Without You: Chapter 8

The man that stared me down stood at least a foot and a half over me. His shoulders doubled mine and his shirt was struggling to cover his large torso without obvious strain in the seams.

I gulped silently. My one advantage was having that short break. He was still winded. I could use to it my advantage, but it would be risky to take the offensive at the start of the match.

I was lost in thought when the signal was given to begin. I only barely avoided his grasp as it was coming down on me, ducking out of his reach and quickly stumbling backwards as far as I could. He spun and threw a fist. In the brief moment, watching his arm swing towards me, I decided not to duck.

I took his punch square on my jaw and hit the ground.

He chuckled. "Piece of cake," He bragged, raising his hands to the excited crowd.

I got back up to my feet, spitting out the fresh blood that filled my mouth. "I'm not done yet, asshole."

He turned back to me with surprise written on his face. I cocked an eyebrow at him and licked my teeth almost without even realizing it. He fully faced me, his arms loose at his sides.

"You're a cocky one, aren't you-"

My foot was the only thing that cut him off as it swung down on him, slapping him across the cheek. He snarled at me, hatred now written in his eyes. He took a step forward but before he could set it down again, another one of my kicks stopped him short.

I swung the shin of my leg at his knee like Ewan taught me. Without his foot planted on the ground, it swung out from under him and he hit the floor. I stepped in and swung a soccer kick to his stomach while he was on his hands and knees, hoping he would grab my leg.

His hand wrapped around my ankle. I smirked. Kicking my foot up, I released his grip. Then stomped it back down, landing with my heel to his wrist.

He let out a scream. I felt a bone crunch under my foot.

Oops. A little too much force behind that. It must have been a biproduct of the drug running through my system.

I didn't want this to end too quickly so I took a step back, allowing him to stand. I kept my eyes on him as he got to his feet, cradling his arm. His hand looked limp. His instincts must have gone into overdrive because he threw a slow and obvious punch with his other hand.

I grabbed his wrist and as I side stepped his punch, brought my elbow down onto his forearm. His arm snapped and hung loosely at his side. He seemed to barely feel it; rage was all that fueled him now.

He came screaming at me, throwing his legs out in desperate attempts at kicks. I dodged the first couple kicks, keeping my eyes on his face. Relishing in the fear and anger that covered his cheeks in a bright red flush. The tears that unknowingly smeared the dirt on his face.

I felt my heart pound in my chest. Was it adrenaline? Was it the drug? I almost didn't care.

I slapped his foot down as it kicked at my chest and followed up with a jump and forward knee to his nose. His rampage came to a halt as the kick stunned him for a moment.

When I dropped, I kicked his knee again and he crumpled to the floor. His chest was heaving with his shallow, rapid breaths. I stepped up to him as he knelt on the ground with no strength, or hands, left to get up.

"You've disappointed me." I whispered. "I was hoping I could drag this out further."

"You're insane." He said through a labored huff.

"Perhaps." I offered a wink before striking my elbow down on his nose. He dropped, unconscious.

The room was silent for a moment as I looked out into the shadows. I don't know what I expected, but a silent victory was not it. I scowled at the outlines of the people behind those shadows. I didn't realize was I walking towards a group of them until the MC stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.

He lifted my arm up over my head. I snapped out of the tunnel as he announced my victory and applause broke out in the room.

One man, however, emerged through the shadows. His finger was thrust in my direction. "She cheated!" He cried.

"There's no such thing as cheating here. They have no rules." The MC said.

"I demand she be looked into. I put all my money on that guy winning."

"That's the nature of the business, my friend. Better luck next time, then?" The MC mocked.

The man only scowled. Reaching into his jacket he pulled out a gun. A collective gasp came from the crowd and I could hear some people scatter as their footsteps pattered on the concrete. "No way in hell should she have won. She's just a girl." He sneered. "I'll get my money back."

I heard the gunshot go off and I flinched, closing my eyes tight. Nothing happened. Did he accidentally hit the MC? I opened my eyes to see a third man standing in the middle of us, directly in the line of fire.

I stepped to the side to see if he had been shot. This man wore a crisp black suit similar to the MC standing next to me. But his face was covered with a brightly colored skull mask. It reminded me of the Day of The Dead masks and dolls that come out around Halloween.

I looked down at his feet for blood but there was none.

"I don't appreciate my fighters being threatened." The man said in a low voice. "And carrying weapons is a violation of the rules you agreed to."

Another gunshot echoed through the room and I expected the masked man to drop. But when I heard the body thump to the floor, I realized it was the old man instead.

The masked man turned to me, casually slipping a pistol into his jacket pocket. "You'll have to excuse his rudeness." He began, looking in my direction. "And I apologize for the sudden appearance; I am the operator of this ring. You can call me Headmaster." He extended a hand.

I took it firmly. "Amaterasu." I said.

He opened a palm in a gesture to the back of the room where I had not been yet. "If you'll come with me, I'll help you sort out your winnings." He expected me to move first.

"I'll follow you."

He chuckled. "Cautious, I see. I can appreciate that." He took the lead, jaunting down the steps off the ring, and I followed him to the back of the room. We stepped out into a hallway but the room he led me to was right across from the door we just exited.

"You're a phenomenal fighter." He said, opening the door. "If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?"

"I'm 18," I stepped into the room after him and was immediately met with a sight that made my heart drop into my stomach.

Aoki. He was bound to a chair by handcuffs. His nice suit was covered in blood and his head was hung as he slouched in the chair.

"Eighteen." The Headmaster whistled. "I'm impressed you know how to fight so well." He sat at his desk, unconcerned by Aoki's presence or my concern at seeing him.

I couldn't peel my eyes away. I had no doubt that Aoki was seen leaving my break room. This didn't bode well for me either. I swallowed but my throat was dry.

"I apologize again, for the misbehavior outside. I hope you know that you're safe, now that you've won the match." He noticed me staring at Aoki. "Please sit, Amaterasu. Don't worry about him - I was merely checking his loyalties."

I followed his direction and stiffly sat in a plush leather chair in front of his desk. My back was now to Aoki.

"You've really impressed me with your fighting skills. It's been about 2 years since I had someone fight as well as you in my ring." He leaned back in his chair, an elbow propped up on his armrest. "I want to hire you."

"Hire me?"

"I would love for you to come back and fight for me again."

This is what Nikki asked for me to do, I reminded myself. I looked over my shoulder at Aoki again. "Will I end up like that if I say no?"

The headmaster laughed. "Of course not. You still get to take your winnings and walk right out of here." He mimicked walked with his fingers through the air.

"But...?" I persisted.

"But...we'll find you next month for the match and you'll fight for me whether you like it or not." His tone in his voice was a mocking kindness. I could picture a fake customer service smile behind that brightly colored mask.

"Okay." I conceded. "I'll fight for you."

"Perfect." He reached into his desk and pulled out a checkbook. "The total profits for both matches fought was $20 Million-"

"20 million?" I cut him off with my surprise. "But my second starting bid was only $225 thousand."

"Most people jack it up higher. Your lowest bid for the second match was $8 million alone." He started to write on the check. I leaned over a bit to see. "Your payout is $1.5 million. A little higher than normal, but that's just to prove to you how impressed I am with your skills."

He ripped out the check, slipped it into an envelope and slid it across the desk to me. I hesitantly reached out to grab it but he didn't move his hand. I looked up at him, slightly confused.

"There's something I want you to do before you can have this." His voice dropped an octave, staring at me for a second then pointed just over my shoulder at Aoki. "I know you two work together." I looked over my shoulder at Aoki.

What a weak bitch to give it up that quickly.

"I know you two did it to split the cash."

...What? I returned my gaze to the Headmaster.

"You can walk out of here, with your money, and your name in my pocket, if you kill him."

I looked back at the headmaster. He placed a pistol on the desk on top of the check. "It has one bullet so use it wisely." He leaned back again, interlacing his fingers. "Oh, I forgot to mention; he has the same option."

I turned back to Aoki. He was out of his chair, holding a pistol down at his side. I grabbed mine off the desk and stood, pacing off to the side of the room so I could see both Aoki and the Headmaster.

"On the count of three, raise your weapons." The Headmaster said.

"One,

...two,

...three."

I pointed my gun Aoki, but he had other plans, pointing his at the Headmaster. The Headmaster sat quietly, seemingly unsurprised. Aoki noticed I wasn't following his lead. He held his ground. "Come on, Amaterasu. If we do this together we can still get out of here."

I looked at the headmaster without moving. He's already been shot once today and somehow walked away unscathed. Something was telling me that even both of us shooting him wouldn't do anything.

I brought my gaze back to Aoki, keeping my gun pointed at him. His eyes flickered back and forth between me and the headmaster. "Don't bitch out on me now."

"Funny, that's what I was thinking. You're the one who couldn't keep his mouth shut."

He faltered a bit, giving me a look that said, 'I was lying!' Yet even though that was a lie, it still put me in this position. I promised Nikki I would come back. I promised I would help him get answers. I can't do that if I'm dead.

My defiance made him fidgety. After a few seconds of quietly staring him down, he caved and switched his gun to me. "Think this through, Amaterasu. You don't want to kill one of your own."

"Do I not?" My question made him freeze. "I made a promise. Not to you. I have every intention of keeping it so you've left me no choice."

I pressed my finger to the cold metal of the trigger. "I'm sorry, Aoki."

**

Without You - Book One, Part ONE. Copywrite by Kiana Jones. To read part two, subscribe to my patreon; https://www.patreon.com/kvjukiyo