Chapter 48: Huh, This Is Kind of Big…
After the huge brawl yesterday at the YFTL filled with thousands of people across the world, many netizens and people from that fight went online to settle their fight. Since they couldn’t yell at each other in person and punch them for supporting someone they didn’t, they could only throw words anonymously on the internet till the other side got tired. They went to news article comment sections, video-sharing platforms, podcasts, radio shows, and even places unrelated to Zoey vs. Donald at all. Like video games, illegal comic-sharing websites, anime-sharing websites, and more.
“Did Zoey even do anything wrong, though? Sure, she may have laughed about some kid breaking his own leg, but it was his own fault! Who told him to get checked like that?”
“Hey, shut your fucking mouth, you satanic Devil supporter! Zoey is nothing but pure evil and deserves to fucking die for her crimes!
“Holy crap, dude, how much money did you lose to condemn a child to hell and curse them this badly for following the rules in a sport?”
“I’ll fucking slit your mother’s throat, cunt!”
“He’s lost a shit ton of money with an answer like that.”
“You know, I think this whole thing is a fucking show, and we’re the little idiots being used for commercial gain because of it. How could a tiny girl like Zoey Winters even beat so many guys in the first place? It’s obvious that the YFTL is bribing the fighters into throwing the fights against Zoey. I don’t know why they’re trying to raise Zoey’s reputation like this, but it's fucking fishy as hell to me.”
“It's probably another one of those girl-power things that corporations do to make it seem like women aren’t inferior to men. Zoey Winters has been fighting only against men since she debuted in the preliminaries and somehow winning all of them no matter what their fighting style was while she’s just a boxer.”
“This guy above me has a point. Boxing is one of the weakest sports if we’re being logical here. Your options for causing damage are so damn limited it doesn’t make sense that she’s made it this far against so many bigger, stronger, and better fighters. It just ain’t adding up.”
“You guys just sound like fucking incels. Just because a girl is doing well, something has to be wrong with it. You’ve all deluded yourselves into thinking it's some elaborate hoax and shit when the girl’s just a damn good fighter. Accept it and quit making excuses.”
“And what would you know?! Talking your mouth off like you know any fucking thing about being a fighter or recognizing a good one!”
“Hit a nerve, did I? Was it the incel part or the part where I told you to accept that Zoey is a good fighter?”
“You fucking motherfucker, do you know how many females I bang in a week!? I’m not a fucking incel, and fuck you and fuck Zoey! She’s nothing but a puppet being manipulated by the YFTL to earn money and more female supporters!
Many more discussions like this were raging across the internet, but most people listened to the opinions of those that have more experience in this field compared to others. Such as content creators that only talk about YFTL content, news articles that focus on the YFTL and FTL, and podcasts centered around this type of topic. If their favorite content creator supported their own decision, they would be reinvigorated and validated in their way of thinking no matter what evidence or logical explanation the other side brings up. There was nothing more comforting than the support of like-minded individuals while things like facts, logic, and the like were very negative and detrimental to the validation they felt in supporting their side.
“While I don’t support the girl’s actions or behavior, I have to say that she didn’t do anything wrong,” Lucian commented.
Lucian was a famous podcaster that regularly talked about the latest drama incidents in the fighting community. He had over a million listeners to his podcast. His opinion was regularly looked for as he had a prominent voice in the fighting community. In his youth, he used to fight and was even a champion for a year before stepping down and retiring. So, he knew about fighting very well and was able to share his opinion of the news and the news in an unbiased way that could entertain and satisfy many listeners of his podcast.
“Now, don’t you think that she could’ve held back or something against Donald? It was clear to everyone that Zoey was going to win, don’t you think? I mean, the girl threw nothing but jabs the entire time and still won! If she actually tried and fought using her full strength, this would’ve never happened in the first place.” Carl Smith, today’s guest on Fighting Drama With Lucian, shared his thoughts on it.
“I believe that ifs are only for losers, Carl. If I just tried a little harder, if I just trained harder, if I threw a right straight instead of a left like I usually do. Instead of talking about what-ifs, just do it! Now, as I said before, I don’t support Zoey’s behavior and actions in this fight, but at the end of the day, she did nothing wrong. The officials are going to gift her the win unless they’ve been paid big--- I mean, unless they’re smoking crack. Incidents like this don’t happen all the time, but any sport has its rules in case things like this happen. I don’t think the YFTL is going to rob Zoey Winters of her victory because she did not break a single rule.” Lucian expressed.
“You sound a little unsure about that judgment Lucian.” Carl laughed.
“Every industry has its own form of corruption. Not saying that the YFTL is one of those industries, but sometimes people following the rules are sacrificed for the wrong reasons.” He explained.
A majority of the people who saw the fight were on Donald Aldo’s side. His publicity was far better than an unknown like Zoey. Donald’s coach made sure to properly set him up as an eager, kind-hearted underdog. This contrasted very well against Zoey’s coach's decision to set her up as a cold-hearted vicious demon. These two polar opposites going head-to-head were like the age-old rivalry between good and evil. Who would support evil even if they were “supposedly” in the right?
The news outlets and other forms of media displaying the two only further showed the difference between Zoey Winters and Donald Aldo. In some trending videos on video-sharing platforms, many of them depicting Zoey usually painted her in a negative light. They edited their videos in showing the messy, ugly, horrific, terrible states that Zoey usually left her opponents in after a fight, with her not showing much concern or care for them after winning the match. In a few of her past fights, they caught her smiling during a match and synced it up with the smile she gave during the fight with Donald’s. Making her look very pleased about hurting her opponents and seeing them in a destroyed state.
Donald’s edits made him look very much the opposite of the Devil known as Zoey Winters. He kindly helped his opponents up after his matches. He shook their hands before and after the fight. Always beaming with a pure smile before the fight, in the fight, and after the fight. His opponents also never looked as messed up as Zoey’s did. All of this painted a very positive light on him in comparison to the negative one shining on Zoey.
“So, I'm just supposed to share my thoughts, right?” A video of Donald Aldo lying in his hospital bed surfaced.
The person holding the phone seemed to have gestured something, and the young man continued to talk.
“Thank you all for doing your best in trying to defend me for all this time. I never really knew that I had so many fans that cared about me.” His cheeks were flushed as he rubbed the back of his head.
“But! Do not bring any hate or negativity toward Zoey Winters! She may not be a good person, but at the end of the day, it was my own fault that I lost, not hers. She was a better fighter than I was. In the ring, it doesn’t matter who is a good person or a bad person. What matters is who is a better fighter than the other.”
“Once I recover from my broken leg, I plan to train twice as hard as before to make up for my loss against her! So, no more hate or fighting, please. Just continue to cheer me on as I make my way back up to fight against her again and win!” Donald balled his fists, and the video ended there.
Seeing the person they were defending telling them himself to stop the arguing and fighting made many of the Donald Aldo supporters take a look at themselves briefly. Just as they were about to reflect on their wrongdoings to an innocent minor, another video from a prominent fighter in the YFTL was released. Someone that completely reignited the heat between Donald Aldo supporters and Zoey Winter supporters. And nullified Donald’s attempts to quell the flames.