Narrated by Alex
Today's atmosphere in the arena was pretty much the same, filled with excitement and suspense, and the only difference from yesterday, was that the number of fighters had been cut down to half. There were only sixteen in the room.
I looked at the tournament bracket. Today's match was supposed to be against fighter number 4, or Hager, from Condiac City.
"Hey," John tapped my shoulder,"You're in the first match."
"Yeah, I noticed."
He smiled,"You gotta win this, got that?"
"Yes sir!" I said enthusiastically.
He laughed,"Yeah. All the best, man."
I smiled and nodded, just as Jimmy went out to the arena.
"Ladies and gentlemen, and the kids, welcome to the Second Round of the Bender League! We saw some great matches yesterday, and hopefully today's matches will be even better!"
The audience cheered with all energy, and Jimmy continued,"Yes! That's the energy we want! Now then, let us commence today's fights! The first fight, will pit Alex from Stronghold City, against Hager from Condiac City! Both of them won in great fashion yesterday, knocking their opponents out of the ring when they least expected it! Will we get an awesome opening match? I sure hope so!"
I walked out to the ring, and was met with thunderous cheering. I couldn't stop myself from grinning, and my excitement was hard to control.
Then, out came my opponent.
Yellow eyes. Not what I was expecting. His face was rectangular in shape, with wild long hair spread messily around his scalp. He carried a smirk on his face, and looked like he could rob you any moment without you being able to do anything at all. He wore a brown tank top, with black cargo pants, and was as tall as me. With a toned build, he did look kinda formidable.
He marched to the ring, as Jimmy stepped down.
"Hope we have a good fight." I said, trying hard not to look at those menacing yellow eyes.
"I ain't sure if the fight'll turn out good for ya!" He said. His voice was pretty deep and coarse.
"We'll see," I smirked back at him.
Jimmy looked at me, and I nodded. So did Hager.
"Begin!"
Hardly had those words come out of Jimmy's mouth, when Hager charged at me. Running towards me at a quick pace, I was sure he planned to throw me out of the ring with a collision, so I sidestepped. He rushed past me, and came to a stop near the edge of the ring.
And then, I picked up an easy win.
Everyone fell silent.
"Well, that was not the fight that we all expected," Jimmy laughed, with a tinge of disappointment in his voice,"but we do have a winner. Alex wins, with a simple dropkick, to eliminate Hager via ring-out! He now advances to the quarter finals!"
This was followed by an applause and some jeering, and I walked back to the fighters' room.
"Not gonna lie, that was a disappointing fight." John laughed as I entered.
"Well, I couldn't help it," I shrugged,"I just saw the window, and seized the opportunity. But yeah, the guy looked pretty formidable to be defeated that easily."
"I agree with you. How did he manage to get past the first round itself?"
"Maybe his opponent was weaker?"
"Maybe, yeah."
"But congrats on advanc- WATCH OUT!" He pushed me to the side, as Hager bulldozed through him, sending him crashing to the wall.
"Get outta my way!" He shrieked, and then turned to me,"You. You'll pay for humiliating me out there! You'll surely pay!"
He ran towards me at full speed, and this time, he was way faster than before.
It felt as if a cargo truck had hit me, and smashed me into the wall. My abdomen hurt, and I spewed out a drop or two of blood.
The other fighters didn't do anything, and simply watched.
I slowly got up, and it hurt everytime I moved. Hager had already prepared for a second run-through, and was running towards me again.
Oh well, I thought to myself, this will end badly.
I prepared to defend myself, as Hager was just about to run through me, when an energy blast sent him to the side, and he collided with a sofa, sending both of them down.
"Stop..... it..." John panted, on one knee, ready with a second blast, aimed at Hager.
Hager got up, and shrieked,"Stay outta this! I'm just taking my revenge!"
And he charged towards John.
A second blast was fired, and Hager went down again, only to get up once again.
I ran towards Hager, and hit a couple of strikes at his head. He staggered back, but was back up soon. He began offense from his side, and drove me to the wall once again.
He began shoulder-blocking me, and I was agonised every time his shoulder connected with my abdomen.
He reared up for one final collision, and I didn't have a good feeling about what would happen if it hit.
He ran towards me, when a red beam hit him, sending him into the wall.
John looked towards me, and I knew what to do. I charged up energy on my fist, as Hager began to stir up again.
As he recovered, my fist was blazing purple. I ran towards him, as he was gaining awareness of what was going on.
BAM!
One punch, and he was out cold.
The tournament authorities made their appearance at the perfect time, as the medic checked me and John for injuries at the hotel.
"Well, John's fine. It'll just hurt around for a bit, but you'll be okay after a few hours. As for Alex, not that much."
"Not that much? I got a fight tomorrow! What happened?"
"Nothing really, actually. It's just that one of the capillaries around your stomach has ruptured. And your muscles have been cramped together due to the continuous attacks."
"So, any medications or treatment or something?"
"Your body will use your energy and heal by itself. You just need rest, and can take painkillers if required."
"My energy will be used?"
"Yes. Your energy will be used to patch the broken capillary, and stimulate the growth of cells around it. I wouldn't normally recommend going to fight with this type of an injury, but it looks like you do wanna go. It will be painful to fight, but I don't think you'll face much problems, as the energy will prevent the blood from leaking. But don't overuse your energy, or else the energy around the capillary will be used up, and you'll be vulnerable."
"Got it." I nodded, and the medic left.
John said,"Well, I'll deal with you later. My match is up soon. Take care."
I nodded and smiled, as he left the room for his match.