[IC] Fateful Convergence

[Vocalia]

When Isaac stepped back into the room, Hayley was sitting in the kitchen, her phone in her hand. She seemed to be preoccupied by it or, rather, what's on the screen. Her expression was devoid of any of her whimsical carefree attitude and it wasn't until Isaac came with the bags of groceries he was carrying that she finally noticed his arrival. "Oh, hey! Welcome back," she replied with a small smile, but her expression quickly became serious again. "Isaac, I'm not going to be at home tonight. Remember what I've told you about my job? I've just got a big fight coming up. It's against this big shot who's been sweeping the arena like a storm and people are throwing their money on this fight. Word goes that most people who went against him ended up in the hospital and one guy was permanently disabled after being smacked around by this guy, supposedly. If I win, I would have enough money to not have to work for the rest of the month!"

[Daxam]

Ooh, fun! Vincent cries as Isaac sets down his bag and walks over to Hayley. I wanna go! A guy who can only put people in the hospital and paralyze some poor sap sounds like child's play! However, Isaac ignores Vincent and sits down, saying, "You can't go, Hayley. I know you're a good fighter and all, but this guy sounds out of your league. Sure, the money might be a good thing, but what good would it be if you can't use it, assuming you win?"

[Vocalia]

"Isaac, I won't back out. With all that money, neither of us have to worry about keeping ourselves alive! I've been in this job for a while and I know all the risks that come with it. I understand your concern, but I'm not going to chicken out just because some people decides to hype him up for the audience," Hayley replied, clearly dead set on taking this person on. "Look, this isn't the first guy I've been paired up against that is made to look as if he could steamroll the whole world with his fingers. I'm sure it's nothing but hype and bluster."

"Which reminds me..."

Looking back at Isaac, she set him a serious, no-nonsense gaze and said to him, "I want you to stay here tonight. I'm taking this guy on my own and the underground circuit is quite notorious for not being welcoming to outsiders. There's no need for you to be involved in this on top of all your personal troubles."

[Daxam]

Hearing Hayley's request, Isaac feels some trepidation as he considers it. On one hand, as confident as he is in his (and Vincent's) abilities, he isn't sure he could take on an entire underground fighting circuit without someone getting killed, which he goes to great lengths to avoid. However, if this guy is as bad as Hayley says, then there's a good chance she could be the one getting killed, something he knows he'd never be able to live with. The past week, he feels as if he couldn't get any closer to her even if they were joined at the hip. Sighing, he fixes Hayley's intense gaze with one of his own as he says, "No. If you're gonna go, then I'm going with you, no matter what. If anyone has a problem with it, tough. As much as I'd like to avoid it, I can stand my ground, if need be."

[Vocalia]

Hayley opened her mouth to protest, but something came up in her mind that made her silence herself. After a lot of deliberation, she groaned, looked at Isaac and replied with a hushed tone, "Fine, if you insist that badly... I'll go and get changed. I'll advice you do the same. I don't want any of us getting in trouble, got it?" Standing up, she rubbed the bridge of her nose and left for her room with her phone as she braced for her fight ahead and the plan she had in mind. She berated herself for making up her mind with her decision, but she was perfectly willing to do so and accepted any consequences that came with it.

[Daxam]

Isaac nods and walks into his room, shutting the door behind him softly. Over the past week, he had managed to get more clothes, which he changes into: a simple black t-shirt, jeans, and his usual boots. Pulling his overcoat on, he says to Vincent, Don't get too riled up, alright? I don't need you to make a massacre of the place. Vincent scoffs and asks, Who do you think I am? I'm not always looking for an excuse to kill someone! Isaac raises an eyebrow and asks, Oh, yeah? What about that little old lady who was taking her time at the checkout earlier? Vincent then responds, She didn't have to write a fucking check! I swear, we were there for days! Sighing, Isaac steps out of his room and calls, "Hayley? I'm ready to go!"

[Vocalia]

"Coming!" Hayley came out of her room with mostly the same ensemble she used when she first met Isaac: black sleeveless shirt with sleeveless orange jacket, black sweat pants and orange and black sneakers. However, in addition to the black and orange set, she wore a pair of black martial art gloves with red outlines over her bandaged hands. "Alright, let's head ou- Wait, what's that?" she asked, taking note of the room he had occupied for the past week. With him using the room, Hayley's housework had been less time-consuming, much to her relief. However, she seemed to have seen something of concern, judging from her raised brow. "Isaac, I suggest you lock down your window. I wouldn't want anyone robbing this place while we're out."

[Daxam]

Isaac follows Hayley's gaze into his room, but sees nothing of note, even with his keen eyes. Hearing her suggest that he locks the window, he nods and says, "Good idea. Better safe than sorry, right?" Stepping into his room, he walks over to the window and latches it shut...at about the same time his door swings closed, the lock clicking into place. Dashing over, he tries the handle, but it doesn't give. Sighing, he knocks on the door and calls, "Hayley? I think the lock's busted! Hayley, are you there?" You moron, Vincent says. She locked you in! She's gonna leave you behind!

[Vocalia]

Sighing as she managed to lock the door to his bedroom, Hayley sadly closed her eyes and shook her head. I'm sorry, Isaac. It's for your own good, she thought as she quickly left the apartment room, locking the door behind her. Taking a deep breath, she jumped down the stairs, holding onto the railings as she descended, and made her way around the dimming alleyways to the hidden entrance to the underground fighting ring.

Looking around for any suspicious presence, the blonde glared at the watchmen and showed them her message, after which they proceeded to let her in and informed her that she and her opponent would be fighting in a cage. Instead of hesitating, Hayley became even more excited in anticipation of the match. Making her way down to the arena, she glanced at the betting board and smirked as she saw the odds stacked against her. To her mild surprise, she also happened to notice more audience than usual, most likely because of the hype of the match. It wasn't just the usual regulars either; Hayley noticed several rather well-dressed men within the audience, presumably unsavory people who made their money through this blood sport. Enjoy those suits while you have 'em, bastards, she bitterly thought. It would be a short while until her match started. Until then, she decided to wait and prepare herself mentally and physically.

[Daxam]

Isaac sat in his room on his bed for a few minutes before Vincent asks, Well? How long are ya gonna sit there? Isaac looks up from his hands, clasped together in front of him, and says, "I'll get going, now. I've given her enough time, I should be able to follow her without her noticing." That said, he stands and walks over to the door. Grasping the doorknob, the markings on his arm begin to glow faintly as he concentrates, moving the different parts of the lock until his ears are met with a satisfying click just before the doors open. Now free, he leaves the apartment and follows the faint sounds of Hayley's receding footsteps.

Back in the ring, the man who would be Hayley's opponent looks around, taking satisfaction in how everyone gave him his space. Even without his reputation in the ring, his hulking, muscle-bound, nearly seven-foot frame would be enough to intimidate anyone. As he looks around, he finally spots his opponent, a seemingly tiny blonde woman. Walking up to he, he says, "Hey, little miss. I wouldn't blame you if you backed out now before things got ugly. After all, I'd hate to punch in that pretty face of yours."

[Vocalia]

At only one hundred and seventy two centimeters tall with barely any visible muscle, Hayley looked like a toy doll in comparison to her opponent whose muscles alone seemed to be as big as his ego, but her appearance belied her temper and confidence. "How kind of you to be so concerned, but things are already ugly enough without you here. You're not exactly a picture of handsomeness either, buddy. I almost mistook you for a pig before you speak up. So sorry about that," she calmly replied, knowing full well that she could irk him before the match had even begun. Throughout the conversation, she had shown no fear towards his intimidating stature or his voice, making it clear that she wouldn't let him push her around.

[Daxam]

Hearing this little woman insult him, the man feels his rage build exponentially just from the light prodding. Stooping over, bringing his face only centimeters from hers, he says, "I'd watch that mouth of yours, little miss. Otherwise bad things could happen to you. Just to show you that I mean it..." He then holds his hand out, which is instantly engulfed in stone from the ground. Smirking, he opens his mouth to say something more, but a voice rings out, "That's enough." Making his way through the crowd, who watches him with wary eyes, Isaac walks toward the man and Hayley. Seeing the one hundred, eighty-two centimeter tall man, the much larger man lets the stones drop from his hand as he straightens up, asking, "Who the fuck are you?"

Instead of answering him, Isaac wraps an arm around Hayley's shoulders and says, "I need to have a talk with you, Hayley. Now." As he leads her away, her opponent calls back, "Fine, don't answer me! Just know, I'm coming after you as soon as I'm finished with that bitch you have your arm around!" Ignoring him, Isaac takes his friend to a somewhat quiet corner of the room and says, "Hayley, I'm begging you, do not fight that guy. If someone has to fight him, let me. I don't know how, but I've had experience with people that can do what he can."

[Vocalia]

As much as she tried to stay calm, when Hayley saw her opponent's hand being engulfed with rocks and stones from the ground, her steely blue eyes went wide with shock, she dropped her relaxed front and, for a short moment, a voice at the back of her mind was alerting her that she might be biting more than she could chew. What the fuck?! How did he do that?! she thought to herself with a good deal of alarm. In a normal circumstances, the only way one could attach solid rocks and stones to his hand that she could think of was to have it lathered with cement before putting them one by one. Yet, here she was, looking at a man that had just called up stones onto his hand in a short notice as if it was a rock magnet.

To top it all off, Isaac arrived and managed to weave through the crowd to reach them. By this point, she had dropped any pretense of a calm head, evident from her open mouth, as she was certain she had locked him up in her house. Not only was he out, he had also tracked her down to the underground arena, a worse case scenario for the blonde. The fuck?! How did he get out?! Before she could ask him, Isaac had pulled her away. Not wanting to cause a scene, she gave the angry man a snarl as he threatened to beat Isaac up while she was being pulled away. Regardless of what she felt at that moment, she had grown somewhat fond of him and refused to leave the muscle-bound man without having her last say.

As he finally found a place for them to talk, he vehemently expressed his disagreement with her decision to take the man on. Angered, confused and still in a state of shock, Hayley shook her head defiantly and replied, "Fuck no, Isaac! This is my fight! I don't care if he could turn himself into a fucking mountain. He's my opponent and I'll fight him no matter what!" Gritting her teeth and glaring at the raven-haired man, she added, "I don't know what the fuck he did just now and I'm sure you've got some explaining to do, but I want you to sit this out. I don't want you getting in that arena and announcing to this entire fucking place that you're a fresh meat, ready to be used, ripped and slaughtered!"

[Daxam]

Isaac glares at Hayley for a long few moments, wondering if that fighting spirit of hers really was such a good thing. Part of him wants to tell her that he isn't new when it came to fighting, that his 'friend' would rather fight than breathe, but he doesn't even know how experienced he is, besides a few altercations on the street. After a few more moments, he sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, obviously frustrated by her hardheadedness. Eventually, he says, "Alright, fine, Hayley. I'll let you fight him. But, the moment I see him do what he just did, which I know he will, I'm gonna jump in to deal with it, no matter what you say, alright?" Even though it may not seem like it, he did, in fact, notice the large, steel cage surrounding the fighting area. Something that caliber's nothing for the two of us, Vincent says, his bloodlust so strong, Isaac can feel it seeping into his bones.

[Vocalia]

Hayley finally accepted that no amount of protesting would make either of them change their minds. With that acceptance, the blonde glanced back at the ring, then at Isaac and nodded begrudgingly. "Fine... but as long as shit hasn't hit the fan, I'm taking him on, got that?!" she replied almost bitterly, then asked, almost hesitantly, "You know about what he did just now with the rocks? How did he do that? In any case, this fight should be interesting..."

[Daxam]

Isaac nods and turns back toward the ring, where the big guy was glaring at the two of them. "Yeah, I know," he says quietly, his voice nearly lost in the clamor of the crowd making bets and chatting. Then, almost reluctantly, he adds, "And he's not the only one who can do something like that. There are people like him all over the place, either hiding in the shadows or using their powers to prey on the weak and get what they want, just like that guy. That kind of person really disgusts me." Turning back to his friend, he adds, "Be careful, Hayley."

[Vocalia]

Nodding quietly, Hayley looked at the caged ring and, after stepping away from Isaac, made her way into the arena to the ecstatic cheers of the crowd around her. As the cage was closed shut, the blonde cracked both of her tense fists and warmed up her neck. "Alright, tough guy. Let's see which one is worse: your bite or your bark!" she disdainfully said to him and steadied herself into a fighting stance, keeping herself mobile as she began to anticipate her opponent's moves. With Isaac's warning still at the back of her mind, she knew she couldn't afford to be careless here or she would never see the light of day anymore.

[Daxam]

Isaac watched from the back of the crowd, his arms crossed as he takes in both fighters. The bigger man easily has a couple hundred pounds on Hayley and he knows it, too, judging by his relaxed stance. Suddenly, Vincent says, This fucker's a dirty fighter. Just look at the way he carries himself: I can smell his dirtiness from clear over here! Isaac nods, having noticed the same thing Vincent did, and replies, Just don't forget, we only said we'd jump in when we had to. Until then, it's Hayley's fight.

The man looks down at his opponent, a sneer on his face. "Even though I'm still pissed at those insults you threw at me, little miss," he says, still not assuming a fighting stance, "I'll let you have the first hit." Tapping his rock-hard stomach, he says, "Go right ahead, hit me with all you got!"

[Vocalia]

"With pleasure!" Hayley charged straight on, not knowing precisely what to expect. She aimed a quick kick at his open stomach, but soon came to feel the force of her leg hitting against something as hard solid rock. Wincing in pain, she quickly step back to buy her time to recover. Putting two and two together, she growled and glared at the man, now assuming a more defensive stance. Fuck this guy! The bastard's already using his power! I gotta figure something out! she thought with no small alarm.

[Daxam]

The man chuckles, his laughter sounding like a landslide as he rips his shirt off, revealing his otherwise bare torso covered in stone. "What's the matter?" he asks Hayley. "I sure hope the little miss didn't break anything! It wouldn't be any fun if that happened." Slowly, he begins walking toward her, cracking his knuckles as he adds, "But that's only because it's more fun when I can break you with my own two hands." That said, he charges, aiming a downward punch at Hayley.