I Know You

Ch.2 - Flint

 I needed to get away. That was all there was to it. I needed to go and fight, and not with the people who thought they knew me. I needed to fight humans to make sure that I could still do it. I wasn't worried about killing them in a fight. I always held back just enough. Enough that whoever I was fighting would get bruised and maybe a little broken, but never enough to send someone into intensive care. I made sure to get injured just enough that no one would question what I was.

Being a shifter is hard enough, but no one knows my real secret. I'm bi. I'm a fighter, a wolf shifter, bi, and grew up on the streets. One day you're just a normal kid and suddenly a dog bites you and you're sprouting fur when your emotions are taking over and you can't think straight until you've changed and you're running around on four legs instead of two. I love that freedom.

When I finally get to the gym a few cities over I grab my bag, lock the car, and head inside. The lady at the desk greets me and I nod to her as she throws me a key. "Thanks Cin."

"No problem, Flint. Good luck tonight." She always made me smile. Cin was the only person who seemed to treat me like a real person and not someone that could be used to their advantage.

"You're up against Martin tonight. He likes to fight dirty from what I hear."

"Thanks for the heads up. I'll get my key after the fight's done."

"Same as always." She smiled at me.

I headed towards the practice ring and put my mouth guard in place before wrapping my hands up and hitting the bag for a few minutes.

"Next up for your viewing pleasure Martin the Menace against Flint the Fireball!"

I sighed and grabbed my gloves, putting them on as I stepped up into the ring. I've told him two dozen times just to call me Flint. Nothing extra. I'm just Flint.

I looked across the ring at Martin. He was hard. Gave me a nice chance to beat the crap out of something without it affecting me or breaking equipment. I watched Martin nodding his head at his coach and my ear twitched, listening in on what they were saying.

"Just remember to keep your gloves away from your face, but not so far away that it looks suspicious. I'm not sure how strong this new thing is, so it could be good, bad, or in between. Just a few jabs to the face to see what it'll do to him to begin with."

I sighed and took a slow, deep breath, trying to see if I could tell what sort of chemical trick Martin was using. I heard the bell ding and jumped into the middle of the ring, one arm up over the other. I danced around him and he tried to get a few jabs in. I managed to hit him square in the chest, knocking the wind out of him and into a corner just as the bell sounded to take our corners.

I waved the ref over and took my glove off so I could take my mouth guard out. "Check his gloves. Something doesn't seem right about them."

"You playing at me, boy?"

"I've never played at you before, Ref. And you know Martin likes to try and play as dirty as he can."

Ref nodded and walked over to Martin and his coach, taking out some test strips to check for chemicals. Martin looked across the ring at me and narrowed his eyes. I popped my mouth guard back in and took my other glove off as his coach came at me.

"You little bitch!" He yelled. I ducked, using his momentum against him and flipping him up, over, and onto his back. He gasped, trying to catch the wind that was knocked out of him.

"Don't call me a bitch and don't try to play dirty. Especially when there's no money involved. It doesn't do you any good and just makes him and you look bad. Have some damn respect for yourself."

"Match over! Flint wins by default! There has been chemical interference!" I let the ref raise my hand as the audience cheered for me and booed Martin and his coach.

I turned and walked out of the ring, passing by some members of the crowd. Many said congratulations and some said they were impressed. I tuned it out.

Until he spoke.