Page 21 of Hear Me Roar

Here. We.Go.

Knox pulled open the door and stepped aside to allow me through first. With a deep breath through my nose, I took off down the darkened corridor, heading towards the light seeping in through the purple curtain hanging at theend.

“She’s fast, she’s fierce… Ladies and gentlemen, The Lioness has returned! Please join me in welcoming her for the first professional match of hercareer...”

My heart was racing, adrenaline finding its way into every nook and cranny of my body. I flexed my fingers one last time and stretched out my neck. This. Was.It.

“Hazelll ‘Lionessss’Perryyy!”

Showtime.

The sheer amount of screams that erupted, as I slipped past the curtain, took me by complete surprise. Through the bright lights illuminating the area and the one trained solely on me, I caught spectators leaning over the railings in hopes of a high five; some snapping pics, and some with signs too. I knew Knox had said there were people here, but fuck, this was way more than I could’ve imagined. Their presence only served to amp me up all the more, my legs carrying me in a steady, confident trot to the edge of the cage. I took one look at it, and it just felt likehome.

I washome.

I’d fought in this ring four times, each one ending victoriously, and this time would be no different. Even as the ‘rookie’ with all odds against me, I was about to take that score up a notch and prove I deserved to be here. Slipping out of my robe, I handed it over to Knox, who was now holding the cage door wide open, an unfazed Terra waiting just inside, bouncing around on the balls of her feet. The smirk on her face was all the ammunition I needed to stalk inside with my head held high, the crowd around us going into hysterics now that both fighters were in thering.

“Kick that ass, kitten,” Knox yelled from the sidelines as the door was locked in place, his hands cupped around hismouth.

I flashed him a cocky wink and turned back to my opponent, meeting her toe to toe centerring.

“It’s always fun taking out a newbie,” she said with smirk on herface.

Oh hellno.

“I’ll be sure to remind you how fun it is when you’re tapping the mat.” Ismiled.

She laughed and shook her head, falling into stance as the ref came up beside us. I followed suit without a word because, pretty soon, she wouldn’t be laughing. The referee looked between us both, holding his arms out, a finger pointed ourways.

“Are we ready, ladies?” he asked, and we nodded, the crowd around us going wild withanticipation.

“Then let’s. Get. It.On!”

The bell sounded off as soon as he clapped his hands and the announcer officially declared the start of the round. To my surprise, Terra came out swinging. Shealmostclipped me right in the face, but I dodged to the side, swiveling back around to catch her charging toward me, the look on her face predatory. If she was trying to scare me, it wasn’t working. I knew this game too well and I knew how to play it better. I shot out towards her with a growl, her eyes widening in shock when she realized I was runningtoher versusawayfrom her. That was her mistake. She didn’t cover herself as I closed in, and with an impressive amount of force, my fist made bone-crunching contact with the side of herface.

An audible “oooh” flew out from her mouth as she stumbled back, step after step, giving me the opportunity to lock my arms around her waist and slam her back into the cage. This sent the arena into chaos. I guess they hadn’t been expecting me to take charge from thebeginning.

“Li-on-ess! Li-on-ess,”they chanted, as Terra grunted under my weight, trying her damndest to catch her breath after two blows back toback.

The ref was on my tail, watching my every last move, but I didn’t relent. I knew what I could and couldn’t do, and this was perfectlyacceptable.

“Hammer punches, baby! Bring ‘em out!” That was Knox, I could hear him loud and clear above thenoise.

Following his lead, I jabbed my fist upward. It caught her in the chin. Then I jabbed again and it clipped her jaw, chattering her teeth onimpact.

Yes.

She was vulnerable like this, torn between struggling her way free and using her strength to cover. If I could keep her here until the clock timed out, that’d be one round down. The struggle would dwindle her power too, and that’s exactly what I wanted. So, I kept on throwing random jabs, squeezing her against the cage, despite her feeble attempts to break free. If she were smart, she would’ve been using her legs to knock me down, but apparently, she wasn’t as invincible as she believed herself tobe.

“Time,” the ref called out, prompting me to swiftly releaseher.

I bounced back to center ring with a satisfied smirk, noting the infuriated gleam in her brown eyes. I was showing her up, more so than she thought, and quite obviously she didn’t like it. But she did very little about it because rounds two and three turned out to be much of the same. She got a few throws here and there, but nothing that stunned me for too long. It wasn’t hard when the energy swirling around the arena had my blood rushing through my veins. For every fan cheering her on, my name was screamed with double the power, thus granting me double the power in which toretaliate.

By round four, I’d done a number on her. She was bleeding from her nose, and from her brow. Her face on one side was swollen, almost angrily. For the most part, I remained unscathed. My jaw was a little sore, but the pain wasn’t out of this world. Nothing an icepack wouldn’t cure up later. Whatever blood laid splattered on me was hers and as we struggled back and forth on the mat, I became more and more determined to tap her out. I’d already drawn plenty of blood and a KO would’ve been too easy. I wanted that submission, especially after her threat to take medown.

I just had to get her on her backfirst.

We had each other trapped in a headlock, making it difficult to maneuver about much, especially with her on top of me, her legs pinning me down. With my free hand, I threw my fist into her side, hoping to knock even a breath out of her. That’s all I needed; one breath. One breath that would dissolve her focus long enough for me to takeaction.

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