image [https://i.imgur.com/mnqCc2l.png]
The arena was hauntingly chilly as Carmen and her opponent silently sized each other up. Carmen tried to think of a game plan, but her thoughts were swiftly interrupted by the announcers loud screechy voice.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, for the grand finals we have an absolutely special treat for you all!!! The undisputed, two-time DHCL champion, Marquel Lion will be facing off against the rising star, Petra!!! Marquel Lion with an impressive record of seventy-five and twelve, he’s currently on a forty-five game win streak!! Will he earn his third championship win and keep the streak alive, or will this promising rookie pump his brakes?!?! OOOOOOH the anticipation is killing me!!!” Koga shuddered as he yelled, flying around the arena with great swiftness.
Carmen composed herself and waited with bated breath as the countdown began. Once the timer hit zero and the bell rang, Carmen blinked. The moment her eyes opened, Marquel punched Carmen square in the face with incredible force.
Marquel’s speed was unlike anything she had ever witnessed, covering the entire length of the arena in a mere fraction of a second. Carmen briefly blacked out as she flew into the cage wall head first, crumbling the pillars in the process. When she came to, Carmen could feel a subtle warmth racing down her face.
‘How d-did he? M-My barrier…’
Blood trickled down from her forehead as she struggled to get to her feet, unable to comprehend what had just occurred. Unfortunately, she couldn’t think for long since Marquel was now rapidly approaching her location. She stumbled slightly before hopping backwards to dodge his punch, but her movements were too slow.
His fist suddenly became enveloped in a thick layer of frost and it violently connected with Carmen’s stomach. Marquel then followed up with a volley of ice cold punches, further beating Carmen’s face and chest into submission.
Trying to escape his relentless assault, Carmen exerted her gravity manipulation to force him back, however he simply dodged her efforts and continued his physical beat down. He skillfully shifted his weight downwards and quickly uppercut her before following up with a forceful kick across her chest. The blow caused Carmen to careen backwards, her body now skating and rolling across the floor like a rag doll. Once she came to a stop, he was already beginning his next attack.
He raised his left hand upwards and exerted his Core Energy, conjuring up multiple ice shards to rain down towards Carmen. Despite the pain she felt from his previous kick, Carmen quickly rolled out of the way as each shard crashed downward, exploding into an icy mist. She eventually got to her feet so she could run away, but her approach was immediately stopped by Marquel.
He reared his fist back and barreled it into her in the stomach with every bit of his strength. The air completely left Carmen's body as spit flew out of her mouth from the blow. When he pulled his fist back, she gripped her stomach and hunched over, slightly stumbling back in the process.
Marquel quickly cupped his hands together and exerted his Core Energy again. Both of his hands became covered in thick ice, solidifying them together in a chilly fashion. With a single, downward strike of his icy fists, Marquel pummeled Carmen on the top of her head. The brutal collision knocked her face straight into the ground, causing the floor tiles to split and buckle from the visceral impact.
Carmen was completely dazed from the attack, her body slumping over while the sound of ringing overtook her head. The room spun in every direction as Carmen subconsciously saw Maquel flip her over and mount her body. He placed his cold hands onto her neck and began squeezing tightly.
Marquel stared into her red eyes while she tried her hardest to force him off, struggling to breath through his icy choke hold. His grip got tighter and tighter as he flexed his muscles, veins popping out from all areas of his upper body. Just before Carmen felt her last breath leave her, she remembered what Varric told her earlier.
‘If you want to survive the night and win, be prepared to kill…’
At that moment, Carmen got her second wind and the two began lifting off of the ground. Marquel continued choking her as they rose higher and higher into the air. Despite his efforts, he noticed that his grip was becoming loose, as though something were pulling his hands apart.
Once they reached the highest point of the arena, Marquel’s arms were pushed off of her entirely with great force. He couldn’t move his body back into position, no matter how much he fought against the gravitational force being applied to him. Suddenly, their bodies spun around and he was thrown to the ground below.
Marquel’s body laid completely flat as his arms and legs were stretched out. With each passing second, the gravitational force increased ten fold. The arena floor rumbled and folded in on itself as the weight was too much for it to bear. Finally free from Marquel's cold grasp, Carmen coughed and rubbed her neck as she floated high above him.
Once she collected herself, Carmen increased the gravity around her and descended out of the sky at a rapid pace. Her weight increased significantly as she plummeted towards Marquel. Within a few short seconds, Carmen made impact onto Marquel's chest, causing the arena to explode and shake violently. He coughed up blood from the heavy blow, his body clearly unable to withstand that much pressure.
When the dust settled, Carmen began her assault. Like a woman possessed, she proceeded to punch him with heavy, gravity filled blows to the head over and over. Her attacks were loud, visceral, and incredibly brutal. Blood splattered across her face as she relentlessly pummeled his face into submission.
She then cupped her hands together and slammed them down once more, sending blood and skull fragments flying in all directions. The impact was so heavy it crushed the ground even further, causing the arena floor to ripple and split open.
When the carnage was over, Carmen’s bloodied hands relaxed as she looked up at the bright lights above, panting heavily. The arena was eerily quiet. Everyone watching couldn’t believe what they had just saw. The terrifyingly violent display had silenced them completely. However, once the buzzer sounded off, the crowd went absolutely ballistic.
“PETRA WINS!!! PETRA WINS!!! Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new champion!!!! The rookie has done the unthinkable!!! Absolutely incredible!!!” Koga loudly screeched with great excitement, pumping his fist into the air.
The crowd cheered so impossibly loud, drowning out all of Carmen’s thoughts once again. In a daze, she slowly looked down to see the unidentifiable mush of Marquel’s head. Despite the fresh blood that was caked all over her body and hands, Carmen had no reaction at all.
Stolen story; please report.
The guards quickly came over and lifted her off of her dead opponent, swiftly dumping his body onto a cart and removing him from the arena. They escorted her through the door as everyone cheered her name over and over from the stands.
After a short walk, the guards took her to a new location. It was a simple room with a few lockers, a sink, a dirty mirror, and a couple of chairs. They told her to wait there and walked out, closing the door shut behind them.
Carmen slowly hobbled over to the mirror and looked at herself. Her face was incredibly bruised and covered with crimson blood. She began to feel sick and immediately vomited into the sink, breathing heavily once she finished emptying her guts. Carmen turned the water on and washed the blood off of her hands, trembling in the process.
‘I seriously just killed someone… I… W-What?’
Carmen replayed the last few minutes over and over as she removed the messy wig from her head, causing her silver hair to unravel and drape down. Once it covered half of her face, she stared into the mirror in an absolute daze. Suddenly, the door opened up and in walked Murdoc. She saw Petra’s new look and snickered, quickly closing the door and locking it.
“Ya know, I had a hunch there was something off about you. People with red eyes like that don’t come to these parts often.” Murdoc said, not surprised to see Carmen in all of her Belouis glory.
Carmen silently looked at Murdoc, still in a daze.
“Have a seat, kid.”
Murdoc motioned for her to come over as she pulled up an extra chair. Carmen slowly approached and sat down, leaning back with a fairly blank expression. Murdoc began to light a cigarette and after a few quiet puffs, she looked at Carmen with great interest.
“Judging by your age, I’m going to guess that you’re the youngest of the royal family. Carmen Belouis, right?” Murdoc remarked, blowing pungent smoke in her direction.
Carmen’s eyes went wide and she began to snap out of her stupor, now feeling on edge.
“Hmph, looks like I’m right. How interesting…”
Murdoc chuckled slightly as she tapped the ashes off of her cigarette. Before Carmen could respond, Murdoc asked a very surprising question.
“Tell me, how’s Tiaran these days? Is she well?” Murdoc casually inquired.
Carmen leaned forward with the look of great shock upon her face.
“Huh!? How do you know Tiaran?” Carmen exclaimed with confusion, not understanding why this stranger knew anything about her family.
“Oh, I know her very well… Hell, there isn’t a soul down here that doesn’t know of the great Tiaran Belouis. She used to fight in the DHCL about five years ago. Or was it six? Hmm, anyways, Tiaran’s a bonafide legend in Dead Haven.” Murdoc replied, reminiscing about the good days.
“What? Tiaran would never come to a place like this, are you crazy?? If this is your idea of a joke, it’s not funny!”
While Carmen found this story to be absolutely nonsensical, Murdoc simply chuckled and blew more smoke in her face.
“Seems like you don’t know your dear sister at all then. That girl was absolutely relentless and insatiable, never seen a fighter like her. She had a record of 265 - 0, never dropped a single match and not a single one of those fights were close.”
Murdoc paused briefly as she took one last toke of smoke.
“Tiaran made me and a lot of other people more money than you can imagine. Hell, I’d even go so far as to say she helped establish the DHCL’s foundations, bringing people from all over to see her streak continue. But, she’d call me crazy for saying something like that, heh.” She continued, letting out a snicker as she tossed her cigarette to the ground.
Carmen couldn’t believe it, but the sincerity in Murdoc’s voice added some validity to these claims.
“I know that Tiaran loves to fight. That’s pretty much all she does but, why would she come here of all places to fight? Doesn’t make sense.” Carmen asked, wanting to understand why someone from her family would be involved with such a disgusting place.
“Because we could offer her something that nowhere else could. A place to fight as many people as she wanted and as often as she wanted. It didn’t take long at all for me to convince her when we first met.”
Murdoc leaned back in her chair and looked at the dingy ceiling.
“Does she still come down here to fight?” Carmen wondered, now growing more interested in hearing more about Tiaran.
Murdoc simply shook her head.
“Nope… I haven’t seen Tiaran in over four years now. We had a bit of an uhh… Falling out, I guess. I don’t think she wants to see my face again.”
Murdoc slightly chuckled, but her voice had a shakiness to it as though she feared the day they would ever meet again. Carmen looked on silently, processing what she just learned.
“Anyways, enough about her. How you feeling, kid? I’ll admit, I was thoroughly impressed with your performance in the ring. That last fight was pretty wicked, especially with the way his skull exploded at the end. Been awhile since I’ve seen something that gnarly.” Murdoc added with a smirk.
“I don’t know how I feel to be honest… It’s not good, whatever it is.” Carmen replied, looking down at her still trembling hands.
“First time killing, huh? It’ll pass quicker than you think. Especially once you realize that no one on the surface will ever know of what you did. Nothing down here ever leaves Dead Haven, that much is certain.”
Murdoc began to stand from her chair, prompting Carmen to follow suit. However, as she took her first few steps forward, Carmen stumbled over in pain. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, all of the damage she endured during her previous fights came rushing in like an endless torrent.
Murdoc walked over and placed her left hand firmly on Carmen’s shoulder. The choker around her neck began to glow, causing her hand to do the same. Within a few short moments, Carmen’s body started feeling better.
“I can’t heal you immediately, but my ability can greatly accelerate the healing process. Rest for a day or so and you’ll be back to normal. Got it?” Murdoc demanded with a stern tone, almost annoyed that she had to waste her Core Energy on this girl.
Carmen nodded and thanked her for the help as she put her wig back on. They exited the room and walked through the building until making it through the back entrance.
Varric was standing off to the side, waiting patiently with his arms crossed. When their eyes met, he simply smirked as though he were proud of what she had accomplished. Carmen on the other hand, felt incredibly annoyed by his presence, remembering all of the events that transpired thanks to him. When they stopped their approach, Murdoc reached into her back pocket.
“Here you go, kid. This is yours.” She said while showing Carmen a small, metallic black card with a golden D.H. insignia etched on it.
“This card is your entry into Dead Haven and it also holds all of the funds you earned while down here. Whenever you participate in the DHCL again or perform a job request, any funds you gain will be stored on this. Use it wisely.” Murdoc added, starting to hand the card over.
Carmen reached for it and grabbed the edge, but to her surprise, Murdoc didn’t let go.
“You’ll be wise to keep this card hidden and never speak of Dead Haven to anyone on the surface. And I mean never, because it’d be a shame to see something tragic happen to Sarah Lichen, or that Siestian boy you go to school with. Or maybe, that mentally unstable girl you room with will fall asleep and never wake up. It’s hard to say what could happen if you talk about Dead Haven outside of this establishment.” Murdoc said with an incredibly dark smile, her stare having zero soul behind it.
“W-what?? How do you know about them!?” Carmen barked, snatching the card and stepping back as shivers went across her body.
Murdoc crossed her arms and chuckled softly.
“Don’t worry about that, kid. Just be glad that I’m being generous and letting you roam free, seeing as how this dimwit brought you here against your will.” Murdoc said, shooting Varric an icy glare.
“But hear me and hear me well, the next time you come down here, I won’t be so kind and understanding…”
“Pfft, I’m not coming back. Are you insane??” Carmen replied, finding the very idea to be ridiculous.
“Oh, you’ll be back. And when you do, I’m not letting go of you, Petra, my precious new champion.”
Murdoc smiled deviously as she lit another cigarette, blowing more smoke into her face. Carmen waved her hand in disgust and glared back at Murdoc with an irritated expression. Varric could tell that tensions were beginning to grow and so he decided to step in.
“Let’s go…” He said, nudging Carmen along.
Murdoc continued to stare at her with the same devilish smirk, not breaking eye contact for even a second as she smoked her cig. Carmen eventually followed after Varric and with a few steps, they finally began their exit from this dangerous place. As they walked away, one of Murdoc’s guards approached her.
“Was it wise to let that kid go without a mark? What if she talks?” He asked with a serious tone.
“It’s fine. She’s young, not stupid. Besides, she’ll be back. And when she does return, inform me immediately. I've got big plans for her.”
"Ah yes Ma'am, but.. How can you be so sure that she'll be back?"
"Because the look on that girls face when she pummeled Marquel into oblivion tells me so. She enjoyed every minute of it and given enough time, she'll want another taste. I guarantee it."
Murdoc took one last puff from her cigarette and began walking back into the building, her guard following closely.