A/N: Wow! I wasn't expecting that this story would have so many followers so fast and with only one chapter uploaded. I'm sorry this took a while to come out. I hope you enjoy this chapter. The next update will be coming soon.
Emma was feeling very nervous. She had never seen an arena of such a massive scale. She stood at the entrance to the arena which was a short distance from the changing room. She could see the thousands of spectators and almost felt like throwing up.
Killian could see the blonde turning pale. He stood in front of Emma and placed both hands on her shoulders, making sure that she was only looking at him.
"Remember our training. Focus on finding an opening. Your elbows and knees are your strongest moves so use them to your advantage," He advised firmly.
Emma nodded her understanding. She could hear the announcer announcing the match.
"Fight number ten, sponsored by Reebok…" the announcer in the middle of the cage started his announcement through the stadium sound system. "Red Corner… Regina 'The Queen' Mills!" He continued.
The entire stadium burst into cheers as Regina entered the arena, accompanied by her entourage. She reached her side of the cage and shed off her robe. She took off the towel around her neck and slipped off the shoes from her feet. Robert Gold stood in front of her.
"Regina, aim for a knockout. No submissions!" He said with a sinister smile.
This was his usual advice to her. The bloodier the match, the better according to Gold, however, this time Regina suspected that there was something else going on as well. She could tell from his eyes that he was scheming something but she couldn't quite place a finger on it.
Despite her suspicions, Regina pushed the thought from her mind and readied herself for the match. She had no time to be concerned as the announcer was about to announce Emma Swan's name. Gold inserted a mouth guard into her mouth.
"In the blue corner… Emma 'The Saviour' Swan!" the announcer shouted into the microphone as the spectators cheered both fighters.
Emma walked to her side of the cage with Killian, David and a few other trainers in tow. She took off her white robe and slippers.
The medic applied petroleum jelly onto her face to prevent Emma from getting cuts during the fight. This was standard practice inherited from boxing as it was a method to prevent fights from being stopped due to excessive bleeding or blood entering the eye.
The referee inspected that the amount of Vaseline applied to her face was acceptable. Regina already had Vaseline applied to her face by the time Emma entered the stadium arena.
Killian inserted a mouth guard into Emma's mouth and hugged her. "Good luck, Swan," He whispered in her ear.
Both Emma and Regina entered the cage through the doors on their respective sides. The announcer continued with his announcement.
"This featured fight is in the Women's Flyweight Division sponsored by Reebok." The announcer read from his clipboard. "Introducing the first fighter in the red corner, standing at 5-feet-4-inches tall and weighing in at 127 pounds, she is undefeated in the cage with a record of 8 wins to her credit. She is the current reigning and defending champion of Venus Flyweight Champion. Fighting out of the Dragon Claws Gym, all the way from Brooklyn, New York, Regina… "The Queen"... Mills!" He announced.
The entire stadium cheered and whistled. Regina was a crowd favourite and this was the loudest cheer the stadium had received all night. Some of the spectators could be heard chanting her name.
The brunette blew a kiss and winked at the camera that was filming her. The match was broadcasting live on Fox Sports cable channel.
"And her opponent…" the announcer continued, "the fighter in the blue corner, standing at 5-feet-5-inches tall and weighing in at 125 pounds, she has 2 wins and 1 loss in the cage, fighting out of Believe MMA Gym, from San Francisco, California, Emma… 'The Savior'... Swan!" the announcer completed his announcement and cleared out of the cage.
The crowd cheered but not as loud as before. The cameraman took a quick shot of Emma who was trying hard to not look awkward on camera. He quickly cleared out of the cage together with the other cameraman and announcer.
The referee entered the cage and stood in the middle of the octagon. The door to the cage closed. The referee, a tall muscular man, asked both women if they were ready. Both Emma and Regina indicated they were ready by standing on guard position.
"Fight!" the referee bellowed, starting the fight and moving away from between the fighters as quickly as possible.
Both women moved in about an arm's length away from one another. They circled each other, sizing the other up while waiting for a chance to make a move.
Regina took the first jab and Emma jumped back, dodging the blow. The brunette kept eye contact, fists protecting her face.
The blonde was intimidated by the woman in front of her. The undefeated Queen of the Cage could easily beat her to a pulp. She shook the thought out of her head.
Suddenly, she felt a blow to her left calf and lost her balance. Regina had kicked her leg and caused her to fall forward.
The brunette used her wrestling background and got on the blonde's back with her right knee between Emma's leg. She pinned the blonde's left leg with her right shin while simultaneously pulling Emma's right leg back and hugged it close to her body. She choked the blonde with her left arm.
Emma could feel the pressure tightening around her neck constricting her arteries. Before she felt her fear got the better of her, the blonde rolled on her back, using the force of her whole body and successfully broke free. She pushed Regina off and found herself on top of the brunette. Emma wrapped her legs around both of Regina's legs and pinned the brunette's chest down with her right arm. The blonde desperately tried to grab hold of Regina's right wrist but before she could, her opponent punched Emma in the face three times. The third punch managed to break Emma's nose.
The blonde fell backwards at the excruciating pain. She brought both of her gloved fists to her face to protect it. Regina straddled Emma's waist and tried to punch Emma again. The blonde kept one fist protecting her face and used the other to swing wildly at her opponent which successfully made contact to Regina's eye.
The brunette was knocked back slightly by the impact. Emma took the chance to deliver a few jabs and uppercuts, which forced Regina back, allowing Emma to get back on her feet and on guard. She could have delivered a few more strikes but was quickly running low on stamina.
Regina quickly stood up as well. The crowd cheered loudly. They were concerned that their favourite fighter was suddenly losing the fight. The fact that she was still standing despite the brutal beating was admirable but then again it was the undefeated Queen of the Cage. She would not be so easily beaten.
At this point, blood was flowing down both fighter's faces. They still had two minutes left in the round. The referee asked both women if they were okay to carry on. Both fighters fueled by adrenaline nodded yes.
The two women circled each other in the cage. Emma swung her leg and kicked Regina in the ribs.
The brunette responded by coming in closer and jabbed Emma in the abdomen and kneeing her in the face.
The blonde blacked out for a second but shook herself awake. She managed to stop the second knee to the face by grabbing hold of Regina's leg. She hugged the brunette's leg and moved backwards causing Regina to fall on her back.
Emma dove forward to pin the brunette into submission but the brunette kicked her in the abdomen, pushing her away. Emma did her best to stay standing. The round was not over yet and the blonde was determined to keep the fight going for as long as possible. She knew that there was no way of winning this fight with a knockout or submission. She needed to get the judges to decide on a win based on techniques. Despite the pain and the overwhelming strain on her muscles, the blonde told herself that she needs to concentrate now on delivering good hits and made sure to block as many of Regina's attacks as possible.
The brunette rose to her feet again. She was impressed that her opponent, despite being an unknown out-sider of San Francisco, had a similar level of skills as her.
Regina could see her coach outside of the cage, standing behind Emma signaling Regina to deliver her deadliest moves.
The brunette did not want the fight to end so soon but if Emma was as good as the brunette thought she was, she would be able to survive her moves.
Regina, with a new fire alight in her eye, watched for an opportunity to execute her moves. She jabbed her left fist which the blonde dodged easily. The brunette performed a perfect roundhouse kick to Emma's head but was surprised that it did not make contact as the blonde managed to dodge the kick.
In the split second of Regina realising that she had missed, she knew she was going down as when a roundhouse kick is executed without hitting anything, the fighter ends up facing away from the opponent. Regina's back was now facing Emma, which meant that Regina was completely exposed and if Emma was as good a fighter as Regina had recognised her to be, Emma knew that as well.
Sure enough, the blonde gave a low kick to Regina's right leg before Regina could rectify the situation, knocking her down so hard that Regina hit the canvas causing her mouth guard to fall out.
The referee called time and stopped the fight to retrieve the protective equipment. The two women relaxed while waiting for the referee to rinse out the mouthpiece and put it back in Regina's mouth. The brunette took a quick look over at Gold. She could tell that her coach was furious. The referee stood between the two fighters who were at the starting position and resumed the fight only thirty seconds left on the clock.
The brunette grabbed Emma around the waist and rammed her against the cage wall. The blonde tried to break free from the grasp.
Seconds later, the bell signaling the end of the first round rang. The referee broke the two fighters and they went to their respective corners.