Fight Club With lauronica_mars

[countess_karnstein]

After Lara had left the apartment Ella spent the next few hours trying to process everything that had happened in the previous twenty-four. She contemplated the rescue and how she couldn’t leave Lara to the hands of those mind wiping idiots that operated against her rules. Then how Lara couldn’t follow simple instructions and always tested her patience with added frustration. It would have been much easier to wipe out the club and the students effected, blame it on animal attacks or hide the bodies. The security team and clean-up crew were always at the ready to covertly handle the problems she might have but when Ella ordered the students to be saved the silence from her staff was almost deafening.

The vampire Dean known to be uncaring was suddenly sparing lives. The news of this whispered amongst her staff and found its back to the board quicker than intended. Within a couple of days even Mattie had called, wondering if Ella was starting to go soft. Still Ella didn’t back down, she kept her promise to Lara and all lives were saved. Students blissfully unaware of just how much danger lurked around them on the campus.

Within a week Ella made sure that Lara’s friend was safely returned to their dorm. Her vampire subjects posing as students delivered LaF directly to Lara’s room. Meanwhile Ella kept her distance and spent the remainder of her time being extra cold and ruthless to students to compensate for people thinking she had a heart. On one of her particularly bad days she was conversing with a science teacher outside of the department and out the corner of her eye she watched Lara walked across the grass with her friends. In that moment the person talking to her had no idea clue their words were going in and straight out the other side.

She would have contacted Lara sooner but the girl had seen and experienced a lot. Ella thought it was best to give her some space at least to adjust to finding out the supernatural was real and more around her than most people know.

Thankfully towards the end of what felt like the longest of weeks, it was time for their date. Ella had the location and time and no idea what to expect. Instead of her usual smart and expensive looking attire she dressed down to her favourite black leather jacket, grey tight jeans with high rise boots where the heels complimented every step of her walk in the best of ways.

She drove to the location, far away from anyone recognising who she was and after navigating a few streets there was couple of bouncers outside a black matted door between a bar some sort of closed building. It was the only logical place it would be and a simple flirt with the guards got her in without any fee to pay. Inside the metal steps echoed the further down she went, eventually leading to a well lit room where a large overweight man sat picking food out of his teeth.

“Been here before?” He grumbled, barely looking over his computer monitor. Ella was about to answer when he cut her off. “You place a bet, you lose, your problem. You start a fight and its game over. Only fights happen in the ring, outside of that you’re banned sweetcheeks.” There must have been a button the other side of his desk as the metal door to the side opened and noise erupted from the inside. It was as if he opened the door to a metal concert. The music boomed, people were cheering and Ella couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

She wouldn’t have expected that under the streets a venue like this could exist but there had to be at least hundreds of people from ground level all up on different tears and platforms huddled together around this one circular caged ring in the centre. The instant smell of blood filled the air, causing her to look directly into where two women were fighting inside the cage. Both covered in blood and bruises.

In order to curb the cravings and distract herself, Ella did the smart thing and headed for the bar. In between ordering a drink she text Lara. ‘Come find me at the bar? X”

Comments

[lauronica_mars]

The texts Lara had sent Ella in the wake of getting LaF back, and other texts, had been deleted from her phone. After all the reason she had such a poor excuse for a phone was so she couldn't send selfies, and she knew her mother would check her phone when she got home. She'd never pointed out, of course, that she could easily have turned herself into a professional cam girl with that webcam of hers if anyone wanted to watch.

Her text back was fast. "I'm in the dressing rooms with Jack, giving him a pep talk. Tell them that you're Carmilla and you've come to see Jack and they'll let you through." She didn't of course realise that Jack was planning on threatening Ella, in part to check that she could cope and in part because he cared for her.

Laura herself was dressed almost as innocently as possible in a white floaty scoop-necked top and a white miniskirt, sticking out like a sore thumb in this place where black leather was more common than anything white.

[countess_karnstein]

Although wearing black leather Ella stood out, looking much younger and closer to Lara’s age then anyone could say they have ever seen her in a long time. She might be stuck at twenty-five but she could still pass for a student.

Lara sent a message back so fast that Ella had to knocked back her drink. It took a while of shifting through the crowds to locate where the changing rooms were. Every couple of steps crowds would cheer or shout and the noise felt like it was shaking the underground venue. Eventually, Ella made is it to the changing rooms using the name Carmilla to gain her access exactly like Lara had said.

There were a few looks from the crowd as she snuck past like a VIP to behind the scenes. Ella ignored them and proceeded down the dark corridors and towards the locker room. Eventually she heard the familiar voice of Lara alongside a guy’s voice she didn’t recognise. For someone so fearless she felt her stomach flip as the vampire walked into the room. The outfit was complete bait for Ella, so much so she couldn’t stop her fangs sliding into her mouth.

She smirked when Lara’s eyes met her own. That inescapable connection being made but short lived as out of nowhere Ella saw a hand come towards her from the side. On instinct she grabbed it, twisting the person round and shoving them face first and up against the wall. In the weight transfer Ella picked up that it was the guy. She pinned him, arm twisted so far back that snapping it would be effortless from here.

“What. The. Hell?” Ella looked over at Lara. “Friend of yours?” Her answer would decide if this man got to keep his life. Ella was still trying to learn not to kill or brutally hurt anyone that annoyed her. Lara was helping with that.

[lauronica_mars]

"Jack!" The alarm in Lara's tone was more a warning than anything else. "Ella!" And there was reprimand in it both times. "Break! Both of you." Lara was already moving, trying to step between them and then swallowing as she realised Ella might take the ring command the wrong way.

"Jack, you swung first. Please don't attack my girlfriend. Ella, Jack is who we are here to watch. Don't break him before the fight. Or even after."

"Sorry." Jack wasn't struggling and had heard the break command. "I thought you were Ivelisse there. And I've considered a restraining order for her."

[countess_karnstein]

It was lucky for Lara that Ella knew she didn’t mean break his arm because a fraction more and she would have snapped it like a twig. An effortless and skilled break the fighter would have taken a long time to recover from. She let go of Jack without the fear of him trying to take another swing. After the sigh of relief escaped his lips he spent the next few seconds flexing his arm and trying to rorate the pain the brief pain away.

“Should I even ask who that is?” Ella looked blank as if it was a fighter she should know about but when she was reminded what Lara was wearing her thoughts went out the window and the vampire smirked. Ella folded her arms across her chest and made it obvious she was checking the girl out. “Actually I suddenly don’t care.”

Biting her lip, Ella couldn’t even tear her eyes away to ask her question to Jack directly. “When you’re finished in the cage, can I borrow it?”

[lauronica_mars]

Lara opened her mouth to say something, and then her mind processed Ella's request to borrow the cage and understood what her girlfriend was planning. "God... no." Her shiver was visible as was the way the suggestion turned her on. But she wasn't ready for anything remotely like that.

Jack laughed, knowing Lara well enough to read her reaction for what it was. "You get her then? It's about time someone dragged you out of that shell, Lara." He turned to Ella. "But force her into anything she actually doesn't want and I'll do to you everything she won't because she'll protect everyone but herself."

[countess_karnstein]

As far as Ella was concerned Jack didn’t know she was a vampire and a vicious one at that. People had lost their lives for much less than the tone Jack was giving her right now. She wondered if Lara even fathomed how much self-control it was taking her to not kill every person that so much looked at her in the wrong way. But still, she made the effort to curb those urges and not be as ruthless simply because for Lara she was trying. Rescuing her friend LaF was the first step in trying to approach matters in another way. Hopefully another way that wouldn’t make hear appear weak.

“Are you threatening me?” The Dean raised an eyebrow. “Is that any way to speak to someone that nearly broke your arm?” She was quick to temper and if Lara caught it, her right hand balled into a fist in an attempt try and keep herself composed.

In that moment there was the noise of a door opening and from the side a girl entered the room. She had a torn grey tank top, ripped down the middle as if she had been in a fight. Black shorts that complimented her slender figure. It was the combat boots at the bottom that caught Ella’s attention when she entered heavy footed into the room. “The way these two are goin’ at it I’d say you’ve got about ten minutes before ya fight. “She refused to look at Lara on purpose but did to Ella, only out of curiosity. “Collectin’ more fans are we?”

[lauronica_mars]

Jack smiled. "Seven. Pete trained precisely for the full three rounds and doesn't realise what the crowd's giving him or that he's paying for it physically. He'll either win in two or be barely strong enough to defend himself at the start of three."

"Now why does that sound like you're almost quoting someone?" Lara's tone was teasing.

"I wonder." Jack's tone was dry. "Tia you've met Lara before. This is Ella, Lara's girlfriend. And apparently her mirror, even if both of them could compete at straweight. Ella, Tia." He was utterly oblivious to any jealousy in the room - or that Tia was interested in him.

[countess_karnstein]

“Girlfriend huh? Here I was thinkin’ princess was vanilla.” Tia gave Lara a look. It was the sort that hid how surprised and happy she was to hear she had a girlfriend but still hated the fact she felt Lara kept Jack’s attention. She ruffled the back of her frizzy brown hair and tilted her nodded a what’s up at Ella. “Have you been here before?”

The vampire hated that question. Sometimes it meant a connection leading back to the university where she is quickly found out on her identity. Other times it’s a connection to her age. Either way Ella kept calm and her tone was cold. “Never.” She said simply. Tia would have had less attitude from Ella if it wasn’t for the fact she had picked up on her attitude towards Lara. It was moments like this she wondered why she was here standing between a guy who had over protection issues of his friend and some street wise girl who needed an attitude adjustment. It was an odd entrance to a first date.

Ella was about to speak when the noise of the crowd roared behind the door where Tia stood. It was loud enough that Tia vanished for a split second, leaving the three of them wondering what was going on. Ella started to look around the room, curious if there were pictures or any old photographs of fighters. She feared if Jack pushed her she would hurt him so tried to keep her distance.

It wasn’t long before Tia came rushing back into the room. The beam across her face couldn’t be missed. “So much for Emily. You should have seen that!” She bounced across to Jack. “They Lucy hit her so hard swear her eyes rolled back into her skull. Anyway she’s out cold so guess what you’re up next. Get your shit together.” Leaving for the ring she paused to look back over her shoulder. “Oh and don’t lose this one okay? I bet on you to win.” That was the closest to a compliment Tia could give without her heart racing. She didn’t know if Jack would pick up on it but before he could answer she left the room.

“Let me guess, two men enter one man leaves?” Ella asked, for once making a movie reference out loud.

[lauronica_mars]

Jack barked a laugh. "She's dressed as aggressively as a punk at a Southern Baptist service. What ever gave you the idea she was vanilla?" Tia was out of the door before she was able to answer.

"Oh, if both last all five rounds they both leave." Jack shrugged. "Same reason they have rests in boxing. This is about entertainment and we don't want people to drop by running out of gas."

"Five rounds, three minutes each? We used to practice at five and five before you got too good." Lara grinned at Jack, slapping him on the shoulder. "You've got this."

[countess_karnstein]

Ella felt odd being in the locker room, scanning the walls and wondering if Jack picked up on the tension in the room as soon as Tia entered. It was bad enough between her and Jack let alone Tia and him. Lara did well not to snap her at her because Ella would have quite happily removed her tongue if she had stayed about any longer.

She turned around to see Lara giving him a few words of encouragement and Ella noted Jack didn’t look nervous at all. Perhaps he was and she couldn’t see it but from where the vampire stood she didn’t pick up an elevated heartrate above normal.

“Is there a certain place you want to watch Lara? Ella looked through the door Tia walked out of and could tell it was nearly time for Jack to head up to the ring. “The crowd are betting a lot of money on you Jack.”

[lauronica_mars]

Lara smiled. "We've an invitation right to ringside just outside the cage. Best seats in the house."

Jack grinned. "I'm the underdog but everyone wants me to win and Zack to get his face beaten in. And we've been having a war of words over YouTube and Twitter for the past month."

"You ready, Jack? And are you, Ella?" Laura was almost bouncing on her feet as Jack smiled and headed down the corridor.

They would almost be at the ring when Ella would notice the barrier; vampires, werewolves, and a range of other supernatural beings simply could not set foot within the cage. Lara actually could on the other hand; it didn't block witches.

[countess_karnstein]

Ella was staring at the crowd when she heard Lara call her name. It snapped her back into reality, tearing her from her thoughts. “I’m ready.” She smiled back over her shoulder and when she saw how excited Lara was, bouncing on her feet it pulled her away from the door enough to wander over to her. She was beautiful.

“Good luck.” The vampire wished Jack and as much as they didn’t hit off to the best start, she meant it.

When Tia’s voice introduced Zack to the crowd the room came alive with cheer. It roared so loud that Ella felt the ground move as Lara led them towards their spot to watch the match. Jack’s introduction was clearly favoured by Tia but the crowd didn’t mind. As if Zack’s cheer couldn’t be matched Jack earned an equal roar from the crowd. Ella kept looking between the excitement of the cage and Lara’s face. It was an interesting place for a first date but seeing the look of happiness on Lara made it completely worth it and Ella was starting to feel the buzz from the crowd.

The second the two fighters had the cage door locked behind them a dome appeared from the top of the cage and spread down to the arena floor. It was completely transparent so none of the crowd complained. There were also TV screens covering various angles of the match around the room so everyone got those close up shots. Ella noticed a man reach out and touch the barrier only to be blown backwards by a flash of light. Tia saw what had happened and took to the mic.

“As always supernaturals can’t enter the dome. Ya know the rules people.” When the laughter died down from the guy who shocked himself the bell rang and Zack smacked his fists together. He stayed light on his feet with his girlfriend barking orders from behind him. He simply grunted in acknowledgment and focused all his attention onto reshaping Jack’s face. Starting with the first punch he aimed straight for the stomach, intending to break a rib.

[lauronica_mars]

Lara groaned, staggering out of the ring clutching her ribs and with vivid splashes of red adding vivid colour to her pure white t-shirt and miniskirt. In the third round of three 'Lilith' had thrown the kitchen sink at her in an attempt to either take her out or make her tap out before she ran out the clock. And she'd almost succeeded, leaving Lara with one eye swollen shut, a cut on her forehead trickling blood near the other one, and some separated and cracked ribs.

Not that it had all been one way; Lara had opened by breaking Lilly's nose, which was part of what had made the fight so brutal, and one of her eyes was also swelling closed but she'd taken nothing like the number of body shots Lara had. Still, every time she thought she'd found a way to put Lara down it had turned out Lara was bluffing. But there was no doubt who'd got the best of things even if the crowd had been on Lara's side, willing her to hold out to the end of the third round against the woman who was quite open that she'd been thrown out of the UFC for steroid abuse.

"Ella." Lara groaned, staggering out of the cage and throwing her arms round Ella's neck. "Sorry I didn't come close to winning." Not that anyone except Lara had thought she had a chance at the start. And just by going to time she had a fairly substantial prize.

[countess_karnstein]

Ella watched the fight between the guys. Having seen and been in maybe fights over the centuries it shouldn’t have been anything new to her but the atmosphere, the buzz of the crowd and note to mention the way it was making Lara happy just fuelled Ella’s passion to keep watching. At some stages of the match she even shouted advice and tips to Jack like he could hear her in the sea of background noise. Everything was fun and for a first date she couldn’t think of anything better.

That thought was short lived when Lara stepped into the ring. A twist of fate she didn’t see happening she fully supported Lara’s abilities to make her own choices but didn’t like the fact the dome prevented her from saving Lara should she get in trouble. And that is exactly what happened. As she watched Lara take blow after blow, Ella felt her heart sink in her chest and anger burn through her veins. She launched herself at the dome only to be blown backwards and land on top of the crowd behind her. She didn’t care for the pain regardless of the electricity nearly paralysing her in shock. Ella went to launch again but some of the crowd held her back. They must have been a mixture of supernatural to stop the force in which she was trying to get to Lara.

The next few minutes were the most painful to watch. Ella eventually stopped struggling and watched Lara barely able to watch out the cage. The second that door opened, with speed unmatched she shot to where Lara was and caught her just as the arms flung around her neck. For Ella, Lara was weightless. She held her up and looked past her shoulder to where Lilly was fuelling her victory and wiping the blood from her nose. If it wasn’t for Lara making the vampire promise, Ella would have killed her by now.

A few minutes later Ella felt Lara’s legs give way and she was unconscious. She used this time to get Lara out of the venue and back home to her apartment as soon as possible. A few of the bouncers made the comment of getting Lara to the hospital and want to call an ambulance thinking they were helping but Ella protested against it and instead asked an old friend to meet her back at her apartment.

In record time Lara was placed on the bed, Ella stepping back to give Adrienne enough space look at the girls wounds. Adrienne was older than Ella. The vampire didn’t know her exact age as both of them looked barely twenty-five visually but Mattie once commented on Adrienne’s people and their history. Ella had never asked as the two of them had an unlikely friendship. All she knew was that her species, male and female were always tall, slender and bald. They had a slight blue tone to their skin and Ella often compared them to the human version of monks. They sat somewhere between light and dark, excellent with magic and knowledge and rare to find.

“She is stronger than she looks.” Adrienne’s yellow eyes caught the vampires as her hands were held out just above Lara’s ribs. “I can speed up the healing but it will take time. The bruises are the least of the damage but she will recover.”

“Fix it now.” Ella snapped. “I don’t care what you have to do.”

Adrienne tilted her head, curious to Ella’s reaction. “I can use light magic to speed up the healing.” Her hands started to emit a white light from her under her palms. “But the rest she will have to recover herself. For me to heal her instantly will take dark magic and will be at the cost of someone else. Do you wish for me to do that?” She blinked, leaving the choice up to Ella who knew at any moment Lara would wake up, if she wasn’t listening already.

“If the cost was me could you heal her?”

Adrienne smiled. “A human for a human. I would need to transfer her damage to someone else. You are not human Ella, you know this.” It never failed to amaze Ella how calm Adrienne always was, even when Ella was clearly angry. “Make your choice and I will do what I must.”

Ella was fuming, pacing at the end of the bed knowing Lara would wake up at any moment. “Light.” She eventually barked, annoyed at herself for her choice. “Heal the worst and I’ll keep her here until she recovers.”

“As you wish.” The light from her hands got brighter and the creature worked on easing the pain, she smiled to herself.

Ella caught that smile and crossed her arms. “Is something funny?”

“You never choose light. She is changing you.”

Ella was too furious at that comment to answer. Instead she morphed into her giant black cat form and as if cats could sulk, she sat the other side of the bed, facing away from her friend with her back towards Lara. It was almost as if she was guarding the bed. Eventually she dropped onto her front paws and curled up, occasionally letting out a large sigh or letting a whimper escape as she exhaled. Even curled at the side of the bed Ella was big enough that when Lara woke she wouldn’t be able to miss seeing the large black fur shoulders of the panther beside the bed.

Adrienne did what she needed to do and told Ella that Lara would wake in her own time and just to wait. She knew Ella didn’t like the response when she got a growl in return which was her signal to leave.

[lauronica_mars]

Lara opened her eyes blearily, whole body feeling stiff and as if she'd put it through the wringer, and in front of her was a mound of black fur. Ella. So she threw her arm round Ella's neck and nuzzled into her back as what she'd done yesterday came back to her.

No wonder she felt stiff and full of aches and pains, but not as full as she ought to. In particular her eye was nowhere near as swollen, and her ribs felt better than they had any right to. And she felt mentally for her magic, realising her power level was higher than it had ever been. Not that it should have been as surprising as it was; she'd been the passionate focus of a couple of hundred people's hopes and wishes, and also of quite a lot of destructive intent on both ends, far more than she normally had.

"Are you awake?" Lara's voice was soft as she spoke to the panther lying in front of her. If not she could lie there for a while.

[countess_karnstein]

Ella didn’t think she would ever get used to Lara not finding her intimidating in general let alone when she was a panther. Not that she minded having the arm wrap around her neck coupled with the nuzzle. Her eyes snapped open and as she turned to face her, Ella morphed back into herself. She stood beside the bed looking at Lara and could see all the bruises and marks left over the match, even the patch around her eye still looked sore.

“I’m awake. I haven’t slept since the match. Are you feeling any better?”

[lauronica_mars]

"I am, thank you." Lara smiled and tried to tug Ella closer. "You had me healed? Thank you."

She frowned, her tone turning a little self-recriminating. "And I should have known better than to get into the ring when rusty and not in training. I might not have won that if I'd been at my best." But her tone said she knew it would have been close.

"And I gathered so much power from that! I wasn't expecting that!" Lara smiled still trying to tug Ella closer.

[countess_karnstein]

Ella wasn’t allowing herself to be tugged closer. She stood at the side her bed with her arms across her chest. “My friend couldn’t heal everything. Had I have let her use dark magic you would be as good as new but at the cost of someone else taking your pain. I took a guess you’d be angry if I gave your pain to someone else.

I offered myself but as a vampire it wouldn’t work.”

Ella took a deep breath and sat at the base of the bed. “Do you have any idea what you put me through?

You’re a big girl Lara, you can make your own choices and I know you can take care of yourself but heading into a fight in a place where I can’t save you if you get into trouble?” Ella was furious but it came out of a place she didn’t know she had. She was angry because she cared and that scared her as much as letting Lara in.

“God Lara, you stepped into a ring to defend Jack and got your ass handed to you!”

[lauronica_mars]

Lara looked at her. "Sorry. And I won't even try and promise nothing like that will happen again." Her smile was wry. "You wouldn't be interested in someone meek and submissive other than in short bursts. But I will try to think of you before jumping into things."

She smiled, reaching out to stroke Ella's face. "I'm glad you didn't have me fixed to good as new; I like to think I'm better than a newborn baby as well as not wanting anyone else hurt." She looked at Ella. "But the only bone I've upgraded so far has been my skull. And it's slow and tiring, although my ribs are getting it next." It was a semi-transparent attempt at deflection, because upgrading bones wasn't anything in the books Ella had given her - instead it was an idea she, Perry, and especially LaF had put together. Many witches and wizards had upgraded their physiques, but that was known to burn their magic to maintain and was generally considered almost pure vanity.

[countess_karnstein]

Ella’s felt her stomach churn over. Torn between anger and confusion her froze for a second before answering. “What do you mean you’ve upgrading bones? Lara, what have you done?”

[lauronica_mars]

"Sidestepped every rule in the book." Lara shrugged. "You don't channel energy into living cells because they adapt and rely on the magic. I'm not. I'm basically tattooing them. You don't transmute bone because there are counter spells and low magic situations that could reverse them. Except for chemical changes. You don't make small scale changes to organs because of complex visualisations. This isn't complex. You don't add inorganic elements to your body. But carbon isn't. So none of the reasons apply."

She smiled. "Tattoos are fine as are bone tattoos. I'm basically tattooing my bones with carbon nanotubes. Tougher than diamond, doesn't shatter, and magically neutral because carbon. So if someone were to shoot me between the eyes with a teflon bullet it wouldn't penetrate my skull. Wouldn't protect me from whiplash or concussion but my skull would be unbroken and my brains on the inside."

[countess_karnstein]

The vampire was silent for a moment. Pinching the bridge of her nose she didn’t know where to start with any of this. “Why Lara? Why would you do that to yourself?”

She glanced to where her phone was on the bedside table. Next to it was Lara’s. Ella thought it was best to put it on charge while she was recovering but right now she was debating calling one of Lara’s friends.

[lauronica_mars]

"Do what?" Lara blinked. "Make my bones effectively unbreakable? Breaking an arm, a leg, or a foot hurts. And reinforcing my bones might work magically like tattooing but the method isn't the same at all. It's basically one touch of one needle per bone per session, and the rest at worst feels itchy as it spreads out from that one point."

[countess_karnstein]

“Why would you do that to your bones Lara?” Ella got up and started to pace. “And for that matter were you ever going to tell me?”

[lauronica_mars]

"I just told you? Breaking bones hurts." Lara blinked. "I don't see what the big deal is?"