Paradise City

The shrill whistle startled me out of my reverie and it almost cost me the match. A staff was sweeping in my peripheral vision and I barely managed to hop over the sweep and strike my opponent in the back, causing him to stumble forward. I found myself back to back with the unknown participator and we together eliminated the other 2.

Another whistle before we had a short break before the final round. I rubbed out a shoulder that’d received a brutal blow while the unknown competitor bent forward, removing his helmet and shook out his hair. I stared for a moment like a bee who’d spotted pollen. The platinum blond locks were almost white in color, similar to mine, which was a rare color indeed. His skin was tanned like he spent a lot of time outdoors or in a tanning booth, and his nose was Roman-looking with a predominantly straight bridge and high, angular cheek bones that bordered on feminine. He turned to me, crystal blue eyes catching my attention before blinding me with a shining, brilliantly white smile. I’d never seen a more handsome man outside of a movie screen.

“Good luck,” he said, extending a hand.

I startled again when I realized I was still standing there, staring. I nodded exaggeratedly at him while taking his hand in a firm shake. He pushed his helmet back on his head just before the whistle blew again. Staffs posed, we circled each other a long moment, neither wanting to be aggressor. Finally I grew tired and stuck first. He easily countered my strike and we were instantly a swirl of armor, hands and staff. I flung out a foot, landing my foot against his solid chest, making him stumble, but he caught himself and swiped at my foot in return, shifting my balance off kilter for a moment. His staff came at me while I was trying to get myself solid again and managed to spin, dodging the staff and shoving the end of my staff into his midsection squeezing a grunt from him as he fell back onto his butt. There was a moment of silence before the others began whistling and shouting their approval. I grinned underneath my helmet and I heard guttural laughter drifting my way, which could only be coming from the shaking shoulders and heaving chest of my blond opponent.