The Best (Part 1 - Victoria)
[Gabur- Eastern Military Training Camp]
After Lan Fan agreed to fight without using the automail arm, the referee allowed to begin the match. Both the fighters entered the arena and stood in their position. Karen was grinning, for the fact that she was fighting a handicapped woman, defeating whom seemed very easy. Both of them were in a defensive stance and were maintaining a gap in between.
"Please forgive me if I break your other hand," Karen smirked.
She was trying to provoke Lan Fan and it was working just fine because Lan Fan was angry. When the referee blew the whistle, both the fighters stood still at their position in a defensive stance. But, it was difficult for Lan Fan to go fully defensive as she was not allowed to use her left arm. It made easy for Karen to discover an opening on Lan Fan's left side, so she was slowly moving to be on that side of Lan Fan. Gradually, the gap between the two fighters shrunk as both of them were slowly moving toward each other in circles. When both of them were close enough, Karen attacked at the opening, but Lan Fan quickly took a step back and dodged the attack. And then she instantly countered it with a low wheel kick by taking the support of her right hand. Karen was not expecting an attack like that, mostly because of her overconfidence. She fell prey to Lan Fan's kick and lost her balance. She fell forward but quickly used her hands to save her face from hitting the floor.
When she tried to stand up, she saw a punch coming toward her face, which panicked her. Instead of stopping the punch, she closed her eyes and shouted, "I YIELD, I YIELD". Maybe her real-self kicked in.
The punch which was about to hit Karen never hit her. Karen opened her eyes and saw the punch was just an inch away from her face. Everyone in the audience had their eyes widened and jaw open. There was complete silence as Lan Fan pulled back her punch because the crowd was amazed to see a handicapped woman defeat her opponent in such a short time.
Lan Fan was very much satisfied with her victory. She didn't say anything to Karen because her actions said it for her. After some time, both the fighters left the arena. There was no noise from the crowd which witnessed the fight, but there was someone who was cheering Lan Fan with all his energy. "That's our Robin. She can fight anyone and she can do that with just one hand." Shouted Ling as Lan Fan walked out of the arena with her head lowered out of embarrassment.
Lan Fan came near Ling as he was continuing his cheerleading. "Young lord, can you please stop now?" She said with a low voice. Ling smirked looking at her embarrassed red face and decided to stop.
Soon the round of 8 started in which Yin had no difficulty clearing it, but Lan Fan had few difficulties, considering she was fighting with just one arm. Yin and Lan Fan successfully reached the semi-finals, and they had made quite a lot of fans in the process. While Lan Fan was researching her next opponent, Yin still wasn't even concerned to find her opponent's identity.
After an hour of the round of 8, the semis started, and Yang was still nowhere to be seen. Ling, Lan Fan, and Yin were also so into the tournament that they forgot about him. Soon the semi-finals started and the announcer announced the first match which was between Lan Fan and a military woman named Victoria. Lan Fan and Ling had already seen Victoria fighting, and it was not the fighting style that was impressive, it was the sheer size which was intimidating. Victoria was 6.5 feet high woman with a very muscular physique. Every fight in which she fought, she was winning without much effort. Lan Fan was trying not to get afraid of Victoria, but fighting such a huge person with one hand was a very difficult task to accomplish. If she could get hold of Lan Fan at any moment, then she could easily throw her outside the arena.
When it was time, Lan Fan ascended the few stairs to the arena, and she saw Victoria was already waiting for her to come. When Lan Fan was about to ascend the final step, Ling called her from behind. Lan Fan stopped and turned around. Ling was standing just below the steps. He held Lan Fan's shoulder and looked into her eyes. "That woman over there may be huge. She might have thrashed all the opponents she faced to fight you. But, I can say without a doubt that she doesn't have a heart bigger than you." He looked at her automail. "And this is the proof."
Ling never forgot Lan Fan's sacrifice when they fought Bradley and Gluttony, where she cut off her arm to protect Ling. So, when she heard those assuring words from Ling, the ever serious face had a smile on it. She walked very confidently toward the arena and stood in front of Victoria without any sign of intimidation on her face. Victoria was gazing at Lan Fan like an elephant gazing at a rabbit. She looked at her amputated limb and shouted, "I am not going to fight a handicapped girl. Allow her to use both her arms."
"But her automail is practically a weapon. If you get hit by it then you might get injured very badly," explained the referee.
"Then bring me something by which I can protect myself." Shouted Victoria.
When the crow heard Victoria's furious voice, everyone in the audience started chanting, "Bring her a shield."
The crowd was shouting like the mad crowd from the ancient Roman Empire, who were present there to watch bloodbath in the arena. The referee had to go, consult the judges, and finally, the use of weapons was allowed for the match.
Victoria went to get her weapon of choice to fight Lan Fan, while Lan Fan was curiously waiting at the arena. Meanwhile, the announcer announced, "Few changes have been made for the first semi-final match. Due to the request of Victoria, the seniors have allowed her to use any defensive tool against Robin, who can now use her automail. Rules for defeating remains the same with one addition. Now the fighter can also win by disarming the opponent, which can be done by making the opponent incapable of using their weapon either by throwing the weapon outside the arena or just making it useless."
The crowd cheered, now that they were going to see some real fight. After some time, Victoria came with a riot shield, but it was smaller than a typical riot shield. She could easily lift it with only one hand. Both the fighters took their position and stood in a defensive stance, and within a moment the referee whistled to start the fight. And with the sound of the whistle, the crowd cheered for the unique fight to begin.
As soon as the match started, Victoria charged at Lan Fan like a raging bull by placing the shield in front of her. Lan Fan quickly dodged the attack by jumping sideways. When Victoria missed Lan Fan, she stopped and quickly threw the shield toward Lan Fan like a Frisbee. Even though the shield was light for Victoria, it was not the same for Lan Fan. When Lan Fan saw the shield approaching her, she had no time left to dodge it. She used her metal arm to defend herself, because of which she was pushed back to the edge of the arena. When she thought she was safe, she saw Victoria jumping toward her to land a devastating punch. So, she quickly rolled sideways to dodge Victoria's attack, and Victoria landed a punch on the floor. After dodging, Lan Fan noticed that Victoria's shield was lying at a distance, and Victoria was without any weapon at that moment. Victoria also noticed that she was vulnerable, so she ran toward the shield before Lan Fan could reach it. Both the women were running toward the shield as if their life depended on it. When both the women were at the proximity of the shield, they pounced at it. But, due to Victoria's greater height, she reached the shield first and quickly used it to block the incoming punch from Lan Fan while lying on the floor. Lan Fan punched with her automail arm and was successfully blocked by Victoria. Lan Fan then kept on raining punches on the shield, behind which Victoria was hiding.
Victoria was now in a difficult position. She had no option other than hiding behind the shield. Gradually, when she noticed the speed of the punches slowing down, she rolled out of that place and quickly stood up on her feet holding her shield. But, as soon as she recovered, she felt a heavy hit on her ankles. It was Lan Fan who hit her by a low kick, and as expected by Lan Fan, when Victoria lost her balance and seemed like she was about to fall on the floor, Lan Fan jumped and initiated a kick directed at her face. But, Victoria somehow managed to control herself and blocked Lan Fan's attack with her free hand. Soon after the recent attack, she saw an incoming punch by the automail arm. She acted quickly and tried to bring the shield in between her and the incoming punch, but she was barely saved by the punch because the punch hit at the edge of the shield and was deflected to hit Victoria's left triceps. Victoria was pushed a few steps back due to the attack and was about to fall from the edge of the arena, but she barely managed to stay in.
The fight was so good that the crowd was speechless while the fight was going. Everyone present there was feeling the intensity of the match. Both the fighters were panting, standing a few feet away from each other. Victoria then looked at Lan Fan and smirked because she was enjoying the fight, and Lan Fan reciprocated her with a smile as she was feeling the same. Soon after that, Lan Fan charged toward Victoria, and Victoria was waiting for her with her shield up. Watching that, the long silent mob cheered for both of them. Both the fighters were fighting at the edge of the arena, exchanging blows with each other. Lan Fan was fighting like an acrobat and dodging all the incoming attacks from Victoria whether it was a punch, kick, or an attack from the shield. And Victoria was also blocking all the incoming attacks with her muscular hands and shield. But, suddenly she heard the cracking sound of the shield. When Lan Fan also noticed that, she used her full strength to punch the shield, and as expected, the shield broke. But, the force from Lan Fan's automail arm was greater than just to break the shield. Lan Fan's automail hand was approaching Victoria's face after breaking the shield.
Watching the punch coming toward her, Victoria realized that she had no way of surviving that, and she calmly closed her eyes with a smile on her face. She dropped the half-broken shield on the floor, expecting a blow on her face. But, when she didn't feel a hit on her face, she opened her eyes and saw Lan Fan stopped her punch just before her face. Victoria smiled in that situation and said, "You know, I am not going to yield or getting out of this arena on my own."
"I know," replied Lan Fan.
Lan Fan then moved a few steps and picked up the broken shield. Victoria was not expecting that, her eyes widened out of surprise as she realized the newly implemented rule. "NOOOO". She shouted as she leaped at the shield.
But, it was too late. Lan Fan threw the shield out of the arena and emerged as the victor of the first semi-final. When the fight ended, the crowd cheered for Lan Fan by chanting her fake name, "Robin." And among all the people present there, Ling's voice was the loudest.