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“Yeah, this is totally karma for something…”

Alexander Troy sat in disbelief as he saw his name booked up against Alice Blackburn’s. Alice was the current champion at the Scarlet Resort and for most people seeing her fight was an event, but Alex viewed the matchup as a death sentence. Not that the idea of fighting the best wasn’t tantalising to him - it was - but he knew he wasn’t on the same level.

“Oh yeah, you’re going to die out there. Sorry, man.” Twitch, Alex’s best friend, patted the phoenix on the shoulder. “Maybe she’ll go easy on ya if you ask.”

Alex spat on the ground in response before storming off.

“Hey! Where are you going?” Twitch called out at Alex, not bothering to follow too quickly.

“To train!” Alex yelled out in response before fading out of sight.

The following week, Alex and Alice stood each other down in the centre of the ring. It was mere moments before the fight was due to start.

“Look at you! You’re looking a lot more confident than usual! I was scared you’d be a little intimidated.” Alice’s boisterous voice boomed from above Alex. Alex was not a tall guy, but most of the resort regulars were at least eye level with him. Alice was one of the rare few he had to physically look up to as well as emotionally. And to be honest, he’d be lying if he said she didn’t intimidate him just a little.

“I trained all day yesterday.” Alex replied smooth as butter, helping ease his nerves by lathering on the self-assured charm that he was known for. He had admittedly taken this fight very seriously. He had trained every day until today to polish up as much as he could. He knew he couldn’t beat Alice. But he wanted to impress her. He didn’t want to feel like a waste of her time.

“Oh yeah? Well I hope I get to see some improvement, hot wings! It’s not every day you get to scrap with a champion.” Alice smiled back in response. Her eyes had a positive warmth to them that Alex never saw in his brief interactions with Georgia, Alice’s younger sister. The difference in enthusiasm alone made the two girls almost completely incomparable.

“Even rarer that you get to scrap with the one who beat Nofre! Now come on!” Alex felt himself get a little pumped up for the fight as he bounced on his toes, warming up before sharing a fist bump with Alice. He wanted to say more but the bell sounded before he had the chance.

And just like that the fight had begun!

The fight had turned out to be a fast paced duel of jabs and kicks as Alex and Alice shared the rounds being on the offensive and the defensive. Alice was holding back considerably, but she was appreciated Alex’s fire. She could tell he had really been working hard for this fight and even as she made small talk to fill the dead air inbetween smacks of leather, Alice would feel the drive Alex was harbouring. Not for her defeat, but for a challenge. It had been such a long time since Alice allowed herself to cut loose a bit, so she figured she’d dig deep and show Alex the champion that scraped a victory past Nofre.

By Round 8, Alex was out on his feet. Alice had made sure to spend more time ducking than dealing damage, but the punches she landed on Alex with her tree trunk arms made up for entire rounds worth of offense that Alex was now struggling to dish out.

“I’m actually kind of impressed you’re still standing, mate! I guess the phoenix thing isn’t just a name, huh?” Alice was beaming as Alex lurched back to his feet, having just taken a nasty left hook from Alice and bounced off the ropes

“H-hearing that from you means a lot…” Alex grunted out as he fought to raise his gloves. “But what the hell do those Olympians feed you to be so damn strong…?”

Alice chuckled a little before she deflected an admittedly powerless strike from Alex.

“I feel like we can talk about that later. Because I think we should wrap this up now. You’re lookin’ a little blegh and I don’t want to hurt you that badly. Just go down after this one, arright?” Alice had a twinge of guilt in her eyes, but Alex could tell that she was being serious and sporting, and not the Resort’s usual blend of sarcastic sadism.

BOOM!

Alex pretended like he actually stood a chance at surviving Alice’s knockout punch, but his legs eventually gave out and he collapsed to the ground. He didn’t bother making poor Reffy count him down again. He just shook his head at her and the small referee sighed in relief before calling off the fight.

“Hey! Good stuff there, Alex. Thanks for letting me cut loose a little. I appreciate it.” Alice smiled at Alex as she offered him a hand to help him up, which he accepted.

“I’d say no problem but uh…my face would disagree.” Alex laughed as he rubbed his cheek with his free hand, still needing Alice to help keep him standing.

“Hopefully some day I can convince Victoria to let me join in on Scarlet Sundays again. I miss being able to just fight whoever I want. Her rules suck.” Alice lamented as she walked Alex out of the ring and into the hands of the awaiting Twitch.

“Hopefully. It’d be a fun sight to see you and your sister go at it. She’s gettin’ real good real fast. Must be a family trait.” Alex nodded absentmindedly as his body considered shutting down and recovering.

“Thanks for the fight, Miss Blackburn. Maybe next time you won’t need to hold back.”

Description

“Yeah, this is totally karma for something…”

Alexander Troy sat in disbelief as he saw his name booked up against Alice Blackburn’s. Alice was the current champion at the Scarlet Resort and for most people seeing her fight was an event, but Alex viewed the matchup as a death sentence. Not that the idea of fighting the best wasn’t tantalising to him - it was - but he knew he wasn’t on the same level.

“Oh yeah, you’re going to die out there. Sorry, man.” Twitch, Alex’s best friend, patted the phoenix on the shoulder. “Maybe she’ll go easy on ya if you ask.”

Alex spat on the ground in response before storming off.

“Hey! Where are you going?” Twitch called out at Alex, not bothering to follow too quickly.

“To train!” Alex yelled out in response before fading out of sight.

The following week, Alex and Alice stood each other down in the centre of the ring. It was mere moments before the fight was due to start.

“Look at you! You’re looking a lot more confident than usual! I was scared you’d be a little intimidated.” Alice’s boisterous voice boomed from above Alex. Alex was not a tall guy, but most of the resort regulars were at least eye level with him. Alice was one of the rare few he had to physically look up to as well as emotionally. And to be honest, he’d be lying if he said she didn’t intimidate him just a little.

“I trained all day yesterday.” Alex replied smooth as butter, helping ease his nerves by lathering on the self-assured charm that he was known for. He had admittedly taken this fight very seriously. He had trained every day until today to polish up as much as he could. He knew he couldn’t beat Alice. But he wanted to impress her. He didn’t want to feel like a waste of her time.

“Oh yeah? Well I hope I get to see some improvement, hot wings! It’s not every day you get to scrap with a champion.” Alice smiled back in response. Her eyes had a positive warmth to them that Alex never saw in his brief interactions with Georgia, Alice’s younger sister. The difference in enthusiasm alone made the two girls almost completely incomparable.

“Even rarer that you get to scrap with the one who beat Nofre! Now come on!” Alex felt himself get a little pumped up for the fight as he bounced on his toes, warming up before sharing a fist bump with Alice. He wanted to say more but the bell sounded before he had the chance.

And just like that the fight had begun!

The fight had turned out to be a fast paced duel of jabs and kicks as Alex and Alice shared the rounds being on the offensive and the defensive. Alice was holding back considerably, but she was appreciated Alex’s fire. She could tell he had really been working hard for this fight and even as she made small talk to fill the dead air inbetween smacks of leather, Alice would feel the drive Alex was harbouring. Not for her defeat, but for a challenge. It had been such a long time since Alice allowed herself to cut loose a bit, so she figured she’d dig deep and show Alex the champion that scraped a victory past Nofre.

By Round 8, Alex was out on his feet. Alice had made sure to spend more time ducking than dealing damage, but the punches she landed on Alex with her tree trunk arms made up for entire rounds worth of offense that Alex was now struggling to dish out.

“I’m actually kind of impressed you’re still standing, mate! I guess the phoenix thing isn’t just a name, huh?” Alice was beaming as Alex lurched back to his feet, having just taken a nasty left hook from Alice and bounced off the ropes

“H-hearing that from you means a lot…” Alex grunted out as he fought to raise his gloves. “But what the hell do those Olympians feed you to be so damn strong…?”

Alice chuckled a little before she deflected an admittedly powerless strike from Alex.

“I feel like we can talk about that later. Because I think we should wrap this up now. You’re lookin’ a little blegh and I don’t want to hurt you that badly. Just go down after this one, arright?” Alice had a twinge of guilt in her eyes, but Alex could tell that she was being serious and sporting, and not the Resort’s usual blend of sarcastic sadism.

BOOM!

Alex pretended like he actually stood a chance at surviving Alice’s knockout punch, but his legs eventually gave out and he collapsed to the ground. He didn’t bother making poor Reffy count him down again. He just shook his head at her and the small referee sighed in relief before calling off the fight.

“Hey! Good stuff there, Alex. Thanks for letting me cut loose a little. I appreciate it.” Alice smiled at Alex as she offered him a hand to help him up, which he accepted.

“I’d say no problem but uh…my face would disagree.” Alex laughed as he rubbed his cheek with his free hand, still needing Alice to help keep him standing.

“Hopefully some day I can convince Victoria to let me join in on Scarlet Sundays again. I miss being able to just fight whoever I want. Her rules suck.” Alice lamented as she walked Alex out of the ring and into the hands of the awaiting Twitch.

“Hopefully. It’d be a fun sight to see you and your sister go at it. She’s gettin’ real good real fast. Must be a family trait.” Alex nodded absentmindedly as his body considered shutting down and recovering.

“Thanks for the fight, Miss Blackburn. Maybe next time you won’t need to hold back.”