Return to Torrington
"Thank you for tending to my injuries," Isaac said, as Tatsuki sat beside him, her power mending his wounds, "There won't be any troubles for me when I get back to Torringtion."
Tatsuki simply smiled; after returning to Osaka, she decided to come back to Isaac's house, and help Isaac to heal quicker using her ability. She wasn't used to healing such major injuries, due to her Hemaphobia, so with periodic visits, as the doctor had predicted, Isaac would be walking around within two weeks as if almostnothing happened. He'd still have to make sure not to push himself too much, unless he ran the risk of re-opening the wound.
However, Isaac began to notice something...different about himself. The first time Tatsuki came for one of their sessions, he could tell that she had arrived the instantshe stepped through the portal, and he was upstairs when it happened. Tatsuki remembered the smile she saw on Isaac's face: he was just sitting there, expecting her, and he didn't even know a session was scheduled for that day.
What's going on with me? Isaac thought. I haven't felt this feeling since...well, before the Black Ops attacked me and Dad back then.A feeling of...power and energy.And now, I can tell whenever Tatsuki arrives at the house for our sessions.I should ask Dad about this someday.
"Well," Tatsuki said, "we can't have you returning to Torrington struggling to even walk, and with such a severe injury nonetheless. We don't want Diana to find out about what happened."
"I hate keeping secrets from her," Isaac said, referring to Diana and his involvement in the Red Monarch mission, "it reminds me of how Mom and Dad kept secrets from me."
Tatsuki diverted her eyes, and briefly stopped healing. She wasn't surprised by this: she knew how M.O.M had the Center kept secret from Isaac ever since he was a child, and even his own power. Tatsuki felt guilty, as she was now among the people keeping secrets from him. She resumed healing.
"Well, people sometimes keep secrets, because the truth is painful."
"...I know," Isaac admitted, "since Diana was devastated by what happened, and if she remembered...who knows how she'll react."
"I'm sure you'll make it work somehow," Tatsuki said, and smiled, sparing a look into Isaac eyes, "the same way it worked between us."
Isaac smiled; before he arrived at Torrington, he became best friends with Tatsuki, and to an extent, something more. They had both suffered from the actions of her brother, and Algernon's plots. Even though Tatsuki would heal him, the scars would remain. He closed his eyes, and remembered when he tried to confront Sousuke himself, and was slashed diagonally from the left shoulder down to his waist in the ensuing, brief fight when he tried to protect Diana. She didn't know it was him, since he was wearing a mask at the time, that covered even his hair, so it was impossible to make a connection between him and that "masked man".
That scar still remained to this day. "It is unbelievable how much I initially hated you, yet we were more similar than I could have imagined."
Tatsuki smiled, leaned over and kissed Isaac on the cheek. "I guess you didn't understand at that time."
"Tatsuki," a voice said, and M.O.M was standing there. "The session is done." Although M.O.M didn't admit it right now, she felt happy that Isaac had someone like Tatsuki to care for him.
"This is probably the last session we'll have," Tatsuki said, holding Isaac's hand, "so be sure to call, okay?"
Isaac smiled; whenever he was alone, and had gotten the chance, he would sometimes call Tatsuki, to tell her how things were going. "Don't worry Tatsuki," Isaac said with a smile, "I will."
Tatsuki nodded, and walked out. M.O.M then walked in, and sat by Isaac's side. "How are you doing, Isaac?" She said tenderly.
"Well," Isaac said, "I seem to be recovering quite nicely from Tatsuki's treatment, and her time here has compensated for everything that happened on Christmas day." His voice trailed off as he spoke, remembering that painful day, both emotionally and physically.
"In case you are wondering," M.O.M said, "I heard that Diana's parents and Martin decided to visit. But...Martin didn't take things too well initially when Gerard said he was impressed with Marvin."
"What are you talking about?" Isaac questioned.
"Well," she began to explain, "Martin doesn't really like Marvin in a way, due to his and being better than him. I'll admit, when I first brought Marvin in, I believe he'd actually make a better agent than Martin."
"And you trusted a newcomer more than one of your own agents, right?" Isaac almost said it spitefully.
"Well, he did help Diana and Martin in the Amazon with an oxygen-eating bacteria," M.O.M said, sounding hurt, "and in fact, it was Diana who praised him." M.O.M didn't understand why, but Isaac's words seemed to sting. "I took that into account, and made him an agent. He always seemed to be confident in himself, and essentially did everything Martin did, only better. I guess that gave him some appeal. Although, sometimes he could be a bit arrogant whenever I dealt with him."
"So he was Mr. Popularity himself," Isaac said, "but you know, being better don't necessarily mean good." M.O.M nodded in response to her son's observation; Proteus and Algernon were once the best of the best in the Center as well.
"However, he messed up on his first mission with Martin and Diana, so I shipped him off to the North Pole." She earned a chuckle from Isaac for saying that, and it made her smile. Despite the fact it wasn't proper to laugh at someone's suffering, Isaac always seemed to love it when the overly confident were humiliated in some way. "I decided to send him to Hawaii after he helped Martin and Diana deal with a parasite he and one of the other agents stationed there when they found a frozen Wooly Mammoth." Isaac nodded as if to say "Of course". He may have hated arrogant people, but knew when to acknowledge talent, as he did Marvin's when hearing of both his successful exploits.
"Then he messed up again, this time on purpose." M.O.M stated.
"On purpose?" Isaac questioned, curious.
"Well, he apparently heard of the lucky charm of a Leprechaun named Loog, and asked to be stationed in the general area where it was located. He wanted the charm for himself due to it's luck-giving abilities," M.O.M placed her hands on her crossed legs, "even though he said he couldn't help himself. Then he contacted Diana and Martin for help, not wanting me to find out about his little stunt."
"You would have killed him if you had found out," Isaac stated, knowing his M.O.M's temperament. They both shared a little laugh. Isaac was well acquainted with his mother's fury, as he had inherited a part of that himself.
"Well, after Diana destroyed the clover after both Marvin and Martin were caught under it's spell, they informed me of Marvin's actions. To say the least, I was quite disappointed in him. So, I continued to move him around; pairing him up with other agents from other countries, sometimes rookies, to teach him a bit of respect and responsibility..." Her voice slowed, and she looked away.
"Then why is he now posted at Torrington," Isaac questioned.
"...Isaac," Olivia said, "I just got the notice a few days ago about his posting, and I never got the chance to tell you until now, but..." She inhaled, and exhaled. It's not like her to be uneasy when talking about something."Well, the Board of Directors decided that Marvin was to replace you."
"REPLACE ME?!" Isaac screamed at the top of his voice in disbelief, moving up quickly as he did so. He got too worked up, and part of his wound tore open, and he coughed up blood.
"Calm down, Isaac," she ordered, and placed her hands on Isaac's back and chest, easing him down gently, and repeated softly. "Calm down, dear." She proceeded to explain. "The Board believed that I had a biased reason for posting you with Martin and Diana, and believed someone with more experience in the field should be paired up with them on missions. I had no choice in the matter."
"...How long do I have?" Isaac asked, and noticed Tatsuki by the door way; she must have been talking with his Father when she heard him shout. After all, for some reason, he still felt her presence in the house, even when he was talking with M.O.M.
"They were willing to give you a grace period of two weeks," M.O.M said, "just enough time to get your affairs in order." She nodded to Tatsuki, and she sat on the other side of the bed, mending the re-opened wound, still shivering at the sight of his blood. To tell the truth, after seeing Isaac nearly sacrifice himself for Diana, she finally got over her fear of blood, not wanting to see anymore be shed by her brother.
"I see," Isaac said, "what a two weeks this has been." He looked at Tatsuki, and smiled. "I guess you were speaking to Dad. I felt your presences in close proximity to each other." M.O.M looked at Tatsuki with alarm, puzzling him even further. Tatsuki nodded; she and Harold should probably take care to suppress their power, so Isaac doesn't get suspicious. "I can't help but think that all of you are hiding something from me," Isaac said. It was too late; he was already suspicious.
"Isaac," M.O.M said, "just be patient. We'll eventually tell you what it is all about, just...don't get too angry if something bad happens to Martin or especially Diana on a mission, okay?"
Isaac took on a comically quizzical face when M.O.M asked that of him. Tatsuki actually chuckled; the ever-so serious Isaac always looked cute when puzzled. "Why would you ask that of me? Isn't it natural to get angry when someone you care about gets hurt?"
M.O.M thought it over. "I want you to stay collected and calm when that happens; I don't want you running the risk of getting hurt yourself, especially after what recently happened." Isaac understood a bit now; she didn't want him to come back bleeding.
He smiled. "Don't worry yourself so much, Mom," he said, "I'm your son and Dad's."
"I know you are," she said, and kissed her son on the cheek. More than you realize,she thought. "Get some sleep; it will help the recovery." Giving him a sincere smile only a mother could have, she left for the Center, anticipating his return.
A few days later, after Isaac was fully healed...
"How was my absence explained, anyway," Isaac asked.
Harold shook his head from the car window; even after being away for two weeks (one of them being a School week), Isaac was concerned as to what excuse his mother cooked up.
"It was simple," he said, "I simply told them that you wished to spend a week off from school with your parents, because your mother had finally come home from work, and you wanted to celebrate."
"So, that would actually be the truth then," Isaac figured; most of what he saw of M.O.M was at work,and not even the School knew that Ms. Mandell was his mother. This was the first time that M.O.M had ever spent extended time outside the Center with her family. "Did they accept it?"
"Actually, they did. See you around, Isaac." And Harold Alexander, Re-instated Center agent, drove away. Isaac smiled to himself as he thought that; the entire family was now working at the Center, officially making it a family business. Looking at Torrington Academy, he walked towards it, and wondered how he would spent his possibly last two weeks there, and how he'd make amends with Diana this time. Last time, it was just an argument about work; this time, he'd have to deal with that, and how the memory loss wiped away what they did at Christmas...
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!"
Isaac's eyes went wide when confronted by an ecstatic Martin; what was going on when he was away?
"You didn't bother to ask Principal Pebbleton?" Isaac questioned. "Mom had come back from work, and Dad asked if I could stay at home so we could get re-acquainted."
Martin looked at him suspiciously; he had his doubts about that. He was also suspicious about Isaac's relationship with M.O.M. Their mannerisms, temperaments, and cold personalities at times were scarily similar. Martin entertained the idea that Isaac was M.O.M's son, but he decided to think more about it; he didn't want to make a fool of himself. But still, the evidence was there...
"Well I'm glad for you," Martin insisted, as they walked along, "but things have not been the same at allwith your absence. I can't go anywhere nearDiana without finding her close by Marvin. And she hasn't mentioned you at all, and-"
"Excuse me," Isaac said, stopping Martin, "not a single word?"
"Nada," he said, "she hasn't mentioned you since she got back from the Center for some reason."
Isaac's expression looked pained, and he let go. Not a single word?But why...? "When I asked her," Martin said, "she simply said: "There's something I have to talk about only to him.I want to know why my memories of Christmas day vanished.""
"I see," Isaac said, "she's wondering about that, huh?"
"What happened," Martin asked, "I mean, I did see her faint at the sight of blood in the cafeteria from someone's tiny cut. She's not that weak."
Isaac paused as he thought it over. He decided he had to tell him. Finding a deserted room, he sat him down. "It all began when M.O.M gave us a call, for a Mission to Transylvania..."
Martin listened all the way through, and for the first time since they began missions together, he didn't speak; only stayed quiet. "My god," he said, "so that's what happened. And...Diana doesn't know anything about this?"
"Yes," Isaac said, observing the unusually flush Martin, "and you can't tell her the truth. I don't know how she'd react to find out she nearly killed me."
"I don't know how she'd react either," Martin said in a concerned voice. "But when you mentioned the blood...it reminded me of the nightmares I've been having."
Isaac's interest was perked. "What nightmares?"
"...Never mind," Martin asked, "I don't want to talk about it."
"When you finally decide you want to," Isaac said, "I'll listen."
Martin chuckled. "Thanks. Don't tell Diana about these nightmares, okay? And no word of this to Marvin."
Isaac smiled. "My lips are sealed. Now, I think it's time I looked for Diana, and apologized." Saying that, he left, leaving Martin to be concerned about his nightmares. He didn't want Isaac to know they began right after what he told them was his "training mission", and he didn't want to say anything about that orb he and the Center had stored away in that cave. If he said that, M.O.M would send him to the coldest place conceivable, and he doubted it was actually the South Pole.
Isaac searched the halls high and low for Diana, until he finally found her in the cafeteria...with Marvin. Seeing Diana enjoying herself, he had decided to wait until later to talk to her, but Diana saw him. Dismissing herself from the table, she went towards Isaac, and he could observe that Marvin seemed to have an almost sour look on his face. It seemed that he didn't like being stood up at all.
"About time you got back, Isaac," she said, with a hint of fire in her voice, directed at him. She's still mad.Isaac thought, as she dragged him away to her room.
"Look, Diana," Isaac said, "about your loss of memory, I am so sorry, and..."
"Don't bother, Isaac," Diana said...and she smiled? "I know it must have happened for some reason." This left Isaac flabbergasted; he was expecting apologizing to be much harder. "I guess you are wondering why I'm not furious at you, aren't you? Well, Jenni decided to fill in the blanks about what we did together."
Isaac allowed himself a chuckle. Leave it up to Jenni to tell Diana about what she missed, even if she doesn't know about the Center.
"...I don't know what happened at the Center, or in Transylvania," Diana said, her smile replaced by a sad frown, "but I guess that I was wrong about Chris and Alyssa, and..." She placed a tender hand over Isaac's heart, and shed a small tear. "...I couldn't bear the thought if something happened to you."
"Diana," Isaac said, "nothing happened."
"Stop lying to protect me," Diana shouted, "Jenni told me how I fainted at the sight of blood in the cafeteria, and that I was having periods of exhaustion during the day. I know something bad happened, and I want to know."
Isaac wanted to protest, but remembered what Diana said: "When that happens," Diana said, "I will know that I didn't have any control over what I did. I'll…I'll understand."
I have to tell you,Isaac said, gritting his teeth, I can't keep it secret forever."...All right Diana. I...I'll tell you."
He sat her down on the bed. "Diana...Chris was a vampire," he began.
Diana looked away. "I guess you were right to be cautious. But how did he live in the sunlight?"
"I don't know the specifics," Isaac said, "but apparently his master, made him to be like Dracula, and they could walk in daylight, albeit with their power weakened. After we split up, he must have tracked you down, and...he bit you," he said, placing a hand over where the bite marks were. Diana wrapped her hands over Isaac's; those scars were her first hints that something happened.
"...We tried to cover up what could have happened to you, so you wouldn't be worried," Isaac said, "so me and M.O.M decided you should have a normal day at Torrington, so I could keep an eye on, and until a cure was made...the cure was what wiped your memory."
"So nothing actually happened?" Diana said. "It was just a side-effect?"
Isaac closed his eyes, and looked away. "No, Diana," he said, "After the cure was developed, I took you outside to the nearby woods, so no one would know what happened if things went south, and..." He took off the black, dragon-styled shirt he decided to wear that day, "well, this happened."
Diana covered her mouth in shock; across Isaac's stomach, were five scars evenly spaced out. "My...god! You...you mean...?"
"I didn't want to show you Diana," he said, putting the shirt back on, "but you turned into a vampire and...did that."
Diana panted, and shed tears from her eyes, and cried on Isaac's shoulder. "I...I'm so sorry...I didn't mean to..."
"Diana, it wasn't you," he said, looking into her eyes. "You had no control over your actions. It doesn't make you a monster," Isaac assured her, and pulled her close, "It doesn't."
"How could you say that," she whispered, choking back tears, "you could have died, and it would have been my fault."
"Diana," he said comfortingly, "what mattered most to me that you were cured of being a vampire. I risked my life because of that."
Diana managed to smile; Isaac had always taken risks whenever she was in danger. "...You're right. I shouldn't blame myself for something I have no control over."
Isaac pulled her up from the bed. "I was worried about how it would affect you," he admitted, "so I was initially hesitant to tell you about it."
"Isaac," she said, "there was also something else Jenni mentioned to me...about the dance."
"Really, Isaac asked, "what was that?"
She placed a hand on the back of his head. "You should know." She said softly, and the two of them slowly embraced, and kissed each other. "It is Christmas tradition after all; kissing under the mistletoe," she said with a smile, running a hand through Isaac's currently let down hair.
Isaac chuckled; yes, it was tradition. He watched as Diana moved her hand to encompass the necklace she had given. "All this time," she said jokingly, pushing him, "and you still haven't given me my gift yet!"
"What can I say," Isaac said with a laugh, "making something completely unique takes a lot of time. Besides, I only placed the order the day before our mission."
Diana laughed. "How big of a procrastinator are you? I placed my order twoweeks ahead of time."
"The day you procrastinate will be once in a Blue Moon!"
The two of them shared a laugh with each other, unaware of what was going to happen in the days ahead, and how much this moment would matter.
"I guess I should get going," Isaac said, heading for the door, "and see what I missed over the past week."
"Of course you should," Diana said, "well, see you later."
"Oh, by the way," Isaac said, "my Dad got re-instated."
"That's wonderful," Diana said, smiling at Isaac's fortune, and with anticipation: now his entire family was back at the Center, and she couldn't wait to see what his father could do.
Smiling at her, he closed the door. Diana then sat down, and fell into thought; the scars he intended to show her, weren't the only ones she saw. It was impossible for Isaac to hide that scar that extended down from his shoulder to opposite hip, and she didn't bring it up, because it reminded her of that masked man she and Martin met up with. He was covered head to toe,she thought, and had an injury that would have resulted in that same scar Isaac...She shook her head, since that theory was as crazy as one of Martin's, but still, it held merit, so she logged that detail away, deciding that it wasn't the time or place to ask Isaac about it.
After gathering everything he had to do in time for next Monday (it was a Saturday that day), and put it on his desk, he decided to walk around Torrington. She didn't ask about the other scar,he thought, I'm not sure if she just wanted to respect my privacy, or try to figure it out on her own.But eventually, she'll find out that I was the man in the mask, and my involvement with Sousuke.
He suddenly remembered: today was his Karate practice with the School Tae-kwon-Do group, and also Diana's gymnastics practice. It was a while ago, back in October, when he encouraged Diana to take up Gymnastics after a mission where he was summarily amazed by a brief burst of co-ordination and grace she displayed, when the two of them had to rescue Martin from an old, haunted castle.
Gathering up his practice clothes, he went to the gym change rooms. He hid himself away, because he didn't want a rumour going around about "Isaac's scars"; he hated attention. He reminded himself to tell the coach that he was going to go easy today; no need to risk ripping the wound open again. When he got changed, and went out into the gym, he saw a crowd surrounding the ring, all in awe of something. When he looked through the crowds, he saw what he was expecting: Marvin had just finished sparring with another one of the fighters, and apparently won. Now the crowd was literally squeeing, and it was hurt Isaac's ears.
He used three words to disperse the crowd, which also included other Tae-kwon-do fighters: "What's going on?"
They parted like the Red Sea; Isaac had quite the reputation of being an even higher ranked Martial Artist master than the teacher himself. When asked why he'd bother to join, he simply said: "I don't want to lose my edge." The current class champ decided to ask "what could a white-haired weirdo like you possibly do?" at one point, and Isaac decided to show him, and said formerchamp was always the first to back away from Isaac. "A demon in human form", he called Isaac, referencing the way he was tossed around in said fight.
"Wait a minute, you're..." Marvin said, upon seeing Isaac.
"Yes, I am," Isaac admitted, and calmly walked up to the stage, "and what's wrong with that?"
Marvin was annoyed; everyone was in awe at his victory, yet this white-haired brat was treating it as absolutely nothing; as if hewas absolutely nothing. "Let's not get into a quarrel right now, all right?" Isaac calmly said. "I came here to practice, notto watch you fight."
"Don't you know who I am?" Marvin asked fiercely.
"Why, yes," Isaac admitted, "I kept on hearing the students praise you in the halls, and I couldn't help but listen into their praises."
Marvin stood proudly, acting self-important. "And what did you hear?"
"Absolutely nothing of interest to me." Isaac simply responded.
This caused a murmur around the audience, and steamed Marvin; Isaac just brushed off all of his achievement like they were nothing. "Excuse me?"
"It's obvious you like to show off," he said, noting the gathering crowd, and even the gymnasts and Diana stopped to watch the exchange, "and frankly, I don't like people who boast every single achievement they have in life."
"Do you want to fight?" Marvin threatened, and a few more squees came from the crowd at Marvin's boldness.
Isaac took a deep breath, and exhaled in exasperation. "Whatever you say," Isaac said, and walked to the other side of the ring, "but I should warn you, I'm an expert."
"Well I am too," Marvin boasted. He was briefly confused by the quietness of the crowd, but brushed it off as anticipation of his victory. What they really were feeling was just quiet waiting, and a hint of fear. Isaac didn't even looked bothered at the prospect of fighting Marvin, and to some, he looked like he wanted to finish quickly.
Getting into stance, Isaac simply said: "I don't really care."
Marvin gritted his teeth, and took a stance as well. Those who were part of Tae-kwon-do, and even Jenni, who was in the crowd, broke out into cold sweat, preparing for the beating that Marvin would probably receive. Marvin was tense, and gritting his teeth, while Isaac was almost lax, without a care in the world. I suppose I could entertain Marvin for a while,Isaac said, remembering to be cautious of his wound, and then kick it into over-drive, and knock him out.
"You know the rules," the coach said, "the victor will be determined when one of you admits defeat, or falls out of the ring."
"That person will be you," Marvin said, to which Isaac only rolled his eyes.
"BEGIN!" The coach yelled. At that, Marvin ran forward.
He tossed a punch at Isaac, only to have it swatted away. He kicked and the same thing happened. Then Isaac responded, and landed two swift blows in a row, knocking Marvin back, earning applause from the crowd. They're cheering him on?Marvin thought. They should be cheering me!With that intent in mind, he lunged forward, and let loose a flurry of blows that Isaac traced and blocked. Then, when it appearedIsaac's guard was down, Marvin punched Isaac in the face, causing him to tumble a bit, earning some awe of the crowd. Marvin looked at the crowd, pleased with himself.
"That was mildly impressive.?"
Marvin turned to see Isaac simply rubbing the part where he was hit, acting as if nothing happened. "You know," he said innocently, "when I decided to let you hit me, I thought it'd be harder."
"What? You mean you letme hit you?" Marvin growled.
"Well, it's only sporting that I let my opponents get one hit on me once in a while," Isaac said, "plus I wanted to see what to expect should you be able to hit me. Now then," he said, getting back into stance, "shall we continue?"
Marvin yelled, and threw a fist forward, only to have it caught. Throwing the other one forward yielded the same result, and Isaac booted him away. It became clear to the audience that Isaac was holding back, and that he was only toying with Marvin. Marvin realized this, and began to fight harder, but couldn't quite break Isaac's guard as he received only counter blows. Isaac wasn't going on the offensive.
Unfortunately, Isaac was too lax and cautious this time, and when Marvin found an opening, he swung his fist forward hard...right into Isaac's recovering wound. Since the sensation of being ripped open was still raw, and the nerves were also raw, a blow that Isaac would have normally taken without much effort, caused him to yell in pain, and grip his chest. The audience gasped in fear, and Marvin looked at his fist. He smiled maliciously. "It seems you aren't so tough after all." He mocked, and hit that same spot twice over, causing Isaac to yell in pain more, and he could even feel the blood coming up his throat, but he forced it back.
Isaac fell to his knees, and Marvin then kicked him in that spot, knocking him back, and by the time he stopped stumbling, he covered his mouth and coughed. On his hand was blood, causing some of the girls in the audience to scream. Damn,Isaac thought, even after two weeks and Tatsuki's healing, it still isn't completely fixed."Marvin that's enough!" The coach yelled. Isaac saw Diana run forward, but he put a hand up, and knowing he meant her, she stopped. Even Martin, who had come to watch, stopped running, even though it wasn't directed at him. "I'm not sure what happened, but Mr. Alexander is unable to-"
"You said the rules were "until they give up", or "they're knocked out of the ring". Well he hasn't given up, nor is he out of the ring yet!"The force he said it with caused some people to back away; he wasn't going to stop until Isaac was down.
"But-" the coach said, but Isaac put up a hand for him. "Coach, I can handle this." He stopped so that someone from the crowd gave him two towels: one wet one to soak away the blood, and the other to dry his hands.
Marvin chuckled. "Handle it? Are you joking! I hit you only four times, and look at the state you are in. I'm ending this now!" He ran forward, and swung forward with a haymaker as hard as he possibly could, intent on knocking Isaac out cold. Isaac caught it with is bare hands, stopping Marvin cold.
"I hate to break it to you," Isaac said, as an astonished Marvin looked at him, "but..." He tightened his right fist, and pulled it back. "...I'll be the one putting an end to this fight." He then smiled, and everyone shivered, and Marvin's eyes widened in fear; that cold, steel smile meant that someone,this time being Marvin, was about to be owned HARD!
For the first time since the beginning of this fight, Isaac put the full force of his strength behind a punch, paying back Marvin by aiming for the gut. The force literally forced Marvin off the ground, and forced all the air out of him, and the look of disbelief on his face clearly showed he didn't see this coming. He was down on his knees and panting; that took Marvin three hits on an injured Isaac, Isaac did with one punch. He walked forward, grabbed Marvin, and tossed him to the side, and he rolled out of the ring.
The crowd was silent. Isaac preferred it that way; no cheer was suppose to come from a fight. "I should have told you I had a small skiing accident over the week," Isaac said, covering up the reason for the blood, "and it's still a bit tender. If you don't mind, I'd like to take today off for practice."
"Well," the coach said, "you didn't have to quite go so hard on him. I don't think you're one to get into an accident so easily, but it can happen to anyone. Go ahead, Marvin just wanted to show people how good of a fighter he was. Guess he didn't anticipate you."
Isaac shrugged, and stepped off, deciding he was going to watch Diana practice her gymnastics. He didn't have to wait long to see her walking towards him, and she hugged him. "Why didn't you tell me it still hurt," she whispered into his ear. Well,Isaac thought, it seems that at least one rumour will go around today.
"I didn't want to worry you," Isaac said, and toned it down to a whisper, "don't blame yourself for what just happened."
He moved her away from him. "Let's just ignore it for now, all right? It seems I've got today off, so I still got time to watch you."
Diana smiled, and they walked over to where the gymnasts had resumed practising, soon accompanied by Martin.