♤ Leon's Challenge ♤

Prologue - Randomly Chosen

"Riyu, how long have we been down here..?"

"At least 2 hours.. well, from what my watch is telling me."

"Forget the watch! You broke it coming down here, remember!?"

"Wait, stop talking.. I can hear the crowd.. They're pouring in right now."

"Riyu, I'm scared.. why did they choose us? We were on our best behavior! I don't want to die.. I don't.."

"We're not gonna die, Kizuno. We're going to escape this place, I promise."

At least, that's what Riyu Yasuhiro thought. He was stuck in a wet, and cold stone corridor, with walls so weak that you could hear a full conversation through them. His best friend Kizuno sat across from him, shaking out of pure fear. She was covered in bruises, and a cut was etched into her forehead. He hated seeing her like this.

"Kizuno.. listen to me. It's okay. We're going to push through this. Like we always did in the past, right?" Riyu asked, slowly crawling over to his friend and wrapping an arm around her. If this was really going to be their final night alive, they were going to die with honor. He wasn't going to let emotion take them over.

"But look at what where pushing through has gotten us.. almost all of my friends are dead, and now I'm gonna have to risk losing you too!"

Kizuno began to cry, tears running down her face. They were tears of anguish, and also deeply felt agony. Like Kizuno, Riyu had to bear witness to the deaths of his very own friends. Every single one was merely beaten to death, and tossed away like a dead animal on the side of the road. It was a horrible thing, but Riyu knew it wasn't going to be stopped. It would take more than a few escapees to stop any of it.

He could hear the sound of a lock being turned, as the door entering into this corridor pulled open. The deafening sound of a crowd emanated from outside, full of mad people who wanted to see the two fight to the death.

"You're up, Riyu. And tell that bitchy friend of yours to stop whining. She's gonna need to see what's happening in the ring, not have her eyes blinded with tears."

Riyu tensed up, hearing the venomous words of the man who captured them. If only he had an ounce of respect...

Despite this, Riyu stood up and walked towards the door. "If I ever get out of this place, I will kill you. Mark.. my.. words." He said, jabbing a finger into the man's chest.

"Shut the fuck up and get moving.." The man replied sternly, kicking Riyu in the back. He grunted and stumbled forward, making his way towards the ring. The crowd was significantly bigger this time.. this meant the fighter he was going against was a top rank.

As he made his way into the gated ring, the overhead lights hooked to the underground ceiling blinded him a little. He let his vision adjust as a man came up and began wrapping his hands with some fresh tape.

"My fellow watchers, thank you for showing up to the most intense fight you'll see yet! As you can see, the rookie fighter Riyu Yasuhiro has come onto the ring. His fighting skills are surely not that of an amateur, but we all know he hasn't faced up against the Black Lotus!"

Riyu gritted his teeth as the crowd opened up to allow his opponent inside. The Black Lotus was an intimidating woman. Standing at almost 6 foot 2, and formed with a strong muscular build, she was guaranteed to be a favorite among the fans watching. He cracked his knuckles as she hopped onto the stage, a cold look in her eyes.