System Nullification

Chapter 27

 "Oh gosh... I don't wanna go..." Brianna groaned. "It looks really hard... I barely do any kind of physical work at all..."

 "Don't worry Brianna, if I can do it, so can you!" Skylar urged. "I believe in you. We all do."

 "Yeah, you got this!" I said.

 "Shit, I'm starting to ache, like, everywhere," Skylar groaned.

 "I can call Charlotte over to help you out," I suggested. "She's the primary carrier of the healer bands for our team."

 "Ooh, healer bands. I bet this place mass produces them," Skylar grinned.

 "In fact, they actually do," Reed chimed in.

 "So who's up against Brianna?" Zephyr asked.

 "I'll take her," a tan brown haired girl barely taller than Brianna volunteered. "My name's Roxanna, but you can call me Rox."

 "Okay..." Brianna murmured.

 "Mkay," Rox said, getting into position. "Ready when you are, Brianna."

 Brianna tried to stop herself from shaking, but this attempt was to no avail. Reed walked up to her and whispered something in her ear. She nodded, forced a smile, took a breath, and started shaking less. She ran towards Rox and tried for a punch. Rox blocked it and hit Brianna in the face. Brianna stumbled back, completely ignoring the fact that she got punched in the face, and moved forward again. Brianna barely dodged one of Rox's attacks and tried to elbow Rox, but Rox grabbed Brianna's arm and threw it to the side. Brianna nearly tripped and clawed Rox's next punch. Now annoyed, Rox practically swung Brianna to the side again, but Brianna found the chance to trip Rox. Then, Brianna scrambled trip once Rox lost her grip on Brianna. Fortunately (or unfortunately for Brianna) the clawing only left a mark on Rox, so the fight didn't need to be stopped. Brianna already looked worn out, but she desperately blocked another hit from Rox already.

 I was worried after I took a glimpse of Rox's fierce looking nature. It only seemed like Rox was gonna go harder on Brianna from here. And she did. This time, Rox hopped back, then flipped up in an attempt to pull off a downwards kick.

 Brianna was terrified, but she moved away from Rox's foot just in time. However, Brianna didn't move that far away from Rox, and Rox elbowed Brianna right in the head. "Oh my gosh..." Skylar gasped.

 Brianna cried out in pain as she fell on her knees. Rox was about to land another attack on Brianna but held back for some strange reason. Brianna stood back up and tried to tackle Rox, but the attack was straightforward enough for Rox to simply move and shove Brianna down, pulling off some more kicks and punches on her. Finally, Rox tackled Brianna, and Brianna flailed her arms and legs in an attempt to get Rox off of her. However, Rox just sat there as Brianna desperately kicked around. I felt this sense of protectiveness surging into me, but then I realized it was an initiation and that all I could do was watch and pity her. "You know what..." Nate walked up to the two girls. "I think that's enough. In a real fight, Rox would've taken out the gun and shot you in the head by now. Rox wins."

 "Oh... okay," Brianna softly said with a slight whimper in her tone.Rox stood up and extended an arm to help Brianna up. Brianna took it, and Rox pulled her up. "Good fight," Rox said, shaking Brianna's hand.

 "Mhm..." Brianna said, quickly moving away the moment the handshake ended.

 I wanted to say something comforting to Brianna, but she already walked right past the rest of us with her head down. We silently followed her, until Zephyr looked around. "Oh, guys, this way," Zephyr said.

 Brianna turned around and speed walked past the rest of us again, her head still down. It saddened me to see her like this. She was always the most hyperactive person in our group, and when the rest of us saw her spirits down like this, it quickly spread a solemn mood around the rest of the group. We made it back to the room Team Austin usually gathered up in. "Oh, hey guys! How'd it go?" Austin asked, turning away from the rest of our team and facing us.