Eminem Fan Fiction Shorts II

Marshall's Gladiator

The following morning, I learned what it was that had set Cat off. Someone at the photo op had a mic trained on the stage and had picked up the exchange. The press was having a fucking field day over it.

"Jessica Ronalez taunted Cat Hannah yesterday in an extremely personal bit of trash talk that sent the normally gregarious Hannah into a rage." The anchor on screen was practically gleeful before the cameras cut to footage of the prior day's events. He kept speaking as I watched the same clip that had been shown a hundred times.

"It seems that Ronalez suggested that Hannah's current love interest was perhaps giving her additional training, since he has been previously known to have advocated violence against women. As you can see, Hannah did not take kindly to the suggestion."

"You think you're tough shit, don't cha, Cat? Maybe you've had some special training from that rap scum? He been beating on you for practice?"  Jessica sneered.

"You leave him the fuck out of this, bitch." Cat responded, her wrath clear.  "You think I won't destroy your fucking life? I'll start with that pretty boy douche you have crawling up your ass every night. Be a shame if he found himself on the receiving end of a midnight visit, eh?"

The anchor came back on the screen as the clip continued in the background. He was now joined with another commentator, who chuckled as the scuffle between Cat and Jessica was replayed.

"Well, Ronalez had that coming." The new guy said. "She went after Hannah's personal life, first." The anchor nodded, pretending to be serious about the whole thing while he was practically jizzing his pants in getting to report it.

"For those of you at home who don't realize, Hannah has been recently connected to rap singer Eminem." The anchor noted as he looked to the camera with a smarmy face. He then turned back to the other commentator. "We've never seen Hannah lose it like that before. Do you believe he might have something to do with this uncharacteristic show of temper?"

"I think it's more nuanced than you're suggesting." The other responded. "Hannah's never been known to have a weakness. All the trash talk that has been thrown her way before this has always focused on her skills in the cage, of which she has supreme confidence. Ronalez, however, had something to throw at Hannah this time that was personal. It would seem that Hannah is going to be fiercely protective of that personal life, if her response was anything to go by."

I turned the T.V. off, blowing out a breath as I ran a hand over my head. I had no fucking idea what I should do. The last thing I wanted was to distract Cat before her fight. On the other hand, I did want to make sure she was alright. I could give a fuck what the bitch said about me, but it was clear that Cat did.

Sighing, I decided that I wasn't going to sit around and wait. Instead, got in the car and headed to her gym. It was my best chance at finding her right now.

---

"So, you're the one making my fighter turn into a Hell-hound." A large, fifty something year old man said to me as I stepped into the dim lights of the gym.

Cat had told me about this place a little while ago. It wasn't posh or newer like many of the gyms around Detroit. Instead, it was a hard, cold building with hanging bags and a giant ring. The sole focus of this gym was fighting, not looking pretty.

I nodded as I looked around, trying to catch Cat's form among the patrons. The big guy, who I guessed was Beef, sighed and pointed to the far corner.

"She's over there. She's still pissed as fuck. Wants to rip Jessica's throat out." He explained. "If she manages to control that rage, she might just do it."

I gave him a look in thanks and then walked around the side of the ring in the center of the room. I saw Cat having at a speed bag in the corner, her body radiating her anger. Beef wasn't kidding; she was definitely still pissed.

"Anything I can do to make it better?" I asked quietly as I came up next to her and she startled out of her focus, turning to look at me. Instead of anger, though, I found sadness in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Marshall." Cat said quietly. I frowned as I placed my hands on her hips and pulled her closer.

"For what?" I asked.

"The trash talk is part of the game. I forgot about it because it's always horse shit that doesn't touch me." Cat explained as she looked up at me. "I should have warned you."

I shook my head, leaning down to kiss her lightly. She hesitated for a moment before she melted into me, deepening the kiss and making my head swim. When I pulled back, I spoke against her lips.

"I think I can take a diss."

---

The crowd was insane as Dre and I made our way to our seats. All around us were men and women chanting various fighter names in anticipation of the bouts. Signs were held up; some were clever, most were not. I saw a few that even proposed marriage and scoffed when I noted that most of those were directed at Cat. Fucking morons apparently hadn't taken the hint that she was with someone, now.

"This is a barely contained mob." Dre said to me as we sat and I nodded as I looked around some more. The energy in the building was best described as blood lust.

It took twenty minutes, but then the first fight of the evening kicked off. There were three that were being done tonight, with Cat's being the last, headlining one. I was anxious for her and uncertain as to how I was going to handle seeing her do this.

I'd done some research on Cat after our first date. She had a good record, though it wasn't undefeated. When she was coming up, she'd had some missteps here and there. Over the last three years, though, she hadn't lost a single fight. She'd been unstoppable. 

Cat's opponent, however, was a really good fighter and one of the three women who'd beaten Cat early in her career. Prior to this week, the match had been billed as a second shot for Cat since the first one was done so long ago. The sporting world had taken what happened at the photo op, though, and created a backstory in which this fight became a grudge match. If Beef was right, it had pushed television purchases over the record.

I watched as the two fights before Cat's started and then came to a close. They were quick. The promoters of the event hadn't spent much time on looking for evenly matched fighters because they knew the main fight was what people were there to see. So, sooner than I was ready, it was Cat's turn.

Jessica came out first, walking down the path to the cage to Korn's Freak on a Leash, her expression ice cold. She stepped into it, looking over the crowd as various fans cheered and booed her. Her moment, however, was cut short by very clear, recognizable lyrics.

You hear it a lot, lyrics that shock, is it a miracle, or am I just a product of pop fizzing up
For shizzle my whizzle this is the plot listen up - you Bizzles forgot Slizzle does not give a fuck...

I looked at Dre, who started laughing his ass off as he pointed to the opposite side of the building where Cat was skipping down the path to the cage. In contrast to Jessica, Cat was moving her head and raising her arms, drawing the crowd to get into the beat of 'Till I Collapse. I joined in Dre's laughter as she gave the crowd a cheeky, shit-eating grin when she made it to the cage and turned around, miming my shit.

"Can't really say fuck off better than that." Dre commented and I nodded, my anxiety easing as I watched my gladiator rile up the crowd before she faced her lion.