T.K. said, "The word 'begin,'" as he took a few steps back, not standing in the way between the two opponents. The two were told to start their battle, but they didn't start fighting yet; they kept staring each other down.
As they did, the tatted-up, ponytail-having young man named Fredrick flashed a smile at the little girl, Gabby. "Your something, kid?" he said, cocking his head to the side a little bit. "Just so you know I'm not opposed to beating up little girls." He gave a devious chuckle after saying those words, but the girl wasn't intimidated. She only gave her opponent the same blank, expressionless stare she was already giving him.
After a moment, she mirrored how he held his head and responded, "Oh, that's cool, 'cause neither am I." As the words passed her lips, she smiled at him. The comment and the look she gave him made the young man's veins in his forehead pop a little.
Before the fight had truly begun, the little girl had already managed to get under his skin. What made it worse was that Fredrick could hear small snickers around him. A few assistants and some applicants were laughing at Gabby's little joke, meaning they were laughing at him.
"This set him off," the young man then grabbed his spear with both hands and slashed at the young girl in an upwards motion. As he did, he shouted in pure anger, "You asked for this, you little bitch!" The spear cut through the air, but it didn't cut Freddy's target. He looked at the young girl as she stood exactly the way she was, completely untouched. This was confusing to the young man. "How the… hell," he thought, "my attack was dead on. I should've hit her."
Freddy had to push through the confusion. He spun the spear in his hands for a moment, then slashed again at the girl, this time in a downward motion. "I'll get you this time!" he screamed. But when he looked up, the same thing happened. His attack seemed to miss, and the girl was untouched. "How the… how the fuck are you doing this?" he shouted at Gabby, but she didn't respond. She only stared at him, the smile she had no longer on her face.
As Fredrick was becoming irritated, many of the applicants that were spectating had some thoughts. "What a chump," Zack thought, while Jake was just as confused as Fredrick on how the attacks weren't landing. The warrior Heracles crossed his arms, thinking it was clear who was going to win this battle.
The man from Eden was no longer interested in the fight before him, so he held his head down and closed his eyes. As he did this, the purple-haired young lady could only shake her head with second-hand embarrassment. "What a jackass," she thought. "He isn't aware that as he attacks, the girl is taking a step backwards. Her movement is so quick and swift that it seems she didn't move at all."
The purple-haired young lady smirked. "This dude's about to get wrecked, but a baby still wearing diapers." Fredrick screamed out again, "Stop fucking with me!" He spun his spear, then thrusted it forward. "If slashes won't work, I'll skewer her," Fredrick thought.
Before the spear's blade even touched her, Gabby side-stepped the attack. This time, Fredrick saw the girl's movement. With her free hand, Gabby reached out and grabbed the body of the spear. As she did, her grip tightened. In response to what Fredrick had screamed at her, he told her to stop messing with him, so she said, "Okay." In one quick motion, Gabby pulled the spear forward, pulling the one using it along with it.
The action surprised the hell out of Freddy. He didn't expect some little girl to have such strength, but she did. With one hand, she pulled him forward, and as he stumbled towards her unwillingly, Gabby had jumped into the air while still holding the spear. As her opponent's eyes went wide, the girl kicked him right in the face with both her feet. The force of the kick sent Freddy flying backward. He began rolling on the ground like a tumbleweed.
As he was being forced out of the ring, he thrust his spear's blade into the ground, stopping his momentum. Luckily, Mr. Tattoos and Ponytail was quick thinking because another second later, he would have fallen off the edge of the ring. That was something he thought about as he was hunched over gasping for air. As he did, he could see blood dripping down onto the ground. When he reached up to his face to figure out what was wrong, he found out it was coming from his nose. "My nose," he said. "She broke my fucking nose."
Freddy tightened his grip on his weapon, then lifted his head upwards. "I'll fucking kill that little…." The words he was speaking trailed off as his eyes caught the girl Gabby right in front of him. Before he could do anything, he saw Gabby's fist flying towards his face. The little girl hit him dead on once again. The force of her punch felt like it rattled his brain. As she hit Freddy, his head being sent flying back, more blood from the young man's broken nose started to come out.
But it was dripping. No, now it seemed to be geyser shooting out streams of red. "Holy shit, she's really good," said Jake, marveling at the girl's skill. Sitting next to him was Zack, who only shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, she's alright, nothing to really write home about it, really. Her opponent, the guy's just pathetic," he said those words as a matter of observation. And he wasn't the only one who felt that way.
After Gabby had landed an additional two punches on Freddy's face, she then grabbed his arm, pulling him closer to her. Then she used her arm that held her dagger to elbow Fredrick in the face. She used her dagger to slash the young man across the chest, landing a clean slice across his phoenix tattoo. The attacks she dealt him hurt Freddy deep, but this was the first that made him scream out in pain. "Specks of blood," escaped his mouth as he shouted.
Freddy was met with a kick to the neck. The attack stopped his screaming in its tracks as she spun and kicked him again from the other side. The force made Freddy spin himself for a moment, his feet now off the ground. Then he crashed, hitting the floor. Looking at this, T.K., the referee for this fight, thought, "Damn, this kid's got some moves. She's easily able to dismantle an opponent twice her size. This can't be new to her; she had to have some sort of training."
After Fredrick hit the ground, he struggled to get to his feet. His body was tired, his face covered with blood, his head was killing him. But he still aimed to fight, until he turned his head and saw the little girl now towering over him as he laid on the ground. Her grip was tight, holding her rental weapon. He saw as she lifted it upwards, and out of fear, the young man curled into a ball, cowering in fear. Tears filled his eyes as he silently begged for his life.
Gabby, who was more than a few years this man's junior, exhaled in disappointment. She wasn't the only one. All those in attendance, from those in the auditorium to those in the viewing room, felt the same. This young man, with all his prior talk, turned out to be a disappointment.
Gabby lowered her dagger and placed her hands on her hips. "Just consider defeat already, Freddy. You know you've lost." The young man on the ground uncurled and looked at the girl that stood over him. "Come on, you've lost. Just say it, and we can move on with our lives."
Freddy looked at the girl for what seemed like forever. Then his eyes went from her to T.K. The man had a look of boredom on his face, as if this match was already over. That look confused Freddy; he hadn't lost yet. But the man looked as if he already had. Then Freddy looked at those in attendance. Most of them, from Heracles to the blonde-haired boy, to now even Zack, weren't even watching. Those that were shared the same look that the referee had on his face.
Freddy held his head down in a way that Gabby took as shame. She went to speak to him again before she was forced to jump backward. She saw as Freddy lunged forward, trying to swipe at her. "Fuck you!" he screamed. "Fuck all of you! I'm not going anymore. I'm not admitting a thing!"
The young man screamed in rage as he charged at Gabby. When he got close, he threw a punch, one that she easily dodged. When she did, he took one of his legs and kicked in the direction she was dodging. Gabby saw this move out of the corner of her eye, and before Freddy's attack could land, Gabby flipped over it. His failure didn't stop him.
Freddy charged forward, continuously throwing out jabs and kicks. Each one, Gabby dodged. The girl started to roll her eyes in boredom as she spoke to her opponent. "Aren't you done yet?"
Fredrick smiled, "Not on your life, bitch!" He then thrust his fist forward yet again. The girl effortlessly dodged, but this time, he wasn't trying to hit her. After he threw his straight punch, Freddy opened his hand and grabbed his spear. It was still plunged into the ground from when he stopped his momentum. Freddy wasn't trying to beat the girl down; he was trying to get back to his weapon. But he couldn't make it obvious.
The young man tightened his grip, then lifted his spear out of the ground. This action surprised Gabby. In all of her dodging, Gabby became bored, so much so that she was no longer paying attention to her surroundings. She hadn't noticed that Fredrick's weapon was behind her.
"All those attacks… I didn't know he was leading me." Freddy lifted the spear, then brought it back down towards the girl. She didn't have enough time to dodge, so she blocked the spear's blade with her dagger. The spear collided into the dagger; the girl held back the attack, but not for long. As she smirked, she spun and kicked at Freddy's head. But surprisingly, Ponytail was ready. He blocked the attack with his free arm as he looked at the girl, grinning wildly back.
He then tried to land another kick, but Gabby ducked under it. Fredrick grabbed his weapon with both hands, then sliced his spear down at Gabby. She put her own blade to block the blow, and she managed it just in the nick of time. The two opponents were deadlocked until Freddy made an unexpected move.