Syndicate of tribulation

Chapter 25

A dim light shone under the door and as I neared it, I could almost make out sounds and voices. "Stop, it hurts" King's angry voice whispered, Tyro's deep voice replied after a soft grunt, "Stop moving so much then".

I think I'm going to throw up in my mouth. Their voices sounded quite far away from the door though. So, I quietly opened her door and crept in. I could see the bathroom light was on and the door slightly ajar. But I couldn't hear them anymore, what was going on?

All of a sudden, I felt a sharp blade on my neck and the lights flicker on. "Oh my – it's just Domo!" King's voice said behind me, the blade was removed and I turned around to see Tyro by the light switch and King directly behind me with one of her throwing knives in hand and bandages covering her arms and legs. "What happened to you?" I asked, trying to keep my volume to the minimum yet, not doing as well as I thought when a harsh "Shh!" followed quickly. "Training happened" King replied, her eyes steeled and not as soft as they usually were. Tyro was also covered in bandages, though only on his torso. I don't even want to ask questions right now.

"Why are you here?" Tyro grumbled, probably annoyed by my presence. "I heard noises and thought King was in trouble" I replied. "You liar, if you thought she was in trouble, you wouldn't have come in unarmed and besides if King was in trouble, you think you could save her? You would've come to me instead and asked for my help" Tyro retorted, his dark eyes staring into mine, whilst I froze like a deer caught in headlights. "The real question is, why were you hurting King?" I voiced, deterring the attention from me. "He was helping me with my bandages, but he was being too rough with it, Sorry if I scared you" King replied, placing her hand on my shoulder. "You were being a baby and kept denying my help when you know I'm a better first aider" Tyro interrupted. "I don't need your help, you arrogant jerk" She bit back harshly. Damn, I thought they were friends.

"That's Mr. Arrogant Jerk to you, moron." Was his snarky reply, his head tilted up, whilst he looked down at her due to their size difference. A malicious vibe filled the room, and I regretted ever coming in. "Well, this was fun but" I faked a yawn, "I'm so tired so, see you later", my voice cut through the thick tension before I dashed back to my room.

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Our training gear was simply grey unitards, with a zip at the back and black gloves, paired with black trainers.

We never train in our actual costumes because they are being upgraded right now. After Tyro and King all but destroyed theirs, they realised instead of getting just them new ones, everyone should get new ones that are better and more suited to their skill set.

We were made to stand at the centre of the arena when we arrived. Since the initial test, we have had like 1 other one which was to test our progress midway, though King and Tyro didn't do it because they thought it was unnecessary.  There were a bunch of people in the stands. More than I have ever seen before. It was like going to the Olympics, but we were the games. A loud voice through surround speakers hushed the chatting crowd and increased our anxiety. "Good morning, everyone," an unrecognisable voice said in the speakers. "Today is the Special Force Division's last day of training and we decided to come up with something that would truly test their newly learnt skills." Everyone in the stands cheered as if we're their entertainment.

Like always. We were.

"We decided to do 10-minute combat battles, where the one that knocks their opponent out of the ring wins and then after that a battle royale where they will be made to all fight each other in different terrains" the voice announced. If I hadn't pissed myself before, I was now. I felt even worse for Eustace as last time I checked she wasn't the most competent fighter.

"First rotation, Kingide versus Eustace Ring 1, Dakari versus Amour Ring 3, Domonic versus Tironai Ring 2" the announcer voiced.

I'm dead. I won't even survive till the battle royale.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he will go easy on you. Eustace placed her hand on my shoulder. But I saw Kingide and Amo's heads shake upon hearing Stace's words. Even I knew that he wouldn't. The best thing I could do was evade him or simply leave the ring myself.

"To your rings!" The announcer bellowed. We scurried towards our rings. It was like the type they had in wrestling. An elevated platform with 2 ropes around the border, makes it hard to fall off.

King's match with Eustace was right beside mine. Tyro stared at King, and she nodded to him. It's like they were speaking their silent language when Tyro held up 1 finger to her. She smirked and nodded.

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Soon we were on the final rotation. The first round went as you thought it would. Tyro was merciless, as soon as the round started he charged at me and tripped me over before I could evade his attacks. He dragged me by my ankle to the turnbuckle padding. Which was a black padding by the corners. I tried to resist but he was too strong. He lifted me by my throat so my back was against the padding and whispered to me "It's nothing personal Domo" before pushing me over the top rope which led to me crashing onto the padded mats below the platform.

To say it was scary would be an understatement. I  was terrified as I fell what felt like 50m from the top rope onto the floor below the elevated platform.

It was the 5th and final round. "Final rotation: Domonic versus Amour Ring 1, Kingide versus Tironai Ring 2, Dakari versus Eustace Ring 3," the announced said over the speakers.

This would be the hardest round because the skill set of our opponents isn't that much different and we don't know how they would handle ties.

The audience had already gotten the gist of everyone's vibes so the ring to be watching was Ring 2. Kingide and Tironai. I went up against both of them and while King took it easy on me, I feel the difference in their fighting style makes up for them being matched when it comes to sheer power and conviction to win. An enthralling match was surely bound to happen if both were going to take it seriously. That's why everyone gasped in surprise as they looked at ring 2 when the announcer shouted: "Commence!".