Ace finished his tale, taking a small breath, and spending a second to look at 1's awestruck face.
"I knew you were perceptive - your grandmother said so, but...", his shock was evident, and Ace nodded, with a small smile dancing in a corner of his face.
"It's fine, I understand, for now, though, I just hope it has made everything easier.", Ace said, and 1 nodded instantly, a robotic response to what he thought was a rhetorical statement.
"We will check the info, but both my gut and my head tell me I am right, if it turns out, we will contact the Russians, they will be more than happy to deal with this as a thank you, but your grandmother will want to get involved for sure. I will warn you - if I may, she is most likely feeling destroyed on the inside, eaten alive by guilt, corroded by feelings of despair at what could have happened. Go out there, and hug her, she needs it.", 1 looked straight into Ace's eyes, wanting to make sure that Ace knew he was telling what he believed would be a complete truth.
Ace, found himself agreeing with him, which surprised him, 'A few weeks ago, I would have used this chance to squeeze benefits out of her, but I have changed, and from what I have observed and analysed, so has her. Hell, the way we are going, we might even end up having a functional relationship at some point, even if it is years in the future. Progress is progress I guess though.'
***
The morning after the hectic events, Ace did not go to school, and spent the whole day playing games and streaming - a perfect time for him. This was of course not only for him, but also a message of power, even after all that, he could still go in front of thousands of people and act normally. Not that his fans knew anything about that - they were hyped with his recent streams, since he was doing them for longer and quite frequently.
He, of course, kept his phone next to him at all times, and the moment the inevitable call came, he was in front of the sofa, it was 8 in the evening, and once he picked up the call, all it was was a male voice telling him, "It's been dealt with.". The whole thing could not be more ominous, but still, Ace was happy everything had gone according to plan, which knowing both his grandmother and the Russians, most likely meant killing the big fry, and then mutilating all the small fry, such as cutting off their left leg. It was a brutal practice, but Ace could not say it was not effective. The Chechens would most likely not have the balls to mess around like that anymore, with or without support from external fractions.
Ace assumed, however, that for the foreseeable future, his security would be boosted to ridiculous levels, even within the school. His grandmother would not risk it again. To be fair, everything, from the weather to the traffic had been perfect for the execution, but perfect could happen again. Ace understood that, and would not give the guards or his grandmother any bullsh*t, they did not deserve it, especially the guards, annoying the innocent workers would only make their job harder, and their lives shitt*er.
***
Ace entered the homeroom, and as normal, people took a quick look for a second and then turned back to their conversations. He sat in his usual seat, and took out his Noxia, with the full expectation of just sitting back and watching a movie.
At least, that was the idea, it all went out of the window, when a senior came to their door, and told him to come with. Ace assumed his homeroom teacher had already been informed, and so followed, all the while thinking what he knew about the person who came to pick him up.
'Moby Clark, slightly below average grades, but above average fighting prowess, quite the talented boxer, with a history of streetfights, especially outside of clubs and bars. From what I could find, he was not intoxicated, and neither were his opponents, but with police reports, you never knew.' A beat cop could easily be bribed to say whatever they wanted, and that was by the average person. For someone of his means, they could probably afford to make the department look away fro a fight or two - Ace assumed the second was more probable, but it really did not matter.
'So most likely a fight club thing then', to be fair, Ace had not taken part as much as he should have, his ranking had not changed by much, since he had only fought challengers, which was all that was necessary. As people saw some more of his skills, he was ranked higher, but he had not really been challenged at all. In fact, Ace assumed that only the top 50 could prove to be a challenge, and of those, only specific members could give him a loss. He should be able to draw or win against most, however.
Once it got to those rankings, it got more interesting. This was because, at that point, people knew what fighting style they were comfortable with, and therefore practised it. Of course, there were a few students who were simply stronger and more skilled than others, and regardless of matchups, would win. For the rest, however, it was more about who they fought, and whether they would counter or be countered by the style they faced.
The more interesting fights were the ones where people with similar styles fought, but as you got further and further, it was normal to see Ranking members with their own specific styles, even within the same branch of martial arts, much like how two boxers would fight differently to each other, but also adding martial artists of many other types. For the Fight Club, variety was key.
They soon came to the Coliseum, where they saw groups of people, mostly seniors that had no need to go to homeroom, training hard, practising techniques, sparring and working out with the varied equipment that was sautéed around the arena.
Moby led Ace all the way to one of the private arenas, where private spars, where no spectators were present, would occur. Unlike the others, these were not recorded, and if one wanted a tape of the fight, both parties would have to agree under oath to its fair use. The point hit both the student and the affiliated parties that misused the recording would receive, was enough to not make it worth it, at all.
They entered one, where Ace saw Zach and a few other people standing there. Ace looked at each of them in turn as they all turned to meet his gaze. 'Well, this will be fun. Let's see what it is they want.'
Ace got near them, and while they all looked at him impassively, Zach smiled at him, in a fashion that seemed weird on him, but Ace accepted nonetheless.
"What's up? Did something happen?", Ace asked, and Zach just shook his head, "Nah, don't even worry about it, it's all good, we just wanted to make you a proposition."
"If this is about a tournament or something like that, you better make it worth my while, I cannot, for the life of me, be bothered to trade blows with some genetic abomination, other schools are sure to come up with.", Ace let things clear right off the bat, and Zach smiled, as he spoke, then laughing, the other people that were standing, laughed as well, while a dark-skinned boy - who looked more like a man, stared at Ace impassively nonetheless.
"Well, it is, but this one should be quite fun, and hey, we get to travel, which I heard you liked. Before you say anything, let me explain: this is a simple tournament, each school or club, since this also encompasses sports clubs, will send in fighters of different ages. The key here is age, weight and overall size do not matter, which makes for some interesting combat. You will fight them in a tournament format, until you win. The fights are until one is knocked out or surrenders, with most classic MMA rules. You will wear fighting gloves, but that is it. I will tell you something, however, some rules are not enforced, you can be flipped over shoulders like in judo, and armbars and so on are all valid. It is on you to surrender, but an expert referee will also be able to call the match if he deems it necessary. Of course, it must be like this, since at the end of the day, you are still kids. Once you get older, there will be fights with no referees. I assure you, those are fun to watch, but can be brutal, it is pretty much a streetfight, in that you either beg for mercy, or your head will get stomped."
Every time he talked, Ace's internal smile got wider, and while his head told him no, his fighting spirit was ignited, and he was in on it, without even knowing the specifics of it. He smiled, "Bah, if the points are good, then I am in, no reason not to go, especially if we are going to travel."
"That is wonderful to hear.", Zach smiled