Brutal - Robby Keene

01-08. Distractions

"Have you told anyone yet?"

Mar looked up from her breakfast of eggs and toast to see Felix enter the kitchen, heading straight to the oven and taking the rest of eggs she had made.

"No, and it's killing me to just tell Robby." Mar rolled her eyes. Felix shot her a look as he ate straight from the pan.

"I know it's hard, but we can't tell anyone." Felix sighed out to her. "It's killing me not to tell Sam but I don't want them to feel bad for us and then think we shouldn't fight in the tournament because of what we're going through."

"Yeah, I understand." Mar murmured out as she ripped the crusts off of her toast. "Is your mom up yet?"

"No." Felix told her simply as he finished off the eggs quickly, pouring himself a glass of orange juice. "Where's Orion?"

"He left to go to the restaurant already." Mar hummed out to her brother. "He made the eggs for us."

"I love him so much." Felix smiled with a sigh. "It just makes me miss dad so much in a way. I know he wasn't the perfect person but he was a good dad when he was ready. Every morning before I left for school he would make me eggs and bacon and arrange it in a little smiley face for me."

"He did the same for me when he was still living with my mom and I." Mar smiled softly. She looked at Felix with a frown. "Felix, I think.. I think we should prepare ourselves mentally to pull the plug."

Felix frowned deeply as he looked to Mar. He shook his head. "No, no. Mar, do not do this to me. Do not do this to him. Dad isn't weak. He's one strong son of a bitch. He'll survive."

"Felix, he's been in a coma for over three months." Mar told the boy softly. "If we stay optimistic and then the worst happens, we'll be absolutely crushed."

Felix stayed silent. He was staring at his orange juice in thought. After a few moments, he sighed with a nod.

"You're right." He murmured out before he chugged down his orange juice. "I'm gonna get ready for karate."

"Okay." Mar said simply, watching as Felix walked off. She sighed, tears welling up in her eyes.

🥋

"You think you're ready for today?" Sam asked Mar as the two stretched together in the Miyagi-Do dojo.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Mar hummed with a nod, standing up. She looked at the red flags tied on her body. "My flags look secured?"

"Yeah." Sam answered with a nod as she stood up as well, checking hers before looking to Mar with a spin. "Mines?"

"Yeah, yeah." Mar immediately nodded at her, placing her hands on her hips with a sigh. "I feel like there's a lot of pressure on us because we're definitely going to be targeted."

"Nah, the others know better than to target us." Sam hummed with a smile. Mar smiled back with a laugh and a nod.

Sensei Barnes then called the top 16 students to the sparring deck. They all quickly made their way and lined up in two lines facing each other, their flags stuck to their bodies.

"Top 12, get ready." Sensei Barnes said tensely, Johnny and Daniel at his sides. "Today's challenge is a Battle Royale. The rules are simple. Protect your flags. Steal the others. Lose your flags, and you're out. The ones with the most flags at the end go to Barcelona. The rest of you will be judged on performance. You have two minutes."