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| No answer is ever solved without bloodshed |
Act 2 Prologue 2: Blood
The lights of the small arena dimmed, leaving the spotlights to light the ring in the center, it's mat was blue, with red ropes and white turnbuckles and ring posts. The crowd was nearly a thousand people sat along the seats surrounding it. A woman in a red hooded jacket put her hands into her pockets as she stood just before a small flight of stairs and a curtain. She was lightly shadowboxing the air as a man stood beside her, handing her a bottle of water so she could take a sip from it.
“Alright, Weasel. This is the last fight, you've been at it for a whole week and the prize money is on the line.” He said to her, hoping to hype her up a bit. The girl peered her hood up a bit to glare at him with her sharp red eyes. “It's been 6 months since I joined the club, Ritters... Why do you still call me weasel?” She asked, he just chuckled and patted her on the shoulder some. “Oh come on, it's a good nickname!” He said with enthusiasm, Maria just sighed a bit, leaning down to adjust her gloves some more, before he lightly shoved her over to the stairs. “Your fight is up, Weasel... Go get em!” He shouted, Maria nodding and climbing up the stairs, bouncing on her feet some as she swung the curtains open with both of her arms.
A lone spotlight shined on her, some boring metal music she picked out earlier began to play as she started to shadow box at the top of the ramp. “For the Riverside Amateur Featherweight division 3rd place prize... Our first competitor!” Maria raised a fist as he continued announcing her, her red vinyl hoodie kind of covered her eyes but it was a straight shot to the ring, she couldn't mess this up if she tried. Her coach slowly walked behind her, slightly out of the spotlight.
“Hailing from Riverside city, Rosewall... ” He continued, Maria punching the air some more as she broke out into a dash, the spotlight tracking her with a slight delay in reaction as she took a leap up to the ring post, pulling her hood down and letting her shoulder length messy hair rest on her collar. “Maria 'Battle Weasel' Roth!” He shouted with enthusiasm, the crowd giving a fairly big cheer with some intermixed boos. Maria just glared back and growled at Ritters. “You changed my nickname!? I was supposed to be 'The Spider!' ” She shouted, the music too loud for any of the crowd to hear her. “Things happen, Maria!” He said, not even sorry. Maria just sighed and slid into the ring for her opponent to arrive.
The lights changed from the reddish white lights to a purple color of lights along with some cheesy radio guitar rock started to play as the curtain opened on the other side of the arena. A fair skinned, black haired girl that was tightly tied into a ponytail. Her coach walking behind her was a rotund man, balding with a black ponytail on what little hair he had left as the announcer rang in once again over the loudspeakers.
“And now our second competitor... From Cherry Springs, Rosewall.” The voice echoed, the referee quietly getting in the ring around the same time the girl climbed up the stairs and slid in between the ropes. “Braith 'Black Cat' Dogwood!” The crowd cheered for her a little more than they cheered for Maria, though she had no idea why, maybe her fights were more entertaining than Maria's were. It was a rookies only tournament after all.
Braith didn't wear any fancy ring gear like Maria did, since she got the hoodie from Jonah. Maria pulled her coat off and gently folded it before handing to her instructor. Maria and Braith were wearing similar fight gear, a pair of slightly padded gloves with bare feet and leg wraps, a small tanktop like outfit for flexibility and a pair of shorts, though hers was tighter and Maria's looked kind of baggy. Her theme music ended as an announcer grabbed a mic that descended from the top of the arena.
“We welcome you to the penultimate match, the one that decides which person is going to take a seat on that podium and which one is going to go home falling just short!” He said to the crowd with his entertainingly baritone voice. He was in a black tuxedo with his hair slicked back that Maria wasn't sure where the hair ended and the grease began. “In the blue corner, wearing the red trunks with black trim...” He said, pointing an open hand to Maria in her crimson and black gear. Maria lightly bounced on her toes, swinging a couple of punches.
“Standing at 5'2 and weighing in at 124 pounds... She is a freestyle boxer with a record of 4 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw, all which were earned of this 3 week tournament, even if she's only 16 years old. Maria Roth!” He shouted, Maria lowering her head and pumping her fist in the air as her coach reached up to help put her mouthguard in, just making sure all of her teeth don't fly through her nose if she gets kicked too hard. “And in the red corner... With the black trunks and silver trim..” He continued, the girl folding her arms and quietly watching him as he talked.
“Standing in at 5'4 and weighing in at 126 pounds... She is a hapkido practitioner with a record of 5 wins... 2 losses, all of her wins have been by knock out. Braith Dogwood” He shouted loud enough for some feedback to ring through the speakers, this made Maria cringe some and rub one of her ears from pain. The announcer cleared his throat, tapping the mic a couple of times so it would stop. “This fight will be for five sets of 3 minute rounds. Not being able to defend yourself, being knocked out 3 times in one round, and tapping during a submission will result in your loss.” He explained the rules of the match, Maria slowly stepping back against her corner, leaning into it and feeling the squeak of the ropes stretching against her.
“There will be no eye gouging, no groin shots, no elbow strikes and no kicks to the head while on the ground, This fight will start when you are both ready.” He said, Braith nodding and walking back into her corner for the bell to ring and signal the fight. It quickly did, Braith walking up holding out her fist as she put in her own mouthpiece in. “Good luck, Combat Weasel.” She said, Maria walked up and bumped gloves with her. “Okay, seriously. My nickname wasn't combat weasel.” Maria corrected, Braith just smirking some as she raised her fists to her face. Maria entered a combat stance and lifted onto her toes.
Maria lightly tried to gauge the distance with some light jabs, but Braith instantly swung a roundhouse kick straight to her head. Maria dipped underneath it swiftly, she was still recovering from the kick as Maria dove in to punch her in the face. She groaned, tilting her head off to one side to soften the blow, blocking Maria's second hit to punch her firmly in the stomach. Maria winced, before swinging her leg to smack into her stomach with a loud snap. This made her step back, before leaping onto one foot and cracking Maria in the side of the head like a whip.
Maria shook it off, another kick coming to smash into Maria's shoulder, she grabbed the leg and pushed up so she could land an uppercut, completely ignoring her poor block, before swinging her arm to uppercut her knee as well. Braith shouted in pain as she felt her leg buckle, she lifted her other leg to Maria's chest, pushing off with a kick to land a swift backflip back to her feet. The amount of force required pushed Maria against the ropes. She rebounded, pulling her fist back for a huge punch.
She spun for a spinning back kick to hope and cash in on Maria's momentum, but Maria was really throwing a faint, quickly ducking the kick and punching her in the rib cage with a loud smack. Braith stumbled and fell onto her back. She stumbled to get her hands and legs in a position so she could stand back up. But Maria dove quickly over her legs to land a smashing punch right on her jaw as she pounced on top of her. This caused a big splatter of blood on the mat as her nose started bleeding
She growled a bit, Looking at Maria as she attempted some mounted punches, she caught Maria's fist and spun around, throwing Maria on her side and twisting her wrist to attempt a joint lock. The crowd began to cheer for them both as the fight was quickly turning into a slugfest. Maria spun using her legs to stop her wrist from being twisted, before hand springing back to her feet. Maria kicked Braith on the arm, forcing her to release the wrist and slowly stand back up to her feet.
“Not bad...” Braith said with a smile, lightly wiping off the blood leaking from her nose with her wrist. “Anything to stop you kicking me in the face again.” Maria replied, about to swing another punch as a loud siren began to go off in the distance. Suddenly, all of the lights in the Arena turned back on, removing the spotlight effect in the fighting ring as the crowd began to boo. “I know that sound...” Maria muttered, The ref raising his hands as the bell rung. “Unfortunately this event has to be delayed.” He said, as the doors swung open.
“Unfortunately missy that seems to be the curtain call.” Sebastian said, climbing off of the ropes and looking at Maria. “I'll see you when you get back to the acadmy. Mr. Ritters sighed, getting away from ringside and following the rest of the civilians up the stairs. Maria turned to him, running to the ropes and hanging her hand over it to point at him. “Hey! Come back! I need your car!” She shouted, though he was kind of either too far away to hear her or was ignoring her.
“We're with Spectrum, The area is going to soon be flooded with Riftfallen, we need to get you guys to a nearby shelter!” One of the 6 people from the team of Spectrum members shouted. The crowd was filled with chatter and complaining as they stood up and slowly started to file out of the arena. Maria groaned and pulled out her mouthpiece, as Braith climbed down the ring and slowly walked to the locker room. Maria lowered her brow, leaping over the ropes in one swift leap as she was intent on following her.
“Hey, What are you doing!?” Maria shouted, running after her as Braith walked into the locker room, putting away her fighting gear but leaving her clothes on as she saw Maria following her. “Getting my stuff and leaving. Delays like these happen all the time.” Braith responded, zipping up one bag and opening another to pull out her street clothes. “Please tell me there's gonna be a rematch, I was hoping for the prize...” Maria complained, Braith slung the bag over her shoulder and turned to the shorter fighter. “We'd have to wait for the phone call. Until then, I live 6 miles off.. I should be safe from the Riftfallen if I drive fast enough.” She stated, Maria looking at the floor before looking up at her.
“Uhh... I work for Spectrum, and I think my coach left as well, he's the guy who drove me here. Can you drive me back?” Maria asked, but Braith just looked at her up and down a bit and sighed. “I don't really know you, and I don't want to waste time.” She stated, Maria frowning a little bit as she started to leave the locker room to get dressed elsewhere. “Good luck getting back, kid.” She said, the door closing as she left.
Maria put her own gear in her bag and started to get dressed in her Spectrum outfit while Gale manifested, covering his eyes so he didn't see anything he shouldn't. “Isn't it a little irresponsible of you to be this far away from the academy?” He asked, Maria looking up at him with annoyance as she kept swiftly dressing. “Hey, if I'm on my off hours I can do what I want.” Maria said, getting her pants back on before going to get her shirt back on as well. “Anyway, this was going to be my money for the month.. I'm always just scraping by on handouts.” She complained, the bird nodding his head some as he kept covering his glowing pink eyes with his glowing orange wings.
“Maybe you shouldn't be trying to bend the rules, maybe you wouldn't lose your pay that way.” He responded, Maria growling as she got her jacket back on. “You can look now.” She said, before actually replying. Gale nodded once again, uncovering his eyes and seeing Maria dressed in her black suit, Maroon shirt and black tie, the inverse version of the standard colors that was also available. “I don't bend rules because I want to! The rules are stuffy and written by some old guy who doesn't know what it's like to bust your ass every day.” She complained.
The lights of the small arena dimmed, leaving the spotlights to light the ring in the center, it's mat was blue, with red ropes and white turnbuckles and ring posts. The crowd was nearly a thousand people sat along the seats surrounding it. A woman in a red hooded jacket put her hands into her pockets as she stood just before a small flight of stairs and a curtain. She was lightly shadowboxing the air as a man stood beside her, handing her a bottle of water so she could take a sip from it.
“Alright, Weasel. This is the last fight, you've been at it for a whole week and the prize money is on the line.” He said to her, hoping to hype her up a bit. The girl peered her hood up a bit to glare at him with her sharp red eyes. “It's been 6 months since I joined the club, Ritters... Why do you still call me weasel?” She asked, he just chuckled and patted her on the shoulder some. “Oh come on, it's a good nickname!” He said with enthusiasm, Maria just sighed a bit, leaning down to adjust her gloves some more, before he lightly shoved her over to the stairs. “Your fight is up, Weasel... Go get em!” He shouted, Maria nodding and climbing up the stairs, bouncing on her feet some as she swung the curtains open with both of her arms.
A lone spotlight shined on her, some boring metal music she picked out earlier began to play as she started to shadow box at the top of the ramp. “For the Riverside Amateur Featherweight division 3rd place prize... Our first competitor!” Maria raised a fist as he continued announcing her, her red vinyl hoodie kind of covered her eyes but it was a straight shot to the ring, she couldn't mess this up if she tried. Her coach slowly walked behind her, slightly out of the spotlight.
“Hailing from Riverside city, Rosewall... ” He continued, Maria punching the air some more as she broke out into a dash, the spotlight tracking her with a slight delay in reaction as she took a leap up to the ring post, pulling her hood down and letting her shoulder length messy hair rest on her collar. “Maria 'Battle Weasel' Roth!” He shouted with enthusiasm, the crowd giving a fairly big cheer with some intermixed boos. Maria just glared back and growled at Ritters. “You changed my nickname!? I was supposed to be 'The Spider!' ” She shouted, the music too loud for any of the crowd to hear her. “Things happen, Maria!” He said, not even sorry. Maria just sighed and slid into the ring for her opponent to arrive.
The lights changed from the reddish white lights to a purple color of lights along with some cheesy radio guitar rock started to play as the curtain opened on the other side of the arena. A fair skinned, black haired girl that was tightly tied into a ponytail. Her coach walking behind her was a rotund man, balding with a black ponytail on what little hair he had left as the announcer rang in once again over the loudspeakers.
“And now our second competitor... From Cherry Springs, Rosewall.” The voice echoed, the referee quietly getting in the ring around the same time the girl climbed up the stairs and slid in between the ropes. “Braith 'Black Cat' Dogwood!” The crowd cheered for her a little more than they cheered for Maria, though she had no idea why, maybe her fights were more entertaining than Maria's were. It was a rookies only tournament after all.
Braith didn't wear any fancy ring gear like Maria did, since she got the hoodie from Jonah. Maria pulled her coat off and gently folded it before handing to her instructor. Maria and Braith were wearing similar fight gear, a pair of slightly padded gloves with bare feet and leg wraps, a small tanktop like outfit for flexibility and a pair of shorts, though hers was tighter and Maria's looked kind of baggy. Her theme music ended as an announcer grabbed a mic that descended from the top of the arena.
“We welcome you to the penultimate match, the one that decides which person is going to take a seat on that podium and which one is going to go home falling just short!” He said to the crowd with his entertainingly baritone voice. He was in a black tuxedo with his hair slicked back that Maria wasn't sure where the hair ended and the grease began. “In the blue corner, wearing the red trunks with black trim...” He said, pointing an open hand to Maria in her crimson and black gear. Maria lightly bounced on her toes, swinging a couple of punches.
“Standing at 5'2 and weighing in at 124 pounds... She is a freestyle boxer with a record of 4 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw, all which were earned of this 3 week tournament, even if she's only 16 years old. Maria Roth!” He shouted, Maria lowering her head and pumping her fist in the air as her coach reached up to help put her mouthguard in, just making sure all of her teeth don't fly through her nose if she gets kicked too hard. “And in the red corner... With the black trunks and silver trim..” He continued, the girl folding her arms and quietly watching him as he talked.
“Standing in at 5'4 and weighing in at 126 pounds... She is a hapkido practitioner with a record of 5 wins... 2 losses, all of her wins have been by knock out. Braith Dogwood” He shouted loud enough for some feedback to ring through the speakers, this made Maria cringe some and rub one of her ears from pain. The announcer cleared his throat, tapping the mic a couple of times so it would stop. “This fight will be for five sets of 3 minute rounds. Not being able to defend yourself, being knocked out 3 times in one round, and tapping during a submission will result in your loss.” He explained the rules of the match, Maria slowly stepping back against her corner, leaning into it and feeling the squeak of the ropes stretching against her.
“There will be no eye gouging, no groin shots, no elbow strikes and no kicks to the head while on the ground, This fight will start when you are both ready.” He said, Braith nodding and walking back into her corner for the bell to ring and signal the fight. It quickly did, Braith walking up holding out her fist as she put in her own mouthpiece in. “Good luck, Combat Weasel.” She said, Maria walked up and bumped gloves with her. “Okay, seriously. My nickname wasn't combat weasel.” Maria corrected, Braith just smirking some as she raised her fists to her face. Maria entered a combat stance and lifted onto her toes.
Maria lightly tried to gauge the distance with some light jabs, but Braith instantly swung a roundhouse kick straight to her head. Maria dipped underneath it swiftly, she was still recovering from the kick as Maria dove in to punch her in the face. She groaned, tilting her head off to one side to soften the blow, blocking Maria's second hit to punch her firmly in the stomach. Maria winced, before swinging her leg to smack into her stomach with a loud snap. This made her step back, before leaping onto one foot and cracking Maria in the side of the head like a whip.
Maria shook it off, another kick coming to smash into Maria's shoulder, she grabbed the leg and pushed up so she could land an uppercut, completely ignoring her poor block, before swinging her arm to uppercut her knee as well. Braith shouted in pain as she felt her leg buckle, she lifted her other leg to Maria's chest, pushing off with a kick to land a swift backflip back to her feet. The amount of force required pushed Maria against the ropes. She rebounded, pulling her fist back for a huge punch.
She spun for a spinning back kick to hope and cash in on Maria's momentum, but Maria was really throwing a faint, quickly ducking the kick and punching her in the rib cage with a loud smack. Braith stumbled and fell onto her back. She stumbled to get her hands and legs in a position so she could stand back up. But Maria dove quickly over her legs to land a smashing punch right on her jaw as she pounced on top of her. This caused a big splatter of blood on the mat as her nose started bleeding
She growled a bit, Looking at Maria as she attempted some mounted punches, she caught Maria's fist and spun around, throwing Maria on her side and twisting her wrist to attempt a joint lock. The crowd began to cheer for them both as the fight was quickly turning into a slugfest. Maria spun using her legs to stop her wrist from being twisted, before hand springing back to her feet. Maria kicked Braith on the arm, forcing her to release the wrist and slowly stand back up to her feet.
“Not bad...” Braith said with a smile, lightly wiping off the blood leaking from her nose with her wrist. “Anything to stop you kicking me in the face again.” Maria replied, about to swing another punch as a loud siren began to go off in the distance. Suddenly, all of the lights in the Arena turned back on, removing the spotlight effect in the fighting ring as the crowd began to boo. “I know that sound...” Maria muttered, The ref raising his hands as the bell rung. “Unfortunately this event has to be delayed.” He said, as the doors swung open.
“Unfortunately missy that seems to be the curtain call.” Sebastian said, climbing off of the ropes and looking at Maria. “I'll see you when you get back to the acadmy. Mr. Ritters sighed, getting away from ringside and following the rest of the civilians up the stairs. Maria turned to him, running to the ropes and hanging her hand over it to point at him. “Hey! Come back! I need your car!” She shouted, though he was kind of either too far away to hear her or was ignoring her.
“We're with Spectrum, The area is going to soon be flooded with Riftfallen, we need to get you guys to a nearby shelter!” One of the 6 people from the team of Spectrum members shouted. The crowd was filled with chatter and complaining as they stood up and slowly started to file out of the arena. Maria groaned and pulled out her mouthpiece, as Braith climbed down the ring and slowly walked to the locker room. Maria lowered her brow, leaping over the ropes in one swift leap as she was intent on following her.
“Hey, What are you doing!?” Maria shouted, running after her as Braith walked into the locker room, putting away her fighting gear but leaving her clothes on as she saw Maria following her. “Getting my stuff and leaving. Delays like these happen all the time.” Braith responded, zipping up one bag and opening another to pull out her street clothes. “Please tell me there's gonna be a rematch, I was hoping for the prize...” Maria complained, Braith slung the bag over her shoulder and turned to the shorter fighter. “We'd have to wait for the phone call. Until then, I live 6 miles off.. I should be safe from the Riftfallen if I drive fast enough.” She stated, Maria looking at the floor before looking up at her.
“Uhh... I work for Spectrum, and I think my coach left as well, he's the guy who drove me here. Can you drive me back?” Maria asked, but Braith just looked at her up and down a bit and sighed. “I don't really know you, and I don't want to waste time.” She stated, Maria frowning a little bit as she started to leave the locker room to get dressed elsewhere. “Good luck getting back, kid.” She said, the door closing as she left.
Maria put her own gear in her bag and started to get dressed in her Spectrum outfit while Gale manifested, covering his eyes so he didn't see anything he shouldn't. “Isn't it a little irresponsible of you to be this far away from the academy?” He asked, Maria looking up at him with annoyance as she kept swiftly dressing. “Hey, if I'm on my off hours I can do what I want.” Maria said, getting her pants back on before going to get her shirt back on as well. “Anyway, this was going to be my money for the month.. I'm always just scraping by on handouts.” She complained, the bird nodding his head some as he kept covering his glowing pink eyes with his glowing orange wings.
“Maybe you shouldn't be trying to bend the rules, maybe you wouldn't lose your pay that way.” He responded, Maria growling as she got her jacket back on. “You can look now.” She said, before actually replying. Gale nodded once again, uncovering his eyes and seeing Maria dressed in her black suit, Maroon shirt and black tie, the inverse version of the standard colors that was also available. “I don't bend rules because I want to! The rules are stuffy and written by some old guy who doesn't know what it's like to bust your ass every day.” She complained.
Maria started to walk from the locker
room and out the fire exit, looking around the parking garage as she
talked to Gale. It's been nearly 8 months since he's first
manifested, they are still on shaky terms but he tends to be a bit
preachy and likes to act like someone's mom and remind them of all
their responsibilities. Maria halfway questions it's usefulness
except for when it actually becomes useful for a magical bird alarm
clock.
“Just pointing something out, Maria... By the way, it's Lily's birthday today.” He said, trying to remind Maria. Maria looked up and chuckled some as she walked off of the curb she was standing on, finding a bike locked against a rack of bikes. She grabbed the black bike and unlocked it with a key she had in her pocket, meaning it was her bike. “Thanks for reminding me, but I knew already.” Maria said, sitting on the uncomfortable black seat as she looked left and right, slowly starting to pedal it.
It was a kind of shitty bike, it didn't have a gear mechanism and any time she went up a hill she would be in a horrific life and death struggle just to push the goddamn thing. “I hate this bike...” She complained, feeling a sudden wetness on her lip as the wind started to push against it. “But it's really great for exercise.” He replied, floating along with her speed. “I get enough exercise, bird...” Maria complained, pushing the bike as she reached up to wipe off her lip. It was bleeding from the kick to her face just a while ago.
“Just pointing something out, Maria... By the way, it's Lily's birthday today.” He said, trying to remind Maria. Maria looked up and chuckled some as she walked off of the curb she was standing on, finding a bike locked against a rack of bikes. She grabbed the black bike and unlocked it with a key she had in her pocket, meaning it was her bike. “Thanks for reminding me, but I knew already.” Maria said, sitting on the uncomfortable black seat as she looked left and right, slowly starting to pedal it.
It was a kind of shitty bike, it didn't have a gear mechanism and any time she went up a hill she would be in a horrific life and death struggle just to push the goddamn thing. “I hate this bike...” She complained, feeling a sudden wetness on her lip as the wind started to push against it. “But it's really great for exercise.” He replied, floating along with her speed. “I get enough exercise, bird...” Maria complained, pushing the bike as she reached up to wipe off her lip. It was bleeding from the kick to her face just a while ago.
“Come on Maria, don't you want thighs
that can push a truck?” He asked her. Maria sighed, pushing a bit
harder as she started to bike up a hill. “No, not really.” She
replied, huffing some as Gale chuckled at her. “Morgan gets a
motorcycle and I get this piece of shit.” Maria complained, Gale
shaking his head as Maria turned a corner to head down another road.
“Don't be ungrateful of what you have, Maria.” He scolded her,
Maria stopping the bike to glare up at him.
“Shut up, Bird-mom.”
“Shut up, Bird-mom.”
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