Defiance (Finn Shelby)

Part 2

When Saturday came, Bunty snuck out of the house and down the roads towards the giant warehouse where the tests, Bunty assumed, were going to be. She opened the door and was greeted by Isaiah, who then led her towards the back of the building. "Right, so, Tom said that your first test is to fight a man called David. He's around Tommy's height and weight but he's a great fighter. So you'd need to be careful" the boy informed her.

"What are the other tests?" She asked but he shook his head.

"Can't tell you unless you pass this one" he told her and she nodded in understanding.

Bunty took off her outer layers of clothing until she was in a pair of shorts and a shirt which were slightly tight. She tied her hair back and turned to Isaiah, his eyes drifted down towards her chest briefly before looking back up into her eyes.

She scoffed, "when am I fighting David?" She questioned, looking around the empty warehouse.

"When you're ready" Isaiah told her. "You ready?"

Bunty hummed a response, Isaiah took her further into the warehouse and opened a door when a wave of loud noise washed over the pair, Bunty stood in slight shock for a moment, trying to take in everything that was going on around her.

Dozens of men and a few women were standing around a ring, Bunty spotted Thomas and a few men, all of whom looked similar to him, they were standing on one side which was the least crowded side. Thomas gestured her to go over there so Isaiah walked right into the crowd and they parted immediately and Bunty followed him closely, she felt the people close the gaps they had created behind her.

"Bunty, are you ready?" He asked loudly over the sounds of everyone else.

"I'm good, Mr Shelby" she told him. He looked over her, he noticed she still had a faint purple around her eye from the other day. "Can I fight now?" She then asked.

"Of course. Give me a minute" Thomas walked towards the raised boxing ring and climbed in expertly, "Everybody shut up!" He shouted and silence drifted over everyone, "we've got two great fighters here today, we've got David Mitchell-" Thomas pointed a hand towards the man who climbed into the ring and everyone cheered. Tom then looked at Bunty, "and Bunty Adams" Murmurs replaced the cheers as everyone watched the young lady climb into the ring, David looked at her, instead of the judging and confused look she expected, he was analysing her. Bunty kept a straight face, not letting him spot any weaknesses.

"Now, if you'd like to take bets of who's going to win, talk to any of my brothers here" he gestured to three males behind her, one of them looked older than Thomas and the other two younger, one looked as if he was her age. The boy lifted up his head and caught her looking at him, she gave a small smile and his whole face lit up, turning his face into a tomato, he then looked away quickly.

Bunty looked over at David, "you ready?" She asked.

"Yes, but are you?"

"Of course" she beamed.

Once everyone took their bets, Thomas went back to the middle, Bunty and David got face to face like in the professional matches, Bunty just smiled at him, it unsettled the man as she wouldn't stop smiling. Thomas told them the rules: no kicking, biting or inappropriate touching from either parties (but he mostly said that to David).

They both backed away slightly and Thomas counted down from three and rang a bell and the match was started.  Bunty raised her fists defensively, circling the man. The sounds of the crowd got drowned out, all she could hear was her breathing and the sounds of her fist meeting David's face.

She dodged and received several punches but so did David. Soon they both were covered in small cuts and bruises. It was the end of the first round and Bunty went into the corner where Isaiah was, "you're doing great" he praised, "you better win as I have a bet on you, not many betted on you, so I may have quite the jackpot if you win"