Damovotsk, Molkovia, Earth.
Demian's P.O.V.
[“...There are some new developments about the terrorist attack on the People's City Hall in Molvograd. Our great leaders from the Crimson Circle Party organized a huge investigation to find the culprit. Although the latter has not been found yet, during a press conference, the investigators shared some of the information they gleaned. The most important being the alleged source of the attack...”]
[“...Western Supes using their powers... Representatives from the Crimson Circle demanded an explanation from Vulpes International, the latter being the Freedom League representatives...”]
[“...The dangerous Supe female killer is still on the run... Left three dead policemen in a small town in our great country of Molkovia... Disappeared afterward...”]
When the voice of the anchorwomen resounded in the silent living room, Adeliya and Demian could not help but frown, the latter even commented. “I remember now why I never watch the News. Bad news after bad news. Can't they report on good things for once?”
Adeliya shook her head before replying. “It's just a way to control the population. Look at the City Hall's bombing. They keep saying that it comes from the West, but who knows if it's the truth?” Sighing in disappointment, the young man kept silent, but could not help but remember his old world.
'Whether it's here or there, it's always the same thing. The Western governments accuse the Eastern governments of doing every bad thing, and vice versa. It's always easier to push the blame on a perceived enemy...' His train of thought was however broken when the mature woman's following words reached his ears.
“Although... I can't help but notice the number of Supes going up... It's a bit worrying...” Turning his gaze in her direction, he questioned. “What do you mean?” Gazing back at him, she explained herself. “Think about it. In the past, Supes were rare, and the Freedom League and the Crimson Patriots were more or less capable of managing them. But now? It feels like I keep hearing about new ones popping up every day. If it keeps going that way, do you really think the League and the Patriots can deal with everything?”
Now that his Aunt pointed out the situation, the brown-haired man started to realize the gravity of the situation. 'I never really paid attention to the News, so that's probably why I didn't notice anything... If I want to be powerful enough to protect the girls, I'll probably need to amp up my training.' He inwardly decided before answering out loud.
“I doubt it. We'll need to find a way to protect ourselves in case we're targeted by Supes...” Scrunching her delicate eyebrows, Adeliya retorted. “But how? It's not like any of us is a Su...” As if something suddenly came to her mind, her eyes moved to look into his, her meaning being painfully obvious in his eyes.
Hesitating for a few seconds, he seemed to find his resolve after feeling his petite cousin in his arms and the beautiful face of his Aunt on his side. “Yes, you guessed it. I'm a Supe.” A chuckle escaped the sightless beauty in his arms, while a small smile erased the frown on the mature redhead.
Understanding their thoughts, a wry smile surfaced on his face, his following words prompting the two women to nod. “You both knew, didn't you?” Seeing their reaction, he could not help but feel a bit sullen. “It was that obvious?” Lifting her head to 'look' at his face, Seraphine replied with a knowing smile. “Do you want the truth or a lie?”
Rolling his eyes at her question, he replied with some resignation lacing his voice. “Nevermind. I got it.” Hearing the two girls giggling at him, Demian childishly turned his head to the side to hide his embarrassment. Only when he felt a small hand touch his cheeks, did he move his eyes toward its owner, finding his cousin's lovely face adorned with a meaningful smile directed toward him.
“Don't be mad, Dem. It's just that the signs were pretty obvious, especially your physical growth speed. Plus, it's a good thing. You can finally realize your dream of protecting us. We'll be relying on you.” Maybe it was because of her grin or maybe it was her words that touched something inside him, but his heart could not help but beat erratically, while his mind seemed to freeze.
As her upper body was glued to his, he swiftly caught her rising heartbeat which seemed to mirror his. 'God, she's so beautiful...' He thought in a daze, his face unconsciously approaching hers. Lost in their own world, the two only awakened when a cough sounded on the side, the culprit being unmistakable.
When they realized that they almost kissed in front of Adeliya, Demian felt his cheeks start burning from mortification. 'Fortunately', Seraphine seemed to share the feeling as a red hue swiftly appeared on her lightly scarred cheeks. Turning his gaze in his Aunt's direction, he spotted a dangerous light in her narrowed brown eyes.
To defuse the awkward, and 'dangerous', situation, Demian exclaimed. “Let's watch, TV? What do you girls say?” 'Aunty doesn't seem to be entirely against me and Seraphine being together, but I can't go too fast... At least not in front of her.' He thought while keeping his eyes on the Television.
Despite looking like she had many things to say, the older redhead kept her peace, while the younger one resumed her previous position on Demian's chest, her silent attitude mirroring her mother. After watching the News for a short time, the three switched to watching a few random movies, the initially tense atmosphere relaxing as the afternoon went by in that way.
As the evening came, Demian noticed the time and asked. “Bryn's fight should be about to start. What channel is it broadcast on again?” Adeliya looked at the clock when she heard his words and answered. “Channel one.” While she was using the remote to switch on the right channel, Demian questioned, in a surprised tone.
“Channel one? Why is it broadcast on the main channel? Granted, it's a big fight, but still.” Gazing back at him, Adeliya replied with a somewhat wry smile. “You're saying that because you never watch TV.” Pausing for a second, she continued. “This fight represents the East and West fighting against each other. It's used purely as a propaganda tool. As such, it needs to be broadcast on the Channel One.”
Despite her explanation, the young man was still confused. “But Bryn is Molkovian and her opponent is French. They're not Russian and American...” When those words left his mouth, he felt Seraphine move in his arms. “You're too naive, Dem. It's exactly because they're not Russian and American that they were allowed to officially fight.”
After her words fell into his ears, he could feel that he was close to the truth, but it kept escaping him. Because his thoughts were probably visible on his face, Adeliya snickered and explained the entirety of the situation. “It's simple. If their fighter wins, then they can claim that it's a victory for their side. And if they lose, they can tell that the fighter is not from the 'main' country, so it wasn't truly their side that lost. All in all, the risks are minimal.”
Feeling enlightened, the young man exclaimed. “That's surprisingly clever. And so hypocritical.” Sera then retorted. “It's politics for you.” Laughing wryly, the brown-haired man declared. “I really feel stupid, now. I mean all of you understood the whole thing, but I...”
Cocking her eyebrow, the older woman claimed. “I tried to explain those things to you in the past but you never paid attention.” Scratching his chin in embarrassment, he replied. “I'll pay attention from now on... By the way, is Bryn aware of all that?”
“Of course, she is.” The mature redhead asserted. “And because of that, she's thinking of retiring from the professional fighting scene after this fight since the cash prize is enormous. Her exact words were 'I hate being used as a tool by some rich pigs'.” To which he responded, with a knowing expression on his face. “I can understand the sentiment.”
As the three were chatting, the screen switched to the fight broadcast, with the anchor's voice sounding. [”Good evening, ladies and gentlemen in attendance and FWL fans watching from all around the world! Welcome everyone to one of the greatest fights in the Fighting World League's history! Tonight we're live from Molvograd, in the great country of Molkovia!”]
The anchor then introduced the judges, the referee, and the sponsors before turning toward the two women waiting on each side of the ring.
[”And now this is the moment you've all been waiting for! There'll be five rounds for this Main Match pitting the two strongest female heavyweight fighters in the world!”]
[”Out of the red corner, the Molkovian Blazing Valkyrie, Brynhild Mikhailov...”] After he introduced Demian's older cousin, the anchor switched to the other woman. [”And out of the blue corner, the French She-Wolf, Jeanne Le Loup...”] Once he finished introducing the two powerful women, the anchorman continued.
[”And now, the fighters are moving to the center of the ring. They just touched gloves and now stand ready. The referee is about to start the match... And it begins!”] As soon as the man wearing black clothes lowered his hand, the fight began with the two women starting to feel out each other by throwing light punches.
As the trio were focusing on the fight playing out on the big screen, with Seraphine only listening to the commentary, Demian heard a noise behind him. Intrigued, he turned his head back to see where it came from but found nothing. Frowning slightly, he asked. “Did you hear something?”
“No, why?” The mature redhead responded, while her daughter replied. “You need to be more accurate, Dem.” Realizing that the way he phrased his question was pretty vague, he reformulated it. “I feel like I heard a door closing or something similar... I'm not really sure.”
Nodding her head, the auburn-haired woman answered. “Yes, I did. But I thought it came from the TV...” As she was talking, Demian heard a few voices coming from beyond their entrance door, and he clearly was not the only one as Sera abruptly stopped talking, her eyebrows scrunching with visible concern.
'Expect the best and prepare for the worst, as a great man once said.' He thought before gently pushing away Sera from his torso and instructing. “You girls lay down on the ground right now. Do not move and don't make any noise.” Pausing for a second while the two quickly obeyed his command, as they were quickly aware of the implications, Demian then resumed.
“I may be overreacting, but just in ca...” His words were suddenly cut off by a beeping sound resounding in the room. The realization of its provenance drew a frown from the young man, the latter understanding that the worst seemed to have happened.
In consequence, he swiftly grabbed the gun from the table, loaded it with one of the magazines, and aimed it at the door, choosing to kneel on one knee as he felt that it would allow him to hide behind the furniture in case those people opening the door were armed with guns. It was not the greatest plan, but he did what he could with what little time he had.
The anchor's voice resounded in the quiet room, barely hiding the sound of his heartbeat in his ears, the feeling of his blood pulsing everywhere in his body, while his senses seemed to work overtime, as he became acutely aware of his surroundings, whether it was the two helpless women's hurried breathing on each side of his body, or the door slowly opening, unveiling the people hidden behind it.