Today was the day the initiates would start fighting and Tobias couldn't sleep. At 4 A.M. he was up and went for a morning jog through the streets. In his attempt to clear his mind of Tris, his run did the opposite. He found himself thinking more about her and worried for her in this stage. He couldn't pair her against the weakest fighters for two reasons. The first being that it would be obvious to everyone she was being protected and the second being she wouldn't make it out of round one. But he also didn't have a lot of choices to put her up against that would be close to a fair fight. Any of the guys would annihilate her and most of the girls probably won't be ranked high enough to benefit her.
As he turned back toward the compound, he realized with an odd number, at least he could give her and himself one more day to prepare. He knew she wouldn't be fighting today but this was the only day he could give her and he hoped she would be ready for tomorrow. Once he re-entered the compound, he grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed to the combat room. After an hour workout and half an hour of staring at the board, he finally got the first round of fights figured out. He wanted to see if Will could draw some of Al's hesitation out of him so he paired them up. Also, while Al had the strength, Will was really fast which would be a great counter balance. The next fight he wrote was Christina vs. Molly. He knew this was a long shot for Christina, a few good punches from Molly and she would be out but Christina was also scrappy and wasn't afraid to fight dirty. With her small stature, Molly's straightforward style of fighting might cause her to struggle a bit.
The initiates walked in while Four was standing with his back to the door facing the board. They quietly filed over and he knew they were waiting for him to address them. He turned toward them, giving them clear sight of the board. He saw their eyes hungrily looking for their own name and saw excitement in some and disappointment in others. Surprisingly he saw Tris sigh in relief, he thought she would be hungry for the challenge. Maybe she was as nervous as he thought she would be.
"Since there are an odd number of you, one of you won't be fighting today," Four says as he makes his way over to the mats. They slowly follow and he calls up the first fight, Will and Al. They warily make their way into the ring, unsure of what is to happen since they are the first fighters. They both take their ready stances and begin to shuffle around each other. Neither wants to take the first hit and Four is getting impatient. He doesn't want to watch the friends mutilate each other but if they don't start soon he may have to goad them a little.
Surprisingly, Al takes the first swing and knocks Will square in the jaw. Four is impressed with the strength behind it and narrowly misses Will's punch attempt and Al's quick block. As they continue, Four sees Will hook his foot around Al's ankle and knocks him to the ground. "Stay off the ground initiate!" Four yells. Al scrambles up and resumes his stance. Just then Four sees the door open and watches Eric walk in. For the boys' sake, he hopes they continue and don't waste Eric's time.
Unfortunately, it seems Al has used up all his courage. He keeps glancing at Four as if he is going to call time. Four flinches as Eric shouts, "Do you think this is a leisure activity? Fight each other!" Al stupidly responds and Four recognizes the fire in Eric's eyes. The same fire that was there the day they fought in the ring. Eric still has the scar where Four ripped out his eyebrow piercing but in fairness Amar warned him to take it out prior to the fight.
Four and Eric enter the ring, a buzz of excitement surrounded the area. The other initiates had been waiting for this day after being subjected to the rivalry between the two since day one. Four absolutely despised Eric and wanted to show him today what he deserved. But he was also going to be smart about it, knowing revenge wasn't an emotion that got you to the end goal. He needed determination, cunning, and speed to beat Eric. Little did Eric know, Four trained every night after dinner and in the morning before breakfast but kept that fact to himself.
Four sees Eric ready himself and he takes his stance as well. Amar signals to start and Eric immediately rushes Four, knocking him to the ground. Four remembers the number one rule and swings his body around and is up on his feet before Eric realizes what happens. Eric starts for him again but Four gets in three quick jabs, one to his face, one to his ribs, and one to his neck. Eric stumbles back and that is when Four really unleashes on him. One particular blow to his face tears out his eyebrow ring, which causes a stream of blood to run down Eric's face. Four can see he is disoriented so he becomes a whirlwind of fists and kicks and eventually he is standing over Eric, vaguely hearing Amar yelling to stop, and he delivers one last punch and knocks him out. Four walks out of the arena and down to a spot he found at the bottom of the chasm the first day he was here. He looks at his bloody hands and realizes his worst nightmare. He could have stopped but he continued until Eric couldn't stand. In that moment, he was a mirror image of his father.
Al challenges Eric by asking how long they have to fight. Four steps forward answer but Eric is faster, "You will fight until one of you can't continue." Although he knew he had to be careful and respectful of Eric, Four did not appreciate Eric stepping in and taking over his training, leader or not. "Or until one of you concedes, " Four answers. Eric glares at him and spits out, "According to the old rules, but the new rules say no one concedes." Without thinking Four responds, getting in Eric's face, "A brave man acknowledges the strength of others." Eric steps closer to him, "A brave man never surrenders." They continue to stare each other down until Eric turns back to the fighters, "Continue or you're out." He steps away from Four but not before giving him one more glance of pure hatred.
Four turns as he hears Al ask, "What's the point?" Did this guy not learn to shut his mouth and fight? Will responds, "What, you think it's going to be that easy?" Four watches as the two continue with more fervor than before. He cringes as he watches Al deliver the blow that knocks Will out. As Will crumples to the ground, his eyes turn back to Al just in time to see his spirit break. Al stumbles off the mat and sits near Tris and Christina. Four briefly makes eye contact with her, seeing the shock of her fist exposure to violence in her eyes, before grabbing Will and hauling him off the mat. He feels for Al, knowing some people like the idea of Dauntless until the violence becomes real to them. To contain his fury at the "new" system, he walks over and circles Al's name on the board and takes a second to calm his heart rate down.
Will is struggling to walk and falls to the ground. Eric turns to Four, "Get him up." Four bites back his hatred of Eric and assists Will off the ground. He realizes Will won't be able to walk and doubts Eric will allow another initiate to walk him to the infirmary so he hesitantly heads toward the door with him. He glances back and sees Tris' eyes wide with fear and knows his mirror hers. The thought of leaving her alone in a room with Eric is terrifying but Will needs medical attention fast. Christina and Molly take the stage per Eric's orders and he is sorry he won't see how this fight turns out. As they are leaving, Four hears Christina cry out from a punch from Molly and knows he has to hurry or he may not have any initiates left.
Four gets Will checked in and settled and then rushes back to the combat room. When he pushes through the doors, he notices the room is empty. There is at least 10 minutes left, there is no way Eric let them out early. As he tries to decide where Eric would take them, he hears shouting coming from near the chasm. He quickly makes his way over there and sees the group standing near the chasm as Tris and Al rush forward and pull a shaking Christina over to the safe side of the railing. Four wonders what happened until he sees Eric's smug face staring at the group. Eric dismisses the group and turns to leave. Four makes sure they are all out of earshot and walks over to grab Eric. He spins him around by the shoulder and gets in his face. "From now on, stay out of my training room unless you are observing and no more torturing the initiates. They have enough to deal with without a psychopath tormenting them."
Four knows he's gone too far but that could have been Tris over that ledge and he can barely contain his anger. If only he had brought Zeke with him, he was always good at diffusing a tense situation. Eric puffs himself up and stares Four down. "I don't take orders from you, I'll do what I want when I want and you will keep your mouth shut about it. Don't think I can't get you removed from this faction if I wanted to." Eric turns on his heal and storms off leaving Four shaking from anger and fear of Eric's threat. As he walks back to his apartment, he knows he took it too far and Eric's wrath is only beginning.