by J. C. Fiske
There was a loud creak and slam around them. The diamond mass had closed around them and Gisbo could hear Frank’s bellowing voice from above.
“Kinny Kalloway, are you ready!?” Frank yelled. Kinny gave a thumbs up.
“Gisbo Falcon, are you ready!?” Frank yelled.
“NO, DAMN YOU!” Gisbo yelled, cupping his hands over his mouth.
“Close enough. Bow to each other and touch fists and the fight will commence. Go!” Frank ordered. Kinny bowed before Gisbo.
“Gisbo, bow, damn it!” Kinny said.
“Tch,” Gisbo said as he gave a short, reluctant bow.
“Thank you. Now, touch my fist with yours,” Kinny said. Gisbo clutched his fist to his chest.
“Not a chance,” Gisbo said. Kinny stamped her foot.
“DAMN IT, GISBO! GIVE ME YOUR HAND!” Kinny screamed.
“NO!” Gisbo shouted. Kinny jumped at Gisbo, who dodged her and booked it the other way. The crowed immediately began booing. Kinny was beside herself with rage as she chased Gisbo.
“Gisbo! GIVE ME YOUR HAND!” Kinny said.
“NO! I AIN’T . . . ” Gisbo said. As he turned around to yell, he tripped over Fao and stumbled to the ground. Kinny was immediately upon him as she grabbed his fist and touched it to her own.
“FIGHT!” Frank yelled.
“Now, just wait a minute, Kinny, I didn’t mean to . . .” Gisbo started. In reply, Kinny fired up her essence and lashed out with a kick to Gisbo’s mid-section. Gisbo’s body slid across the dusty floor, leaving a spotless trail in his wake. Luckily, he was able to ignite his own essence upon impact to lighten the blow, but not by much. Gisbo skidded all the way across the floor and slammed his back against the diamond mass. Rend, Kinny’s wolverine, immediately bounded toward him, but was cut off by a diving tackle from Fao. They became entangled with each other and rolled about the floor in a fit of growls, barks, teeth, and claws across the ground.
“So you think girls can’t fight? Fao’s doing just fine, so get your ass up!” Kinny said, now standing over Gisbo. Gisbo reluctantly rose to his feet.
“There you go again! I never said that!” Gisbo yelled.
“Ugh! You’re impossible! I’m your equal!” Kinny yelled. She thrust a wild swing at Gisbo’s chin. Out of reflex if anything, Gisbo whacked it aside with an outward block and thrust out with a palm strike, knocking Kinny right off her feet. A cheer went up from the crowd. Gisbo stared at his hands and down at Kinny.
“Kinny! I’m . . . I’m so sorry, I just . . . reacted! It wasn’t my fault!” Gisbo said. His apology fell on deaf ears as Kinny rolled onto her feet and let loose with a roundhouse kick with her right leg. Again, Gisbo blocked with a downward parry and spun Kinny off balance.
“I . . . I um,” Gisbo started, only to be met with a surprise spinning back hand that collided with the side of his face. Gisbo’s whole body did a full rotation from the blow before bouncing across the floor. Kinny didn’t wait as she sprinted to the downed Gisbo, got atop him, and began throwing both of her fists downward like hammers. Gisbo did his best to defend, but took a shot above his right eye, below his left, and across his chin.
“Not the nose!” Gisbo yelled. He managed to catch one of Kinny’s fists, only to be met by another slamming downward and cracking his nose like an egg. Blood began to trickle downward. In a fit of rage, Gisbo kicked Kinny off of him quite roughly, knocking her small frame away without much effort. He jumped to his feet and clutched at his bleeding nose, cursing and flailing his head all about.
“DAMN IT!” Gisbo yelled. Kinny had gotten to her feet at this point and rushed at Gisbo with a flying dive. However, she could not knock him to the ground this time around and stood with her arms around his waist, struggling to knock him over.
“Fall, damn you!” Kinny yelled, wincing with all her strength to knock him back to the ground.
“Just stop, would ya? I already told you I’m not hitting you!” Gisbo yelled and tried to pry her off him.
“STOP SAYING THAT! Fine, I hate to do this, but you don’t leave me any choice!” Kinny screamed. In one motion, Kinny let go with one arm, bent down on one knee, and jolted her forearm upward into Gisbo’s groin. The wind was immediately knocked out of him and his knees turned to jelly. He was down, rolling all about, cursing through shouts of pain.
“You going to take me seriously now? Get up!” Kinny shouted. Then, in a surprise move, Gisbo raised his hand in the air and made the signal for surrender. As he did so, the guards swept upon the scene and separated the two fighters. Kinny fought at the guards, trying to reach Gisbo.
“What the hell, man!? We’re not through! Get up, pansy ass! Get up! Let go of me!” Kinny screamed as her ring was withdrawn from her hand and two guards hoisted her up, kicking and screaming, and took her out below the rising diamond mass and well away from Gisbo. Gisbo was helped to his feet by two guards and looked up at a stunned, quiet crowd. Gisbo gave a thumbs up and a weak smile, only to be pelted with food, as well as shoes, and loud boos. The guards did their best to protect Gisbo as they shuffled him away to where the rest of the fighters were on standby.
Every inhale hurt as Gisbo plopped next to Grandfield and Glinda. He found he couldn’t even sit up straight, and let himself fall upon his back as he fought to regain his breath and be rid of the sharp, almost unbearable pain in his stomach, as well as his nose, which still dripped considerably.
“She kicked your ass, man. Better be careful; only one more loss for you till you’re out now,” Grandfield said. His boar grunted in agreement. Gisbo didn’t even respond.
“She isn’t going to forgive you for quite some time, Gisbo, probably even longer than me. You hurt her, Gisbo, deeply,” Glinda said. At this comment, Gisbo managed to find a few words.
“I . . . hurt HER!? You blind? You miss something out there? She broke my nose and kicked me in the nuts! Ah, it ain’t right,” Gisbo said through deep breaths. Glinda shook her head.
“Kinny, unlike myself, held much respect for you. By not fighting her, you made her feel insignificant, beneath you. Not only that, but you gave up, brushed her aside as if she were meaningless. Some girls may applaud you for what you did, but not her. She is a fighter, just like you. You got what you deserved,” Glinda said. Gisbo sighed out loud.
“Whatever. Excuse me if it’s not in me to punch a girl, especially a girl who’s a friend of mine and dating my best friend. Don’t preach to me because you raging feminist types have a vendetta against everything with a penis. All I did was not want to hurt her. So SORRY for being old fashioned and caring. Stupid girls,” Gisbo said.
“You still don’t get it, do you? Sexist pig . . .” Glinda said.
“Quiet, the next names are coming up,” Grandfield said.
The metallic sphere was indeed spinning again and, just as before, two mist clouds slowly formed two more names. Frank McCarley watched closely and, finally, the names were revealed.
“Round two: Stave Dasto versus Quil Albright! Make your way to the center of the ring, fighters,” Frank bellowed.
“Good, now we get to see two Strifes pummel each other. This is gonna be awesome!” Grandfield said, pumping his fist in the air. The long-haired, fair-skinned Nazarite made his way to the center of the ring, looking quite disappointed he would have to fight his own mate. Stave, the masked Shininja, followed closely behind and they stood across from one another.
“I hope that little creep Stave gets it good. How dare he touch me?” Glinda said in a huff.
“What? What kind of hope is that? I hope they both beat the snot out of each other and die trying,” Grandfield said.
“Agreed,” Glinda said.
“You watching, Gisbo?” Grandfield asked.
“Give me a minute,” Gisbo said, followed by a groan.
“I have a feeling we will be able to see some Boon powers in this fight,” Grandfield said.
“What do they have?” Gisbo asked.
“The Shininja guy, Stave, has g
ot a rattlesnake curled around his neck,” Grandfield said.
“Ugh, I don’t wanna see that. What about the other buttpipe? Quil, right?” Gisbo asked.
“The Nazarite guy has a big, ugly vulture perched on his shoulder. Thing looks nasty,” Grandfield said. At this point, Gisbo managed to sit up.
“Hmph, I hope they kill each other,” Gisbo said.
“Quiet, it’s starting,” Glinda said.
“What? Quiet? The crowd’s wicked loud, you dummy, I’ll do what I want,” Gisbo said. Glinda ignored him, and they all heard Frank’s bellowing voice from above them.
“Fighters, take a bow, touch fists, and begin on my mark,” Frank ordered. Both Strifes did so reluctantly and took a step back from one another and took up fighting stances.
“FIGHT!” Frank yelled. Upon the start, there was an explosion of fire. Both fighters fired off their rings at each other without restraint and they were forced backward.
“Uh oh, Shininja’s in trouble. No way can he compete with a Nazarite’s long-range abilities,” Glinda said. She was absolutely correct. Quil took full advantage as he expertly began firing off shot after shot from his ring. Stave tried firing back, but to no avail. For every one shot he managed, Quil had five coming at him. Out of desperation to get into close range, Stave lifted his ring into the air and called out his Boon’s name.
“WRATH!” Stave yelled. The snake around his neck disintigrated into a red mist cloud and Stave absorbed it. Fire flashed for a moment all around Stave’s body. When the fire cleared, it appeared no changes whatsoever came over Stave, except for his eyes, which now looked the same as the cold, entrancing eyes of his rattlesnake. Quil remained calm, however, and withdrew from matching Stave’s Boon form and continued on firing. This time, however, Stave dove forward between blasts at an immense rate of speed. His body seemed to be rubber as it stretched, bobbed, and weaved in the air and across the ground in between each blast with ease and quickly closed the distance between the two.
Before Quil had time to react, the tables had turned and they were now within close quarters combat, a Shinjnia’s speciality. Stave took full advantage and lunged out at his Strife comrade. He wrapped his body all about Quil, just as a snake would, and locked his friend in what seemed to be an inescapable hold.
Quil stood motionless as every one of his limbs were now held together. Even if he wanted to, Quil could not raise his ring to the sky to call forth his own Boon form. Even so, he stood completely calm, smiling at his friend. People didn’t have time to ponder why, for, as soon as he did so, Quil’s Boon shot high into the sky and Quil’s form exploded into fire, causing an immense BOOM as he did so, uncoiling Stave from his body and slamming his friend against the diamond mass across the arena. The Strife hit the ground, stretched about like putty, melting from the intense heat, when suddenly his eyes closed. Stave’s Boon appeared by his side, and his form reverted back to normal without a scratch on him.
“They both sought a double sacrifice. They knew each other’s powers well. Stave is ultimately the winner, however,” Glinda said. Granfield and Gisbo stared at her, blinking and confused.
“Ugh, what? Far as I can see, Quil is still standing and Stave is down for the count. That was nasty when he got all rubbery. So weird,” Gisbo said.
“No, you fool, look closely,” Glinda said, pointing for emphasis. Grandfield and Gisbo did and saw Quil begin to stumble about, holding his neck and wincing.
“What the . . . what happened to him?” Granfield asked.
“Posioned. I thought it odd that Stave bit him on the neck. He must maintain a rattler’s poison in his Boon form, as well as its flexibility. Must have bit him in the jugular. Even now, the poison is spreading. Whether he likes it or not, Quil is out of this tournament for good, unless he wishes to die from the poison flowing through him. How clever of Stave,” Glinda said. Gisbo looked out at the arena. Sure enough, Quil fell to one knee and was rushed off the floor by four guards. Frank raised his voice to the crowd.
“You got a weird fetish for Shininja’s or something?” Gisbo asked.
“Shut up,” Glinda said.
“Winner of this round, by loss of consiousness to his opponent, is Quil! Unfortunately, Quil, due to poison, is not allowed to continue. Our first fighter is now eliminated. Let us see who will follow in his footsteps,” Frank said. At that, the sphere started spinning once again. Gisbo felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Kinny standing behind him. Out of reflex, Gisbo hopped back and raised his hands in the air, then lowered them over his groin.
“Relax, our fight’s over,” Kinny said. Gisbo relaxed and shoved his hands in his pockets.
“Really, I meant no offense out there, Kinny,” Gisbo said. Kinny raised a hand for silence.
“It’s okay, I’m over it, but I won’t forget it,” Kinny said.
“I wouldn’t expect you to. You’re a . . .” Gisbo started and both Glinda and Kinny glared at him with an evil eye, daring him to finish.
“Okay, listen, it wasn’t just because you were a girl, Kinny. Like I told Glinda here, you are a good friend of mine and also dating my best friend. How could I face him if I hurt you in anyway? I couldn’t! If that were Grandfield in the ring, I probably wouldn’t be able to fight him, either. That is the honest truth. Besides, when will we ever need to be in a real life situation where we would need to pummel each other?” Gisbo asked. Kinny was silent as she stood with arms folded, listening.
“I don’t know what else to say other than I’m sorry, and friends have never come easy for me. I consider you a friend, Kinny, and I just can’t see myself going toe to toe seriously with a friend. On top of that, something happened during my training I can’t really talk about. Needless to say, you could have been in serious danger if I lost control,” Gisbo said.
“Okay, stop your blubbering and your excuses. I forgive you, Gisbo, and I consider you a friend, too, and part of me, whether I want to admit it or not, agrees with you, but you don’t need to make up some kind of story about silly powers you can’t control. It’s called testosterone, every guy’s got it, don’t worry about it,” Kinny said as she patted Gisbo on the back. Gisbo just nodded along.
“Ugh, right, and . . . thanks, Kinny, and just know, anytime you need me to fight WITH you, I’ll always have your back,” Gisbo said. Kinny genuinely smiled at this.
“I think you’re just a big con-artist. Don’t listen to him, Kinny, he’s still a sexist pig. What you say and how you actually feel are two different things. There’s no changing how you feel about women on the battlefield; just accept it. What if that were me out there, Gisbo? Without your best friend’s girlfriend excuse,” Glinda asked. Gisbo looked her up and down.
“You? Oh, I’d definitely hit you,” Gisbo said. Glinda rolled her eyes and let out a huff.
“Whoa, look who’s up next . . .” Kinny said, pointing to the ceiling. They all looked up, but Frank’s voice let them know, regardless.
“Round three: Cyrus Carson versus Rake Lokin! Fighters, make your way to the ring,” Frank said. The Renegaras turned around to see Rake rise to his feet and walk through them without a word.
“Rake . . .” Gisbo called. Rake stopped and turned around to face Gisbo.
“Kick his ass,” Gisbo said with a wink. Rake gave a rare smirk, turned, and made his way out to the ring.
“He is beautiful when he smiles . . .” Glinda said, deep longing in her voice. Everyone else rolled their eyes. Glinda’s face then contorted into a scowl.
“Cyrus . . . that’s the creep I let have it. Look at him, what a loser. It’s only fair Rake will be the one to finish what I started. Oh, Rake . . . DO IT FOR ME, RAKE!” Glinda screamed as loud as she could, waving. Rake turned to her.
“He . . . he’s looking this way!” Glinda said, a fierce blush rushing across her face. Rake looked at her, raised an eyebrow, and put on a look of disgust before turning to face his opponent. The color in Glinda’s face left her.
“I . . . he
hates me. Why, why would he hate me?” Glinda asked.
“Oh, hun, relax, he doesn’t just hate you, he hates everybody, I’m quite sure,” Kinny said.
“No, he probably does hate you,” Grandfield said. Gisbo chuckled.
“Quiet, you fat oaf,” Glinda said. Grandfield let out a frustrated sigh.
“What? Again dropping the fat word? Least I’m not a flat-chested . . .” Grandfield started.
“How dare you! You have bigger boobs than I do, for your information!” Glinda shouted.
“Shut up!” Granfield fired back.
“Whoa, what is that by Cyrus’ side?” Gisbo asked. They all looked to see a large, tanned cat strutt by his side majestically.
“Such a beautiful creature does not belong with him,” Glinda said.
“It’s a mountain lion, or some call it a cougar. I’ve always wondered why Strifes get Boons. They’re just Renegade rejects, if you ask me. Not fair,” Kinny said.
“Well, if anyone can prove that theory correct, it will be my Rake,” Glinda said. “I can’t sit still, I’m so excited!”
“Me too! This is the first Renegade versus Strife battle so far. Berserker versus Shininja. This should be interesting,” Kinny said.
Rake and Cyrus both made their way to the center of the ring and stood facing each other. Even from Gisbo’s distance, it was clear that Cyrus’ body language was that of fear. Something about Rake’s unflinching presence made the boy quite uneasy.
“Fighters, bow to each other, touch fists, and begin on my mark,” Frank ordered. Both boys did as they were told and took a stance.
“FIGHT!” Frank bellowed. The crowd cheered loudly as the first Renegade versus Strife match began. Rake stood in place as his cobra slithered down his leg and onto the ground. The cobra raised itself up to full height and swayed back and forth. Both Renegade and his Boon eyed the trembling combants before them as they paced around Rake, looking for an opening. Even the mountain lion looked beside itself with fear as it gazed cautiously at the swaying cobra. Suddenly, Rake and his snake, in perfect sequence, lunged forward, but it was only a feign. Even so, Cyrus fell backward and his mountain lion retreated behind him. The crowd booed fiercely and Cyrus regained his footing. Shamed, with gritted teeth, Cyrus sprinted toward his opponent in a wild run, with his cougar not far behind.