Between Love and Hate

Fighters

*Kane's POV*

I spend pretty much the whole day trying to distract myself from Violet, but I just can't. The only thing that's getting me through is the thought of the fights tonight. The day seems to pass in slow motion as I wait. By 9pm, I cannot wait any longer and I walk out the front door towards the car I have stashed in an alley.

The 10 minute walk passes quickly and I hop in my car and head to the address on the piece of paper. When I arrive I see that I am at a strip joint not too far from Rex's gym and it's sitting on an unnecessarily large concrete pad. The neon sign out front is lit up and I suspect the strip club part is already open. I drive past it and park a couple streets over. It's barely 9:30. I set my phone down and head in. Might as well enjoy some tits while I wait.

I flip up my hood for the walk; the probability that I'll run into somebody I know is slim, but one can never be too safe. When I open the door, the music and the smell of cheap perfume and liquor assault my senses. I walk up to the bouncer standing beside a little table with a cash box on it. He's almost my height but significantly larger and he's got a handgun holstered on his right side. Makes sense. If you're gonna run an underground fight club, just being intimidating is not enough protection. I'm sure this guy knows he would lose in a fight to most of the fighters that walk through those doors.

"Cover is 10$," He tells me. I pull my wallet out and hand him a 20.

"Keep the change." He opens the little gate for me and I walk into the main area and head straight to the back. I look around and notice several more large dudes wearing black lurking around the edges of the room, all of whom, I suspect, also carry guns.

I take a seat and look around. There are a total of three stages around the club. Only one of them is currently being occupied by a girl wearing a thong and nothing else. Her nice ass is probably the only thing she really has going for her.

Both her tits and her dance moves are mediocre at best and it's hard to tell what her face actually looks like under all that makeup. I notice the two hallways covered by curtains on either side of the middle stage with signs "Dancer's only" above them. The bar is on the far left and on the far right there's a black door with two large dudes on either side of it. I make the assumption that that's where I'm to go for the fights.

I scan back across the room and see Rex walk in with Striker and Blade. He looks around and his eyes fall on mine and he gives me a nod so I get up and join them.

They don't say anything and we walk up to the two guys in front of the large doors.

"Hey Rex," one of them says and unclips a key from his belt loop. The other one eyes the three of us, gaze stopping on me.

"He with you?" He asks Rex, gesturing in my directions. Rex nods and the first guy puts the key into a key hole just below a number pad that I hadn't noticed was behind him until now. He types something in, twists the key and the door slides open to reveal an elevator. We all pile in and Rex presses the "B" button. The elevator starts to move down and it goes down longer than I expect it to. I idly wonder how far underground we are when the elevator stops. The doors open and we step out as I take a look around the massive space.

There's music going and there is a large caged ring in the center and girls dancing in cages suspended from the ceiling all around. There are several hexagons painted onto the floor around the main cage. There's also a bar along the far wall.

"Registration and betting happens over there," Rex explains, pointing to a man sitting at a desk behind a layer of what I can only assume is bullet proof glass.

I follow Striker and Blade over and wait behind them. I hand the guy my money and give him my name and then walk back over to Rex.

"Right so, if you win, you can either cash out or use some of the winnings to go again. They'll keep track and you can cash out anytime. They won't let you go into the negatives though so if you lose, you'll have to buy back in. Fights start at 11. You can use the floor to practice until then if you want. Spectators and fighters should start filtering in soon enough."

I go over to a rack of jump ropes over on one of the walls. I jump for a little while, watching people start to come down. It's obvious, for the most part, based on what everyone is wearing who the spectators are. Fighters begin pairing off in the practice rings as people watch them, deciding who to bet on. The screens all around the room are updated with stats as fighters register. I notice that Striker is second and blade is third right now. I'm right at the bottom, obviously since I have 0 fights.

I put the jump rope away, deciding to go for a walk around the room to size up my opponents. I feel someone walk up beside me and look over to find that Rex has joined me. "Scoping out the competition?" He asks.

I nod and say, "Have any tips?"

"Come on," he says and gestures for me to follow him. He brings me over to a ring near the betting box where a tall, extremely mean looking guy covered in prison tattoos is going through combos with a slightly shorter dude with gigantic arms.

"The tall one goes by Machine. He's the favourite to win every time he shows up. People love him. He's ruthless and brutal and he likes to toy with his opponents to give everyone a good show. His showboating is where you will get your opportunities from."

"Got it. And the other guy?"

"That's Rocky. He's not very fast but make sure he doesn't land a punch, because if he does, it'll either knock you out, break something or both."

He shows me around to the other fighters, and I archive the information in my mind. Once we've made it back to the beginning he says, "Now, it's likely they'll pair you up with one of the weaker fighters or another newbie first to gage your skills. They should post the first pairings shortly."

At about 10:45, they put the first pairs up: The first two pairing some of the lower ranking people and then I'm up third against the guy currently in fifth, called Phoenix. After us it's a pair of newbies and then it's Rocky against Blade and Striker against Machine. Of course they would put him at the end.

I see a swarm of people placing bets. Striker and Blade come to join us and we look at the odds by pairing on the screen. Striker and Machine are almost even, Blade is 4:1 against Rocky and Phoenix is 15:1 against me.

We watch the first couple fights. They're not particularly interesting. When it's finally my turn, I take off everything except my shorts and put on my gloves. I start to feel the gentle warmth of adrenaline flowing through my veins, heightening my senses. I stand across from Phoenix, analyzing him. He looks like he's got a long enough reach so I'll have to watch out for that.

The referee starts the countdown and I take up my stance, matching his. He quickly takes the first swing, but it's sloppy. I'm sure with me being a newbie he wasn't expecting me to be any good so he's rushing it. I dodge it easily and land a blow to his ribcage which has him staggering. He's angry now and attempts several more quick jabs which I dodge. I decide I've had enough fucking around. I need to just beat this guy so I can get matched up with someone better in the future. After his next attempt, I kick him hard and then send several blows to his face when he drops his hands, knocking him out cold.

I am declared the winner and when I exit the ring, Rex slaps me on the back and says, "Good work kid, you just won me a ton of money. Glad I knew those 15:1 odds were dead wrong."

I just give him a look and watch the rest of the round 1 fights. Blade wins his fight fairly easily but Striker and Machine are much more evenly matched. It's a close call, but Machine lands a punch to Striker's side that must still be tender and ends up winning.

I fight a couple more rounds but only seem to get paired up with other newbies and the lower caliber fighters. I guess I have to earn rounds with the best. I win every fight and it feels good letting off some steam.

After the fights, I grab a drink with Striker, Blade and Rex in the strip club before heading home. It's almost 3am before I finally make it to my bed and I manage to drift off and finally enjoy a dreamless sleep for the first time since I saw Violet.