Caroline shot forward with a textbook straight punch toward Zoey’s face. Much to the surprise of everyone, including Caroline, Zoey didn’t bother to dodge or block. She was hit straight in the face, and Caroline pulled her fist back to see if she overestimated Zoey Winters. That monster was just smiling as she licked the blood that dripped down her nose.

Caroline felt insulted and, at the same time, incredibly unnerved! What normal person would do something like that?! The young girl, filled with righteousness, prepared herself to give this fight her all. Whatever Zoey Winters was, it made her feel uncomfortable. What better way to deal with a problem than punching it away!?

“Caroline Hines is starting off the match with a strong start! A perfectly thrown straight right in Winter’s face!” The announcer yelled into the mic.

“Kill her, Winters!”

“Are you just gonna take that?! Piece her up!”

“Winters definitely knows how to capture the crowd’s attention.”

“Show your stuff before it’s too late, newcomer!”

Caroline prepared herself to unleash a devastating combo of punches after seeing her first hit land so easily. The faster she proved her strength against this anomaly, the calmer her nerves will be. Her first punch was like a heat-seeking missile with Zoey’s face as the target. Just as her gloved fist was about to land, Caroline suddenly felt a sudden pain that completely threw off her mental and physical state.

Zoey landed a punch deep in Caroline’s gut, forcing her to double over in shock and pain. With her head in such a prime location, how could Zoey stop herself from following up? It would be disrespectful as a fighter not to show an opponent proper respect by putting them down accordingly. When Zoey’s fist sunk into Caroline’s stomach, almost immediately after, Caroline was sent straight back up with an uppercut.

An uppercut that might’ve done too much damage as Caroline was leaning backward about to fall with her eyes unfocused. Zoey sent a blazing left to the chest, a deadly right to the right-side abdomen, and a finishing downward smash from above. Caroline was sent crashing to the canvas on her back. She was utterly motionless, with no signs of consciousness in her eyes.

The referee waved his hands frantically, signaling the end of the match. He immediately went to check on Caroline Hines before calling in the paramedics. They brought a stretcher and went into the ring to carefully take her out and get her the help she needed. While this was happening, Zoey Winters watched Caroline being carried out with her arms crossed and a devilish smile on her face. She was playing perfectly into her Devil persona.

“Zoey Winters is the winner!” The announcer yelled.

The building shook from the cries of the audience. They chanted her stage name like a cult ritual. Zoey thought it was kind of cool, actually... Like a bunch of cult fanatics chanting hymns and stuff for their dark lord. As long as she clearly put a divide between her stage persona and her personal life, Zoey didn’t see a problem with it. Because of her rising fame, more and more people started to notice her. Coach Scott and her PR manager Angelica thought she needed to participate in more interviews and charity donations. Zoey agreed because all of her fame was definitely not positive. Some people thought she was a figurehead for black rights, feminist rights, and, believe it or not, promoting satanism.

“WE LOVE YOU, ZOEY!!!”

“I’m your biggest fan!”

“You decimated her! No chance of reincarnation when the Devil takes your soul!”

Zoey held back a smile since she was still in her fighting persona. Being liked by thousands of people is really addictive. She had to make sure not to let it go to her head and get drunk off of it. Although she probably already had a thousand problems ever since the Box got to her, not adding more to the list sounds like a good idea.

“Good job out there, kid. We got a reporter coming to give you an interview in about thirty minutes to talk about the fight. Do you think you can do it?” Coach Scott asked for her consent.

“Is Zoey doing the interview or the Devil?” Zoey asked.

“Which one are you more comfortable with?”

“I’ll do the Devil. I’ve been doing it since the start.”

It didn’t make sense to switch up suddenly. It was her fighting gimmick, after all. Now when she was outside the ring or whatever, then she could be Zoey. Just a regular awkward ass bitch going to school, preparing for college, and stuff like any other regular young girl.

Coach Scott had some of the medical staff at the venue check her out even though she won. They gently swabbed the inside of her bloody nose to clean it and wiped the dried blood off her lips. By the time of the interview, Zoey looked like a winner and felt like a winner. Coach Scott stood behind the camera just in case she needed help or they asked stupid questions.

“Zoey Winters, AKA, The Devil! How does winning your first debut match in the Global Boxing Organization feel!?” The interviewer was an excited lady.

“It was fun while it lasted.” Zoey gave a malicious smile as she balled her fist.

“Speaking of that! The match was so quick! Do you think Caroline Hines was worthy of an opponent or just a waste of time!?” This was a very dangerous question.

“She’s just an example of what happens to those that face me in the ring.” Zoey acted as if Caroline and any other future opponent were nothing but a fart in the wind.

“One last question, Miss Devil, before we go! Is there anything you wish to say to all your fans watching from home?”

“Hmph.” Zoey looked directly into the camera. “Just keep watching.” Then she walked off.

“And that was The Devil! An incredible young fighter that we certainly will keep watching as she makes her mark on the fighting world!”

Coach Scott gave her a double thumbs-up when they met up near the entrance. Zoey gave a breath of relief at the sight of that. She was so damn nervous thinking of what would be the perfect response for her fighting persona. Maybe it was because Zoey didn’t even think of the gimmick for herself, and it was given to her by her fans. Now she had to fill in the blanks because she thought it was cool and didn’t want to drop it.

“Wanna go out to celebrate with the others or go back home?” He asked her.

“I’ll head home. I won, but it wasn't a celebration-type victory.” Zoey said.

“Alright, kid. Make sure to rest up well. I’ll let you know when your next fight is coming up.”

“Got it.”

______________________________________________

Caroline Hines shot up from her hospital bed. She saw that she was surrounded by a few paramedics and thought back to what she could remember. Frustration, humiliation, and complete anger surged through her body and mind. She lost to that Thing! There’s no way! After all of her training by her four masters, there’s no way she could lose to someone around her own age! No, wait! It was because she wasn’t using all of her strength in the fight. That’s how she lost.

She only lost because of the stupid rules in the sport. Caroline would’ve wiped the floor with that freak if it were a real fight! No, no, no! Caroline refused to accept this as a loss. As her emotions were overtaking her spirit, she suddenly took a deep breath.

“My mind is clear.”

“My body is healthy.”

“My spirit is pure.”

“My mind is clear.”

“My body is healthy.”

“My spirit is pure.”

Caroline gathered herself as she looked at the paramedics trying to put her to sleep to calm her. While sitting in her bed, she easily fought off the regular humans and knocked them out. She made her way out of the hospital and focused her internal energy into sensing Zoey Winters. It didn’t matter where she hid, Caroline vowed to find her and show that what happened in that ring was nothing more than a fluke!

Even if she had to search this entire city, Caroline would fight Zoey Winters without holding back. Caroline’s techniques specialized in purifying daemonic creatures! Against other humans, they were less effective. Considering that Zoey wasn’t entirely human based on what she saw before that... fluke, Caroline was confident that she would be able to subdue Zoey completely with her masters’ teachings.

______________________________________________

Sometime later, Zoey was on her way back home from teaching the kids at the gym. She had her earbuds in with her hoodie raised as she jogged back home. Along the way, she spotted some figure standing on the sidewalk directly in her path. Zoey planned to just jog around them if they weren’t going to move out of the way. Which they didn’t. But just as Zoey was about to run around them while silently cursing at them for not moving out of the fucking way, the world slowed down to a crawl as level 10 Focus activated for the first time in a while.