The Tournament this year was being held in the Galaxy View Senior High's gymnasium. Which was kinda odd, considering It has only ever been hosted by venue's outside of the city. Hey I'm not complaining, home court advantage and all that. Them holding it right here in my "backyard" for once, has got to be a good omen.
Sean and I zoom into the parking lot, zipping into a parking space and nearly take out a blue and black sport motorcycle parked next to us. I think it's a Kawasaki ninja. Talk about being on the nose. Nice looking bike though.
Before we even get inside, we hear the Gymnasium erupt with the cheers of the crowd as their family and friends compete in this year's National Martial Arts Finales. The best of the best are here from all over the world.
Sean and I hurry inside, heading straight into the locker room to change into our martial art gi's. Then we walk out onto the gymnasium floor. "Hey Solmax, do ya think they've noticed that we just got here?"
Then we hear the announcer over the loudspeaker, (( "Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Solmaxton and Mr. Marswell are in the house!!! Thanks for showing up guy!" ))
"Yep, I think they've noticed Mars." Everyone turns and looks at us as they clap, laugh and cheer. Sean and I smile and wave then quickly make our way over to our team, easily located by the Chen X banner above them.
"Master Chen looks super annoyed Solmax." Sean wasn't the first to notice this, but Master Chen wasn't the one I was worried about.
"I know Mars, we are so late. And Donna has that same look on her face.... Oh my god... ! Maybe that's why I dumped her? HaHaHa!"
Donna glares straight at me as she hurries over to intercepts us before we could sit down with the others. "Do I even want to know why you two are late!?!"
I glared back at her as I ask, "I assume we have you to thank for our targeted intro announcement?"
"Yep!" She says with a snarky sense of pride in plotting our shaming act.
Sean looks at her and tries to come up with a smartass excuse for being late, "Ummm... Well, ya see Donna, we took a little nap, but the... alarm didn't go off ... you know... the ones ... in our... heads?"
"What...?"
"What, what?"
"... Look, whatever... I'd expect this from you Mars, but not from you Solmax. What's going on with you today?"
"Donna, like I told you this morning, I'm fine, really. Now what did you say to your dad about me?"
"Well..." She closes her eyes and winces as if I was about to deck her as she tells me. "I might have already told him you weren't feeling well and that you... might not be able to compete today... I'm sorry?"
"You said what!?! Now I have to tell him... no convince him, that I'm fine... Where is he?"
"I'm right behind you Mr. Solmaxton. Are you feeling better?"
Sean is startled by Master Chen's sudden appearance behind us and screams, "Ahh, Holy Shit...!"
"Mr. Marswell, how many times must I tell you to always be aware of your surroundings."
"Yes Master Chen." Sean then leans over saying to me, "That man's like a freakin' ghost-ninja, I swear to god."
Without turning around, I reply to Master Chen, "Yes Master Chen, I'm fine. Nothing to worry about sir, I swear."
"Ah, good, good. Now get ready. I've postponed your match with Fang twice now. You'll be up after Mr. Marswell."
"Thank you sir." Master Chen then takes his right middle knuckle and taps it on Sean's forehead three times. He calls lite disciplinary act a "chestnut".
"Ow, ow, ow, what was that for!?!"
"For being late."
"But... But it wasn't even my... Oh whatever."
Master Chen walks back over to the team line as Sean follows, all the while saying under his breath, "I hate when he does that... That's got to totally be some kind of a chinese torture technique or something."
Sean gets ready for his match as I turn back to Donna, about to apologize to her for the billionth time when we hear a voice from behind us projecting in our direction. The smug tone is all I needed to hear to identify who it belonged to. I turn and roll my eyes, yup, Brandon Ki Fang.
"Well look who decided to show up. The amazing Martial Art's Marvel James Solmaxton. Oh wait, you just like being called Solmax, right? Like you're some kind of superhero or something? Ha!" Brandon, my arch nemesis. Seriously, I hate this guy like nobody's business. But he's a good fighter, so I have to respect him for that.
I'm considered one of the best fighters at my age level, and he's almost right up there with me.
The only difference between me and him is, to put it politely, the guy's the biggest asshole on the planet! A real blowhard. Aside from that, I think we could've been good friends.
I look at him and ask, "Hey Brandon, you ready to have your belt handed to you?"
Looking unfazed, he replies back, "Why you taking my belt off, you gonna eat me Solmax? Or better yet... Hey Donna, you hungry?"
I immediately want to grab him by his cocky little neck and choke him out, but Donna stops me as she walks over to Brandon, getting up close in a seductive way and says to him, "You know Brandon, that's a really tempting offer..." She looks back at me, then continues, "Especially these days..."
Ouch... Then she looks back at Brandon and goes on, "But, you know what they say about chinese food right?"
Brandon smirks and says, "Yeah, that you keep coming back for more?"
Donna smiles as she replies, "Nooooo, it's that it doesn't satisfy you, and I prefer something a little more filling."
Brandon immediately gets offended and pissed off. His cocky grin turned upside down so fast it was comical. "Huh...!?! You... You Bitch...! You... you... Whatever! I'll see you on the mat "Maxi Pad!"
Brandon storms off. Oh snap... Donna just handed him his manhood, tied in a neat little pink bow. Brandon's ego has just been K.O.ed. He'll no doubt take it out on me during our match.
I go to say something to Donna, but she stops me. "Don't... Just... Don't. Good luck with that creep... OK Solmax?"
Then she pushes past me and goes to sit back with team. Sean is doing well in his match. I sit in a full lotus and try to clear my mind, a difficult task for obvious reasons today...
Yeah, some crazy shit has been going on... well, all my life actually.
Yeah, there may be some kind of alien... thing after me.
Yeah, my ex-girlfriend has it out for me...
But it's all good because right here, right now, I'm in control and have a tournament to win. Now get your mind right Solmax and let's do this!
I stand to my feet and go to put on my fighting pads. Sean helps me get ready. "Hey Mars, great job against Scott Miller, I honestly thought you were going to lose to him again this year, but that block, dodge, sidekick combo at the last second to scored on him was EPIC!!!"
"I know right! He got lucky last year, but this time, lady luck was on my side."
"Luck had nothing to do with it bro, you da' man."
"Hell yeah I am. Anyway, you got this bro. A one, two punch is all it'll take to put Fang in his place."
"Yeah, let's hope..." I tighten my padded MMA grappling gloves and adjust my headgear. Stepping out onto the mat I see my opponent entering at the same time, mirroring my movements. Aside from his red scoring dot to my green on our protective torso chest guard, we looked identical.
This is it... We've spent a year working our way up through the fighters bracket to be able to face off against each other yet again. I've bested him as many times as he's bested me. And it's always been that way. Him or I, winning the match by a half of a point every time. None of our other opponents have ever come close to a win against us. After one of us wins, we then have to defend the title against the winners throughout the day. A change in procedure developed just for yours truly about five years ago.
We stand before each other, Brandon and I, eager to get this over with.
(( Round One! ))
The referee stands between us, explaining the rules, nothing below the belt and all that nonsense. I think to myself, Get on with it old man. I need to teach this punk some manners for talking to Donna the way he did. Just because she already put him in his place with her words doesn't mean I can't put him in his place with a couple kicks to the face, which I can't legally do, but I can knock him on his ass a few times.
The referee places his open hand in the air between us. We bow to show our respect to the ref then to each other. Then the ref quickly swipes his hand down, jumping backwards as he yells "Begin!" allowing our yearly pissing contest to commence.
We put up our guards and circle each other. Waiting for the right moment. Brandon finds his first opening as he lashes out with a snap kick, knowing full well that I would have no problems blocking it.
I reply with a combo kick-jab, he too blocks the attack with ease.
We've been at this game for a long time, him and I. We know each other's moves like the personalized app placements on our mobiles. This is where skill and strategy come into play, when you go up against an opponent of equal skill, you gotta do a little more thinking and a little less flexing.
Brandon says to me after a quick jab to my forehead, "How about it Solmax, you going to put in a good word for me with Donna, I know she wants me."
He's trying to get under my skin. "Shut up Fang, you couldn't handle a girl like her." As I side kick him in the gut.
"Is that why you dumped her Solmax, you couldn't handle her? You want to know what I think?"
"Not really..."
"I think you're just as big a jerk as I am, "Maxipad".
"You're a piece of shit Brandon..."
"Takes one to know one. You want to take me down maxi, then bring it!"
We're done trash talking; we've taken enough time to come up with our own fighting strategies. A plan that will lead to the others downfall. This is a mixed Martial Arts match, not like the hardcore stuff you see on pay-per view, we have padding & rules, but given time that's where we're both looking to end up... I can't wait.
There's no holding back now, we both know what we're capable of and how far we're willing to go.
( Punch, kick, punch! )
He blocks the first two but misses the last, but that was only to leave me open so that he could get in an equal chest hit to me.
[ 01 Green/ 01 Red. ]
( Jump kick! Elbow Strike! Back hand! )
( Leg sweep! Roundhouse! Axe Kick! ) Almost had me there...
( Low-Kick! High Kick! Side Kick! )
He goes down at the impact of my foot to his chest. Speed is the most important aspect of this sport.
[ 02 Green/ 01 Red ]
( Punch! Punch! Punch! Kick! Block! Kick! Block! Side kick! Roundhouse! Block! )
He's mad at himself, he's getting frustrated. He's just throwing whatever he can at me now. I give it right back to him,
( Punch! Side kick! Roundhouse! Block! Block! Knee strike! Punch! )
Then I... huh...? My mind goes numb and I lose focus... Oh no... not now!
I'm suddenly disorientated. Brandon's attacks seem blurry to me, I can't lock them down, can't... Think straight.
The alien being is trying to contact me again. I try to communicate back to whatever keeps messing with my head. To tell him that now isn't a good time for me... "Stop! Stop doing this, Who or whatever you are!?!"
"Whoa, what's wrong with you Maxi? Who you talkin' to... Me...? This is not the time for you to be freakin' out!"
Then the pain comes, it's all I can do to block Brandon's strikes while staying upright. I'm gonna punk...
"Solmax, you alright or what? You're looking a little green. Heh, Let me know if you can't handle this beating I'm putting down on you and we'll postpone the match... otherwise I'm not going to take it any easier on you!"
I fake my confidence as much as I can as I reply, "I'm fine... fine... no worries... Fang... Let's finish this." I try and shake off the pain and nausea that only seem to be increasing by the second. I manage to get some good hits in, maybe even enough to win round one. Then just as I begin to feel better, a wave of sounds and images rush into my mind, hitting me all at once in the middle of a full on grudge match...
My head flies back as I'm forced to look up towards the sky; my arms spread open, leaving the target on my chest unguarded. Brandon was already in mid air aiming a flying sidekick straight for me. He calls out in shock and confusion, "Solmax... What are you doing!?!"
By the time he realized there was something wrong with me, it was too late. His foot meets my chest and I'm sent flying backwards off the mat.
I hear Brandon, telling me to "Get up, we're not finished yet...!"
I hear the ref call out for the paramedics...
I hear Donna, scream out, "Dammit Solmax! I knew it!"
The pain in my head is incredible...
I hear the crowd gasp and their cheering is replaced with the murmur of confusion and concern...
I hear my parents, little brother & sister call out to me...
"James!"
"Son!"
"Bro!"
"Brother!"
I'm blacking out... The light's were quickly fading away as if Brandon had kicked me off the presabise of a bottomless crater, falling backwards down, down into darkness.
But before everything goes dark, I take one last look around at the crowd that has formed around me. My friends & family coming to my aid. I try to smile, to give them some reassurance that I'll be ok... even if I know that I probably wouldn't be. Definitely a big uncertainty right now.
Then my eyes fall upon a face I didn't recognize. A face adorned with a pair of blueish-green eyes that were looking deep into mine. If she's the last thing I ever see it'll be cool. Because she's... beautiful...