Months passed and Havok has won all his fights so far, granted some of them were ugly victories, but a victory, nonetheless. The number of books in the library increased every 5 wins along with the amount of time he was allowed to stay there. The more he won the tougher the opponent became. That is where he took the most damage and improved his fighting skills. It was a double-edged sword, he didn't particularly like getting injured. However, these short-term injuries would give him long term benefits as he learned something from every fight and that was something he did like.
Getting the hard work done early and enjoying the benefits later is how Havok lived his life at the current moment. He didn't have the power he needed to escape this hellhole, but learning to fight would be a necessity, so he accepted the short-term negatives.
Havok is about to turn nine years old, but like many of his peers he is still skinny. Although he was slightly more toned than most of the other kids, he was still on the skinny side. That didn't stop him from winning, but it did have extreme disadvantages, like having no fat and little muscle mass on his body to shield him from body blows. The area that took the most damage during all of his past fights was his abdomen, at the end of every fight his stomach and torso were covered in bruises. Luckily for Havok his ribs were only reinjured once.
His current opponent was a kid that looked a couple of years older than him and apparently had been 'eating' well, given that he had a decent weight to him and muscles to match his stocky frame. He had short dirty blonde hair, green eyes that seemed slightly off. You could see scarring on his knuckles from his previous fights where the skin had been rubbed off on whatever kid he apparently hit hard enough to do that to his own hands. It was not hard to imagine how his opponent looked once he was done with them.
He had shorter arms for someone his size, although Havok has never seen his opponent fight before he could make an informed guess based on what he can see so far, and it doesn't bode well for him. He pushed those negative thoughts aside for now and got mentally prepared for the fight as they made their way down the walkway on opposite sides of the ring. They were both about the same height, but the weight and the difference in their muscle's development are clear just looking at the two of them as they stood face to face in the middle of the ring.
"This is going to be an interesting one, styles make fights and you too have two of the more popular fighting styles our viewers love. Anyway, the normal rules apply, anything is fair game until I say stop. No maiming or serious long-term injuries unless you are prepared to deal with consequences for your actions." Said a staff member as he stood before the two fighters who were face to face.
'Shit, that pretty much confirms it. He is a close quarter power fighter who can absorb a bunch of blows. That's the style that matches the best against my speed, movement and precision. Well, this is going to fucking suck. Trying to minimize the damage is my main priority for this fight.' Havok thought as he sighed knowing he was about to take a bunch of damage.
"Alright that's enough talking, begin!" He said as he backed away to the edge of the ring.
'Keeping my distance and avoiding body blows is first and foremost.' Havok thought as he leapt backwards trying to create space between the two of them.
While it was a good plan, it was just that, a plan, and being able to execute that plan is a totally different matter. His opponent quickly closed the space between as if reading Havok's mind. Without delay he threw a punch right at Havok's ribs.
Bang!
Havok tried to dodge, but he wasn't prepared for his opponent to be so fast and made his first mistake of the fight and took a blow right to his stomach.
"Ughh!" Havok groaned as he was hit. He staggered backwards a few steps.
"Damn it!" Havok said, as he had all the air blasted out of his lungs. Having been in several official fights he knows that opponents never let up, so though he was unable to catch his breath he knew that if he stopped moving then this fight would be over. Just as he expected his opponent instantly closed the gap between them and threw a punch.
He dodged as soon as he saw the next punch coming straight at his face.
Tsuu.
Though he dodged the first one a flurry of fists followed giving Havok no room to breathe, literally as he had yet to catch his breath from the first blow. He was taking short quick breaths to make sure that he didn't pass out from lack of oxygen.
Tsuu. Tsuu. Bang. Tsuu. Bang. Tsuu.
Havok managed to dodge a couple of blows, but two of them did land and hit him in his chest and the other one grazed his cheek as he bobbed and weaved at the perfect time. Although it didn't fully connect and some of its power was weakened, that didn't mean it still didn't hurt. The good news was that he managed to shove his opponent after he threw a punch causing him to stumble forward. Havok jumped backwards, finally giving him space to catch his breath. He managed to take several deep breaths before his opponent regained his footing and charged at Havok.
'He is basically just kicking the shit out of me. I need to go on the offensive or he is going to tire me out and slow down my speed, which is my biggest advantage. After that I'll definitely lose, which is not acceptable. His power seems to be in his right hand, if I can avoid his right and dodge and hit him right after I should be able to do some damage.' Havok quickly formed a plan and put it into action.
Like he expected, another right-hand came right at his face, this time it was a hook. He raised his left hand to block the incoming blow. Although he didn't manage to completely block the blow it gave Havok just enough time to throw a right directly at his opponents' throat. The blonde-haired kid dodged just enough to not be gasping for air, but he was still able to partially connect. The blonde-haired kid seemed to suck in air quickly as if he couldn't get enough.
Havok intended to follow up with a few more punches to spots he referred to as 'vital spots'. These are spots to give your opponent the most amount of damage with the least amount of effort. The liver, kidney, temples, throat, eyes, nuts and ribs. In every fight Havok has been until now he managed to land a blow in a vital spot at some point during the fight, which was a major contributor to his victories.
However, right when he threw a hook at his opponent's liver, the blonde-haired kid dipped his right arm at the perfect moment and blocked the blow and quickly threw an uppercut.
Bang!
It hit Havok directly in his chin, violently snapping his head back.
'Ughh!' Havok groaned as he tried to regain his focus after becoming slightly dizzy from the blow.
Havok quickly leapt backwards from the blonde-haired kid as he tried to shake off the effects of that last blow. Luckily for Havok, he slightly stumbled when he backed away, allowing the blonde-haired kids follow up right hook that was thrown to miss his head as he was going for the knockout blow.
Having thrown this punch with all his power and with expectation it would land, the blonde-haired kid stumbled forward and tripped on Havok's foot before he caught himself before he hit the ground. This bought Havok just enough time to regain his clarity and it was an opportune time to strike at his now stumbling opponent. His opponent had just regained his balance when he saw a skinny fist flying right at his temple. He didn't have enough time to dodge or block this blow and it landed flush.
Bang!
"Ughh!" The blonde-haired kid groaned as he stumbled slightly looking as if he was going to fall over.
The blonde-haired kid, being an experienced fighter just like Havok, he immediately went on the defensive. He was already unsteady, so he knew that trying to move without having your balance was not a wise decision. He decided to stay right where he was. He hunched over slightly and put his forearms on both sides of his head, so he could protect his temple as well as his body from the blows he knew were incoming.
Havok felt his punch land perfectly and quickly followed up trying to end the fight. He frowned when he saw how fast his opponent switched to defending himself. Havok quickly had to adjust his strategy. 'Body blows are not an option now and shots to the head also will not work. I've never really tried kicking, but his legs are completely open right now.' He thought as he knew that sooner rather than later his opponent would recover. This was also the best chance he had to cause severe damage.
Havok immediately stomped at his currently balled up opponents' right knee as that is what he was closest to. His opponent buckled, but he still didn't drop his guard or have his knee break. 'Motherfucker! Since you want to stay just like that, I'll shatter your damn knee, then we'll see if you can just stand there and take it.' Havok thought to himself, pissed off because he wanted to end this fight as quickly as possible.
The blonde-haired kid had recovered enough to know that the blows to his knee were not going to stop if he just kept standing there. When he saw the next kick incoming he raised his leg slightly, blocking the blow and hurting Havok as he didn't expect any resistance when he kicked. Havok's foot slammed into his opponent's lower leg landing firmly on the bone and made him instantly back away in pain.
Though he blocked Havok's kick that doesn't mean that he got away without any damage or pain. On the contrary his leg was throbbing in pain just like Havok's, but he was older, and his bones were slightly more developed, so the damage was somewhat negated.
Havok felt a bone in his foot crack when his kick landed, and he knew he was fucked. Without his ability to move and use his speed, he couldn't compete with the blonde-haired kid in terms of power.
'Well, shit.' Havok thought as he saw his opponent closing in.