If you LOVE it, put it in The Ring [Pika]

The Stadium was packed tonight; the crowd excited and hyped up for what was to be the final match of The World Championship- not a very creative name, and a cheesy one at that. But that didn't diminish how important this match was between the reigning world champion and the up and comer. How she came all the way to the point baffles nay sayers and experts. For someone so young to come THIS far was unheard of. Additionally, normally she would've gone to womans' boxing, but for reasons that would not make sense either due to lack of experience or information on HOW this works, this is happening. It should also come as no surprise to anyone at this point that this was in fact, a dream and 'theoretical' event to happen later; with plenty of liberties being taken.

The young up and comer was in fact Isabella King! Whether or not she bought into what was going on as real or fiction remained to be seen, not that it mattered; lucid dreams could be fun. The Stadium may have had very big "Punch Out" vibes which may or may not have been a factor, but that also remained to be seen as the fighters were getting ready to walk out to the ring. The crowd went even crazier, both in equal measures for Isabella AND her soon to be sorry opponent. His name for all intents and purposes isn't important enough to remember- this was clearly a dream right? It was too good to be true!

All that would matter for this scene setup is her opponent's appearance. Again leaning towards the "Punch Out" theme, he bored a resemblance to Don Flamenco, but with a lot more emphasis on the color pink- or maybe it was salmon. In any case, he was flamboyant to a tee. For whatever reason, he has some backstory that will now be briefly mentioned and forgotten here: he first got his start as a rookie boxer before briefly getting into pro wrestling, and then made his return to the boxing ring where he became The World Boxing Champion. Once the fighters got to the ring, they'd have a moment to chat with their coach for some final moments of advice before they'd get ready to start punching eachother's lights out. "The Don" in spite of his exaggerated and flamboyant appearance, did actually look competent. He was clearly getting on in years but that didn't really show much, and he was very much in shape; this would be a good fight!

What the fuck was going on?

That was a question that Bella found herself asking herself a lot as she was being rushed along by staff members at Jump Stadium, apparently needing to get ready for a big fight. She had no knowledge of any big fights coming up soon, especially not ones where she was up against a man, and that wasn't the kind of thing her coach would keep from her. Speaking of which Coach was there too, but he wasn't acting like anything was amiss, instead he was just preparing her like this was any other match. Any questions she asked were just met with strange looks, as if she had just asked something stupid "You got pre-match jitters, huh Bell? Well this is a big night, so I guess that's to be expected."

Before Bella could get any answers it came time for her to make her way to the ring, surrounded by an entourage of strangers. As she walked down she had a completely stunned look on her face, she was used to fighting in crappy gyms or sports bars, never in a stadium as grand as this. She rubbed her eyes just to make sure she wasn't seeing things, and sure enough she was not. As she reached the ring she got her first good look of the world champion, and frankly he didn't seem all that intimidating. Though the same could be said of Bella herself when she was using her powers, so Bella decided it was best not to judge him based solely on his appearance.

As they both got ready Coach would tap Bella's shoulder to get her attention "Listen, I get that you're nervous but you don't have to be. Just remember to pace yourself and you'll do great! Now go do what you always do, alright?" Bella was still confused as hell, but even in this weird dream or whatever her Coach's words still encouraged her "I- I got it!" Steeling herself, Bella made sure her mouthguard was in securely then readied herself for the fight. Even if this was a dream or whatever she'll still fight to win!

The Don is what her opponent will be called for convenience and the Punch Out reference it was based off, and he didn't look too impressed with what he saw from his corner; clearly underestimating her already for a man wearing pink. But it wasn't him so much that would seem... off but rather HIS coach, a rather average and non-descript man excluding one detail- he had the creepiest looking grin. It probably didn't help matters that he always seemed to have it on his face, and when he looked toward Bella, the creep factor only sky rocketed. Okay, there were two unusual details- the second one was the man's eyes which "looked" like they were glowingly dimly. But maybe that was just a trick of the lighting, or Bella's nerves.

In any case, both fighters would be officiall introduced; each getting cheers and support before both fighters were to meet in the center, and do that thing out of the movies. "I still can't believe that a kid managed to get this far so quickly," The Don remarked, clearly unsure of how to feel about that because on the one hand... she was much younger than he was, and also a girl. But on the other hand he was acknowledging how impressive of a feat that was. It was about this time that the "too good to be true" dream very slowly and subtly, started to change. No giant changes, but Bella would become more aware of the eyes on her than she should've- especially The Don's coach. Also to fit this strange and out of place scenario, a bell would be rung to signal off the start of the first round with The Don using some good foot work toward Bella before throwing a quick couple of jabs to test her reaction times.

As Bella waited for the bell to ring her eyes were drawn not to her flamboyant opponent but to their coach, a strange looking man with an eerie smile on his face. For whatever reason the look that man gave her made Bella want to walk over and punch him right in the face, even though it was the Don she was supposed to be doing that to. Speaking of which Bella remembered to move into the centre to meet the Don, who clearly didn't think much of his younger opponent "And I can't believe a loser like you has held the title for so long." she said, with a cocky smirk. Bella didn't know how long he'd actually been holding on to the title, but it was just trash talk anyway. Trash talk didn't have to be accurate, just insulting.

However the Don reacted to her trash talking Bella would suddenly feel something go off. She felt the eyes of the creepy coach on her again and turned her head to match his gaze. Her impromptu staring contest was ended abruptly by the sound of the bell ringing, and only then did Bella remember that she was supposed to be fighting the Don, not his coach. This lapse in concentration resulted in her taking the Don's opening jabs right to the face "Ungh. Fuck." Getting her head back in the game Bella stepped back to make some distance, raising her guard so that the next few blows glanced off of her forearms. You didn't have to be an expert in boxing to know that being put on the defensive right after the bell rang wasn't a good way to start things off.

The crowd jeered and and cheered at the same time as Bella took a few hits already, with The Don forcing her on the defensive. That eerie "being watched" feeling seemed to increase, and The Don's Coach seemed to be snickering to himself as he watched his fighter put Bella into a corner. As it currently stood, The Don was still bigger and physically more built than she was. These facts he used to his advantage as he hammered away at her guard, moving around one way and another way to find an opening to bait her to attack him as he threw a quick jab. The eyes of the crowd becoming more and more... unsettling. Either because he had to or by choice, The Don would eventually back off from Bella. "What's the matter little girl? Are you all talk?" The Don taunted her, not giving her too long to catch her breath; he was just getting warmed up.

"Oooh, that makes you mad," "A Voice" that... could be hers intones in her head. Like everything else going on, it seemed off but she did just take a few hits and had been thrown into a dream boxing arena. Everything probably seemed off- but was it wrong? Did his taunt get under her skin? Or was it stating and telling that made her mad? The Coach was watching intently, smirking as if silently mocking her from outside the ring.

Bella stepped back as the Don kept forcing her to back up with quick jabs at her guard. Bella was trying to look for an opportunity to counter attack, but all she could focus on were the eyes gazing at her, it wasn't just the coach that was staring creepily at her any more. Eventually she backed up until there was nowhere else to run, all that was behind her were the ropes. She threw out a few hooks that forced the Don to back up a bit, but even so he still had the advantage, a fact that made him so confident he took the chance to taunt her.

Bella grit her teeth in irritation, and as she did she heard a voice in her head. The voice confirmed that she was indeed mad, very mad. So mad that she threw out a right straight that flew at the Don like a missile. However, a punch thrown so predictably was begging to be countered, and that's exactly what happened. The counter punch thrown by the Don threw Bella back into the ropes, bouncing her off then and sending her down to the mat "Down!" yelled the referee. Bella was seeing stars after that blow, unable to get back up immediately as the referee started counting down. The count got up to 7 before Bella recovered "Damn it. You're gonna regret that!" she said, trying as hard as she could to calm herself and clear her mind.

"He doesn't think you can win, a lot of people think that~" that voice intoned again, the offness more obvious now as The Don moved in on her again once she was standing up. "His stupid face, his stupid pink shorts. You should make him regret underestimating you~" the voice was definitely self-aware and was trying to convince her to stop holding back, to get angry. The Don naturally was unaware of this voice's meddling and start to throw more punches, accidentally messing up part of his footwork and leaving a window of opportunity open for Bella.

Was it getting darker in the stadium? Or did the lights just change to focus more ont her ing itself? Because the crowd faded more and more from view; leaving just their eyes and shapes of their bodies visible in the stretching darkness around the ring.

The Don wasted little time in approaching Bella again after she got back up from his counter punch, Bella was trying to get her head back in the game but the voice in her head wasn't helping much. It had a point though; his face was stupid, and so were his shorts. As the Don started throwing more punches her way Bella was able to guard them all pretty well, but the punches she threw in return were just as easily repelled by the Don.

Or at least they were until the Don made a mistake with his footwork, a small mistake that would have been easy to miss were it not for the sudden dimming of the lights that made everything outside of the ring too out of focus to see. It was weird as hell but she'll worry about it later. Capitalising on the mistake Bella swung for his abs with a powerful right hook "Orah!"

The Don couldn't get out of the way in time, or do anything in time to react and was sawked soundly by Bella's hook. An overwhelming sense of excitement washed over her, teasing her and trying to encourage her to do it again. "Don't stop, show him not to mess with you. Show them ALL that you deserve to be here~" the voice purred silkily as The Don took on a slightly different appearance- well not overly different but his expression didn't match one from someone just taking a shot to the face. He was grinning, widely and started back in on Bella. The punches were harder, not faster but they seemed to be carrying more weight behind them than a moment ago; it was almost unreal as each one threatened to send her tumbling or send her across the ring if she wasn't careful.

Logically speaking Bella knew she should be conserving her breath at all costs, running out of breath could be just as detrimental to her chances of winning as getting knocked off her feet, but the exhilaration and excitement she felt practically forced her to laugh it in joy. She had finally landed a solid hit on this fucker. The voice in her head encouraged her to do it again and she listened, throwing out another punch that didn't seem to hurt The Don as much despite also being a clean hit "Huh?"

The Don then threw out a punch that Bella was able to see coming from a mile away and cleanly block, but when she did so she was sent stumbling back and couldn't stop herself until she hit the ropes "What the hell!?!" Within a few seconds he had gone from only really being marginally stronger than Bella to throwing her around the ring. She grit her teeth in frustration and stepped in, baiting out a punch then throwing a counter aimed right at his chin, hoping to knock him out then and there. Hopefully.

There would be a sickening snap for a moment as The Don's head was tossed backward, with hims tumbling back a couple of paces before just... sort of half standing in an unnatural posture for a moment. The creep factor of what was kind of just a surreal dream then shifted into maximum creep as The Don straighted out his posture, and had the biggest cheshire looking grin on his face. His face had in that brief moment of obscurity, morphed just abit along with his grin, sporting a heart shaped band on his head- either as a mockery or something else. "Ooooh, that hit the spot~" "The Don" purred in a voice that was CLEARLY not his, rolling his neck for a couple more sickening pops.

In addition, his creepy coach had seemingly vanished- it was just them both in the ring, surrounded by countless eyes. "But you can do so much more outside the ring- your gender limits your potential by society standards. You can become more renowned, if you set your sights higher~" The Freaky... whatever it was continued, taking a boxer stance while beckoning her with one gloved hand.

Bella felt the familiar feeling of her fist impacting against a jaw as her punch landed solidly and threw The Don's head back. She stepped in as he stumbled back, hoping to follow up on her attack when suddenly The Don's head snapped forward and his face gave off the creepiest grin Bella had ever seen and he started talking in a different voice. The shock of this was enough to halt Bella's advance, instead backing off slightly with her guard raised.

'The Don' would then go on to say that she can do "so much more outside the ring", was he referring to her powers? How could he possibly know that? Then again, how could everything that was happening right now be happening? Either way she wasn't going through with it! She didn't need her powers to knock this bozo down! A small part of her remembered that by now the first round should have ended, but this was clearly just a fight that only barely resembled a boxing match anymore.

Bella would answer his beckoning gesture, stepping forward and throwing some jabs and hooks his way. She'd take him down the old fashioned way, no glowing pink hair needed "Time to get knocked out, clown!"

The Freak- which is what this new opponent would be referred to for convenience, would snicker impishly. "You're in OUR world now sweetheart, we won't go down as easily as you think," The Freak giggled, bracing themself and blocking the jabs before bending back and dodging the hooks, throwing a quick gut shot before bouncing on the heels of their feet. They darted to the side, trying to force her to change her footing to stay facing them, and moved in low with their guard up.

The Freak quickly rose and started to throw jabs, which would sting if she blocked. They weren't as strong as The Don's but that was very likely for a different reason as The Freak kept laying on the pressure with no signs of actually slowing down. One jab was quickly followed by another, and then he'd move to force her to reposition again as he came in with more punches that were progressively hitting harder and harder. "You think people care about some athlete that downs a bunch of other athletes? When you have the likes of Superman and other superheroes running around doing things which 'actually' matter? Selfish girl~" The Freak taunted, starting to get faster with their movements and punches like they had just been warming up a moment ago.

The Freak was able to fend off Bella's assault quite easily, blocking or avoiding all of Bella's attacks quite easily while also firing back with a shot to the gut "Ungh!" She grunted and tried to back off, but The Freak had some quick footwork and forced her to stay on her toes so she wouldn't lose track of him, all the while peppering her with jabs that forced her to constantly stay on guard. This kept on going and escalated as he got progressively faster and stronger and it got harder and harder to keep up with him. The worst part was that he did so effortlessly, enough so that he was able to taunt her the whole time, whereas Bella was too busy struggling to keep up to get a word in edgewise.

It was getting increasingly clear to Bella that she wouldn't be able to keep up as she is right now, and this clearly wasn't a boxing match anymore, it was entirely possible that The Freak might be out to kill her! But still, she didn't like to have to do this. That's why her teeth were grit in irritation as her hair took on a bright pink glow and her eyes changed into the shape of a heart, though as cute as they were now she still had the same ferocious look in her eyes. But the most dramatic change was to her physical ability, as she would suddenly burst forward with superhuman speed and throw a right straight aimed for his face with enough force to launch an ordinary human right out of the ring all the way to the back of the spectator seats "Ora!" But the Freak wasn't an ordinary human so she would continue her assault with some hooks aimed for his body.

Superhuman durability or strength does not automatically mean super heavy; a fact The Freak seemed to understand as Bella changed, eyes widening as he moved his head and felt the wind of the punch whizz by his face. But now it was his turn to be on the defensive, countering jabs with his arms using roughyl equal force just to keep from being sent completely hurling out of the ring. If he had been using them for trying to hit her, that'd be illegal but he was only using them to block her as he started losing ground. "That's more like it, make us work for it~" The Freak purred trying to get out of the line of fire to try and get back onto the offensive. "You love fighting opponents that actually put up a fight don't you? What's the point if it's easy right?" The Freak seemed to be communicating more mentally than verbally, though was still able to defend himself as he tried darting to the side and lounging at Bella.