The event is finally here! Which team will win? Rose or Dimitri's? How well do you think the Cobra's will take a liking to Gabe's beautiful Maria?

I know it's been nearly two weeks since I last updated. I'm sorry. I was grounded and I was experiencing some major writer's block (I want the fighting to sound realistic), so I started writing this one shot called Frustrated. I will be posting it within the next week. I hope you all will read it and review.

I am also starting college on August 23, so if I don't update so much it's because I have a lot of homework, but hopefully it won't interfere. I hear every hour in class is 2 hrs of homework. So not looking forward to that.

Enjoy!

Chapter 10.

Lissa made her way into the ring as Dimitri and his team went to his assigned side. Lissa took a microphone that one of the handymen handed to her as she stepped up on the ring's steps. Then she looked out into the audience with a welcoming smile. She had to ignore the sun that was glaring down on her by putting her hand up to block it. Most of the audience did the same, some even brought umbrellas and heavy duty sunglasses. The Cobra's and I had to endure the sun's light.

"Welcome. This is a match between Cobra Zena Jakov and Guardian Edison Castile. This event wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for Ms. Mia Ranaldi, so give a special thank you to her. As you may know from reading the flyer, in the Cobra House, there is a rivalry going on between the happily engaged couple, Rose and Dimitri. The family had split up into sides and they had pranked each other to prove to each time that the other team was better with cunningness, and now, obviously, the results had lead to here. As for who is winning right now, it would be Dimitri's team. The score right now is two to nine. Now, let the dual begin." Lissa said, and stepped off the fighting ring and handed the microphone back to the handyman.

Lissa walked up to us. "Zena, Eddie, get up there."

Zena was dressed in a Dance light lime green sports bra, with Nike white and black shorts. Eddie was shirtless (giving a wonderful view of his sculptured chest and abs) and wore Adidas red shorts. Zena had black and white Puma shoes, while Eddie had Nike shoes that were white and red.

They nodded, face serious and walked up. Halfway there, people started cheering. When they got into the middle of the ring, the crowed was still cheering and whooping. The referee, who wore guardian attire, came up with a microphone. He was also someone I know of: blond hair and eyes so hazel they looked gold.

"My name is Guardian Delos Martinaz. I will be referring this fight. This is all fare game. There are only two rules: no breaking bones and no killing. You will be playing 3 rounds. Now, play on fighters."

Everyone clapped, including me and my family. Eddie and Zena bowed to each other, then backpedaled away from each other; eyes intently on each other.

"Roses, can you put me down?" Tommy said.

I nodded and set him down on his feet. I sat down and soon, everyone else, including the crowd followed.

Zena and Eddie rounded each other. Their shoulders high and strong, their feet shoulder width apart. As they moved, so did Delos. Suddenly a song played over the speakers: Awake and Alive by Skillet.

I looked at Eddie, and his face was an open book. I could read from his facial expression what he was thinking. Just before he made the first move, he saw Zena's footing make a mistake. I don't know exactly what flaw she made, but it must have been good enough for him to stop from making the first move.

Eddie kicked out with a testing kick- smart move on his part- for any flaws. He also wanted to see how far her limits would go with him. The crowd went wild, yelling out either Zena's name or Eddie's. I knew they both felt some sort of pressure.

Zena, like the Cobra she is, her hands darted out fast like lightening and caught his foot after the impact on her right thigh. Once Zena had a hold on his leg, she yanked him forward like he weighed only ten pounds. Then she pounced on him, and the crowd started to yell.

"Wahooo!" The crowd went.

Some of the moroi shouted to Eddie: "Get her off you!"

"Use your weight against her," yelled experienced guardians, among other things.

Just as the crowd had shouted at him, Eddie had shifted his body on the side, and in one huge thrust of his whole body, he managed to jerk Zena off just a little bit, but it just barely enough. Her hold on his arm had loosened enough for him to jerk out of her hold. He pushed her off him and she went flinched off him. A new song started to play: 'Supernatural' by Daughtry.

Damn, damn, damn! She almost had him! Eddie was holding back a lot in practice.

Zena, using her abs and thigh muscles, jumped up and lunged at him full force, without missing a beat. She wasn't going easy on him now. It was all or nothing for her.

She got all up and personal with him. Her fist flew at him, which he blocked easily, she dropped towards the ground and tried to sweep his feet out from under him using her leg, but he jumped up just in time. Zena quickly rocked on her back and pushed up on her legs and kicked with both of them onto his torso.

In unison, all the Cobra's got up and started shouting. I started shouting at Zena to get up before he gets her, Tamara started shouting that she needs to try and land a blow on his right leg. If a fighter cannot maneuver around the ring with ease and grace, they are at a major disadvantage.

I glanced over at the queen and she was still seated in her expensive fold out chair. But something in her posture told me she wanted to stand up and start encouraging someone. I suppressed a smile. Really, she was a good person. Adrian was right. I was too hard on her in the past…but then again she was a total bitch to me.

I could hear all the way over to Dimitri, several yards away, that he was shouting for Eddie to stop being in defensive and be on offensive. Lev was shouting Eddie's name for his confidence.

Zena got up and landed a blow across Eddie's forehead and somehow cut his eyebrow. His head went to the side due to the blow and some sweat flung off his brow and chin. But that didn't faze him completely. Without missing a beat, Eddie turned back to her and punched her in the stomach, the chest and finally across the head. She stumbled back a few steps and I could literally see the stars dancing in her vision. She was sweating on her chest, her sports bra had spots of sweat everywhere.

She shook her head, as if to shake off the stars. Her fists came in to protect herself, and she went in for a punch to his jaw. He blocked it, but Zena already knew he would. Her foot was out before he could prevent the kick and she got him right on his dominate leg.

"ooh." The crowd went.

"That's going to leave a mark." Tommy murmured. I nodded in agreement.

Eddie went down with a groan of pain. I could see that he had one hell of a Charlie horse. Zena quickly put him in a headlock. But Eddie did a new trick that I hadn't thought of: he thrusted one of his thumbs up one of Zena's triceps. I guess I learned something new today.

Zena's hold immediately weakened. And, because she stood behind him, Eddie grabbed her upper arms and flipped her over his head and onto the ground in front of him.

I went wild. The crowd went wild.

"GO ZENA! GO EDDIE!" Tommy shouted at the top of his lungs. I smiled inside. He just couldn't pick a side.

Zena tucked her legs in immediately and as Eddie came down to put her in a body lock, she kicked out full force and knocked him down and her knees were on either side of him. She put him in a body lock and the referee, Delos, raced up into the ring and came up and looked at Zena's hold, like he was inspecting a wrestling match.

"Zena!" He yelled out, and the way he said it was like "ZENA" and the A sounded like "ah" like a sigh.

The half the crowd went wild, the other half just clapped. Tommy yelled 'wahoo! You da woman, Zena!,' at the top of his lungs. Zena looked over and gave him a wink. He smiled big with a slight blush.

Zena let go off him and got off. She gave out a hand for Eddie to get up and he took it. Both of them went to their side of the ring, waiting for a go.

Everyone sat down again and another song started to play: Never enough by Five Finger Death Punch.

"Round two." Delos said, standing in the middle of the ring. He jumped out of the ring and faced them. "Go."

Eddie, carelessly, lunged at Zena. And to my surprise, Zena lunged at him. Eddie, being a man, had more weight than Zena so he was able to push his way on top of her. Zena quickly switched out her hips and forced her way on top of him. When she got on top of him, she put her knee on Eddie's stomach.

Delos was on the side, watching in what seemed like amazement and awe.

Eddie reached quickly and attempted to grab her leg for a leg lock, but Zena saw realized what he was going for right in the nick of time. She grabbed his forearms by the end of his biceps, right above elbow (a/n: there is a pressure point there) and slammed his arms on mat.

I put my hands on the side of my mouth and yelled "Wahoo!" in encouragement to Zena. "You go!" I said in Russian.

Eddie wiggled and pushed his hips up, but he couldn't get out of her hold. Delos, as he has been the hole fight, was right in front of them. "ZENA!" He shouted.

Zena got off Eddie and Eddie did a flip-up, using his abs and thigh muscles. He went to his side of the ring, making contact with Dimitri's eyes. They seemed to be sending a message. And suddenly, I knew all hell must of broken loose. He has a few tricks up his sleeve.

Crap! Crap! Crap!

My heart started to race. I knew this was too easy. He was playing it cool.

I looked at Zena, but she paid me no attention. Her whole focus was on Eddie and this fight. All I saw was the side of her face.

Right before she took a step, she glanced over to us to give us a smile. I put on the most desperate face I could put on and shook my head. She winked at me, as if to tell me that she has this handled.

No Zena. That's not what I mean! Crap.

I held my breath, and I looked over to Dimitri's side. He was looking at me with that sardonic smile of his. I wanted to slap it off.

Or lick it off.

Which one I wasn't so sure of. I love him. Then again, I really love him. He was the worst person to side against. What was I thinking?

"Roses, can I go over to Dimitri?"

I looked down to Tommy with a pleased smile. "Of course you can, sweets." I kissed Tommy on the cheek. "Can you deliver a message to him for me?"

He nodded and his gray eyes sparkled. "I'd do anything for you!"

My heart melted and I hugged him close. "Tell him I said wrong move." He nodded, not knowing what I meant by it, so for his benefit, I said "you will find out later." Of course, I was winging it. I had no idea what Zena was in store for. I was putting in a lot of faith into Zena. I know it's wrong, but she said to believe in her. Besides, this is just a game. Who cares if she loses this?

I frowned. I do. A little bit.

"Go." Delos said to the two fighters.

Tommy nodded to me and ran as fast as he could to Dimitri. Dimitri's face lit up as Tommy threw himself at him. He picked Tommy up, forgetting about the fight and threw him a foot up in the air and catching him as gravity grabbed him. I saw Tommy laugh when Dimitri through him. Then Tommy told him my message after D set him down on his feet. Dimitri looked over at me and I saw him lift an eyebrow up as he sat Tommy on one of his legs.

I gave him a sly smile and turned to the fight.

Zena and Eddie were circling each other like boxers. Not seeing it coming, Eddie went down and using his foot to sweep Zena off her feet. And it worked. Zena fell right on her butt. Hard. She grimaced, but I knew she was putting on a good face for her audience. She will be hurting later.

Eddie quickly lunged towards her, not bothering getting up to straighten out his form. He grabbed her right arm and twisted it and with the other arm he grabbed her wrist and applied pressure to keep her there. She yelled out in pain.

"Don't hurt her!" Tommy yelled in an innocent tone.

I don't think Eddie heard him. From where I sat, I heard Zena grunt in frustration.

"EDDIE!" Delos yelled.

I gridded my teeth. I didn't look over towards Dimitri. I know very well he wants to rub it in my face.

Eddie let go of her and she got up. She looked over to me and she blinked and had a dazed look on her face like she couldn't believe what just happened.

To tell you the truth, I had a hard time believing it myself. I didn't think Eddie knew how to play dirty. Huh, I guess we both learned something new about him.

Wait, did Dimitri teach him that move? That thought tricked me into the mistake I was trying to avoid: looking at Dimitri. His eyes sparkled like he knew it all. It was very annoying. His smile reached his eyes too, and that was the most annoying part. He clapped, like the rest of the crowd that was on his team, but he wouldn't stop looking me in the eye with that smug look.

'What now, Rose?' His eyes seem to say. 'I told you my fighter was good.'

Uh! I suddenly had an urge to punch him. This time, kissing him wasn't an option. Or a thought. I wanted to punch that smirk right off his handsome face.

However, the game was out of three rounds and Zena had won two out of three.

"One more! One more! One more!" the crowd started shouting.

I looked over at Dimitri and saw him making his way towards me with Delos, Zena and Eddie. Delos had a microphone in his hand. Zena stood by my side. Eddie was by Dimitri's side, where as Delos was standing in the middle of us. I wanted to laugh a little bit; we weren't kids. We can control ourselves. Or well, Dimitri could control himself.

"I think it should be best out of five." He said when he reached us. I stood up and put my hands on my hips and straightened my spine.

"And I think it should be best out of four, and I should fight the next three."

"So she fights one more round, and you fight the next three?"

I nodded. "Zena is tired of petty novice tricks, so I will take over from there."

"You won't be fighting Eddie."

My playful glare snapped on. "Oh? Will I be fighting myself? That should be interesting." I said with little amusement.

"No. The Edster will be tired. And it won't be fair. You're haven't been working and he's not rejuvenated."

I snorted. "The Edster? What are we in, high school?" I winked at Eddie and he chuckled. We had actually called him 'The Edster' back in high school. But Dimitri did have a point about it being unfair. I'd have more energy than him.

He ignored that. "If you think that was high school fighting, you won't know what hit you, because you will be fighting me." Dimitri's team yelled in agreement. "And it won't be all fun and games."

I playfully shivered. "I'm so scared."

"I will fight Eddie once and the next three with you. And I will win. You won't even know what hit you."

He smiled that sardonic smile of his again. "We shall see my beautiful fiancé."

"Mmm. And you are in for the ass-whippin of the century, my soon to be husband." I paused for a moment. "Are you sure you want to doom yourself to a life time of servitude?" this question wasn't all that playful. I was giving him the opportunity to walk away.

He stepped forward and caught my wrist. He pulled it up to his lips and kissed the back. "I will never want anyone else." His eyes shined with truth. "I love you."

The women in the nearby stands sighed with awe.

I smiled, forgetting our little spute. "I love you too." And I hugged him; as always, he wrapped his arms around me in a sweet, loving embrace. After a moment, I pulled back and returned back to the hardass Rose Hathaway. "Alright, Edster, let's do this!"

The crowd went wild as Eddie and I walked up to the ring. I jumped up and did a summersault over the ropes. Eddie just did a run and jump over the ropes, tucking in his knees to his chest and landed perfectly straight.

Delos looked at us, Eddie and I were five feet apart, and he said "go." Just then, over the speaker, 'Barbie World' started to play. The audience laughed. Some of the girls in the crowd started singing along. When Ken sings "come on Barbie lets go party," the boys in the crowd sing along to it and the girls would sing back to the boys "uoh uoh." Eddie and I started laughing at that, but we quickly went back to fighting.

I crouched down after a few moments, side stepped every once in a while when Eddie would lurch towards me. Eddie shuffled, much like Zena does, telling me he was definitely on the offensive side. I went in for a blow to the head, but he blocked it and went for my stomach. I blocked and landed a kick on his calf.

We started circling each other. I lunged to towards him, but he sidestepped and elbowed me in the hip. I grimaced at the pain.

I was still holding his arm. I twisted it and moved behind him, bringing him down to his knees. I looked at Delos.

"ROSE!" He shouted.

I helped Eddie up and he walked out of the ring. I looked at Dimitri and he made his way over. "Rose, Rose." He said when he reached me. He stood five feet away from me. We looked at Delos for him to tell is to go.

Suddenly "Baby one more time," by Britney Spears started playing over the speakers. I chuckled. Whoever was controlling the music has a sense of humor.

When he said go, Dimitri didn't waste any time. He lunged at. I managed to get out of his way, but only halfway. He knocked me down and landed on top of me. It was like getting hit by a bus. I quickly maneuvered my legs and hips. Even though he held my arms down, my hips and legs were positioned so that I could push him off me.

When I pushed, I didn't do it gently. I practically kicked him off me. He landed a foot away from me. I scooted away, but he grabbed my ankle and pulled me towards him. He got on his knees and leaned forward and brought over his legs on either side of me. He put his weight on me; all of it. I could hardly move. Who knew a man could weigh so much?

I tried to maneuver out from under his weight, but that wasn't happening. He grabbed my wrists and held them above my head. He looked to Delos. The song changed to 'To Know That You Are Alive' by Kutless.

At the last second before Delos called it, one of my legs got free and I rammed my knee as hard as I could into his hip. I rammed it so hard, it stunned him. I wretched one of my wrists free and punched him in the face. His head knocked back and he was off me.

Suddenly, the crowd went wild and started standing up. They started shouting at me. What they were shouting was beyond my comprehension.

I got up and went into defensive position. Dimitri got up the same time I did, knowing if he didn't, I'd be on him instantly.

We rounded each other. I watched his footing and muscles— which were ready to coil at any moment.

I wanted to charge him, but I knew he'd have the greater advantage. He was stronger and he weighed more.

Then he went down to swipe my feet out from under me. I jumped up, knowing what he was doing. When he was about to get up, I lunged towards him. I was on top of him, holding his forearms down. I quickly pushed down on my hips to keep him in place and wrapped my legs around his.

I looked to Delos.

"ROSE!"

"ONE MORE ROSE! ONE MORE!" Zena shouted with pride.

"I want to announce," Lissa said over a microphone as the crowd sat down and the song had ended. "I want to tell the Cobra's that now; officially, they are tied with Dimitri's team."

"Wait? How is that possible? We had pranked them more than they have us." This came from Lev. Lev looked up at the princess, who was now standing near the ring.

I was sweating and breathing hard. Dimitri was sweating, but he wasn't breathing very hard.

Lissa didn't speak in the mic. This was only for the Cobra's. "Zena and Rose had both won two fights. I also want to add points to what Rose had done to Larisa." She smiled. "Rose had poured flower over her when she was wet with water. Then Rose and Zena had tied Dimitri down and had given him a full make over."

Very fast, and very sneaky, Lissa grabbed Dimitri's hand and held it out for all to see. Everyone could see the wonderful smiley faces (of course, the mad face on the middle finger) and beautiful paint job we had done. "Of course, when I say full make over, I mean the make-up and the whole shebang."

The few people in the crowd that saw, laughed adoringly, but the Cobra's rolled their eyes in amusement.

"Play on." Delos said, anxious for us to get back to the fighting.

I turned towards Dimitri, and just as I turned, he tackled me down to the ground, arms pinned behind my back.

Dimitri looked at Delos. "DIMITRI!"

"What!" Gabe shouted for my benefit. "That doesn't count! She wasn't ready!"

"Yeah." Some people in the crowd shouted.

Delos shook his head. "It counts. You must always be ready."

I gridded my teeth. This was a game, not real life!

Dimitri grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. I glared at him. "That shouldn't have counted."

He shrugged and turned his back.

I looked at Delos he nodded. "Go."

I don't know what irked me the most. The fact that Delos was siding with Dimitri, or that Dimitri wasn't playing completely fair.

'And it won't be all fun and games.' Those words came back to me. So, that is what he meant. Oh, it's on now. Suddenly, 'Like A Virgin' by Madonna started playing. I heard Dimitri and most of the men and some women laughing in the audience.

Dimitri's back was still turned away from me. He was making contact with Eddie; a perfect opportunity. I smirked. He wanted to play dirty, well, I'll play dirty. I ran and jumped on his back. My hands were around his throat to cut off his oxygen. My legs were wrapped around his waist perfectly so that if he makes a wrong move, my knees would dig into the back of his hip.

People started shouting at me, telling me that was illegal; others shouted saying that he deserved it. Dimitri dropped to his knees and flopped down on his back. When he flopped down on his back, the air rushed out of me, but I kept my hold on him.

"She's still holding on!" Someone shouted in amazement.

Dimitri got back up and flopped down on his back again, and again. All the while I held on. He got back up, but slower this time, due to the lack of oxygen and flopped down on his back. This time, I heard something crack and my head bounced off the ground. I lost my hold, but Dimitri was down, dazed from the loss of oxygen.

"ROSE!" Delos shouted.

I slowly got up, hearing the crowd cheer. Dimitri was already up and heading towards me. Tommy ran up to us and gave me a hug.

"Ahh!" I half cried half shrieked. It wasn't Tommy's fault that I was hurting, but he immediately backed off.

Tommy immediately backed off and looked at me with apologetic eyes. "Sorry. I don't know my own strength."

Dimitri and I laughed. Delos laughed too, overhearing it. "Rose, are you okay?" Delos asked. The song 'The Way You Make Me Feel' by Michael Jackson started playing.

I straightened up my spine, but a pain raced through my spine. "I probably pulled a muscle." I lied. I knew immediately what was wrong. One of my upper vertebrae was either crushed or broken. Lissa came over, worry coming through the bond over me.

She came over for a hug, but it wasn't just a hug. She was testing me. She put her hand over the back of my neck (my vertebrae) and when I flinched and a small moan of pain escaped from my lips. She healed me without a second thought.

"Don't tell Dimitri." I whispered to her.

She nodded. I didn't want him to feel bad.

I walked over to Dimitri and kissed him when MJ sang "the way you make me feel" the second time. Talk about funny timing.

"Rose's team had won the battle." Lissa nearly screamed with joy. Just about everyone shouted for joy. Dimitri's team had clapped, but I could tell they were proud of me and had had fun.

Dimitri picked me up and spun around and kissed me again. He looked down and saw Tommy was pulling on his shorts to get his attention. "Is thawy (there) mowa (more) fighting?"

I chuckled and shook my head as Dimitri set me down. "Sorry Tommy Jay."

Tommy sighed in disappointment, but let it go. "Then can we go back to the castle?"

I nodded. Lissa turned over to me, her shoulders high and face excited and proud. "I am so so happy for you! We won! You won!"

Christian came up then and turned to Dimitri and gave him a high five. "I knew you were going easy on her."

Dimitri shook his head. "When it comes to this, I never go easy on her. She needs all the practice she can get."

I elbowed him with a smirk. "Watch it buddy. I can say the same for you."

He just smiled.

I turned to Christian. "I think you should say something nice to me."

He snorted. "The nicest thing I can say is that you have nice hair."

I raised an eyebrow. "And."

"Fine." His crystal blue eyes shined with amusement. I think he got a real good kick out of being a pain in the ass. "You can kick some ass."

"She can kick some serious ass." Lissa corrected him, taking his hand.

"You two are invited to dinner, by the way. Gabe is bringing a friend over for dinner to meet us."

"We better go." Dimitri said. "It will be hard to get out and Tommy wants to leave."

I nodded. I called the Cobra's and we (Lissa and Christian included) walked in single file line to the exiting. Zena took Tommy in her arms and carried him. Lots of people wanted out and we didn't want anyone taking or running Tommy over.

"Thank you everyone for coming!" I said into the microphone. I handed the microphone back to the handyman that handed me it.

I turned as much as I could (Dimitri's arm was round my shoulder) to Gabe as we neared the parking lot. "You should get Maria."

That must have been a soft spot for him, because suddenly, he turned gooey. He gave me a lazy smile, a lazy smile I've never seen on him before.

"Who?" Dimitri asked.

"You will see later tonight."

"Oh," Dimitri said with a sparkle in his eye. "It's your 'lady friend'."

Gabe rolled his eyes but waved good bye with a smile on his lips.

"Call me if you need anything." I shouted at his retreating form, but I soon lost his figure in the sea of people.

As we walked, people were exiting themselves, trying to beat the crowd out of the courtyard.

"Wooo! Go Hathaway!" I heard people shouting.

"Oh, you will get her next time Belikov." Another man shouted. "I have faith in you!"

I laughed at that and kissed Dimitri's cheek.

"See, people love you!"

He shook his head. "No Roza."

Seconds later we made it to the Hummer. Dimitri, as always, drove. I didn't mind. I wanted to gawk at all the people that had wanted to see the fight. That had come here for a good time. Before I got in the Hummer I had to ask the crowd a few questions. There is an even bigger crowd near the car now than when we arrived, so we had to squeeze our way through. The Cobra's faced the crowd when I did.

"So," I said, facing the crowd as Dimitri opened my door for me. "Did you have a good time?"

"Yeah!" They shouted.

"Did anything unexpected happen? What did you think?"

A dhampire male, about the age of sixteen with blue eyes and blond hair had stepped forward. "I think it was awesome! The way you got out of his," he looked at Dimitri, "hold," back to me, "was amazing. I thought for sure he had you."

I laughed. "I thought so too. Just always remember think to never stop thinking. The moment you stop thinking, you will lose the fight. Always have a strategy."

The boy nodded. I could see him filing that information in his brain. He was taking me seriously, and at a very early age. Mmm. "I will Guardian Hathaway."

I smiled and stepped forward, extending my hand to him. "It was a pleasure to meet you. What is your name?"

"Marcus Bushey." The way he said his last name was buh-shay. It's French. We shook hands.

I turned back to the crowd. "Thank you all for coming. I hope you had a great time!"

"What about the boy?" Tommy poked his head out when he heard the word 'boy.'

I smiled, but Dimitri was the one who spoke, and as he spoke, he looked at Tommy with a gentle smile. "He is on our care right now." Then he ruffled his hair up and Tommy gave Dimitri an affectionate smile.

"Good bye everyone." I said to them and got into the car. Dimitri shut the door and got in on his side as the others piled in. It didn't take too long to get out of the courtyard as I had thought.