Heartless Angels

Chapter 60 – Oakley

Chapter 60 – Oakley

I’ve been so caught up in my own head that I haven’t noticed that four wolves were cut this week. It leaves us at 32. A nice round number for the round robin. Made the groupings a lot easier for whoever made up the bracket.

Trainer Ethan is the one that is in charge of today’s tournament, since Trainer Sophia is still…getting to know my brothers. I can’t help but shiver at that. I hope that they have a good matebond. I meant what I said when I told her that they were good wolves. But I really don’t want to think about my brothers, both of them, getting it on, let alone both getting it on with the same chick. Blech.

Anyway. Trainer Ethan stands up at the podium after breakfast, addressing us all. “Alright, trainees. We’re going to have a tournament just like last week’s. I’ll go over the rules again so there are no misunderstandings. There will be five rounds this time. No weapons, no shifting. If you do shift, you will be immediately subdued by our trainers and be eliminated from the tournament. If you fight against us, we will use force. Any struggling that is more than the token ‘get the f uck away from me will result in your ejection from the program and you will be asked to leave. Again, we are working with single elimination rounds. Up to six matches will occur at the same time with four trainers watching each. Medics will be standing by if needed.

You win when your opponent either taps out or cannot continue. Do we have any questions?”

No one says anything and Trainer Ethan nods. “Alright, trainers. Unveil the bracket.”

Just like last time, the chalk board is fl*pped around and we see what’s about to happen.

Unfortunately, with all the s hit that’s been happening. I’ve gone down in the rankings. Still in the top ten, but I went from number two to number seven. Currently, Harry sits at the number one spot, Cassie right below him. Lisa is number four and

Jer ry is at number five. It’s not bad positioning, but it’s not where I was or where I want to be. I’m going to have to work hard to

get back to the top. And I’ve got to do it quick.

I’m in the second group of fighters to go this round, so I watch all of my friends and lovely Lisa fight first. Ray is one of the

trainers that is officiating the fighting this time, so I’m off on the sidelines by myself. Cassie has got the biggest guy in our group, Rupert, to go against. The dude is a tank in every sense of the word. He can take a sh it ton of damage and deal it as well. But he’s slow and a bit unwieldy on his feet. Cas s is going to have to jump in and out of his reach, hitting him as much as possible and then getting away from him as soon as possible.

Jer ry is facing someone in his own weight class, Dante, a leanly muscled and fast wolf. He’s going to be hard to hit, but

where he has speed, he lacks power. If Je rry can hit him hard each time he lands a punch, then he’ll be able to knock him out

quickly.

Though Harry and I still haven’t had a talk to clear the air, I want him to do well. Just not to the level of how he went at

Jer ry. Somehow those two have made up before Harry and I did and I think all they did was nod to each other.

Men.

Harry is facing Flora, a petite, but feisty southern born wolf. She favors lower b*dy attacks, hitting in rapid succession and at key weak points in her opponent’s b*dy. It’s like freaking David and Goliath between the two of them, but it’s anyb*dy’s guess

who will win.

My best bud, Lisa, is fighting Ming, a lithe and deadly wolf from the far east. She has her own fighting style that can be a great asset to her, but she lacks focus. If Lisa can get inside her defenses, Ming is screwed. I send a little prayer to the Goddess that Ming stays focused during her, fight. Not a selfish prayer at all, just wishing for a fair fight between the two wolfs. Yeah, I can tell myself that all I want, doesn’t make it true, I know.

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Chapter 60 – Oakley

Trainer Ethan stands on the sidelines in the middle of the six sparring rings. He’s obviously mindlinking with all of the

trainers to make sure that everyone is ready. When he seems satisfied, he calls out, “Remember, these are fights until your

opponent taps out or can no longer fight back. You listen for the whistle from the head trainer at your ring. Anyone who continues fighting beyond the whistle while be automatically disqualified from the round. Begin.”

Six whistles blow simultaneously and the fighting begins. I try to keep an eye on all six fights at the same time, trying to see who has the advantage. It’s hard, as everyone has shifted into were speed, but I’m moving up and down the sidelines, watching as Ming sends a flying kick right into Lisa’s solar plexus, Cassie basically climbs onto Rupert’s back and punches him in the head a few times, J erry dives under a kick from Dante and comes up uppercutting him in the face, and Harry dances out of the way of Flora’s attacks, letting her wear herself out.

It’s all over in less than 15 minutes. All three of my friends are standing at the end of their rounds, as is Lisa. Can’t win

them all.

I congratulate Jer ry and Cassie, happy that they are moving on to the next round. I nod to Harry and he looks like he wants

to say something.

“Hey, Oakley-” he starts, but I cut him off.

“Harry, I’m glad you made it through and we do need to talk, but not right now. I’ve got to focus,” I say, starting to stretch and then jog in place.

He nods “Good luck. I’ll talk to you at the end.”

I nod and then head toward the ring. I’m facing Jonas, a very tall wolf with a huge reach and enough strength to put me on my as s if I allow it. They are fast and very determined to stay despite their 26th place rank. I’m about to head into the ring when Cassie calls my name.

I turn back to her and she comes up to whisper in my ear. “Jonas is a good warrior, but the reason they’re at such a low rank is that they take too long to learn their opponent’s moves. They study too long and take too long to strike. Move in and move fast and you’ve got this in the bag. They are great at offense, but not defense”

this.

I nod, shooting her a small smile. She’s helping me out because she knows what my rank as done for my confidence. I need

Stepping into the ring. I nod to Jonas, who nods back before siaking into a fighting crouch. My guess is that they want me to think that they are going to spring forward. But now that Cassie has mentioned it, I replay what I remember of Jonas’ fighting style in my head. She’s right. They never attack first. That hesitancy is something that I can use.

Instead of crouching like Jonas, I stand side on to them, looking as if I’m preparing to defend, making myself a smaller target. In reality, I’m preparing to spring forward, leaning most of my weight on my front leg.

As soon as the whistle goes off, I’m moving like a shot. Keeping my side on positioning, I send a flurry of punches at Jona s’s upper and mid b*dy. Many, they are able to block, but I make three solid hits to their solar plexus, shoulder, and dominant arm. I know the last shot to the arm sent a numb feeling up Jo na s’s arm, making it hard for them to feel where their arm is in space and, therefore, harder to control

I follow up the punches with a roundhouse kick to the side of their b*dy with the numb arm. Jonas tries to block, but it’s not anywhere near as effective as it would have been had they had feeling in their arm. The kick is deflected from their head, but still hits their shoulder, knocking them off balance.

I follow their movement towards the ground, sweeping their legs from under them with a swift kick to the back of their knees. They land hard on their side and I quickly climb on top of them, straddling their b*dy so that they can’t use their arms and landing blow after blow to their head. Jonas isn’t able to stop any of my blows and I have my legs wrapped around them so tight

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Chapter 60 – Oakley

that they can’t buck me off, though they try several times. Finally, a punch lands on their temple and I can tell they are dazed. They immediately stop bucking and I pull the next punch, looking up at the head trainer for my sparring ring.

The

e trainer comes over and looks at Jonas, seeing that they aren’t able to focus very well and the trainer blows the whistle, declaring, “Moon wins.”

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