(co-written by O)
Aaron and Chase were lead through a hallway underground to where they stepped through a corridor and down into gladiator arena with bright lights to lighten up the arena below for the spectators to see. The boys were also surprised to see just how many other vampires were there to witness their arena battle as Chase looked around, he noticed Aaron glaring at him.
"Well, don't blame me." Chase says shaking his head.
"I BLAME you." Aaron says glaring at him and pointing his finger at Chase.
They saw a specific seating area for the Tepes family with Wyatt and Kyra sitting in the middle on thrones for themselves with their children sitting near them. They surmised that the other ones were the brothers of the girls, one was a handsome man who looked similar to Wyatt helping a beautifully dressed woman to her seat while another one with slightly messy looking hair was helping a young looking woman in a small dress sit down as well, she was giving the messy haired boy a smile as she sat down next to him and held his hand. There was another boy there who looked like he was wearing glasses. He didn't come with anyone but he sat next to his father. An older looking couple was also there in the stands with them as well. The rest of the audience of the arena was almost packed to the brim. The boys now saw another corridor open with other vampire men coming out to stand some ways away from the boys. Wyatt now stood up as he held up a hand to silence the crowd of onlookers.
"My people, these young men have expressed their love for both my daughters, but let's see just how far their love can reach. The rules are simple: you fight and you stay alive. Now then boys, do you have anything you'd like to say before you begin?" Wyatt asked Aaron and Chase as they stepped a little towards the family.
"Yes, like the old gladiators would do, I'd like to dedicate this fight the lovely and beautiful Princess Andromeda. I know you don't care for violence Andromeda, but I do this to prove that I'd go to the furthest lengths to prove how much I love you." Chase said towards Andromeda as she held her hands over her heart and gave a loving sigh.
The crowd's attention now turned towards Aaron waiting on what he would say.
"Nyx, please forgive me because my friend roped me into this. But....uh, damn, I'm not the best with words on these kinds of things. Nyx, listen, however badly I get hurt in this, I've been through worse and I probably will be in worse scrapes. But if this shows your father that I'd take a thousand beatings for you to protect you from those who would harm you, I'll do it. I love you Nyx." Aaron said as Nyx held her hand over her mouth trying not to cry as the older woman who sat next to her held her shoulder.
"Very sentimental. Now........LET THE FIGHT BEGIN!" Wyatt called out as the vampires rushed towards Aaron and Chase.
Chase and Aaron watched as a pair of vampires now exited a far gate. Lightly armored and sporting short swords and shields, the young hunters now glanced around looking to arm themselves.
"Pickings are a little slim," Chase grumbled, noticing a spear, long sword, shield, and two shirt swords. "What are you thinking?"
Aaron grasped the pair of short swords, watching Aaron grab the spear. "I'm better with a gun but these will do," he said. "At least until we can disarm these two."
"Agreed," Chase nodded, the pair now charging the pair of vampires. Clashing with the gladiators, both hunters now quickly disarmed their opponents, forcing the gladiators to fight hand to hand. In this regard, Chase and Aaron had the advantage.
Part of the hunters training revolved around hand to hand combat, something both young hunters excelled at. For Chase, he focused on Kenpo and Sambo. Using his imposing physical stature, Chase maneuvered in close. The young Moreland's strikes were surgical, striking with force and precision. Whenever the vampire looked to counter, Chase would employ his Sambo techniques, tossing the vampire to the ground before delivering another strike.
Aaron simply smirked, this was child's play for Chase. It was why Aaron believed his best friend would make a fortune in MMA. Chase was unmatched in hand to hand fighting. In fact he loved it. No wonder Caleb always worried about him.
Aaron though was different. While an expert marksman, he was an exceptional fighter. He only preferred using firearms.
For Aaron, his chosen martial art was Silat just like Caleb. When he was young, he watched Caleb train, observing first hand the devastating blows a Silat master would deliver with elbows and knees. Asking Caleb to train him, Aaron tried to mirror the man that was his hero, studying carefully, practicing diligently. It proved to pay off, Aaron becoming almost as good as Caleb.
After disarming his opponent, Aaron now began to systematically pick him apart. Silat was a brutal form of combat, a perfect form for brawling, if you could endure the damage from your opponent. Thankfully Aaron was, delivering a series of kicks and elbow strikes to his opponent, despite sustaining damage. Delivering a roundhouse kick, Aaron's opponent sailed backwards, dazed.
"Not too shabby," Chase said, delivering a right hook to his opponent.
"Years of training under Caleb," Aaron grunted as he and Chase fought near one another. "Fights at school, bar fights you started by accident or on purpose," Aaron continued as he knocked the vampire down. "Now I'm fighting for my life and my girlfriend in a vampire gladiator arena. How do you always somehow rope me into these situations?" Aaron asked Chase as he could see Chase working up a sweat from his fighting.
"My good looks?" Chase said as he fought off his opponent. "My charm?" Chase continued as he dodged a vampire from behind him. "The fact that you've been my best friend since childhood and have always gotten me out of terrible scrapes and I appreciate you every time for it?" Chase suggested as he heard Aaron sigh and nod his head in agreement.
Both young hunters could see their opponents tiring. The constant barrage of strikes wearing down their un-dead attackers. Anytime they attempted to grab a weapon, Chase and Aaron intercepted them delivering a flurry of blows. The vampires were on their last legs.
Nodding, the pair rushed forward, dodging their exhausted opponents attacks. As Chase delivered an uppercut, Aaron kicked out the knee of the vampire he was fighting before striking him in the neck. Both vampires now unconscious. Chase and Aaron had won.
Chase and Aaron looked over themselves as they took in deep breaths and looked awful as they got a few bruises and punches on their bodies but were otherwise unharmed. Not so much for the other vampires on the ground. The young hunters listened as some of the crowed cheered while some booed for their victory as they walked over towards Wyatt.
"Alright your lordship, what do you think of that? We're still alive, we took down some of your roughest, toughest fighters. Have we proven to you just how far we'll go to prove our love to your daughters yet?" Chase asked as everyone now looked towards Wyatt as he began to smirk and leaned in his chair towards the boys.
"Not just yet. These were some of the strongest vampires in the realm. But let's see you two take on....a REAL challenge." Wyatt said as he stood up to once more grab the crowd's attention.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, DIRECT YOUR ATTENTION TO THE SOUTH CORRIDOR, WHERE THESE BOYS WILL BE TAKING ON THE TOUGHEST AND DEADLIEST YET!" Wyatt instructed as the audience all now directed their attention as the doors slowly opened.
"Wait, daddy, no, please, you can't mean...!" Andromeda begged for her father to listen but he ignored her plea.
"STANDING 4 FEET 10 INCHES, WEIGHING AROUND 75 POUNDS!" Wyatt continued as the crowd began stomping their feet in excitement.
"No, daddy, please don't let it be....her." Nyx begged to her father with worry.
"GIVE IT UP FOR THE TERRIFYING AND DEADLY......LITTLE ANN!!!" Wyatt shouted as the crowd cheered with excitement.
"Oh....shit....is she....the one who....?" Aaron asked Chase as he now looked on with worry.
"This is the same young vampire girl who....once upon a time dismembered our fighter here, Chase Moreland's father by forcibly removing one of his arms. But don't worry, she doesn't hold grudges....at least, I think she doesn't." Wyatt slightly joked as Andromeda and Nyx looked at their father giving him concerned faces. While he just looked at them, on the inside it did hurt him to make his daughters feel scared for boys they apparently loved dearly.
"Maybe she's not so tough as everyone says she is?" Aaron suggested as Ann walked over to a vampire who was on the ground and held up his head before beating it repeatedly onto the ground then lifted the entire body up by the shoulder and tossing it away from her like he was paper.
"Or you know: my theory is bullshit." Aaron sighed as Ann then gave a creepy grin as she slowly walked towards the two of them, Aaron and Chase ready for a fight as Ann now picked up the pace and ran towards them.
"Aaron," Chase stated, his voice low. "Step back. This one's personal."
"Are you crazy?!" Aaron exclaimed.
"She crippled my dad Aaron," Chase bellowed. "I have to do this....alone."
Aaron and Chase were surprised by how fast she was as she pushed the two of them hard onto the ground and they tumbled onto the ground. Aaron grabbed a shield near him as he held it up and she tried punching it a few times and ended up denting it.
"Chase, grab a shield!" Aaron called out to Aaron as he now saw Ann's small hands grasp the outside of the shield and slowly crushed it down. "Chase, forget the shield!" Aaron called out as he knocked Ann back enough where Aaron now shifted into his kintaro form to fight Ann off as best as he could.
Chase now grabbed Ann's leg, tossing her away. Ann simply assumed an almost animalistic stance as Chase now glared at her. "Okay you little shit," he growled. "Lets dance!"
With a roar, Chase now charged, striking out angrily at the vampire assassin. His eyes glazed with tears, he attacked far more recklessly than he normally would. This fight for Chase was personal. In his mind, Ann had taken his father from him.
Unfortunately for the young hunter, his rage was causing him to fight sloppy. He was expending too much energy, wearing himself out. Ann was too skilled an opponent to fight with emotion. Ann slashed at the hunter with razor sharp talons, leaving deep cuts along Chase's arms and chest. Seeing, how much trouble his friend was in, Aaron was forced to step in.
Aaron and Chase battled Ann for a good half hour as they both got out of breath and even little Ann looked slightly tired.
"Maybe she'll forfeit out of exhaustion?" Aaron suggested as they now saw Ann look around for a weak vampire and bit into his arm to replenish herself.
"Aaron, let's stop trying to think she'll quit." Chase said shaking his head as he now fell onto one knee.
Ann now ran towards Chase and pushed him towards a wall as he was then hit on the face and blacked out for a minute.
"CHASE, NO!" Andromeda called out.
Chase could barely keep his eyes open as he felt very dizzy and tired. He then heard a voice, it sounded male, it almost sounded like Caleb's voice but it was different.
"Chase? Chase? Come on, get up son. You've got a fight to finish." The voice called out to him. Chase slowly opened his eyes and thought he saw his father before him, with both arms on him.
"Dad? Is that really you?" Chase asked in a groggy voice.
"Could be, or it just be you're hallucinating right now. Come on now son, get up, you've got a girl watching you. You don't want to let her down, I'm sure she's a real keeper. Remember, you're a Moreland and the last thing a Moreland does is give up." The voice, supposedly his father said as he slowly got up with little Ann turning back around to see Chase standing up as best as he could.
"I'm not....I'm not finished with you yet. I don't care how much you beat me, or how badly I get injured, I'll do what I have to, to prove my love and dedication for....Andromeda. I could do this all day." Chase said as he held up his fists as his face looked very beaten in.
A malicious grin now spread across Ann's face, the vampire sprinting at an ungodly speed at the young hunter. Dodging a clumsy strike, Ann delivered a devastating body blow, causing Chase to spit out blood. Collapsing to his knees, Chase grimaced as Ann looked to deliver a finishing blow.
Instead, Aaron now grabbed Ann's arm tossing her into the wall, giving Chase enough time to stand. Grabbing the vampire around the throat, Chase now began to punch Ann in the face.
"Motherfucker," he growled, bringing his fists down into Ann's face. "Fuck with my father! Fuck with me! Just...fucking...DIE!"
Chase kept punching, a cry of rage escaping his lips. All the pain of not having his father channeled into his fists. He kept punching until his arm felt numb, his hand bruised, bloodied and broken. Releasing Ann, he slumped to the ground, tears streaming down his cheeks. He was exhausted. There was no way he could go on.
Ann stood up and raised her fist into the air and was about to bring it down onto Chase's face when she heard a call:
"Ann!" Wyatt called out to Ann as she stopped before hitting Chase in the face only seconds away. "That will be all, thank you for the show." Wyatt said as Ann now motioned to bow before Wyatt and bowed before Wyatt before leaving the arena.
"Ladies and gentlemen I hope you all enjoyed the show, but unfortunately our guests are unable to continue the show. I hope they at least gave you a good performance and you can all go back to your business." Wyatt declared as many of the vampires groaned that the show was over and left the arena.
"Lancelot, Hanako, bring our guests to our infirmary, I'll speak with them there." Wyatt instructed Wyatt as he stood up to leave.
"D-D-Daddy, but why?" Andromeda asked wiping tears away from her eyes.
"As I said, I'll explain everything in the infirmary. Those of you who wish to join us there may come." Wyatt said as he headed towards the infirmary as Andromeda and Nyx followed Lancelot and Hanako who were helping their boyfriends along to the infirmary.
A couple of minutes later, the kindly Miss Cheyenne and Hanako were helping Chase and Aaron dress the wounds they had received in the battle as the two of them squirmed a little bit when their scratches and bruises were touched ever so slightly. Although they did feel a little better that Nyx and Andromeda were both holding their hands.
Wyatt then entered the infirmary as Andromeda and Nyx glared at their father with disdain.
"Daddy, how could you send little Ann in there to fight them, she could have killed them!" Andromeda shouted at her father.
"She could have, if I hadn't told her to hold back." Wyatt revealed.
"What?!" Andromeda and Nyx both exclaimed.
"I can clearly see that you both are deeply in love with these boys. But I wanted to see just what extremes they would go to protect you from harm. So before the fight, I told little Ann to hold back from using her full strength on the boys or else she would upset you girls and she doesn't like upsetting either of you. I'm sorry you both had to see them get hurt like that, but I promise you both I had no intention of getting them killed. I may hold a grudge against Caleb Moreland for his actions, but I shouldn't punish his younger brother for it, and I especially don't want to incur the wrath of Lord Tatsu, they have enough trouble in the kitsune realm as it is." Wyatt explained to his daughters.
"So....daddy, does this mean that....?" Nyx asked with tears swelling in her eyes.
"Andromeda, Nyx, if these are the boys who make you happy, then I can see no harm in letting you date them if that is your wish." Wyatt answered with a nod.
"Oh, daddy.....thank you....thank you....."Andromeda said as she cried and kissed Chase repeatedly as he winced still from his wounds and Andromeda apologized each time.
Nyx just gently hugged Aaron as she placed her head on his shoulder hoping that their happy moment could last forever.