Return to Kombat

Chapter 4 - Heels and Tears

Maybe it was the slight buzz I had going on, or the fact I was beyond tired, but as I looked in my full length mirror I couldn’t help but smile at myself. With the help of a box of dye my hair was back to normal. It was even the same length it was before I cut it in Outworld. My nails were black, like I had promises myself, and my clothes from head to toe were black. It felt weird, but comfortable at the same time. I haven’t worn black since I stopped fighting; I had made it a point not to. It seemed ridiculous, yeah, but it was a statement to me.

But now I was going back to all of it; the fighting, the status, the killing, the traveling, and the danger of it all in general. I may die on this journey. I’ve gotten lucky in all the other ones, but who knows what this one will bring? Raiden leaving seemed to be the last straw, the thing that finally broke through to me; I was a fighter again, I needed to act the part.

Curious, I walked over to my dresser and got out my small leather bag. I took out my thigh holsters for my daggers and my mask. It felt like major déjà vu as I strapped on the holsters and stood to tie on my mask. It felt weird to be getting ready for battle in the middle of my bedroom. A part of me felt like if I walked out of my room I would be in the middle of the fortress in Outworld. And although I knew that wasn’t the case I was kind of scared to walk outside when I finished getting ready. Still, my boots clunked across the wood floors slowly, out into the living room.

No one paid any mind to me when I stepped out; they were all talking to each other or watching television or eating breakfast still. No one looked up as I stood there, which I was thankful for. I was still soaking up the fact that I was Black Fox again. A strange mixture of pride and horror welled inside me…or maybe it was constipation.

I cleared my throat when I was ready. A few heads looked my way, including Liu’s. His cold eyes looked me over before dropping back to the table where he had been reading a map. Chutar grinned and walked over to me. “You look awesome!” she said.

I gave a feeble smile, unsure of what to do now. Getting ready felt like a big enough step. I could go to bed now, couldn’t I?

She put her finger to her chin in thought, “You’re a size nine, right?”

“In clothes?”

“Shoes,” she corrected.

I frowned, “Uh, yes, why?”

She grinned, “Good! I figured after looking in your closet the other day.” She turned around and reached into a paper bag on the ground.

My eyebrows furrowed; when did she go in my room? It’s been locked ever since they all got here. I couldn’t ask her before she stood back up with a pair of tacky, bright pink heels in her hands. They were busted up and fraying from years of abuse.

“They’re just crappy heels from the Goodwill down the road, but they’ll do for now. They have nice, thick heels so you’ll be less likely to fall.” She shoved them in my hands, not allowing me to refuse them. “I couldn’t get you nice ones; I’m low on cash,” she apologized.

I shook my head, “No, seriously, you shouldn’t have done this. Chutar, I can’t even walk in heels – we went over this!”

She waved off my comment, “Just put the damn things on. We’ll get a little bit of this training done before the guys join us.”

My eyes widened, “I’m not fighting in heels in the sand!”

“Liu found an old studio nearby that’s been abandoned for years. We’ll be training there for a while.”

I looked over at Liu who was still sitting at the small table in the living room, glaring down at the map. I doubted he was even looking at anything; he just wanted to seem occupied. With a sigh I plopped down on the ground and rolled up my black skinny jeans slightly so I could strap the death traps to my feet. The moment I slipped my foot into one of them I felt the extreme incline and knew this wasn’t going to be easy, nor fun.