Chapter 24: Zoey vs Tyler!

  Zoey stood in the ring with Tyler Warden and a referee. Officials from the YFTL, family and friends from both fighters, and some people from the media stood outside the ring to watch the match. Tyler was tall and slim, with long, curly green hair, brown eyes, a dark brown skin tone, and a sturdy figure. He wore a white gi and had a brown belt wrapped around his waist. She hasn't fought against someone that used karate yet.

  She was very interested in seeing his techniques. All Zoey knew of karate was from Pollywood movies. Which looked cool but from some of the stuff she read online about it, most of it was pretty impractical to try and use in a real fight. In a real fight, there was nothing stopping people from using everything they can to hurt their opponent. Teeth, nails, pinching, scratching, biting, and that wasn't including random everyday objects that might be in the area to use. Chairs, broken pieces of glass, bottles, rocks, bricks, and more.

  So, with a smile hidden behind a face of seriousness, Zoey lightened her toes and readied herself to fight. She did notice her little brother and mother in the crowd of faces next to her Coach and acquaintances at the gym. They seemed to be talking about something after noticing the resemblance between her mom and herself. Everett's eyes were focused up on the ring at her. So, she couldn't look bad in front of her little brother. What if she somehow lost and he started thinking that he shouldn't be learning from a loser like her? That would be too embarrassing.

"Begin!"

  Tyler started their match off with a strong front kick. His toes leading the attack to sink into her exposed stomach. Zoey's first thought was to crush his leg with a downward punch but her body hopped back and avoided the kick. Her focus was defense! Tire him out! Raise those skills!

  He cautiously moved forward, keeping his eyes on her fists. Zoey figured he must have seen her other two matches and knew how dangerous her fists were. Luckily for him, he still had 3 minutes left before she broke out these babies. So, all she needed for him to do was attack her.

'Don't be a pussy. Come try and beat the shit out of me!'

  Sadly, this is not what he decided to do. He approached her like an actual opponent and didn't look down on her one bit. When she tried to bait him out by throwing a sloppy jab, he made some distance between the two of them. This was pissing her off. Why did she have to pick this guy to go against?

  Neither Zoey or Tyler spoke one word to each other so far. They both analyzed each other's moves to try and gleam anything that they could take advantage of. Once Zoey realized that he was absolutely set on fighting in this match like a turtle, she knew she needed to switch things up a bit. She suddenly dashed in Tyler's space. Just like all the other times she moved in or attacked, his response was to gain some distance. But this time, Zoey wouldn't let him run away as he pleased.

  Zoey's foot stomped on Tyler's, preventing him from moving a single inch backward. The shock in his eyes was evident once he realized that a boxer used their foot and her scary fist was heading straight towards him. His panic was kind of funny as Zoey held back her strength and knocked her fist into his arms. He managed to raised his arms in time to block but Zoey wasn't done playing with him yet. She moved in as if she was going to throw another punch. This sent Tyler into panic mode, his body lurched away to get as far away from her as possible but how could Zoey let him run away like this?

  She grabbed him by the arm and tossed him to the mat. The amount of self-control it took her to not rush down to mount him and start pounding his face in was almost enough to ruin everything she's been working for so far. But that look in his eyes, she didn't like it. It was almost if he was actually afraid of her. With a look like that, how could she possibly get him to show all of his karate moves to beat her?

"Are you even taking this seriously...?" She softly asked. This was a question she seriously wanted to know. "How do you expect to become better if you aren't trying your hardest?" It was probably hypocritical of her to say this.

  As she wasn't trying her hardest either. But this was different! She wasn't trying her hardest because no one's forced her to try her hardest yet. There wasn't a challenge from these fighters that pushed her to her boxing limit. But with this guy, he should be doing everything he could to...

'Oh, I'm a retard...' Zoey wanted to face palm.

  Zoey realized that their fights would be recorded to the YFTL channel on Beetube. So that means their fighting style, fighting habits, and moves would be analyzed by all of their future opponents. This didn't really mean anything to Zoey who didn't care if her skills were 100% documented and explained. Just because people knew what you were capable of didn't mean they could stop it or handle it. All it meant was that she just needed to become an even better fighter capable of surpassing the old her that was researched! That sounded cringey as hell but it was true.

  In the end, this still didn't mean anything for her. It looked like she wouldn't be able to force Tyler into giving it his all because there was no need to expend himself for this fight against someone as strong as her. He still had 2 more chances to lose before he was eliminated in the tournament. Only when they were at the YFTL building performing in the ring would they not have another chance to participate in the tournament. Upon realizing this, Zoey decided to put an end to the match here. This guy obviously wasn't going to show her the awesome karate skills shown in the movies. No flying kicks, split kicks, or backhand punches.

  Zoey rushed in to finish this match once Tyler made it back on his feet. He greeted her aggressive charge with another front kick that Zoey couldn't dodge or parry. It sunk into her stomach, making it the first time she's taken damage since the tournament. But she wasn't sent backward, no, she stood her ground and grabbed his leg with her boxing glove. Tyler tried pulled his leg back but he was not stronger than Zoey.

  She forcefully pulled him towards her and reared her fist back. His gut instinct was to block his face as the rocket in the form of a fist shot off towards him. Zoey didn't care if he blocked or not and aimed for his face regardless. A loud smack sounded out in the ring as Tyler was sent stumbling backwards. Both of his arms were red, shaking, and almost completely numb. When he tried to prepare himself for Zoey's next attack, the only thing he could do was kick out with his legs once more.

'Enough of that shit.' She struck down with her fist like a lightning bolt and sent it straight back to the mat before making her fist drive into his stomach, no longer holding back her strength.

  His body lurched over from the force and angle of her punch while spittle flew from his mouth. The referee called the match once he fell to the ground and declared Zoey the winner. Cheers rang out from the guys at her gym. Applause from mostly everyone else, even Tyler's group. That was nice to see that they didn't hate her or anything. She made her way out of the ring as Coach had some stand by MAT check her out for injuries. Most of the Medical Assistance Team went in the ring to check out Tyler but they had some to spare for her.

"Thank god, you're okay." Her mom wrapped her up in a hug in front of everybody after being checked out and asked many questions.

"I'm fine." She escaped her mother's hug. Oh god, did she really have to do this in front of the guys from the gym? They only know her as the mom that grounded her. If they see her acting all nice and shit, it'll make Zoey look like the asshole for getting grounded by this woman!

"A real-life match is way crazier than watching it online..." Everett said, completely shocked by the his sister's fight.

"Was that your first time watching a match in person?" Steven asked.

"Yeah. I didn't think it'd be so... raw." He didn't know the right word.

"Hahaha! You haven't seen nothing yet. If you thought that was something just wait till the real tournament starts." Tony laughed.

"You should've seen your sister's second match. She was like an unstoppable monster against that sumo dude." Aiden added.

"Where is Mike?" Zoey asked. This question seemed to shock most of the people around.

"You really are a killer, huh? Just got out of a fight and already itching to get back in one!" Coach laughed. "He's on his way with his people." He answered.

"Don't you want some water or to take a break or something?" Her mom asked.

"Some water would be nice." Zoey answered. Her mother handed her one from the cooler nearby.

"Zoey, mind telling us where you learned how to fight like that?" Zack grinned. "I don't remember teaching you any throws or foot stomping." He was interested in her response.

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot about that because of the flashy finish!" Steven said.

"It felt like it would have been effective." She answered half-heartedly.

  Obviously, Zoey wouldn't tell them she learned it from fighting delinquents on the street. There were plenty of other moves she's learned from fighting against gangsters but didn't really plan to use them in the tournament unless she needed to. One of her sub goals was using standard old boxing to win this tournament. Mostly because Coach was the one to give her this opportunity. So, it would be nice of her to try and use the things she's learned from his gym to win. Zoey's main goal in all of this was to raise her skills, her body stat, and to gain more experience in fighting.

'You might have more talent for this than I thought...' Coach Scott thought to himself, still lamenting the fact that she was born a girl.

"What the hell kind of answer is that?!" Tony laughed.

"How do you feel that exactly?" Dylan wondered. He regularly studied Zoey's form and style while being taught by her.

"I watch other people fight and see if I can add it to my own style." She answered truthfully.

"That's fine and all but don't let me dare see you throwing a kick out there!" Coach Scott spoke up. Zoey nodded. She didn't mind a handicap like that for now.