Chapter 3: A Rival Surfaces
As I was walking with Emily, I noticed that the town was in full swing; people running around and managing their stores, restaurants, it was interesting to see. The expansion on Glitzville was a sight to see in person. Afterwards, Emily asks me "So, where are you from? You're obviously not from around here." She had this look that she was interested in what I had to say. "I'm from Petalburg," I started. "Compared to Glitzville, Petalburg is smaller and much quieter. It's peaceful, no doubt." Emily had a surprised look on her face. "Really? It's hard to believe a fighter like yourself came from such a town." "Yeah, I guess so," I replied. "But my Dad was fight fan, and he enjoyed watching it. That's how I got into it. I saw a title match, and decided this is something I wanted to do. He helped me train for 8 long years, and now, here I am." Emily had an even more surprised look on her face, kind of the one you see in shows where they find the real culprit of the crime. "Wow, I never knew! What did your Mom say about it?" she asked curiously. "Well," I started with a chuckle. "Mom didn't like the idea at first. I was the first of three children, so naturally she didn't want me to get hurt. My dad proposed that he would train me. She agreed, and then we started. She's happy because I'm happy. Mom's always been like that." Emily smiled. "Well, I'm sure she is, and so is everyone else!"
As we're talking, we notice a diner that we agreed to go into. As we sat down, I asked, "Well, enough about me. What about you? Are you from Glitzville or somewhere else?" She replied, "I'm originally from Poshley Heights. I lived there until I was 14, then my parents retired and we moved here in Glitzville. I've lived here ever since." Now I was the one who looked surprised. "Poshley Heights, eh? I've never been there, but I heard it's a nice place." Her expression changed. "It was nice for a time, but I didn't like it after a while." Now THAT is something. Mostly everyone I know DREAMS of living there. "How come you didn't like it there?" I questioned. My curiosity always gets the best of me. "It's nice, don't get me wrong, but the people there were so spoiled and snobbish. Most of my friends always got what they wanted." Well, I guess that's what money can do to people. I started to regret asking until she lit up and said "But moving here was the best decision my parents made. I have a job, great friends, and we're having this nice conversation." she said as she smiled.
Our coffee arrived right when she said that. As we drank our coffee, the door opens as we're about to continue. It was a guy who looked like he was looking for something, and when his head turned towards our direction, his face lit up until he saw us. I didn't notice him until he suddenly started walking over. He quickly sits down next to Emily, puts his arm around her shoulders, and says "Hey, beautiful. Where have you been?" Well, hello to you too, pal. Emily's expression quickly turned nervous. "Oh…uh…Hello Shawn." Shawn? As in Shawn the Great? Shawn's face turns serious when his eyes meet mine. "Who the hell are you?" he said gruffly. "And why you hangin' with my girl?" Emily could barely speak a word until she said quietly, "Shawn, stop…" He looked aggravated, and something told me he didn't like my company. "Stop? It's obvious he's tryin' to steal you away from me." As he said that, I turned to him and say "Steal her away from you? Seems to me she wants to stay away from YOU." I say aggressively, standing my ground. Emily's eyes open, like she's surprised I said something in the first place. "Oh wait. I know you." he chuckled. "You're that new guy. Lance? A minor-league scrub like you is obviously not worth my time." he said as he laughed. "Shawn, stop," Emily retorted. "Could you leave me alone please?" His smug expression on his face changed instantly. "What, I'm not good enough for you anymore? You'd rather be with a lowlife like HIM?!" Alright, NOT COOL. "The lady asked you to leave," I said, standing up. Shawn laughed even more. "I'm sorry, was that a threat? You ain't nothin' to me." I then get up in his face. "Listen, boy." he started. "If I ever see you around her again, you're gonna be a pile of koopa troopas with no shells. Got it?" I replied, "I'd like to see you try. Now leave." He grunts and says something to himself and finally leaves. What a scumbag.
I sit back down to Emily who looks like who's about to cry. "Emily, are you okay?" She starts to shed tears. "He always does this to me. Whenever I meet a new guy, he automatically assumes I'm dating someone else." Obsessive, much? "Wait, do you mean…" She looks up to me with a sad expression and says "Yes, I dated him. It was only for a month, and I just wasn't interested in him anymore. He changed for the worse, and I wanted nothing to do with it anymore. I cut it off a month ago." As she explained, I could sense some distress and could see the pain on her expression. "It seems like you moved on and he hasn't. Nothing is your fault." Her expression doesn't change, and then says "But he makes it feel like it is." Alright, time to change the mood here. "He won't be bothering you anymore. You can trust me on that." She seemed surprised. "Huh? Are you going to go after him?" I laughed. "Not at this moment, but if there's one thing I've learned from my family is that there is no reason to have someone treat another like that. It's one of my morals." She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "But we just met. Why would you wanna do something like that for me?" I turned to her and say "I'm sure your friends feel the same way. You're a nice girl, and someone who's nice doesn't deserve to be treated like that." Emily smiled again. That's what I was going for. "See? There we go! It seems to be getting late. Wanna leave?" She nods with a smile.
We exit the diner and it's nighttime. The night sky is decorated beautifully with stars and the moon. Emily suddenly turns to me. "Thank you for today, Lance. And thank you for the whole thing with Shawn." I smile right back and laugh. "Hey, don't mention it. It was nice meeting you, too! Want me to walk you home?" Emily laughs, "Thanks, but my house it right around the corner. I'll see you around?" Her smile shines even more in the moonlit night. "Yeah, of course! See ya!" I see her off, and we go our separate ways for the night. That wasn't so bad. Take out Shawn being rude, and it was probably the perfect night. As I'm walking back towards the Glitz Pit, I see Shawn talking to people, and they see me. All they do is give a stern stare. Someone doesn't get over things very easily. I sure hope I face you one day. I stare right back at them. They look like they're about to approach me, but Kevin finds me. "Lance!" he shouts. "Come here really quick." As I approach him, he gives a serious look and says "Is someone giving you a problem?" I tell him the whole incident with Shawn. He gives an even more serious look. "Dude, I know you probably have a lot of talent, but don't get into it with a major leaguer. ESPECIALLY Shawn." Kevin suddenly sees the fire in my eyes, how much I really want a piece of him. He sighs and says, "Alright, look, we'll talk about this later. For now, let's go to the pit and cheer a friend of mine on right now, okay?" I sighed in frustration, but I kept my cool. "Alright," I said. "Who's your friend? All I know around here is you." Kevin laughed, "He's kind of the type where he goes to his own happy place when he's the main event." My eyes widened. "Whoa, is it for the title?!" I questioned with surprise. "Not exactly. If he wins tonight, he'll be in the major league, though." Ah, now I understand.
With much surprise, we get there in time with really good seats. I start to wonder and ask, "Hey, how did you get these good seats?" Kevin grinned. "I know a guy. When you build a winning streak and do decently in the minor league, your name will start to spread." I laughed. "You have friends?" I said in a jokingly matter. Kevin brushed it off and lightly smacked my shoulder while chuckling. "Man, that was cruel! This is why you weren't able to get some tonight!" We both laughed, and then Jolene steps into the ring. "HELLO AGAIN, EVERYBODY! I HOPE YOU'RE ENJOYING YOURSELVES TONIGHT!" The crowd roars in excitement. It seems like it was another good night for the Glitz Pit. "Now! It is time for our main event! We have a fighter who could potentially be in the major league tonight if they win!" The crowd cheers on. It feels like the crowd has been anticipating the main event tonight. Curious, I ask Kevin, "So, what's your friend's name?" "His name is Richard. He's a Hammer Bro from Koopa Village. You might have seen you around, but he doesn't talk much when he has an important match coming up. He's been watching you as well." "Well," I started, "considering how well you say he's been doing, he might just get to the majors." Right as I say that, Jolene starts announcing the fighters. "First up, he's been tearing up the minor leagues these past couple weeks, and he finally has a chance to move up to the major league! Please welcome ranked #21 in the Glitz Pit…
THE ASCENDED WARRIOR, RICHARD THE HAMMER BRO!
The crowd roared with excitement, chanting "RICHARD! RICHARD! RICHARD!" Kevin, however had a questioned look on his face. I nudge him and ask, "There something wrong?" Kevin looked over and smirked. "Eh, not really. Although no one knows his opponent. The crazy thing is that if you got a shot at the major league, you don't know who you're facing. It's the challenge of moving up to the big leagues." Of course. They introduced that rule a couple years ago. Although it's had its fair share of controversy, it's produced some of the greatest fights ever seen. It does make me curious, though: Who is Richard's opponent?
As I pondered the thought, Jolene spoke again. "And now, his opponents! He's a championship contender who claims he will finally redeem himself! Introducing ranked #8 in the Glitz Pit…
SHAWN THE GREAT!
The crowd's excitement suddenly drops. You hear groaning and people started booing. Not because of Jolene picking the opponent, but it sounded like people did not like this fighter one bit. "OH COME ON, REALLY?!" Shouted Kevin with disgust. I take a look at him, and I see that he's the same person I ran into while I was with Emily. Kevin turns to me and says "In case you're wondering, people hate this guy's attitude. He treats other fighters pretty badly, especially-" I cut him off and say "minor-leaguers. Yeah, I know. He said something similar to me today. 'Minor-league scrub' is what he said to me. Kevin sighed in disgust. "That figures. Y'know, if Richard somehow beats him, I can die a happy man!" He chuckled. Figures you would say that. Kevin seemed like the kind of person who makes the most out of any situation.
Just as the crowd settles down, Jolene speaks. "And here we go folks! Will Richard move on up to the major-league? Or will Shawn continue his dominance? Let's keep it clean, boys! Get yourselves ready to…
BRAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWL!
The gong is sounded and the fight begins. Richard moves in and starts attacking Shawn, but he's avoiding all of Richard's attacks. Shawn, with a cocky smile jumps over him. Richard reacts quickly by throwing a hammer at him and hitting him, and follows up with an uppercut. Shawn recovers quickly and lands on his feet, and counterattacks with a charging head butt, knocking Richard back. "Whoa," Kevin said. "Shawn is one quick Toad." I'm fast, too. Nobody's seen it yet. Richard charges in for another assault, this time with hammers in his hands. Shawn is avoiding all of his attacks, and suddenly ducks and hits Richard with a sweeping low kick, sending Richard off-balance and vulnerable. Shawn then goes in and starts attacking Richard, landing punches and kicks, and finally hits Richard to the ground, but he gets up quickly and throws another hammer at Shawn who was not expecting it and hits him, knocking him back. "There you go Rich. Play your game." Kevin said as the events unfolded. His eyes were glued to the fight, and so were mine, but I was puzzled. "How come he's not counterattacking?" Kevin laughs and said "That WAS his counterattack. Richard's style is a bit different than everyone else's. He likes to chip away at people, wear them down, then REALLY do some damage. People have tried this tactic in the past, but Richard has perfected it. Combine that with his skill, it's no surprise he's gotten this far." Shawn charges in for another attack, and Richard throws another hammer. Shawn jumps and dodges it, but Richard jumped right up where Shawn was going to be, and unleashed a powerful swing of his hammer and hits Shawn hard to the ground. Shawn got right back up and jumped away. "Okay…he's smarter than I thought."
The crowd cheered. I looked on in amazement. "Wow, that was clever. Using that hammer as a diversion was smart." Kevin looked on and he had a serious expression on his face. "Shawn has a lot more in store for him, and that's what I'm scared of." Richard charged in for an assault on Shawn, but before he could, he grabbed Richard's arm and threw him back. Richard struggled to recover, and Shawn ran up for a drop kick. Richard grabs a hammer and slams it and used its force to launch him, but Shawn saw it coming, and jumped up after him. He started attacking the vulnerable Richard, and slammed him on the ground, doing some serious damage. "ARGH!" Richard shouted, in pain. As if anything couldn't get any worse, Shawn landed a drop kick on Richard as a follow up. Richard gets up slowly, but Shawn head butts him back and uppercuts him. Shawn smirks and says, "Alright, Rich. Time's up. Gonna give up and go back to the minor-league where you belong?" Richard then slowly gets up, defying Shawn's words. "Come on, Richard. Show him." Kevin said with a stern look on his face. I could only ponder and watch what was going to unfold.
Richard then takes out two hammers, one for each hand. He smiled and said, "You forgot one thing, Shawn. His smirk disappeared from his face. "I forgot my drink, 'cause I didn't think I would need to sweat. Was that it?" he said sarcastically. Richard then readied himself, and he started glowing. All of a sudden, he charged up with incredible speed, and hit Shawn. He continued his onslaught with incredible speed and power. The crowd roared in excitement. "Holy moly, where did all that come from?!" Kevin had a smile on his face. "That's his true potential. He only does this when he's backed into a corner, and now it depends on if Shawn can survive this! COME ON RICH!" Shawn suddenly started to retaliate, as each fighter is taking one mighty blow after another from each other. Richard finally rose up and unleashed his most powerful attack while he shouted, "MYSTIC HAMMER STRIKE!" Meanwhile, Shawn unleashes his most powerful attack, "ULTIMATE TIGER RAGE!" Both attacks collide with each person taking damage, however, it seems that Richard took more damage than Shawn. As Shawn is still standing, Richard falls to the ground, and is unable to continue. Jolene steps forward and announces, "AND WE HAVE OURSELVES A WINNER! SHAWN THE GREAT!" The crowd groans and boos out of frustration. "DAMN IT!" Kevin shouts out in anger. "I kind of figured this would happen." I said with disappointment. "Shawn was one step ahead of Richard the entire way, although he was surprised by that last attack. He was saving his energy for the big finale. As you can see, he doesn't seem very tired."
Right as I said that, Richard gets up on one knee, favoring his stomach. As Shawn is walking by, he kicks him back on the ground and says, "Stay down, minor-leaguer. You don't belong here!" Richard felt pain. Shawn kicked him again, and my anger swells up. "Wait, SERIOUSLY?!" I shouted. Kevin looked over, surprised that I shouted. "THAT'S IT!" I start running up, cutting through people to get to the ring. "Lance, wait!" he shouted as I ran, but I ignored him. He sighed, frustrated. "Why does this always happen to me?" he wondered. I jumped into the ring and pushed Shawn to the ground, defending Richard. He looks up, sees me, and says, "You…you're the scrub from the diner! You're REALLY pushing my buttons." I take a look at Richard, kneeling down. Kevin comes up and says, "Hey, how is he?" I glance at Kevin. "He's fine, just get him to the doctor. I'll deal with Shawn." Right as I said that, Shawn gets right up in my face, and we're immediately separated. We shouted at each other until we were escorted out of the ring, and into our locker rooms. As I entered my room, Richard, the hammer bro, came up to me. "It took a lot of guts to do that, and I thank you for coming up and defending me." I smiled. It seems like he's doing okay, but it never hurt to ask. "It's no problem, really. How are things on your end?" Richard didn't look too concerned. "I'll be fine. Couple bumps and bruises here and there, but I'll be fine. Shawn fights real dirty. You all saw the cheap shot, but I'm not gonna complain." Things seem to go rather well. Richard looked at me with a concerned face. "Be warned, though, that you're getting involved with a major-leaguer's business. With you being a minor-leaguer, that doesn't look too good in that locker room. Just be careful is all I'm trying to say." I nod, understanding the circumstances.
Funny thing is, I have this strange feeling that this whole ordeal with Shawn is not over yet. Something tells me that this isn't over. The Glitz Pit is going to be insane these next few days. I guarantee it.
~End of Chapter 3