"Sure you want to go for another round, Emma?" I asked, practically mocking the redhead as she pushed herself back up. I had thought the girl would have made for a more challenging opponent, but maybe I was just better at this than I gave myself credit for. Either way, what this sparring session lacked in useful fighting experience, it made up for in fulfilling my ego. And maybe unleashing a bit of built up frustration from the past few days.
I cracked my knuckles and tilted my head left and right, my feet bouncing around the fighting ring a bit. The two of us bumped fists through our gloves, each of us prepared to inevitably repeat the cycle again. For what must have been the last twenty minutes, we exchanged blows and grappled one another until it was clear who was the winner.
At least that’s what I had imagined the afternoon going like. Instead, I’d won every match, and there was only one time where I thought the tables might’ve turned.
Her form was sloppy, although from exertion or just lack of skill I wasn't sure. To be honest, I wasn’t paying close attention to her, and I half expected I could have fought her with muscle memory alone while my mind wandered on more interesting things. Hell, it probably would've made the training session fairer.
On the sidelines, a petite girl with aquamarine dyed hair stood, watching the events, seemingly disinterested. She held a clipboard in her hand, occasionally tapping a pen she held to the board. I suppose she was technically a referee, but she seemed better suited to some corporate agency than overseeing a practice MMA session. I somehow doubted the girl even knew what a armbar even was, or even the names of half of the submission holds I'd gotten my opponent into. Seemed to me she probably only cared that no one would get seriously hurt.
When the redhead nodded, we began again. Now that I was thinking about it, she was definitely getting sloppier with each passing round. Blocking her jabs was almost effortless- I mean, it was like she was telegraphing every punch. All I had to do was hold my form and I could let her tire herself out. Maybe that would have been the strategic thing to do, but if I wanted to have the chance to get anything out of this session, I figured I'd have to fight her a bit suboptimally.
And hey, maybe I was a bit cocky. So fucking what. I had the right to be.
I lunged forward and grabbed her shoulders before slamming one of my legs into her side. She budged a few inches from the kick, but I saw no reason to relent and give her the chance to come back. Her fists landed on my arms as I slammed my weight into her, but the sensation of her hands hitting me did little to deter me. Fuck, to be honest this entire thing was kind of turning me on.
I let go and pushed myself back when she tried to knee me. Maybe I was getting a bit too careless. For a brief moment, the two of us stared each other down. Seconds passed in relative silence before she tried another jab. I dodged to the side, and when she tried to follow the punch with a kick, I managed to wrap my arm around the leg. The fight was over the moment I grabbed hold of the appendage, and she knew it.
Buuuut I was having fun, and decided I might as well drive the point home. Based on her lack of interest, or maybe knowledge, the blue haired girl probably wouldn't care as long as I didn't like... break her leg or something.
Oof. I could practically feel the wind getting knocked out of her when Emma’s back came crashing down on the mat. I straddled her and angled her leg upwards painfully. It had been a few months since someone had caught me in this hold, and a small part of me felt a bit bad for the girl. Her hips were probably on fire.
Of course she was tapping out again. Although she probably would have done so the moment she landed on her back, had she been prepared for it. Anyhow, I held her there for a few moments below letting go and allowing her to recuperate.
I couldn't help but wonder, was this girl just filled with a false sense of confidence? When I'd been invited to this session, I had actually trained my regimen a bit harder for a few days in preparation. I hadn't heard of this girl before, but my agent had made it sound like they were a big deal. Or, at least of comparable skill to myself.
Maybe there'd been a mix up? Stranger things had happened. Whatever the case, the redhead certainly wasn't a complete novice, but she clearly had trouble keeping up with me. Eventually I decided I might as well enjoy it, whatever the case may be. When in Rome, right?
"H-hey, maybe go a bit... easier on me? I thought you were... more..." She spoke, her voice softer now than it had been when we'd started. What kind of passive aggressive insult was that? Did she think I was a lightweight?
“What?” I asked. I couldn't help but allow some of my annoyance show through.
“We can keep going just… maybe give me a chance to land a hit?”
Seriously? Fuck her. If she’s going to go around challenging fighters- actual professionals at that- she should expect what’s coming to her. Sure, this entire session didn’t have any stakes, but I wasn’t going to just stand around and be her punching bag. If she hadn’t learned her lesson, I was about to teach it to her.
Also, why hadn't she said anything before? Maybe I could forgive her for her own stupidity if she'd been upfront after it was clear I was stomping her, but if you're gonna let me beat you over and over and over, either call it quits or live with it.
Seriously, this was her own fault. Fuck. Her.
"Fine." I lied, wiping a bit of sweat from my brow. Actually, you know what? I was already going easy on her. If she's going to waste my time and then play victim, I'll show her just how much I can mop the floor with her. I was pretty sure that however this next round went, it would be the final one I'd do with her. Probably ever.
Suffice to say, I didn't see much reason to hold back.
When she motioned she was ready, I pounced on her. I'd let her go on the attack before, but she barely had time to think before I'd kicked her several steps to the side and rammed into her. Our bodies collided and slammed into the mat floor as I contorted and straddled her body.
She didn't waste time tapping her hand to get me to get off of her. I didn't care. "You stupid bitch." I snarled as my thighs wrapped around her neck and skull. I squeezed tight, choking her like a Boa Constrictor. "You want to waste my time?" I huffed, a bit out of breath as I restricted air from reaching her lungs. She continued smacking her hand against the mat. She was probably panicking, although I guess I couldn't blame her. Off the top of my head, I could think of three fucking ways I could have killed her, and she probably thought I might just be crazy enough to do it. I was certainly angry enough to.
I blinked. Something was off. Really fucking off.
Someone should have stopped me. I’d never really been in this position- in a match that was clearly over, yet it was continuing without the referee stepping in and pulling me off of my opponent. The stupid girl watching over the events hadn't even said anything. Zip.
Either she was drugged out of her mind or didn't care. It didn't take some MMA expert to know what I was doing exceeded the rules. I briefly loosened my thighs from the redhead's throat and tilted my head to look at the referee. She just stood there, apparently writing some notes on her clipboard like an idiot.
For all I knew she was busy solving a sudoku or something. I squeezed my legs again, eliciting a pained whimper from the girl between my legs. She continued to tap, but the strength and intensity was decreasing.
I snapped out of it, and my legs freed the girl. As soon as she could break free, the redhead shot up, gasping for air, probably harder than she'd ever done before. All the while, the dumb short haired woman just tapped her pen against the clipboard.
"Y-you... c-cr-crazy fucking bitch! Are you trying to kill me?!" The redhead shouted, blinking rapidly as she replenished her lungs with much needed oxygen.
"Oh shut the fuck up." I growled. "Learn not to shit-talk girls who can whoop your sorry ass." I continued, looking down at Emma for a moment. Her breathing had somewhat stabilized, but her face was totally flustered. I figured there was a good chance mine was too, although probably for different reasons.
Taking deep breaths and wiping some sweat from my forehead, I stared at the blue haired woman, not sure what to do or say. Maybe I should have been mad at myself, but through repetition I’d sort of grown to rely on someone else to let me know I was going too far and stop me. Like Pavlov’s dog, I’d just sort of learned to keep going until the ref told me to stop.
I got up to my feet and glanced back and forth between Emma and the referee. Annoyance turned into anger. I think it was fair for me to expect her to hold me back from... oh, I don't know, coming an inch away from fucking murdering someone.
I grit my teeth and stomped towards the referee, who took a moment to look at the two of us, seemingly expecting us to do another round. "Who are you anyways, and who the hell hired you? You-" I rolled my eyes and shook my head, wiping some sweat from my brow. "Actually, you know what? I don't care. It’s obvious that you don't."
“Hmm?” She asked, as if surprised by my outburst. “Didn’t your agent tell you? Anyhow, you can call me Jess, and-”
I grabbed the nearby camera set up on the tripod and threw it to the ground. In these sorts of bouts, it was pretty common to have a camera set up for the fighters to analyze the fights after the fact, but for obvious reasons I wasn't exactly comfortable handing this girl concrete proof of how close she'd come to dying at my hands. Well, thighs, I guess.
Somehow I doubted that if the redhead pressed charges, this ‘Jess’ wouldn't testify against me; after all, she'd be just as guilty as me. Actually, that was probably a poor assumption, considering she'd need to have a modicum of intellect to not incriminate herself, and frankly, I couldn't fathom just how stupid this girl-
"Hey, you have to pay for that."
What. Are you fucking serious? I’m gonna try to give her the benefit of the doubt and-
"Hey." She spoke again, breaking my train of thought.
I'd almost killed my opponent, and she hadn't said a word. But breaking the camera? Apparently that was too far. "Are you stupid?" I asked, looking at her completely dumbfounded. "Nevermind. I don't even know why I asked." I turned and started to walk away, prompting the girl to speak again.
"Where are you going?" She asked. I grit my teeth. I was tempted to choke her out like I had done to the other girl. Hell, I'd probably be doing the world a favor. I’m sure even Emma probably would appreciate that, even.
"Where the hell do you think? I'm not paying for that piece of crap, and if you had more than a single brain cell, you would get rid of the footage yourself anyways."
The girl laughed a bit. "What footage? You know we hadn't started recording yet, right?" I turned back to her in dismay. She just looked at me with this stupid fuckin’ expression.
"Oh my fucking god." I said slowly under my breath. I pressed my thumb and forefinger to my forehead and looked down at the floor. Then, I spoke to her with the fullest sincerity. "You are officially the dumbest goddamn person I've ever met. Congratulations."
As I turned and started to walk towards the door of the spacious gym, the redhead spoke up, apparently recuperated enough to start shouting at me again. "You'll see from my lawyer you fucking psycho!" My fists clenched and I just lifted a hand, giving her the bird as I continued walking.
"You're not allowed to leave until the match is over."
I couldn't believe how quickly that blue haired bitch's voice had become grating. It wasn’t the voice itself, but every damn word that came out of her mouth just reminded me of her. And in my mind, she was the living embodiment of... I don't even know. Just something annoying and stupid and just... Agh.
"There's still-" She paused, pulling out her phone to check the time. "-fifty five minutes left until you can leave. Your agent signed the form. I have it here somewh-"
"Do I look like I-" My hands were practically tightened into iron gauntlets. I could strangle this stupid woman and just punch her and punch her and- Fuck, I couldn't remember the last time I'd despised someone so much. "I. don't. give. a. flying. fuck." I huffed angrily. "Where the hell is my agent anyways? They're supposed to be at these sort of things."
Reaching the exit, I grabbed the handle, only to find the door the was locked. I grit my teeth and rattled the handle, as if that would somehow open it. While probably unrealistic, I felt angry enough that kicking down the door seemed like a plausible or even reasonable course of action.
"I told you, you can't leave until the match is over."
"Oh my god, shut up." The gymnasium was silent for a moment. I'd almost forgotten what silence actually sounded like. I took several deep breaths and turned to walk back to the woman. Unfortunately it seemed talking with her with a half clear head was my only real option.
She jotted something down on the clipboard as I made my way back to her. Out of the corner of my vision, I could see Emma had made her way back to her belongings and was typing on her phone. Credit where credit's due, she wasn't fool enough as I to bother trying to talk sense with the referee.
"You do realize the fight is over, right? Neither of us are gonna keep-"
Suddenly she chuckled.
“What’s so funny?”
"Wait. You thought..." She began laughing again as if she'd just thought of the funniest joke. "Oh, I... I see." She held back some more giggles. "You thought she was your opponent?" Jess said, motioning with a flick of her head towards Emma.
A snarl came to my face, and my eyes briefly darted around. "Wait wait wait, what? What are you trying to say?"
It was weird seeing the girl smiling like this. She’d practically had a poker face through everything up until now. "Oh, that's funny. I, uh… I suppose she enjoys keeping you things in the dark these days. I uh..." She giggled. I was losing my temper again. What the hell was going on, and what did she find so funny about all of this?
Finally, she spoke again. "...I apologize for the confusion." Her tone had turned back into that practically robotic voice. Just lacking all emotion after finding the last few moments of conversation hilarious for some reason. I turned to look at the redhead, but she seemed to be looking at her phone, paying no mind to what the referee was saying. It seemed her attention was glued to her phone, and- If anything- she seemed distraught by whatever it was she was looking at.
"What are you talking about? W-what the fuck is going on here?" I took a threatening step towards her. For once she reacted, taking a step backwards.
"Ah ah ah. You're not allowed to touch me."
"Oh yeah? Says who?" I snarled.
"Oh, she'll show up soon. She's a little bit late today, but don't you worry. She'll have plenty of time to give you a... proper match~" She said, almost in a seductive manner. What the hell had I gotten myself into?
"I'm calling my agent.” I stated, lifting a finger and angrily pointing it at Jess, as if to tell her to stay in place. The gesture seemed wasted, given I was sure she wouldn’t be leaving any time soon. “I don't know what the hell is going on, but this is not what was discussed. When you..." I trailed off, the redhead's voice making its way to the front of my mind.
"Oh my god. Oh my god." I turned to look at her, unnerved. What the hell was she freaking out about? If anyone should be freaking out, it should be me. Her eyes darted around and she got to her feet, clearly limping a bit from the fight. She began jogging as fast as she seemed able around the gym. "What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck?!" Her voice was faint, the volume even lower from this distance, but she was in some sort of trance. Goosebumps shivered their way down my back. I'd never seen anyone behave like this. What the hell was happening around here?
"Is there something wrong?" The blue haired woman asked. I ignored her, shaking my head and running over to my belongings. It felt like I was in some sort of nightmare. I hoped I was in one. That'd make so many things so much fucking easier. I wouldn't have to worry about this girl pressing charges, and I wouldn't have to worry about whatever was going on right now.
Grabbing my phone, I dialed my agent.
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
My fingers tightened, and I could feel a bit of sweat forming on my tips.
"Hello! This is Opal from Apex-Fit speaking." My heart skipped a beat.
"Hey, hey, something is... Something is going on and I don't know-"
"...Gotcha! Leave a message after the beep. Peace!" My teeth chattered. Somehow I’d forgotten about her stupid voicemail message. I shook my head and ended the call, opting to text her instead.
'something weird is going on pls call me ASAP'
I put my phone in my pocket and stormed back to Jess. Somehow she looked even more bored and uninterested than she'd been during the sparring. "You-" I stated, lifting a finger to point right at her. "-are going to tell me what the hell is going on."
"I don't think she'd like that. I probably shouldn't have even told you-"
I shoved her. "Who?" I tried to contain myself, but I could barely keep my hands from grabbing her throat and suffocating her. "She this, she that." I mocked. "Does she have a fucking name?" I shouted.
The woman took several steps back and brushed off her collar, looking at me in annoyance. "I told you, you're not allowed to touch me. She's going to punish-"
I stepped forward and shoved her again. Harder.
"Oh, and I'm the stupid one?" She said in irritation. "I'd answer your question if you just-"
I shoved the stupid bitch.
"Stop." She snarled. "I don't think you understand what she will do when she-"
"She? She? Does this mysterious ‘she’ even fucking exist, or did you just make her up in hopes I’d leave you alone?"
"You're not allowed to speak about her like that."
Not allowed t- What the fuck?! Who the hell, outside of some cult, has ever talked like that?
"When she arrives, she will expect you to call her Mistress unless she tells you otherwise." She took another few steps back and looked down at the clipboard, moving her pen to write something down.
Mistress?
“You’re an actual psycho.” I stated. “Fuck you, fuck your mistress, and fuck whatever shitty prank this is. Give me the keys and maybe I won’t phone the police.”
She looked disappointed by that, although for what exact reason I couldn’t say.
"And give me that." I snarled, grabbing the board and yanking it from her hands. The tip of the pen made a long streak across the page as I did so.
"You're not allowed-"
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just shut up, would you?”
When she opened her mouth to reply, I punched her throat. I barely was able to hold myself back enough from causing serious damage, but I couldn't contain it anymore. “You don't take a hint, do you?” I didn't know what was going on, but I didn’t care. I was getting out of here, and that started with Jess shutting her trap and unlocking the door.
The woman was coughing now, unsurprisingly, grabbing her throat with one hand and breathing through her nose as she blinked. I could tell she wanted to speak, but took solace in knowing that I had shut her up for at least a minute. Hopefully more.
"Give me the keys." I commanded. She shook her head and looked at me with hatred in her eyes. "I'm not gonna wait all day. I can punch you again if you'd like." I threatened. She began to shift, and I moved closer, pushing her back several steps until she was against the wall. "What’s so difficult? Give me the fucking keys." I commanded again.
As I waited for her to respond, I looked down, glancing at the clipboard. It was some sort of chart. It looked practically like a tax form, or maybe a medical examination test. There were various boxes, some of which were checked, others crossed off, and some omitted. I tried to look for any words or phrases that I recognized, but it just looked like word salad to me.
"What the hell is this, anyways? Has this all been some sort of… test?" I shook the clipboard in the air angrily. "Are you listening to me?" I paused, suddenly feeling a migraine. My body felt woozy. "G-give me the..” I coughed. Suddenly I could feel beads of sweat rolling down my forehead. “Ke-keys… r-right now... or...or..." What was happening to me. The clipboard slipped from my hand and I felt my limbs going limp.
My gaze turned back to the girl. She looked at me with an angered expression and pushed me away. As she did so, I saw the syringe in her other hand. I hadn't even felt it go in, but as it left my shoulder, I felt a soft twinge of pain. I tried to speak, but found it hard to do so. Maybe even impossible.
I fell backwards. Those moments falling to the ground felt like seconds. Everything was in slow motion. Suddenly though, the sensation of weightlessness came crashing down as I slammed into the ground back first.
I blinked, trying to stay awake. The girl momentarily looked down at me with a disgusted expression before walking away out of my vision. I couldn't even turn my head. I could barely even keep my eyes from shutting. Was I... was I about to die? I didn't even know what was happening. Only then did I even register a sound from the distance. Kicking, of some sort. Maybe a cry for help? Emma must have been trying to get out of the locked building, although for how long she'd been attempting to do so, I wasn't sure.
I was afraid. I couldn't keep my eyes open. I... was falling into a deep sleep. Maybe my last. I wasn't ready.
I wasn’t ready.