ground, just outside of the ring. That hit Maria so hard she was dizzy, even her ears were ringing, but through the haze, she heard Sienna yell. “Robin wins against Maria!” Robin turned around and smiled at her instructor, before turning back and extending a hand. “You're quite intense,” She said to Maria, offering to help lift her up. Maria sighed and got back up using her sword as a crutch. Robin continued. “And you fought bravely, I commend that.” Maria responded with “I don't need this...” She skipped the handshake, just hobbling back to the rest of the group frustrated at her loss. Morgan gave a friendly chuckle from seeing how that fight turned out.
“Wow.. Robin beat your ass.” The amusingly remarked, hoping that Maria might see some humor in the situation. Maria said nothing, just taking a seat on the ground beside Lily and Morgan instead. Lily then commented “You did really well, Maria...” Maria rubbed her shoulder to ease some of the pain, looking up at Lily quite nonplussed. “Then why did I lose?” Maria stated to Lily, but Lily just smiled reassuringly, it was hard for Lily to ever get mad at her. “You have two more chances, don't act like its over.” She said, ruffling Maria's hair in her left hand. Maria just sighed to herself in frustration.
Sienna pointed to Lily and gestured her to come over. “Lily and Morgan will fight the next one.” Lily nodded, walking into the circle, Morgan following and heading to the other side. Morgan chuckled to herself, commenting to Lily. “Oh this is going to be fun... Beating up a hypocrite for a bit.” Lily sighed, shaking her head a couple of times. “I'm not going to even bother commenting on that one... Lets just fight.” She said frustratedly at Morgans accusations. Lily held out her blade nearly straight, getting into a stance that almost looked like she knew what she was doing. Morgan bounced back and fourth onto each leg, before shifting her weight down and gripping her sword with two hands. Lily took a deep breath, waiting for Morgan to make the first move. Morgan launched into the air with jump, slamming her sword downward against Lily, who tried to knock it away to parry it, but she didn't have enough strength, the blade bashing her right into her shoulder hard enough to make her slide back a couple of feet. Morgan following it up with a heavy strike right into her stomach, forcing her onto one knee as she smashed the sword into her back, Lily bounced off the ground once before smacking right back into it, groaning in some pain, before noticing Morgan was going for another overhead blow, she rolled onto her side and quickly stood back up.
Morgan took another swing, but Lily shifted backward to dodge it, going in for two compact swipes at Morgan's chest, it was quick enough to make an audible snapping sound as she swung the blade, Morgan quickly shoved her back so she couldn't land any more of the combination, before taking another big swing, this one whiffing through the air. Lily realized that she couldn't afford to keep getting hit with how hard Morgan could swing that wooden sword, if she got nailed hard enough she could either lose her balance or get knocked straight out. So she kept to her strategy, every time Morgan would go for a swing, she'd try to flank her and land a couple of hits, hoping the damage would build up and chip away at Morgan's stamina. And for the most part, it was effective. Morgan got more frustrated and her swings became more predictable, thus safer to dodge. Her breathing started to get heavy from all the movement Morgan had to do to keep attempting attacks, while Lily would continuously duck in and out to hit and run her way to her own victory.
'She must be tired enough to actually fight, now.” Lily thought to herself, diving in to see if she could land a final blow, when all of a sudden, she heard a ringing sound. The entire stadium was sideways, and she was laying on her side against the cold, hard stone floor. In the distance, she heard “And Morgan beats Lily!” She shook her head and sat up, having no idea what happened. All she could see was the black haired girl walking away, setting the sword on her shoulder and grinning like an idiot. Lily sighed, getting up and walking over to Maria. “What just happened?”
Maria looked over at Lily, as Maria had enough time to recover her stamina. “It looks like you got your head caved in by Morgan when you went for that final blow. It sounds like you had a blast.” Lily sighed at Maria's explanation. “I don't even remember getting hit...” Lily said quietly. “Well if it makes you feel better, I remember you getting hit.” Maria responded with a flat sarcasm to her tone. “Lily crossed her arms, one of her hands reaching up to rub the welt on the side of her head. “That doesn't help at all, Maria...” Lily remarked, kind of missing the boat on Maria's jokes.
Sienna walked over to the side and pointed at Robin. “Since Morgan seems pretty eager to go, we might as well get her second fight out of the way.” Robin nodded, heading into the circle. “I'd be honored to have my second fight with you, Morgan.” Robin said, giving another bow. Morgan smiled and spun her sword in her hand a couple of times. “Save the formalities, Robin. It's just a fight, not a banquet.” Robin chuckled lightly, giving a grin to Morgan.
“Respect is the highest honor you can give someone you're fighting.” Morgan shrugged at that, reaching up and scratching the back of her head with a free hand. “If it's the highest respect, I wouldn't be giving it out to everyone.”
Robin nodded some, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a hairband, pulling her hair into a ponytail before wrapping it into a loose bun of golden brown hair to keep it out of the way for the next fight. “Yes, but I consider m-” Maria cut off Robin's speech with a loud heckle. “Oh my god, Shut up and fight already!” Maria shouted, hands over her mouth to try and make it louder. Robin sighed and shook her head, saying quietly under her breath. “Kids...” Morgan responded by shaking her own head. “Yep... Kids.”
They both got into their fighting stances, both opting to hold the weapon by two hands. They slowly circled one another, waiting for the other to strike. Morgan approached, going for a heavy overhead swing, but Robin tilted her blade to the side, quickly making them clash and effectively blocking the move. Robin responded by knocking the blade aside and smacking the sword into her side.
Morgan swings from one side, and Robin blocks it again. Before pushing Morgan back a couple of feet with a quick shove. “Wow... you actually are going to face me and not just run all over the place.” Robin retorted, not breaking her sharp gaze at Morgan.
“I'm a fighter, not a ballerina dancer.” Robin lunged at her with several strikes to the chest and shoulder, before Morgan countered with a heavy blow to the side that made Robin wince. The fighting continued, Morgan's attacks were vicious but Robin kept a tight defense, either blocking or parrying her attack, or exchanging hits. Morgan’s hits retained their power, but began to slow in pace thanks to Robin's constant focus on negating damage and whittling her down with hits. Over and over again, sharp counter strikes continued to whittle away at Morgan's power and patience. Annoyed, Morgan began to ramp up her assault once more, pushing forward with her attacks to make Robin's blocks cause her footing to step backward so she wouldn't lose her balance.
Morgan ducked down, spinning and striking at Robin's legs with enough force to actually cause her to fall, Robin quickly got back up onto her feet, but Morgan took the advantage. Slashing upward, smacking her right in the chin, making her fall straight onto her back, just outside of the circle to signify her victory. “Two wins in a row for Morgan!” Sienna shouted, Morgan raising one of her fists into the air as she walked back to the bench. “How 'bout that?” She smirked at both of Maria and Lily. Maria just stood up and walked right past her without saying a single word, and Lily did the same.
“H-hey! At least pay attention...” Morgan complained to no one, Lily helping Robin back onto her feet so they could fight next. Robin walked over to sit on a nearby bench, rubbing her chin as it was quite sore at the moment. Sienna grinned seeing Maria and Lily step up to the plate, they both had a pretty big loss and were looking to make their record at least break even. “Alright! Childhood friend combat it is. Lily Sterling vs Maria Roth!”
Lily smiled at Maria, who was adjusting the cuffs of her coat, unbuttoning both of them and blowing some air to move her bangs out of the way. “I hope you do your best, Maria.” She said, giving a little bow. Maria just glared up at her, “Do you think if I hit the other side of your head hard enough, your ears will stop ringing?” She said sarcastically. Lily sighed, placing her hands onto her hips.
“Does everyone have to come up with some weird comment to tell me before I fight?” She wondered aloud, since it was the second time this sort of thing happened.
Maria without a moments delay answers. “I was legitimately curious. Now let's go.” She said, lowering, holding her weapon somewhat in front of her, but low to the ground in a fighting stance. Lily responded by going back into her fencers stance, the fight begins by Maria shouting and dashing toward Lily.
Maria slashed a couple of times, once high, twice low. Lily dipped backward, leaping over one strike before sidestepping around the second. Maria quickly turned on her heel and dashed again, taking a flying leap at her for the next attack, but completely whiffing it once again to Lily's footwork. She dashed one more time, which shocked Lily when she noticed Maria's crazy swing and movement speed. Making her assault a constant barrage of attacks and moves. All Lily could do was retreat, even if Maria wasn't hitting much, it seemed like getting too close to her was dangerous. She noticed that Maria was trying to corner her by putting her in a position where she couldn't sidestep her attacks without leaving the area. So when Maria ran in for the next attack, she did the only thing she could, smash her sword into Maria's leg. She instantly stumbled past her and went careening out of the arena, landing face first out of the ring with a thud. She quickly stood back up and was about to step back into the ring when Sienna stopped her. “Lily wins in under a single minute!” Maria looked shocked, but gritted her teeth to shout in frustration. “THIS IS A FARCE!” She said, screaming. “You need to restart this right damn now...” She demanded of Sienna to start that fight over, but Sienna shook her head.
“Sorry lil sis, you fell out of the ring, there's nothing I can do.” She said, sounding a bit sad she had to tell this to Maria, but it was still true. “S-she tripped me up! We should start over...” Morgan began to break out laughing at Maria's colossal screw-up. “Sienna sighed softly. “Sorry Mary, that's two losses.” Maria stomped at the ground once or twice, muttering various profanities as she returned to sit with Robin and Morgan. “Wow Maria... You just totally blew it.” Morgan commented to her, Maria turned her head and shouted at her. “YOUR MOUTH IS MOVING. STOP THAT!” she said, seeming to forget some of the basic conversational skills she used to have.
“Pfft.. Whatever Maria.” She said with another laugh, Lily crossing her arms and waiting for Robin to walk up for the next fight. “It seems like you've had formal training, Lily.” Robin observed, walking into the ring, her sword currently slipped under the belt just above her skirt, Lily nodded gently. “My father set me up with an instructor for a couple of years, once he learned that I wished to join Spectrum.” Lily replied. Robin drew her sword and Lily got into her combat stance.
“I'd like to inform you something about combat,” Robin remarked to Lily, Lily's expression unbroken. “No matter how much footwork and swordplay you learn, a real fight is more about being adaptive and efficient. There's no room for flair or panache, you need to stay practical. Who taught you how to fight?” Robin asked, Lily inspected her sword a bit more before looking at her. “Cyrus Laurence, Fencing gold medalist and one of the best swordsmen in Rosewall.” Robin smiled some. “Ah... that makes much more sense. That man probably learned how to fence for points.. but it's still not an actual fight.” Lily growled slightly at that, slashing the air with her blade. “He taught me well, I'll show you how much I trust his style...”
Robin nodded, and the fight begun. Lily spun her sword a couple of times, before lunging at Robin. Robin responds by firmly guarding, but Lily spins her wrist for a quick second smack. It was very light and Robin didn't even react to it. Lily leaped back a step before launching another lunge, but the blade was swatted down by Robin's before Lily could even react.
Robin quickly swung the blade back upward, smashing just under Lily's chin. She groaned and had her head launched back, before stumbling away to recompose herself, but Robin decided to follow up, lunging in to get a couple of free hits in. Lily felt the stinging of the blade hitting her flesh, and quickly picked up a guard, constantly blocking Robin's blade with her own. Wooden clacks echoing through the area. Lily dashed under one of her swings, spinning and landing two hits while twirling on her toes. But Robin quickly swung to the side, turning on her heels instead of toes. The hit was hard enough to send Lily onto her back in the center of the circle.
Robin allowed Lily to stand, getting back into form before they both dashed at each other. Lily swung low to hit Robin in the stomach, but Robin swung and sharply stuck on the side of her neck. Nearly instantly causing it to welt and bruise. She didn't hit anywhere as hard as Morgan did... but it felt like Robin was whittling her down with hits at the exact moment she wouldn't want one... She took every opportunity to strike, waiting patiently for each one to show itself. Robin's face showed incredible focus, just glaring at Lily's body motions like a hawk. Lily was forced to take the defensive once again.
Robin stood completely motionless, blade ready to strike, but not reaching out for a blow. Lily began to dance with her feet, taking any opportunity to dash or sidestep just in case Robin comes after her, since two can play at that game... but it just didn't happen. Robin waited to strike and it felt like she'd be here for an eternity unless she take the risk. Lily gulped, dashing in to strike. But as soon as she did, Robin lunged in as well, striking her firmly in the stomach hard enough to cause the air to escape her lungs. She groaned and tried to shift her weight back to escape, but her legs slipped from the constant forward momentum. Taking the full blow and just backing away normally instead.
Robin jumped on that opportunity, Dashing in and landing more and more blows onto Lily. She got more focused and began swaying her body, hoping to land some hits, but the swings were so relentless that ant hit she landed was too light, so he was forced to back away... She backed away more and more, and suddenly Robin stopped attacking. Lily stood there confused for just a brief second before looking down...
Her leg stepped over the line, She just lost. Lily sighed, looking at the floor disappointed, before Robin took her hand and smiled at her. “You did much better than I expected.. But don't ever feel like you can't improve on what you have so far. As soon as you think you're done, you've given up on learning.” Lily smiled at that, shaking her hand gently and quietly giving her a “Thank you.” between her heavy gasps for air. Sienna applauded the both of them as they returned to the nearby bench, Maria getting up and walking back into the ring for the last match along with Morgan.
Morgan smirked a little bit at Maria. “You ready to be 0 and 3, Roth?” Maria just glared at her, quietly responding with “I'm not going to lose again.” Morgan chuckled. “Oh really?” She bemusedly asked. “I learned how to fight against people on the street, so I know what I'm doing. You just picked up a weapon, probably for the first time. There's a reason you're inexperienced.” Maria smirked at that, throwing her sword away, it bouncing a couple of times before sliding to a stop. “You're right, actually. I never used a weapon before,” She said, taking off her jacket and tossing it aside, leaving her in a long sleeved white blouse and a black tie. She loosened the tie and punched her fist into her other palm. Morgan grinned at that, tossing her weapon away as well, balling her fists some.
“Oh... So THAT's how you want to fight, it's your funeral, kid...”
“I am NOT losing again...”
Maria spread her legs wider, dipping down and pulling her fists up to her face. One arm was leading, and the other was pulled farther back, Morgan just had a looser stance, her fists up as well. Lily noticed this and looked over to Sienna. “Is this alright for them to do?” She asked her, Sienna sighed. “Looks like it's going to happen regardless.” Lily looked over and nodded, Robin speaking up to comment. “Maria seems to be using a pugilist's stance. I didn't know she was that type...” Lily commented on that statement. “Is Morgan also using a pugilist style?” Robin shook her head. “I think that's just something a brawler would use...”
Their conversation is cut off as Maria dips in, ducking her head to quickly land a short one two combination into Morgans stomach. Morgan swung at her, but Maria quickly dipped her head backward, swinging another punch at her face. Morgan shook her head, Maria didn't really hit too hard, but her punches had a sting to them and were fast as well. Morgan swings a heavy haymaker upward at Maria, but only glanced her face as she backed off, bouncing on her two feet just a bit to get ready to make another dive. Morgan gestured her to come at her again, and Maria dived in, this time swinging a hook at Morgans face. But Morgan blocks with one arm, squeezing on it so she gets slightly delayed in pulling away and drilling Maria in the side of the face with a wild hooking blow. Maria’s head snaps to one side, before tucking in, swaying her head and landing a hook into her side. It wasn't a super heavy punch, but Maria was trying to wear her stamina down.
Maria was shaken up by how hard that hook was, but honestly it didn't seem like she cared. She grit her teeth as her ears rung, and Morgan took a swing at her stomach. It was like she got hit with a sledgehammer, all the wind bashing out of her stomach, it was actually a hard enough punch to make her briefly lose contact to the ground from it lifting her. Morgan then swung an elbow onto Maria's shoulders, smacking her into the ground, but Maria rolled into it, ducking off to the side and getting recomposed. “Want more?” Morgan asked Maria. Maria chuckled a bit and smirked at her. “Keep trying.” Morgan dove at her, pushing off with her legs and quickly closing the gap, smashing Maria in the side of the face, before Maria began swaying through the punches. She suddenly leaned up and clocked Morgan with an elbow of her own. Morgan growled in pain, rubbing her face as Maria followed it up with four punches into the chest and then the face. Morgan stomped down on Maria's foot, making her grit her teeth and stop her swaying, Drilling her in the side of the head hard enough to knock her down.
Maria rolled over, standing back up and quickly continuing the assault. Slamming a knee into her gut to give her a similar reaction to Morgan's earlier gut punch. Morgan was briefly stunned, and Maria took the opportunity to give a heavy overhead swing, cracking her straight into the jaw. She got knocked for a loop, stumbling around just a bit before shaking her head. The vision of Maria looking blurry as she dashed to continue the onslaught. Landing fast punches into her stomach and rib cage, before landing a leaping hook into her chin, causing her to stumble and fall onto her side. Maria looked like she was backing off, but ran up to slam into Morgan's stomach with a kick while she was on the ground. Hard enough she slid away and coughed loudly from it.
She released a shout of pain as Maria kicked her again and again, Morgan, sick of this grabs her leg on the fifth kick, standing back up and holding her by the leg. Maria gently hopped backward so she couldn't be toppled over. Maria put up a guard, but Morgan just punched straight through it. Smashing her in the face a couple of times before lifting her leg high enough where falling over wasn't an option anymore. Maria fell flat on her back, Morgan diving onto her and beginning to slug her over and over in the face.
Maria grit her teeth as her face got nailed from the same side of her face over and over again. The heavy punches smashing into the side of her, it started to feel kind of wet, and she noticed that she was bleeding out of the mouth, a red stain forming on the gray colored stone underneath. Maria was getting just pummeled on, Lily covered her eyes from how violent this was getting. “They're out of their minds, someone needs to stop this!” Sienna sighed, it was a cringe worthy sight, but she still wasn't sure she could stop this without causing a huge rift on day one. She replies to Lily. “I'll stop if it goes too far... I promise.”
Maria was still getting drilled, but her head was starting to get fuzzy. The only sound she was hearing was the ringing, and the pain slowly dulled into a numbness. Her vision began to tunnel.. Right on Morgan's angry face. Maria suddenly snapped back into consciousness, blocking her punch with on arm and gripping firmly onto Morgan's head. Shouting loudly and smashing her head right into Morgan's. Morgan shouted in pain as Maria lurched back and started slamming her head over and over into Morgan's skull. The dull thud sound was horrible to hear, and both were shouting in pain, but Maria wanted Morgan to get the hell off, so she just smashed her head into hers over and over. The pain was still dull, but she could feel her head rattle with every heavy hit. Morgan finally backed away, rubbing her head from just the sheer amount of pain that was. Maria, felt her legs quiver. Those headbutts hurt her way more than it did Morgan, but she got off and that's all that Matters.
Morgan suddenly looked shocked, Maria looked at her confused until she lost sight in one eye, she groaned and started rubbing it to see again. Once she pulled her sleeve away, she noticed it was now soaked with fresh blood. She was busted wide open from all those headbutts and the warm, wet substance began to pour in a crimson mask over the rest of her face. Morgan commented, still surprised but not wavering in confidence. “Damn, Roth... You're not afraid of anything are you?” Maria took a couple of breaths before shouting back at Morgan. “I. AM NOT. LOSING!” Maria lifted her hands over her face, sliding up it to wipe all the blood off at once. Her bangs being pulled back to reveal the huge gash right in the center of her head, her face still looking kind of red from the leftover blood, she clenched her blood soaked fists and gestured Morgan to come at her again.
Morgan dove in, slamming a punch into her stomach. Maria coughed up another large amount of blood and began to stumble. Morgan landing more and more punches to her face, sides and stomach to cause her to waver, but not fall. Maria swung wildly at the air, missing more and more as Morgan piled on the punches. Maria got more desperate, her swings getting heavier and wider until she hit a strike against Morgan. She turned her body toward her, she realized that she couldn't go on the defensive anymore. She felt her body beginning to give up on her and she needed to get Morgan down before she ran out of energy. She took Morgans punch, before returning her own. She no longer backed away from Morgan, instead leaning into the punches so she had a shorter swinging arc.
Morgan began beating down on Maria, but Maria would trade a punch for every single one Morgan gave, before it literally turned into them just standing in the middle of the circle, trading hooks back and fourth. Morgan would slam Maria, Maria would drill Morgan,this would go back and fourth over and over again. Morgan beginning to bleed from the mouth as well, but much less blood than the red fountain Maria became. Maria leaned even more into the punches, pressing her body so close to Morgan's that they touched, smacking her in the jaw with one hand, and the side in the other. Morgan pushed back against her and returned her own punches, before pushing Maria away. Maria stumbled back to near the edge of the circle, stopping just before it so she couldn’t fall over.
Morgan backed up to the other side, panting deeply from all the punches they were trading. “Sorry kid.. it's over.” She said, lunging down to dash in, ready to strike Maria and knock her out of the circle. But Maria met Morgan with a surprise. Leaping up just high enough to smash her knee right into Morgans chin. It was such a huge hit that it almost like Maria just kicked her head off. She ran into that with ALL of her momentum, along with Maria's jumping momentum just caused a train wreck of a hit. Morgan shouted in pain, standing up and gripping her face from just being absorbed by how much that hurt. Maria shouted at her. “I WILL NOT LOSE!” She said, diving in to land hooks left and right on Morgan's face. Her head swaying left and right with little resistance to Maria's tired, but passionate punches. Maria felt like she was on the brink of passing out as well, but she needed to hold on for as long as she could. She just swing left, then right, and then left again. Just constantly barraging her with punches, Morgan slowly backing away, but she wasn't focused enough to reposition.
Maria ducked down very low, before leaping up and slamming a huge uppercut into Morgans already damaged jaw. She got sent slightly upward before falling back like a cut down tree, smacking into the ground... and just outside of the circle. Maria noticed this, gasping in shock and then raising her fist into the air. Leaning her head to one side to spit a bunch of the blood out of her mouth.. It tasted like copper and it was awful. She turned away, slowly stumbling back to the bench, before taking a seat on it and lurching over, breathing shallow, pained breaths.
“That was viscous...” Lily muttered, surprised by how savage and out of control that fight just got. “Maria... Are you out of your mind?” She wondered. Maria couldn't talk, just breathe in sharply. Sienna walked over to Morgan, who was slowly getting up. She actually wasn't in as bad of a condition. She just walked over while holing her head, looking down at Maria's hunched over form and sighing. “You are possibly the most insane person I've ever met, kid... But you at least know how to kick some ass..” She said, walking away from the whole group.
Sienna went after her, trying to get her to stop. “Wait, you're both hurt! We need to get you to the physicians and healers..” Morgan looked back at Sienna, shaking her head. “I'll go see them when I think I need it. Take your sister there right now, Crazy girl needs it..” She said, slowly leaving. Robin helped Maria up onto her feet, as she lost all of her strength, Lily pulling Maria's arm over her shoulder, Robin grabbing the other as her feet slid along the ground. Sienna started to walk with them.
“Well... When we get Maria to the nurse, I'll start making notes about what you guys need practice at.” Lily nodded and sighed. “Sienna..?” She said, Sienna replying. “Yeah...?” Lily looked down at the floor, looking visibly upset. “Maria's different...” She stated, her voice somber and a bit upset. Is this what the death of her parents turned her into? She's nothing like she used to be, and it was actually a bit frighting to see her teenage friend only a couple of years later not even caring if she spilled blood all over the place just to win a petty fight. Sienna nodded, and gently rubbed Lily on the top of her head. “Yeah... She's nothing like I remember. But she has you and me in her life again... Maybe she can get better.” She acknowledged, finally getting to the office, stopping just before they head in. Lily sighed, looking at the bloody pulp Maria turned into, and then looked at the automatic doors of the clinic. “I hope so...” Lily said, still unsure of herself.
“We can do it, together.” Sienna affirmed, the door swinging open and both of them walking inside with Maria, as Robin turned to head back to the dorm.
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