Shit. That’s going to fucking hurt.
Brax grunts but slams him into the chain-link so hard the entire cage rattles. Blood splatters across the mat before the first round even ends.
The crowd chants like savages.
“BRA-XTON!”
“AT-LAS!”
“BRA-XTON!”
Round two gets uglier.
Atlas catches Brax with a hook that nearly drops him completely. The crowd gasps while he spits blood onto the mat, grinning through busted lips.
“There he is.” Braxton laughs hoarsely. “Thought California made you soft.” He taunts. and Atlas smirks.
“That’s not what your girlfriend said last night when she was riding my dick.”
Oh shit!
Braxton headbutts him straight in the mouth.
Chaos. Absolute Chaos.
By round four, both guys are drenched in blood and running on pure stubbornness. Atlas nearly takes Braxton down with a chokehold but Brax powers out of it just enough to slam elbow after elbow into his face until the hold finally breaks.
Then comes the finish.
Brax catches Atlas mid-swing and absolutely destroys him with a brutal uppercut that lifts him clean off his feet before slamming him onto the mat.
I ring the bell immediately.
“WINNER!” I scream into the mic, and The Dungeon explodes.
Money flies. People scream. Some girls flash the cage as Brax stands above Atlas, breathing hard while blood pours down both their faces.
Then Atlas starts laughing from the floor. “You still hit like a bitch,” he says, and Brax laughs before hauling him up and hugging him roughly.
“Welcome home, asshole.”
The celebration afterward gets wild fast. Music louder. Alcohol flowing. Everybody is riding the adrenaline high from the fight.
Atlas turns out to actually be cool as hell. California chilled him out a little but not enough to kill the Daggerspoint in him.
“Still can’t believe y’all are staying in this shithole,” he says while downing whiskey beside us at the bar.
“Trauma builds character.” Caspian shrugs, and Atlas snorts.
“Trauma built my therapist a beach house.”
We all laugh harder than we should.
Eventually, Atlas gets quieter though.
“Still looking for Liliana,” he admits softly. “Never stopped.”
The mood shifts instantly because everybody in Daggerspoint knows somebody taken too soon.
