Rachel was lying down, sleeping peacefully. She was comfortable on her bed lying down and dreaming about Mekolan. She started to have some nightmares in the middle of the night. She gave a loud yell, "AHH" And she woke up. In front of her was Marcus, looking at her directly straight at her eyes.
"You scared me," Rachel said, laying her head down on the pillow and closing her eyes. Marcus rolled his eyes and made another noise, "YOU OVERSLEPT!!" Rachel jolted up and looked out the window. She checked the time and it was 6:30 in the morning. She jumped out of her bed and went straight to the bathroom. 20 minutes later she got out of the bathroom.
"You're late Rachel," Marcus replied.
"I'm sorry-"
"No buts. I want you to follow me." Marcus said and he went straight out of the apartment.
Rachel followed behind. Marcus cut across the road and Rachel saw a thousand homeless people living in the streets, barely having any money, especially coins. She then heard a lot of ruckus. She turned to her left and saw 3 men beating up a family, "GIVE ME YOUR MONEY NOW !" One of the men said. One of the men looked at Rachel with a death stare. Rachel immediately looks at the ground and continues following Marcus.
"So um… Where are we going?" Rachel asked Marcus. She didn't get a response. Rachel, more curious than ever, asked another question. "Where is Mikaela-"
"Stop asking questions." Marcus said. He made a sharp turn towards the right and Rachel followed.
"Mikaela is running some errands. You don't need to worry, I trained her to become what she is now." Marcus replied.
Mikaela was walking in the corridor and turned to her right. She then reached her destination. A shopping mall that looks very old, like the building has been there for years without any refurbishing and no renovating for at least decades. She gave a sigh and looked at the paper she was holding. It was the flyer for the 1 million dollar win. She looked at the picture of the building and the building she's in front of, is the location of the tournament. She took a deep breath and walked towards the building.
"This is where I will be training you, where you eat, shower, sleep. Basically you will be trapped in here for the next few days. Until I think you are ready." Marcus said. The sports hall was huge. It was as big as 5 cinema rooms.
"Now we are starting with physical training. I want you to run 50 laps as warm up." Marcus said.
"50 LAPS!" Rachel shouted.
"Hey do you want to survive this place or not." Marcus said. Rachel looked down and nodded. She gave a big sigh and she started running. After 47 minutes she finished her 50 laps. Marcus seems impressed with her number.
"Not gonna lie, I'm impressed. This is one of the best scores I've seen. Well not as good as Mikaela's number. She finished it within 31 minutes." Marcus said.
"Now you are gonna do 100 push ups, 100 sit ups, and 100 burpees. 3 sets" Marcus said. Rachel, already tired, just listened to what Marcus said. After 2 hours,she's finally done with the physical training and now she starts with the martial arts training.
She started to learn the basic punches, kicks, and then how to overpower her opponent. Though she was having some difficulties with most of them, after a few training sessions, she will get the hang of it.
"AGAIN! DO ANOTHER 100 MORE FOR EACH PUNCHES AND KICKS! YOU WILL GET THE HANG OF IT JUST PUSH THROUGH RACHEL!" Marcus shouted at Rachel. Rachel looked at Marcus, utterly defeated but there's nothing she can do to get out of it so she continued and gave her best so that she won't do another 100. After many hours of training, it was 1pm.
"Okay i think we are done as of right now. I bought you food so you can have your break." Marcus said.
"OMG FINALLY!" Rachel said and dropped on the floor. She started eating her food as soon as she got them. She drank a ton of water and she was hungry. She didn't talk at all due to being hungry and extremely tired.
"Omg the food is soooo goood!" Rachel said, and put another piece of chicken in her mouth.
"You are a natural, I gotta say. Among all of my students, except for Mikaela, you two are my best." Marcus said. Rachel was getting ready to ask a question, "So what was Mikaela like?" Rachel asked.
Marcus was silent. He didn't move, didn't make eye contact and didn't make a sound. He looked out the window and started to remember what Mikaela was like when she was younger.
"I'm sorry i didnt mean to-"
"No it's okay. She was frightened when I met her." Marcus said.
"Why what happened?" Rachel asked and put another chicken in her mouth.
Marcus looked out the window and took a deep breath. He looked at Mikaela and replied, "because when I met her, it was the day her parents died."