Captain straightened and projected his voice across the room again. “Please welcome the Blind Bandit, Charlie Wahkin!”
I turned to Chancey, totally pissed. “That’s a lame-ass stage name.”
“One that you’re stuck with now,” he said, like it wasn’t a big deal. But I knew it was. People would remember this name forever. “Besides, it’s a good thing you’re pissed off at me. Channel that into your fight.”
I didn’t get another chance to respond, because Chancey shoved a mouth guard past my lips and pushed me toward the ring. I caught myself on the ropes. The crowd was already chanting my stage name, and I knew there was no turning back now. I had to fight. I had to prove myself. I had to earn my place in this prison— not as Charlie Wahkin, but as the Blind Bandit.
Stupid ass name that it was.
I climbed under the ropes of the boxing ring and jumped to my feet to face my opponent. The air moved around Damien as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, amping up for the fight. Someone else moved through the ring— a referee.
“A blind Elementai?” Damien laughed. “Taking you down will be easy.”
I chuckled. “You’d be surprised.”
“Ready?” the ref called. “Fight!”
I didn’t hesitate, because I knew if I did, the fight would be over far too soon. Damien and I lunged at each other and met at the center of the ring. He threw the first punch, and though he was quick, I felt it coming through my Air magic. I ducked, and his fist went over the top of my head. I jumped back as he swung again.
Each of my moves were calculated. I didn’t go in for the shot right away, but rather stuck to dodging his attacks. My strategy was simple. I was learning his fighting style with the help of my Yapluma senses so I could use it against him.
“Coward,” Damien spat at me. He didn’t seem to notice what I was doing, and it would be his downfall.
Damien was a simple fighter, I quickly realized. He’d go for any shot he could, whether it would work to his advantage or not. All he wanted was for his fist to connect to something—anything.
And so I let it.
Damien’s knuckles cracked into the side of my jaw, and the crowd screamed a mixture of cheers and boos. I smirked in satisfaction as the pain radiated through my face. I already felt the bruise forming. Chancey hadn’t been lying about Atlantean strength. They were no vampires, but mermen werestrong.
As my hands came up to block my face, Damien aimed lower. He landed a punch to my ribs, just as I predicted he would. I knew the punch was coming and quickly calculated my counter-attack. Before Damien could draw his fist away from my ribs, I grabbed his wrist and yanked him forward, while simultaneously swinging my knee up into his gut. I knew by the way the air left his lungs that he felt the blow. We’d see how muchenhanced strengthhe had after that shot.
My opponent recovered quickly and jumped back to where I couldn’t reach him. He began circling me, and I followed his movements, tracking them with my magic and the sound of his feet on the floor. Nothing outside of the ring seemed to matter— not the crowd, the announcers, or anything. I barely heard them as I focused all my attention on my opponent.
“The clock is ticking, my friend,” Damien sneered through his mouthguard. “I’m undefeated. It’s time to end this.”
I scoffed. “What are you doing standing around talking about it? Bring it on, fish boy.”
“Fucking savage,” Damien sneered as he jumped at me.
I blocked his first punch, but it hurt my forearm like a son of a bitch. I retaliated quickly, landing a punch to his gut, then to his jaw.
I quickly learned that Damien didn’t back down. He was all about the offense and barely bothered to block my attacks. His fists started flying at me so fast, I had a hard time making out where they were coming from. His knuckles connected with my body in five consecutive blows, first to my guts, then to my face. My ears rang as his fist slammed into my eye. I instantly felt my eye begin to swell and blood drip down my face.
It should’ve left me stunned, but all it did was ignite a fire inside of me. The pain wasn’t even mildly inconvenient. It wasexhilarating,and I welcomed it with open arms. It reminded me that I was alive— and I wasn’t just here in the Institutesurvivinganymore. I was having the fucking time of my life. And it motivated me towin.
Defending myself was suddenly off the table. My only choice was to do more damage to him than he did to me. I kicked Damien in the face so hard that he stumbled back a few steps, far enough that his arms couldn’t reach me. I kicked him again before he could recover, but that was all I managed to do before he jumped at me again.
Damien’s fist met my jaw once again, and the coppery taste of blood filled my mouth. I smiled in satisfaction and spat the blood in his direction. The crowd went fucking nuts.
The feeling of blood spraying all over his face must’ve distracted Damien momentarily, because I managed to gain the upper hand. I landed blow after blow to his jaw, enjoying the sweet satisfaction of beating him up. Hell, I was actuallygoodat something for once. And the crowd was loving it.
Damien shoved me backward, and I stumbled to the outer edge of the ring, catching myself on the ropes. He grabbed for me, wrapping his arms around me so tightly I could hardly breathe. He tried to knock me over, but I refused to be taken down so easily. I jumped and wrapped my legs around him, throwing off his balance. Damien growled as he fell forward. The bastard nearly crushed me, but I used his momentum to roll the two of us over until he lay flat on his back.
I knew from my many fights on the streets that gaining a dominant position like this could easily be short-lived, so I did everything in my power to deliver as much damage as I could while Damien lay on his back. I landed punch after punch to his face. Blood spurted from his nose and onto my knuckles.Satisfying as hell.
As predicted, the position was short-lived. Damien’s legs curled tight around me so that I couldn’t move. He wrapped an arm around the back of my neck and yanked my face toward his. He was strong, and I couldn’t get away. I heard Damien spit something from his mouth, then the thud of his mouth guard landing several feet away. Damien’s teeth latched on to my ear, and he bit down hard. I screamed as pain radiated through my ear and warm blood trickled down the side of my face.
So he wanted to play dirty. I could play dirty.
