The next blow was just as hard as the first one, coming fast at his shoulder. Oren staggered backwards, exclaiming in pain as he lost his footing. Capitalizing on Oren's state, Carter rushed him down, delivering a powerful side kick that knocked Oren several feet backward.
"Damn. No countdown or anything?" Oren chuckled through gritted teeth.
Is this Carter guy made out of steel?
Oren climbed back up to his feet, swaying as he took a defensive stance.
"Nope. Gotta stay ready to win." Carter had barely finished his sentence when he approached Oren again. Carter telegraphed a right cross, causing Oren to put his guard up. At the last second, Carter switched his body position, going instead for a strike to the right side of the body. Then, a punch to the other side, followed by a jab straight to the face. Oren staggered again.
He hits like a truck and he's fast? How am I supposed to—
Oren couldn't even finish his thought, as Carter had set upon him again. His hands were up in a guard, but he was caught by surprise as Carter instead went for his hips. Carter wrapped his arms around Oren and lifted him up in the air with absolute ease. It was all he could do to pummel Carter's back as the man slammed Oren into the mat, knocking the wind clean out of his lungs. As Oren lay there gasping, Carter looked down on him with a smile.
"Done already? We've barely gotten started!"
Oren responded by taking another deep breath and lifting himself off the mat so he could spin. He managed to sweep Carter's left leg, knocking him off balance for just a moment. Oren took this opportunity and jumped onto Carter, wrapping his legs around Carter's neck and using the momentum from the jump to swing his body around, throwing Carter onto the mat, and giving Oren the advantage. Oren took no time to climb on top of his opponent, ensuring that he couldn't move. He began laying blows into Carter, but it wasn't effective at all. Carter moved his head, dodging each attempted head strike, and any blows to the body were blocked by his arms. Blow after blow, Oren became exhausted, strikes becoming slower while he wasn't doing damage at all.
Carter capitalized on this, grabbing Oren's wrists on a slower strike, pulling him close and head-butting him as hard as he could. This attack absolutely rocked Oren, causing him to lose any grounding he may have had. Carter pushed back, getting his hips and feet free, and flipping to kick Oren in the head and simultaneously get his own footing back.
That really, really hurt.
Oren had to do something, and fast, if he wanted to win the match. Oren wasn't the strongest person, but he had been able to take Carter down with his greater agility and acrobatic skill. If this were a wraith, what would he do? Well, he would use his trident and then—
No. He had to stop thinking about the trident. He didn't have it with him. Oren glanced around quickly, and looked at the posts holding up the ropes at the four corners of the ring. Could Oren…do a wrestling move? He'd watched some matches with his father growing up, but he'd never tried anything like the moves he saw before. At least, not when he wasn't wearing a full Darcy. He didn't have much time to ponder though. He wanted to win the fight. He sprinted toward the nearest corner, climbing to the top of the pole. Carter simply stood back and watched as Oren did this. Oren realized later that his opponent's nonchalant reaction probably should've been a sign that Oren was going to do something really stupid. But, Oren sadly didn't take that into account. Instead, He went for a front flip, and attempted to crash into Carter and knock him onto the ground once again. However, Carter caught him in the air, and threw him onto the ground a second time.
Oren was dazed, unable to really take in anything around him. The last thing he remembered was another fist coming down upon him, before being met with complete blackness.
Oren woke up minutes later in the same spot he'd been, surrounded by a couple medical personnel, as well as Carter. Carter was watching him closely, with mild concern in his eyes. It was hard to tell, but Oren thought he saw his opponent smile a little at seeing Oren wake up from his knockout.
"Oren Astor?" The staff member who had been running Oren's evaluations looked down at him with a blank expression. Oren nodded.
"This will conclude your evaluations for today. Please proceed with the advice of the medical personnel, and prepare for the next evaluation tomorrow. Thank you, and have a productive day." The man then walked away, presumably to tally results or even to begin someone else's evaluation.
The medical personnel finished examining Oren, saying that he'd suffered minimal damage. He still had to take some pills before bed however. As they left, Carter approached Oren to give him a hand up.
"That was…wow. What made you think an old entertainment wrestling move was going to work? I mean you did land the
Carter had a smile on his face, as genuine as the sky was blue. It was almost infectious the way it made Oren slightly forget the throbbing pain in his torso.
"I mean, I don't know. I've never fought another person before. I've fought wraiths but only ever with a weapon. I was kinda just throwing stuff out there." Oren replied sheepishly.
"A normal person doesn't climb the top rope and go for a slam like that. It was flashy though, I will give you that."
Carter was right. There were a lot of other things—less risky things—that Oren could've gone for. Yet somehow, he thought to go for the most extravagant move he conceived. Honestly, he didn't know why.
"Thanks. Has anyone ever told you that you hit like a two-ton brick?"
"Nope. But I have gotten a freight train, gorilla, and sledgehammer."
Both of them laughed as they exited the ring and headed out of the gym. On their way, Oren spotted the girl who he saw fighting before his match had begun. She was walking a little ahead of them, brown pony tail swaying back and forth as she made her way.
Carter lightly punched Oren's shoulder.
"Go talk to her, since you seem so interested."
"What? I'm not—" Oren was silenced immediately upon seeing Carter's face, which said something along the lines of, "I'm not stupid, I see the way you've been staring at her."
Oren sighed and rolled his eyes as he jogged forward to catch up with her.
"I'll see you later Oren!" Carter called out as Oren left.
Meeting the girl, Oren said a small "hey" as he caught up.
The girl turned around, a blank expression on her face as her eyes met Oren's. Oren could kinda from the distance he was at before, but up close it was plain to see that this girl was beautiful. She had a dark set of freckles on her olive skin, creating constellations on the bridge of her nose, leading up to her forehead. And her eyes were striking, sparkling somewhat. Oren then noticed her lips, which were slightly busted from the spar.
"You gonna keep looking at me weird? I mean I'd be scared you would attack me, but I saw you get your ass handed to you just a moment ago."
Oren became more than a little red at the statement, being embarrassed on two fronts.
"Oh well I-um. No I just thought I should come up to you and uh."
Oren took a deep breath. He was training to fight robotic hordes of monsters and other people in super-powered exo-suits for a living. He refused to be daunted by the simple act of talking to a woman.
"I saw you right before your match and thought you were pretty. I wanted ton come say hello and ask you how it went. Seeing you up close, I was a little taken aback."
"How so?" The girl said, furrowing her brow.
"I didn't think someone could look so beautiful with a busted lip." Oren capped off his line with a smirk.
The girl practically cackled as she burst out into laughter. Oren was surprised, looking at her with confusion and a little disappointment.
"Dude, I'm sorry I just can't take you seriously when I saw you get power-bombed. Twice."
She continued to laugh, but then her face softened as she remarked Oren.
"But I appreciate your boldness. My name is Elia Whitehall. It's a pleasure to meet you."
She stopped for a second and stuck her hand out. Oren stuck his hand out and shook.
"My name is Oren Astor. Nice to meet you too."
"Well Oren, I'm gonna go to the bathroom over here, but hopefully I'll get to see more of you. Oh, as for my match, I knocked him out within a minute. You know what they say, the bigger they are, and all." She turned away from him and walked into a side hallway with the same bounce she had before.
Oren had no more words for either of the people he'd just met. All he knew was that he needed to rest and recoup.