NOVEL NEXT Episode LV-Underground Briar Glen
"Special Move: Neon Flash!" Lionel bellows. The opponent hastily shields his eyes, groping blindly, as Lionel launches him out the door and onto the street. With a thumbs-up to his defeated adversary, Lionel remarks, "Easy win." The defeated fighter hands over fifteen gold coins. “Appreciated,” says Lionel, strolling away. Suddenly a voice whispers from a shadowy alleyway, "Psst… psst." Lionel turns, "Who's there?" A figure emerges, "I can multiply your gold, kid." Lionel squints, "Name first." The man steps forward, revealing himself, "Christopher Bonnet, at your service. But, call me Chris." Lionel relaxes and inquires about the supposed gold-doubling opportunity. Chris pitches the underground fight club, emphasizing the thrill of facing diverse fighters. Lionel hesitates, weighing the risks and rewards. Eventually curiosity wins, "Let's see this underground world." They descend into an abandoned subway station under Briar Glen. The derelict station is blanketed in dust, the lights flickering eerily. Lionel quips, “Does anyone ever clean here?" Chris retorts, "Nope, people only leave or perish here."As they walk deeper into the station, they come across a silver door with a sign: 'Enter at your own risk; death may follow.' Behind the door, Lionel's wide eyes take in a shocking sight: a man being electrocuted against a metal fence. Drunken spectators cheer at the horrifying spectacle. Chris introduces Lionel to his boss who raises a skeptical eyebrow at the young fighter. Despite his boss's doubts, Chris vouches for Lionel's fighting talent. The boss relents and Lionel is slated for the next match. The audience goes silent as Lionel enters the ring, then laughter rings out. Lionel, undeterred, steps into the ring. As his opponent lands a cheap shot, the laughter turns into cheers. His back hits the electric cage and the pain ripples through him. He crumbles onto the floor as the black smoke wafts around him. With a grimace, Lionel rises, "That was dirty!" He dodges the opponent's onslaught and retaliates, "Neon punch!" he exclaims, a fire back in his eyes. A burst of pink light dazzled his adversary's eyes before Lionel landed a punch squarely in the stomach. The man ricocheted off the electrified cage and hurtled back towards Lionel, who met him with a neon-tinged kick. The opponent was flung back to the cage once more, this time receiving an equal jolt to what Lionel had previously endured. An eerie silence descended over the crowd; no one had ever managed such a feat against this man before. The defeated man staggered to his feet, complaining about the unfairness of it all. Lionel merely grinned at him. "Life isn’t fair," he shrugged nonchalantly. Enraged by Lionel's casual dismissal, his opponent charged at him with renewed vigor. But Lionel sidestepped effortlessly and landed a solid round-back kick that sent his opponent crashing into the electric cage once again. The cage ignited in sparks and smoke as Lionel's adversary slumped unconscious inside it. "That was easy," smirked Lionel, flashing a peace sign while flipping effortlessly within the now defunct cage.Chris’s boss angrily tossed aside some papers and ground his teeth together in frustration. "Fetch me Chris!" he snapped at one of his guards who scurried off immediately to obey his command. "You wanted to see me, sir?" Chris sauntered into the room moments later "What was that debacle?" demanded Chris’s boss furiously. "Pardon me? What debacle are you referring to?" queried Chris innocently. "Your friend wasn't supposed to win, let alone destroy the cage! It's going to cost me a fortune," Chris’s boss growled. "I apologize, sir. I'll rectify this immediately," promised Chris. "You better. Your friend is up against my undefeated champion next," warned Chris’s boss. With that, Chris bowed and exited his boss's office. "Hey Lionel," greeted Chris as he approached the victorious fighter. "Did you catch my easy win?" Lionel asked with a smirk. "Good job," praised Chris, trying to hide his worry about the next match. "Just so you know, you're up against an undefeated fighter tomorrow." "Finally, a match that will truly test my skills!" exclaimed Lionel excitedly. Chris merely nodded and rubbed the back of his head nervously. When Lionel asked for directions to exit the underground fight club, he offered to show him out personally. Meanwhile, in another part of the facility, Mr. Laurent – Chris’s boss – was having a tense discussion with Eloi, his prized fighter. Eloi demanded payment for an upcoming job which infuriated Mr. Laurent who stormed out of the room in a fit of rage. Once above ground again, Lionel slipped into an alleyway across from Le Loup Pastries shop and disappeared behind a white cardboard into a dark hole; his humble abode over the summer months where he had nothing more than minimal food supplies and some old school stuff along with a blanket and pillow for comfort. He settled down to meditate soon after arriving home; levitating off the ground as he drifted into sleep. The following day, Lionel woke earlier than usual. He prepared a chocolate croissant for himself and then moved to spar with his handmade training dummy. As he punched and kicked the sparring doll, his thoughts turned to his friends. Lionel always kept a picture of them in his gi. Extracting the photo, he stared at it. "I'll see you guys soon, but for now, I have to face this challenge," Lionel declared as he tightened his other fist. Mr. Laurent paced back and forth, contemplating how they could resolve the ring problem. An idea struck him - shock collars. "I've got an idea," announced Mr. Laurent. "We'll put shock collars on the competitors in the cage and let them fight till it breaks." "That's brilliant!" Mr. Laurent exclaimed as he tapped his fingers together. Nightfall arrived bringing with it a chilly breeze. Lionel returned to the same place he had visited the previous night. He knocked on the silver door where a small sliding panel opened for password verification before recognizing Lionel and letting him in without delay. "We were expecting you this evening," said the doorman. "I know; I'm ready to fight," replied Lionel. "This feels like a trap," Zebeon observed. "I know, but I enjoy playing along," replied Lionel wryly. Entering the room, Lionel felt multiple pairs of eyes on him but paid them no mind."I knew when I walked in that crowd would be biased," thought Lionel to himself. Meanwhile, Mr. Laurent approached Eloi's room asking him if he was ready to take down Lionel once and for all because if not handled correctly, this kid could potentially ruin his business operations by causing everyone to bet against their own interests which would result in financial losses for everyone involved including himself and thus lead people away from his establishment towards other bars around town due to dissatisfaction caused by losing bets based on incorrect predictions of fight outcomes. Eloi agreed to take care of Lionel and entered the ring amid cheers from the crowd. Eloi was a tall, lithe man with fair skin, hooded yellow eyes reminiscent of orange juice, thick curly white hair, and bushy eyebrows. He wore a brown gi adorned with a yellow belt featuring four stars and a Basilisk logo on the back. The announcer introduced Lionel as the challenger and announced some rule changes. Two men entered the ring and fastened shock collars around their necks. "I didn't agree to this! Where's Chris?" Lionel protested only for Eloi to laughingly reveal that he had already taken care of Chris before the match started. Angered by this revelation, Lionel stripped off his outer clothes revealing his gi which bore a Zogohr Academy patch much like Eloi's own gi. The two fighters bowed to each other before assuming their fighting stances and initiating the match with powerful blows that caused their shock collars to activate upon impact sending painful jolts through their bodies causing them both to fall onto the ground writhing in pain. "I forgot to mention that every hit will cause you to get zapped by these specially designed collars," said the announcer nonchalantly leaving both fighters shocked by this unexpected turn of events. Despite his initial shock at being electrocuted, Lionel managed to recover quickly enough to land a sliding kick on Eloi who was still down leading him out of bounds where he got shocked again due to violation of ring rules while Lionel performed a backflip in order to regain his defensive stance prompting Eloi to comment on how challenging this fight was turning out be before reentering the ring for another round of combat during which he managed land an uppercut on Lionel's chin sending him flying into air where he got shocked again by collar before landing back on ground only for him collapse onto one knee due exhaustion from constant electrocution. Both fighters continued their intense battle with Lionel launching two neon pink energy blasts from his palms at Eloi who managed to deflect one back towards Lionel while taking the other head-on leading both of them to sustain damage as well as additional shock damage from their collars causing Hokuaga, Eloi's spirit guardian, to express his frustration over this prolonged fight and urge Eloi to finish it quickly. Eloi agreed with Hokuaga's sentiment and decided to end this fight once for all by invoking his Earth Basilisk powers which manifested themselves as a brown aura surrounding him before shouting out loud "I am Hokuaga the Earth Basilisk! Eloi then morphed into a half basilisk. “Feast your eyes on this,” Eloi taunted. Lionel retorted, “You’re not the only one who can do that, but I’ll show you that you don’t need to use your spirit guardian to defeat someone.” Eloi, now Hokuaga, scoffed, “Oh really?” “I have the energy for two specials,” Lionel confided in Zebeon. Eloi bellowed his attack, “Ultra-Move: Floating Rocks Fangs Strike!” Basilisk fang-shaped rocks floated around him, all aimed at Lionel. Zebeon muttered under his breath, “This is not good.” Eloi launched the rocks towards Lionel and rode one of them. Lionel managed to dodge all but one—the one carrying Eloi—who punched him in the face. The impact caused Lionel’s collar to inflict double damage as he was thrown against multiple walls. He was on the brink of fainting when he heard his friends' voices echoing in his mind. As Eloi advanced towards Lionel's prone body ready to deliver a kick, Lionel mustered up strength for another move.“Special Move: Neon Flash!” he yelled out. A blinding flash of neon pink light temporarily blinded Eloi. Seizing the opportunity, Lionel leapt into the air and unleashed his Super Move: Neon Cyclone. He showered Eloi with a barrage of hot pink cyclones while he was still disoriented from the flash; every single one made its mark. The repeated zaps from Eloi’s collar were so intense that it eventually exploded. Overwhelmed by pain and exhaustion, Elio collapsed into unconsciousness. Mr Laurent threw his cigar and hat onto the floor in fury and stormed towards Lionel. Just as he was about to land a punch on him, police sirens wailed in the distance and officers burst into the room ordering everyone to freeze. Chris sauntered in, donning a French police uniform. “Chris was a spy all along,” Mr Laurent muttered. “Sorry boss, but you’re under arrest,” replied Chris as he slapped the handcuffs on him. “Thank you for your help, Lionel; I’ve been trying to take down Mr Laurent for years,” Chris confessed. Lionel, still catching his breath, managed to respond with a weak nod of acknowledgement. He looked back to see Eloi’s body but found it missing. “I wanted to thank him for the fight,” Lionel murmured. Meanwhile, outside the underground hideout, Eloi laughed menacingly into the night air and vowed revenge.“This isn’t over between you and me, Lionel; I will win next time.”