로그인🦪 DORA 🦪My opponent doesn’t rush towards me like my first fight; he seems to know it’d take only a time equal to saying ‘algebra’ to crush me.“Think, Dora,” I say to myself, my mind clouded with the threat in front of me. “There should be a way.”I try to focus, think of a way, but the only thing that rings in my head is, ‘Today is the day you meet your father.’With my heart jerking back and forth, an idea finally lit up in my head.The ground. I have to get his feet to touch the ground outside of this ring, and then he’d be shot.But how do I get someone as big as a skyscraper tree down? Merely imagining carrying him and flinging him to the ground is heavy in my thoughts, I doubt I can lift one arm. Maybe I should have trained my muscles rather than stabbing into the neck of a stupid wooden human figure.I twist my head to the side. Hold on, I stall for time. When he becomes impatient, he’ll follow me anywhere, and then I take him to the ground.A very foolish plan, but it’s th
🦪 DORA 🦪 Just like the first time, the location on the black card is just a few blocks away from where I live. When I left Dale, I didn’t look back; I couldn’t afford to. A black van stops just in front of me, but unlike the first time, I don't get hit in the head. Instead, they hand me a black blind fold, I accept it, walking into the van all on my own. I'm not forced or abused; I already understand there is no way out, and I have to cooperate. I’m no longer a new recruit; I already know what I got myself into. The van stops after a long drive that seems to have a lot of corners, and men grab my hands to help me down. Without taking the blindfold off, they direct me into a building, men walking beside me while I try my best to navigate the ground while being blinded. We get to the ring, and they shove me in. I fall on my ass, and the digital voice roars, “You can take off your blindfold now.” I did as instructed, looking around. The men who directed me are gone; it's just me,
🦪 LAZARUS 🦪I was as still as a rock, watching Dora in the basement struggle because of me, I just stood there, not knowing how to act. I was afraid that if I took my eyes off her, she’d catch on. See the guilt on my face.So I kept a straight face, an unreadable expression, knowing deep down I was sinking. I couldn’t even dare to comfort her, knowing I’m the very source and foundation of her pain.She never wanted to live this kind of life, but here she is, training so hard to avenge a life I took. Maybe I should have been the one who died in that ring. She’ll probably be happy with her father; she might miss me for a while, but she would be over it by now. It wouldn’t ruin her this much.My phone beeps, kicking me out of my thought, and I snatch it from beside me. It was an email from Samuel, just like he said he would. The subject: Brain scan result summary.I inhale and exhale sharply before clicking on the email, “CTE-MND: in CTE, you might remain physically capable for a long
🦪 DORA 🦪“You killed your father.”A part of me with bloody hands and tattered clothes says to another part of me, cuddling myself in a corner, both hands covering my ears.“You could have stopped him, but you didn’t; you liked the money. You killed your father,” I scream at myself, a devilish laugh erupting from my chest. “Not The Reaper! You! You Dora! You killed the person you love the most.”“No… I didn’t,” the other part of me cried out from the corner, cuddling myself tighter, pressing my hands on my ears more as if to block out all the noise. “I didn’t, I didn’t, I didn’t…”“Stop saying I did, I didn’t kill him, the Reaper did, and he’s going to pay, I’m going to make him pay.”The other part of me walked closer to me and leaned in, “You did Dora, you killed father.”“I didn’t,” I scream back, my eyes filled with tears. “I said I didn’t. he died in a ring, how could I have done it?”“You could have stopped it, you could have stopped him from going to that ring,” I screamed ba
🦪 DALE LAZARUS 🦪Footsteps move closer to me, and I slam my eyes shut, still trying to figure out my exact location or trace the voice to the owner. One thing is for sure: there is indeed a stutter in my brain.“You ever wonder why your room clock skips five minutes every time you blink? Or why does people’s voice sound like it’s coming from under the swimming pool? It’s not the adrenaline,” the voice continues, and I heighten my senses.“Look at your hands. They aren’t shaking because you’re tired; they are shaking because the ‘you’ in there is losing its grip on the controls. You’re not just ‘taking hits’ anymore. Every time your head snaps back, a piece of your childhood, a memory of your loved ones, a bit of your basic math, it just… leaks out. You aren’t just tired, you’re resetting. Your brain is turning into a bowl of gray static, and the scary part? You won't even remember I told you this in ten minutes.”“Samuel?” I mutter, blurry picture of the hospital slowly sinking back
🦪 DALE LAZARUS 🦪The time that comes with the Red card addressed to me turns out to be very early at dawn, so I walk into Dora’s room to say goodbye. After yesterday’s workout, she literally passed out.“I’ll be back before you know it,” I whisper into her ear, then walk out of the house.Even for me, it’s the same process: go to the location on the card, get knocked out, wake up in the ring no soul knows the location of, and fed Makish al háolan, a deadly poison that gives fighters 10 minutes to end the fight, or they both die.My opponent walks through the second door that leads to the ring from the other side. His stride looks casual, almost lazy, yet he crossed the valley floor faster than a horse in full gallop. The dirt under his fingernails is actual soil, complete with earthworms and pebbles. He is the most gigantic creature I’ve ever seen. I see why he made it to the top 2 and is here to fight me.For years, after the fight with my best friend in this same ring, I’ve kept







