A/N: Here we go, full on Tournament mode. The next few chapter will be over the big tournament and be leading up to massive surprise. CB73, one of your reviews actually gave me an idea of how to advance our plot so thank you for that, it hasn't come up yet as I figured we could use a chapter that didn't contain anything ominous in the background this time around. But next chapter we will see it come into play. Now let's just sit back and enjoy our first wrestling match in a little while.
Deathisnearlymine- I'm glad you liked my use of the song, as I said I thought it fit nicely.
CB73- Everyone was reminded that they have more friends and more support if they would only look around and ask. Tristan will need some visitors but what shape will he be in and what news will he and his friends have for each other.
Clank2662- We shall see. I can only promise that he will get what is coming to him.
Thank you all for the reviews, I love reading them. Feel free to those of you who haven't left one, as you can see I respond to all of them and I love interacting with you guys this way.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Mexican ;p
To my Fiancée, I love you so very much Thank you for your support these past few days.
Disclaimer: I sadly own nothing.
Friday, February 14th, 2020
As the song faded out, the lights in the gym came back on and flooded the darkened area in a sea of blinding light. Ashley had to blink a few times in order to adjust her eyes to the sudden contrast. As soon as her eyes were adjusted, she looked down at the multiple mats on the gym floor. There were four mats in total and they already had wrestlers on them, refs ready to start the match, coaches shouting out last minute instructions, and team mates on the edges cheering on their fellow wrestlers.
Ashley looked around and noticed that Hayden was with his team on the opposite side of the stands. He looked to be speaking with his team mates and every few moments his eyes would dart around the gym. Ashley tried to follow his eyes but with the distance between them it proved to be a difficult task and eventually she concluded that she would not be able to track his line of sight. Turning her attention back to the mats she noticed how the tournament would go, they would start with the 106 pounders and work their way up from there.
With that information in mind she knew that it would be awhile before they got to see Hayden wrestle. She leaned forward and explained what was going on to the rest of the group and sat back, taking in the scene she realized that it would be impossible to focus on every match at the same time. She decided to focus on one mat and take parting glances at the others when there was a lull in the action.
She heard a sudden cheer from a group fans off to her right, she looked around to see what happened and noticed that a wrestler was standing tall with his hands raised high above his head. She gathered that he must have pinned his opponent, she nodded her head turned her attention back to the match she was focusing on. Only to find that one of the wrestlers had pinned the other and was having his arm raised in victory.
"Blink and you'll miss something." Heather commented as she leaned back and noticed Ashley's stunned gaze.
"No kidding." Ashley remarked.
"Hey, isn't this next guy one of ours?" Trevor asked as he pointed to the far mat.
Ashley looked up and had to squint her eyes to see. Sure enough their wrestler at 106, Gustav, was running out onto the mat and placing a green band around his ankle. Ashley nodded and stood up to make her way over.
"Come on guys, let's go get a better view." Ashley stated as she walked up the steps and onto the track.
The group of friends all got up to follow her and made their way over to the far mat. On the way over Ashley could hear Rebecca and Heather explaining some of the rules to Trevor, she smiled as they had picked up on few things and were clearly enjoying the tournament as much as she was. When she looked back to see Maria bringing up the rear, Ashley was happy to see a smile on her friend's face. She slowed her pace so that Maria could catch up and clearly the girl welcomed the company.
"Feel better?" Ashley asked, beaming a smile of her own Maria's way.
The girl's smile only widened, and Ashley was certain that her eyes had captured the light within them and held onto it with how bright her eyes were. It was a look that Ashley didn't recognize on her but welcomed it none the less. Maria looked so much happier, her mood was elevated, and it was clear that she didn't have such a weight on her shoulders anymore.
"Like you wouldn't believe." Maria answered.
Ashley chuckled at her friend, glad to see her back to normal, maybe even better than normal. She wrapped an arm around her shoulders and brought her in for a hug. She knew what Maria meant, the kind of relief that she felt, and the feeling of getting yourself back. There was nothing else like it in the world.
"If you two are going to be getting on like this, that could be very dangerous for me." A voice came from behind them.
Both girls looked back to see Hayden smiling at them and keeping pace with them toward the mat. The girls looked back at each other and just started to laugh, Hayden's own laughter soon mixed in with theirs as they walked down the steps to get a good seat and watch Gustav. They found Heather and the twins had saved them seats just behind the group. They thanked them and sat down to watch the match.
It was a long and hard-fought match, but Gustav managed to squeak out a 5-3 win. The group cheered and gave to small boy a round of applause as he rushed off the mat for some well-deserved rest. Hayden excused himself from the group and ran after the boy, no doubt to give him a more personal congratulation and perhaps to offer some advice. The group followed soon after and made their way back to their original seats. As they sat down Ashley noticed that a number of parents and wrestlers had gathered on top of the track and were huddled around what appeared to pieces of paper stuck to walls. Curious Ashley stood up and made her way over to them.
As she neared the large group, she could see that the parents and wrestlers were all looking at brackets that had been posted onto the walls. Wrestlers were looking at the brackets that had their weight class on it and looking at who they would have to wrestle. The parents looked to have brackets on their own that they got from the inside of the program book and were filling them out as the winners were announced. Looking over the brackets on the wall Ashley got an even better picture of how the tournament would be run. Before she could grab onto her thoughts, she felt someone come up behind and as she turned around, she saw Hayden standing behind her looking for his own bracket.
"Is this sneaking up behind me thing going to become normal?" Ashley jokingly asked.
"Can be, if you want it to." Hayden answered with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Figure out how it all works yet?" He asked her as he gestured to the brackets on the wall.
"I think so. From what I gathered you get two chances throughout the tournament right?" Ashley asked as she looked back at the wall.
"Pretty much, so side is the champions side, meaning that nobody has lost yet. This side is called the consolation side. Meaning that you have lost at least one match and everything up until right here is sudden death, lose before you get to the third-place match and you are done." Hayden explained.
"Why do you have to make it to the third-place match?" Ashley asked.
"They only take the top four from each weight class and those four go onto the state tournament." Hayden answered.
"Wow, not a lot of room for error." Ashley said to herself.
"You have no idea." Hayden answered.
Ashley looked over the brackets and found the 145-pound bracket. She moved around the other people until she was in front of it and looked down it until she found Hayden's name. Her brow furrowed as she looked at the name of his opponent.
"Do you know this… Erik Turner?" Ashley asked.
"Can't say that I do. I've seen the name at some tournaments, but I never got to wrestle him." Hayden answered.
"Good and bad I suppose, I don't know him, but he doesn't know me either. Should be a good match." Hayden commented.
"I'm sure you will still kick some ass." Ashley said proudly.
"Well your support means a lot. Thank you." Hayden answered warmly.
Ashley turned to him and offered a big, cheesy smile as an answer. Hayden laughed and turned back to see how the tournament was going.
"It's still going to be awhile before they get to my weight class, let's get back to the others." Hayden suggested as he led the way back.
They sat down with the group of friends and turned to watch the tournament. Time went by and every time a Berk wrestler was up the group would move to get a better view and cheer on their own. When the tournament started to call the 132 pounders, Hayden left the group stating that this is when he starts his warm up. They all wished him luck and waved goodbye, apart from Ashley who gave him a parting kiss for luck. When Hayden was gone, they all turned back to watch the tournament. Though Heather and Rebecca were snickering among themselves and looking Ashley's way.
"Okay, what is it?" Ashley gave in and asked.
"Nothing." Rebecca answered; her voice sickly sweet.
"You just have it bad for him." Heather followed up.
The girls broke into another fit of snickering at the blonde. Ashely felt her face heat up and raised her shoulders and tried to tuck her head behind them. Her face scrunched into a pout, which only made Heather and Rebecca burst into laughter.
"Oh, shut up." Ashley muttered.
"Never." The two girls answered together.
"Any help would be very much appreciated." Ashley muttered toward Maria.
"You are on your own their girl. I'm with them, you have it bad for him." Maria answered with her own smirk.
"Traitor." Ashley mumbled.
The three girls all laughed out at her expense but agreed to back off on the teasing, for now. When their attention finally turned back to the mat, they could see Hayden standing off to the side of the mat that was closest to them. It would appear that he already knew what mat he would be wrestling on and he was up next.
The match on the mat ended with a pin and they all watched as Hayden stripped out of his warm up suit, strapped on his head gear, and stepped onto the mat. They all cheered as Hayden stepped onto the mat and got their first glimpse of Erik Turner. He seemed to match Hayden in height but that is where the similarities ended. Erik had jet black hair, was a bit more cut than Hayden was, and his skin was slightly tanned. The two wrestlers put on their respective ankle bands, shook hands, and waited for the ref to blow the whistle.
In the blink of an eye the whistle had blown, and the match was started. Both wrestlers sprung into action, Hayden keeping his knees bent and his body low, while Erik took a quick step back before coming in a tying up with Hayden. Heads touching and arms wrapped up around each other's head and trying to find a good hold on the other. Hayden started to push Erik around the mat, his arms starting to work towards the inside of the body, trying to find Erik's wrists to grab a hold of. Erik was not one to sit idly by however, he pushed back against Hayden and was fighting off his hands and trying to grab a hold of Hayden's wrist so he could gain control.
Hayden managed to grab onto Erik's left wrist and elbow and while pulling the arm toward his body, took a shot on Erik who was able to fight it off and kept both wrestlers on their feet. Both of them kept fighting each other's hands, looking for chance to shoot in on the other, they kept changing the level of their bodies, going high and low in the hopes that one of them would trip up or stumble forward.
For Hayden opportunity came in the form of Erik lifting his arm and taking a step back at the same time, leaving him open for Hayden to take a shot. Erik sprawled back trying to get away, but Hayden had grabbed a hold of the backs of Erik's thighs and slid across the mat on his knees. Hayden's grip slid down Erik's leg until he managed to grab behind the boy's knee and lifted it up to his waist. With his grip on Erik's thigh and knee, Hayden popped his hips and twisted to the side which took both wrestlers to the mat with Hayden on top.
When Hayden scored the takedown the group of friends all cheered and clapped for Hayden, but only for a moment. The match was not yet over. Hayden quickly got to work trying to turn the boy over onto his back. Erik was on his knees and desperately trying to stand up and get away from Hayden. In a flash Hayden reached between Erik's legs and grabbed ahold of his wrist that was on the mat and pulled it through Erik's legs. The loss of the limb caused Erik to fall belly first onto the mat. Hayden kept hold of the wrist and started to push Erik forward. The fatal mistake came when Erik lifted his free arm and tried to crawl away, but it turned him slightly on his side and that was all Hayden needed. Shooting a half nelson and using the wrist that he still had as leverage, Hayden managed to turn the boy over onto his back and held on for dear life as Erik tried to roll back onto his belly.
The ref was on the ground in a flash checking to see if Erik's shoulders were on the mat or not, Ashley was biting at her nails as time in the first period started to expire. In a flash it was over, with one second still on the clock the ref had slapped the mat and declared that Hayden had won by pin fall. Hayden was up and walking toward the center of the in an instant. He took off his ankle band and waited to shake the hand of his opponent. They shook hands and the ref raised Hayden's hand in victory. His own little cheering section were on their feet and cheering him on. With one down and still plenty more to go, it was going to be an exciting day.
A/N: Match one is in the books and things are off to a promising start, how will the rest of the tournament go? Tune in next week to find out. And for those of you wondering, yes Tournaments this big are crazy and if you take your eyes off a match for just a split second you can miss everything, and yes these are based off of matches that I wrestled. Please leave a review as you can see at the top, I read them all, and don't forget to vote on the poll on my profile page. Until next time, peace.