Trigger warnings: Game typical violence, protesting, a gunshot

Piper whirled around to fire a quick shot at the wooden target before turning back just in time to dodge her trainer's strike. She swept the man's feet out from under him and pressed the yellow button on her parasol, launching herself into the air and away from the man. As she jumped, she left four explosives on the ground behind her. They made quick work of the man, who was dissolving away as she landed. After just a minute, he reappeared on the balcony above her head, laughing. Piper shook her head and made her way to the exit of the arena to go talk to her mentor.

"When did you get so good, little fighter? You'll be brawling with the pros in no time at all!" Her father walked over and patted her on the shoulder as her trainer, Damien Anderson, beamed at her.

"Daddy, this ain't my first rodeo, and I've learned from the best." Damien smiled again and rubbed her head, pulling a few strands of hair out from her ponytail.

"Flattery won't get you anywhere, kid. You're still doing conditioning tomorrow." Piper groaned, much to the amusement of her father.

"Conditioning can't be that bad."

"It can too be that bad, daddy! I want to learn how to brawl so I can make it big and help people, not how to run around for hours on end without a single confrontation!" Damien laughed.

"You march around in those rallies of yours but you can't handle a few laps?"

"Those rallies of mine are exciting, Damien. Running is just... repetitive."

"So you're saying you want me to randomly throw things at you?" Piper laughed again, especially when her father made a frightened face at Mr. Anderson.

"I think it would be easier if I had someone to run with."

"Other than me?"

"Mr. Anderson, I don't think you've said two words to me on a run in my life." Damien looked at her thoughtfully before pulling out his phone. He typed a few things into it and tucked it back into his pocket a second after it vibrated.

"My son will be coming to training tomorrow. You can run with him. I'm going to go lock up. Piper, I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning." Damien walked away, leaving both Luponts standing in the viewing area stunned.

Piper shook herself out of her stupor just long enough to ask, "Wait, he has a son?"

Time skip brought to you by a hatred of running (I feel ya piper)

Piper walked in the next morning to see Mr. Anderson and a boy who she assumed to be his son stretching. The two stood up in near unison, once they had finished, and Mr. Anderson trotted away to get something, waving to her as he did. The boy turned around and flashed a grin at her as he started to walk over.

He was wearing a gray tank top with purple detailing up the sides and a neon green Nike symbol on the chest. Despite it's fluorescent flair, his shirt was not what drew her attention.

Where his right eye should've been, there was a large, corny yellow eye with a black 'X' for a pupil. Metal extended up his forehead and across his skull, and a second sheet wrapped around his shoulder. When he raised a hand to wave at her, she noticed that the limb was a prosthesis.

"Hey, Piper, right? The name's Mark." Piper pulled her eyes away from His hand and held out her own, locking eyes with Mark.

"Yes, Piper. It's very nice to meet you, Mark." Despite her best efforts to remain casual, her eyes kept darting to his yellow eye. She tried to re-orient herself and offered her hand to shake, flinching just a bit when she was met with cold plastic. She sucked in a breath as she saw him wince just a second after her reaction. "Mark, I am so sorry. You just... shocked me, is all."

"It's... don't worry about it. It happens a lot." Mark replied, rubbing the back of his neck. Piper laughed awkwardly for a few seconds before visibly slumping in relief as Mr. Anderson jogged back over, clutching a trio of water bottles.

"Alright. You two ready?" Both teens nodded vigorously. Mr. Anderson swung his hand towards the door. "Alright then. Let's get going!" They walked out towards the street and began running. Damien led Piper and Mark, who were running side-by-side behind him.

It was a very uncomfortable few minutes before Piper and Mark started talking. They trotted along in near silence, the quiet broken up only by their feet on the pavement.

"So, what're your stats? If you don't mind me asking."

Piper's eyes widened in surprise when she heard Mark's voice. She looked over at him, clearly jarred, and he nervously bit his lip.

"Shit, Piper, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were one of the people who thought it was rude to ask."

"No, I don't mind." Mark smiled, clearly relieved. "You're gonna have to make sure I don't run into anything while I check, sugar, I don't have it memorized." Mark drifted just a bit closer to her, and once she felt she was in good hands she closed her eyes and called her stats to her mind. A blue box faded into view, and she read off the numbers displayed there.

"Right now, my health is 2880, attack is 520 at minimum and 1748 at max, and my super is 1035 per hit."

"Wait, what do you mean by min and max?"

"My attack does more damage depending on how far it travels."

"Wait, really?" Damien smiled as he heard the teens behind him strike up a conversation. He had been worried with the way Piper had reacted to Mark's prosthetics, but now they seemed to be getting along fine. They were so deep in their conversation that they didn't notice him extending their run by half a mile.

When the trio got back to the gym, Mr. Anderson led them through Piper's typical conditioning routine, which was apparently different from Mark's if the way he performed during some of the exercises was anything to go by. He collapsed dramatically after a few sets of burpees, and he went off to go do target practice the second Piper hauled out her miniature trampoline. After she had finished for the day, Mark paused what he was doing to say goodbye.

"Why are you even trying to jump higher? Your super's range won't change, you know."

"Helps with the landing. I almost broke an ankle the first time I tried my super. That's actually why I'm here in the first place." Mark nodded in understanding as the two meandered towards the door. When they were just a few feet away, he spoke up again.

"I know who you are, you know. I've seen videos of you. I don't think there's a brawler who hasn't."

"That's the idea, sugar," she replied. Mark gestured for her to explain. "When I was little, I told myself I was going to be a hero and help people however I could. If even one person sees videos of me at a rally and it helps them, then I'm doing what I want to do."

"Thank you." He turned around to face Piper, stopping her in her tracks. "I'm basically a fate brawler, so people usually don't have too much empathy for me. It's nice to know that someone like you cares about us little guys." Piper smiled and, before she knew what she was doing, stood on tiptoes to give Mark a peck on the cheek.

"There's a rally exactly three weeks from now. We're going to meet at the Wal-mart at noon, if you want to join us." Piper walked around the stunned boy in front of her and pushed the door open, throwing a quick "have a nice day" over her shoulder.

"You too," Mark mumbled. He walked away to go find his bag, still in a shocked daze.

Time skip brought to you by these two lovestruck dorks

Three weeks later, Mark met Piper at the protest. After a successful sit-down on main street, Mark pulled Piper aside and asked her on a date. She said yes, and the two could be seen picnicking in the local park a couple of days after the protest.

After the first date, Mark and Piper's relationship soon became a whirlwind romance. It was only a few weeks before the couple was going on a date every weekend, and they often stayed at one another's house just to spend time with one another. It was clear to everyone around them that they were in love, and Piper once found a notebook labeled "Wedding Ideas" on her mother's nightstand.

When they graduated, they didn't go to the same college, but the schools they went to were within twenty minutes of each other by car. Soon enough, Piper graduated from Bunker Hill Community College with a degree in Baking and Pastry Arts. She got a full-time job at a local, family owned bakery and supported herself and Mark as he worked on his Biological Engineering degree. The day he graduated, she showed up at the graduation wearing her best dress and shaking flour out of her hair.

She ran into his arms and he twirled her around in a hug before dropping to one knee and pulling out a ring. They were married that March, when Mark had just turned twenty three and Piper was twenty-two.

After that, people started referring to them as the brawler power couple. They appeared on the cover of Brawl News, a brawler-centric magazine that featured current brawler celebrities. They appeared in interviews on several popular talk shows, and were bombarded with fans anytime they appeared anywhere that wasn't a rally.

"Mark, hand me that yellow paint, would you?"

"Sure baby." Mark tossed a small container of yellow face paint towards his wife, which she snatched out of the air.

"Thank you sugar." She quickly opened the container and began smearing the words "BRAWLERS UNITE" across her face. Mark wrapped his arms around her shoulders and stole a container of red paint from in front of her. He opened the container and dabbed a small heart on the side of her nose.

"I was going to put letters there."

"Skip it!" Piper rolled her eyes and continued writing the words on her face. Mark smiled as she conveniently bent her letters around the heart.

After a short car ride, they arrived at the protest. Piper waved as she walked out, and a few people who Mark recognized from other protests waved back. Mark and Piper took their place up near the front, seeing as the organizers had asked Piper to lead the march. After about half an hour of standing around, they were finally off and walking. The march was relatively successful. They had gone about ten blocks and they hadn't been attacked yet.

And then they heard the gunshot.

All death threats can be sent directly to me via PM :)

By the way- *Loud knocking* Send help. *Sammy appears in window* He's coming.

Thank you, please keep reading, and goodnight!