Without You: Chapter Seven

Before I could even flinch, Aoki whipped out a weapon and shot at me. It was only a tranquilizer, I realized once I woke up in a stiff bed. I sat up and looked around, my mind still in a fog from the sudden nap I just took.

This must be the physical aptitude test they used as front. They went all out making it feel like a hospital, even a heart monitor sat to the left of my bed, beeping steadily even though I wasn't connected to it. My leg was sore. I lifted the sheets to look at the damage. Aoki was right, they stitched together but it was a pretty crap job.

Probably glue and thread to make sure it at least didn't pop open during the fight. I swung my legs over the side to stand, only then noticing the trey of food at the side of my bed. I didn't want to eat just to possibly throw it all back up in a few hours, so I grabbed a small bag of individually wrapped M&M's.

When I threw my head back to down the candy, I noticed something else that was odd. And now very uncomfortable as I became increasingly more aware of it.

A large, leather lined collar was strapped to my neck. I felt the collar. A small box attached to it was the only thing it held. A shock collar perhaps? No wonder they didn't really bother frisking their fighters. One wrong move and you're convulsing on the floor.

A few minutes of scoping the room passed when I heard the doorknob rattle and the heavy door squeak open. A man in plain clothes stepped inside the room. He was holding handcuffs. I wondered if I should act scared, like I thought I was only here for some scientific studies and not prepared to get my ass totally handed to me.

"You passed our physical exam." He held out the cuffs.

"I already took it?" I asked.

"The exam was performed while you were sleeping. One minor laceration was taken care of and decided to not be a major factor in your capabilities." He lifted the cuffs again.

I held out my hands and he locked me into them.

"You were also given a shirt due to your...indecency." He said, glancing at my chest.

I must really be in a haze, I thought. I didn't even realize I was wearing a shirt again.

"I'm sure that was quite the struggle for you to do. I do hope you at least savored the moment." I mocked.

"They wouldn't let me." He responded with a scoff. Then, turning to the door he waved me through. "Now you fight."

"What time is it?" I asked, following him down a brightly lit hallway with light blue walls and white tile floors.

"It's 3:00 A.M." He said.

A physical exam that happened while I was sleeping took them three hours? It was definitely more than an exam. I looked down at my arms. A couple small needle holes were scabbed over. I wasn't drugged yet, I knew that much, so they must've taken a blood sample. If they felt it necessary to take a blood sample, there's a whole list of time-consuming things they could've done in those three hours.

We entered an elevator that took us down a few floors. I couldn't tell what floor we had started on. None of the buttons had numbers on them. When we exited the elevator, the hallway that greeted me was a stark contrast compared to the one were just in.

The walls had greened and less than half of the lights were working. Of the lights that were on, all of them were yellow. Yet, when I looked up into the fixture, I saw that it was new.

"Shabby spot for a fight," I said. "wouldn't want to fall on a nail down here." The man only chuckled to himself as he continued to the end of the hallway.

He pushed open the doors and veered off to the left, coming to a stop in front of a room. "Come with me," He waved me in.

As I walked past him into the room, I saw a simple camera setup in the middle of it. Two lights with a white screen backdrop and a small camera on a tripod.

"Stand in front of that camera."

"What's this for?"

"Here you get your starting bid. Just stand in front of that camera and look pretty." He went behind the camera and turned it on.

A phone rang as I stepped onto the white screen and the man answered it. "Yeah, I just started the broadcast." He said to the other person on the line. "She's ready for you. The others should be lining up outside."

I watched the man as he stood behind the camera, phone to his ear. He was silent for a few minutes before hanging up. "Your bidding price ended at $90 thousand." He turned off the camera.

"What exactly does that mean?" I asked him.

"Everyone who bids on you, win or lose, has to match the $90k. We have 15 paying spectators tonight. If even half of them bid on your victory in the first match, that's $630 thousand. You get a cut of the winning pot, so you better hope you impressed the spectators tonight."

He ushered me back out the door I came in. When I stepped through three other faces were waiting in line for their bids. One was a scrawny man, possibly close to my age. One was older, with leathery skin. He looked like a brick though his physical appearance only gave off an older, kind looking man. The last in line was tall and bulky. He glared at me through menacing eyes. This man was the only one who actually looked like trouble.

They all wore a collar, same as me, around their necks with cuffs on their wrists. It felt more like a prison in that moment than a fight club.

My guide opened a door on his left and held it as he remained in the corridor. "This is where you'll wait until the match starts." He said.

I stepped into the room. A small table with a chair sat against the wall directly inside the door. A presence to my left drew my attention and I looked to the corner over my shoulder.

A man in a suit and tie perched against the wall, arms crossed. With one look at him, I understood the kind of people I might be entertaining tonight. His suit was a deep navy blue with silver pinstripe detailing. It was tailored beautifully to his figure. A diamond studded watch barely peaked out from his cuff and his shoes were shined enough to see a reflection of my outline in the tip.

"Name?" He asked casually.

Should I lie? "Akari."

"Lair." He said with a smirk.

"Then why ask?" I wondered.

"The way you responded tells me all I need to know about you." He straightened out his suit jacket as his left his perch against the wall. Covering the gap in one easy stride of his long legs, he opened his palm to me. Not in a handshake, though, his palm was up.

I offered my cuffed hands to him, and he unlocked them with a key from his breast pocket. "Your fight begins in 5 minutes, once the rest of the fighter's bids have been placed. Your winnings tonight, provided you survive, will be 5% of the pot." He took a step around me, picking up a glass of water from the table. "You fight first. I would suggest some water before you begin, hm?"

I wondered if that was laced with the drug they were famous for.

He took a sip first before offering the cup to me. He must've been asked a lot if the water was poisoned. Was the drug not common knowledge to their fighters? I took the cup and downed it in a few gulps. A smile spread on his lips as he crossed the floor to the door.

"Now for the rules," He shut the door and leaned against the wall again. "No weapons are allowed, obviously you and the other fighters don't have any has we already checked for them when you were unconscious. Other than that, anything goes. If you end up killing your partner, we'll clean it up. If you make it to the end, and we like you, you'll be asked to come back next month. When you do come back next time, you won't have to go through the screening, that's just for the new ones like yourself."

"My other opponents, are they all new?" I asked.

"One of them is a return fighter, I'm sure you know who." He crossed his arms. The big one...

A knock came at the door and the man opened it a crack.

"We're ready," Someone behind the door said.

"Perfect," He looked to me. "Time to fight." He opened the door wide and waved me through. I hurried after him.

He took me past the room where my bid was set and turned down an adjacent hall. A double door waited at the end of the hallway. When he pushed both the doors wide, a gentle piano was playing and woman with a robust voice was singing.

Waiters were passing around a champaign colored liquid in tall, skinny glasses. Tables with chairs, and even some couches surrounded a rudimentary square ring. The only source of light for the whole room was one large chandelier that hung squarely over the ring, it conveniently cast dark shadows over the people sitting around it. The rest of the room was only outlined in blue LED lights that seemed to guide the guests on where to exit.

My opponent was already waiting for me in the ring. He had to only be about 18 or 19 as well. He was a bean poll, but he towered over me; possibly even higher than Ewan normally did. I stepped into the ring and stood opposite the kid. The guy with the fancy suit was apparently also the host. As I stared down the kid across from me, he was hyping up the crowd. Though, I was too focused on my opponent to care about what he had to say to the viewers.

As I stood staring down my opponent, I felt a forced adrenaline coursing through my veins. I shook out my hands and dropped my shoulders. Dropping my guard to just charge right in would be the death of me. Drugged or not, I would fight with a clear head.

When he was finished with his speech, he stood between us. "To the death, ladies and gentlemen." He offered a sinister laugh before dropping a hacky sack at our feet.

Bean Poll came charging. I side stepped and watched him skid to a stop at the rope. He spun and faced me again. He was keeping his body low, hands in front of him as he crouched. There was no mistaking that stance; he was a wrestler. Letting him get close would be bad.

He rushed me like a bull again, and I side stepped at the last second, crouching low and sweeping my leg at his feet. He toppled to his knees but sprinted up as fast as he could.

He was nervous. I could see it written all over is face as he tried to stare me down. This kid shouldn't be here. I should do him a favor and beat him quickly and hope they don't kill him afterwards.

He started charging at me again and I sighed. Instead of stepping out of the way, I spun and kicked my foot out, hooking it in once he got in range. My foot hit the side of his head and he stopped his charge, stumbling back a bit. I came in low, striking the heel of my palm to his jaw. He fumbled backwards again. With a step, I struck his solar plexus.

Another step, I struck his gut.

He hunched over, catching his breath. "I'm sorry," I whispered. I grabbed his neck and pulled him down, connecting my knee to his nose. Then, grabbing a fistful of his hair, I brought an elbow down on neck between his shoulders.

He flopped and smacked the ground.

I took a step back, waiting to see if he would stand up.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner." Fancy Suit came back into the ring and lifted my hand in victory. "For a grand total of $450k, Amaterasu emerges from the first round victorious. My fine bidders, her next round of bids will start at half that price. Get with your assistant after the next match to put in your bids. The next fight starts in 1o minutes."

Another plain clothes man came and escorted me out of the ring. I quickly looked over my shoulder at the kid on the floor to see another man dragging him off in the opposite direction.

I was taken back to the same room only this time, a small tv was perched against the far wall. Another glass of water sat on the table. On the tv, I could see the MC teetering the edge of the shadows as he talked with the guests. Soon he stepped into the middle of the ring as the other two fighters were brought in. He announced the fighters and sent them at each other's throats.

The fight was lasting a long time. I was glued to the screen watching the old man hold his own against that hulk of an opponent.

A knock came from my door and I jumped, turning to face it. No one entered. They knocked again and I got up, testing the doorknob. Locked.

"Amaterasu?" A whisper came from the other side.

"Aoki?" I whispered back. "The door is locked from your side."

I watched the handle jiggle as he fiddled with it from his end. Finally, the door swung open just enough for him to peek his head in.

"What are you doing?" I wondered. Someone could walk past and see him.

"I just wanted to update you on the things I'm hearing from my end." He said. "You're making a great impression out there; I hear a lot of people are already voting for your victory in the next match."

"That's great, but what does that mean for the future?" I asked.

"You'll probably be approached with a contract and added to their roster - didn't they tell you that?" He peeked his head back out into the hallway for a second.

"Yeah, they did, I just-"

I was cut off by the crowd cheering on the tv. It was loud enough that I could hear it in the hallway as well. A winner had been decided.

"That's my cue to go before someone sees me. Keep playing those mind games out there, you'll win this thing in no time." He said before closing the door and disappearing.

I barely had enough time to turn back to the tv before someone else was fiddling with the lock. When they discovered it was already unlocked, they swung the door open with haste. He saw me and stopped. Then looked out down the hallway.

"Has anyone else been in here?" He asked.

"No, you're the first one." I said, taking a sip from my water to try to stay casual.

He furrowed his brow in hesitation, glancing once more down the hallway. "It's time for the next round," He said, turning to me. "since that match took longer than expected, we're not breaking. We've only got an hour to sunrise."

He waved me out to follow him. I finished off my water and hurried to his heel.

This is it... I thought. The adrenaline increased through my veins. Tonight, I fight for Nikki. But the idea of drawing out the match a little longer than necessary was making butterflies shiver in my stomach. Tonight, however, I get to fight for myself.

And I actually get to enjoy it.