Chapter 37:

Tris' POV:

Tobias and I leave breakfast early, so we could prepare training room for fights. We pull up the mats, and move everything we didn't move yesterday.

The initiates start to trickle in as we are finishing writing the pairs on the board. This was very tricky, because we are a little… unaware of some of the initiates' abilities.

Tobias turns the chalkboard, and we are met with a mix of emotions – some frightened, some taken aback, some resolute.

The pairs are:

· Gabriella vs. Noah

· Matthew vs. Mason

· Logan vs. Lucas

· Chloe vs. Ryan

· Grayson vs. Hannah

· Avery vs. Riley

· Zoey vs. Taylor

I call Gabriella and Noah to the arena, and they oblige. They circle around each other for a while, but after a few moments, Gabriella goes in to fake a punch, and distracts Noah while she slips behind him, and kicks the back of his knees. Noah falls, and he seems very off, so Gabriella takes this chance to pin him. She attempts a punch, but Noah moves his head. Gabriella is stunned, and Noah wriggles under her grasp, fast enough to get one of his hands free. He punches Gabriella until her grip loosens, and he wriggles out of her grasp. Gabriella gains composure at the last minute, and delivers a blow that knocks Noah out cold. I circle her name.

That was an interesting fight, but I wasn't surprised with the outcome, I was surprised because Noah was able to fight back. How do you learn that being in Abnegation?

The next fight is between Matthew and Mason, and I'm not all that interested. I never had a chance to get to know these initiates, and some of them make me glad I don't.

Matthew charges at Mason immediately, catching Mason off guard. He gets Noah on the ground, and pins him. He continuously punches Mason in the face, even when he is unconscious.

"Matthew! It's over!" Tobias yells, going over to where the two boys are.

Matthew gets up, but doesn't move away from Mason.

"Why?" he growls. "We are supposed to be showing our strength! We're supposed to be the best! Brave!"

"You are not brave! You are weak! You never fight anyone who can't fight back!" I yell, walking towards him.

"Oh yeah, well there's a reason he can't fight back…" he says smugly. "Me!"

"You are not strong, you didn't give Mason a chance!" Tobias interferes. "You think you're so… superior?"

"I do, actually."

"Do you think you could take on… Tris?"

"Come on. You were telling my about fair, do you think it's fair for me to beat the crap out of your girlfriend?"

Tobias doesn't reply, we just drags a now awake Mason out of the ring. I smile widely as Tobias signals the fight to start. Matthew comes at me, taking the same approach he did during his fight with Mason. Of course, I'm expecting it, and I simply move to the left, letting him fall. I watch him get up, and I immediately punch him twice. He is disoriented, so I take this time to drop to the ground, and sweep kick his feet right out from under him.

I get up, and walk away.