5 Weeks Later.
1. A Night on the Town
Tobi silently offered Kim a bag of popcorn, holding it out for her. She raised her eyebrows at him, confused. ‘Popcorn? In a fight club? I don’t think so,’ Kim pushed his outstretched hand away. Tobi shrugged, ‘Your loss,’ he said, taking a handful and shoving it into his mouth. Kim shook her head and walked back into the main room. They were downtown, in a building that looked like it hadn’t been used in years. It was only one storey, and the walls looked like they were made out of coal. The floor was covered in dirt, and all the windows were broken. There were three rooms. Two looked like they were once offices and the third was a hall. Not a very big one, but it still fit what looked to be about 60 people. The club’s location was moved every month, and those involved were somehow notified everytime. Tobi and Kim had joined the club for kicks a year or two ago, and only went every few months.
The guys involved in the club weren’t people you wanted to make friends with, and the few girls scattered throughout the crowd didn’t exactly look like their wives. But Kim wasn’t afraid of anything – even though she was 100% sure she wasn’t the only one with a weapon. A giant of a man in the centre of the room yelled at everyone to gather around him. They obeyed like puppy dogs. Kim wasn’t surprised, she had bet Tobi the first time they went that the guy ate concrete for breakfast and tackled bears in his spare time.
Kim and Tobi pushed and shoved their way through the crowd to get to the front. Someone grabbed Kim on the backside, and she gave them a fist to the groin. The groan of pain from behind her was music to Kim’s ears. Tobi smiled, but didn’t say anything.
‘Alright, alright - shut up,’ Mr. Giant yelled. It took a few seconds, but the room eventually fell silent. With a cocky grin on his face, Mr. Giant smoothed back his greasy black hair. ‘So, gentlemen. And ladies,’ he added, smirking at Kim, who flinched automatically. Luckily, he didn’t seem to notice, and carried on. ‘Tonight we have a treat for you. Yesterday, I ran into an old favourite uptown. I trust you all remember Little Nico?’ A not-very-little man stepped into the middle of the circle, and the crowd erupted in shouts and swears. Kim and Tobi clapped loudly, joining the crowd in chanting his name. ‘Little Nico’ hit his fist into his palm, and smiled to reveal many missing teeth. It made sense; the guy had never lost a fight, and had taken home a fat wad of cash everytime. But he had dropped off the radar for a few months, for reasons unknown.
‘Before you all start betting on Nico, let me introduce his opponent,’ Mr Giant’s voice managed to overpower that of the crowd’s. ‘Brand new, but promising. I think you’ll like her.’ The crowd went silent. Her? Tobi looked at Kim, confused. She shrugged, just as clueless as everyone else. Even Little Nico looked bemused, looking questioningly at Kim, who shook her head and looked at her feet. No way would Kim ever willingly fight this guy without using her powers. Even if she did win, it would cause a lot of pain in the process. The hall was dead silent until the opponent strutted into view. She looked to be about Kim’s age, so did the other girl standing with her. The fighter was wearing casual clothes – ripped jeans, a yellow midriff top with a blue T-Rex on it, and rabens. Her brown hair was cut unevenly, some strands reaching her shoulder, others just brushing her chin. Her brown eyes looked confident as she stood next to Mr. Giant. Her fingerless gloves weren’t made for fighting, rather for keeping her hands warm for when she went back outside.
Kim was beyond confused, but her thoughts were drowned out by the sudden explosion of sound that came from all around her. Everyone was yelling at the girl and Mr. Giant, some using very colourful language. Even Tobi threw in his two pence. ‘What the hell? She can’t fight, she’s a freaking girl!’ he threw popcorn at the girl, earning a vicious look from her friend. When Kim met her eyes, she was momentarily scared. The girl’s blue eyes were so cold and frightening that Kim almost immediately dropped her gaze.
‘Hey… hey, HEY!’ yelled Mr. Giant, once again rising above the crowds yelling and swearing. ‘This girl knows the risks. Don’t cha, dal?’ he smiled sweetly at the fighter, who nodded calmly. ‘So, if Nico here beats her ass into the ground… then that’s that. Everyone gets their money and goes home. No questions, no exceptions.’
With that, everyone started yelling again – but this time they were placing bets. Out of everyone in the hall (Kim guessed around 60 people), only one guy bet on the girl. ‘She’d only sign up for this if she knew what she was doing,’ he’d yelled, throwing a $50 into the pile. Everyone else had laughed at him, but he didn’t seem fazed. He just stood there, waiting for the match to begin. Kim and Tobi threw in $50 each, both on Nico. They knew this girl must be insane… it was impossible for her to beat him. Then again, Kim could fill this room with duplicates of herself. She didn’t really have a say in what was possible and what wasn’t.
When all the bets were collected, Mr. Giant forced everyone to stand against the walls of the room, to create a make-shift arena for the fight. A few guys were sizing up Little Nico, grabbing his shoulders and sizing him up. The girl still looked eerily calm as her friend spoke softly to her. When a single bell rang, both fighters took a step toward each other, separating themselves from the crowd. Little Nico cracked his neck, and then his knuckles. Kim nodded approvingly – she would be going home with a profit. Then the starting bell rang.
Nico closed the distance between them in two strides. He threw a well-aimed punch at her head, but she ducked it easily. She spun off to his right and grabbed his leg, pulling it off the ground. He hit the hard ground with a thud, but got up with amazing speed. He started punching at her, but she held up her arms to block them. It must’ve been a trick of the light, but the girl’s skin suddenly looked scaly, like some sort of lizard. But when Kim blinked, her skin was back to normal. Despite the fact that she was being punched by a 100kg man, she showed absolutely no sign of injury. She blocked every hit he threw at her – face, ribs, stomach, arms… and didn’t even fight back. Nico paused to change tactics, and she roundhouse-kicked him in the stomach – sending him to the floor… ten metres away. He lay on the ground, at the feet of shocked spectators.
He was floored for a few seconds before getting up. This guy was tough, but Kim was beginning to think that he’d need more brains than brawn to beat this girl. The crowd was shouting, fist-pumping, and jostling each other like they were watching a football match. Tobi was swearing at Nico, calling him weak for getting floored by a girl. He must’ve heard this, because he shot a look at Tobi, before puffing up his chest and advancing on the girl. He swung at her, but she caught his wrist mid-air with her right hand. She took it over her left shoulder, and spun so that her back was turned, and her hands were gripping his wrist on her right shoulder. She then proceeded to bend over and bring her hands downwards, flinging Nico over her shoulder like he was a 7-foot rag doll. His body hit the concrete with a crack that was heard even with the noise of the crowd echoing through the building. Miraculously, he got up within seconds, steady on his feet. He cracked his back, and shook out his limbs. Then he looked down at the girl with a ferocious snarl on his face. The girl should’ve been melting into the ground with fear, but she just smiled.
‘What the hell?’ Kim shouted at Tobi, even though he was right next to her. Tobi shook his head in disbelief, but his eyes remained glued on the fighters. Nico threw himself at the girl, kicking, grabbing and punching. But no matter he did, the girl blocked it. Less than a minute later, Nico paused to bring his fist down onto her face, but the girl was quicker. She punched him in the stomach, and he doubled over automatically, so that his head was now level with the girl’s shoulder. ‘Pay up, bitches,’ she yelled, and her fist collided with the side of Nico’s head, knocking him out. You could have heard a pin drop. Nico lay on the concrete, his jaw slack and his head bleeding. The girl walked over to Mr. Giant and grabbed majority of the money he held in his hat. He didn’t stop her, he didn’t say anything. Like the rest of the crowd, he just stood, staring. The girl’s friend took the rest of the money – which looked like about $500 – and gave it to the man that had bet on the girl. He took it, shocked, but evidently ecstatic.
Just the before the two teenagers left the building, the fighter turned around, holding the door open. ‘Thanks for the cash, boys,’ she said. With that, the two girls walked outside into the winter chill. It took about a full minute for everyone to get over the shock of what they had just witnessed. ‘Huh,’ Tobi said, his voice hollow. Kim had to know what had just happened. It wasn’t natural. And in Kim’s world, when something was unnatural, it was usually dangerous. ‘Come on,’ she muttered, grabbing Tobi’s arm and dragging him through the crowd.
They sprinted away from the building and towards the parking lot at the end of the street. ‘There,’ whispered Tobi, pointing at two figures weaving through the cars. Kim nodded and led the way into the parking lot. They ducked and scurried around the cars, trying to keep the girls in their sight. ‘Remind me why we’re doing this?’ Tobi whispered as they pressed their backs against a large van. ‘I need to know who they are,’ Kim said, running off before Tobi could ask her anything else.
Just as they were about to crouch behind another car, the fighter’s friend turned around and saw them.