Fight [Lashton] [au]

Maroon Flag

The room screamed that he did not belong. He looked around the room, the stairs were falling apart, the ecstatic crowd were standing shoulder to shoulder, the air was filled a mixture of sweat, blood and mold. Voices were jumbled together as they yelled names and numbers back and forth, their arms flailed about, they exchanged money along with gestures to communicate over the noise of the room. They squeezed through the crowd, following close behind his best friend.

"Make sure you keep your cash in your wallet, Ash" Amber called to him, her smile gleaming in the dim light.

"Stay close! It will get even worse once it starts!" Brad yelled over the noise. Amber bragged onto Brad's arm and then turned to grab his as brad started to lead them through the sea of people.

The sharp bleating of a bullhorn cuts through the air. The noise startled him, and he had jumped in reaction, looking around for where it came from. Then he saw a man standing on a folding chair holding a handful of cash in one hand with the bullhorn in his other. He puts the end of the horn at his mouth.

"Welcome to the bloodbath! If you are looking for Reading 101..you are in the wrong fucking place, my friend! If you seek the Circle, here it is! My name is Daniel. I make the rules and I call the fights. So betting ends once the opponents are on the floor. Also no touching the fighter, no assistance, no bet switching, and no encroachment of the ring. If you break any of these rules you will get the piss beat out of you and you will be thrown out on your ass without your money, and that includes you too ladies! So don't use your hoes to scam the system, boys!"

Brad shook his head "Jesus, Daniel!" he yelled to him over the noise, clearly not liking his friend's choice of words.

Ashton's heart pounded in his chest. He had his light blue sweater on with a pair of nice bracelets on his wrists, he began to feel out of place. He had promised Amber that he could handle whatever they stumbled upon, but at the moment he felt the urge to grip her arm with both hands. She would not have put him into any danger, but being in a basement filled with fifty or so drunk college boys intent on seeing bloodshed, he wasn't exactly confident about their chances of leaving the place unharmed.

After Amber had met Brad at Freshman orientation, she began to frequently follow along with him to the secret fights held in different basemeant's of Northern university. Each of the fights were hosted in a different spot each time, and kept a secret till an hour before the fight.

Because he ran in a somewhat tamer crowd of circles, he was surprised to learn of the underground world of Northern; but Brad knew all about it even before he was enrolled. Luke, Brad's roommate and cousin, had entered his first fight seven months before. He heard that Luke as a freshman was the most lethal fighter Daniel had even seen in the four years since creating that circle. Beginning of sophomore year, Luke was unbeatable. Together Luke and Brad paid their rent and bills easily with the winnings.

Dan brought the bullhorn to his mouth again, and that made the yelling and movement in the feverish place escalate.

"Tonight we have a new challenger! Eastern's varsity wrestler, Tommy young!"

The cheering grew louder, and the crowd parted and Tommy entered the room. Once entering a circular space cleared for him to enter, the crowd whistled, booed, and taunted him. He began to jump up and down while moving his neck back and forth, his face severe and focused.

The crowd began to quiet down to a dull roar, and ashton's hands shot to his ears when music began to blare through very large speakers across the room.

"Our next fighter really doesn't need a introduction only because he scares the living shit out of me, I'll give him one, anyway! Shake in your shoes, boys, and drop your panties, Ladies! I give you! Luke 'Killer' Hemmings"