Mayra frowned as Ed decided he just couldn't leave them alone. At the very least she was getting to him as he switched completely to Spanish to respond to her.
"Hey, you're the one who started-" She couldn't get another word out as an arm moved in between them. She turned to see a new adult (a doctor? a professor? who was this guy?) giving them two options to try and settle this. Finally! Now the guy could just go away and they could go back to lunch and-
"Outside. And it's gonna be against her." Mayra blinked, looking between Ed and the adult. Oh. Well. This was... this was allowed. Ms. Markov had said that fights with a judge were allowed. The frizzy haired girl followed the man and her opponent, torn. She clenched her gloved fist, watching Ed swagger ahead. Really, Ed deserved this. He deserved to get punched in his stupid face. However, Sam was probably still crying on the floor, and this was probably gonna make her miss the rest of lunch and maybe part of her first class. Though she didn't really
want to go to class. But she probably should... and she really wanted to check on Sam. Before she knew it, they were standing in front of some kind of arena.
Yuliya had settled herself onto one the branches of the large oak tree planted in the middle of the courtyard. Several students had also taken a spot in the tree as well, but Yuliya was the highest among them. She turned the pages of the book she was reading, enjoying her lunch and the pleasant warmth of the afternoon. She had just finished the part where the main character of her book had his first recurring nightmare when she heard many voices all at once. A crowd had formed, a majority of them coming from the cafeteria and quickly joined by many from the surrounding areas. Everyone in the tree with Yuliya grew excited as well and jumped down from the oak tree to check out what was going on. Yuliya preferred to stay in her spot to finish reading as she had just gotten to the good part, but she did stand up to get a better look out of curiosity.
Everyone had gathered around Fighting Grounds 3. She saw Eduardo Pierce step up followed by Rhys Johnston and right after Rhys was,
"Mayra?"
No doubt that was Mayra Ruiz stepping into the ring opposite of Eduardo. Yuliya closed her book and packed her remaining lunch before jumping down from the branches of the tree with little effort. She jogged towards the fighting ring, making her way through the crowd and towards Rhys.
"Rhys, what's going on here?" she asked.
"Some students are going to fight against each other and I'm going to act as judge," he said bluntly. Rhys then turned to Mayra. "Can I get your name and grade please?"
She cautiously stepped onto the platform when someone else decided to insert themselves into the situation. Mayra turned to see her homeroom teacher run up to talk to the adult, Rhys. Blinking, she nearly missed the man's question. "Oh! Uh, Mayra Ruiz, Freshman." She debated whether she should speak more, tell Ms. Markov the whole situation. She guessed that would have to wait until after the fight. For now, she'd just have to focus on beating some sense into this pendejo.
"I figured that," she said, following Rhys to the judge's stand once he got Mayra's name. What she really wanted to know was why it was a freshman, especially one from
her homeroom, going up against one of this year's Top Ten. Such a matchup wasn't unheard of, and it's not like it wasn't allowed. But in her two years of teaching, Yuliya has never seen a freshman go against an upperclassman.
"Let me help out."
"Why? I'm judge of this."
"I'll be back up, in case things get too heated. Besides—" Yuliya turned back to the fighting ring
"—one of them is from my homeroom."
"Fine, do whatever." He climbed onto the judge's stand and called for attention. "This is a one on one match between Junior Eduardo Pierce and Freshmen Mayra Ruiz. If you are knocked out of the ring or unable to battle, you lose. Use of powers and fighting techniques is permitted. Begin!"
She walked over to her side of the platform (or at least what she assumed was her side) and adjusted her gloves. As Rhys started to give the go ahead, Mayra shivered and felt a wave of horror rush over her like a wave. Oh. Oh no. She didn't know how to fight.
She didn't know how to fight. How did she get in this situation? How did she even get into this stupid school? Sure, she knew how to throw a mean hook, but actually fighting with
powers? She'd never used her powers like that before! How was she supposed to fight back against someone who was in the top ten of this stupid school? She was dead. She was dead and her parents were going to sob over her corpse.
She couldn't let that fear show. Straightening her posture and pulling back her shoulders, Mayra opened her arms. "Well, let's go then!
You wanna fight? Fight me! Like a real man!"
Before the school nurse had declared the match start, Eduardo took some time to examine his opponent, obtain some details about her as he had done so in many of his previous matches. Obviously she was tall, but she had covered herself in clothing. Even her hands were gloved. So perhaps her powers lie in her skin just like his own, yet there must be another reason why she was clothed this much. Unable to control her abilities most likely. He'll have to be cautious to make sure she doesn't let even a portion of her skin touch him. No visible weapons on hand or anything she would need to channel her powers. She was a freshman and clearly inexperienced given how she practically asked him to land a punch instead of taking a stance herself.
He decided he would use that inexperience to his advantage, and show this stupid chica who she was dealing with.
Eduardo took a fighting stance, fingers rolled into tight fists. He rushed at Mayra, aiming one fist at her stomach followed by a swift kick to her side. He jumped back, bouncing on the balls of his feet as the crowd started cheering around them.
Eduardo resumed his fighting stance, dark metal spots forming on his knuckles.
"You're not even gonna make this fight worth it."
She was in way over her head. Mayra managed to block the hit to her stomach, but was quickly shoved to the ground by the kick. She gasped, coughing as she clutched at her side. This was way different from the regular street fights of her childhood. This was calculated, planned, and definitely a lot more lethal. Struggling to her knees, the frizzy haired girl tried to regain her bearings. For a moment, the idea of just forfeiting crossed her mind. She could avoid this whole mess and throw in the towel. Sam's crying face crossed her mind. No, she couldn't give up. If she just gave up, then this pendejo would just start bullying Sam again and think he could walk all over everyone's life without any consequences.
Standing up, Mayra tried to come up with a plan. Giving up was out. But Ed had a huge advantage over her. She wasn't going to be able to beat him on strength alone. She bit her lip, trying to remember what the guy had said. First one unable to battle or knocked out of the ring loses... Okay. So she didn't have to necessarily
beat him... just push him out of the ring. She could do that. Straightening to her full height, she threw out a smirk before responding to Ed's jab,
"You're just scared that I'm going to beat you!"
With that, she ran full force at the boy. Vaguely she tried to remember the few lessons her papa had taught her about fighting. "You're tall, mija." He had said, keeping a firm grip on her shoulder. "Use that to your advantage. If someone tries to hurt you, fight back with all you've got!" With a steady hand, she planted a foot on the ground and threw a punch. Afterwards she ducked and grabbed Ed's middle, attempting to try and push him out of the ring. She gritted her teeth as she tried to just get him out of the stupid ring. If she could just push him out then this would all be over and she could go check up on poor Sam.
He dodged her fist and was ready to follow up with one of his own when she grabbed his torso and began pushing him back. He realized then her intention to push him out of the ring as opposed to knocking him out. Surely she had figured that she wouldn't be able to take him down and so opted to go with the other way of winning this match. Too bad Eduardo wasn't going to let her win that easily.
With metal encasing his entire hand, Eduardo repeatedly pounded her shoulder blade with his fist. His feet managed to find purchase on the ground, allowing him to put enough distance between him and Mayra. With his claws digging through her clothes and into her skin, he used her momentum to throw her off her feet and onto the ground.
"I'm not scared of you,
coño," he replied to her in English. "Since you hang out with the blubbering mess like Flat Face." He laughed, raising a fist. "Let this be a lesson that this place isn't for weaklings like him, or like you."
Mayra grit her teeth, trying to just power through the hits to get this over with. She gasped when claws dug into her skin. She landed on the ground, coughing and grasping at her bleeding shoulder as Ed started to speak once again. She was about to ignore him when he let that one word slip. She froze. Oh. So he was going to take it
that far. She started to shake as he decided to drag Sam into his taunts. Ed wasn't going to get in trouble for this. He wasn't going to get in trouble for
any of it. He was just going to keep going on his way, torturing innocent freshman like Sam and calling them names. He was never gonna learn his lesson unless...
Standing up, Mayra let go of her shoulder and ripped off one of her gloves.
"What?" She started, continuing to speak in Spanish.
"Too scared of the consequences to say coño in English? You're gonna eat your words. Don't come crying to me when your friends leave a weak dick like you after this!" She ripped off her other glove, throwing the pair off of the stage. Fine. If Ed wanted her to fight, then she was going to
fight.
Eduardo took one step back as she got to her feet, a newfound fury in her features. She removed one glove, mocking him for switching to English. She removed her other glove and the crowd cheered louder, some fellow classmates becoming noticeably more invested in the fight now that this girl was taking things seriously. The two teachers were paying more attention now as well; Rhys adjusted his glasses to see what Mayra can do.
As he threw his next punch, Mayra grabbed his fists and dug her fingers into the metal encasing his skin. Painstakingly, Mayra peeled the metal from Ed's skin. His skin bloomed red and raw as Mayra tossed the metal aside. She jumped away and grabbed at the ground. The floor of the stage melted under her fingers, bending around them as she scoped a chunk up as if it were clay. Before the chunk could fully bend and meld around her hand, Mayra threw it at Ed. She scooped up more of the arena's floor, turning the fight almost into a deadlier version of a snowball fight.
Eduardo swung, aiming his fist at her stomach. She caught it and somehow he was able to feel her nails digging through—
through—his metal armor. He pulled back, watching as the metal was easily peeled off and left behind shiny raw flesh. He clutched his hand, falling to his knees as blood dripped from his knuckles. Something hard hit his side, and it was only then he realized Mayra was picking up handfuls of solid rock and flinging it at him. One more rock hit him again before he rolled out of the way, crossing his metal arms in an X shape in front of his head.
He held his defense, letting the pain on his knuckles subside. He was right to deduce her powers lay in her skin and this has got to be one of the reasons why she needs to wear gloves. She was like those characters from one of his favorite tv shows who could shape the earth to whatever they want. He can't do anything if he stays this far away, but if he got too close then she will just rip off his armor like an orange peel. He needed to act now, do something that would distract her long enough for him to take her down before she got that chance.
"You'll be the one crying after I beat you!" Eduardo grit his teeth, all the skin on his body tingling as it changed from tan to a shiny black. Even the wound on his fist was covered in metal, just thinner compared to the rest of his body. He stood up, pulling his arms back to reveal a face completely covered in metal. Eduardo's teeth had sharpened to fine points, giving him a demonic like appearance. He blocked one more flying rock, grabbing the smaller, broken chunks and hurling them back at Mayra before ramming his shoulder into her body.
Mayra scoffed as Eduardo tried to comment back, using his power to cover himself in the same black metal he had been using earlier. So this was the true extent of his power. She noticed that the metal covering his knuckles was thinner than the rest. Maybe he couldn't recover areas to the same thickness after they had been torn off? She threw one last rock when Ed decided to return the favor. She brought her arms to her face, wincing as the broken pieces of rock tore through her clothes. The shards cut across her body, leaving nothing serious but definitely making Mayra bleed more than she wanted. She lowered her arms only to be rammed into.
Mayra gasped, choking as she grabbed onto Ed desperately. She was nearly pushed off of the ring. Her grip managed to save her as instead she flipped over the boy in front of her. She ripped a large chunk of the metal off of his back, leaving his back bare while she started to mold the metal in her hands. She held onto an end, focusing solely on the metal as it twisted and formed to her mind's desire. It fluctuated and molded until a shiny metal bat was formed, weighing heavy in her hands. Good. She could use this.
Changing up her strategy, Mayra started to swing. She aimed for Ed's back. If the metal had been thinner around his hands where she had pulled it off, then maybe it would be just as thin on his back where she had torn more off. Using Ed's metal against him, Mayra swung her bat with as much force as she could muster.
Eduardo was so close to getting her out of the ring, ignoring the pain in his shoulder as the metal ripped itself off his skin at her fingertips. Then Mayra was behind him, his back on fire as she shaped the metal into what looked like a bat. He felt something warm dribble down his back, vaguely imagining a red blood mixing with whatever metal was left on his skin. Despite the intense pain, he stood up, refusing to be beaten here by this
coño. Gritting his teeth through the pain, Eduardo sharpened his claws, swinging his arm around and aiming right at her face.
A hand grabbed Mayra's wrists, diverting the tall girl in another direction and using her momentum to steer her into the ground. Another hand grabbed Eduardo's, performing the same action of driving him into the ground and away from Mayra.
"Darn. I would have liked to see Hydrangea in action here," said Rhys, clicking his tongue in disappointment.
"This match is over. It's a draw," Yuliya declared over the protests of the other students. It was apparent these two were going to go all out on each other; Mayra's skill in creating a makeshift weapon as well as Eduardo's reaction to an oncoming threat could very well mean one of them would die. Yuliya didn't really voice her opinion on her boss' odd policy to allow fights, but she was sure death was not part of it. Rhys signaled he approved the decision, jumping down from the judge's stand to check on Eduardo and Mayra. Yuliya twisted Mayra's wrist enough to make her release the bat and kicked it away where it rolled to a stop just in front of Ilea. The brown haired girl stared at it for a long moment before picking it up.
"Let me finish this bitch." Eduardo got to his feet, rushing at Mayra and Yuliya with claws bared. Yuliya barely dodged, his thumb grazing against her cheek. She punched him once in the stomach then proceeded to flip him over her shoulder and face down to the ground, twisting his arm behind his back and one hand pressing his face into the dirt.
"I said this. Match. Is. Over," she reiterated, a drop of blood falling from the cut on her cheek. Yuliya released Eduardo, taking a step back as Rhys appeared at his side. The Junior student glared at Yuliya, be she remained unfazed. Yuliya turned to Rhys.
"You help out Pierce and I'll tend to Ruiz." The school nurse gave her a look to which she quickly added,
"I know first aid. If I find anything serious on her, I'll let you know."
Rhys nodded and addressed the crowd. "The rest of you get to class now. Or else you will be written up and receive detention. I can be there and do some . . .
experimentation on your powers." He smiled gleefully, exposing his sharpened teeth. Yuliya gave him a look, reflexively stepping between him and Mayra. The disappointed—and frightened—crowd dispersed, including Yuliya's homeroom class. Rhys led Eduardo towards his office, occasionally quickening his pace to catch up with the fuming teenager
"Come on. Let's get you some bandages for those cuts," she said to Mayra, steering her towards the school building.
