"So where exactly are we going?" Kris asked. Her hands stuffed into her jacket pockets as they walked through the early morning and crisp air in what seemed like nowhere. She let out a heavy yawn, exhaling slowly with a small groan. "I'm tired... and we've been walking for hours."
"Shut up and stop complaining. It's been half an hour." Baren muttered, leading the group between several pathways that slowly lead deeper and deeper into the woods. "We're almost there." She glanced back with a small glare.
As the redhead rolled her eyes back, Cheyenne stretched at her arms while slowly stepping towards her team leader. "Hey." She softly spoke, seeing how uneasy her friend appeared. "Are you feeling okay?" Her head tilted a bit. "I mean, I know you're not but..."
Exhaling, Kagami glanced over. "I'm just... just a little nervous I suppose." She had her arms wrapped around her body, holding herself in an attempt to give herself comfort. "I haven't been home in forever. And the thought of going back makes me feel sick. The people there... they rejected me for my natural warrior instincts that I didn't even ask for." Her fingers dug into her skin a bit as her jaw clenched. "I haven't seen my parents in years... What if they don't even care? What if they've already forgotten?" She trailed off.
Smiling, the Faunus gently reached over to put a hand on her shoulder. "What was something you told me before? You can't be afraid otherwise you'll never know?" She smiled more.
Rolling her eyes, she exhaled while looking away. "I don't think I've ever said that."
"It sounds like something you'd say though." She stepped a little closer before reaching out to grab her hand. "Listen, I know how you feel. Well not exactly, but I've been there."
"Being kidnapped is a much different feeling than being discarded aside because you're different. Because you don't conform to the stupid ideaology of brainwashed idiots..." Her jaw clenched as her shoulders squared. "They're all too afraid to stand up for what's right. That's not living in peace. That's just letting everything slide by and possibly hurt you."
"Isn't that what you're doing by not going back to your family?" Her head tilted slightly. "You're too afraid to go back even though it would be the right thing to do?"
The jadette went silent, slowly looking downward at her feet as the ground crunched below them. "Possibly... but I..."
Shaking her head, the Faunus stepped closer. "You owe it to yourself to go back. To show your family how much you've grown. You've done so much to help everyone around you. It's your turn now." She patted her back. "Remember that. We'll be right beside you no matter what choice you make. I promise you that. Just know, we're all hoping you do what's right. Like you always do." She smiled, giving her a nod.
Exhaling, Kagami watched as Cheyenne walked ahead. She closed her eyes, her hands fidgeting with each other now. She glanced around, eventually sighing as she reached up to rub the back of her head. Her arms dropped as her shoulders rolled back. She glanced up at the sky, staring at it for a moment before shaking her head as she walked on. Did she owe it to herself that much?
"Can't you just tell us where you're taking us?" Elise groaned heavily, trudging along. "I like hiking in the woods as much as the next person,"
"I hate it." Kris added with a huff.
"But I still would really like to know where we're going. Pleeease." The brunet hissed softly while reaching up to rub her face.
Baren glanced back, glaring for a moment before turning away. "We're here." She exhaled, running her fingers over the rough rocky surface of the side of the mountain. Coming up to a small crack, she turned her body to the side as she began to slide through it.
"What..." Kris stared dumbfounded.
"I don't even know." Kagami blinked, staring at where her mentor went. She looked around, slowly approaching the crack. "It... should be fine..." She let out a small sigh while sliding in between the stone. "Hopefully."
"I don't like this..." The redhead softly groaned.
"Suit yourself." Elise grinned faintly with a shrug. "This seems interesting. I wonder what's inside there. Grimm wouldn't be able to fit with how small that entrance is. I wonder what it looks like down there." She stepped forward, following after Kagami.
"I'm more confused about how we're supposed to get lien from inside a mountain..." Cheyenne looked into the crack before glancing back. "Are you coming?" She asked while slowly sliding in.
"What? You guys are kidding me, right!?" Kris threw her arms out. "I'm not walking in there! It's filthy!" She stood alone in silence for a moment. "Guys!?" Her shouts fell to silence before she let out a heavy groan. Hesitantly approaching, she chewed on her lip "If I get bit by a snake... I'll kill all of you." She sharply hissed while squeezing through.
As she made her way through, the redhead's brow furrowed as she began to hear a strange noise. Stumbling out of the slim crack, her eyes slowly widened. To her left was a bar. The back stacked full of bottles of ageless sake. Several people heavily crowding around it. Next to it was a more fortified square room. The walls made of concrete with a metal door. There was a glass window on the front, showing two figures inside. The surrounding walls carved from the inside of the mountain itself was covered in graffiti. As she stepped forward more, she stared at a descending row of foldable bleacher seats that circled around. Down in the center of all of it, an eight sided and heavy metal octagon cage sat on top of a thick and durable mat. The corners and edges of the cage covered in a protective foam. The door of the cage locked with a large golden padlock. Inside, two men were brawling it out. Both in a pair of shorts. One had on a pair of fingerless gloves as the other had bandages around his wrist.
The strangest part about the arena was the weird humming lights that stood on the corners of the cage. They both look and felt strange.
"What... the fuck..." Elise quietly blurted out while staring in shock and confusion.
"Language..." Cheyenne quickly added while staring in awe. "But same..."
"Baren..." Kagami trailed off, her eyes wide as she slowly turned towards her mentor. "Where are we?" She demanded with a small glare.
"This is the Predators Arena." Blinking, the pinkette rested her arm over her chest while glancing around. "It's definitely changed a lot since I was last here. The seats and arena are way nicer." She let out a faint chuckle with a grin.
"You... brought as to an underground fight club!?" Kris shouted, flailing her arms around. "Are you out of your mind!? All those years of living in the middle of the woods must have distorted your mind! You're crazy!"
"You're the ones that said you needed money." She smirked. "Plus, Kagami still needs disciplined for disobeying me. This seems like a fair punishment." She flexed her shoulder before stretching her arm out.
"What... is wrong with you?!" The redhead continued. "You're supposed to be the adult here! How were you given the responsibility to raise a child?! How did Kagami even survive under your care?!"
She raised an eyebrow, her smirk growing. Rather than answering her, she looked towards the jadette. "You don't have a choice here. I'm putting you in today's bracket whether you want to or not."
Blinking, Kagami stared before taking a deep breath. She slowly reached up, rubbing her face. "I... okay, whatever. At least fighting will help clear my mind about everything." She exhaled, shaking her head with a sigh.
"Good." Baren turned to face the group of four while holding out her left hand. "Now your lien. All of you."
"Um..." Cheyenne blinked.
Tilting her head, Elise raised a hand slowly. "What..."
"No!" Kris snapped, flailing her arms. "You are absolutely out of your mind and insane if you think I will give you even a single lien!"
"I'd like to register someone for today's bracket." Standing in front of the concrete room with a glass window, Baren set down a decently sized stack of multiple lien cards of different amounts. She then slid it forward through a small opening.
Raising an eyebrow, a man with tanned skin and dark forest green hair let out a chuckle. "Aren't you a little too old to be fighting?"
"Not me, her." She half glared while pointing back towards Kagami.
"And how old is she?" A woman who looked a lot like the man tilted her head. "She looks like a child. This isn't a playground. Does she even have a Huntress license?"
"Don't worry, she's old enough. She and her team went to Beacon. Before they got to graduate the attack happened and the academy fell. So none of them exactly have their Huntress license." It wasn't exactly a lie. But then again it wasn't the whole truth. Kagami, Cheyenne and Elise were only eighteen and Kris was still only sixteen.
"Hmm." The man eyed the stack of lien. "What do you say, Rose?" He glanced at her.
Staring at the lien, she slowly reached out to grab the stack before she began counting it. "I suppose, Mary..." She leaned back, kicking her feet up. "If you really want to. As long as we still have an even number."
"Alright." He scooted forward, grabbing a pen that he twirled around. "What's her name?"
"Kagami Monomane." The pinkette rested her arm over her chest.
"Fighting name though?" His eyebrow raised.
"I don't care. Whatever you want." She waved him off before she turned around on her heels and stepped away.
"Well she's something." Rose snickered to herself while putting the lien in a much larger pile. "We're not really letting that skinny pale girl fight, are we?" She half groaned.
Mary shook his head, rolling his eyes. "It doesn't matter. We have their lien. Just put her up against the biggest brute we have signed up for her first fight. We'll knock her out in the very beginning and no one will care and we'll keep their lien. Win for us."
"Okay, okay, whatever." She shook her head with a heavy exhale. "What's the losers name?"
"And on the south side of the arena, we have a new, a young, a fresh, a fierce and bold new competitor, a woman who has been all across Remnant, Kagami Monomane, the Emerald Knight!" A muscular man in a sleeveless black shirt and shorts chuckled while standing in the middle of the caged arena. "And on the north side, we have the deadly, the brutal, the experienced mad man himself, Rogo the living and breathing Fire Dragon!"
Cracking his knuckles, a large and muscular man in black shorts with flame designs on them smiled. His head shaved clean as bright red and glowing scales ran down his spine and covered his shoulders. "You're a puny girl." He grinned, his teeth flashing as he stretched his shoulders out. His bare feet pounding against the mat. White bandages wrapped around his calves along with a compression sleeve over his right elbow.
"Don't count me out. Bigger isn't always better." Kagami smiled up at him. Barefoot as well, she had bandages wrapped around her ankles as well as her wrist. Still with a pair of fingerless gloves on, she had on a pair of black shorts with green stripes and a black sports bra with green detailing. Her large mass of hair tightly pulled back in a ponytail. The scars on her back from her time on Vytal now visible.
The brute scoffed as the man in black held out his hands. "We all know the rules, but let's go over them again. This isn't your average fight. There's only a few simple rules. No hair pulling, no groin attacks, no poking the eyes and no biting. Everything else goes. And by everything, we mean everything. There's no TKOing or forfeiting. The way you win is either by knockout or your opponent tapping out. There's no time limit. We go until a winner is decided." He grinned, stepping back before quickly hauling himself over the metal cage. "So let's get the match started!" He jumped onto the outside of the ring. "Activate the aura limiters!"
"Aura limiters?" Elise blinked, seeing the lights on the corners of the cage turn on and hum.
Staring at the arena, Baren blinked slowly as she watched Kagami's green aura and Rogo's red aura fizzled away completely. "Okay... that's really new. Wasn't expecting that."
"Oh my Oum Kagami is going to die..." Kris reached up, burying her face in her hands.
"This... might be a slightly more difficult fight than Kagami was expecting..." Cheyenne trailed off. She slightly bit her lip, exhaling softly.
Blinking, Kagami slowly looked down at her hands. She slowly breathed in, her eyes slightly wide in confusion as she stared up at her opponent.
"What? Didn't know about those, kid?" Rogo chuckled while sliding his foot back and holding up his fist.
She sighed, softly shaking her head before readying herself. "It doesn't matter."
"Now let's... FIGHT!" The man in black shouted, taking his hand and banging it against the cage. The sound echoing throughout the seats as a roar built up amongst the crowd.
"Heh." Rogo chuckled, eyeing the young girl up and down before quickly stepping closer and throwing a punch.
The jadette jumped back, narrowly missing his strike before faking her own punch and going in for a kick.
He scoffed, blocking with his forearm before grabbing her leg. He brought his foot up, slamming it into her chest and sending her back. "This is too easy. You're scrawny and pathetic." He quickly approached her, not giving her time to get back on her feet. "What do you think this is? The Amity Arena? The Vytal Festival Tournament? This isn't a place for sparring and friendly matches!" He threw his left arm forward, striking her in the head. As he pulled his left arm away, he backhanded her. He repeated the same movement with his right hand, pushing her back up against the cage. "This place, there's no rules! And the want to win is greater with the prize pool!" He shouted as he continued.
Grunting with her arms over her head to absorb the blows. Kagami clenched her teeth tight while glaring with one eye shut. Inhaling sharply, she took a moment between his swings to push herself off the ground and slide between his legs. Jumping up to her feet, she brought her foot against the back of his knee. As he fell down with a thud against the mat, she brought her arm around. Her sharp elbow hitting the back of his neck.
He went still for a moment, his eyebrow twitching before he fell forward. His face hitting the cage as he slowly slid downward. Breathing softly, Kagami slowly lowered her fist as the crowd went silent. After a moment, the uproar began again.
"And the winner is..." The man in black blinked before flashing a grin with a laugh. "Kagami Monomane, the Emerald Knight!" He shouted.
Blinking from inside the concrete room, Mary glanced over. His eyebrows high in shock as his mouth was slightly opened.
Rose stared, slowly turning her head to glare at him. "Just let her fight you said. Dumb ass..." She grumbled.
Time came and went as the hours of the day past by. Fight after fight was held until there was just four remaining competitors. And then three. With the remaining two fighting it off, Kagami was sitting by her friends and mentor while resting up for the next match.
"Does it hurt?" Elise asked, poking at a dark blue bruise on Kagami's cheek.
"Yes. It hurts." She huffed, quietly groaning. "That's why I keep flinching when you touch it!" She raised an eyebrow, playfully glaring back at her.
"Right, right." She pulled back before quickly grabbing a bandaid and putting it over the red line over her nose. "You better be more careful. You're going to really hurt yourself if you're not careful." She exhaled softly while pulling back again.
Rolling her eyes, she grinned up at her. "It's fine. Once I've had enough time out of that ring my aura will have enough time to recharge and it'll heal quickly. Don't worry about it."
The brunet sighed before Kris quickly popped in. "That's right! Do you know how much lien we will have if Kagami wins this next match! That's what we should be worrying about!"
"Aren't you rich?" Cheyenne blinked.
"Yeah but this is different," The redhead waved her hand. "This will be my lien."
"Technically mine." Kagami chuckled softly. "Or, I'm sorry, are you the one fighting brutes and thugs? And probably criminals we should be arresting..." She trailed off slightly.
"Ignore that." Baren reached over, patting the young girl's back. "We're almost done here. And it's time for you to get back in there." She pointed towards the caged ring.
Exhaling, she let her arms drop as she pulled herself up with a groan. "Oh... I'm so sore. I think I'd rather be forced to fetch." She rubbed her nose a bit with a sigh and a flinch.
"That can still be arranged." She flashed a grin, chuckling softly. "Do you want to?"
The jadette sighed, shaking her head as she started to walk away. "Sorry. Can't hear you. Busy preparing for a fight." She smiled back at her.
The pinkette rolled her eyes, smiling as she leaned onto her left hand. "That's what I thought."
Watching her walk back to the arena, Elise softly sighed while looking over at the old warrior. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Her brows furrowed. "I mean, I know she's gotten this far, but what if she gets hurt."
"She'll be fine." She reassured her while leaning back.
"How can you be so sure though?" Cheyenne quietly asked.
"Because." Baren began to smile more.
After a few seconds of silence, Kris glanced around as her brow furrowed. "Because what?"
"Because I could beat all the idiots in here." She glanced at her.
"What does that have to do with Kagami?" Elise raised an eyebrow.
Chuckling, the pinkette moved her arm to rest over her chest. She eyed the young jadette she taught to fight and helped raise, watching her step into the cage. "Because I know she can beat me. She just refuses to admit it or allow it out of respect for me." Her smile grew.
"Alright folks, this is the moment you've been waiting all day! We have the underdog, the impressive, the small but tank like warrior, the mighty Emerald Knight!" The man dressed in black shouted while standing in the middle of the cage pointed towards Kagami before pointing in the other direction. "And over here we have the fierce, the agile, the brutal and merciless creature from another planet, Small Knife!"
Stepping out further onto the mat, a woman whose body was slim yet hardened with muscles flashed a smile towards the jadette. Her skin was slightly tanned and her brown hair was wrapped in thick dreadlocks and tied into a ponytail. Her chocolate colored eyes screaming with a sense of a cunning attitude. She wore a black sports bra and black shorts. The shorts having a strange brown mask on the left. On her forehead there was a scar from long ago. "You're the one that made it all the way to the top two?" She scoffed. "Sorry, kid, but you're not going much farther."
"That's what everyone else said too." Kagami smiled back at her. "Yet I'm still standing here instead of them."
She let out a quiet chuckle. "You have some spunk in you." She outstretched her right arm, holding out her fist. "Mitarashi. Kuraberu Mitarashi."
"Monomane. Kagami Monomane." She held out her arm, tapping her knuckles against hers before pulling back.
"This is it! The final fight!" The man in black stepped back before hauling himself over the cage and jumping down onto the ground outside. "Let's FIGHT!" He shouted, the aura limiters around the ring activating.