Conflicts on and off the Ring

CLASH!!!

High-pitched, metallic strikes reverberate throughout an underground caged arena.

CLANG!!!

A tungsten baseball bat versus a pair of weaponized hedge shears; both fiercely engaged in battle.

BOOM!!!

An explosive impact deafens all sound.

Two fighters. One referee.

The no-holds-barred match between the Prism Ring’s #1 and #2 fighters is currently heading towards its climax.

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Within the city of Arcadia, there lies a center for people who like a more— extreme form of entertainment. The Square, despite being one of the city’s biggest hotspots, does host an occasional cage fight from time to time… but it wasn’t enough; especially for this particular audience of people.

The problem was this: modern-day cage-fighting fans were in trouble. Big trouble.

In a world where anime, video-games, and virtual online idols are constantly growing in popularity, the once highly-recognized sport of cage-fighting was beginning to lose its mark as a form of enjoyable sit-down entertainment. If nothing were to be done about this then a bleak future wrapped in obscurity was certainly within the realm of eventual possibility… and that amounted to a likeness of suffering a fate worse than death itself.

However, that all changed one day when battle-crazed comic fans and fighting freaks, a majority of Arcadia’s cage-fighting audience, pulled a Hail Mary in a desperate attempt to preserve their favorite competitive sport by urging the city’s board to build something for them. After much debate and deliberation, only one answer proved satisfactory for both parties: the building of a subterranean fighting ring.

And with that, The Prism Ring Construction Project was born.

At first, this pipe-dream of an establishment only had two goals in mind to keep things going. One of them was to hold a focus on advertising a fight every day. The second, this being the most challenging, focused on gathering a wide array of fighters.

It couldn’t have been just anybody. There was a certain, “unique” criteria that had to be met. Scouts were given the task to find people that fit within one of two categories:

1) Physicality; specifically emphasizing on one’s overall strength and muscular build

2) Combat-specific niches (“Niche” being another term for “superpower”)

The reasoning for this was quite simple: In order to appeal to the original vision of witnessing a live exchange of blows so fierce, one couldn’t help but think that it was something coming straight out of a comic book, this was the best way to keep matchups interesting, believable, and entertaining… and it was a huge success.

Within its opening week alone, the Prism Ring was actually unprepared, caught off-guard by the huge turnout, sure, but more so by the tears of their brethren; overjoyed to witness the successful revival of their beloved sport.

Fast-forward to the present day, this being about seven or so years later, one can continue to expect a raging crowd, a wide variety of matches, and a level of destruction so unbelievably natural within the Prism Ring that it was almost too hard to believe that Arcadia’s higher-ups struck a deal to fund the very existence of such a place. This is all the more evident with tonight’s highly anticipated matchup; and it was about to get even more intense…

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“What an impressively strong swing! The #2’s bat splits the arena floor in half due to its insane heavy weight!! The crowd is going absolutely wild!!!”

“But wait— are my eyes playing tricks on me!? Not only does the #1 jump back in the nick of time, she’s already going on the offensive with that fancy new weapon of hers!! Say, do we have any information on that?”

“Can’t say I do! When I asked before the match started, she only told me that it was found in The Pit; so it doesn’t get any clearer than that!!”

“Oh? Whatever do you mean by that, Roberto?”

“I’m so glad you asked Luna! The Pit is essentially a huge dumping ground; famous in our lovely city for all the wrong reasons.”

“Really now? Please, tell us more.”

“Ha ha! With pleasure! I don’t get paid enough to give history lessons, but if we redirect our focus back on the fight at hand, both the #1 and #2 found their respective weapons within some area of that massive trash heap. One can find almost anything there, if you look hard enough, hehe. But that’s about all I know… in any case, there’s never a dull moment whenever the #1 registers for a fight. The Pit is like her second home; always bringing back a new toy to entertain the masses with!!”

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As the Prism Ring commentators continue their amusing play-by-play, let’s go into a little more detail of the weapons that tonight’s fighters have chosen.

In starting off with the #2’s bat, it’s been previously mentioned how it’s made out of tungsten; which is a rather unique metal. In being the first of its kind, it weighs a colossal sixty-six pounds due to its high density and extreme hardness.

When swung at full strength (with the assistance of a machine), the tungsten bat demonstrates its destructive capabilities by shattering steel. When thrown (with the assistance of a machine), it can break through eleven concrete walls before beginning to lose all momentum. When dropped from a high place (with the assistance of a machine), the bat can destroy an eight-inch block of cement while suffering little deformations to its overall shape.

Simply put, it’s a rather heavy and powerful bat. But it’s not indestructible…

In the mere moments after it was first made, an interesting problem arose: it honestly served no practical use whatsoever. With the very scientists who initially thought it would be fun to make a bat out of such a valuable metal, they promptly tossed it aside (with the assistance of a machine) and never looked back. The successful-failure of a science experiment didn’t spend very long in The Pit as it fairly quickly found its way into the arms of the #2; who holds the convenient niche of being able to lift heavy objects and weapons with the added benefit of being able to retain its original destructive properties when fighting.

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The weapon of the #1 on the other hand, is a rather distinct work of art.

Its overall frame resembles that of typical garden shears, but there are three key differences that set it apart from the rest:

1) Size; being purposefully scaled up to be as tall as a human being

2) Length; due to its larger size, the blades are also considerably longer and measure at about two feet each. When the blades are shut together and locked in-place, the shears take on a whole new form: a spear with a shark-head-like tip.

3) Structure; it’s been determined that the metal of the blades and handles are custom-made, being virtually impossible to recreate with today’s scientific technology. As scientists seethe at obtaining that which they cannot have, this gives the impression that the weapon came from another world…

In any case, it’s just speculation. Given what scientists do know, the metal grants a rather unique flexibility in allowing its wielder to perform acrobatic tricks during mid-air combat. When cutting or stabbing, the blades have been noted to be razor-sharp; extremely so. Be it through “spear-head mode” or “sissor-hands mode” (terms coined by the #1), this world’s largest and most dangerous pair of hedge shears hold the power to pierce through any metal.

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To piggyback off Luna’s earlier comment, the #1, who just barely avoided a fatal blow from her opponent’s bat, counters by rushing her with an onslaught of jabs from her “spear”. The sudden charge catches the #2 off-guard and she’s suddenly forced to go on the defensive. A wicked smile forms on the face of the #1, delighted at this turn of events.

Small pieces of blue and white fabric scatter about in the air.

The color red stains the arena floor; a subtle sign of the turning tables

“Woah, woah, woah!!! This spells trouble for the #2! Every parry is costing her an injury!! How long can she keep this up?”

This was indeed true.

The #2 was slowly being backed into a corner. With every attack that she deflects, a new cut lands somewhere on her body. Her face, her exposed arms and legs, her hands… it was as if she were a piece of paper fighting against what can only be defined as a “human shredder.” With each and every step, she drew closer to the chain-link fence that marked the end of the road. And throughout all that—

“Roberto, look! The bat!!”

A unanimous gasp escapes the crowd.

“No way… it’s being damaged!? Does this spell the end for the #2’s signature weapon!?”

“Damn it Heidi… fixing this thing is EXPENSIVEEEEEEE!!!”

—She snaps. The #2 flies into a fit of rage upon noticing the small cracks and missing pieces of her favorite weapon. With a newfound second wind, (one born out of anger though), she tries to push back by wildly flailing her disfigured bat… but to no avail.

“Awww~ You’re so cute when you’re angry! Sadly I can’t say much about your accuracy, but a little wear and tear is normal for any tool, right? Yours can’t be the only exception, so I’m just trying to help you out Beddy dear~”

“SHUT! UP!”

In a crazy last-ditch effort, Beddy leans back against the chain-link fence and launches herself forward in Heidi’s direction with an accelerated sprint. The unexpected dash catches her by surprise, giving Beddy a tiny opening of about three-seconds to do something, anything; she just had to attack!

Heidi’s gone through this entire match unscathed… that changes that right the Hell now!!

A chance of victory presented itself and Beddy wasn’t going to let it slip past her fingertips. As she grips her left hand in preparation to throw a punch, Heidi, noticing the action, appropriately reacts by defending her right side with her still-closed “spear”… which was exactly the response Beddy was hoping for.

The punch was a feint.

Her true motive lay within her right hand; this being the damaged tungsten bat held in a reverse-grip that aimed for her exposed flank. Heidi, quickly realizing that she'd been tricked, barely caught sight of Beddy’s oncoming assault with her peripheral vision. However, there wasn’t much she could do given her current situation: Heidi was, one, uselessly guarding a side of her body that wasn’t being attacked. Two, her body was too stiff to move properly, let alone dodge. And to top it all off, three, she grimly understood that if that bat hit its mark… let’s just say she’s glad Beddy’s on her side.

As she thought this, Heidi’s brain shut down; but her arms and legs continued moving on their own. Without ever actually noticing it, Heidi’s arms threw the “spear” in the direction of Beddy’s oncoming assault; successfully moving out of the way and preventing any harm from coming onto herself. Both weapons collided into each other with such force that the tungsten bat snapped in half (much to Beddy’s surprise) while Heidi came back to reality upon seeing her “spear” whiz past her face.

With both girls now empty-handed, the referee, who finally decides to involve himself, steps in front of the two and chops the air with his right hand, signaling to Roberto and Luna that the match has ended.

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“AND. THAT’S. TIMEEEE!!! What an amazing last-second counter from the Prism Ring’s #1 brawler, Heidi!!!”

When Beddy’s signature weapon broke, the crowd fell into a still silence. That bat was rumored to be indestructible, and now everyone just witnessed history. When the referee declared game, set, and match, everybody in the upper and lower spectator stands reanimated themselves with an incredible uproar. The result of tonight’s match ended in a draw, but nobody paid that any mind. Everyone, even the two fighters themselves, got what they came for: friendly competition and an exhilarating fight.

Beddy, being one who isn’t overly fond of standing ovations, picks up her broken bat and smiles to herself; taking one last look at Heidi before heading home.

“Alright, let’s get you patched up…” she says, a big sigh escaping her as she heads off for the arena exit.

Heidi, on the other hand, is loving the attention; happily eating up the spotlight with ecstatic glee. Although one would never regularly see her eyes (this is due to her extra-long bangs), she’s actually super easy to read; her beaming smile and fervent waves to the crowd are telltale signs of just how much she’s enjoying herself. As soon as she was done with that however, Heidi didn’t want to leave out a certain someone, so she swiftly turns around and makes a beeline for the ref…

As soon as he saw the last fan walk through the general spectator exit, it was finally his turn to vacate the premises. Since he wanted to make sure that everybody left safe and sound without incident, he never thought of making a quick exit (like how Beddy did) when he declared the fight was officially over. Aside from Roberto, Luna, and the janitorial crew, he and Heidi were the only ones left in the arena. With the coast finally clear, he could finally walk away and enjoy the company of his comfortable bed…

But that line of wishful thinking didn’t even last one second. As soon as he stepped away from where he was standing, boom— there she was. Heidi, hearts visibly popping out of her bangs, gets in way too close to his face and starts running around in circles. It astounded him that Heidi had even more energy now than when she was facing off against Beddy.

“Hey, hey! Rush, Rush!! Did you see that? Man, I was so nervous, I can’t believe I pulled that move off!”

The male referee named Rush, who was either very annoyed by Heidi’s presence or at the fact that she kept circling uncomfortably close around him, grew more and more visibly agitated with every question that she asked. This was her playful way of attempting to get an answer out of his always-serious face and he wasn’t having it.

“What did you think of the fight against me and Beddy? Were you scared for me?”

To add to the nonsense, Heifi circled around him even faster. The sounds of her laughter echoed in the empty stadium and even more hearts began to appear all over her. It was suffocating to say the least. He thought he could take this level of “Heidi Exposure” when—

“Hee hee! Hey, hey! Were you hoping I’d wi—”

“GRAHHHHH!!! I’m supposed to be refereeing the match, not you specifically!”

—all Hell broke loose. He couldn’t bottle up his annoyance any longer.

Heidi, who finally stopped moving, continued to smile despite Rush’s noisy outburst. She found it cute that he interrupted her only when she asked if he had any favorites. The process to become a Prism Ring referee was long and painful, but Rush was hired because of his good judgement and unreadable face; not because he knew Heidi, the #1. He was never going to let his bias get in the way with his work, but he still broke composure nonetheless.

Heidi giggles some more and latches herself onto Rush’s left arm. Since the fight was over and everybody had left, he technically wasn’t on duty anymore. That still didn’t give Heidi the right to be so overly-affectionate towards him while still in the building, but he eventually gave up and stopped resisting altogether.

Only one thing was on Rush’s mind at this point: to get the-hell home. However, it didn’t hurt to drop-off Heidi at hers along the way…

Despite knowing her since childhood, Rush is utterly powerless against Heidi’s infatuation with him…