Though rainy weather does not make for the best flight conditions. the injured bird still shakes its wings. Perhaps the direction in which it flies is also the direction of Tessa's heart...
Umbraton Combatant:
(I think… I hear the flapping of bird wings…) (And the sound of the wind blowing…) (What time is it?) (I…)
???:
It rained yesterday… Today is an awful day for birds to fly. Its wings haven’t fully recovered, either… Flying will probably just tear open its wounds. But even so… It’s trying so hard to flap its wings. At least it isn’t lying motionless in a puddle of mud or something… Are you okay?
Umbraton Combatant:
*Coughs* Okay or not… It doesn’t matter… *Coughing*
???:
It looks like you’ve completely lost the will to live.
Umbraton Combatant:
It… It doesn’t make a difference to me anymore.
Pat...
???:
Here. Have some bread. Your left hand is broken, but you still have your right hand. If you want to keep on living, then grab hold of it yourself.
Umbraton Combatant:
...
(Image of Eve and Sinsa’s Home)
Bang!
Navigator:
(Tessa looks sharper when she stands in the ring.) (Jab, block, dodge, and rush forward…) (Each of her moves is fatal.)
Tessa:
Left!
Bang!
Umbraton Combatant:
Hahaha! Your fighting skills have come a long way, Tessa. You beat me! But calling out left and then throwing a right? That was just plain dirty…
Tessa:
I learned it from you. This gym… Looks like you finally found a way to rekindle your will to live.
Umbraton Combatant:
Who would have guessed, eh? Now I’m an instructor, teaching kids the ins and outs of fighting. That way, when the time comes to choose their paths in life, at least they can always have options. It beats the hell out of my old job, that’s for sure! And I owe it all to you, Tessa.
Tessa:
...I see.
Navigator:
So… Could someone please explain to me what is going on? This man slammed into me in the store… Just so he could casually give me a flyer for the gym. To tell the truth, I saw right through it from the beginning.
(Image of Umbraton Store Memory, flashback begins.)
Navigator:
You were trying to bump into Tessa, but she dodged last second. And that was when you turned and rammed into me like an airship at full speed…
(Screen fades to black, flashback ends.)
Navigator:
Look! My arm’s all bruised up now! And then Tessa dragged me over here, and you guys changed clothes and started beating the tar out of each other. You two completely forgot about me and left me standing around like an idiot…
Umbraton Combatant:
Hahaha… Sorry about that. Everything happened so quickly, and I didn’t pay attention to much else… Those flyers were to bring in new people to the gym, but I never expected to run into you and Tessa today! I just really wanted to show her my new gym… That’s why I came up with that half-baked idea. After all, she comes and goes like the wind. Who knows when I’d have a chance to meet her again? Besides, don’t you think it was a special and surprising reunion this way?
Navigator:
I’d prefer to use dramatic to describe it… So who exactly are you, again?
Tessa:
He’s a… Friend of mine. We met when he was at the lowest point of his life.
Umbraton Combatant:
Saying we are just friends is a little too humble, don’t you think? You see, I owe Tessa my life. I’d probably be rotting away six feet under if it weren’t for her.
Tessa:
But the bread I gave you was soaked by the rain, and you didn’t eat it.
Umbraton Combatant:
...
Tessa:
It’d be one thing if you were dead already, but you’re still alive. I don’t care if you waste your life, but you better have a good reason for wasting my bread.
Umbraton Combatant:
I just thought… My whole life had been a tragedy… I don’t deserve to eat anymore. All I deserved was death. I was the most pathetic loser among all the fighters in Umbraton.
Tessa:
I understand.
(Electricity)
Umbraton Combatant:
(Electric current? Is she going to… put me out of my misery?) (Fine by me. If she zaps me to death, it should be pretty quick and painless…)
Eyes close, screen goes black.
Zap.
Eyes open.
Umbraton Combatant:
...Huh?
Tessa:
Never waste food. Here, take it. It’s a little burnt now, but at least it’s not cold anymore.
Umbraton Combatant:
...Thank you.
Tessa:
I understand what you wished for, but leaving you to die like this would make me feel bad. You said you were a fighter, right?
Umbraton Combatant:
Yeah… A boxer specifically, but I know a few other styles, too.
Tessa:
Your body’s covered in scars, but your physique is way more solid than the average person’s. I’m all by myself now, and I got nothing else to do… So why don’t you tell me your story before you decide to kick the bucket?
(Flashback ends.)
Umbraton Combatant:
I used to be someone with no hopes or prospects. I was a small-time street thug who got by with my fists. I lied, cheated, and stole to make a living. I even threw matches for the bigger bosses to rake in the bets.
Navigator:
Really? That sounds like a really rough life…
Umbraton Combatant:
Yeah, but it’s not an uncommon way to live in Umbraton. I could have blamed the surroundings for my behavior. After all, Umbraton’s a dirty and dangerous place. Naturally, it’s a perfect breeding ground for money-grabbing maggots like me. But to tell the truth, it was because I had no real willpower. I had no faith in fighting, and I had no faith in myself.
Tessa:
...
Umbraton Combatant:
One day, my boss told me to use a real dirty method to take out my competition… But once I did what he asked, my boss turned his back on me. I had my left hand and left hand broken as a result. All I had was my pitiful, worthless life. After I told her my story, Tessa said to me:
(Flashback to the alley.)
Umbraton Combatant:
”Fighting sounds pretty fun.” ”Since you’re no good for it anymore, why don’t you teach me everything you know?” ”Consider it payment for the bread I gave you. You already took it, so there’s no giving it back, either.”
(Flashback ends.)
Umbraton Combatant:
I thought to myself, “She’s absolutely right!” And so, I finished the bread she gave me. After that, I started teaching Tessa everything I knew about fighting. She helped me heal my broken body, and with it… I regained my will to live. This set of training clothes is something I’ve kept all this time… I always hoped that I’d have a chance to give it back to her someday.
Navigator:
(So this outfit actually belongs to Tessa, huh? No wonder it fits her.)
Tessa:
It brings back memories, that’s for sure.
Umbraton Combatant:
Do you still remember what you said to me in our last match, Tessa? Right before we went our separate ways?
Tessa:
Hmm… ”As a fighter, your willpower is way too weak.”
Umbraton Combatant:
Urgh…
Tessa:
”You’re like a headless fly, just buzzing around without direction. I can’t even stand looking at you…” ”Your movements are too slow.”
Navigator:
It doesn’t really sound like you were his friend.
Tessa:
I was only telling the truth.
Umbraton Combatant:
Hahaha! She’s not lying! Tessa is a genius, and that’s the truth! Once I taught her everything I knew, I couldn’t beat her again, no matter how hard I tried. One day, she said to me right after she grazed my ear with a really wicked punch: ”I choose which way my punches go, so where do you choose to throw yours?” I thought long and hard about what she said. And in the end, I decided to put together this gym, so I could teach the weak to defend themselves here in Umbraton. I always hoped you would find this place someday, Tessa. This is the direction I’ve decided on!
Screen fades to black.
(Image of Umbraton Street.)
Navigator approaches Tessa.
Navigator:
Why did you choose to save him, Tessa? Was it really just because you couldn’t stand it?
Tessa:
You would have done the same if you were in my position, I’m sure.
Navigator:
I probably would have shared some bread with him, sure… But I’m not sure whether I would have trained with him, too…
Tessa:
I supposed that’s beyond the scope of just lending a helping hand, yeah. ... At the time, I had just left Istvan’s Gang. I was completely and utterly on my own. I just so happened ot run into something small, something that made me forget about my problems for a little while. To be honest, I wasn’t helping him so much as I was helping myself. And when he mentioned being a fighter, it made me think of Richard.
A lollipop… I remember he told you to hide in the cabinet and stuffed a lollipop in your mouth.
Tessa:
That’s right.
Navigator:
So Richard knows how to fight, too?
Tessa:
He’s an insurrectionist with a deep hatred for the nobility of Lumopolid, one who’s been involved in countless assassinations. You think a person like this wouldn’t know a thing or two about street fighting?
I don’t…
Tessa:
He’s the person who raised me. It’s… hard to say whether he’s good or bad.
Navigator:
So Richard is a fighter, too?
Tessa:
I’m not sure if he ever took part in any competitions, legal or otherwise. Either way, it comes as no surprise to me. Fighter is just another one of his identities, and his skills are just tools at his disposal.
Tessa:
When I was little, Richard shared some of his techniques with me. But at the time, I had already trained myself to use the power of electricity.
Navigator:
You didn’t use this much power to toast his bread, did you? Otherwise, you would have just left him with ash to eat…
Tessa:
*Clears throat* Don’t be ridiculous. I know how to control my power. Anyways… Back then, I thought Luminatics were way stronger than anything Richard could teach me about fighting. So I didn’t pay much attention and hardly learned a thing about it. Now that I think about it, I really missed out on a lot. ”I choose which way my punches go.” That was something Richard originally told me.
Navigator:
One of the many thought-provoking things he would say. It does sound pretty deep, to be honest.
Tessa:
You think so too, huh? I didn’t really understand what he meant until I said it to that fighter. It felt like a sudden flash of light. But now… Before I gave him that bread, I had rescued a little bird that day.>
Tessa:
Just like the white birds flying overhead right now. In the beginning, saving him felt no different from saving that injured, little bird to me. But now, after seeing the direction he chose for himself… I suddenly felt as though I’ve gotten some sort of guidance from it. I won’t let my past drag me down anymore, and I’ll never be alone.
(Dayna and Robyn appear on-screen.)
Tessa:
Not after meeting Dayna and Robyn… Not after coming aboard the Colossus. This is the path I’ve chosen for myself.
