The crowd around the two henchmen whooped and cheered crazily, showing no signs of calming down. Both men stood in a fighting ring, dressed in nothing more than trunks. Some drops of blood stained the floor of the arena. There were one or two large splotches of dried blood, marking where the defeated had fallen. Both bruised fighters raised their bare hands and proceeded to circle each other like wolves, their muscles tensed and ready. Even bloodthirsty assassins needed some sort of entertainment every now and then. Suddenly, one of them threw a punch that was quickly blocked. His opponent sent a fist to his jaw and he groaned loudly. Chewing on something, he spat out a tooth, and a second later, some blood. He threw a punch that was blocked a second time, but a second later, he landed a punch to his opponent. His opponent backed away from him, recovering and then suddenly dived at him. He went to throw an attack, but it was blocked and his opponent landed a punch to his chest, winding him, and then landed an elbow to his cheek less than a second later. Suddenly, he released a flurry of furious punches. He landed a punch and then a strike of the elbow. Another two punches landed and then another strike of the elbow. Another two punches, another strike and then another punch. The opponent staggered backwards and then the boxer landed another fist and another elbow, followed by a finishing blow of the fist. The defeated opponent flew back, spraying blood from his mouth, his lips bursting open. His back hit the ground and he did not move. The large victorious portion of the crowd erupted into cheering and whistling whilst a bell rang continuously, signalling the end of the fight. The referee grabbed the victorious fighter's hand and raised it into the air, presenting the winner. A man grabbed the unconscious fighter and dragged him away, supporting him with his arm around his neck. A bookmaker at a desk handed out the winnings to the lucky gamblers. Suddenly, the crowd quieted down. Silence flooded the fighting arena. Most of them whispered to one another, a mix of fear and wonder displayed on their faces. The victorious man waved a bruised hand, frowning, and stepped out of the ring. The woman stood in the ring, dressed in nothing more than a bra and panties.
“Well?!” Ellis Silver called out to the crowd, spreading her toned arms, smiling wickedly. She slowly turned on the spot, getting a view of all of the spectators. “Who will come forward and face me?!”
Artificis, with a front row seat, simply chuckled, greatly amused at the situation. No one answered the call. No one stepped forward. Ellis put her arms down.
“Cowards!” She shouted without anger, insulting them to the bone. Suddenly, a man pushed his way through the crowd and stepped into the ring. He was slightly shorter than her, but carried a few pounds of muscle. His chest displayed a prominent six pack. He smiled at her mockingly, seeming to have no fear of the most terrifying woman in the room.
“Well, Miss Silver?” He asked, having to look up at her. “Are we going to do this or what?”
Immediately, there was an uproar. The unquiet crowd quickly went over to the bookmaker, clambering over one another like rats, throwing down money, taking bets. The bookmaker whizzed around inside his booth, desperately trying to hand out all of the betting tickets to his customers. A minute or two went by and the crowd surrounded the ring once more, confident in their predictions. The referee stood in between the two fighters.
“Remember the rules.” He told them both, looking from one to the other. “You can beat yourselves up however you want to, spill as much blood as you want, but I do not want to have to drag a corpse out of here. If you do kill your opponent, you'll be spending a day with Earl. Got it?”
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Both fighters nodded, not taking their eyes away from their opponent, duly noting the light warning. There were a lot of scary people working at Pulvis, but no one wanted to go up against Earl. The referee put his arm in between them both and then shot it upwards.
“Begin!” He shouted. They both raised their fists. The underground arena was immediately filled with a cacophony of shouts, both encouraging and threatening. The crazy crowd cheered on their bets, swearing and insulting their opposition with their next sentence. Ellis was the first to throw the punch. It hit the man square in the cheek, but he shook off the blow, taking the pain. He punched at her, but Ellis blocked the strike and delivered a lightning punch to his gut. He wheezed, coughing and stepped back, giving himself some space. Groaning, he recovered and stepped forward, sending a punch towards Ellis’ direction. It hit her in the cheek, but she snarled, shaking away the blow.
“Come on then!” She suddenly shouted to her opponent. She punched him square in the nose and then twice in both cheeks, once with her left and then with her right. She punched him in the gut once more and he doubled over, collapsing to one knee. “Hit me like a man!” She went to deliver another punch, but he suddenly put his arm up, blocking the strike. He stood up and then sent a fist her way, punching her in the cheek. Ellis groaned, shaking away the attack once more and then blocked the second strike. The man suddenly kicked her legs from underneath her and she went crashing to the floor. He kicked her once in the side, when suddenly, there was the single ring of the bell, signalling the end of the round. They both went to their corners and sat down at their seats. Ellis sat in the corner of the ring, panting, recovering. Artificis rubbed her shoulders.
“You did good.” He told her. “I am proud of you. Go. Show him what you can really do.”
The bell rang again as the second round began and both fighters jumped back up, stepping over to their targets. Ellis’ opponent went to deliver a punch. She blocked the strike easily, but then quickly realised her mistake. Her opponent used the small window that had opened up and immediately punched her in the abdomen with his free fist. Ellis bent over, all of the air in her lungs blown out. She gasped, inhaling a great lungful of air, but got another fist to her cheek. Reacting instantly, Ellis blocked the third strike and delivered a brutal blow. The man’s head shot to the side and a spray of blood and spittle flew across the ring, splattering onto the floor. The crowd reacted painfully. Ignoring the burning pain in her knuckles, Ellis punched him in the eye, blinding him and then punched him in the face once more. She lifted her leg up, kicking him to the floor. He collapsed onto the ring as her sole connected with his sternum. He held his hands up, waving them about, surrendering. Ellis went to punch him, but stopped and the crowd fell silent, mouths agape, shock in their eyes. She smiled, accepted the fighter’s defeat and presented her open hand to him. After a second of hesitation, he grabbed it and she hauled him up.
“Remember, my good friends!” Ellis called out to the silent crowd. “When faced with an enemy, no matter how big or small, fight like your life depends on it! Never judge a book by its cover! The fight is never done until your enemy is either dead or has surrendered! Use whatever tactics that you can muster up! Lay down all your cards! Only then you will have the true strength to defeat your enemy!”
Suddenly, there was an outburst of cheering and whooping. Artificis clapped, congratulating his best soldier. The double agent grabbed a henchman by the head and mouth and quickly dragged him into the shadows.
