Episode Transcript
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Tails eldest. The Master of FightingArts remains the most prestigious terminal degree in
the world of combat. Our curriculumoffers a deep and extraordinary library of coursework
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energy, projectile attacks, CHI,energy control, advanced tactics and telepathy and
telekinesis, mystic weapons training, andso much more. Since eighteen forty six,
the Master of Fighting Arts program hasproduced the very best and brightest across
all combat industries. Each year,thousand supply twelve are admitted, but only
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one student earns the MFA. Myname is doctor Theodosia Roman, and I
look forward to your application. TheMaster of Fighting Arts featuring the voice talents
of Sladehvid, Crystal Cohen, Gailvan Kott, and Alexis Coogan. Avery
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Morse made a promise to his motherto make her proud and uphold the honor
of their family's legendary fighting style beforeher life was brought to its conclusion.
Sadly, the terminal illness that's plaguedher body for months is about to claim
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her life, much sooner than theyboth anticipated. As the woman lay peacefully
still, drawing ever closer to herfinal breaths into the sorrowful eyes of her
son. In two weeks, theMFA Finals will take place, and she
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knows exactly what's on his mind.Avery. It's part of who you are,
Mom, the MFA. I wasonly going to do it for you,
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for us. It was hard enoughafter Dad passed. It's too much,
Mom, I can't. His mothergrips his hands with an assertive firmness
that surprises him, her fingers shimmeringwith golden energy. Believe who you are.
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The golden energy slowly fades away,and with those final words, his
mother was gone, but her messageto him was clear. Quitting would be
the easy way, but not theMorse way. The woman trains at nightfall,
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far away from her decrepit home inthe inner city slums, away from
her siblings. She trains her musclethrob, her face drips with sweat,
her teeth grind with each strike,power surging through her body. On a
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normal night, Monica Mitchell would beat home, fixing dinner and putting her
brothers and sisters to bed. Butthis week, her mother left work early
in order to take care of theothers, also that she could train and
prepared to face Avery Morse in theMFA Finals. Initially, Monica refused.
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With finances being as tight as theywere, those work hours, as well
as the checks that came with them, were very much needed. However,
the MFA is the only path toMonica's ultimate goal, and in order to
reach that goal, sacrifices had tobe made. No one in her life
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understood sacrifice more than her mother,and so she trains power surging through her
body, ignoring the urge to stop. Ignoring the aches and bruises, Monica
Mitchell trains the energy in the roomis fervent, Champagne flows. That's our
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place, and projected winners are debated. This place is called the Amphitheater of
Fist, and in a few momentsit is where the final match of the
Master of Fighting Arts Program will takeplace. Hundreds have gathered to bear witness.
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However, this spectacle is an invitationonly event. These people are not
fans. Rather, many of themare alumni of the MFA program, members
of an elite society of combat practitionerswho represent wealthy families or prestigious fighting styles.
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Some are champions from the professional leagues, others are liaisons from the military
or from major corporations, and thena primal anticipatory hush permeates the arena as
the final to MFA candidates step onto the wide circular fighting platform finalless one
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approach. On one side is AveryMorris early twenties, dressed in the standard
blue and gold uniform of the MFAprogram. Avery represents the famous Morris family,
whose members have produced an abundance ofMFA graduates over the course of several
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decades, known for their balanced fightingstyle, the hyperwave, the rushing knee
bomb, the overdrive, uppercut cornerstonetechniques upon which the Morse name was built.
As a candidate, Avery Morris representseverything the MFA program stands for,
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tradition, legacy, prestige. Ashe admonishes the audience, it is very
clear that everyone expects him to win, except a tiny corner a small family
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sitting near the edge of the arena. Finalists two approach, and then Avery's
opponent steps forward. Monica Mitchell barefoot, blue tank top, black pants,
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her hair wrapped in an ultra typebun, her eyes bursting with pink energy.
The MFA Program is essentially a twelveperson single elimination combat tournament, the
winner receiving the most coveted academic degreein the combat world. Unlike Avery and
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the other candidates, Monica does notpossess an elite name or a refined fighting
style passed down to her through aninherited legacy. Instead, her raw talent
and ruthless aggressive approach is what gother through the program and into the finals.
Her motivation is simple, when theMFA changed the fortunes of her family.
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The autonomous referee, a robotic humanoidpainted with a gold and blue finish,
steps onto the platform. It isnow time for the finalists to determine
the rules and conditions for this bot. Finalists, please step forward. Monica
and Avery walk towards the center.The referee pulls out a black deck of
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cards and holds them out front.The two of them each pull. Avery
draws a ten, Monica pulls asix. Morris has draw the highest card.
Avery Select your rules Professional. Avery. Morris has chosen professional rules,
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which means this fout will have notime limit and all advanced level attacks are
allowed. Monica select your victory conditionsVerbal. Monica has chosen verbal submission as
the victory condition, which means thatthis vout can only be stopped when one
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candidate verbally concedes victory to the othercandidates at your guard. The referee steps
back. Monica smoothly contorts her bodyinto a relaxed fighting stance, arms outstretched,
palms open, eyes glowing with dangerousenergy. Avery takes some more traditional
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stamps, hands up, elbows tightnear the ribs, knees slightly bent.
Candidates proceed immediately. Avery dashes forward, punches, and knees attacks that Monica
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easily evades. The hyperwave is atraditional Morris family combat technique, a devastating
projectile attack that allows the fighter tomold their internal kinetic energies into a concussive
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blast. As the swiftly moving projectileapproaches Monica, she does the unthinkable.
She rushes towards the blast, then, just before the moment of impact,
she swings her arms in front ofher chest, slicing the projectile in half
before it dissipates. Avery is shocked. Previous opponents had evaded his hyperwave before,
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but no one has ever outright repelledit until now. Monica's hands surge
with pink energy. She throws herarms forward, and a burning ball of
pink energy shoots out from her palmsand travels towards Avery, it collides into
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his chest, sending and flying intothe air and landing hard on his backside.
As Avery struggles to an upright position, Monica grinned it was all worth
it. She thought, the endlesshours of training, the resulting aches and
pains that lasted for weeks, allworth it, because now she gets to
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prove them wrong and crush their precioushero. Monica throws another projectile attack.
Avery evades it, leaps into theair and aims a flying knee at Monica's
head, his body shimmering with agolden radiance. But just before the attack
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connects, Monica sidesteps in, grabshis ankles, and slams him to the
ground, slow, predictable. Unlikethe other eleven MFA candidates who hailed from
elite combat families, Monica was admittedto the mf program through tryouts, an
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initiative largely seen as a kind ofpropaganda tool employed by the university in order
to maintain the illusion that people likeMonica, people who come from impoverished backgrounds,
could become an MFA candidate. ForMonica, the tryouts label became a
nearly endless source of torment she becamean easy target of ridicule and shame.
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Avery steps forward. I get it, you're angry, but think about it.
Have you ever heard a single negativeword about you come out of my
mouth? To a point. Thiswas true. Avery had never taunted or
mistreated her directly. However, healso never made an effort to stop the
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others. Monica rushes forward and thetwo of them engage once again. At
the end of the scrummage, Averylands a clean hyperwave directly into Monica's face,
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carving a diagonal bruise on her cheek. Monica's eyes widened, and so
does Avery's. He knows he's introuble. Now, big mistake mores.
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Monica hurls a larger, darker ballof energy at Avery. It obliterates him,
ripping his uniform into tatters. Monicastands over him, seething. Then
Monica points to the small family atthe edge of the amphitheater. See that
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my mother breaks her back every day, providing for nine kids. She couldn't
afford to send me to school,so I had to earn my spot in
the MFA program through tryouts. Sheelbows him in the sternum several times before
tossing him away. Get up.Do you remember the names you and your
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friends called me on my first day? Roman's rat, the tryout trick,
the pr puppet. Monica blasts himagain, then points at the ref All
right, ask him. The refereeapproaches Avery. Do you wish to conceive?
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Ay? Do you wish to conceive? No, you want to keep
being stupid mors fine. Furious,Monica shifts her body into a tight horse
stance, her body surging with pinkand black electricity. With a powerful stump,
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Monica places her left foot behind her. Then she opens her palms,
grits her teeth, and concentrates allof the wild moving energy into her palms.
The orchid mantis flash Monica's signature technique, the one she used to defeat
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all the others, the one thatgot her into the MFA finals. This
move requires a concentrated burst of cheatenergy, followed by a giant, devastating
spear of electrical power launching out ofher palms. The entire arena reverberates as
the sphere of energy plows into Avery'sbody before bursting into a colossal explosion.
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For several moments, there is confusion, dust, and debris cloud everyone's vision,
and inside that massive fog of chaoslay a remorse. Barely conscious,
do you wish to concede? Avery? Believe in who you are? And
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then emerging from the settling dust isa remorse. Clothes torn to shreds,
cruises all over his flesh, butpurposely limping forward. Quitting would be the
easy way, but not the Morseway. Monica throws an energy ball at
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Avery. A golden force field reflectsit back at her, and then Avery
goes on the attack. The flyinguppercut puts Monica down. The referee approaches
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her, Monica, do you wishto concede? Monica attempts to get up,
but her legs buckle. She fallsto her knees. She pounds her
fists on the platform in tears.Do you wish to concede? Monica?
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She couldn't believe it. All ofthat time and effort, all of that
training, all of that studying.She's so close being the first person in
her family to graduate from college,to help her family in way she never
thought possible, So close. Thereferee approaches her again, do you wish
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to conceive? Monica? I?I? And just when she's about to
answer. Monica turns to the crowdand finds her siblings standing together holding hands,
and though she can sense their collectiveconcern for her well being, their
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expression delivers a clear message to Monica, We're with you no matter what.
Avery also notices the family watching.Exhausted, they rush each other one final
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time. Both students are faced down, and for several moments, the amphitheater
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of fists is silent, and thenthe two candidates sit across from each other
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in the infirmary. Avery holds abag of ice against the back of his
neck. He notices Monica nursing thescar around her cheek caused by one of
his hyperwave attacks from across the room. Avery outs wretches his hand. His
fingers glow for several moments, andwhen the glow fades away, the scar
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on Monica's cheek is gone. Howdid you do that? That's a Morris
family technique, not as well knownas our more offensive maneuvers. I tried
to use it on my mom whenshe was but it didn't work. Monica
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had heard something about the matriarch ofthe Morris family passing away. Until now,
she had blocked out any and allforms of emotion or sympathy for her
adversaries. However, now that thebattle is over, she couldn't help but
feel slightly remorseful. Even though Monicahad never met the woman herself, she
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had just met the fighting style thatpushed her to her absolute limit. Doctor
Roman says, the program has hada drawing over fifty years. Maybe we'll
give us both the MFA, ormaybe they won't give it to anyone.
Neither of us deserve it. Howcan you say that in every contest there
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has to be a winner and aloser. It's the reason why we fight,
not always. I thought to honormy parents today, our style,
our legacy. Well that's great.Good for you, Avery, I don't
have a name or legacy. AllI had was a chance, one chance
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to win this degree and make abetter life for my family. And now
Monica's family burst the brothers black forthe first time. Avery notices a genuine,
warm smile on Monica's face. I'mso proud. Looks like you have
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a pretty strong family name to me, and then the autonomous robot enters the
infirmary. Monica Mitchell, Avery Morris. The MFA board of Directors has made
their decision regarding the results. Ifthe final MFA matched, please follow me.
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As the two of them follow therobot out of the room, Monica
stops. She turns to Avery withan assertive granted, Hey, Morris,
you better hope they don't ask usfor a rematch, because if they do,
I'm coming for you, no mercy. I'll be ready. To learn
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