№22|The First Round
●══════⋆☆⋆══════●

“There you have it folks! Those are the teams! Teams, please make your way to your designated viewing boxes!” Keiko announced as the teams walked to their viewing boxes above the arena.

Matias, Emma, and Emmanuel were all surprised to see Eponine, Sergio, and Gloria were in their view box. “Eppy!” Matias tackled her into a crushing hug. Eponine laughed, “I missed you too, Matias.” Eponine smiled, hugging him back.

“How are you here?” Emmanuel asked, Gloria chuckled, ruffling his hair. “A lady named Swan let us out of the boxes Juniper held us in and replaced it with clones, only thing, we gotta go back before nightfall.” Gloria sighed.

“But!” Sergio perked up, “we still get to be with you.” Sergio kissed her hand, “that’s all that matters.”

Emma blushed, “i-idi-idiot!”

Sergio kissed her cheek, “you’re so adorable when your flustered.”

Gloria looked across the field to see Damien in the viewing area across from them “Is that…?” Gloria began. “Yep, that’s Damien.” Emmanuel glared at him. “I can't wait to beat the living snot out of him.”

“You’re always being so violent.” Marmalade sighed, slinging her arms over his shoulder, “this Damien guy really has a bad effect on you huh?”

“You have no idea baby,” Emmanuel sighed, shaking his head. “Who is he anyways?” Diane asked.

“Technically, Damien’s my step brother.”

“YOU’RE WHAT?!” the Ruby Golden Dragons yelled in unison.

“Now it’s time for the first match!” Keiko yelled, skipping down to the ring. 

Keiko is a young woman of average height, with a slim build and rounded facial features. She has peach skin, light emerald green eyes and cinnamon brown hair that is kept in short, covering her cheeks and forehead.

Her demon features consist of: a pair of triangular fox ears, a bushy, light brown fur tail and two pairs of three whiskers, one for each cheek.

Her clothes consist of a cream shirt with a golden collar and a short blue tie, a pair of waist-high pink shorts, red coat tails with teal lining, black tights, red cloth bracelets, a pair of short-heeled red boots, and a small red bow-tie choke

“I’m your host Keiko and I’ll be here giving the play by play of every match!” Keiko smiled widely, “without further ado let’s get the first match under way!”

Keiko held her hand to the sky as a dove delivered her a scroll from the tournament executives, “our first match is between Damien and Emmanuel! It’s sure to be a scorcher between these two hotties!”

Damien jumped down from his viewing box, sending a gust of wind with his impact on the ground, “thanks, darling.” Damien winked at Keiko who blushed slightly.

“My name is Keiko! Not darling.” Keiko scolded, her blush still adamant on her face. Damien chuckled, “how about a friendly wager, if I win, you agree to go on a date with me, if I lose, mmm,” he looked her up and down, “you look like you like shopping, if I lose, I’ll take you shopping. Deal?”

“Deal! I’ve had my eyes on a Gucci Purse and you’re gonna buy it for me.” Keiko smirked, watching as Emmanuel entered the ring.

“Lets go Big Brother!” Dizzy cheered from the comfort of her and Shawn’s apartment. “You really think he’s gonna win?” Shawn asked, playing with Dizzy’s blonde hair, he really didn’t care too much about the match, he just loved being beside his wonderful Dizzy.

“Yeah! He’s my Big Brother, he knows what he’s doing.” Dizzy nodded with determination. Shawn chuckled, “you’re so eccentric, I love it.”

Damien and Emmanuel stared at each other in the eyes, “hello, brother.” Damien shot his younger step brother a disgusting look. “Don't call me that, not after what you and that monster of a father did to mom!” Emmanuel scolded.

“She brought that onto herself, Emmanuel, she stuck her nose where it didn’t belong.” Damien scoffed. “She was just protecting me! And you threw her away like scum!” Emmanuel clenched his fist, “and you tried to do the same to Gloria?! How dare you!”

“There’s so real tension between these two brothers-”

“Step brothers.” Damien and Emmanuel said in unison.

“Step brothers I mean, regardless of their status you won't want to miss this match cause it starts now!” Keiko announced, blowing the whistle around her neck, “anything goes folk! You gain a win if the your opponent can't get to their feet on the count of ten, are knocked out of consciousness, knocked out of the ring for more then 10 seconds, or is dead!”

“Did you just say death, fox girl?!” Marmalade hollered. “Yes I did, and my name is Keiko, not a fox girl!” Keiko pouted. “I don't give a shit what your name is,” her glared turned towards Emmanuel, “you better not die!”

“Oh don't worry, Marmalade, I won't be the one dying-.” before he could finish, a metal spear was stabbed through Emmanuel’s chest. “MANNY!” Marmalade yelled.

“I’m...fine…” Emmanuel coughed up blood, watching as Damien drilled the spear into Emmanuel’s chest more and more, “who...do you think...you are…” Emmanuel groaned.

“It doesn't matter who I am now does it Emmanuel? And it wouldn't matter if you died here today either, now would it?” Damien smirked, “you’re just a sinner Emmanuel, a dirty rotten sinner!”

Damien rushed towards Emmanuel, wanting to pierce him again with the spear, but Emmanuel jumped up and dodged his attack. “I’m the sinner?!” Emmanuel growled, “you’re the one who forced mom and me to leave!”

When Emmanuel tried to punch him, Damien escaped quickly using his levitation abilities and his spear.

~¥~

“So his spear is kinda like CJ’s FireFly spear?” Carlos asked, Hex nodded, letting Cruella continue with the story.

~¥~

Damien then started using multiple attacks with his spear, but Emmanuel was able to dodge them all. Dodging the last attack, Emmanuel jumped up and tried to kick Damien but his foot went right through him like he was merely a projection.

Upon landing, he saw Damien standing in front of him. “Think back to those days Emmanuel, back to the days of our dear found mother which you ran away with!” Emmanuel was preparing to use his magi but was caught off guard by his step brother’s words.

“Mommy! Mommy! Look what I found!” a 5 year old Emmanuel cheered, running up to his mom in the flower field as he held a small bouquet of flowers.

“Why their lovely Emmanuel,” his mother, Cynthia, picked up Emmanuel, holding him in her arms, “I bet they’ll brighten up the house, don't you think?”

Emmanuel nodded, “they’ll look great Mommy!”

Emmanuel walked hand in hand with his mother through the small town of Longdale Rock, it was peaceful and everyone knew everyone. “Mommy,” Emmanuel looked up at her. “Yes Manny?” Cynthia smiled.

“Why don't I have a dad? All the other kids at school have dad, why don't I have one?” Emmanuel questioned innocently. “You do have one, his name is Fredrick.” Cynthia sighed, “he’s not the best step father but you have one.”

“But you hate him.” Emmanuel muttered. “I do, but you need a father figure in your life and right now Fredrick is that.” Cynthia shook her head, “even if he is rude and obnoxious.”

“He’s not my dad! You’re my dad and my mom!” Emmanuel stated, Cynthia crouched down and rubbed her hand across his cheek. “I’d like to think that too, but you're a growing boy and a growing boy needs someone to look up to.”

“That’s why I have you, Mommy!” Emmanuel pouted, “do you not want to be my role model...is that it?” Emmanuel frowned.

"I never said that, Emmanuel," Cynthia noted "It's just that ever since your father left, you’ve needed a person you can reflect off of. Even if that person is an arrogant, selfless, idiot…” Cynthia furrowed her eyebrows.

“That’s why I look up to you, Mommy! I don't like Fredrick and Damien...especially Frederick...he hurts you.” Emmanuel whimpered. “I know, but at least you have a big brother.”

“Damien isn't my big brother, her barely pays attention to me.” Emmanuel kicked the dirt under his feet. “Come on, let’s go inside,” Cynthia held his small hand as the two walked inside the house to see Frederick and Damien playing cards.

“Hi honey,” Cynthia smiled fakely. Frederick grunted in response. Cynthia rolled his eyes, her phone vibrated, Emmanuel picked it up, “who’s Gloria?”

Cynthia blushed, “she’s...uh…” she looked at Frederick who gave her a concerning and stern look, “she’s mommy’s very special friend in New York.”

“Special friend?” Emmanuel tilted her head. “I’ll explain later.” Cynthia winked, putting away the groceries.

Later that night, Frederick and Cynthia were fighting, “you little whore! How dare you choose her over me!”

“She actually loves me, unlike you, she cares about me and Emmanuel!”

“You’re not taking Emmanuel with you! I need him for the cartel!”

“Fuck your cartel! I’m not having my son wrapped up in that mess!” Cynthia slapped him, “the fact that you would even consider forcing my son into your family business is disgusting!”

“Fine run off to your little lesbian queen! I don't fucking need you! I can't believe I had sec with a lesbian whore like you anyways!” He slammed the bedroom door in Cynthia’s face.

She growled and marched towards Emmanuel’s room, she took a deep breath in and out before answering the door. “Emmanuel,” she opened the door slightly to see Emmanuel still awake.

“Did you hear all that?”

“Yeah,” Emmanuel looked up at her, “what’s a lesbian?”

She sat beside Emmanuel, “a lesbian is when a woman loves another woman very deeply. That’s what I am, Emmanuel. And you’re okay with that, right?”

Emmanuel nodded, “but I thought a woman could only love a man?”

“No, no, no, love doesn't have a single compact meaning, love can be between any gender, race, and sexual orientation. Love is love, Emmanuel, and we shouldn’t judge people by who they are and who they love,” Cynthia tapped his nose, “remember, at the end of the day, we’re all still human, no matter who or what we love.”

“Is that what you meant by Gloria being your special friend?” Emmanuel asked. “Yes,” Cynthia brought out his suitcase from under the bed, “and soon you’ll get to meet her. She’s wonderful with kids, she has a foster home in New York, you’ll love it there.”

“Are you sending me to a foster home?!”

“No, no, no! We’re just going to live with Gloria.” Cynthia clarified, packing Emmanuel’s stuff in the suitcase. “You’ll have so many new friends in New York City, and a new mom.”

“But...aren’t you my mom?”

“I am, but since me and Gloria are dating, she’ll be your mom too. So you’ll have two moms, okay?” Cynthia explained. Emmanuel nodded, “alright! I can't wait to meet my new mommy!”

“She can't wait to meet you either.”

Later on that day, Cynthia carried Emmanuel as they showed up at Gloria’s door step. “Emmanuel, wake up.” Cynthia shook him awake.

“Not now mom…” Emmanuel groaned shifting in his mother's arms. Cynthia shook him harder, “come on, we're here.”

Emmanuel rubbed his eyes as Cynthia knocked on the door “is this Gloria's house?”

Cynthia nodded, “yeah, you're gonna love her.” Gloria opened the door, smiling to see her girlfriend holding her son.

“I'm so glad your okay,” Gloria hugged her, smiling into her shoulder, “your not bruised right? That stupid Frederick didn’t hurt you, did he?” Gloria scanned her body for any injuries.

“No, I’m perfectly fine,” Cynthia kissed her cheek, “especially now that we’re with you.”

Emmanuel turned away from Gloria, “h-hi…”

“Awe, he’s nervous.” Gloria cooed, stroking Emmanuel’s hair, “so cute, hey, I know you dad was mean to you but you don't have to worry about dads anymore because you have 2 moms!”

“O-Oh…”

“Will it make you feel better if you met some of the other kids?” Gloria offered. Emmanuel nodded as Cynthia carried him inside to the other kids running around playing.

“Dizzy!” Gloria called out. A girl with blond hair stopped playing and smiled at Gloria, “hi, mom!”

“You gave birth to Dizzy?” Emmanuel asked. Gloria shook her head, “none of these kids are actually mine but since I run a foster home, all the kids call me mom. Except, Hex, Ector, and Gabriella, they have their own mom, Emma, she comes and visits often.”

“Anyways, this is Dizzy, and her friend is Julia.” Gloria crouched down in front of Gloria. “That is Emmanuel, he’s my girlfriend's kid,” Gloria said in sign language.

“Is she deaf?” Emmanuel asked. Julia nodded reading his lips, “I can also read lips.” She signed. “Oooh! Can you teach me sign language?” Emmanuel questioned. “Sure,” Julia nodded, shrugging.

“Nice to meet you, Gloria’s Girlfriend.” Dizzy greeted. “Her name is Cynthia.” Gloria informed them. Julia did some sign language, Cynthia tilted her head, “translation?”

“She wants to know how long you’ll be staying.” Gloria translated. Cynthia ruffled Julia’s hair. “A long while, thankfully, you mother has let us into your home.” Cynthia smiled at Gloria.

“We’re gonna love having you here, Cynthia and Emmanuel.” Diane cheered, her and Julia hugging Cynthia and Emmanuel tightly.

As Emmanuel came out of his flashback, his body felt hard as stone. He looked down to see the stab wound was slowly making his body turn to stone. “EMMANUEL! Fight back you dumbass!” Marmalade yelled.

“Fight back? He’s been spaced out for 20 minutes!” Damien cackled, he turned to Keiko, “better get a cute dress ready from tonight, Keiko, can't have my date not looking good.”

Keiko blushed, “sh-shut up!”

“Any last words?” Damien smirked. “This is...why...mom...never...loved you…” Emmanuel growled, his body turning completely into stone.

I’m sorry...moms

~A/N~

Omg! Wasn't that a cute little insight into Emmanuel's past? This is just one of the battles you'll be seeing during this arc! I can't wait till Wednesday to update the next chapter!

Stay sweet everyone!!