*Taking place in the same day as the auction in Cydonia*
In Cavèz Avinolia - in the schoolyard of Lady Augusta School of welfare. Children of varying ages run around the grass fields and play within the various sport courts, however with the monkey bars of the playground - two hands on the pullup bar violently shaking, one can see the sweat budding from her arms.
Clarice aggressively groans as she slowly pulls herself up
"rrrRRRAAAAAAGGHH!!"
Donovan eagerly cheers her with a closed fist " C'mon C! Just a little more
June banters "She's deadass only a few inches up"
She can barely pull her chin over the bar, lifting herself up with only a few inches. She gnashes her teeth whilst struggling - veins on her arms and forehead keep protruding as her face turns red.
Nicodemus with his arms crossed, sighed "C'mon Princess we can't throw you out on the next trial if you can't even do a single pullup, I swear bruh this shit's about to be embarrassing"
Nicodemus stands up while sighing. He grabs Clarice with both of her feet, he lifts her up as she bends her legs
"'Aight princess, Imma lift you up with every pullup - on three!
1… 2… 3!"
Clarice lifts herself with all her might as her arms wiggles as she pulls herself up, while Nicodemus' knees kept wiggling by lifting her.
She managed to do one rep
Then another - her arms wiggled more
And another - her forearms are now bulging
Another - Her fingers are starting to give in as it stretches under her own weight
Another - She lost it
She lets go of the bars, she stmops on Nicodemus' hands as her heels presses it down. Clarice drops flat on her face as a loud thud followed
"Ouuuough! Oww…" Clarice lifts herself up while her arms are still shaking, she turns to face the three back. As they saw her face, her nose was overflowing with blood.
Donovan immediately rushes away and yells "I'm gonna get the first aid kit!"
Nicodemus sits up raising his hands, a few of his fingers were broken "Fist aid?! She fucked up my damnfingers!"
June hissed "damn… that's crazy - princess, looks like we need to get a little creative with your training this time"
As other students see the both of them drop on the ground, they all huddled around them
However, over the crowd That black fluffy wavy hair, peering over the other students' heads drew closer.
It's Reyna! She stops when she sees Clarice on the ground, blood dripping, arms still trembling from the failed pullups. For a moment, nobody moves.
Then Reyna does something none of them expect: she kneels as she lifts Clarice by the armpits.
"Your nose is broken," Reyna says quietly like she's commenting on the weather. "Tilt your head forward, not back. You'll swallow the blood."
Clarice wailing and moaning in pain does what she says
While Clarice sits there, bleeding - head dazed and bobbing, Reyna stays crouched nearby, she shouted to one of her friends "I need water! Anyone got in their flask?"
One student handed out a flask. Quickly grabbing it she pulls out a towel from her pocket. She wets the towel and rubs it on Clarice's blood. Her eyelids were starting to droop but Reyna kept slapping her awake "Oi! Oi! Don't slump on me now! You're the taller twin yeah? I heard Claire's coming back pretty soon"
Clarice immediately snaps her consciousness back as her eyes shoot up "How?- Who told you?"
Reyna answered "Now's not the time to tell you that, we need to bring you and Nick to the infirmary."
*fast-forward to the infirmary*
Clarice was staring at the ceiling on the clinic bed, while she breathed loudly, one can even hear a bit of liquid sloshing inside her nostrils.
Emerging from the clinic entrance was Reyna. "Yo, Phoenix! I brought snacks-"
Clarice seethed "aren't you supposed to be in class?"
Reyna bantered "Aren't you supposed to be the nicer sister? It wouldn't kill you to say thanks!" She tosses the bag of sweet cookies onto Clarice's stomach, puffing out the air from her as it lands.
Reyna begrudgingly walking out was stopped by Clarice
"Wait!"
Reyna smacks her lips "what?"
"You said you wanted to tell me about Claire, remember?" Clarice leering Reyna across the room.
She sighs "It's from yer sister Claire, she had a delivery guy handed to your room. But err… since our rooms were only in front of each other - and you weren't there. I just thought to bring it to ya"
Clarice leers even harder, as Reyna stammers.
"Dude! That's all I got, want me to toss you the cookies in yer mouth or sumthin?! Jeez gimme a break"
Reyna was fuming her way out from the entrance yet she suddenly bumps into Nicodemus whose hand was in a plastic hollowed out cast. His hand was on his chest, both of their bodies collided as the hand was sandwiched between them.
Nicodemus writhed in pain while he hisses "Mi bomboclaat!
Reyna stammers as she tries to give him a hand "O -Oh my gawd! Baby I'm so sorry!"
Nicodemus wheezed while shutting his eyes tight "Ah it hurts so much! I guess the only thing that can heal me is" He suddenly peeks one eye open "Maybe a kiss on my boo boo"
Reyna gently holds Nicodemus' good hand then squeezes it
"AAAAAHH! OW OW OW!" He stammered
Reyna grits her teeth close to his ear "You want me to break the other hand loverboy?"
"N-No ma'am!"
She lets go of his hand as he quickly withdraws it to shake the pain away
Reyna just struts her way out
Nicodemus was still shaking his hand on his way in.
Clarice smiled "Sup Nick! Sorry about the hand~"
Nick took his bag off, perching it on Clarice's bed "How's the nose?"
She does a few huffs "I still feel the blood crusting up in my nose, but all good now - h- how's your hand though?"
He raised to show his hand "You busted my ring and my middle finger- *sigh* I guess I won't be fingering anyone tonight-"
"What?!"
"What?"
An awkward silence fills the room
Nicodemus hisses through his teeth "Anyway, I was supposed to give you this" It's a letter with a wax seal similar to the previous letter for the welfare trials "Also, come with me tonight after class"
Clarice tears the wax seal opening the letter
He leans close to her looking at the letter "I uh… haven't read mine yet, what's it say?
She read
"Dear Clarice Phoenix,
Congratulations on passing the first trial, you are now invited to the next trial. Please prepare for this next trial accordingly: Hand to hand combat against opponents selected by the institute officials. We will be expecting you to arrive alone, or with a fellow candidate on the campus basketball court by 8:00pm
It is advised to wear proper athletic attire to enter the trials
Refusal to comply will lead to expulsion and will be stripped of their privileges of this orphanage"
Nicodemus clicked his tongue "looks like they're weeding out the soft ones, ay princess…? Princess?"
The moment he looked at her she got pale and sweat was budding from her forehead. He suddenly tapped her by the shoulder as it lightly startled her. He leaned close and whispered "Hey, no need to be nervous – we can get through this, besides I've got a plan"
She looks at him while raising a brow "How? Realistically I'm cooked Nick. Have you seen the other candidates? Have you seen Reyna?!"
He grabs her by the shoulders, locking eyes with her - whispering "Listen... When I say 'I've got a plan' I mean it! Now if you really want the nuns to like you you're gonna have to trust my methods, understand?"
She nervously nodded yes
He lets go of her shoulders as he softly said-
Suddenly both of their smart watches alarmed in unison
He quickly snagged his bag "Let's go! We're gonna be late for class!"
She stuttered while packing her stuff "What about your plan?"
"Just meet me at the school workshop!" Then he left first
*fast-forward into the night*
One can see Nicodemus pulling a cigarette from a pack, one of the thin ones. As he lights it up with a match, he bites onto the filter as he takes a huff from it. Insects circle around the door light of the shed - Nicodemus leans right beside the beam just enough for him to be invisible from the light with only the cinder of the cigarette hinting his presence.
Right beside the shed was a garden, it slowly blankets the surrounding areas with fog, along with the shed's surroundings.
Clarice climbs down the rear exit of the campus, rubbing her hands together, as mist starts to puff out from her mouth with each breath. She's wearing a jacket over her pajamas, rubbing her hands together while warming it with her breath. Her teeth gnashing as she rubs her arms - she asks
"Nick, do we really have to meet at this time? It's freakin' cold here"
He drops the cigarette and stomps it down "C'mon follow me." He detaches a set of keys on his belt, sorting them out until he finds the key to the workshop.
Unlocking it, reveals a wall of tools
She asked "Why are we here?"
He picks one of the tools hanging on the shop, it's a caliper. Setting it exactly to 13.25mm. He cranks one of the drawer bolts, it opens a tiny slit dropping a key.
He invites her out "C'mon this way, just a little more."
They head towards the headmistresses quarters. It's a lot colder than the other rooms. Once they enter, they span their eyes around the room. It was full of medical equipment, letters piled onto the front door, bottles of medicine sitting on the shelves, the food on her table; half-eaten and rotting in the cold air, the room is filled with the hisses of valves and the beeping of machines.
"There!" Nicodemus whispers as he points at the mini fridge near the Headmistress' bed. The sides of it were walled with veils, hiding the details of the headmistress, yet you can make out her silhouette, lying in bed… breathing.
As they open the fridge, the inside lights up as cold mist poured on the floor. It reveals the bottles crudely labelled
"Noctum"
Nicodemus takes one as he whispers "I'm gonna need you to take the injector on the side of her bed"
Clarice stutters "B- but how did you know it's right beside her?-"
"Just get the damn injector! It should look like a phone with two antennas" Nicodemus loudly whispers
As she slowly opens the veil, she gets a peak of Ms. Song, the campus headmistress. She looks younger, significantly younger; every part of her skin used to look like scrotum melting from the bones, but now she looks like in her 40s. Right beside her, Clarice spots the injector, it looked like what Nicodemus described. However she hesitates, closes the veil back to ask Him
"Wait, are you sure this is the head mistress? She looks nothing like her…"
Nicodemus droops his shoulders down grunting "Uuuuuuuuughh! Fuck it I'll just do it myself" he pushes her to the side and swipes the injector from the nightstand
Clarice scoffs "heh, that was easier than expected… What now?"
He slowly approaches Clarice caressing her cheek, she of course leans to it holding his hand as well, then all of the sudden.
She whispers softly "Nick I-"
Cold metal touches her neck
*click*
Nicodemus pierces her neck with the injector, creating two puncture wounds bleeding from her neck.
Her body suddenly drops down to the floor, her limbs spasming out, her throat keeps gagging, then her saliva foaming from her mouth, her pupils begin rolling to the back of her head. She starts vomiting and drowning in her own blood, with each gag the blood coming out of her mouth becomes darker and darker, until it turns black.
She regains a fraction of her consciousness, she sees Nicodemus standing before her
"Sorry princess" He kneels close to her in one bent knee
"But I need you to win"
She tries to scream for help, but all it did was wheeze and dry coughs right before she succumbs to the drug
She sees nothing but darkness
…
…
…
…
…
…
In a field full of sunflowers, daffodils, white lilies, and peonies. The sunlight blows hot wind against their faces as they frolic and chase each other around the fields. The snow on the surface of the ground crumbles with every step. One can hear them loudly giggling, their bodies plop on the snow, they laugh as if they were tickling each other.
"Reece, look!" Claire drops onto her back, arms and legs sweeping through the snow. "Snow angel!" Clarice laughs, drops down beside her.
They move in sync, carving wings into the white. When they stop, they're holding hands. Claire squeezes.
"Reece, once we finally graduate, we could do this every day. Any weather." She grins. "What do you wanna be when you grow up?"
Clarice answered "Heehee! I wanna be a scientist! Oh, maybe even become an astronaut and discover earth's history! O- or maybe invent a weather system that can cool mars. So people won't hide from the heat any longer!"
Claire sighed "Oh man, those are really cool ideas-"
Clarice interrupting her asked "What about you Claire? What do you wanna be when you grow up?"
Claire shrugged "I dunno, maybe become rich? Hahahaha!"
The both of them started laughing. As time passes on their laughs slowly until it stopped.
"*sigh* It's getting chilly, huh? We should head home. Watcha think, Clai—"
Clarice turns.
Claire is still lying there. But wrong. Her skin pale and her lips are blue.
"Claire?"
Blood blooms beneath her sister, spreading through the white snow like ink in water.
Pooling.
Creeping.
Clarice scrambles back. "No—no no NO—" Claire's eyes are open. Empty. Drained.
The blood reaches Clarice's hands. Stains her fingers red.
"Sorry princess."
The voice comes from behind.
Clarice whips around.
Nicodemus stands in the snow, in the same pristine school uniform. No footprints leading to him. He's just... there. Watching.
"But I need you to win"
She suddenly wakes up on the school infirmary
Her body shoots up as she screams, cold sweat running down her skin. The bed's legs suddenly faltered, causing the frame to drop down on the floor. *CRASH* Metal creaks and twangs can be heard echoing throughout the clinic
Donovan beside her was looking after her; was also startled by the sudden drop of the bed frame, falling from his seat - his ass crashing to the floor.
With heavy breaths, Clarice looks around her surroundings. The nurse peeks from the doors corners as she shouts "What's going on there?!"
However, her demeanor changed when she saw Clarice
"Oh- er- carry on - oh and please look out for your belongings before you leave" she immediately leaves the room
She whips her eyes towards Donovan "Don what the heck just happened?"
Donovan's hand on his chest exclaimed "Girl I was about to ask you the same thing!"
Clarice slowly looks at her hands, her skin is paler than usual. Blue veins under her skin are more visible than usual. She uses these hands to grab her face
Donovan said "I couldn't help but ask, but… how do you feel?"
She answered "Colder"
She tightens the grip on her hands, while Donovan tosses a fallen apple. Clarice catches it flawlessly, however once she got a grip, she crushed the apple down to its skin.
Donovan was so shook he gasped as the juices splattered all over them, flinching them both. Causing Donovan to slip on the floor - a syringe nearby accidentally punctures him on the arm.
So she answered
"Stronger"
Donovan notices the sting from the syringe, so he pulls it out as blood started budding from the puncture wound
Clarice smells the blood as her eyes dilate, the hair on her skin stiffen, and her breath suddenly freezing coas comes out from her mouth, revealing fangs with holes the clouds puff away from her mouth she answers as she exhales…
"Ha~ Hungrier"
Donovan tidies himself up, then he picks up the objects that have fallen earlier
Clarice interrupts him with "No… I- I've never felt this kind of hunger before… Can- can I see your arm?" She quickly pulls him by the wrist, the strength of her grip causing his skin to wrinkle – pinning him against the wall. Her eyes were fixated on the wound that he just cleaned, each breath freezing blowing against his face. She squeezes his arm – he groans while his skin is sprouting a drop of blood. She quickly wicks it with her fingers and tastes it. She moaned as soon as it touched her tongue, her breaths became more rapid and her grip tightened.
"Reece… s- stop! You're really creeping me out!" Donovan shuddered
Realizing the situation, her demeanor changed. Her eyes dilate back to normal, her hairs softening down, and so are her breaths. She finally lets go of his hand as he quickly pulls it back. His eyebrows are pinched together in upward position, and his arms wrap around himself.
Clarice attempts to reach out to him, but he only recoiled
She pursed her lips and scrunched her face as she said "Where's Nick?"
After she heard the answer she quickly sprinted out from the clinic, however the sun was still out.
The moment sunlight touches her skin, it starts boiling.
She screeches, her body curls inward, knees to chest, arms wrapped around herself, while her skin continues to boil.
Donovan yanks the blanket off the clinic bed, throws it over her as he shouts "Keep going, I'll block the sun out for you"
They pressed forward across the halls. Clarice stumbles under the blanket, can't see where she's going. Donovan guides her by the shoulder, not speaking. As soon as they reach shade, Donovan hands her the blanket. Doesn't say anything; Just turns and walks away.
*Fast-forward into her dorm*
BLAM!
Clarice kicks down the door, dust brushes aside as the door drops down to the floor startling June who was about to take a bite on a sandwich. She scrambled her hands as she dropped the sandwich.
Expeditiously, Clarice dashes forward immediately grabbing June by the neck, June gasping for air as Clarice's grip squeezes her neck. June grabs hold of Clarice's wrists using both hands while her legs squirm up in the air. Clarice slams June's to back against the wall
Clarice grits her teeth "where is Nicodemus?!"
June couldn't talk, all she could do is point her finger right behind her
Nicodemus' voice was suddenly heard from behind "Clarice!" entering the room and closing the door
Her head switches back while dropping June. June drops down on the floor on her knees, coughing and wheezing as she muttered "What the fuck was that for?"
Completely ignoring what June asked, Clarice stomped towards Nicodemus - looming over him she asked "What did you do to me?"
Crossing his arms he answered "You wanna win the trials right? Then we gotta do everything we can!"
Clarice loudly whispers "Sneaking into the headmistress' room and taking her drugs was not in my bingo card Nick! Even if at least one of the nuns found out we're cooked!"
Somebody knocks on the door. All of their demeanors changed, with bated breath, the door slowly opened only to reveal…
It was Donovan "Sup dudes!"
A sigh of relief swept across the room
"Oh by the way Reece, Sister Gertrude is here to call you for a meeting"
Clarice's eyes sunk, her face suddenly turning paler than before. And she began sweating bullets. She could do nothing but gulp at this moment.
"Come little princess, we need to discuss something… serious"
The kids all looked at each other, suddenly Nicodemus kept flicking his face towards sister Gertrude.
Clarice simply stepped forward as Donovan carefully stepped away. Sister Gertrude lays her hand on Clarice's shoulders as she holds her all out from the door.
On their walk near the student council office, Gertrude would sometimes slip a few condescending side eyes, while Clarice would nervously slip a few as well.
Finally they arrive at the office
Once sister Gertrude opened the door, she sees a nun working on her paperwork
Gertrude aggressively says "Get out"
The nun frantically adjusts her glasses and gathers all of her paperwork, hastily stacking them to one another, finally tidying up every sheet; she hurries herself on the way out.
Gertrude lets herself in, while Clarice was just left there standing. The nun sits down the the desk's chair, then she calmly says
"Take a seat"
She takes a seat on the small chair in front of the desk
Gertude said "I know what you two did last night"
Clarice's body stiffens, her tongue pulls itself back to her throat as it dries like a desert "I- I- !" She froze after she stammered, her eyes darted left and right. No escape. Nowhere to run.".
"It's fine, you can relax" Gertrude said softly as she continued "I am perfectly aware of what happened last night, you and Nicodemus snuck into the Headmistress' room, to inject you with Noctum"
Clarice froze like a statue stuttering "H- how did you-"
"Know every minute detail? Princess, I endorsed everything from the start to finish. Like Nicodemus said: I need you to win, no matter the cost" Said Gertrude, Clarice however asked
"But what for? What's the point of winning the trials?"
Gertrude shook her finger towards the young girl as she exclaimed "That! That is exactly why I nominated you as a candidate in the welfare trials, you dare to question the obvious, while everyone else is still oblivious. You were always one step forward, even from your sister"
"Um sister Gertrude if I may, but you still haven't answered my question~"
Once can hear the wood rubbing against each other as Gertrude pulls something from the drawer under the desk. It's a glossy brochure, she lays it on the table. Clarice locks her eyes into the brochure as Gertrude says "Move your seat near me"
As Clarice does so, she leans onto the brochure presented to her. She carefully takes it after looking at a quick glance.
"Jardin de Liberté" softly said Clarice as she looked up to Gertrude "What's this supposed to mean?"
"This-"
Gertrude slowly takes the brochure off of her hands, opening it reveals a field of houses, spanning several acres. The houses look sleek, windows panning from every corner of the house, massive crystal clear pools, and palm trees dressed up on the edges of the lot.
"Is where all the top winners of the Welfare trials end up - after their graduation, they are offered to stay in the Jardin de Liberté. One of these winners was Ms. Ji Min Song"
"The headmistress…" whispered Clarice.
"Correct! But since she's got one foot on death's doorstep, she decided to stay in the headmaster's quarters, but you; you are youthful, yet cunning. Your whole life is still ahead of you! Imagine the things you can do when you have that much freedom in your hands!" said Gertrude.
"But what about Claire? She's still out there - who knows what's happened to her - and what about 'Noctum'? I saw the headmistress' body, she didn't look the same as when I last met her!" exclaimed Clarice. "Will that happen to me? What if I revert back into a baby?!" She started to act frantically, however Gertrude stood up and walked towards Clarice and sat on the table right in front of Clarice.
She cups Clarice's chin, tilting her face up. Forces eye contact. "This is why I chose you as a candidate, you always think of the possible outcomes until to formulate a perfect method - as for your question, you are going to have to find that out yourself"
She stands up as she slowly walks towards the exit, Clarice followed her by the eyes
As Gertrude carefully opened the door as she stepped on its doorway as she said "You don't have to worry about anything, I will handle the rest… As for your sister: she is… a liability. However, the trial is near; suit up and win for me"
She finally closes the door shut
Her phone suddenly vibrates.
It's a call from Nicodemus, naturally she answered
"Ay P! Is your meeting with Gertrude done? We gotta prep for the Welfare trials!"
Clarice asked "What time is it anyway?"
Nicodemus answered "Dude it's way past 6pm!"
She hastily gets out of the office. As she opened the door, the sunlight was already dimming, beams of light were no longer extending from the windows, making her free to walk around.
*Fast forward back to her room*
She sees Nicodemus already fitted out with a long sleeve compression shirt, some tennis shorts, and some basketball shoes. She checks her wardrobe only to see it full of casual clothes. She picks out Claire's 3-striped athleisure jumpsuit. She frantically wore it, however after zipping it up, she realized she was too tall for the pants and jacket as the ends of the fabric only reached the calves and the forearms.
"I'm all ready!" said Clarice
June waves her hands towards Clarice, stopping her "Whoa, whoa, whoa! You are not wearing that to the trials! Raise your arms"
Clarice stretches out as the sleeves are pulled back to the elbows and her belly button begins to show.
"Ugh! Gimme a minute!" June proceeds to search her bag "Since I figured we're pretty much the same height - here princess, catch!"
She throws a tennis tank top, and a compression skirt.
They waited for bit for her to change clothes
"So err… how does it look?" Clarice emerges from the bathroom, revealing the tank top extenuating her chest and shoulders, exposing a little bit of her naval as a small strip of skin, and her skirt flowing on her waist as the compression shorts peek out on her thighs.
"It looks good, right Nick?" said June as she noticed Nicodemus attentively staring at Clarice, without saying a word
June starts snapping her fingers in front of Nicodemus "Helloooo~ Mars to Nicodemus, I know it looks good but drool on my clothes dummy!"
He stammered "I'd- Uhhh- uhhh-"
June pokes fun at him "Durrrr- Hurrr- Uhhhhh- Yeah yeah I know she looks hot! Anyone would look hot in that outfit. Also aren't you guys supposed to be in a hurry?"
Nicodemus glances his watch only to see that it's 7:45 pm
"Ah crap we gotta go! C'mon princess!"
*Meanwhile at the basketball court where the trial is conducted*
Rows and rows of nuns blanketing the bleachers. The court was covered with foam attached like puzzle pieces, spanning a third of the court. Two students are in the middle of the court, standing. Waiting.
A teenage girl with a lean body and golden-brown skin, was wearing an oversized t-shirt, baggy sweatpants with a stripe spanning at the entire height of the leg, the pattern of the stripe resembles the fur pattern of a black jaguar, and a black and white Jordan 11s.
Beside her was Voyim - clearly a mismatch for her because despite wearing a full three-striped tracksuit, one can see his muscular build bulging out of his clothes; topping it all off with a shiny pair of Air Max 97s
Both of them eagerly waiting under the blinding floodlights illuminating the entire court
Arriving in time was Clarice and Nicodemus. The both of them bolted it all the way to the court, everyone can hear them breathing heavily with every step towards the center of the court. Once they were close to the center, they acted as if their bodies are melting, all the while panting like they're running out of air
Reyna waved at Clarice, she just rolled her eyes in response. Reyna was just visibly irked.
Clarice was panting while asking Nicodemus "Nick - what- what time is it"
"It's- ohmygoodness- it's 7:59" Nicodemus, still catching his breath - dropped his body down on the mat, huffing "Thank god we made it in time"
A drum roll echoes across the court.
A student on snare drums. Another crashes cymbals in sync with each beat.
Behind them: a pair of bass drummers emerge, setting the marching rhythm.
Then a row of French tuba players, shaking the court with deep brass.
Trombones follow, blasting a disgustingly good toot.
Finally, trumpets sing the chorus.
The band splits apart, revealing— a woman in a bombastic brown cashmere suit and skirt. Shoulders squared, hair flicking as she struts forward.
"No fucking way" Clarice whispered, Reyna looked at her as she heard her utter those words
The woman finally stopped at the center of the court.
A nun from the side hands her a mic, as she immediately shouts
"GOOOOOOOOD EVENING LADIES OF FAITH AAAAAANNND FACULTY! This is your host for tonight and your headmistress Ji Min Song!"
The other two students recoiled the moment they heard that; Reyna covered her mouth in shock, while Voyim's eyes widened as he grabbed the top of his bald head.
Nicodemus whispered "what the fuck?" he leaned near Clarice "Holy shit, you weren't kidding!" he whispered
"Honestly, I was expecting her to be lively, but shit- not this energetic!" said Clarice
Even the nuns on the bleachers were looking at each other - murmuring - 'who is that?' - 'what just happened?' whilst clapping awkwardly.
Announcement continues "Students! Grit your teeth and clench those fists, because tonight's trial is unarmed combat!" The crowd on the bleachers cheer, rumbling the entire basketball court as the screams echo everywhere.
The headmistress raised her finger "You can get Get creative! However—
There ARE rules; All forms of martial arts are welcome, you can even choke your opponents until they tap out. You cannot strike your opponents genitals, if you do so and your opponent is unable to fight. It will lead to immediate disqualification.
You are also forbidden to srike the back of your opponents' head, repeated strikes will lead to disqualification.
You can win via knockout or-"
Nearby faculty removes a significant amount of foam mat on the court only leaving a measily 16 square foot arena while the headmistress continued
"-or push your opponent out of the mat"
Candidates give each other's sideyes, while Nicodemus gave Clarice a nod.
"First match!: Reyna Fox versus Voyim Zaychik!"
The both of them glance each other, as the crowd exploded. The screams deafen the entire atmosphere as one can see them squirm in the bleachers like maggots.
Reyna and Voyim walked towards their respective corners. A referee steps at the center calling to both of them to his side.
Voyim mean mugs Reyna while the referee explained "Alright gang, you heard Ms. Song! No ball shots, no back of the head shots, K.O. or ring out is result to defeat - and for safety wear these" He suddenly hands out fingerless padded gloves to the both of them. The both of them wore their gloves as the referee shouts
"Alright ladies, Iwasnt this fight fair and square. Sotouch gloves!"
As their fists hit each other, they both got to their respective corners
The referee shouts as he raises his hand
"Get ready!"
He drops it
"FIGHT!"