Falling Up

28. Fight

She couldn't believe her eyes. The fight was over so fast, but it didn't matter to the audience. They were in awe of what they saw in front of them as Noah stood up straight, clenching and unclenching his fist.

"We have a winner!" shouted Liam through the microphone. "And what a win it was. A straight one punch knockout. Congratulations Noah."

Noah merely let off a slightly geeky grin and stepped off to the side, passing Tyrus on the way. "Good luck," he said to Tyrus as he stood next to the side of the ring.

"Now, time for the next match. We have Tyrus and Derek stepping into the ring."

Riley could feel Jason stiffen beside her. She had never seen him act this way towards another person who wasn't her or Noah before and it made her smile just thinking about how much he clearly adored Tyrus. She was happy that he had finally found someone. If anyone deserved to be happy, it was Jason.

She focused her attention back to the ring just in time to hear the start of the match. "Three. Two. One." Ding!

This time, the fight started off fast. Derek, the smaller fighter, moved in first at lightning speed. Even though he was smaller than the fighter Noah was up against, he was clearly more skilled. He went in for a quick punch to the jaw but at the last moment Tyrus dodged, whipping his head back as quick as a viper.

Tyrus took this opportunity to swipe at Derek's legs, sending him toppling over onto the floor. Derek quickly pushed off with his hands, flipping himself back up in one motion. Derek wasted no time in heading in straight for Tyrus again and threw another punch, which was easily countered.

It looked like Tyrus was merely toying with him. The way he moved around and mostly dodged, hitting small punches here and there. It didn't look like he was putting in any effort at all. Unlike Derek, who was already sweating and struggling to keep up.

But only three minutes into the fight, Tyrus stepped forward, sending the full force of an uppercut straight into Derek's jaw. He was out cold.

The crowd went wild with applause and she heard Jason breathe out a sigh of relief next to her. Kain, on the other hand, merely applauded politely, as if already expecting his brother to win the fight. Tyrus remained on the stage, not even looking slightly out of breath, while a couple of people helped pull the unconscious man off the floor and out of the ring.

"What a fight!" shouted Liam towards the audience. "But now that we have the warm up out of the way with..." He let off a slight chuckle. "... I give you the main event. What you've all come here to see. Tyrus vs Noah!"

The audience screamed in delight as Noah came back on the stage floor and took up his position next to Tyrus.

"Three. Two. One." Ding!

Neither Tyrus nor Noah waited a moment before rushing forward to meet each other. Noah moved first, thrusting his arm fast toward Tyrus's jaw. His fist was so close to hitting, but Tyrus moved back at the last second and Noah's fist simply grazed the bottom of his jaw.

Tyrus countered, lifting his leg to swoop towards Noah's stomach, which Tyrus gracefully missed as Noah stepped back and dodged.

The movements continued, swift and fast from both opponents and Riley could barely keep up as both of them moved gracefully around the boxing ring with an occasional punch or kick making contact, but not enough impact to break off or be winded from the effect.

This fight was a far cry from the warmup of the previous components. The previous fighters seemed like mere beginners in comparison to Noah and Tyrus, although she was sure that they weren't. Tyrus and Noah seemed like an even match as they displayed their best moves, trying to take the other one down and soon enough the strain was seen on both of their faces as they broke apart, desperate to grab a moment of relief.

"Not bad," said Tyrus as he wiped a stray drop of blood from his lip, an earlier hit from Noah landing him straight on the jaw and cutting his lip.

Noah smirked, seemingly enjoying the fight. "How about we take it up a notch?"

Tyrus only raised his eyebrow in curiosity as he smiled, fists back up at the ready. "You're on."

Riley didn't think they could move any faster than they already had, but within seconds she was struggling to catch up with their moves. The fight captivated the audience as Noah and Tyrus moved around the ring, dodging each other's moves as gracefully as dancers. It was a blur of figures on the stage and Riley held her breath, just waiting for one of them to fall.

And fall they did. Hard. As Noah's fist landed on Tyrus's stomach, temporarily winding him before delivering a finishing blow to the side of his face.

Tyrus stumbled back. One step. Two steps. Then collapsed on the floor in exhaustion. Not out cold, but enough to know he didn't have the energy to stand again as he tapped the ground in defeat.

The crowd went wild with cheers and screaming as Liam went up to Noah, grabbing his arm and thrusting it in the air, declaring Noah the winner.