//------------------------------//
// Chapter 10 - Another Day 
// Story: The Tourney 
// by Emo Rainbow 
//------------------------------//

“Okay, first I throw the ball to you, then you throw it back. Super simple!” The pink filly called out from her seated position about twelve feet away from Clarke while rolling the ball in her hooves.

“Yeah, I know how to play catch Fighter!” Clarke said with a bit of aggravation in his voice. He leaned himself to one side snarkily and placed a hand on his hip as he stared at her. 

Fighter pouted for a second and narrowed her eyes back at Clarke as she gripped the ball. “Well fine, if you know how to catch then catch!” 

Clarke took a stance in retaliation and stuck his arms out like a football player while planting his feet firmly on the grassy dirt below. “I will!” He shouted back.

“Good!”

“Fine!”

They stared for an extra moment in complete silence, then with almost no preparation Fighter jumped off of the ground on her hind hooves and rocketed the oddly shaped ball towards Clarke. He laughed for a moment as he saw her pitiful attempt at a throw and lowered his stance, that is, until he realized it was still soaring straight to him at Mach 12. He didn’t even have time to react as the ball veered off the intended course, instead finding a path much lower than where his hands were. 

Suddenly the ball smacked Clarke directly in his groin, causing him to let out a choked yelp of pain before clutching his family jewels. He lurched forward in silent agony, doing his best to stay completely still to avoid agitating the newly tenderized areas of his body.

Fighter froze for a moment as she watched him wheeze, and all of a sudden her desire to play catch with the man had vanished. “I guess uh… you aren’t as good at catching as you thought huh?” Fighter said with a nervous laugh, hoping to ease the tension she'd begun to feel, but all she got was a fiery glare from the depths of Clarke’s soul. 

“Me!? What the hell kind of throw was that!?” He yelled as he tried pointing to her, before immediately cringing and swinging his hand back towards his groin.

“Hey!” Sunny yelled out from the wooden picnic table covered in shade just behind him. “Don’t yell at her like that.” She said with a stern tone and glare aimed directly at him.

“But I… she…” Sunny just narrowed her eyes even further forcing Clarke to sigh in defeat. No point in trying to reason with momma bear when they were right next to her ‘little angel’ of a child. “I think I’ll just… lay down for a bit. Round one, Fighter.” He said as he slowly crouched down and laid on his side, his hands still low on his body, and his mouth still hissing in pain.

Fighter Swan let out a slight giggle, then turned towards the familiar grey fountain not too far from their spot in the park. “I’ll go make some ice.” She said before trotting away. Sunny quietly watched their antics with a smile and sighed peacefully while looking up at the sunlight through the shade of the tree above. She stayed like that for a minute until she felt the table bend ever so slightly as Clarke took a seat beside her.

“Yup, I knew I shouldn't have got out of bed this morning.” He said while slowly shifting into a better sitting position. Sunny gave him a quizzical look as he twisted and turned until he finally leaned into the bench and sighed with relief. She looked up and noticed a slight smirk creeping onto his face, then followed his gaze over to Fighter as she continued circling the fountain and avoiding the various younger ponies that had begun to gather around the area.

She leaned over and poked him in the arm playfully, offering him a smile that he gratefully reciprocated. “Don’t be so dramatic,” She said to him while rolling her head to the side. “I haven’t seen her this happy in a long time. I can’t even remember the last time she asked me to take her to the park too.” They continued watching her as she stared at the water, muttering something under her breath, and suddenly Clarke let out a slight shiver. 

His gem flashed for a brief moment then dimmed once more as his icy breath came and went in an instant. Thankfully the process was still pretty muted, and thanks to their experimentation they were able to realize that the magic of the bracelets only gave as much power as you put in. It helped when they wanted to use them in day to day activities. "Yeah, well if I had a magic bracelet that let me do crazy stuff like that when I was a kid, then I’d be pretty happy too.” 

"Yeah." Sunny hummed in passive agreement with him, but on the inside, she knew it was something much more than that. She just wondered how long it would take for him to realize it too.

Suddenly, there was a familiar vibrating sound as Sunny’s horn began to light up and notify her. She winced as it went off and placed a hoof against it momentarily before groaning with frustration. “I can’t believe it’s already time.” 

“What? Again? It’s a Sunday.” Clarke asked as he leaned back against the table and pointed towards her with an open palm. 

“I know, I know, but I need the extra shifts. We’re barely scraping by as it is.” Clarke winced for a moment as she said that, but hoped that she’d write it off as part of his injury. She stretched her legs like a cat for a moment then looked at Fighter Swan one last time with regret building up in her eyes. “Just… keep an eye on her? Please?” Clarke nodded solemnly and watched the saddened mother trot towards the park exit.

Not long after she’d left, Fighter Swan returned with a freshly made chunk of ice that she was constantly balancing on top of her head. She kept looking up at it as she swerved from side to side with a smile on her face, then once she finally steadied herself she looked to Clarke. “Got the ice!” She said while bouncing joyfully. She looked around for a moment, and her smile slowly lowered into a look of confusion. “Hey, where’d mom go?” 

Clarke looked to the side for a second before turning to her. “She… had something she needed to take care of,” He watched as her look of confusion dropped into a look of disappointment. “But it was just for a bit, she should be back very soon.”

Fighter looked down slightly and walked up to Clarke while presenting the chunk of ice. He was about to reach out and grab it, but instead, she just dropped the chunk into his lap unceremoniously. “Yeah, soon.” She mumbled as she ignored his pained wheezing and took a seat next to him. 

Clarke took a few deep breaths and placed the ice chunk into a more comfortable position before looking down at the angry filly. “Listen,” He said while placing a hand on her shoulder. “Sometimes ponies need to work a little harder to keep paying for our way of living, and there’s no harder worker than your mom. I can tell that no matter how hard she has to work, she still loves you more than anything. That’s why she works so hard, to make sure you get to have food on your table, a roof over your head, and a bed to sleep in."

Fighters frustrated look dropped into a more contemplative one, then her eyes started moving from side to side as she connected the dots. “So… mom is working so hard because she doesn’t have enough money?” She pondered, receiving a nod from Clarke in response. “Okay! So all we have to do is get jobs, and she won’t have to work so hard! It’s so simple!"

“Uh, wait that’s not exactly what I was saying.” Clarke had started speaking, but the filly was already concocting her next plan.

“We’re going to need something simple, but effective. I am only ten soooo... maybe district eight?” She pondered while continuously ignoring Clarke’s attempts to gain her attention. She turned to Clarke with a thoughtful expression until she felt a stroke of genius. “Uncle Lucky! Nopony knows more about finding jobs than him!” 

Clarke looked over to her and groaned as he rolled the ice block off of his lap. “Are we really doing this?” But once again the filly was lost in her own little world, opting to jump off of the bench and raise a hoof triumphantly as her answer.

"Haha!" She yelled dramatically before turning to Clarke. "Come, Clarke! Uncle Lucky awaits, and with him, a mountain of bits!" She started walking towards the exit with a new spring in her step, so with a heavy sigh, Clarke stood up and began following after her. 

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and cracked his neck when following the filly until he was right next to her. "I guess this isn't the worst idea. I was gonna start looking for a job soon anyway. If this Lucky guy can help, then I'd say it's a good place to start."

“Uh-huh,” Fighter agreed as they exited the park and made their way onto the fairly empty street. “If I remember correctly it’s… thatta way!” With a confident point, the filly began leading their way through the streets towards the shipment yards of district eight, one of the only legitimate businesses within the shady part of the city.





The walk towards the train yard had taken quite some time, even with Fighter's instructions, and nothing more than idle chit chat graced them along the way. It didn’t take long however for a common travel argument between the two to burst forth yet again as they walked..

"Come on please!?" Fighter asked while frantically hopping in front of Clarke as they started entering the more industrial portion of the district, every step taking them further from the ice cream cart they had passed. "Come on, you'll be the coolest ever!"

Clarke just rolled his shoulders while making sure not to look her in the eyes, as the cuteness would have been enough to break any man's will. "I already said no. If we get ice cream then we won't have enough for a cab back to district five." He chuckled for a moment and playfully looked downwards. "Besides, I already know I'm the coolest ever."

"Oh come on! Ice cream!" She repeated the name of the confection, convinced that that was enough of an argument to warrant serious reconsideration. 

"Yeah, that's the thing I'm saying no to." Clarke retorted as the streets started to widen out, the smaller buildings soon being replaced by the large warehouses of the storage yard, the view of a recently docked train in the distance making him grunt in appreciation. "Besides, we have ice cream at home." 

Fighter groaned and looked away in a fit while mumbling to herself. "Ice cream at home sucks." They continued their approach to the yard as per Fighters instructions, and eventually, they made their way to a warehouse with a large green circle insignia with a snowflake in the middle of it directly above the massive shutter doors. Inside they could see ponies, griffins, and a few dragons moving items in a fast and efficient manner.

Fighter picked up the pace and started looking around for her uncle, but as soon as she stepped through the entrance a massive minotaur stepped in front of her and looked down. He was large and had a dark brown coat as well as two slightly curved horns facing forward from atop his head. He wore an ill-fitting hardhat that looked ready to fall off, an orange work vest around his torso, and had a large clipboard in his hand.

Fighter Swan lowered her ears in fright and backed up as the sight of this behemoth caught her completely off guard, but thankfully she bumped into a pair of familiar legs behind her. She quickly spun around and hid behind Clarke while watching the minotaur carefully as he raised his eyebrows and inspected them both.

He gave a hum of contemplation as he looked them over, then flipped through the pages on his clipboard. "I don't see you on the list. Which group are you with and why are you out of uniform?" He asked them, his booming voice sending a shiver down Clarke’s spine.

He was trying his best to look unfazed by the minotaur's presence, for Fighter's sake, but he couldn't deny that the sight of the creature made him want to curl into a ball. He was pretty sure that the guy could crush his skull with a flick of his wrist, even if he could tell by a glance that someone clearly skipped leg day.

"Uh… uhhh…" He stammered while nudging Fighter ever so slightly with his leg. When she didn't respond he decided to grit his teeth and give her a light kick to the side.

“Gah!” She yelped as she felt a slight pinch on her side, but quickly returned to the task at hand when she realized that she knew the answer. "Oh, uh… We're looking for Lucky Day with team-"

"Pah! Lucky Day? So you're with ole good luck shmuck huh? Now it's making sense that you're all ate up." He interrupted before giving a loud snap of his fingers to call some workers over. "Get these two some gear and tell Lucky to stop leaving his-" he glanced down at the two of them and held his tongue for a moment as he stared at Fighter. "...Workers lying around." 

The next thing they saw was a swarm of workers crowding them like locusts and ushering them further into the warehouse as they outfitted the two with the mandatory gear. They could barely even keep track of their surroundings as they were spun around and pulled every which way, ending with them both wearing identical orange work vests and hard hats that were surprisingly well proportioned for a filly and a human. After getting them their gear the workers left without a word, leaving them in the middle of a high-speed lane filled with moving employees and equipment. 

Once again they were caught off guard as workers of all kinds, from a dragon flying by with a massive pipe on his shoulders, to a team of unicorns lifting a large machine from one spot to another, ran past them at worrying speeds. They nimbly dodged out of the way of the obstacles, jumping over or ducking down when the need arose, but eventually, they both stumbled into a circle of packages and shouting just outside of the back entrance.

“Alright, I want pile 'A' finished yesterday, sort them into processing and move on,” A familiar thestral called out as he hovered closer to the pile, his eyes glued to his clipboard. “Come on everycreature, we aren't getting paid for no-Aaah!” Naturally, his lack of awareness led him straight into the bumbling duo, knocking them both down into a pile of empty packaging that had yet to be taken to the trash.

Lucky Day lifted his head from the pile and looked around. “Oh, hey Fighter. Why haven’t these boxes been-FIGHTER!?” He did a double-take and quickly scrambled to his hooves so he could help his niece. In the middle of doing so, he saw another tall figure emerge from the cocoon of packaging. “Oh… good, it’s… this guy!”

“Clarke.”

“Yeah, Clarke. I knew that.” He backed up and sighed for a moment. “What uh… brings you two here? Y’know… while I’m working?” He said with a stressed tone. 

Clarke could see the twitch in the bat pony's eye, and immediately he took the hint. Fighter on the other hand either couldn't tell, or just didn't care. “Uncle Lucky, we need jobs. I figured who better to ask than you?” She started to follow him as he continued working, oblivious to his attempts to evade her.

“Me?” He asked as he looked at a slightly torn package that one of his workers was presenting him. “Why on earth would you think of me first?” He looked at yet another package and nodded. “That one’s good.” 

Fighter grunted as she tried wading past the litter covered ground and avoiding the much larger ponies who seemed to ignore her presence, but all of a sudden she felt the ground fall beneath her as she was lifted by Clarke. She uttered a soft thank you to him and started ordering how he should move her in the air so she could have the greatest emphasis when talking. “You’re great at finding jobs. You were a waiter, then a delivery pony, then a MILK delivery pony, then two days later you had that security job, and then this.” 

Lucky Day’s entire body shivered as she started listing them off out loud, and before any more of his workers could give him weird looks he ran up to her and clasped his hoof over her mouth. “Alright, alright!” He said with a frantic whisper that seemed to make the entire workstation fall silent. “What are you looking at? Back to work guys!” and just like that, the business resumed.

Lucky looked back to Fighter and slowly lowered his head while sighing in defeat. Clarke and Fighter shared a subtle smirk as the thestral cracked his neck. “I have some work that needs doing around here, and if you can do it then there's some bits in it for ya, okay?” 

“Soooo like a job?” Clarke asked with a grin as he finally set the filly down.

“Like a temp, guy,” He said with a roll of his eyes. “I ain’t exactly in the best position for new hires on my team, but if you make me look good today then we can talk about it, alright?” Clarke and Fighter rendered simultaneous salutes, and immediately they could see the regret welling up in his eyes. “You’re just lucky one of my regulars quit recently. We need another tall one around here.”

Lucky led the two of them off to the side and explained how the rotations worked, as well as general rules for the workgroup. After getting the basics out of the way he pointed them both to their stations. “Clarke I need you to help the runners bring down the equipment from the docking area, anything too high for them is on you. Fighter, start cleaning the area of trash so we can actually walk around here. Day just started and lunch is in two hours.” He clapped his hooves and sent them off.

With a quick hoof/fist bump, Clarke and Fighter went their separate ways and got to work.





Fighter planted her face against the metal table, its surface still cool thanks to the cover of the eating patio above them, and groaned loudly. She looked across the way to the warehouse they’d been working for and quickly exhaled in exhaustion. When the thought of getting a job crossed her mind she had no idea it’d be so much work. Luckily lunch was finally underway, meaning a much-needed break for her tired little hooves.

“Alright,” quickly Fighter perked up when she heard Clarke sitting down beside her and placing two trays of food down. “Bon Appetit.”

FIghter Swan looked down in excitement, but her smile quickly faded when she saw the assortment of bland food before her. “What is this? Plain oats, salad with no tomatoes, and a slice of bread!?” She asked in disbelief while holding the aforementioned slice. 

“It’s free food is what it is,” He said as he reached over and slowly lowered her hooves, and by extension her food, back onto the tray. “Honestly we’re lucky they even provide it for their workers. Sorry if it's not up to your standards, Princess Picky.” He said as he reached across her tray and opened up her milk carton, then placed a straw inside for her.

Fighter hummed with uncertainty as she sat there and stared at her food, then started lightly pushing a leaf of lettuce back and forth. "Food isn't for playing, it's for eating." Clarke said, this time with a much more stern voice. 

"Yeah, yeah." Fighter said as she very slowly started nibbling on the bland salad. Happy that she'd decided to listen to reason, he finally got to work on his own tray.

Clarke dug his fork into some of the spinach and was about to take his first bite until he heard a high pitched whimper on his left. He looked over and immediately regretted it, as his one rule when interacting with the filly had been forgotten when it mattered most. He dropped his fork as he saw her big sad eyes, her golden irises growing smaller as her pupils grew to the size of dinner plates.

“Clarke… can I please have your pudding cup?” She asked with a bit of a tremble in her lips. 

Clarke barely managed to tear his eyes away from her and silently cursed to himself while picking up his hard-earned pudding cup. “Fine… trade me your oats and it’s yours.”

Fighter gasped with excitement. “Really?” Clarke nodded while looking off to the side, allowing Fighter to happily dump her bland oats onto his tray. “Thank you.” She said with a smile.

"Whatever." He replied with an annoyed shake of his head.

They continued eating in silence, with Clarke still grumbling over his lost treat, but that silence made way to curiosity as Clarke noticed something off in the distance. From what he could see, a bright green dragon was creeping around and looking into the warehouse while trying her best to remain hidden. Soon after he'd seen her though, she spun around and froze as their eyes met. She quickly snapped out of her shock and looked around frantically like a cartoon character before taking off into the warehouse. Clarke looked around for a moment, baffled as to how no one else saw this, and continued staring at the last place he saw her at.

“Psst, hey,” He said before as he nudged Fighter with his elbow. The filly looked to him, the ridges of her mouth messily covered in pudding, and watched as he nodded towards the warehouse. She followed his gaze and was moments away from dismissing it until she saw a small green head peek out from the warehouse's entrance and dip back in like a meerkat. She looked around in disbelief at the other workers still chatting and eating their lunches and looked at Clarke with a raised eyebrow. 

Fighter quickly swallowed and set down her now empty cup. "That's our queue." She nearly made her way off of the bench but was quickly stopped by Clarke grabbing her hoof. He pulled her close and quickly dragged a napkin over her face, much to her dismay, then let go of her when he was finished. 

"Now we can go." Fighter blushed in embarrassment for a moment, then followed him out of the lunch area to investigate the warehouse. Sure it wasn't their job to do so, but considering the current world events, it had almost become second nature for them to become on-the-spot detectives. They approached the building and slowly began creeping inside while keeping their eyes and ears on a swivel. 

They weaved between the aisles, shelves, and products left halfway processed while looking for any sign of the dragon. Fighter's ears started to twitch, and from beneath the silence, she could hear a faint scratching noise above them. She tapped Clarke on the leg, stopping him in his tracks, then pointed up to her ears. He gave her a nod and remained still, and that's when they heard the familiar click of a door opening in the distance, it's faint nature akin to that of someone trying to hide the sound.

'Where was it?' Clarke mouthed out silently. Fighter looked around the warehouse, her ears swinging from left to right like a beacon, and pointed off towards a set of stairs near the right side of the building leading up to the offices. Clarke waved her over, then quickly lifted her off of the ground so that her hooves wouldn't make any noise as while he hightailed it up the stairs as quietly as he could. Once at the top he slowly set Fighter down, then motioned for her to follow his lead. 

He crouched down low and took deliberate steps towards the manager's office, the frosted glass door showing nothing more than vaguely colored silhouettes through the window. From their position they could hear the sound of shouting inside, so Clarke looked down at Fighter to see if she knew anything, but all he was met with was a shake of her head.

Clarke reached for the door, which was closer to his size for a change thanks to the manager being a minotaur, and slowly opened it up, allowing the muffled voices from within to filter out. 

“What do you mean you can’t!? I’ve worked here for over a year and all you can say is one strike and I’m out?” They peered inside and watched as the same jade dragon they saw earlier yelled at the manager as he sat at his desk with an annoyed expression. 

The minotaur took off his reading glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose in aggravation before responding. “This is a tough environment, creatures come and go daily and you’re no exception. You decided to disappear for two days without warning, and for that, you have to deal with the consequences." He said with a very stern gaze trained on her.

The dragoness raised her hands in protest, then dropped them in despair. She was silent for a moment before smacking her fist against her open palm in sudden realization. "Lucky Day! I know he'll vouch for me! I was the best worker in his crew!" She said triumphantly, only to falter as the manager shook his head in disappointment. 

"Sorry kid, but Lucky replaced you almost immediately. Didn't think he'd have the stones for it, but I guess he's finally showing that he has what it takes to be a team leader around here." The dragoness fell silent again, her shoulders and head falling in what looked to be a mix of sorrow and anger.

"So it's true," she said in a low whisper before slowly beginning to chuckle to herself. "What the gem showed me was true…" She started to chuckle even louder, and both Clarke and Fighter froze as they saw her turn ever so slightly and pull out a familiar-looking bracelet from seemingly nowhere. It was a dim grey gem set on top, but in an instant, she slapped it on her wrist and smiled as the room overflowed with a mystical golden light. 

The minotaur jumped to his hooves and covered his eyes as a fierce wind blew all over the room, and in a flash of light, a third person had appeared next to the dragoness. Kneeling beside her was what seemed to be a young blonde-haired man wearing a long brown trench coat with fingerless gloves. He slowly stood up while not saying a word and quickly turned his head to the side, revealing one of his glowing golden eyes.

“W-what… I-I don’t…” The minotaur said as he began to tremble at the sight of them.

The dragoness looked down and chuckled in a sinister fashion before gasping and looking at the now fearful minotaur. "I'll deal with you in a moment, but first we need to take care of our visitors.” She said while slowly starting to turn around.

“Oh shit!” Clarke said as he quickly broke free of his trance and closed the door. He fell to the ground and wrapped Fighter in his arms, then turned his back to the door to shield her from the coming attack. 

"ĪA!" She shouted behind them. Both Fighter and Clarke closed their eyes in preparation for the attack, but after a few moments of waiting they slowly reopened them. 

Clarke looked around for a moment, then down to the filly in his arms. "Huh… To be honest, I-I was expecting an explosion or some-hrrk!" He suddenly recoiled as a dense object dug into the center of his back, knocking the wind from him and sending him down with the force of ten anvils. He released Fighter and focused all of his strength into his arms in an attempt to avoid crushing her, but it soon became harder than he thought as the shoddy metal floor beneath them started to groan.

"Gaaaaaah!" Fighter screamed as the metal floor broke apart, sending them down to the floor several feet below. She landed back first into the concrete, only wincing slightly thanks to her magical damage resistance, but quickly reopened her eyes after hearing nothing more than pained grunts from Clarke.

She let out a shocked gasp as she looked up and was met with the sight of Clarke sweating profusely as he locked his arms and legs in an attempt to keep something away from her. She shimmied out from underneath him and got back to her hooves, then turned her attention to the object on his back.

It was some sort of magical golden rod about five feet tall, and despite its thin nature it still looked incredibly dense. The air around it shifted and shuddered against its surface as it vibrated, almost like it was being forced down by some unseen entity determined to drive it through Clarke's body. Just as she finished her inspection, she heard Clarke yell as the speed of the rod increased, forcing him to fall to his knees and elbows.

"H...Help!" He screamed in fear as tears began to well up in his eyes. Fighter quickly backed up and looked at her surroundings for anything she could use, eventually spotting a dormant jackhammer lying on a pallet beside her. Biting down onto the large tool, she spun it around effortlessly and tossed it at the rod, shattering it into golden streams of light upon impact.

Clarke let out the biggest sigh of relief he'd ever had once the weight had been lifted, and fell to the ground in exhaustion. He wanted to cheer, or maybe thank Fighter for her help, but he suddenly felt too tired to even move.

Fighter Swan frantically ran over to him, inspecting his back for any injuries but only finding a strange black singe on his coat. "Clarke, are you okay?" She started patting him down as he continued laying on the ground unresponsive to her question. "Clarke!?" She asked again as she shook him around. She began to tremble a bit as his mouth lazily opened to let a small breath of air escape, but once again no words. 

Suddenly he started curling his hands in pain and slowly lifted himself from the ground. "Y-yeah, I'm fine," he said in a raspy voice while tiredly resting a hand on her head. "I just feel… a little tired is all." He offered her a weak smile and did his best to hide just how tired he truly was. He felt like he was on the verge of sleep. She nodded her head and wiped the small droplets from the corners of her eyes as he shakily regained his footing. There was no time to rest, however, as the sounds of gagging and raspy breaths from up above quickly caught their attention. 

They looked up through the newly torn hole in the metal floor above and saw the same dragon from before with her tail coiled around the minotaur, and the minotaur desperately clutching for air. "You," she pointed to the trench-coated man then down at them. "Deal with them, then meet me by the train." With that she walked back into the office with the manager in tow, leaving her partner to jump through the hole and face them. 

Fighter and Clarke rolled out of the way as the man landed onto the concrete floor with a crash, his feet digging deeper into the floor like he was under ten times the normal gravity. He glared at them with fierce glowing eyes while a golden aura seeped from his gem and surrounded him like a magical fire.

"Listen, we don't need to do this," Clarke said as he quickly pushed Fighter behind him. The man gave no response and instead opened both of his palms in front of his shoulders, summoning several new golden rods like the ones before. They all floated above his head lazily until they aimed towards them with ferocity, all while the man continued to stare with a lack of emotion.

Despite being in a couple of fights before, something about this one seemed off to Fighter Swan. There was something about his dead eyes that screamed to her that this was going to be painful. She gulped down as much of her fear as she could and took a stance beside Clarke as he panted up a storm, trying her best to prepare for a fight. 

"I have a really bad feeling about this."