Ch. 28: Rivals and Friends
Characters (in order of first appearance):
Asuma Sarutobi / Pulito Scimmia
After the blood from the previous match was cleaned up, the Godfather pulled the lever on the slot machine once more, and paused when the names of the next contenders came up. Everyone anxiously waited, including Gelato, who was dying to fight either Beni Niro or Tarma. Then the Godfather cleared his throat and spoke, "The fourth match will be fought by Rosa Molla from Squad 7 of the Foglia family and Maiale Montagna from Squad 10 of the same family."
Both girls' eyes grew wide. But their faces were determined as they made their way down the stairs. There they stood at opposite ends as they took the guns out of their holsters, placing them as far away as possible.
"So, the day has come." Maiale said, placing her arms on her hips. "Now we'll see who is the better female mobster."
"Don't get your hopes up, Maiale," Rosa replied, smirking. "You'll never beat me."
"And why's that?"
"Unlike you, I was willing to sacrifice my hair for the sake of my comrades. As far as I see, you still haven't given up your looks."
"Oh, yeah?" Maiale then took a throwing knife out of her waist-belt and cut her ponytail clean off. "Two can play at that game, you know."
"But can you truly attack your best friend?"
"Then let's not see each other as friends," Maiale said, throwing her removed ponytail across the floor in front of her. "In this match, we are rivals, and nothing more."
Rosa nodded in agreement, and took her green scarf off, tying it around her upper left arm. "That's fine with me."
"Ladies, begin!" Imprevisto said.
They first charged at each other, and drew their throwing knives. Each of them made a slash, while the other backed away. Neither of them could land a cut, until Rosa used her free hand to punch Maiale in the face. Maiale fall backward from the force of the blow, but she landed on her hands and swung her feet for a low kick, which Rosa dodged. Then just as Maiale was about to reach for her knife, Rosa kicked it out of the way and was about to make a jab at Maiale, but Maiale caught Rosa's wrist and wrenched the knife out of her hand. Rosa crouched down to pick the knife up, but was met with a punch to the stomach. As Rosa staggered, Maiale picked up Rosa's knife and got up.
"You should never go for the knife when the enemy is closer to it," Maiale said, cutting the green scarf off Rosa's arm. "I taught you that, remember?"
As a small cut revealed itself, Rosa purposefully staggered into Maiale, who was so surprised that she didn't see Rosa's hands reach behind and tighten her belt. This made her suffocate, and forced Maiale to roll on the ground, choking. Capriolo and Palermo watched with concern, while Gelato and Beni Niro cheered Rosa on.
"Yes, but you also taught me to never stand close to an enemy, in case they have a plan to take you down," Rosa said triumphantly.
In desperation, Maiale tried to reach for Rosa's knife, but her hand was stopped beneath Rosa's shoe. So she used her other hand to reach inside the belt, pull out another throwing knife, and cut through the belt. But Rosa stopped her by using her right hand to grab Maiale's wrist.
"And finally, you taught me to never show mercy to the enemy, no matter what the circumstances are," Rosa smirked as she tried to twist the knife out of Maiale's hand, but was met with strong resistance.
"I see, you've put my advice to good use," Maiale said, and used her feet to trip Rosa.
Rosa fell to the floor, but still held on, as she and Maiale rolled over a few times struggling with the knife. Neither of them gave up nor let go. After awhile, Maiale was starting to lose air and Rosa was getting tired. So Maiale used the hand that wasn't holding the knife, now free since Rosa tripped, and punched Rosa on the side of her face. She fell backwards and let go, allowing Maiale to finish cutting the belt off. While Maiale exhaled and coughed a few times to catch her breath, Rosa lay on the floor of the arena.
Imprevisto looked at both, and was about to intervene when Rosa got up. She grinned with determination at Maiale, who was getting up as well, glaring at Rosa as she did so. Then she tossed the knife away and formed an open circle with her hands. Capriolo's eyes widened, while everyone else stared at it in confusion.
"Oh, yes, Hera's Madness* (Mind Body Switch Technique), the famous Gift (kekkei genkai) of the Montagna clan," Rosa commented. "I've heard that it allows the user to transfer their conscience mind into another and essentially control that person's body. But the spell does have its flaws: it's temporary, it's inaccurate, and it leaves the user's body vulnerable to attack!"
"Shut up!" Maiale cried, and bent her pointer and middle fingers to form a heart. "Hera's Madness!"
As her body knelt down, everybody watched Rosa, who stood rigid for a moment, and then she laughed.
"See? I told you it was inaccurate!" But as she about to advance on Maiale, something caught her leg. She looked down and saw a bunch of hair strands illuminated with blue nature energy wound into a rope that was keeping her ankle glued to the floor. She followed the hair-rope all the way down to the other side of the arena, where Maiale was kneeling on the floor holding the end of it.
"If you thought I cut my hair just to show how tough I am, you were wrong!" Maiale said, looking up. "I only pretended to get mad and perform Hera's Madness in order to activate the Samson's** Hair Trap (Chakra Hair Trap Technique) with my nature energy, immobilizing you so that I'd have a perfect shot at giving you Hera's Madness!"
"S**t!" Rosa yelled, trying to get her ankle out of the hair-rope's grip.
"There's no point in struggling!" Maiale then let go of the hair-rope and made the same hand-sign she did before. "Hera's Madness!"
This time, a blue phantom rose out of Maiale's body, causing her to slump, as it went into Rosa's body. For a few seconds, Rosa didn't move or say anything. Then she kicked away the hair-rope, which broke apart, and grinned at the audience watching above. But to Gelato, Rosa's eyes betrayed her, as they were blank and trance-like. He leaned to the very edge of the balcony and shouted, "Rosa!"
"I know you," Maiale said, speaking through Rosa. "You're that idiot who dissed Tony in the classroom, and I believe your name was 'Gelato'. Like I said before, how fitting an idiot should have an equally stupid name."
Gelato said nothing, gritting his teeth in frustration.
"Your pleas are meaningless, Gelato," Maiale said, and made Rosa raise her hand, getting the attention of Imprevisto, who was lounging by a pile of crates near the arena. "I, Rosa Molla of Squad 7, have decided to forfeit my…"
Suddenly, Rosa hesitated, and held the sides of her head. She looked like she was in pain as she gritted her teeth, and hissed sharply. All the people nearest to the balcony gathered close as they watched Rosa stagger, who was crying out meaningless words and fractured sentences.
"What…is…going…on?!" Rosa mumbled loudly. "Rosa's…will is…trying to…kick me out. How is that…even…possible? This has…never happened before! I…can't…hold on…much…longer. If this…mental battle keeps up…Rosa's brain will…be damaged… severely. Dammit."
Maiale forced Rosa to make the sign of the Ram (same) with her hands, and the same blue phantom rose from Rosa's body and went back into Maiale's. Gelato cheered as Rosa blinked and shook her head, while Maiale groaned as she touched the side of her head. She glared at Rosa, who stared back at her in the same manner.
"Let's finish this," Rosa said, getting herself into a running position.
"You'll pay for what you did!" Maiale replied, steadying herself into a similar stance.
Then they ran at each other like in the beginning, but they both had their fists raised. So when they came close, they sent their fists at each other's faces at the same time. They were both hit with equal force, and knocked out as a result. The people watching were awestruck, while Imprevisto walked out to the arena. Neither of them got up, but they were both moaning in pain.
"This match is a stalemate!" Imprevisto declared. "Neither one will advance to the next round!"
As the same two bodyguards who cleaned up the blood were now ordered to clean up the hair, Spauracchio and the Capo for Squad 10, Pulito Scimmia, jumped down. They exchanged brief glances, and then they picked up the girls' scattered equipment, and the girls themselves. Like Spauracchio, the Capo for Squad 10 wore a black suit and green tie, but his hair was spiked up and black instead of white, with a chin beard and a cigarette in his mouth. They ran to the medical personnel, who set to work on healing them, which only took a few minutes as their injuries weren't severe. When they awoke, Rosa and Maiale were lying in two floor mattresses side by side.
"Hey, how do you feel?" Maiale asked, handing Rosa her scarf, which still had a little bit of blood on it.
"Terrible," Rosa replied, taking the scarf. "How bout you?"
"Also terrible."
Rosa sat up, inspected the scarf, and then tossed it aside. This surprised Maiale.
"Why did you throw away your scarf?"
"Because it's torn," Rosa grinned. "I could always get a new one."
"True," Maiale said, getting up in her bed. "So, since we've proved our worth to each other as female mobsters, even though neither of us could triumph over the other, there's no point in seeing ourselves as rivals. Why don't we…become friends again?"
"That's exactly what I was thinking." Then Rosa and Maiale shook hands. "But I'm not giving up on Tony."
Maiale's grip tightened. "Neither am I."
End of Chapter 28
*Hera's Madness is a reference to when Hera, Queen of the Gods, caused Hercules to go insane making him kill his wife and children which in turn lead him to taking on the Twelve Labors
**Samson was a Biblical hero whose power was stored in his hair until a woman named Delilah cut it off