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| I'm back and schedules will slowly return to normal, thank you everyone who decided to be patient. |
Chapter 13:
Class Act, Part 2.
The smell of charred flesh filled the air as cold vapors of carbon dioxide spew from it's cold, plastic maw. Dousing the flames of hatred and cooling the very air itself in a dense fog akin to the cool nights of the north country. The fog began to settle as it formed a chill down to the very core of your soul, a feeling that was never felt before in the beautiful crimson eyes of the young female...
In actuality, someone just sprayed a fire extinguisher onto the pan of burning meat. “Miss Roth! What is the meaning of this!?” The man holding the fire extinguisher shouted at Maria, currently clad in an apron covering over her chest, it had singe marks on it from being so close to the flame.He was wearing a white double breasted chef's jacket along with a toque draped on his head. He had a huge curly mustache and appeared to be entering his 40's if one could guess.
Maria looked down at the charred remains of her food sitting on the stove, the burns singed away the wallpaper on the back and the smoke was slowly being sucked away by the fume hood. It was probably the only burnt one of the rack of brushed steel stoves lining each side of the wall. “Uhh... The meat didn't act like I thought it was going to...” Maria complained, sounding unsure of herself.
“Well, not only did you mess up your heating element, you've damaged the wall, and the stove itself! Why did you turn it up so high?” He said, his hands on his hips as he expressed indigence for the new recruit. He knew it was her first day, but he didn't expect a disaster as big as hers to show up on recruitment day. “Well Mr. Stevenson... The meat wasn't heating up fast enough and I thought it would help.” She explained meekly, trying to shrug off the stares of other students who looked at her in fear.
“...And you didn't warm the pan up first?” He asked, confused by how she decided to even join advanced cooking when she didn't even know that very basic thing. “Well... I didn't think you'd have to. I turned on the burner, put the oil in and tried to cook the meat like you asked me to.” Maria said, trying to justify her actions to the instructor.
“And yet you turned the burner all the way up, igniting the oil.” He chastised, Maria sighing a bit and looking at the charcoal that was her meat. “Yeah I friggen know already.. I tried to put it out, though!” She complained, but he wasnt hearing any of it and raised his voice. “YOU CAUSED AN EXPLOSION BY THROWING WATER ON IT!” He shouted, Maria blinking and raising a finger as she spoke. “Actually, I think it was a conflagration.” Maria observed, but that seemed to just enrage the cooking instructor even more.
“I don't care about semantics, You lit a bunch of things on fire!” He declared, but Maria started to grow annoyed, furrowing her brow as she glared at him. “Look man, it's mostly wallpaper damage. I'll clean up and we can reset the te-” The sprinklers spraying the entire classroom cut her off, quickly getting her and everyone else wet and just made Maria even more unhappy. “...Damn it.” She commented, looking up at him and placing her hand onto the now wet stove.
“You're going to have to pay for both the fire AND the water damage, by the way.” He explained, but Maria just pulled her thin lips into an even bigger frown. “Look, Miss Roth, maybe advanced cooking isn't for you.” He observed, Maria quickly pulled her apron off and stuffed it to his chest, making him quickly grab onto it and jerk back as she turned to walk away out of the classroom. “Fine, I concede.” She admitted, closing the door behind her as Cassandra chased after her out of the door, Maria started walking down the white and red colored halls as the white haired girl caught up to her. “Oh don't worry, Maria... There's always regular cooking!” She said, trying to cheer her up.
“I'm not sure I'd be allowed anywhere near a stove while I'm still here.” Maria commented as she walked up to her own locker, twisting the combination and popping it open to pull out the schedule for other elective classes. “I guess that could be a problem...” Cassandra commented, Maria waiting for some students to pass before pulling it open and reading it over. “Do you know what other hobbies do you have that you could turn into a class to join?” She asked, Maria slipping through the pages. “You know, I didn't realize I didn't have any interesting hobbies until just now...” Maria admitted from embarrassment, looking away and flipping the next page as she kept looking at classes she wasn't interested in.
“Hmm.. Maybe just pick a random one and hope for the best?” Cassandra suggested as they continued to walk one of the long hallways, Maria stopped walking as she inspected one club opening that she recognized. “Those assholes who grabbed your hair... What club did they say they were going back to?” Maria asked with curiosity and an agenda, Cassandra looking at her concerned as Maria kept glossing through the pages.
“Why? Isn't that whole ordeal over now...?” Cassandra questioned, wondering what Maria was planning on going to do. But Maria just looked up at her with a pretty serious glare on her face. “I need to go and talk to them in private.” Maria said somewhat menacingly, but Cassandra gently shook her head. “It was the fighting club, but... couldn't we just report them to faculty? They'll get an indictment, or something.” She countered to try and dissuade Maria for whatever she was going to do. Maria just shook her head as she slid her hand along the pages of the book until they stopped at the fighting club. “Unfortunately for you, I made up my mind already.” Maria commented, closing the book and tucking it under one arm as she broke out into a jog and starting to outpace Cassandra's walking.
“Wait! Come back..!” Cassandra shouted at her, but by the time she called out, Maria was already lost in the crowd of students crossing between classrooms. “Don't do anything crazy...” She said in defeat, clearly quiet enough for Maria to not even hear her. Though she just assumed Maria was going to ignore her anyway.
Maria went down the stairs to the room the fight club was being held, a fairly large room on the first floor with a sign on it that said 1-08. She grabbed the door and twisted it open to find a pretty large facility. The floors were made of polished wood, with blue mats resting on it for sparring or working out, on one side was what appeared to be a full boxing ring. There were students in rows jumping rope, along with an older man in his 40's punching and kicking on a heavy sandbag to practice various different combos. When the door swung open and smacked into the wall behind Maria, He looked at her with a big goofy grin.
“Well hello there! Welcome to my special fighting club... for fighting!” He said through a thick accent. He might have been from Ingrand, the country to the south which was known for being... lively to say the least. The semi-old man walked up to the short grumpy teen, hands on his hips as he looked down at her. “What brings you here?” He asked, Maria glancing around the room to see that girl she confronted earlier, but not seeing her just yet. She might be in a different area, since it was a pretty large gym.
“I'm looking to join your fighting club.” Maria stated calmly, the guy kept his goofy grin as he walked to her and placed a hand on her shoulder and pushing her forward just a bit. “Oh, then you should pay close attention to what I'm gonna tell you!” He said, not being able to keep his voice below shouting level.
“Back in my day, I was a bouncer at a club! Then I became a boxer and punched a lot of ass! Then I joined Spectrum and kicked a lot of ass! Now I'm here, Teaching people how to hit people in the ass.” He explained, leaving Maria completely confused. “Uhh... I'm not sure that helped me.” She trailed off, not exactly sure what he wanted to hear. He walked in front of her and crossed his arms. “Well I'll give you the simple version.” He said, preparing to explain, his hair was shaved completely bald to possibly cover up the fact he had a receding hairline, he had tanned skin and a blonde stubble on his face to match his light hair color.
“This is a club for ass kickers, a club made for ass kickers to fight other ass kickers when we're not fighting Rift Fallen. If you wish to join, I'll get the papers and sign you up, but then we'd need to begin initiation.” He said, walking away from her and heading to another door, but not before turning to face a random man who was just standing and watching the scene going on. “Two hundred push-ups, Jeffery!” He demanded in a surprisingly commanding voice. Jeffery sheepishly nodded and dropped to his stomach to start doing push ups as the strange man closed the door behind him to grab paperwork.
“Yeah... Sebastian is weird, he knows a thing or two about fighting though.” A girl commented behind Maria, who quickly spun around to come across a familiar face. It was Morgan, sporting a black eye, her black hair in a shoulder length mess and strapped into a rough ponytail. “Morgan, why are you here?”
Morgan slung her backpack over one shoulder and grinned at the shorter girl. “Oh, as soon as I heard this club was an elective I joined pretty much immediately. If you were going to join, what took you so long?” Morgan asked her, giving a yawn and stretching as Maria replied. “I went to the cooking club and they asked me to cook up a streak; I made fire instead.” She said sheepishly, crossing her arms. Morgan gave a chuckle to that and patted her on the shoulder. “Eh... Cooking was never my thing, either.” She said to try and console Maria for her massive failure, but Maria lightly pulled her hand off of her shoulder and looked up at her.
“Off topic, I know. But why did Lily attack you?” Maria asked from nowhere, Morgan sighed and looked at the floor for a second while Maria continued to stare her right in the face. “I just.. hate the types who have the potential to help people out and just squander it. Maybe it was just an assumption on my part.” Morgan replied rationally, as Maria reached up to stroke her own chin.
“But you don't really know if Lily is that type or not.” Maria replied honestly, Morgan putting her hands on her hips as they stood across from each other, just in front of the door so no one could hear them. “That's a possibility, but when you're the daughter of a mysterious dude who runs a conglomerate you kind of make the assumption she's been groomed to his agenda...” She stated, Maria glaring up at her and sighing. “Look, I've been her friend for like.. 7 years now, She isn't like that.” Maria contested, not actually raising her voice for an argument once in her life.
“I need time, Maria. Don't force us to reconcile just because you don't like it.” Morgan replied firmly, Maria looked away as instructor Sebastian came back into the room with a clipboard and pen in one hand, spinning it around and handing it to Maria. She started to quietly observe it as he spoke. “You'll need to sign these papers, it's pretty much telling the school board that you're okay with people caving your face in with hilariously hard kicks.” He explained, Maria just looking dumbfounded when she stared up at him, hand grabbing at the pen while she just felt the wave of confusion wash over her.
“...Excuse me?” Maria said incredulously, Sebastian placing his hand on his hips and giving a hearty laugh. “It's a fight club! You're supposed to get kicked in the face.”
The smell of charred flesh filled the air as cold vapors of carbon dioxide spew from it's cold, plastic maw. Dousing the flames of hatred and cooling the very air itself in a dense fog akin to the cool nights of the north country. The fog began to settle as it formed a chill down to the very core of your soul, a feeling that was never felt before in the beautiful crimson eyes of the young female...
In actuality, someone just sprayed a fire extinguisher onto the pan of burning meat. “Miss Roth! What is the meaning of this!?” The man holding the fire extinguisher shouted at Maria, currently clad in an apron covering over her chest, it had singe marks on it from being so close to the flame.He was wearing a white double breasted chef's jacket along with a toque draped on his head. He had a huge curly mustache and appeared to be entering his 40's if one could guess.
Maria looked down at the charred remains of her food sitting on the stove, the burns singed away the wallpaper on the back and the smoke was slowly being sucked away by the fume hood. It was probably the only burnt one of the rack of brushed steel stoves lining each side of the wall. “Uhh... The meat didn't act like I thought it was going to...” Maria complained, sounding unsure of herself.
“Well, not only did you mess up your heating element, you've damaged the wall, and the stove itself! Why did you turn it up so high?” He said, his hands on his hips as he expressed indigence for the new recruit. He knew it was her first day, but he didn't expect a disaster as big as hers to show up on recruitment day. “Well Mr. Stevenson... The meat wasn't heating up fast enough and I thought it would help.” She explained meekly, trying to shrug off the stares of other students who looked at her in fear.
“...And you didn't warm the pan up first?” He asked, confused by how she decided to even join advanced cooking when she didn't even know that very basic thing. “Well... I didn't think you'd have to. I turned on the burner, put the oil in and tried to cook the meat like you asked me to.” Maria said, trying to justify her actions to the instructor.
“And yet you turned the burner all the way up, igniting the oil.” He chastised, Maria sighing a bit and looking at the charcoal that was her meat. “Yeah I friggen know already.. I tried to put it out, though!” She complained, but he wasnt hearing any of it and raised his voice. “YOU CAUSED AN EXPLOSION BY THROWING WATER ON IT!” He shouted, Maria blinking and raising a finger as she spoke. “Actually, I think it was a conflagration.” Maria observed, but that seemed to just enrage the cooking instructor even more.
“I don't care about semantics, You lit a bunch of things on fire!” He declared, but Maria started to grow annoyed, furrowing her brow as she glared at him. “Look man, it's mostly wallpaper damage. I'll clean up and we can reset the te-” The sprinklers spraying the entire classroom cut her off, quickly getting her and everyone else wet and just made Maria even more unhappy. “...Damn it.” She commented, looking up at him and placing her hand onto the now wet stove.
“You're going to have to pay for both the fire AND the water damage, by the way.” He explained, but Maria just pulled her thin lips into an even bigger frown. “Look, Miss Roth, maybe advanced cooking isn't for you.” He observed, Maria quickly pulled her apron off and stuffed it to his chest, making him quickly grab onto it and jerk back as she turned to walk away out of the classroom. “Fine, I concede.” She admitted, closing the door behind her as Cassandra chased after her out of the door, Maria started walking down the white and red colored halls as the white haired girl caught up to her. “Oh don't worry, Maria... There's always regular cooking!” She said, trying to cheer her up.
“I'm not sure I'd be allowed anywhere near a stove while I'm still here.” Maria commented as she walked up to her own locker, twisting the combination and popping it open to pull out the schedule for other elective classes. “I guess that could be a problem...” Cassandra commented, Maria waiting for some students to pass before pulling it open and reading it over. “Do you know what other hobbies do you have that you could turn into a class to join?” She asked, Maria slipping through the pages. “You know, I didn't realize I didn't have any interesting hobbies until just now...” Maria admitted from embarrassment, looking away and flipping the next page as she kept looking at classes she wasn't interested in.
“Hmm.. Maybe just pick a random one and hope for the best?” Cassandra suggested as they continued to walk one of the long hallways, Maria stopped walking as she inspected one club opening that she recognized. “Those assholes who grabbed your hair... What club did they say they were going back to?” Maria asked with curiosity and an agenda, Cassandra looking at her concerned as Maria kept glossing through the pages.
“Why? Isn't that whole ordeal over now...?” Cassandra questioned, wondering what Maria was planning on going to do. But Maria just looked up at her with a pretty serious glare on her face. “I need to go and talk to them in private.” Maria said somewhat menacingly, but Cassandra gently shook her head. “It was the fighting club, but... couldn't we just report them to faculty? They'll get an indictment, or something.” She countered to try and dissuade Maria for whatever she was going to do. Maria just shook her head as she slid her hand along the pages of the book until they stopped at the fighting club. “Unfortunately for you, I made up my mind already.” Maria commented, closing the book and tucking it under one arm as she broke out into a jog and starting to outpace Cassandra's walking.
“Wait! Come back..!” Cassandra shouted at her, but by the time she called out, Maria was already lost in the crowd of students crossing between classrooms. “Don't do anything crazy...” She said in defeat, clearly quiet enough for Maria to not even hear her. Though she just assumed Maria was going to ignore her anyway.
Maria went down the stairs to the room the fight club was being held, a fairly large room on the first floor with a sign on it that said 1-08. She grabbed the door and twisted it open to find a pretty large facility. The floors were made of polished wood, with blue mats resting on it for sparring or working out, on one side was what appeared to be a full boxing ring. There were students in rows jumping rope, along with an older man in his 40's punching and kicking on a heavy sandbag to practice various different combos. When the door swung open and smacked into the wall behind Maria, He looked at her with a big goofy grin.
“Well hello there! Welcome to my special fighting club... for fighting!” He said through a thick accent. He might have been from Ingrand, the country to the south which was known for being... lively to say the least. The semi-old man walked up to the short grumpy teen, hands on his hips as he looked down at her. “What brings you here?” He asked, Maria glancing around the room to see that girl she confronted earlier, but not seeing her just yet. She might be in a different area, since it was a pretty large gym.
“I'm looking to join your fighting club.” Maria stated calmly, the guy kept his goofy grin as he walked to her and placed a hand on her shoulder and pushing her forward just a bit. “Oh, then you should pay close attention to what I'm gonna tell you!” He said, not being able to keep his voice below shouting level.
“Back in my day, I was a bouncer at a club! Then I became a boxer and punched a lot of ass! Then I joined Spectrum and kicked a lot of ass! Now I'm here, Teaching people how to hit people in the ass.” He explained, leaving Maria completely confused. “Uhh... I'm not sure that helped me.” She trailed off, not exactly sure what he wanted to hear. He walked in front of her and crossed his arms. “Well I'll give you the simple version.” He said, preparing to explain, his hair was shaved completely bald to possibly cover up the fact he had a receding hairline, he had tanned skin and a blonde stubble on his face to match his light hair color.
“This is a club for ass kickers, a club made for ass kickers to fight other ass kickers when we're not fighting Rift Fallen. If you wish to join, I'll get the papers and sign you up, but then we'd need to begin initiation.” He said, walking away from her and heading to another door, but not before turning to face a random man who was just standing and watching the scene going on. “Two hundred push-ups, Jeffery!” He demanded in a surprisingly commanding voice. Jeffery sheepishly nodded and dropped to his stomach to start doing push ups as the strange man closed the door behind him to grab paperwork.
“Yeah... Sebastian is weird, he knows a thing or two about fighting though.” A girl commented behind Maria, who quickly spun around to come across a familiar face. It was Morgan, sporting a black eye, her black hair in a shoulder length mess and strapped into a rough ponytail. “Morgan, why are you here?”
Morgan slung her backpack over one shoulder and grinned at the shorter girl. “Oh, as soon as I heard this club was an elective I joined pretty much immediately. If you were going to join, what took you so long?” Morgan asked her, giving a yawn and stretching as Maria replied. “I went to the cooking club and they asked me to cook up a streak; I made fire instead.” She said sheepishly, crossing her arms. Morgan gave a chuckle to that and patted her on the shoulder. “Eh... Cooking was never my thing, either.” She said to try and console Maria for her massive failure, but Maria lightly pulled her hand off of her shoulder and looked up at her.
“Off topic, I know. But why did Lily attack you?” Maria asked from nowhere, Morgan sighed and looked at the floor for a second while Maria continued to stare her right in the face. “I just.. hate the types who have the potential to help people out and just squander it. Maybe it was just an assumption on my part.” Morgan replied rationally, as Maria reached up to stroke her own chin.
“But you don't really know if Lily is that type or not.” Maria replied honestly, Morgan putting her hands on her hips as they stood across from each other, just in front of the door so no one could hear them. “That's a possibility, but when you're the daughter of a mysterious dude who runs a conglomerate you kind of make the assumption she's been groomed to his agenda...” She stated, Maria glaring up at her and sighing. “Look, I've been her friend for like.. 7 years now, She isn't like that.” Maria contested, not actually raising her voice for an argument once in her life.
“I need time, Maria. Don't force us to reconcile just because you don't like it.” Morgan replied firmly, Maria looked away as instructor Sebastian came back into the room with a clipboard and pen in one hand, spinning it around and handing it to Maria. She started to quietly observe it as he spoke. “You'll need to sign these papers, it's pretty much telling the school board that you're okay with people caving your face in with hilariously hard kicks.” He explained, Maria just looking dumbfounded when she stared up at him, hand grabbing at the pen while she just felt the wave of confusion wash over her.
“...Excuse me?” Maria said incredulously, Sebastian placing his hand on his hips and giving a hearty laugh. “It's a fight club! You're supposed to get kicked in the face.”
Maria just blinked and slowly slid her
head back down to look at the contract, a bunch of small print
legalese she didn't even want to bother reading into. “By the way,
Maria. It's pretty true, I got kicked in the face like eight times.”
Morgan chimed in casually, but Maria just stared at her like she'd
just gone mad. “Morgan... You need to get checked for a
concussion.” She said, before popping the cap off of her pen and
quickly signing her name on the dotted line. “I'm in.” She added,
before handing it back to Mr. Ritters. He looked it over, pulling a
small pair of spectacles from his pocket to see the fine print.
“Wow, Ms. Roth... Your hand writing is terrible.” He casually snarked at her, Maria glaring up at him and watching him fold the paper up and setting it aside on a nearby table in quiet annoyance. “I'll process those later,” He said casually, Maria giving him an unblinking stare while he used one of his hands to wipe off his nose, before placing his hands on his hips. “Welcome to the fighting club... What brings you to the ring, Weasel?” He asked matter of factly, Maria lifting a brow and tilting her head slightly from the confusion she had. “...Weasel?” She questioned, He chuckled and pat her on the shoulder. Maria quickly grabbed his hand and lightly pulled it off. “Yeah. You're small and fierce like one of those weasel types! I think it fits perfectly.” He tried to explain, though Maria didn't even want to bother with an argument.
“Yeah... Whatever.” She shrugged it off, crossing her arms over her chest and looking to the floor. “I was uhh... looking to improve my fighting.” She said to try and cover up the fact she wanted to join to call someone out. Sebastian frowned at her and shook his head in disappointment. “Nuh uh, little missy.” He said, bopping her on the head with his hand like she was some kind of dog who just piddled on the carpet. “You didn't look me in the eye, so you're lying.” He deducted with his strange moon logic, Maria stared up at him nonplussed as she admitted the truth. “Fine, I want to beat someone up without getting in trouble.” She said with a hint of humiliation in her voice.
There was a lull in the conversation, before he suddenly made her jump with his loud response. “Good enough to sign up!” He shouted boldly, Maria reaching up to try and quell the ringing in her ears. “Jeeze... Really?” She asked incredulously, not believing that was literally all the reason she could need to join. “Yep, just tell me who's ass you wanna kick and we'll set up a little quickie-fight for the two of you.” He said enthusiastically, Maria blinking a couple of times and looking around. “Is there an 'Elaine' here?” She asked, and instructor Sebastian just pointed to one side.
There stood the girl lightly jumping ropes with quite a bit of finesse. She had caramel colored skin with dark brown chin length hair and sharp green eyes. She probably was taller than Maria but that isn't a surprise to the disgruntled redhead anymore. She was clad in a black tank top and a light white pair of sweat pants and quietly counting to herself as she jumped rope. “Just head over there and challenge her to a fight, she's never said no before this.” He commented, Maria gulping slightly and getting enough resolve to walk up in front of her as she jumped the rope.
“101...102...103..” She muttered with each jump, it was surprising that should keep up with how fast she was skipping, but when she laid eyes on Maria, she stumbled and got tripped up enough to almost stumble. She sighed and balled up the jump rope into one hand before throwing it aside. “Damn it, You threw off my rhythm...” She complained, looking up at the short angry redhead currently glaring daggers at her. “Oh, you're the kid from earlier.” She stated flatly, Maria tilted her head slightly and shook her head. “We're gonna fight.” Maria replied coldly, not really wanting to mince words with the jerk she met earlier.
“You must be pretty brave to follow up on what you said, and you need even more guts to challenge me on home turf.” She commented with a small sense of respect hiding under her disdain.
“Yes or no?” Maria asserted, Elaine snickering a little bit and putting her hands on her own hips. “Wow, you mean business.” She casually mentioned, Maria glaring up at her as she talked. “There has to be something in it for me before I give any of my time, kid. What's it gonna be, Money.. a dare...?” She asked, Maria shrugging her shoulders before replying. “Loser quits the club.” She declared calmly, the girl grinning a bit in her over confidence. “Now we're talking!” She replied with a grin, walking over to the boxing ring and shouting at the redheaded male she was with earlier. “Hey, Eddie! Get me my gloves.” She requested of him, he walked over to a small cupboard and promptly grabbed a pair of padded 6 oz gloves that covered the knuckles with a layer of padding, but allowed the fingers to stay free, along with that pair, he also slung a second pair in for Maria that bounced off her head when they smacked firmly into them with a skilled toss.
“OH YEAH! I love impromptu fights!” Sebastian shouted, quickly running his way into the four sided boxing style ring and getting in between both of them. “Look ladies, if we're gonna do this, we're gonna do it right.” He said, looking between the both of them as Maria slipped her gloves on. She gently punched her own fists to feel their fit, it was slightly loose on her hands but nothing too serious. She took a deep breath to calm her quickened heartbeat while she observed her opponent as she warmed up.
“Wow, Ms. Roth... Your hand writing is terrible.” He casually snarked at her, Maria glaring up at him and watching him fold the paper up and setting it aside on a nearby table in quiet annoyance. “I'll process those later,” He said casually, Maria giving him an unblinking stare while he used one of his hands to wipe off his nose, before placing his hands on his hips. “Welcome to the fighting club... What brings you to the ring, Weasel?” He asked matter of factly, Maria lifting a brow and tilting her head slightly from the confusion she had. “...Weasel?” She questioned, He chuckled and pat her on the shoulder. Maria quickly grabbed his hand and lightly pulled it off. “Yeah. You're small and fierce like one of those weasel types! I think it fits perfectly.” He tried to explain, though Maria didn't even want to bother with an argument.
“Yeah... Whatever.” She shrugged it off, crossing her arms over her chest and looking to the floor. “I was uhh... looking to improve my fighting.” She said to try and cover up the fact she wanted to join to call someone out. Sebastian frowned at her and shook his head in disappointment. “Nuh uh, little missy.” He said, bopping her on the head with his hand like she was some kind of dog who just piddled on the carpet. “You didn't look me in the eye, so you're lying.” He deducted with his strange moon logic, Maria stared up at him nonplussed as she admitted the truth. “Fine, I want to beat someone up without getting in trouble.” She said with a hint of humiliation in her voice.
There was a lull in the conversation, before he suddenly made her jump with his loud response. “Good enough to sign up!” He shouted boldly, Maria reaching up to try and quell the ringing in her ears. “Jeeze... Really?” She asked incredulously, not believing that was literally all the reason she could need to join. “Yep, just tell me who's ass you wanna kick and we'll set up a little quickie-fight for the two of you.” He said enthusiastically, Maria blinking a couple of times and looking around. “Is there an 'Elaine' here?” She asked, and instructor Sebastian just pointed to one side.
There stood the girl lightly jumping ropes with quite a bit of finesse. She had caramel colored skin with dark brown chin length hair and sharp green eyes. She probably was taller than Maria but that isn't a surprise to the disgruntled redhead anymore. She was clad in a black tank top and a light white pair of sweat pants and quietly counting to herself as she jumped rope. “Just head over there and challenge her to a fight, she's never said no before this.” He commented, Maria gulping slightly and getting enough resolve to walk up in front of her as she jumped the rope.
“101...102...103..” She muttered with each jump, it was surprising that should keep up with how fast she was skipping, but when she laid eyes on Maria, she stumbled and got tripped up enough to almost stumble. She sighed and balled up the jump rope into one hand before throwing it aside. “Damn it, You threw off my rhythm...” She complained, looking up at the short angry redhead currently glaring daggers at her. “Oh, you're the kid from earlier.” She stated flatly, Maria tilted her head slightly and shook her head. “We're gonna fight.” Maria replied coldly, not really wanting to mince words with the jerk she met earlier.
“You must be pretty brave to follow up on what you said, and you need even more guts to challenge me on home turf.” She commented with a small sense of respect hiding under her disdain.
“Yes or no?” Maria asserted, Elaine snickering a little bit and putting her hands on her own hips. “Wow, you mean business.” She casually mentioned, Maria glaring up at her as she talked. “There has to be something in it for me before I give any of my time, kid. What's it gonna be, Money.. a dare...?” She asked, Maria shrugging her shoulders before replying. “Loser quits the club.” She declared calmly, the girl grinning a bit in her over confidence. “Now we're talking!” She replied with a grin, walking over to the boxing ring and shouting at the redheaded male she was with earlier. “Hey, Eddie! Get me my gloves.” She requested of him, he walked over to a small cupboard and promptly grabbed a pair of padded 6 oz gloves that covered the knuckles with a layer of padding, but allowed the fingers to stay free, along with that pair, he also slung a second pair in for Maria that bounced off her head when they smacked firmly into them with a skilled toss.
“OH YEAH! I love impromptu fights!” Sebastian shouted, quickly running his way into the four sided boxing style ring and getting in between both of them. “Look ladies, if we're gonna do this, we're gonna do it right.” He said, looking between the both of them as Maria slipped her gloves on. She gently punched her own fists to feel their fit, it was slightly loose on her hands but nothing too serious. She took a deep breath to calm her quickened heartbeat while she observed her opponent as she warmed up.
“Alright you two. No elbows, no
headbutting, no hitting the groin, no grabbing the ropes. This will
be for three rounds of 3 minutes. As there are no judges in this
impromptu fight, if this fight finishes at the third round then this
will be considered a draw.” He explained the rules to them both,
they both nodded their heads as he left the ring to stand upon the
apron. “Each side will have a coach for advice and throwing in the
towel if need be, you can win by knocking your opponent out, making
them submit or getting knocked down three times total, if you're down
for 10 seconds without defending yourself, you'll lose.” He
continued, before turning to address the 15 or so people attending
the class that day.
“HEY! WHO WANTS TO BE THE WEASEL'S COACH?” He shouted to all of them, Maria groaned and reared her head back at him to shout. “You dick!” She muttered sharply, and Morgan raised her hand for her.”I'll do it!” She replied with her somewhat deep female voice, climbing up the corner and grabbing the turnbuckle. “Alright, that's good enough for me.” He replied to her demand, turning back and looking at them both. “And... Fight starts with the bell!” He announced, grabbing an electric timer of the small timekeeper table. Along with that, he grabbed a small black hammer used for striking the bell resting just beside it attached to a small chain. The bell rung out nice and clearly as Maria suddenly charged out of her corner.
She shouted and caught Elaine off guard, shoving her to the ropes using her shoulders by spearing her firmly in the stomach. This was enough to make the heavier girl smack into the back of the padded turnbuckle as Maria reared up her punches, spreading her legs and planting firmly into the ground to launch upper cuts at Elaine's face. She growled and swung like a wild animal as Elaine pulled both of her arms up to guard the punches. Her fists smashing into her arms and making both Maria's fists hurt from smacking into the forearms, and the clear bruises on the forearms from the punches making it tender.
She lurched back and planted a boot into Maria's chest, forcing her to backpedal and not fall over, as that would count for a down. Elaine reared back for a haymaker, but Maria quickly slipped to one side to deliver a sharp hook to her liver. “That's right, Maria. Be a tiger! LITERALLY BECOME A TIGER!” Morgan shouted at her, but the sentence seemed like complete nonsense as Maria backed away from Elaine to glare at Morgan. “Morgan, what the hell does that even mean!?”
“HEY! WHO WANTS TO BE THE WEASEL'S COACH?” He shouted to all of them, Maria groaned and reared her head back at him to shout. “You dick!” She muttered sharply, and Morgan raised her hand for her.”I'll do it!” She replied with her somewhat deep female voice, climbing up the corner and grabbing the turnbuckle. “Alright, that's good enough for me.” He replied to her demand, turning back and looking at them both. “And... Fight starts with the bell!” He announced, grabbing an electric timer of the small timekeeper table. Along with that, he grabbed a small black hammer used for striking the bell resting just beside it attached to a small chain. The bell rung out nice and clearly as Maria suddenly charged out of her corner.
She shouted and caught Elaine off guard, shoving her to the ropes using her shoulders by spearing her firmly in the stomach. This was enough to make the heavier girl smack into the back of the padded turnbuckle as Maria reared up her punches, spreading her legs and planting firmly into the ground to launch upper cuts at Elaine's face. She growled and swung like a wild animal as Elaine pulled both of her arms up to guard the punches. Her fists smashing into her arms and making both Maria's fists hurt from smacking into the forearms, and the clear bruises on the forearms from the punches making it tender.
She lurched back and planted a boot into Maria's chest, forcing her to backpedal and not fall over, as that would count for a down. Elaine reared back for a haymaker, but Maria quickly slipped to one side to deliver a sharp hook to her liver. “That's right, Maria. Be a tiger! LITERALLY BECOME A TIGER!” Morgan shouted at her, but the sentence seemed like complete nonsense as Maria backed away from Elaine to glare at Morgan. “Morgan, what the hell does that even mean!?”
Maria sighed and turned back to
suddenly get blindsided by a running kick to the jaw by Elaine, her
head feeling like it just nearly got pulled apart by the force, she
got launched forward and landed on her face after sliding a few feet.
“Down!” The instructor shouted, heading back into the ring and
pointing to Maria as she rolled onto his stomach and slowly pushed
herself off the ground, shaking her head as the ringing in her ears
began to fade. “3! ...4! ...5!” He counted roughly each second,
she lightly slipped her finger between her lips and pulled out to
check for blood, but there was none. Before quickly getting back onto
her feet and putting with Elaine's nearly instant dive toward
her.
Maria dipped a right hook and landed some jabs, bouncing on the toes of her dress shoes to try and begin to circle her with jabs, hoping to get her to turn her shoulder and land a straight to the face. She fell for the bait and shifted her feet to turn and face Maria, but predicted the swing and duck it to land a hard body blow to Maria's stomach. Maria groaned as she felt her feet lift slightly off the ground, dropping onto her feet and getting smashed in the side of her head.
She began to stumble off to one side, feeling like she was about to fall before realizing what just happened, planting her foot wide and crouching down to keep standing. Suddenly, Elaine stepped in for an uppercut as Maria leans her head away just fast enough for the glove to only graze her chin and nose. She couldn't even breathe a sigh of relief as Elaine spun her hips to launch a high roundhouse kick at her. Maria deftly grabs the swinging leg and grabs it under her arm, causing it to firmly slam into her side. “Screw you!” She growled and shoved her leg to force her to fall onto her back, Maria collapsing ontop of her and quickly scrambling to land mounted punches to her face.
Maria grabbed her by the head and smashed her dominant hand; her left hand straight into Elaine's face over and over again until a small amount of blood began to spill from her mouth. Suddenly, the bell rung and Mr. Ritters grabbed Maria by the shoulders. “Round's over, cupcake.” He commented, Maria spitting onto the mat underneath her and walking back to her corner, where she see's Morgan awaiting her. “What the hell was with the tiger comment?” Maria asked as she walked back to her corner for the 90 second break. “Well... I was messing with you.” Morgan stated outright, Maria glaring daggers at her as she promptly reached down to pull out a crunchy chocolate candy bar from her pocket and unraveling the wrapper to take a bit out of it. “Mhhh.. Chocolate rice bar.” She said serene by the melty crunch of a cheap vending machine candy bar.
“Really? A chocolate bar?” Maria complained at her, she nodded and glared at her. “Hey, coaches always have chocolate on them, it's tradition.” She argued, but Maria quickly swung and smacked the chocolate bar out of her hand, having it fly through the air and smack on the floor, some of the pieces falling off of it and touching the floor. Morgan looked unamused by this altercation as she glared at Maria. “...I'll resent that.” She replied firmly, before slinging a towel onto her shoulder and leaning up to inspect Maria's face. “How bad are you roughed up?” Morgan asked, Maria shook her head and crossed her arms. “That kick to my face hurt, but I'll live.” She replied, leaning back as Morgan rubbed her shoulders some. “So uhh... advice on how to beat her in under 2 rounds?” Maria asked, Morgan looking up at her and watching her talk to Eddie.
“Well... She has the reach and power advantage, but if you stay REALLY close, she can't use her full swings anymore.” Morgan observed, Maria nodding and standing back up to get ready for the next round. “And don't forget to be crazy.” She added as Maria walked back to the center as a student got ready to ring the bell. “Don't worry, I'm always crazy.” Maria commented jokingly as the bell rung. Elaine charged out of the gates for Maria but she responded by quickly ducking her punch and landing her own cross-counter at Elaine's full running speed, drilling her in the jaw and forcing her onto her knees as she slid onto her back. “Down!” Sebastian shouted as she looked at her spilled on the floor.
Maria dipped a right hook and landed some jabs, bouncing on the toes of her dress shoes to try and begin to circle her with jabs, hoping to get her to turn her shoulder and land a straight to the face. She fell for the bait and shifted her feet to turn and face Maria, but predicted the swing and duck it to land a hard body blow to Maria's stomach. Maria groaned as she felt her feet lift slightly off the ground, dropping onto her feet and getting smashed in the side of her head.
She began to stumble off to one side, feeling like she was about to fall before realizing what just happened, planting her foot wide and crouching down to keep standing. Suddenly, Elaine stepped in for an uppercut as Maria leans her head away just fast enough for the glove to only graze her chin and nose. She couldn't even breathe a sigh of relief as Elaine spun her hips to launch a high roundhouse kick at her. Maria deftly grabs the swinging leg and grabs it under her arm, causing it to firmly slam into her side. “Screw you!” She growled and shoved her leg to force her to fall onto her back, Maria collapsing ontop of her and quickly scrambling to land mounted punches to her face.
Maria grabbed her by the head and smashed her dominant hand; her left hand straight into Elaine's face over and over again until a small amount of blood began to spill from her mouth. Suddenly, the bell rung and Mr. Ritters grabbed Maria by the shoulders. “Round's over, cupcake.” He commented, Maria spitting onto the mat underneath her and walking back to her corner, where she see's Morgan awaiting her. “What the hell was with the tiger comment?” Maria asked as she walked back to her corner for the 90 second break. “Well... I was messing with you.” Morgan stated outright, Maria glaring daggers at her as she promptly reached down to pull out a crunchy chocolate candy bar from her pocket and unraveling the wrapper to take a bit out of it. “Mhhh.. Chocolate rice bar.” She said serene by the melty crunch of a cheap vending machine candy bar.
“Really? A chocolate bar?” Maria complained at her, she nodded and glared at her. “Hey, coaches always have chocolate on them, it's tradition.” She argued, but Maria quickly swung and smacked the chocolate bar out of her hand, having it fly through the air and smack on the floor, some of the pieces falling off of it and touching the floor. Morgan looked unamused by this altercation as she glared at Maria. “...I'll resent that.” She replied firmly, before slinging a towel onto her shoulder and leaning up to inspect Maria's face. “How bad are you roughed up?” Morgan asked, Maria shook her head and crossed her arms. “That kick to my face hurt, but I'll live.” She replied, leaning back as Morgan rubbed her shoulders some. “So uhh... advice on how to beat her in under 2 rounds?” Maria asked, Morgan looking up at her and watching her talk to Eddie.
“Well... She has the reach and power advantage, but if you stay REALLY close, she can't use her full swings anymore.” Morgan observed, Maria nodding and standing back up to get ready for the next round. “And don't forget to be crazy.” She added as Maria walked back to the center as a student got ready to ring the bell. “Don't worry, I'm always crazy.” Maria commented jokingly as the bell rung. Elaine charged out of the gates for Maria but she responded by quickly ducking her punch and landing her own cross-counter at Elaine's full running speed, drilling her in the jaw and forcing her onto her knees as she slid onto her back. “Down!” Sebastian shouted as she looked at her spilled on the floor.
Maria
turned her back and was getting ready to lean back against the ropes
to wait until she got up, but before she got there, a sharp pain
started to grow in her right arm. She quickly clutched at her forearm
and doubled over to hiss in pain. The punch she just landed hurt her
arm pretty easily before a suddenly burst of clarity formed in her
head. 'Fuck... It's the wound I got from the exams, It hasn't healed
yet...' she thought to herself, looking down and notices small drops
of blood forming on the clean white bandage.
She started to clutch it as Elaine slowly stood back up, putting her fists back up at the count of 8. “You hit pretty hard for someone your size... But I still hit harder.” She stated to try and taunt Maria, who weakly balled her right hand into a fist while her left one clutched much harder. She has no choice but to swing left punches or else her wound will open again. She leaned in and tried to follow Morgans advice and get too close to her so she couldn't swing full punches. Maria threw a faint with her right before landing a sharp hook straight in the chin, but any other punches she would through were blocked once again by a full guard. Maria dipped down and tried to swing another punch at her stomach, but Elaine responded by hiking a knee upward and bashing it into Maria's temple.
Maria's head got smashed backward, standing her up and feeling like her head was in the clouds. She lightly began to stumble randomly around the arena, but was still seemingly able to keep her balance as Elaine launched herself in for the killing blow. Maria shook her hair and gained enough composure to grab her arm and slam her into the ground face first, then grabbing her arm and pulling it up to wrap both of her legs around her neck to try and choke her out and yank out her arm at the same time.
“GIVE UP, DAMN YOU!” Maria shouted with a dizzy slur in her voice, yanking firmly to try and dislocate Elaine's shoulder, but she just groaned and slowly got onto her knees, making Maria's legs lift slightly into the air. She then got onto one knee and lifted herself back onto her feet, Maria dangling off while trying to keep hold of her arm and neck. She then began to slowly walk to the center of the ring, lifting her arm straight into the air with Maria still grasping onto it. “...SCREW YOU!” She shouted back at Maria, falling forward and slamming Maria straight onto her back. She screamed in pain but only tightened her grip on her head and shoulder, forcing Elaine to stand back up and smash her into the mat once again with a dull thud.
Maria was getting her back smashed into the ground from a 7 foot drop over and over again, so on the second time she was slammed, she was forced to let go. She slowly clambered back onto her own feet, since that didn't qualify as her getting knocked down, but the slamming knocked the breath and some of the consciousness straight out of her. She struggled to put up her fists, but tried her best to fight her off. Elaine was fortunately hurt as well, trying to adjust her shoulder and neck to shake off some of the soreness, but the bell rung once again and Sebastian stood between them once again. Maria limped back to her corner, which Morgan grabbed a nearby stool just before Maria collapsed into it.
“That was insane.” Morgan commented, Maria lurching over to try and catch her breath. “F-fuck...” Maria coughed out, trying to get rid of the sharp pain in her lungs. “My body is giving out on me.” She continued, rubbing her arm and shaking her head. “Another three minutes and we'll draw, if that's any condolence.” Morgan expressed, But Maria pulled the stool out of the ring and growled as she turned to face her opponent. “I'm going for a win, not a draw.” Maria replied, standing up and rubbing the soreness out of her neck.
“Well, you could try punching yourself in the face over and over again to confuse her!” Morgan commented, but Maria didn't even bother to look at her this time since last time she just got kicked firmly upside the head. She walked to the center of the ring before the break was over. Elaine was sitting in her corner as Eddie tended to her sore shoulders. “You hanging in there?” He asked her, She just looked up at him and gave a chuckle. “She's tougher than I thought... But this still shouldn't be a problem.” She commented, standing up and stretching just a bit as the bell rang and they met up in the center of the ring.
She started to clutch it as Elaine slowly stood back up, putting her fists back up at the count of 8. “You hit pretty hard for someone your size... But I still hit harder.” She stated to try and taunt Maria, who weakly balled her right hand into a fist while her left one clutched much harder. She has no choice but to swing left punches or else her wound will open again. She leaned in and tried to follow Morgans advice and get too close to her so she couldn't swing full punches. Maria threw a faint with her right before landing a sharp hook straight in the chin, but any other punches she would through were blocked once again by a full guard. Maria dipped down and tried to swing another punch at her stomach, but Elaine responded by hiking a knee upward and bashing it into Maria's temple.
Maria's head got smashed backward, standing her up and feeling like her head was in the clouds. She lightly began to stumble randomly around the arena, but was still seemingly able to keep her balance as Elaine launched herself in for the killing blow. Maria shook her hair and gained enough composure to grab her arm and slam her into the ground face first, then grabbing her arm and pulling it up to wrap both of her legs around her neck to try and choke her out and yank out her arm at the same time.
“GIVE UP, DAMN YOU!” Maria shouted with a dizzy slur in her voice, yanking firmly to try and dislocate Elaine's shoulder, but she just groaned and slowly got onto her knees, making Maria's legs lift slightly into the air. She then got onto one knee and lifted herself back onto her feet, Maria dangling off while trying to keep hold of her arm and neck. She then began to slowly walk to the center of the ring, lifting her arm straight into the air with Maria still grasping onto it. “...SCREW YOU!” She shouted back at Maria, falling forward and slamming Maria straight onto her back. She screamed in pain but only tightened her grip on her head and shoulder, forcing Elaine to stand back up and smash her into the mat once again with a dull thud.
Maria was getting her back smashed into the ground from a 7 foot drop over and over again, so on the second time she was slammed, she was forced to let go. She slowly clambered back onto her own feet, since that didn't qualify as her getting knocked down, but the slamming knocked the breath and some of the consciousness straight out of her. She struggled to put up her fists, but tried her best to fight her off. Elaine was fortunately hurt as well, trying to adjust her shoulder and neck to shake off some of the soreness, but the bell rung once again and Sebastian stood between them once again. Maria limped back to her corner, which Morgan grabbed a nearby stool just before Maria collapsed into it.
“That was insane.” Morgan commented, Maria lurching over to try and catch her breath. “F-fuck...” Maria coughed out, trying to get rid of the sharp pain in her lungs. “My body is giving out on me.” She continued, rubbing her arm and shaking her head. “Another three minutes and we'll draw, if that's any condolence.” Morgan expressed, But Maria pulled the stool out of the ring and growled as she turned to face her opponent. “I'm going for a win, not a draw.” Maria replied, standing up and rubbing the soreness out of her neck.
“Well, you could try punching yourself in the face over and over again to confuse her!” Morgan commented, but Maria didn't even bother to look at her this time since last time she just got kicked firmly upside the head. She walked to the center of the ring before the break was over. Elaine was sitting in her corner as Eddie tended to her sore shoulders. “You hanging in there?” He asked her, She just looked up at him and gave a chuckle. “She's tougher than I thought... But this still shouldn't be a problem.” She commented, standing up and stretching just a bit as the bell rang and they met up in the center of the ring.
Maria was forced to keep her
right hand on the defensive, making all of her jabs completely
useless since she can only throw a straight with her other arm unless
she swapped her stance around. Elaine through a rough punch with her
weakened shoulder, making it falter and allowing Maria to dip under
it, plowing an uppercut firmly into her chest that was hard enough to
make her back off a step. She pulled her left hand back and smashed
her fist firmly into Elaine's face. Elaine gritted her teeth and
smashed her fist back into Maria's face, but Roth returned in kind.
This turned into a punching contest in the center of the ring, where
each person threw their best left to bash each other in the face.
They reared fully back for each slug until each one had a swollen up and blackened eye on the same side of their face, Maria backing off and trying to flank her by charging to one side and smashing her fist into the side of her head, but Elaine quickly spun around and smashed a back fist into Maria's face. Maria groaned in pain, but pushed through the stinging feeling in her face. She leaped up and wrapped her arms around the back of Elaine's head, pushing her head down and drilling a knee straight into her face.
She pushed her forward, leaning her into the ropes and bashing her knees over and over again into her chest as she kept trying to overpower Maria and get herself free of the constant wall of kicking. She pushed Maria onto her back, but Maria quickly rolled into her shoulder and stood back up. Elaine dove in to land another knee, but Maria pushed it aside with an open palm, reaching up to smash her into the stomach with her forearm. She leaned up, taking a quick swing on the face but using just perseverance alone to shrug it off, nailing her again and again with hammering lefts as she tried to not use her right arm.
Elaine pushed her off, kicking her firmly in the stomach and forcing her to bend down so she could try to bash her in the back of the head, but once again Maria eluded the strike and backed off into a free corner. Elaine grinned and charged at her, but she tucked her head and bent her knees down in response. Elaine couldn't stop thanks to her own momentum, and was forced to watch Maria dip back up and slam a punch straight into her jaw. This rattled her hard, forcing her to stumble backward step by step to keep her balance from toppling backward. Maria took this as an opportunity, running up and leaping to smash her knee straight into Elaine's chin with enough force to send them spilling onto the floor together. “They're both down!” Sebastian shouted when both didn't follow up on that attack, Maria smashed the back of her head into the ground below and was just as shaken up, so she stumbled on her feet and clutched the back of her head as Elaine was stuck on the floor.
“5! ...6! ...7!” He counted her out as Maria turned around to walk back to her corner, pretty sure that it was finished until she was shocked by what she heard. “9... She's back up, Roth!” He said, Maria turning around and quickly getting back into her fighting stance as Elaine made a mad dash at her, smashing her fist into Maria's face and pushing her back into her own corner to begin to wail on her.
Hooks, uppercuts, straights, smashes, body blows came in flurries against Maria as she got rattled in the corner, she pulled up a block and tried to take it, but felt like she was fading out. She couldn't even see where the punches were coming from. All that she knew was her legs were getting heavy and she was becoming less and less able to feel the dull pain from each strike growing collectively on her. She slowly began to sink her guard as she got pummeled.
They reared fully back for each slug until each one had a swollen up and blackened eye on the same side of their face, Maria backing off and trying to flank her by charging to one side and smashing her fist into the side of her head, but Elaine quickly spun around and smashed a back fist into Maria's face. Maria groaned in pain, but pushed through the stinging feeling in her face. She leaped up and wrapped her arms around the back of Elaine's head, pushing her head down and drilling a knee straight into her face.
She pushed her forward, leaning her into the ropes and bashing her knees over and over again into her chest as she kept trying to overpower Maria and get herself free of the constant wall of kicking. She pushed Maria onto her back, but Maria quickly rolled into her shoulder and stood back up. Elaine dove in to land another knee, but Maria pushed it aside with an open palm, reaching up to smash her into the stomach with her forearm. She leaned up, taking a quick swing on the face but using just perseverance alone to shrug it off, nailing her again and again with hammering lefts as she tried to not use her right arm.
Elaine pushed her off, kicking her firmly in the stomach and forcing her to bend down so she could try to bash her in the back of the head, but once again Maria eluded the strike and backed off into a free corner. Elaine grinned and charged at her, but she tucked her head and bent her knees down in response. Elaine couldn't stop thanks to her own momentum, and was forced to watch Maria dip back up and slam a punch straight into her jaw. This rattled her hard, forcing her to stumble backward step by step to keep her balance from toppling backward. Maria took this as an opportunity, running up and leaping to smash her knee straight into Elaine's chin with enough force to send them spilling onto the floor together. “They're both down!” Sebastian shouted when both didn't follow up on that attack, Maria smashed the back of her head into the ground below and was just as shaken up, so she stumbled on her feet and clutched the back of her head as Elaine was stuck on the floor.
“5! ...6! ...7!” He counted her out as Maria turned around to walk back to her corner, pretty sure that it was finished until she was shocked by what she heard. “9... She's back up, Roth!” He said, Maria turning around and quickly getting back into her fighting stance as Elaine made a mad dash at her, smashing her fist into Maria's face and pushing her back into her own corner to begin to wail on her.
Hooks, uppercuts, straights, smashes, body blows came in flurries against Maria as she got rattled in the corner, she pulled up a block and tried to take it, but felt like she was fading out. She couldn't even see where the punches were coming from. All that she knew was her legs were getting heavy and she was becoming less and less able to feel the dull pain from each strike growing collectively on her. She slowly began to sink her guard as she got pummeled.
'DING' sounded the bell, as
it signified the end of the final round, Sebastian pulled Elaine off
of Maria as Maria leaned back into her corner to keep herself
standing, her vision slowly coming into view as she observed Elaine
speaking to her instructor. “Sorry, time out means a draw.” He
replied to something Maria was still too woozy to understand at
first. “Really? She dropped her guard! I thought it was over.”
She complained, but he shook his head. “I'm sorry El, this was a
draw, not a victory.” He rationalized calmly, She sighed and walked
up to Maria, pulling off her own gloves and extending a hand. “Look
kid, I know you wanted to defend your friend and all.. but it's a bit
much for just some insult tossing.” She mentioned to Maria, Maria
pulled off her own gloves and took a deep breath, gently shaking her
hand for only a brief second.
“Everything isn't black and white, Elaine... Cass was an orphan and was raised by Rosewall parents instead. “Elaine spit a spot of blood onto the floor as she sighed. “You guys need thicker skin, I got shit talked all the time when I first moved here since my parents were originally Gebyrian.” She complained, trying to make it sound like it was less malicious. Maria knew about Gebyria, it was to the southwest across a pretty big ocean, it was pretty much a huge mixture of desert, jungle and islands. All of it hot as hell and unpleasant to live in. “Look, I heard from Cass about what happened to your dad... It's fucked up, but that doesn't mean every Astrian killed your dad...” Maria tried to reply, Elaine looking somewhat frustrated and looking at the floor.
“I'm old enough to realize that, kid.” She replied resentfully, looking up at Maria. “I respect you for actually wanting to fight me, but don't try to pull this PSA preachy bullshit on me. I did it because it made me feel better, okay?” She ranted at Maria, returning a dissatisfied glare at the Gebyrian as she replies. “At least give her a chance, okay?” Maria asked, but Elaine just sighed to herself and exited the ring to leave the club for now. She hasn't lost, but she at least needed some time to cool off. Maria gave a sigh of relief as she turned to walk up to Morgan. “Hey Roth, Good fight.” Morgan said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out another chocolate bar from her hand and holding it out for Maria.
Maria smiled a little and grabbed the chocolate bar, inspecting the wrapper a bit as she replied. “Wow, thanks Morg-” She got cut off, as Morgan swung an uppercut at her hands to punch the candy bar, making it fly through the air and land somewhere behind her. “W-wha!?” Maria stammered from her own confusion. “HOW DOES IT FEEL!?” Morgan shouted at Maria to spite her over the destruction of her previous chocolate bar. “YOU HAVE BEEN FORCED TO TASTE THE SHAME OF LOSING YOUR CHOCOLATE.” She continued, but Maria just blinked and looked completely confused at her. “Bad...” She replied, pouting at her as Morgan started to break out into a laugh and pat her on the shoulder. “Well... Training starts next week Roth, see you then.” She said, grabbing her chocolate bar on the ground , putting it back into her pocket and leaving the room as well. Sebastian walked up to speak with Roth last.
“Your papers still need to process, so you should just head home for now.” He explained, Maria nodded and exited the ring, leaving the club and heading back to her dorm to rest. Hours later, Jonah was walking back to the same dorm room with a repaired dark red scarf wrapped and folded over his arm, twisting the knob and heading inside to quite a strange scene. Maria was sitting in front of a small television resting on a nearby desk, sitting on a reversed chair and resting her arms on the front of the chair as she watched a man on the television. He was fat and depressed looking as he quietly was trying to make nachos using cheese sauce and chili and put it into a small microwave to the left side of him. “So then we uhh.. put.. the cheese stuff in the microwave... and uhh.. Be careful because hot things are hot.” He stammered, hitting buttons on the microwave and turning it on so it began to quietly hum and rotate the bowl.
“Ya know... I might have put too much cheese in there since... I'm horrifically alone and I assume that anyone watching this is gonna microwave by themselves. Don't microwave this much cheese unless you're going to sit alone and... I don't know, watch a movie or something.” The fat man said on the TV, Jonah walking up beside Maria to look at her, her face was in a dull trance glaring at the TV like she just saw a war crime on the television. The cat climbed up in front of the TV and curled up against to start falling asleep, Maria suddenly snapping out of it to look up at Jonah.
“This is the saddest thing I've ever seen.” Jonah commented, staring in pure shock as this strange man continued to cook in just behind the small white kitten. “I have been watching this for 3 hours.” Maria said, her voice flat and empty as that man's soul as she stared blindly at the lights flickering through the cat's fur. “May I ask why?” Jonah requested, Maria leaning back and shaking her head quickly to try and break the emotional monotony. “Uhh.. Lily found out from Cassandra I got banned from the cooking class for 6 months, so she bought me a TV and EVERY COOKING DVD she could find. Every single one is hosted by this guy named Butterburg... He's this fat lonely guy who owns a pizza chain in Rosewall or some crap.” She ranted at him, he placed her scarf onto her lap and smiled down at her.
“The people at the knitting club were so nice, they even helped me fix the scarf and even made it fireproof!” He said with pure enthusiasm, Maria lifting the scarf and looking it over, running the smooth fabric over with her thumb to realize that the ratty frayed scarf was now smooth and silky. “Wow... This is actually really good.” Maria admitted, lightly curling it around her neck and having it hang off her shoulders. “Glad you like it.” He replied with a smile. “So what were you doing today?” He asked, Maria leaning back and rubbing her still sore face as she looked up at him. “Well.. I joined a fight club and got to punch someone's face.” She spoke brazenly, though he just looked confused at her. “What? I thought you joined a cooking club.” He argued, but Maria shook her head and sighed. “Uhh... I made fire instead of food.” She admitted sheepishly, looking up at him and watching his reaction.
“HOW DID YOU DO THAT!?” He stammered in confusion, She just placed her chin into her palm and sighed some. “Uhh.. Don't underestimate how bad my failures can be, I guess.” She commented, Jonah facepalming and looking up at her. “Well.. just be ready for training next week, they're gonna run us raw with how much they're going to make us work out.” He warned, Maria stood up and turned to face him, crossing her arms together and nodding.
“I'll be ready.”
“Everything isn't black and white, Elaine... Cass was an orphan and was raised by Rosewall parents instead. “Elaine spit a spot of blood onto the floor as she sighed. “You guys need thicker skin, I got shit talked all the time when I first moved here since my parents were originally Gebyrian.” She complained, trying to make it sound like it was less malicious. Maria knew about Gebyria, it was to the southwest across a pretty big ocean, it was pretty much a huge mixture of desert, jungle and islands. All of it hot as hell and unpleasant to live in. “Look, I heard from Cass about what happened to your dad... It's fucked up, but that doesn't mean every Astrian killed your dad...” Maria tried to reply, Elaine looking somewhat frustrated and looking at the floor.
“I'm old enough to realize that, kid.” She replied resentfully, looking up at Maria. “I respect you for actually wanting to fight me, but don't try to pull this PSA preachy bullshit on me. I did it because it made me feel better, okay?” She ranted at Maria, returning a dissatisfied glare at the Gebyrian as she replies. “At least give her a chance, okay?” Maria asked, but Elaine just sighed to herself and exited the ring to leave the club for now. She hasn't lost, but she at least needed some time to cool off. Maria gave a sigh of relief as she turned to walk up to Morgan. “Hey Roth, Good fight.” Morgan said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out another chocolate bar from her hand and holding it out for Maria.
Maria smiled a little and grabbed the chocolate bar, inspecting the wrapper a bit as she replied. “Wow, thanks Morg-” She got cut off, as Morgan swung an uppercut at her hands to punch the candy bar, making it fly through the air and land somewhere behind her. “W-wha!?” Maria stammered from her own confusion. “HOW DOES IT FEEL!?” Morgan shouted at Maria to spite her over the destruction of her previous chocolate bar. “YOU HAVE BEEN FORCED TO TASTE THE SHAME OF LOSING YOUR CHOCOLATE.” She continued, but Maria just blinked and looked completely confused at her. “Bad...” She replied, pouting at her as Morgan started to break out into a laugh and pat her on the shoulder. “Well... Training starts next week Roth, see you then.” She said, grabbing her chocolate bar on the ground , putting it back into her pocket and leaving the room as well. Sebastian walked up to speak with Roth last.
“Your papers still need to process, so you should just head home for now.” He explained, Maria nodded and exited the ring, leaving the club and heading back to her dorm to rest. Hours later, Jonah was walking back to the same dorm room with a repaired dark red scarf wrapped and folded over his arm, twisting the knob and heading inside to quite a strange scene. Maria was sitting in front of a small television resting on a nearby desk, sitting on a reversed chair and resting her arms on the front of the chair as she watched a man on the television. He was fat and depressed looking as he quietly was trying to make nachos using cheese sauce and chili and put it into a small microwave to the left side of him. “So then we uhh.. put.. the cheese stuff in the microwave... and uhh.. Be careful because hot things are hot.” He stammered, hitting buttons on the microwave and turning it on so it began to quietly hum and rotate the bowl.
“Ya know... I might have put too much cheese in there since... I'm horrifically alone and I assume that anyone watching this is gonna microwave by themselves. Don't microwave this much cheese unless you're going to sit alone and... I don't know, watch a movie or something.” The fat man said on the TV, Jonah walking up beside Maria to look at her, her face was in a dull trance glaring at the TV like she just saw a war crime on the television. The cat climbed up in front of the TV and curled up against to start falling asleep, Maria suddenly snapping out of it to look up at Jonah.
“This is the saddest thing I've ever seen.” Jonah commented, staring in pure shock as this strange man continued to cook in just behind the small white kitten. “I have been watching this for 3 hours.” Maria said, her voice flat and empty as that man's soul as she stared blindly at the lights flickering through the cat's fur. “May I ask why?” Jonah requested, Maria leaning back and shaking her head quickly to try and break the emotional monotony. “Uhh.. Lily found out from Cassandra I got banned from the cooking class for 6 months, so she bought me a TV and EVERY COOKING DVD she could find. Every single one is hosted by this guy named Butterburg... He's this fat lonely guy who owns a pizza chain in Rosewall or some crap.” She ranted at him, he placed her scarf onto her lap and smiled down at her.
“The people at the knitting club were so nice, they even helped me fix the scarf and even made it fireproof!” He said with pure enthusiasm, Maria lifting the scarf and looking it over, running the smooth fabric over with her thumb to realize that the ratty frayed scarf was now smooth and silky. “Wow... This is actually really good.” Maria admitted, lightly curling it around her neck and having it hang off her shoulders. “Glad you like it.” He replied with a smile. “So what were you doing today?” He asked, Maria leaning back and rubbing her still sore face as she looked up at him. “Well.. I joined a fight club and got to punch someone's face.” She spoke brazenly, though he just looked confused at her. “What? I thought you joined a cooking club.” He argued, but Maria shook her head and sighed. “Uhh... I made fire instead of food.” She admitted sheepishly, looking up at him and watching his reaction.
“HOW DID YOU DO THAT!?” He stammered in confusion, She just placed her chin into her palm and sighed some. “Uhh.. Don't underestimate how bad my failures can be, I guess.” She commented, Jonah facepalming and looking up at her. “Well.. just be ready for training next week, they're gonna run us raw with how much they're going to make us work out.” He warned, Maria stood up and turned to face him, crossing her arms together and nodding.
“I'll be ready.”
