The Underground

The air was crisp as it brushed my cheeks, you could tell summer was coming to an end when my leather jacket stopped being enough to keep me warm on my late night escapades. The city of lights was fairly quiet for a friday night, I looked around to make sure the coast was clear before hurrying down the dark alley that lay in front of me. My helmet tucked under my arm I shuffled pulling my gloves off and shoving them in my back pocket.

I continued down, passing a collection of dumpsters on my left and just beyond that a rusty railing came into view. I did one more check of my surroundings before heading down the dingy staircase, at the bottom layed a large metal door littered with dents and bullet holes. I gave it a rough knock, paused, knocked three more times, paused and finally knocked twice more. I heard a click and a small window on the door opened, on the other side a pair of dark eyes glared at me.

“Sorry miss, clubs a few blocks over.” His husky voice rang out as he looked me up and down.

“Honeydew.” I whispered at him, his eyes widened and the chorus of unlocking latches rang out.

He swung the door open and waved me in, “My apologies miss, don't usually have lots of women here, specially by themselves.”

I nodded. I wasn’t typically one for small talk, especially with a man twice my size and a scar running across the side of his head. Nope, I liked to keep my head down and go about my business, no need to ruffle feathers and have Scar head here escort me off the premises in a black garbage bag. He locked the doors before leading me down the tiny hallway, it was comical really, this large man almost had to tilt his head just to avoid slamming it on any of the light fixtures and the walls were just barely wider than his broad shoulders.

We approached another door, he did a few knocks and we waited, he knocked a few more times and the door swung open. The sound of cheering came pouring out like a tidal wave and the second bouncer gave a grunt and a nod to Scar Head before he moved and let me in. I mimicked the two of them with a nod and stepped into the large underground warehouse. I stepped into the room and was immediately hit with the smell of burning rubber with a hint of body odor. That was the thing with these underground folks, they didn’t always practice proper hygiene.

I scanned the crowded room, there were small groups huddled around talking or working while the majority of the crowd was congregated in the middle hooting and hollering various obscenities. A makeshift bar was built in the far corner, they usually only offered bottled beer and whiskey, which was fine by me. I made a B-line for the bar, needing a little something to dull my senses along with my heavily hammering heart. Just as I stepped up to the counter a man tugged on my arm, I immediately turned and slapped him in the face but instantly regretted that decision.

“Oh my god, Dash I am so sorry, shit are you okay?” I reached up and brushed his cheek where a red mark was starting to appear.

He rested his hands on my shoulder, “I’m fine V.” He stared at me for a moment, his expression moving from joy, to pity, to concern.

I shuffled from his grasp, “Don’t, Okay? Just don’t.” I turned to return to my mission of getting this damn anxiety under control.

“I didn’t say anything!” He argued and leapt to walk by my side.

“I know what you’re going to say, and I don’t want to hear it.” I spat as I leaned on the flimsy bar top, “Two shots of Jamison.” I said to the bartender when he looked at me.

The bartender brought them over, I tossed him a twenty and told him to keep it before grabbing both my shots and taking them both back to back. The liquid burned sending a shiver through my body, I slammed the glasses down and turned back to Dash who was leaning on the bar next to me, silent, which is a big feat for him.

“I am sure you have somewhere better to be right now.” I huffed.

He shrugged, but didn’t say anything. Which for some reason was infuriating. I looked at him, his scruffy red beard was unkempt and his hair had gotten long since the last time I saw him. Despite his disheveled appearance his arms and chest were far more chiseled than I remember, and he had all sorts of tattoos littering his arm. One I recognized as his family crest that peeked out of the sleeve of his black t-shirt.

“Dashel Thomas O’Leary, speak, or leave me alone.” He cringed at the sound of his full name.

“What are you doing here V?” The buttery smooth sound of his voice sent a shiver down my spine.

“Getting a drink.” I joked, gesturing to the ghetto little bar.

He just looked at me, “You shouldn’t be here Ivy, you know that.”

I felt the anger bubbling up in my chest. The nerve of him to sit here and act like he gave a shit about me, I haven’t seen or heard from him in years. And now all of the sudden he is concerned about my well being? I call Bullshit on all of that.

“Huh,” I shifted, “and who the hell are you to tell me what I should and shouldn’t be doing?”

“Ivy,” He started

“Just stop, okay? I know, I know that Antonio would be turning over in his grave if he knew what I have been up to lately. But he’s gone, and my parents are gone, and you left and I have managed to survive the last few years just fine. So take your fake concern and shove it, okay?”

And with that I grabbed my helmet, tucked it under my arm and stomped my way to the crowd. Shoving through all the semi-drunk patrons I made my way up to the center, there was a small chain fence in the shape of an octagon that everyone was gathered around. On one side there was a round man perched on a chair that seemed to barely be holding his weight, on the other stood his opponent, a scrawny looking kid who had no business in a place like this. In each of their hands large controllers before each of them were large robots, standing at around three feet tall.

I remember the first time I went to a bot fight. I had just turned twenty-one and I was staying with Tony in the big city while on break from MIT. Him and Dash would sneak out late at night, I figured they were bar hopping and searching for some strange like any other young bachelors in New York City. One night I caught them heading out and asked to tag along, he tried to tell me no but the grown up that I was pitched a fit until he changed his mind. He waited until the last possible second to tell me we weren’t hitting up the bar but we were going to watch Bot Fights.

I literally could not contain the laughter after he told me, it wasn’t until he led me in and took me to the ring that I realized that this was real. I bit back laughter, figuring these are not the type of people you want to mock in any way. But once the fight started it was exhilarating. I watched as these contraptions people created fought to the death, so to speak, the crowd went wild with excitement as metal shards would fly out in all directions.

About a block down memory lane and I got pulled back to reality by Dash’s strong hand pulling me into him just as a shard of metal flew by. “Thanks,” I whispered as I watched the round man’s robot ripped to shreds by the lanky boys robot. Everyone erupted into cheer as the larger man slammed his remote on the ground and pulled out a glock. The crowd gasped and Dash stepped in front of me. The lanky boy raised a brow and shook his head as the two door man disarmed him and removed him from the building

“What a sore sport,” He shook his head, flashing a charming smile to the crowd. “Now who’s next?”

Before I could think I shot my hand in the air. Dash looked back and his eyes begged me not to but I ignored his silent plea and side stepped him making my way into the ring. I shrugged off my backpack, my shoulders cheered in delight at the relief from the heavy load I had been holding onto this entire time. I gently put my bag on the chair the round man had recently vacated and pulled out a large cube, placing it on the ground. I pushed a button on my remote and the cube came to life. A small head popped out of the top and arms and legs followed, until it stood there, three feet tall. Looking like a toddlers drawing of a robot, the lanky boy chuckled.

“Why, that robot is almost as cute as you are Miss..?”

“Ivy.” Was all I said.

“Well, Miss Ivy, what is a girl like you doing in a place like this?” He said condescendingly.

“I-I was just hoping t-to test out my r-r-robot.” I stuttered, feeding into his assumption I was some flimsy little damsel who stumbled into the wrong place at the wrong time.

“Very well, Ivy, call your bet.” He smirked.

“How about, one h-hundred?”

He erupted with laughter, “One hundred dollars? Honey I don’t get out of bed for anything less than one thousand.”

“N-No, I meant, One hundred, thousand.” I tilted my bag to flash him the money.

His smile faded as he looked at me, “You’re serious?”

“Y-yes,” I studded, not taking my eyes away from his.

“Very well, Scarlett!” He called a girl dressed head to toe in tight black clothing with bright red lips.

She sashayed over to me and snached my bag. Before counting down the fight, my heart thumped in my chest as I sized up his bot. A little banged up from the last fight but everything seemed to be in working order. His Bot was sleek, and it’s movements were fluid even after the few blows it took in the last fight. The mini blasters in its hand took out his last opponent in one shot, the rest of the fight was just for show. I knew he would offer me the same fate, a few blows here and there before blasting the head off my robot and claiming his hundred thousand dollars. Or so he thought.

With a wave of her hand Scarlett exited the ring and the crowd went wild, as I predicted his robot lunged at mine. A few clicks on my remote and wheels popped out of the bottom of his feet, I quickly rolled him out of the way of the blow and around to his opponents back side before raising an arm and grabbing his robot from behind. Another combination of clicks and his left arm turned into a cone shaped dagger and I stabbed his robot several times, leaving quarter sized holes along the side. What a mistake, lightweight metal for aesthetic purposes was all too easy for my robot to get through. He countered by charging a blaster and aiming it behind at my robot. I quickly maneuvered him off and managed to dodge his few attempts at shooting me before his blasters needed to recharge.

This was my shot, I couldn’t dodge the blasters forever, I punched in the final button combination to turn his right hand into a dagger matching the left. They started pulsating and I lunged at my opponent, jamming each dagger into either side of his head, his robot twitched in my grasp before the lights went out and it powered down. The crowd all roared to life, horror washed over my Lanky rivals face as he realized the grave mistake he’d made underestimating me and taking my rather large wager. In a blink he was clapping and the crowd fell silent, I looked over to Dash and felt an ache at the realization he was no longer standing where I left him.

“Well done Ivy,” He continued to clap a few more times before stopping.

“Thank you, now if you don’t mind, I-I’ve got an early day tomorrow. I-I better be on my way.” I said, picking up my robot who was once again just a cube.

“Oh, of course.” He snapped and Scarlett brought me back my backpack.

I threw my robot and the remote in there and secured it to my back once again, my shoulders protested slightly, but I ignored it. Scarlett then handed me an additional little duffle bag, inside was the hundred thousand that I won.

“T-thank y-you Mister…?”

“Ah yes, I am Beckett, Beckett Masters.” he said, placing a hand gently on his chest.

In that moment it all clicked, His dark hair and pale skin, his hazel eyes that shone beneath his large rimmed glasses. His tall lanky build. His father was none other than Edward Masters, business mogul, technological genius and owner/operator of Masters Tech. One of the largest Tech companies in the country. And I just conned him out of One hundred thousand dollars.

An uneasy sensation washed over me, I took a few steps back and climbed over the chain, “Well it’s been a pleasure, I really better get going.”

With that I climbed out of the ring, to my delight the bouncer didn’t try to stop me. I don’t know why I had this uneasy sensation in my stomach. He was calm for someone that just lost a large chunk of money. Granted, his family had money coming out of all their orifices. I conned him and he must know it. I may not have impacted his wallet much but I definitely impacted his ego and I find that is far worse.

I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with the brisk air as I swung open the swiss cheese of a metal door I first came in. I started walking to my bike when I heard the shuffle of feet behind me. Instinctively I started running, I rounded out of the alley to find Dash cockily leaning on my Harley. He straightened up when he saw me sprinting around the corner and gestured for my keys, tossing them his direction I put on my helmet as he started up my bike. The thundering sound of the motor rattled off the surrounding buildings and I hopped on the back.

“If you crash my baby, I will kill you.” I said as I wrapped my free arm around his waist. The other tightly gripped onto my bag of winnings.