A/N: I'm so sorry this took sooooo long to post. I had this written some time back and sent to my beta reader but it somehow ended in the spam folder. I've not been writing due to getting fired recently in the middle of this COVID 19 pandemic. Was struggling with life and getting out of depression. I'm sort of getting my life back in order kind of. Not sure when the next chapter will be up. I hope you guys will stick around to see the ending.
Regina glanced to her right at Emma who stood nervously next to Gold just outside of the octagon cage. A shadowy figure could be seen standing right behind the blonde. There was no need to guess who it was. One wrong move and the Believe fighter would be shot dead.
Time seemed to have stood still. Regina did not notice the announcer introducing Elsa 'The Ice' Vasiliev. The brunette kept glancing back at Emma. Her vision suddenly got obstructed by a burly man.
"We're about to start, are you ready?" the referee asked The Queen.
She snapped her focus back to inside the ring. This is it. There is no turning back now. This is the end.
Regina bounced on her toes and moved to the middle and readied herself for the match. She looked into her opponent's deep blue eye, trying to read the moves she would be making.
The referee started the match and the two fighters touched gloves. The crowd went wild, chanting both fighters' names. The Queen blocked all activities outside the ring out of her mind. She hoped that she had trained adequately with Belle so that her muscle memory does not fail her and win the match instead of fulfilling her end of the deal with Gold. She needed to punch but not too hard and at the same time, make it believable so that nobody suspected that anything was amiss. She needed to kick and miss each strike without looking like she was faking it. She had to let The Ice take every opportunity to get all her hits in.
Regina needed to be on her toes and expect the right counter moves to her attacks so that she was prepared for them. She had to know for sure which hits she'll be able to take and which to avoid. She needed to get into Vasiliev's head somehow.
Elsa lunged forward and tackled Regina to the ground. The Ice must have learned a new strategy because she had never started with this move before.
There was no way that Regina could allow her opponent to win via submission. The Queen moved her body to look like she was trying to gain the upper hand but in reality, she was manipulating The Ice to be in a position so that she could throw in some punches to Regina's face. The brunette needed to make sure that she could block some of them in time.
Elsa did exactly as Regina expected. She sat straddled across the brunette's chest, pinned The Queen's right arm down, and punched Regina's face a few times. The brunette used her left arm to pretend to block the punches.
Regina used her left arm to push Elsa back and twisted her body to throw The Ice's balance off so that Regina could free her right arm and punched Elsa at the side of her abdomen.
The two fighters wrestled for a bit. Regina managed to wrap her legs around Elsa's neck which was one of her favorite moves to end the match. She tightened her grip and could see The Ice's pale white skin turn red from being choked.
The brunette realized she had gotten carried away and immediately released the grip a little to allow Elsa to slide an arm up her neck to break out of the chokehold.
Elsa punched and kicked Regina a few times and finally got out of the position. She stood up and waited for The Queen to be on her feet again.
Regina wanted the match to end before the first round ended. She did not want Gold to have the opportunity to keep adding new 'motivations'. She needed Elsa to do her 'Ice Kick' which was Elsa's signature knock out move. Regina needed to set it up perfectly so that Elsa does not catch her off guard and accidentally kill her in the process.
The two fighters warily throw a few punches and kicks. Both managed to block or avoid each blow. Regina moved closer to the cage wall to receive the kick and let the cage catch her before she falls hard onto the canvas floor. She figured that she might survive the kick better that way although her theory was untested. There was no evidence to back this up and it was just a theory she came up with. The Queen swung and missed as she had planned, allowing Elsa to counter with her famous 'Ice Kick'.
The Ice swung her leg in a perfect roundhouse kick and her shin made contact with the side of Regina's head. Elsa's foot whacked the back of the brunette's head, on impact. The Queen's head snapped to the left and immediately blacked out.
Regina's limp body fell onto the cage and slid backward. Elsa jumped onto the brunette and swung furiously trying to get as many punches in before the referee stopped the fight. To the Russian fighter, she couldn't tell for sure if Regina had been knocked out.
Elsa wanted to make sure that she won the match. Her chance to have a career in the United States depended on her creating an impression on her future manager, Mr. Robert Gold.
The Ice got what she wanted. There was no denying that she had won. The canvas surrounding the two fighters was a bloodied mess. The referee was too far away to stop Elsa immediately once Regina had hit the floor and The Ice made good work in turning The Queen's beautiful face into a mangled pulp. The referee had to pry Vasiliev off of the lifeless body.
Elsa 'The Ice' Vasiliev ran around the cage to celebrate. The referee tried to wake Regina up but she did not respond. The door to the cage flew open as the on-duty medical staff rushed in to inspect the brunette.
Emma watched in horror. Even though she knew this was coming, there was no way anybody could be prepared to watch their loved ones die.
"Now is your turn to play your role." Mr. Gold reminded the blonde.
He pushed Emma to make her way into the cage. The distraught woman did not need much persuasion. She wanted to check on Regina herself.
She could feel her heart pounding hard against her chest as she entered the familiar cage. Time seemed to have slowed down. It was so surreal that in a matter of minutes Regina Mills was… Emma did not dare think it. Surely a seasoned fighter like Regina 'The Queen' Mills would be able to survive such a blow to the head. Right?
The blonde needed to know for sure. She knelt next to a doctor the event organisers had arranged to be on hand to attend to more serious injuries. "Is she going to be okay?" Emma asked.
"You better kiss her now before you know who kills you." The doctor whispered to the Believe fighter.
Emma couldn't believe her ears. Even the doctor was in on it?! The man who was supposed to ensure the fighters' well-being ignored the Hippocratic Oath he had taken to be a doctor and opted to be one of an evil man's lacky.
"If you want any chance of her surviving this, you better do it now. She needs immediate medical attention"
Maybe there was hope yet. Maybe he really has Regina's best interest in mind. Emma thought to herself.
The whole stadium was watching the cage in silence. The cheers had died down the moment the paramedics ran in with a stretcher.
Elsa had stopped her celebration as she looked on at her opponent. She had delivered similar kicks many times. Her opponents usually regained consciousness within seconds or once a doctor tended to them. She thought that a strong fighter like Regina should have been able to handle it. She had heard about Regina's poor physique rumors but didn't think much of it.
The Russian fighter did not notice the old Scottish man approaching her. "Welcome to Dragon Claws, Dearie. You have big shoes to fill and I don't think it would be much of a problem for you."
"She be okay, da?" Elsa asked with genuine concern in a heavy Russian accent.
"Don't worry about her. We'll finalise the paperwork tomorrow at the gym." Gold said before walking to where Regina was laying down.
He frowned when he saw that Emma had not done what he had asked of her yet. He lowered his head to the blonde's ear and whispered, "Just because she did her part, does not mean that I won't shoot you for not doing yours."
Emma threw her body forward and wrapped her arms around Regina's body. She cried into the brunette's chest. She lifted her head and leaned in for a kiss.
She could hear cameras snapping away. She did not know how long she should kiss for. She was hoping that Regina would kiss her back but she didn't. The brunette wasn't breathing. Her lips were cold to the touch.
Emma stopped kissing and inspected Regina's bloodied face. The brunette's lips were already slowly turning blue.
"We need to get her to the hospital now!" the doctor commanded the paramedics.
The EMT moved Emma away and inserted an oropharyngeal airway into Regina's mouth the open up her airway. Another paramedic immediately placed an oxygen mask over the brunette's mouth. Neither the paramedics nor the doctor performed CPR on Regina.
Regina was carried away in a gurney. The crowd cheered thinking that Regina was alright and that they had just witnessed one of the best fights in their lives.
Emma followed behind the paramedics. They exited a passage that was planned to be used for emergency evacuation. Regina was quickly loaded into an ambulance.
The blonde looked around and realised that Gold was nowhere in sight and neither was the gunman. Even the doctor was missing.
"Are you coming with us?" one of the paramedics asked Emma.
She nodded her head yes and entered the emergency vehicle. Once everybody was in, the same paramedic that talked to the blonde closed the door. The ambulance drove off almost immediately when the doors were closed.
The paramedics immediately jumped into action. One of them cut open Regina's t-shirt while the other pasted AED pads onto Regina's chest and abdomen. The other paramedic started performing chest compressions.
"Is she going to make it?" Emma asked them.
"We'll do our best to increase her chance of survival." Said the paramedic performing the chest compressions. "We're sorry we didn't perform CPR sooner. We were warned to not perform CPR for Miss Mills in front of the public." He continued.
"Our lives were threatened." The other paramedic added as he operated the AED machine.
Emma sat in disbelief at how far Gold was willing to go in his publicity stunt. All the blonde could do was pray that Regina would live.
A/N: Thank you so much for reading. I hope you guys are doing well. This year is really a roller coaster. Please stay safe and healthy. For those of you who are out protesting, take care of yourselves. You are all so brave! I have nothing but respect for all of you. Happy pride and remember that Black Lives Matter! Love you all!