The only response I got was the middle finger thrown over his shoulder, which made me break out into loud laughter. It was perfect, just what I needed to cut through the tension before the fight.
I was new to street fighting, and this was only my third time here. My friend, Rick, had told me about the gig. He had been coming here for months, making decent money and, more importantly, working out some aggression. That was the main reason I kept coming. Sure, the money was nice, but I was more interested in working out my issues with my fists. I thought of it as nontraditional therapy. It was a hell of a lot better than nothing.
Rick had to work tonight, so I asked my cousin to tag along instead. The one thing I knew for sure was it was best not to come alone. Each win paid out a thousand bucks, and it wouldn’t be out of the question for someone alone to be jumped by some of the men around here to get the cash.
The current fight ended, so I got to my feet. I did a few quick stretches, ending with cracking my neck. Despite my lack of street fighting experience, I was no stranger to a fight. As the only son of an army general, I was pushed to join up my entire life. My father even went so far as to insist that I attend military school and receive hand-to-hand combat training as a teenager.
I didn’t know if he thought that would somehow motivate me to follow in his footsteps, but it didn’t work. I hated the strict structure and emphasis on discipline. My father wasn’t happy, and I didn’t think our relationship ever recovered, but I decided quickly that I wasn’t soldier material. It didn’t take long to get kicked out of the place, but I had picked up some fighting skills by then. Over the years, I’d honed those skills in bar fights and a general knack for finding trouble.
“You ready?” Alex asked as he returned.
I just nodded before turning and starting to make my way through the crowd. They parted for me, many of them shouting taunting insults until I reached the edge of the circle, the boundary of which was marked with white spray paint on the concrete floor.
This warehouse was one of many old and abandoned ones on this side of town. The windows were boarded up, and the only entrance was a sliding metal door at the back of the building that had previously been a loading area for large trucks. It helped the guys running this place to keep track of who came and went, but it also meant there wasn’t an easy getaway if we were ever busted. So, I hoped it never came to that.
On the other side of the crudely drawn barrier, I saw my opponent, a man that had earned the nickname The Beast with both his size and manner, stepping through the crowd on the other side. I could feel the buzz of anticipation in the air as the crowd got worked up for the fight. I knew that we were the main event of the evening. The new guy who was making a name for himself around here versus a man that was known for being big and mean. He wasn’t undefeated, but he didn’t lose often, either. I took his measure from twenty feet away.
The Beast wasn’t much taller than me, but I had to admit that he was bigger. It wasn’t all muscle, either. The two of us were both shirtless, and I could see that he was carrying extra weight around his middle. That could work to his advantage if he got me pinned beneath him.
Despite his extra weight, his shoulders were broad, and it was clear he didn’t skip arm day at the gym. There was no doubt that he was strong. I was sure to get pummeled if he got his hands on me.
So, I had to make sure that didn’t happen.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” a voice rang out from my left. Turning, I saw the man in charge, Luca Bianchi, shouting to be heard above the crowd. “We’ve come to our last fight of the evening. Place your bets now. Will it be the up and coming biker, Blade?”
There was a smattering of hoots and cheers, but not much. It was a good thing I didn’t care about that. It worked to my advantage to be underestimated.
“Or will it be the meanest son of a bitch I know, The Beast?”
This response from the crowd was much more impressive, and the idiot loved it. Throwing his hands into the air, he stepped into the middle of the ring, gesturing for them to cheer louder for him as if their support mattered at all.
It didn’t. All that mattered was who was better in the ring. Tonight that would be me.
I was strong, with six-pack abs and my own sculpted biceps, but what would give me the edge in this fight was my speed. While The Beast was busy working the crowd, I stepped into the ring and circled around him. I stayed on the balls of my feet, making sure that I was at his back as he moved, just waiting for the signal to begin.
Finally, a shrill whistle cut through the air, and I ran forward, reaching my opponent before he even had a chance to figure out where I’d gone. A quick jab to the kidney made him let out a whoosh of air, but I was gone before he could react, facing him on the other side of our circle.
Most of the crowd around us booed, and I couldn’t keep the smirk off my face. A lot of assholes were about to lose the money they bet against me.
The Beast let out a noise that I could only describe as a growl, his face turning red as he moved toward me. Anger was going to be his weakness. I moved out of his path quickly, landing a kick to the side of his knee as I went. His leg buckled, but he managed to straighten it out and stay on his feet.
A small part of me was glad that he didn’t go down easy. I wanted a challenging fight.
I could sense the moment that The Beast started taking me seriously. When his eyes met mine again, the anger was still there, but I could also see a calculating look. He didn’t move without thinking again.
Good. Now we could really begin.
The sounds of the crowd around us faded into the background as I became laser-focused on the huge man in front of me. Time dragged on as the fight got more intense. The only rule here was no weapons, so there was nothing that was off-limits.
I stuck to my strategy of quick jabs while staying out of reach, but The Beast had a long reach and was able to land a few blows. I had a couple of bruised ribs and a busted lip, but it wasn’t going to slow me down.
The longer the fight went on, the more I tapped into my inner darkness, the anger and guilt that I had carried with me for ten years. It fueled me, making me more vicious. I barely felt the pain of the hits I had taken, and I got more daring, able to land several blows to the man’s face. I even broke his nose.
Then, he got a hold of me. I knew that it might happen, and all I could do was hope that I’d inflicted enough damage to take him down. I took blows to my sides, trying to block them as well as I could with my arms, but it was the right hook to the temple that sent me reeling. I saw stars.
Stumbling back two steps, I couldn’t get away from him, so I tapped into every ounce of aggression that I had. Bringing my arms up, I blocked his next blow. It brought him even further into my space, and, reacting on instinct, I brought my elbow across his face with all my strength. He was dazed, so I swiped his legs. It hurt my own shin, but he went down. Hard.
The sound of him hitting the concrete was a dull thud, and he didn’t get back up. I stood over him, my chest heaving as I wiped blood away from my chin.
