Chapter 19: Young Lioness's Resolve

After breakfast, the five Lionesses headed out to the tournament arena. The arena was actually the city’s soccer stadium that was repurposed for today. The only change was simply a large blue fighting mat. Walking through the crowds, they scouted to see if they could find Ferral. While she didn’t find Ferral, Leona spotted Mr. Buck and Ms. Clare waving at her. She smiled, jogging over to greet them. “It’s good to see you guys.” Leona said. “Same here, Leona,” Clare replied, “Look at you, you’ve grown into such a beautiful young woman.” Leona chuckled embarrassed. “So what brings you guys here?” “I saw a commercial advertising this on TV,” Buck said, holding Laura in his arms, “Had a feeling you and Ferral would’ve excitedly joined this, so I told Clare.” Leona’s mood faltered slightly. “Hey, you two haven’t heard or seen Ferral recently, right?” “He did stop by last night,” Clare answered, “But he didn’t stay long. Why?” “I haven’t heard from him at all yesterday.” “I’m sure he’s just been out doing some secret training with his teacher, Mr. Bose.” Buck told her. Leona knew that couldn’t have been the reason, Ferral doesn’t often visit him anymore. But she smiled and nodded, “Yeah. Knowing him, he’s probably already inside.”

As they talked, the rest of the group came walking over. “Well, it seems your friends are coming over,” Clare said, “So we’ll go on and find some seats.” Leona nodded, “Okay, bye guys.” They waved her goodbye and the other lionesses caught up. “Who were those people?” Loni asked. “They’re friends of Ferral and I. Anyways, let’s go register.” They agreed and headed to the registry booth. After that, they were all assigned a number. “Ah, just like old times.” Savannah joked, and the others chuckled. Only thirty people could enter and luckily the five could make it while there were only ten spots left. They gathered with the other experiments, waiting for the final few entries. “I wonder which one of us will fight first?” Venus asked. “Doesn’t matter as long as three of us make it to the very end.” Zuri replied. “Competition doesn’t look concerning,” Leona added, “No sign of Ferral either, so I guess this’ll be some easy wins.” In the back of Leona’s mind, she was hoping Ferral would be here, maybe as one of the last entries. She decided to ignore her concerns for now and focus on the fights ahead. 

Once all the spots were filled out, an announcer came walking onto the large mat. The stadium wasn’t filled to the brim with people, only about a hundred showed up, which was more than Leona and others were thinking. “Alright ladies and gentlemen!” The announcer called out with his microphone, “Thank you for waiting patiently! Now before we begin, allow me to quickly go over the rules! The winner of each fight will be decided when either one is knocked out, knocked out of bounds, or foreits! The use of weapons as well as killing are prohibited! All contestants have been randomly given a number 1 through 30! I will read off each fight by calling out two numbers that have been randomly pitted together! The first fight is between numbers 15 and 2!”

The other lionessess turned to look at Loni who was given number 15. “Loni, you’re up first.” Zuir said. Her face was still surprised that she’d be going first, but Loni smacked her hands to her cheeks and put on a face of determination. She walked out toward the stage, a man walking out from the crowd as well. It was a scorpion experiment, his hair a vibrant red, large pincers instead of hands, and a large red tail with a stinger attached to his tailbone. As the crowd cheered, the two looked at each other, the man grinned opening the two mandibles that were connected to his lips and showing his sharpened teeth. Loni looked in disgust but knew she couldn’t be intimidated. They walked onto the stage and walked to the opposite ends. “Go Loni!” Zuri called out. “You can do this!” Savanna added. “You got this!” Venus and Leona shouted at the same time. Loni turned to them and smiled, but then it slowly started to fade. She wished Ferral was there too, she wanted to impress him with her strength. To Loni, Ferral was a big brother but also a teacher. 

“I can’t believe I have to fight some kid,” The scorpion-man complained. “What a drag, I wanted to fight lions, not a kitten.” Loni heard him and decided she would still show her strength. Not just to Ferral, but to everyone here, she WOULD win. “Alright fighters, are you ready?” The announcer said, “Ready. And….begin!”

Leoni bolted forward, jumping into the air and launching a spin kick at her opponent. He blocked it with his tail, then grabbed her leg with his right claw and threw her away. She spun around and dug her claws into the mat, sand coming out of the tears. She saw this and grinned as she charged on all fours at the man, jumping up again and launched her claws at him. He dodged it, Loni driving her hand into the mat. Then went the man for an attack, but Loni spun around and threw a handful of sand into his face. “GRAAH! MY EYES!” He cried out, and Loni took the chance to launch her assault. She punched his gut, then uppercutting his chin, followed by a punch to the face, another uppercut, and ending it by kicking him away. The crowd cheered louder as the fight went on, the scorpion-man sliding back. He spit out blood and hissed at Loni, but she took a fighting stance, her face still filled with determination. He rushed at her, throwing his claws out trying to either hit or clamp her with them, but Loni was quicker and dodged each attack. Then the man launched his tail at her and she dodged it just in time, only getting grazed on her left arm by the stinger.

She jumped back to put distance between them, then looked at her arm. It was only a small cut, she wasn’t worried. However, when Loni started to move, the world around her tilted to the side. She stumbled as a burning pain started to form on her arm. She winced in pain as she held the cut on her arm, everything starting to become hazy. The man chuckled, “My fast-acting venom is quite a problem, isn’t it?” He grinned. Loni continued to stumble before falling to her knees, panting heavily. “Don’t worry, you won’t die, but you wish would.” He charged at her, kneeing her in the face. Loni rolled across the stage, lying flat on her back. She struggled to get up, but the scorpion man grabbed her by the throat with his right claw. “Heh, I knew you were just a weakling.” He detransformed his left hand and started repeatedly punching Loni’s stomach. As everything started going blank, Loni knew she couldn’t give up but didn’t know what to do…....

“Loni….!” A voice called out. “Hey! Are you alright?” It was Ferral, looking down at Loni after one of their first sparring sessions. She groaned as she opened her eyes. “I’m sorry, big brother Ferral.” She muttered as Ferral helped her up. “I’ll never be strong like you or big sister Leona.” Ferral sighed, then smiled and placed his hand on her head. “You’re right, you won’t be strong like us,” She looked at him confused, “Because I expect you to become stronger.” “Huh? You really think I can be?” “Yep! But the main thing to remember is to never give up. Even if the odds feel heavily against you, you’ve gotta push through and let your strength erupt.” Her eyes lit up with inspiration, “And if I do that, I’ll get stronger?” “The strongest.” Ferral’s words lit a fire inside Loni, she grinned with joy and determination. “Okay! I’ll train till I’m supes strong! Even stronger than, big brother Ferral!” Ferral nodded, “I’ll be ready for that! I’ve got nothing but faith in you.” The two high-fived, and it was a moment Loni would never forget……..

Back to the match, right before Loni blacked out, that same fire she felt all that time ago was set ablaze. She knew she could let Ferral down, he was her goal. To become stronger than him! She grabbed the man’s fist and dug her claws into his hand. He screamed out in pain while Loni kicked him in the face, then quickly spinning upside down, snapping his transformed hand. He let go, still crying out. Loni rushed forward, still stumbling a little from the effects of the venom, but pushed through, continuing the charge. The scorpion-man walking back in fear, launched his tail at her but she dodged it, grabbing it and ripping it in half. Loni used the severed top half, slamming the back of the stinger across the man’s face and sending him flying out ring.

“The winner of the first match is number 15!!!!” The announcer called. The crowd hooted and cheered at Loni’s victory. “Yeah, Loni!” Savannah cheered. “You go, sis!!” Zuir added. “I can’t believe she actually won.” Venus said. Leona smirked, “I’m not too surprised. That idiot was her teacher.” Loni dropped the tail, panting heavily, she smiled hearing all the praise before collapsing from the venom. “Ferral….” She huffed, “Did….did you…see me? I…I hope you’re….proud….”