The Tiger King (Chaelisa)

1| In the Ring

She jumped from side to side in agitation, punching the air as people jostled her. Her voice carried quite well despite her diminutive size.

"Harder, you can go harder!" Jennie hollered from beneath the platform.

The crowd roared as the two boxers in the ring punched and parried, blocked, dodged and ducked. Grunts and growls abound, their skin glowing with sweat.

The heat was intense, the excitement cranked up to feverish heights.

The turnout was high: a sold-out show with extra people cramming in-tonight's match featured the eagerly anticipated showdown between two of the Slammer's most prized fighters.

The black-haired boxer suddenly caught her opponent in a brutal uppercut, sending the other girl crashing back against the ropes.

People screamed, people jeered, people cheered. Money bills rained down, but none of the onlookers cared for it-all of the audience were here to watch a fight, not scramble for money.

Jennie immediately rushed to the dazed girl's side, sponging the side of her head with cool water from her bottle.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jennie hissed. "This isn't some water break Lisa! Get back there and beat her!"

"Shut your gab, jeez, I know. Gimme a second," the blonde boxer groaned as she straightened.

She squinted against the blinding lights until her eyes fell on her opponent. The other girl was waiting a respectful distance away to give Lisa a chance to recover.

Lisa gave her a good-natured grin, wincing in the process. "Ever so polite. The Jap is showing in ya, Momo!"

Her opponent chuckled. "What can I say? I did land a good punch there-you need your time to recover."

"Ay, so ya did," Lisa winked as she rubbed her chin as best as she could with the clunky boxing glove. "But now get ready to kiss my fist, Kamikaze."

"Ladies first, Miss Tornado," Momo teased with a dramatic bow.

"Oh congrats, I didn't know you're a guy now-"

"Ladies! Less chatting, more fighting please!" the referee called exasperatedly over the restless roiling of the onlookers. He had gotten used to these friendly exchanges but the audience had come to see a duel, not a casual chat.

Both girls rolled their eyes and took their stance, little grins on their faces.

Jennie glanced from one to the other, suddenly suspicious when she noticed their identical winks.

"You idiots better not be planning what I think you're-"

At the sound of the bell, Lisa and Momo charged forward, head slamming so hard they stumbled back and dropped to the ground with identical groans. They curled up into balls like hedgehogs.

Both girls slapped on the ground in surrender simultaneously, glancing up briefly to grin at each other before dropping their heads to the ground again.

The referee blew the whistle; the fight was over.

Their spectators whooped and hooted their appreciation, thoroughly enjoying the show from their favourite crack-heads as they threw more money into the ring.

Jennie and the referee glanced at each other for a moment, then face-palmed in unison.

*************

just to let you know, chaeyoung won't appear in a good long while until I slowly build up....

sorry, not my usual style, but it turned out like this ;-P