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	Beatriz put the ear plugs her mother gave her into her ears as the announcer spoke. 

	“The last thing you, filha, is tinnitus! Do you want your ears ringing while you fight?” Mami had said, insisting the two plastic plugs into Bea’s reluctant hands. She hadn’t wanted to look uncool in front of the other fighters. 

	“Ringing before you get hit, anyway, my God, I don't know why you chose this to be your hobby. You’ll put your mother into an early grave with all this.” She had said, kissing Bea on the forehead.

	[color=c4df9b]”Sorry, mami.”[/color] Bea said, rubbing the back of her head.

	“Oh, don’t be sorry, just be yourself. I’ll get over it. You’re a good girl, if anyone could have talked you out of it, you would have listened.” Her mother said.

	[color=c4df9b]“...Yeah? I guess that makes sense? I just- I have too. And hey, maybe I’ll even make you proud while I’m at it!”[/color]
	
 	But now, as Bea tried to subtly slip the plugs into her ears when nobody in this massive room was looking, she felt grateful for them. Because it was really loud in here. Bea is no stranger to loud, but she is a stranger to concerts. That kind of artificial loud that doesn’t come from people talking and fireworks and celebration, but massive speakers placed in every corner in the room.

	The lady- with some kind of worm on her head???- announced an open bar and buffet. Well, she was too young for the bar- not that she would want to get drunk anyway. And the last thing she wanted was to eat herself sick on fight day. Instead she used what was available to produce a turkey sandwich, the kind she’s been eating all year. That was the best tactic, Beatriz was sure. Everything had to be perfect if she was going to be in winning condition!

	Beatriz sat by herself in the corner, two hands on her sandwich. A t-shirt, some jeans, her backpack. That was it. She was glad she still had her ear plugs in when a wannabe Jaden Raldo got on the mic and started- Beatriz nearly choked when she looked over and saw the real Jaden Raldo rapping on the microphone! What is he doing here?! She thought the ninja rapper thing was just a gimmick! But the guy really was decked out with swords! Is he going to be fighting?! Beatriz was suddenly feeling a little star struck. She’d never gotten a chance to go to any concert before.

	It was also nice to see a little familiarity, at least. Because some of the people here, were… unusual. Beatriz knew it wasn’t like this last year. But something about this year was different. Instead of martial artists from all over the world, at least half the people here were total weirdos! Beatriz really had no idea what it could be. Though she had heard people mention the Power Stone… was it drawing people out of the woodwork? This Fighting Carnival was either going to be the strangest, or greatest, it had ever been and ever would be. She supposed she should be thankful. She wanted to meet great fighters, right? well, now she would. All because of a weird rock. 

	There were interviews happening, people showing off…members of SHINING were here. A bunch of people floating around. Bea was trying her hardest not to feel inadequate or boring in comparison. She thought that being able to create a ball of ki would make her able to keep up with the most extravagant ki using fighters. But now she wasn’t so sure.

	“Hey, you, kid.” Someone said. Beatriz startled, almost choking on her sandwich, whirling to see the source of the voice. It was a tone of voice that she had heard all too often, and one she wasn’t expecting to hear here of all places.

	[color=c4df9b]”K-ggk- bwuh?”[/color] Bea replied eloquently, looking up at the security guard.

	“You’re not supposed to be here. This is for fighters only.” He said. Bea felt heat rush to her cheeks. 

	[color=c4df9b]”What?!”[/color] Bea shouted, hoping she had misheard.

	He cupped his mouth. “You’re not supposed to be here! This is for fighters only!”

	[color=c4df9b]”I AM a fighter!”[/color] Bea shouted back, resisting the urge to punctuate that sentence by punching him to the moon. Though given he was a security guard at a place like this, he was probably tougher than his plastic badge suggested.

	He didn’t seem convinced by her statement. “Really? Aren’t you a little young? Where’s your badge?”

	[color=c4df9b]”It- it’s in my bag.”[/color] She nodded towards it. But she was still holding this sandwich in both of her hands. Do you know how hard it is to look like a badass when you’re holding a turkey sandwich? 

	She looked around for a place to set down her turkey sandwich. But there wasn’t any. She didn’t bring a plate with her. If she sets it down anywhere, it’s ruined. She could try holding it in one hand? But what if it fell apart? Or slipped off her hand? It was her only option, so she went for it. 

	Unfortunately, undoing a zipper with one hand is also very difficult. At least it is when you have a ratty ass backpack with loose strings that get caught in the zipper braid. Bea gave it a few tugs. 

	[color=c4df9b]”Fucking shit-”[/color] She swore under her breath. 

	“Alright kid, that’s enough.” 

	[color=c4df9b]”Could you just hold my fucking sandwich for two seconds-”[/color] Bea said. 

	“Just pick up your bag and let’s go.” The guard said, firmly taking her by the arm. He was going to do the escort walk thing! Why didn’t she just wear the stupid badge?! She felt like crying!
	
	[color=c4df9b]”No! No, I-”[/color] Going against every instinct in her body, she regretfully dropped her sandwich. It plopped against the ground, and she pulled her arm free and descended upon her bag. In her rush, she tore the zipper right off the backpack with a metallic pop.

	[color=c4df9b]”See?!”[/color] She exclaimed, showing the guard her broken zipper like it was a testament to how strong she was. It ended up just being a testament to how crappy her back pack was.

	When she went to dig through her backpack, she realized it was full of crap. Extra clothes, first aid kit, extra lunches, her fighting gear- her lanyard must have sunken into all this! Bea made a very uncool noise of desperation and failure as the guard grabbed her by the arm and began to escort her out. Would it be possible to figure out an alternate solution? Almost certainly yes. But Bea got a twitch in her eye and a glint of intent, and any Nomad here who had been in more than a few fights could tell she was about to start one.

	[color=c4df9b]”Maybe I’ll just show you, eh?!”[/color] Well, you didn’t need to be a Nomad to figure that part out.