Chapter 35: Champion Stars

Melena woke up slowly, feeling groggy and weary and beat--really, really beat. Luckily, she also felt refreshed somewhat, and as she finally came to, she could feel two cool hands touching her stomach, sending out some kind of invigorating energy throughout her body. She was able to sit up and look around, and saw just who had been healing her. It was Emily, and the slightly-older woman had a look of grave concern on her face as Melena woke.

“I’m glad to see you’re with us again,” she sighed wearily. “I didn’t know if I’d have the capabilities to heal you properly.”

“Ugghhnnn ... I feel like I’ve just been struck by a steamroller,” groaned Melena as she rubbed her head. Emily helped her sit up, and examined her briefly to see if there was anything she missed. Melena already knew that Emily had the power to heal and refresh others, so she wasn’t completely surprised to learn of this technique.

“You don’t look too bad,” reported the “doctor”. “You’re lucky to have survived all that I threw at you! Oh, Melena, I’m so sorry for going overboard in that last battle! I’m so, so, so terribly sorry! Please, can you ever forgive me?”

“ ... Ouch,” replied Melena as a portion of her arm stung out. Emily placed her hands on the area, and with much strain, she was able to concoct enough juice to fix the injury. The blonde shriveled up slightly as the rest of her energy was put into healing her previous opponent, and she would have crumbled to the floor if Jerwon hadn’t rushed in to save her.

“Easy there, Emily! You were bashed up really good in that fight as well! It’s not wise of you to use up whatever you have left in such a short period of time!” The woman groaned, and gave her good friend a dusky, dejected stare.

“I ... know ... But ... it’s my punishment ... for fighting so cruelly ... Ever since this tournament started--no, ever since my fighting career started, I’ve always been like that. That’s my one great weakness, Jer: I have an insatiable desire to win at all cost. It’s fanatic the way I refuse to submit defeat, but this time, I almost paid for my lustful ways with another person’s life. I know that none of you can forgive me, so this was the least I could do.” She was silent for awhile--the whole room was silent for awhile--and all eyes turned to either Emily, a still-bruised Melena, or else the floor.

“Don’t ... worry about it too much,” managed the Brimwater native. “I ... beat ya fair and square, and now you know what it’s like to lose. But ... it’s not the end of the world. Even I’ve lost my fair share of battles. All that tells ya is ya gotta work even harder, and hammer out your weak spots.” Melena managed to smile, and even sit up completely without any support.

“Emily, aside from Ketra here, you’re possibly the toughest chick I’ve ever gone up against. Okay, so you’re not exactly a powerhouse, but man! Those skills you got are even madder than my own! All I can do is grow extra limbs and turn into a scorpion, but you... ! Holy cow! But I guess you learned your lesson, eh?” Emily smiled weakly, and nodded her head as Jerwon helped her sit down.

“So does that mean you forgive me? Even after all the things I’ve done to you and your friends?”

“I guess,” shrugged Melena. “I mean, I can relate to what you mean when you say you like to win. But from now on, I suggest your new mantra be ‘I like to fight‘. Heck, if I fought the battle of my life and lost, I’d go home a happy girl!”

“Speaking of which, I wonder if Master Atman has recovered yet?” said Zet, who had been in the small room with everyone else as they waited for Melena to recover. Diana nodded her head and wondered the same thing.

“It’s been a day or two. Surely the old guy’s gotten back on his feet by now. I dunno if he can fight or not--but then again, I guess the both of you are in the same boat.”

“For real,” agreed Melena. “I still feel really beat, and Atman can’t be feeling 100% either. The fight might actually be pretty even!”

“But he’s not here yet,” noted Cattia. “You know, Melena, if he doesn’t show up in time for the next match, you could say that he forfeited and you won by default. You could be the champ easily.”

“No way!!!” she screamed. “I would never do that! I, Melena Fara’dellyn, have way more honor in me than that! I don’t care what anybody else says, and I don’t care if I have to wait a week! I am going to finish this, win or lose! I’ve been waiting my whole life for this one chance, and even if I’m defeated, I won’t be denied this right!!”

“Inspiring,” said Ketra with a smile. She elaborated by saying, “I thought you would say something like that. You can be quite noble if you really try.”

“Yeah, well...” Melena’s face beamed, her chest puffed out, and she stuck her thumbs in her armpits. At that moment, she had more pride in her than the devil himself.

“I wouldn’t say such things about her,” muttered Tania with a watery smile. “Her ego’s big enough as it is!”

“I agree,” came a soft and scratchy voice from afar. The whole group turned to see who it was, and let out an exclamation as they saw Atman supporting himself on the doorframe! He smiled and managed to limp over into the middle of the crowd, and gave Melena an attentive look.

“Wow! I’m really glad to see that you’re up and running again!” she exclaimed with unhidden glee. “This is gonna be the best fight ever! The undefeated Atman against the Mighty Melena! Wow!!! Sir, this is such an honor!!”

“Calm down, young lady,” managed the elderly man. “You’ll have all the time in the world to be excited once the match is over. In the meantime, I want to thank everybody for caring for me. I also wish to express to all of you that this, this very next fight, is going to be my absolute last. That will be it--after this fight, whether I win or lose, I will truly step out of the limelight of the ring, for all of time until I die.”

“That’s so sweet,” smiled Emily nobly. “But Master Atman, if this is going to be your last fight, why did you come out of retirement in the first place?” The wise old man gave her a smile, folded his hands behind his back, and stood to his full height.

“There comes a time in everybody’s life when they have a yearning to test themselves once again. Victories may come and go, and titles may be gained and lost, but if a person can withstand the test of time, then they may truly call themselves great. But I am just a simple old man, with simple needs and simple wants--and I simply wanted to have that feeling for one last time ... The feel of the crowd, the rush of battle, the experience, the challenge, the look on the younger generation’s faces as they see their heroes fight ... I wanted to have that feeling one last time before I passed my torch onto the next generation. And Melena, if things go well for you in the upcoming fight, you may be the next one who carries that torch.”

“Nuh-uh,” argued the pretty lady. “I still gotta long way to go before I’m that skilled. I might even wanna let Emily spar with me so that I can prepare for those bizarre new attacks. If I’ve learned anything from these fights, it’s that I am strong, but still lacking in a lotta areas ... And that’s why I want you to teach me how ya fight!!!”

“ME??!!” Atman drew back in surprise as Melena shoved her finger at him, and the giddiest and most zealous look of all time was on her face as she grinned at him.

“Yeah! Please, Master Atman, please teach me how to fight! Only you can draw out my latent abilities! C’mon, whaddya got to lose?”

“Uh, uh, uh ... Oh! The ... the tournament is starting again! I, I, I will see you in the ring, young lady!” And with a whoosh, Atman ran off back into the arena, to be greeted by a roar of adulation from the crowds who had heard of his most recent heroic escapade. Melena, however, would not be denied so easily.

“Hey! You get back here!!” She rushed off as well, leaving everybody else to gape in awe.

“ ... I ... guess we should find our seats,” said Greg. “But first ... uhh, I don’t wanna sound like a fool, but has anybody seen my mother recently?”

Stone, who had seen Joellen last, found her lounging around the snack bar, talking up a storm with Minerva, Frost, and Sleipnir. The middle-aged firecracker reluctantly left the trio of fighters and allowed herself to be escorted back to the arena--but not without being informed of what had been going on as of late. Somehow, the energetic lady had deliberately separated herself from her son and his pack, and went off to parade elsewhere on her own. Once she was discovered, however, she promised to be a good little girl (with a mischievous smile on her face the whole time) and came back to watch the finals in style.

Eventually, all things came down to the match between Atman and Melena. There was no longer any threat from Grand, or any enmity between rivals, or even any greed from the contenders. This was just going to be a classical friendly match between two very powerful and worth opponents. On one side, as the announcer put it, was Atman the undefeated, who had never lost a fight since his career began and had won thirteen straight tournament championships. On the other was Melena, who had to trudge through some of the fiercest and hardest adversaries in recent years. Both were powerful and skilled, and both were worthy of the top prize--but it seemed as if Atman’s decades of experience would give him the edge.

The crowd roared, the cameras flashed, the gong erupted, and the final fight in the Galactic Maximus Tournament of Champions began. Melena let out a roar for history as she ran towards the master, and with a single, sudden punch, she sent him flying across the ring and slamming straight on the ground, where he stayed for some time.

“Oh yeah!” she cheered. “Who’s got the MAD SKILLZ?!?! Who’s got’em? Eh? EH? That’s right! It’s me!!” The loveable young lady danced and sang as the referee counted from one to four, but by the time he reached six, she was genuinely concerned. Atman had not made a single movement at all, not even to wiggle, and both the referee and Melena were now frightened.

“ ... Seven!” shouted the ref nervously. “ ... Eight!!”

“Come on you old fool, get up!” screamed Melena desperately. She ran over to Atman’s motionless body and begged for him to rise. “Come ON! Get up, ya old fogy! I didn’t hit you THAT hard!!!”

“ ... Nine!”

“Ohhhh, this isn’t good at all!” whined poor Melena. Her heart nearly exploded in her chest as the referee raised his hand up in the air for the last time, but as the letter “T” was barely on his tongue, Atman suddenly shot up from the floor and stood straight as ever. Melena was thrown back in surprise, but shock soon gave way to anger.

“You ... you were faking it the whole time, weren’t you?!?!” Atman shrugged calmly and loosened the bones in his neck and shoulder.

“Perhaps. That hit was rather powerful, and I might have been taken by surprise, but I guarantee you that what you saw will not happen again.”

“I hope not!!” she yelled. “I don’t wanna win this fight so easily! Come on, Atman! Make me work for it!” Atman smiled wisely, his hands still folded behind his back as he gazed at the smaller, younger woman.

“Well, all right. I see you won’t be satisfied unless I give it everything I have.”

“Good! Then I won’t hold anything back either!” Melena leaped backwards to give herself some extra room, and the fight commenced once again. It was Atman who charged her this time, throwing an uncontrollable whirlwind of attacks right towards her. Melena squealed and desperately tried to counter all the blows, but as she saw in the very first round, Atman’s speed was unbelievable, especially for his age. His hands and feet were like a blur, barely even whistling as they assaulted their opponent. Melena had been taken by surprise for the second time that fight, and it cost her dearly when Atman rammed his fist right on the left side of her ribcage.

An entirely new world of pain and suffering exploded in her abdomen, and Melena crumbled to her knees, and then to her hands, from the powerful blow. She could not even speak or even squeal, so powerful was the attack. Most everybody in the arena was aghast with awe, save for those who had seen Atman fight, most notably Dustin and Minerva. They both gave each other silent grave stares, and held a brittle understanding as they knew just what Melena was going up against.

Gradually, before the referee could reach Five, Melena climbed back to her feet with her hand clutching her side. Her face was dark from such a twisted grimace, and beads of sweat were everywhere. She had difficulty breathing, and could barely limp towards the center of the ring. She had heard all the stories about how powerful Atman could become, but she never imagined...

“That ... was... really ... painful,” she managed through a groan. Atman gave her a slightly-concerned look, and asked if she wanted to quit the match. Melena snarled and ignored the severe throbbing in her chest as she spat back a negative. “No frickin’ way, old man! I’ve lived my whole life dreaming of the day I could finally let loose and go toe-to-toe against the grand master of them all, and now that this dream is becoming a reality, I’m not gonna stop for anything! You can pound me all you want, mister, but I won’t let my dreams and my destiny go to waste! My name is Melena Fara’dellyn, and I have not yet begun to fight!!!!!”

After delivering such a passionate speech, Melena seemed to get her second wind back. Her face contorted into an animalistic snarl, her muscles tensed, her concentration rose to a new acme, her blood raced, her hair stood on end, and her teeth gnashed together. All this was to prepare the young woman in facing her “destiny”: this was her moment now, the moment she had been waiting for her whole life, and she would not back down for any reason. This was Melena’s finest hour.

The fight resumed with earnest, and the two warriors charged towards each other again. There was now no holding back for either side; they were going to go at each other until one of them gave way. Melena had the determination and the spirit to win, and Atman had the strength, skill, and experience, and although they were both tired from their previous bouts, they would never tire nor falter until one had been declared champ.

Their hands flowed like shooting stars, blazing up the air and whistling across the ring as they attacked each other, again and again. Melena chopped and hacked like a heavenly chef, the adrenaline rush from her previous speech giving her the added advantage. Atman seemed more on the defensive side, watching as carefully as his old eyes enabled him as the younger and perhaps fiercer opponent charged at him in a kamikaze fashion.

He fought back, with a fierce flurry of fists that looked more like bullets coming from a powerful blaster. Melena ducked, wove, and blocked through them all, then swept underneath at his feet. Atman leaped up in the air and crashed down with his feet, slamming into Melena but only causing her to flip back. She recovered, and came back with all four of her arms tearing up the older man.

She spun around and gave him a good thwack with her tail (which was still missing its barb), but got whipped in return as he snapped his head around and struck her with his long braid of hair. Once she was stunned, he flew right into her with his arms chopping like scissors, slamming into her body with an amazing head-butt. He then used his flying momentum to do a back-flip in midair, and latched his feet around her head. The limber old man flipped yet again, sending the locked woman slamming onto the arena in a painful suplex. Before she could even turn to fight back, however, he slammed his fists one right after the other into her backside, sneaking in two shots before she could do anything.

Melena was thrown forwards, but the determination coursing through her entire body would not allow her to lose so easily. She stood up, spat out some blood, and came back at the old master with everything she had. Her limbs sailed through the air at an unbelievable and unpredictable speed, fanning every which way like a flame. They pelted all across Atman’s body, scoring small but rapid hits everywhere they went. Quickly, she ducked her head down and wrapped her tail around his neck, and slammed his body all across the arena ring before finally flinging him elsewhere.

Atman was thrown, but caught the ring’s surface before he could fall out and stood back on his feet. He charged again, and gave Melena a bone-splitting quick punch right in the face. She recoiled backwards, exposing her tail for Atman to grab. He threw her around the ring like an Olympic hammer, making her scream out dizzily as she sailed--and finally, the old master threw her straight into the air, leaped up after her like a shot, and slammed his balled-up hands right into her body, sending her smashing back down to the arena.