The Marx Brothers

Chapter Thirty Six - 'Defeat'

Cheers erupted from all angles of the warehouse, echoing through the space, through my ears and through my nervous system.

"Welcome to this enthralling Monday night!" The man began, his eyes circling the crowd, his face clean shaven, wearing a cheap suit and tacky shoes "We are all here for one reason, and that one reason is to watch, the biggest, meanest, bloodiest fight any of us have ever seen!"

With each pointless sentence the presenter spoke, the fans and on-watchers roared and shouted. I couldn't fathom the number of sadism in one room.
While the hype continued around me, my eyes scanned the area, searching for familiar faces. The ones that I had both wanted and not wanted to see. I hoped Brad was somewhere nearby, knowing that he was another trusting face on our side. It was as I did so, that I stopped on two faces I knew all too well.
I froze at the sight of Dillon and Jaz, both whom stood on the opposite side of the large gap between us. My eyes burned into their faces, and I hoped that in some miraculous miracle, I would sporadically develop laser vision, melting the grins off their smug expressions.

They must have sensed the heat on their cheeks, because it didn't take long for them to spot me too. Jaz folded his arms and gave me a blood-curdling wink, while Dillon blew me a kiss that landed in the pit of my stomach with disgust.

I shuddered and tried to remember what Phoenix had told me. I couldn't let them belittle me, it was weak and it was destroying me from the inside out.

Nova had also noticed the faces, wrapping an arm around my shoulders, staring directly at them with his lips pulled into a tight line. Like an intimidating stand off in progress, Dillon and Jaston were sided with the appearance of Reid and when I noticed the next person to join them, my mouth hit the floor.

"What is he doing here?" I mumbled, shocked

"Who?" Nova had heard me, leaning down to my ear, watching me carefully with knotted eyebrows

"Oscar" I couldn't believe the name as I spoke it, my eyes glued on my old friend who had not yet noticed me on the other side.

"I guess he's here to support his brother, I haven't seen him in a long while" Nova shrugged

"Last time we heard they weren't on speaking terms" Harlan joined in conversation, standing beside me with his arms over his broad chest, his muscle intimidating to anyone who saw him.

"His brother?" I repeated, unable to pick the pieces up and put them logically together

"Gonzales, Garret Gonzales is Oscar's older brother Eden, you didn't know?" Nova asked me while the low music changed again, this time returning to it's high bass and overpowering loudness

I shook my head "No"

The sounds of cheering quickly became louder then ever before, nearly shaking the fragile steel structure of the warehouse. It was due to the presenter, who had just introduced Phoenix's competition, Garret Gonzales.

"You ain't ever seen a man fight like this man right here before, he is one mean, keen fighting machine who destroys anyone or anything in his path. If you dare see this man in a dark alley, you better start running like hell. Undefeated, violent and unforgiving, we welcome back the one, the only, the Great Gonzales!"

My balance was challenged as the floor shook with noise. Noise that was support for this man, this man that had committed so many heinous crimes against so many innocent people. I thought about Phoenix and Jett's sister, I thought about myself. I wondered if anyone's opinion would change if they knew the full story, if they knew what he was really capable of.
The presenter had described him to a T, but he, nor anyone else knew just how honestly real it had been. This wasn't a game, this wasn't a show, this was brutality at it's finest.