The day had come.
Taitanzu was finally going up against Hades, the gang who's members were mostly grown up men.
Unsurprisingly, most people but their money on the latter gang since nobody was really expecting the group from Tallahassee to pull an upset. After all, not even up to 2 percent of Taitanzu's members were up to 18.
"We're going to prove them wrong..." Casey muttered while stretching, a bit annoyed by the little snippets of conversations he was hearing behind him.
"The Tallahassee group are going to get destroyed..."
"Have you seen the size of those guys from Hades....?"
"Boris should quit now...his gang doesn't stand a chance..."
Casey bit his tongue to prevent himself from lashing out at the spectators behind him and silently looked at Boris who was standing in the shadows of the entrance to the locker area. Before they came to the arena Boris pulled him over and told him not to get angry at anything; and though Casey couldn't figure it out for the hell of him but he decided to trust his commander.
The Gang Commander nodded solemnly, wordlessly reassuring the branch deputy.
"Oi Casey. Don't tell me you're getting cold feet over there..." Triple A asked, finally ending his own round of meditation and stretches as he studiously analysed the soldiers of the opposing gang.
They were all muscular, tall and were obviously in the age range of 20-25. It was a wonder that they were even allowed to compete at all.
Hades' leader was ironically a teen that went by the same name as his gang; a dark guy with a shaved head, bright green eyes, a Polynesian style tattoo on his chin and a jagged scar running from the crown of his head down to the base of his neck. Word on the street was that he was the one behind a massive gas explosion that killed over 20 people.
"Boris better know what the hell he's doing not putting Last Resort in this fight..." Casey muttered in a rare show of worry.
"If he put us together in this then there must obviously be a reason. We just have to trust his judgement..." Triple didn't want to admit it but be was a bit worried too. It was only common sense to have Last Resort on the battlefield in what was surely going to be an uphill battle. Triple looked at his commander that was still lurking in the shadows.
Just what was Boris Deadhead planning?
************************************
Taitanzu's leader was silently watching the performance of his soldiers with an unreadable expression on his face.
To those uninitiated, Boris looked like he was creating a master strategy that would lead to the upset victory of a lifetime.
Those who knew him more, had even less of an idea what was going through the teen's mind.
"Ya sure you made the right call Boris? Our guys are barely holding their own in there..." Crystal muttered while watching the fight worriedly.
"Yeah...I was thinking you was gonna throw LR into the mix. Woulda made things a hell of a lot easier if ya ask me..." Noah said from his position next to his cousin.
Boris didn't do so much as glance in their direction, only leaving the locker area and heading to only God knows where, signalling to LR to follow him.
Killer watched the fighting intently. Something about it was off. The newbloods in the fight were giving it all they got as expected. What he didn't anticipate was that Triple was doing more fighting than Casey.
Triple was using a brawler fighting style like the one Killer himself specialized in, which was strange because Triple was known for his graceful movements and ability to immobilize almost any opponent with powerful submission moves and devastating pressure point attacks.
Casey on the other hand was playing defense and fighting as little as possible, only attacking when it was absolutely unavoidable. This was also strange because he was infamous for rushing into fights guns blazing and taking on many soldiers as possible. It was what got him the epithet of "Mob" after all.
Another thing that caught his eye was the fact that Casey hadn't lashed out or fought in anger even once since they got here, which was highly uncharacteristic. Given all the negativity that was thrown at Taitanzu, he was surprised that the second branch deputy hadn't exploded yet, or tried to attack someone in the crowd. It was like he was... controlling...his anger...?
Something clicked in Killer's head and his eyes lit up.
"Boris you sly dog...."
************************************
Casey spat blood unto the sandy arena floor and got up slowly.
So far he had been following Boris's instructions and conserving energy while serving as defense for Triple A who had been instructed to fight harder.
They had somehow managed to drop one of Hades' gangsters, but in return they lost two of theirs. It was a 4 on 3 and things weren't looking good at all.
Triple A fell down right next to him and his ears were assaulted by a another round of unsavory and doubtful remarks hurled at the Taitanzu team. Some from Taitanzu's own city members!
"They're getting slaughtered out there..."
"Boris should just call it quits..."
"They never had a chance..."
"Those two Gang Heads are useless...."
Casey shook his head and tried to stop the anger welling inside of him from spilling over. Focusing on the gangster in front of him, a burly guy with a dog like face and a sloppy mohawk.
Casey ducked a punch from him and retaliated with a strike to the stomach before attempting an elbow attack, only for a boot to fly into his face from another direction entirely.
He staggered, his eyes hazy and body unsteady; barely registering the fact that another gangster had come to join in the fray.
As his eyes darted around the arena, looking for anything or anyone that could be of help to him, his eyes met with Boris and Last Resort who were somehow standing unnoticed in the middle of the crowd.
His commander nodded at him and smiled while Last Resort mouthed the words "go for it" to him.
Casey chuckled and wiped the blood dribbling down his chin from his broken nose, all the pent up anger from the beginning of this fight till now exploding like a hydrogen bomb.
"About FUCKING time Mr Straightfingers! What the fuck was wrong with you telling me not to blow my shit all this FUCKING TIME! You better have a good as hell explanation for letting me get my teeth kicked in like this!" Casey began his familiar rant as he marched up to the two gangsters in front of him, cracking his knuckles and smiling devilishly.
"Triple FUCKING A! You help those fucking wimps take down the other Hades members while I handle these two asshats!" Casey clenched his fists and ran full speed ahead into the two Hades members, crashing into them and sending them into the floor in a tangle of dust, blood and limbs.
"Let's get this shit OOONNNNN!"
On the other side of the arena, Triple A and the last standing Taitanzu member--a girl named Bailey--were facing off against a boy and girl duo.
"Do your best to avoid receiving too many attacks. Use that pipe in your hands and attack the joints in the limbs as hard as you can..." Triple whispered to Bailey before rushing at the lanky man in front of him and sliding between the small space in between his legs, nimbly touching the weak spots on the gangster's knees and ankles before popping up behind him and doing the same thing to his elbows.
"Those attacks have a delayed effect, all I have to do is hold him off... he'll be down in two minutes tops..." The branch head muttered to himself as he dodged a kick from the man and retaliated with a jab to his chest.
Casey was weaving between the attacks of his own opponents, who had tired themselves out in the first half of the battle when they had the advantage. The white haired teen was attacking furiously and incessantly, sometimes accidentally punching some of the spectators when the fight moved him closer to the edges of the arena. With an uppercut he sent one of them flying into the other, knocking both of them out.
"Take that you nasty ass Hades motherfuckers!"
Triple A's opponent was about to react when the effect of the pressure point attacks kicked in and he collapsed, unable to move his arms and legs and only curse loudly.
Bailey's opponent, once she saw she was outnumbered 3-1 just gave up the match immediately.
It was over.
Taitanzu was advancing to the next round of Brawlhalla.
Casey sat on the floor, almost passing out from fighting so hard. He looked at the people in the crowd and pointed towards himself.
"That's what you fucking get...when you mess with Casey "Mob" Mobey!"