[zaya]

A sports festival didn’t seem to be in the cards for Zaya when she first came to UAU; She expected to spend most of her time alone in her room, avoiding the sun like it’d burn her alive; But here she was, out and enjoying the festivities.

Still keeping her lazy streak alive and well, Zaya hadn’t signed up for any events; Yet; instead opting to fill up on snacks. Currently she was in the middle of a third cotton candy and watching some sort of weird relay race she didn’t fully understand. Maybe she’d participate in one of the events, but for now, she was fine with kicking back and relaxing, and possibly trying to meet up with some of her new friends she kept seeming to make.



“Zaya! Zaya!” Speak of the devil. Spotting a brunette youth, Zaya waved Mark over. They weren’t exactly the greatest of friends, but after the whole incident with the villain, she figured the least she could do was give the shapeshifter a shot. After setting some ground rules, of course.

“Mark, hey. Nice to see you. Listen, we can hang out if you want, but just don’t talk my ear off about the Thunderbolts or-“



“Yeah yeah yeah. Listen, where’s that dragon guy you hang out with?”

Not focusing solely on his little team up crusade? That was new.

“Oh, Jack? Um…Not sure actually…I can text him if you want?”

Mark hardly seemed focus on Zaya at all, just looking around, an eager scowl stretched across his face.

"That fight event…We don’t get in trouble if we beat the shit out of the other guy, right?”

Great; From one obsession to another, it seemed. Zaya would try to protest, but she’d already sent a text out to Jack.

“Hey, you here at the sports fest? Mudman here is looking for you.”

The progress bar on her text quickly changed to a check, showing it had been sent.

“Um…I don’t think you’re allowed to kill or seriously maim another student, but…”

That was all Mark needed to hear, apparently. Turning, he started making his way to one of the arenas.

“Good; Let him know I’ll be in the arena waiting for him. Get him to show up, I don’t care how.” With how much pep was in his step, one would think Mark was rushing to get a Noble Prize.

That wasn’t good. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but all of Mark’s enthusiasm before felt…Fake, compared to how he was now.

“Mark, listen, I know you don’t like him but don’t hurt him!” Zaya pleaded in a concerned tone. “I know we don’t know each other very well, but you don’t have to rough him up like a thug to prove a point!”

Mark just shrugged her off, and stepped foot into the empty square arena.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Mark, just-“

Now his voice got more aggressive. “I said don’t worry about it!”


That was all Zaya needed to back off. “Jack…Just please don’t show up…” She thought, hoping she wasn’t going to have to watch her friends brawl.

[Jack Orion]

"Of course I am, I was just getting geared up for a fight here soon myself. That doesn't exactly sound good, though. Any idea what he wants?"

Jack sat on one of the benches in the locker room as he was scrolling through his phone. Of course, he had signed up for a good few events himself up to this point - it was a good opportunity to show off a little bit and let loose. Honestly, it was as good of a stress reliever as it possibly could have been. After all, nothing felt quite as good as releasing some of the pent up energy he usually had coursing through his veins.

He already learned the hard way the side effects of not doing so.

That being said, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the text message. The hell did Zaya's little stalker want? He knew the last time they had met it almost ended in a bit of a scuffle before Jack could talk him down, but that was a while ago at this point. He knew better than to pry too deeply into Zaya's personal matters so he never broached the topic unless she seemed actively bothered. The fact alone that he was looking for him didn't exactly bode well, either.

Nonetheless, he knew better than to put something like this off. If the guy wanted to tussle because he had an issue, then as long as it was in the proper place he didn't care. All it meant is that he shouldn't pull his punches too much. The quicker a bully is taken down a peg, the sooner they can blow all of this over.

"What stadium are you at? I'm on my way."

Jack quickly texted back after Zaya would end up responding to his previous text. At least he had already signed up for some brawling anyway, so it wasn't anything unsanctioned. He would quickly make his way down to the arena, seeing Zaya down at the entrance. "Yo. Everything alright? He didn't say anything hurtful to you or anything yeah?" he asked, more worried about him being a dick to his stalkee more than anything. If she was what this was all about, he was really going to shut his mudflaps up quick.

Not wanting to keep his opponent waiting, the dragon boy would nod to Zaya, a grim look on his face. "Look, don't worry too much. I'm not exactly going to pull my punches but I'm not exactly going to aim to hurt the guy a whole bunch either. Technically speaking, I just need to ring him out to call it a day. I'll aim for that, then talk the guy down if I can. Fair?" he said, before quickly making his way down to the arena, where Mark was waiting.

"'Sup, Mark? Something you need to get off your chest here or somethin'?" he hollered, not even bothering with any sort of name-calling or any of his other usual tactics. He honestly didn't even want this fight a whole lot, so hopefully he could at least talk him down before things started here. "Listen, man, I don't know your beef or what's going on up in your head there, but I'm just going to say? You don't want this fight. Trust me on that." he warned, an almost dangerous glint in his eyes, more serious than he ever usually is. That alone should be off-putting, given his usual demeanor.

Something told him that wasn't going to work here, though.

[zaya]

Zaya saw Jack’s message, but before she could finish typing out a response, she spotted the man himself.
“I’m fine, he didn’t do anything. Jack, listen, Mark isn’t acting like himself…”
Well, it seemed like Jack was more than willing to give Mark the fight he wanted. Zaya wanted to stop it, try to talk one of them out of it, but it wasn’t like either of them were doing anything wrong; Not yet at least. The fights were sanctioned by the school, but still, she felt like Mark was trying to pick this fight for the wrong reasons.
“Just ring him out quickly; Don’t make this worse than it needs to me.” Sighing, Zaya watched Jack step into the ring, and hoped this wouldn’t end badly.

Mark spotted Jack right away, and the biggest grin of his life crept onto his face as he did.
“Jack! I’ve been waiting for this all day.”
The mudman saw the intent in Jack’s eyes, but he didn’t care; To him, that was just a sign that he was going to get the fight he desired. “Believe me, I want this fight. I want it more than I’ve wanted anything in my entire life.”
Using his shapeshifting abilities, Mark stretched himself out, growing at least a few feet taller in the process, while making his body look bulkier. “Nothing you can say, nothing you can do can get you out of this. Even if you try to run from this battle, I won’t let you.” Mark’s voice had grown considerably deeper due to the way he was expanding his body. The UAU sports uniform he was wearing had had its top part ripped off by now, and Mark’s body was starting to lose its humanoid appearance a bit as clumps of mud started to show as folds in his body.
“Get in this arena; You’re not leaving until I’m satisfied!”
Mark’s dramatic transformation seemed to have drawn the attention of a good portion of the crowd, now cheering at the battle that was soon to unfold.
The mudman was more than prepared, of course; The second Jack stepped into the arena, Mark would turn his arms into hammers, and slam them down on his rival.

[Jack Orion]

Jack's eyes simply narrowed at Mark's insistence on this. Seeing the crowd starting to come in at the scene of another brawl brewing, he could feel a pit in his stomach starting to grow. It wasn't good that the guy wanted to air all of this out in public like this - it already felt like he was going to fly off the handle as it was. This many people being around just made things worse, in that regard. He already saw well enough how well Mark could lose himself when provoked in the slightest. If he was already willing to attack him in public, how well would this go down.

Still, if Mark was true to his word, then trying to back down now would just end poorly. Before he would end up entering the ring, he would look back at Zaya. Admittedly, he could barely hide the uncertain look on his face, but he quickly covered it up with his trademark grin and a thumbs up. Regardless of how he felt about all of this, he knew he was up for it. Clearly, it was up to him at the moment to snap Mark out of whatever this was, so he may as well at least try to play the part a little.

Of course, that didn't mean he wasn't going to try at least once more to talk him down.

Mark was clearly not the speedy type, because even Jack could see his attack coming a mile away. The moment he even tried to step into the ring, the clayman was on the attack, slamming down on him at full force. Jack, at least fast enough to react to this, only briefly stepped back, letting the attack collide with the ground, the force of the attack sending a good gust of wind all around him. "I might be here a while, then. Because you won't be satisfied, win or lose. I can tell you that much," he said dryly, already being able to tell how this would end up.

Call it overconfidence if you would, but at least Jack had the sense to see when a fight wasn't worth fighting. Especially over something petty.

"Lemme get this straight so far. You don't even know my Quirk, nor do you know my own strength and weaknesses. Yet here you are, clearly confident and determined enough to want to try and strike me down. I gotta ask here, amigo, what's this actually about?" he asked, prepared for another attack should Mark not want to talk more. "I'm just going to say, I'm not lifting a finger at you until I get my own answers. So I suggest you start talking, since you clearly want to air all of this out in public anyways."

Again, he would glance back at Zaya, already kind of guessing what this was all about, though he had an inkling that he already knew. Glaring back at Mark, his hands still in his pockets, tail swishing from side to side as he waited for some form of response, attack or otherwise.

[zaya]

Mark’s eyebrows furrowed in anger as Jack seemed to stall out the match.
“Fine, if that’s the only way to get a real fight out of you, I’ll enlighten you.” The shapeshifter morphed back down to his normal size, likely to conserve his energy.
“But its something I doubt you’d understand for…” Mark looked down at his hand, fingers dripping with mud. “Multiple reasons. Hell, I don’t fully understand it myself. But a few nights after we met…I dreamed. For the first time, I actually dreamed.”



He sure was using odd rhetoric, Zaya thought, now more confused than concern.


Mark let out a sigh, and stared up into the sky above. “Honestly, I didn’t even know I could until then. But that night, I dreamt that we fought, and I won. Even dead asleep it was more fulfilling than anything.” Steeling himself and gazing right at Jack, Mark formed his fist into a knobbed mace. “Beating you is the only thing I’ve thought about for a while now; Making that dream into a reality. I don’t know what your quirk is, your weaknesses, your strengths, but I’m excited to see…”
Pushing forward with his back foot, Mark charged right at his opponent, intent on slamming his mace hand onto Mark. “So show me!”


This just kept getting weirder. So it wasn’t about her, like Zaya thought initially; She seemed to be the only reason he was even sent to UAU, but now he seemed solely intent on pursuing this rivalry with Jack. Considering how pressing he’d been on her with the whole team business, maybe this was a good change, lesser of two evils…

[Jack Orion]

Jack felt his right eye start to twitch a slight bit as Mark would go about his explanation. Pure annoyance and outright disgust started to fill his entire body, every word feeling like someone was scratching a chalk board with sharp nails. He kept his composure throughout, mainly out of kindness than anything else, less he lash out right there and then. That was it??? All of this, was purely because Jack did something that he would have arguably done to anyone else were they in Mark's place?! He gripped his fists, having to actively remind himself not to puncture his skin with his claws.

He took a deep breath, calming himself down a little bit as Mark would again try to assault him. Again, Jack would only sidestep his attacks, once again putting more distance between them. "Please tell me you're not being serious," he snarled, baring his fangs at the clay man. Venom dripped with every word, his feelings about Mark's 'dream' clearer than water. 

"Let me get this straight. You drag me out here, in front of all of these people, even dragging Zaya into this, all because you can't handle someone standing up to you?! Because your ego got so tripped up that you 'dreamed' about beating me?!"

At this point, the more he spoke, the angrier he got. He started to shake in fury, Chaos Energy even starting to emit around him, like a rift in space just started to open up from his very body. "People like you...you're all the damn same! You whip your Quirk around like a hotshot, threatening people who dare even question your actions! If it weren't for the fact I spoke the small amount of sense in the park that day, you would have attacked me in broad daylight! AND YOU DARE CALL YOURSELF A HERO STUDENT?!"

He shook his head, trying to calm himself down, but to no avail. As his anger grew, the energies around him would start to grow wilder and wilder. 

And then, it stopped. Just as quickly as it started.

Jack took another deep breath, shaking his head once more. "I'm done here." he said flatly, turning his back to Mark as he would start to make his way off of the stage. Glaring back at Mark, daring him to make a move, he spoke more. "Word to the wise, Mark? If that's your only reason for fighting, you don't have a chance in beating me, much less any villain that we're supposed to fight. Not a chance in Hell."

[zaya]

Mark held his ground against Jack’s building energies; His expression was that of a kid on Christmas, excited for the battle; Only to stop himself from sending another attack as he listened to his opponents words.

As Jack began to walk away, Mark’s face turned to a mixture of dissapointment and frustration. “That’s it?” He beckoned, walking to the edge of the arena.
“All you do is rant about people you don’t like, and compare me to them? I thought you had passion; I thought you were special! I’ve been dreaming about this moment and all you see it as is an annoyance!”
Watching as Mark slammed his mace-fist into the ground, tossing up pebbles, Zaya decided to step in in an effort to prevent any further escalation.
“This is what I need! I want to get the fight I wanted out of you, don’t just walk away!”
Stepping ringside, Zaya called out to Mark.
“Mark, dude, its over, just let it go ok?”
Looking over, frustration still on his face, Mark tried his hardest to take a deep breath, but no form of relaxation was coming to him; All that was on his mind was Jack, and the fight he felt destined to have with him.
“No…I…I wanted this fight…I needed it…It’s the first time I’ve ever been…”
Nothing could calm him down in that moment; But seeing Zaya’s face…Seeing concern on it; It came closer than anything else could.
Expelling his anger was impossible; But at least he could change its trajectory a bit.
“Fine. Go.” Mark said in a taunting manner.
“I really got excited for this, but I guess all you are is a coward that needs a girl to fight his battles for him.”

Zaya winced at the insult; It was clear Mark was just saying that to try and rile Jack up, but she couldn’t help but feel like she was in the middle of all this. Still, hopefully Jack wouldn’t take the bait, and just walk away…

[Jack Orion]

Now Playing: The Remedy (Acoustic)

Jack kept walking away as Mark would start to throw a tantrum behind him. A scowl forming on his face, feeling all the more insulted at the utter display of the man-child behind him. "More like a damnable pest than an annoyance at this point," he growled back, shaking his head. At this current point, he couldn't believe he even entertained this fight for even a moment if this was the reason behind it all. A fight out of pure spite wasn't one worth fighting at all, for either of them. What could be learned? What could even be enjoyed at that point?

As he would continue to keep walking, he started to hear the break in Mark's voice, hearing the twang of despair. He stopped, pursing his lips. Why would he act like this if all this was, was a petty dream fight? At that point, he even ignored the blatant insult after the fact. "Tell me something. Say you win. What then?" he asked, his face softer than before, but a steely glare would pierce right through Mark all the same. "Have you even thought that far ahead? Your goals? Your dreams?"

As Mark would at the least think of an answer, Jack would start to approach the stage once more. "I'm not going to fight you just for the pure sake of satiating your ego. I fight for the sake of others. To protect myself if needed. For the thrill of the fight against someone who understands what it means to be a Hero. That being said...

Why do you fight?"

Now Playing: The Remedy

He let the question hang there for a second, honestly not expecting an answer. As the mudman would think on it, he would look back at Zaya once more. A nod of affirmation towards her was all he gave, determination in his eyes now. Maybe Mark DID need this fight, for one reason or another. A deep breath, and an exhale of steam emitting from his mouth, before Jack would take a fighting stance.

"SHOW ME!!!"

With that exclamation, Jack would lunge towards Mark, claws bared as he would quickly aim to slash towards his torso! With an unrelenting fury, the dragon boy would slash seemingly wildly at Mark, knowing at the least his clay body should mitigate any sort of lasting damage a slash from his claws would normally leave.

As he would barrage him with strikes, Jack waited to see how Mark planned on countering him. If he wasn't clever normally, then maybe he at least had some sense in a fight. At this current stage, he wanted to test the waters - see what Mark was actually capable of. What his actual fighting strategy was rather than just brute forcing it like he always seemed to do.

[zaya]

Mark actually seemed a bit stunned at Jack’s line of questions; He didn’t have any answered prepared. “You know, I’ve never really thought far ahead.” He admitted. “More of an 'in the now' kind of guy.” It was a boring yet honest answer.

“Why do I fight?” It sounded like Mark was just mindlessly repeating back what he’d heard at first, like a giant mud parrot; He was hardly even thinking about it until Jack lunged at him, and started slashing. The initial torso strike left a huge gash across his body; Thankfully it was easily regenerated.
As claw after claw went through mark, mud went flying everywhere; Mark’s first instinct was to harden himself when the claws were inside of him, trap Jack; But he was far too slow to make it happen. So, time for a general defense; Putting his arms in front of himself, he created a large shield, and solidified it, using it as cover from the blows.
“Why do I fight, huh?” He yelled over the barrage.
“Because someone told me to; That’s how everything is in my life; ‘Do this, Mark, do that, Mark;”
Spikes popped out of the shield, and Mark held his ground while shoving it forward, trying to impale Jack. Regardless of whether he succeeded he’d continue talking.
“I never really cared. Never bothered thinking for myself.”
If Jack was still in front of him, he’d then prepare to go on the offensive, turning his two arms into four, and creating a weapon in each.
A mace, a cutlass, a flail, and a prehistoric club; Whether Jack was in front of him or not, Mark would go at him and start swinging all his weapons, one after another.
“And then you came along! Suddenly I started thinking irrationally; about wanting to fight you; What a thrill! And now that I’m here, doing it…” An smirk shot across his face. “I don’t want this feeling to end!”



If she wasn’t sure before, this was outright confirmation that Mark was set up to be her ‘friend’ by his father. Honestly, it stung a bit. After what happened at the mall with the Kollector, she actually felt like she’d bonded with him a bit; Like she might’ve actually made another friend. Hearing that all she was to him was another order by someone else hurt; Zaya had to bite her lip to prevent any tears from falling.

[Jack Orion]

A low, almost bestial growl would emit form Jack as he would listen to Mark amidst his barrage of attacks. Every word, while it wasn't necessarily Mark's fault, absolutely pissed him off. A man who hardly even understood why he fought, who only ever did as he was told to, like a mindless soldier... It sickened the dragon man to his very core. It was almost like the very antithesis to what he stood for, a very insult to everything that he took pride in.

Even so, he couldn't say that anger was directed at Mark. No, he was clearly raised this way, and he could probably already guess who it was that ordered Mark around, based on what he knew from Zaya. Rather than lose his cool again, he decided to press again as he attacked. "Is that right?! Tell me then, who're you taking orders from?! Who's the one who has the reigns on your life?!" he snapped, one final slash leaving a massive gash for a few moments on Mark's chest before he would end up making a shield.

Jack leapt back as spikes would then erupt from Mark, taking the couple moments to breathe. "All of that aside - why me, exactly?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not exactly special. I'm a guy with his own beliefs and attitude towards people who wanna challenge it. What you see is what you get with me - so what exactly sets me apart from anyone else who probably stood up to you in the past?" A bit of a loaded question, but he was genuinely curious. While he did always strive to do his best for his goals, he never exactly saw himself as gifted or special. Just a guy who had his own problems and did what he could to solve them, simple as that.

As the mudman would then start to form weapons between four arms, Jack again raised his eyebrow at him. Clever enough, sure, but that didn't exactly mean it was a good tactic. He went back on the defensive, dodging each of Mark's blows. Keeping his breath even, watching each of Mark's movements like a hawk. "Just because you can make a million weapons, doesn't mean you know how to use them. Swinging around wildly won't solve anything!" he chided.

He would then raise a hand up, almost like he was motioning Mark to stop his assault. However, a blob of Chaos Energy would suddenly form in his palm, promptly exploding with a powerful gust of icy cold wind! Aiming to send Mark back a fair bit, he would repeat the action as many times as necessary in order to get him back enough to continue talking. "You have the power to create anything your mind can conjure up. Use that to your advantage - you can easily catch your opponent off guard if you make things they wouldn't expect."

A simple enough of a lesson, but Mark's Quirk interested Jack enough to at least have him feel the need to coach him on how to wield it. When it came down to Quirks, it was like training how to use a unique type of weapon. Each with it's own strengths and weaknesses, both in and out of a fight. It was just a matter of how Mark would end up responding to that.

[zaya]

Mark smirked at Jack’s question. “Who cares who I’m talking orders from?” He responded with a question of his own, reforming the gash.
“Orders are orders; Regardless of who they come from, its all the same! Feels so good not to dictate my life by them for once!” Still swinging his weapons around, the mudman was sent backwards from the force of Jack’s blast.
“And who cares what makes sets you apart? I sure don’t!”
Planting his feet, Mark tried to advance forward, but the wind was simply too strong.
Listening to Jack’s lecture, Mark first felt annoyed; How dare his opponent try to give him advice! Didn’t he realize this was a fight?
“What, do I look like I need a fucking instruction manual to use my own power?”
He yelled back through the wind, still unable to move forward, but not moving backwards either.
Then again, catching him off guard wasn’t too bad of an idea…
Loosening up his four arms, he let them fall to his sides and dissolve, turning into long trails of mud rather than anything solid.
“Know what, that piece of advice was actually pretty solid, so let me give you some in exchange…”
He wasn’t strong enough to make his way to Jack without any kind of foothold; At least, his whole body wasn’t. But the journey wouldn’t be nearly as difficult for a trail of mud making its way through the cracks and curves in the arena’s floor.
“Don’t give your opponent advice during a fight!”
Once the mud was close enough, Mark would suddenly solidify the mud trails, letting them pop up from their hiding place in the stone curves. Racing right for Jack, they’d turn into thin needles, only as big as the small amount of stealth mud could make them.

[Jack Orion]

Jack again scowled, anger evident in his eyes. It was all well and good to live in the moment, but this was just aggravating. Not saying anything at first, he continued to move from side to side, dodging nimbly, every move calculated in that instant. Before too long, he would send Mark back with a couple of strong gusts of wind, taking the moment to breathe and give him advice.

An almost evil smirk formed on his face as Mark chastised him, like a kid refusing to answer a question at school. "Ain't that just the biggest question in the room," he replied, noting even the audience's confusion on the matter. Most of them have seen the several fights Jack had gotten himself into for the last few months - Bakuretsu, the Tortured, even smaller endeavors during that whole freak incident with the mutated sea creatures. That was the thing about the digital age - everything got recorded and published. Especially in regards to Heroes. They knew damn well he was holding back a lot - some audience members even looked a little irritated by the fact.

Not that he gave a damn. Fame and fortune were overrated.

Jack watched carefully as Mark actually did seem to take his advice for a moment, dropping the whole weapons schtick in favor of letting mud seep across the ground. The dragon man didn't move an inch, watching, waiting to see what Mark would come up with. Figuring some kind of attack from below was coming, he prepared himself, wrapping his wings around himself, letting a small amount of Chaos Energy collect in them. Eyes still locked on Mark, his predatory glare piercing through him like a hot knife through butter.

Listening to Mark's advice, Jack again grinned devilishly as the attack was launched. Thin, muddy needles launching from their hiding place, all threatening to make him a pincushion. Honestly, not a bad tactic. However, Jack would quickly spread his wings back out, the Chaos Energy exploding outwards in a galactic display of dark light! Assuming that was more than enough to knock the attack back, Jack crossed his arms again, cocking his head to the side.

"I haven't taken back what I said before, you know."

A cold statement, what he was referring to obvious enough. "Difference between you and me, Mark? I live in a world full of fucking cardboard." He started to walk towards him, slowly but surely. Each step, a small ripple of Chaos Energy released from his feet, the ground beneath them pulsating with each step. "From the moment I was born, I had a timer on my head. Almost killed my folks and every doctor in the room when I hatched. They told them I maybe had 5 years to live, all because of my Quirk. Capable of destroying anything in it's path, even it's host." he said, making sure each word held it's weight. Honestly, if Mark tried to interrupt, he'd probably blast him out of the arena right there and then.

"I'm still here, though. Ya know why?" He stopped in his tracks, about midway across the arena by the point. He smirked, pointing a thumb at himself and chuckling. "'Cuz I'm built different. I took that death sentence and spat in it's face. Honing my mind, body and Quirk as much as my little body could possibly handle at that point. Then, BOOM!" he clapped, making another small explosion of Chaos Energy erupt, the cold burst of air emitting all around the arena. "I managed to release all of the energy that had been building up from before I was even properly born. I controlled what wasn't supposed to be controlled, I took back my fate!" he snapped, suddenly looking really angry.

"And then there's you. A mindless soldier who doesn't even think about his fate, his future. And quite frankly? That pisses me the fuck off." he snarled, almost not even sounding human at that point. His presence at that moment strong enough it almost looked like there was a silhouette of a dragon looming - no, coming out of him. "I'm telling you this, giving you advice, even, because I actually give a shit. Anyone ever tell you something like that before?"

[zaya]

Mark’s needles were easily launched away by the chaos energy, splattering stray mud all over the area, which quickly began to make their way back to their owner.
The mudman gritted his teeth as the dragon approached him; The gap in their power was growing more and more apparent by the second. Glaring daggers right back at him, Mark tried to step forward to meet Jack in the middle of the arena, but a mixture of fear and instinct kept his feet firmly planted. Instead, he formed his arm into a mace, and did his best to stand his ground.

When the first burst of chaos energy went off, Mark had to squint his eyes, the wind applying pressure; A man with less drive might have just stepped out there; Was this the fight he wanted? The one he needed?
Mark let him finish his speech; His face wordlessly screamed how much he hated every word of it, but he let him finish all the same.

He opened his mouth to speak; But nothing came out; He just closed it again, frustration covering his face as he thought of what exactly he even wanted to say.
“Oh, good for you, you’ve just managed to overcome every obstacle in life, haven’t you? You think I care about your ‘motivational speech’ or whatever you’re trying to pull? I asked for a fight, not a goddamn psych evaluation! You hear me? I didn’t ask for your…For your…”

Weakness started to overtake Mark’s body. His mace arm slowly turned back to normal, and his posture started to slump.
“Mark, Jack…Its over. This has gone way past a sparring match.”
Getting behind Mark and jumping into this nightmare of a battle was terrifying; Probably the scariest thing Zaya had done in her life. Why, she thought, was she so willing to jump into danger here, instead of the villain attack at the mall?
“Mark, just take five, ok?” She pleaded, both hands grasping his shoulders.
Before the mudman could really protest, he went down, completely exhausted both from Zaya’s quirk and the fight. “I could…No, I didn’t ask you to step in…” Mark stated apathetically as Zaya continued to take his energy.
“Jack, this went way too far. I know stepping in invalidates the match, but…” Tears started rolling down her face. “I just couldn’t watch it anymore! I didn’t want you to get hurt! Either of you!”

[Jack Orion]

Jack's eyes started to soften ever so slightly as he noticed Mark's reactions to his speech. His instinctual fear taking over at the sight of someone with as much power as he had in front of him. Even if Mark's face radiated hate at every word Jack was saying, he could already tell right there and then that this fight was over. If you could even really call it that at this point. The crowds were silent, some even slightly afraid themselves at what they just witnessed. Pure power alone would drive the crowds wild - while pure presence can make even the toughest of foes flinch if you had enough of it.

And needless to say, Jack had a lot.

He said nothing at Mark's retort, watching his actions speak for themself. Jack took a deep breath, letting himself power down well before Zaya even decided to intervene. "My what, exactly? Pity? Because that isn't what this is," he said finally, his tone flat as it could possibly go. He again approached, before Zaya finally intervened, begging the two of them to stop. Watching as she even sucked the energy right out of Mark, his eyebrows raised. Then, he smiled easily, almost as if what just happened didn't at all.

"You know I'm a man of my word, Zaya. Wasn't the plan to hurt him in the slightest." he replied, before crouching down beside her, in front of Mark. He would pat the worried girl's shoulder, grinning. "I did say I had it covered, amiga. It's all good," he said gently, before returning his attention to Mark.

"Sorry if I spooked you there, amigo. Had to make a point, clearly enough." he said, before his face again took a more serious look. "My point is, you have to stand on your own two feet. Always. Not just once in a blue moon, not just because you feel like it. Always. Honestly? Regardless of who it is tellin' ya what to do? Tell them to go fuck themselves. You're your own man. Start acting like it. That's why I'm even alive today.

I'll tell you now, it's the only way you're gonna stand even a chance against me, much less anyone else."

All of that said, he extended a hand, willing to help him up. "All of that being said? I want you to join us." He let the words hang there for a moment, watching both his and Zaya's reactions. Zaya, of course, would know exactly what he meant. For Mark, though, he would clarify. "A little while ago, I helped start a...well, you can call it a fraternity. Though I admittedly have a lot bigger plans for us than just that. For people like us, who have seen some of the worst of the world in one regard or another. To help see things in a brighter light. To help bring us and others to our greatest heights. Both physically and mentally. Always been a bit of a passion of mine, if you can't tell by now. So, what do you say?

Wanna become a Noblebright?"

Again, he let the question hang there, wanting to see his face before continuing. "If you can't make a decision right now, that's fine. Just give it some thought, brother. But whatever you do end up deciding, I want it to be your choice. Only yours. So that means no telling whoever your 'boss' is. Can ya at least promise me that?"

[zaya]

“I’m sorry for interfering, its just…Both of you looked ready to kill…I panicked. I’m sorry.”
Getting up, Zaya wiped the tears from her eyes, and offered a hand to Mark, which he ignored as he picked himself back up; His body struggled to lift itself, the mud traveling upwards in order to heft him to his feet, which took longer than it would for someone not drained by Zaya’s quirk.

As Mark listened to Jack’s speech, all he could do was look at the dragon with complete and utter disgust; In a way, this felt worse than if Jack had gloated about his win. At least then he could have someone to put in his place; Someone to hate.
But this? Not only was he still trying to impart lessons onto him, now he was offering to become a member of his team.
Fully on his feet now and with enough energy to at least move around, Mark angrily smacked Jack’s hand away.
“You think your stupid pep talks actually help anyone?” He snarled out. “You just come off as obnoxious and irritating.” The mudman looked as though he wanted to say more, but just shoved past Jack, leaving the arena.
“My own man…” He gave one last look at his rival, before heading for the exit of the stadium. “You don’t know the half of it.”

Watching her ‘friend’ leave, Zaya took her phone out of her pocket, and instinctively started to text Mark; But stopped before hitting send on a message asking if he was ok.
“He just needs some time to blow off steam…” She stated, sighing.
“I just can’t get in his head…He really felt like he was my friend before, but after what he said…”
Even though Mark was a nuisance to her in the past, and even after what he said, she still wanted to help him; To dig deep down and see if there really was a friend there. “I’ll talk to him later, ok? I mean, he technically didn’t say no, right?” She asked, trying to force a smile.