After Alex left the reception, he stayed up most of the night practicing his techniques under the moonlight. When he woke up the next morning, his face was covered in a film of sweat, showing that he had even practiced in his sleep.
He took a warm bath, wrapped himself in a towel, and then sat on the sofa. As he dried off, his phone rang.
He picked up the phone and listened to the call with a frown. Then he got dressed and headed over to the Baltimore Martial Arts Association headquarters.
Russell had called to say that Kenneth Petrie, the arbitrator of the American Martial Arts Association, had led an army of disciples to the Baltimore Martial Arts Association. He had beaten up Will, who had been standing guard. After that, he had commanded his disciples to block the exits, and he had taken control of the building.
A trace of anger flashed in Alex's eyes. How dare he try to take over my organization, he thought. Who does he think he is?
Soon after, Alex arrived at the headquarters. He knew that the hierarchy in the American Martial Arts Association was complicated and that they had power over the Baltimore Martial Arts Association, but he didn't know who Kenneth was and what his authority entailed.
Russell met Alex at the door with a grimace on his face. "You're finally here," he said. "You got here just in time. They're ready to tear the whole place apart. They even beat me up for no reason. They're a bunch of brutes."
He rolled up his sleeve to show Alex a bloody wound on his upper arm.
Alex frowned and asked, "Which one of them did that to you? I'll make sure to deal with him personally."
Russell shook his head and shrugged. "I couldn't get a good look at them in all the chaos."
Although Alex was the president of the Baltimore Martial Arts Association, he had no contact with the American Martial Arts Association. He had been elected to the position, but he hadn't wanted the job at all, and he certainly didn't want to bow to anyone else's authority.
Russell stepped forward and looked around. He saw that Kenneth's disciples were still standing guard by the doors, so he lowered his voice to a whisper.
"Kenneth Petrie, one of the higher-ups in the American Martial Arts Association, is the arbitrator for the parent organization and all of its branches in different states," he said. "He specifically deals with disciples who break any of the organization's tenets.
"His martial arts skills are nothing special, but he's been around a while, so he has seniority, and he uses his power to stomp all over the younger disciples," he continued. "He thinks the younger generations have things too easy and cheat to get their way."
Alex sneered. "He obviously doesn't know anything about me," he said. "He's just mad that I'm the president at such a young age. Does he really think I paid my way into the position? I didn't even want it."
"This guy has a long-standing beef with Jessop," Russell said. "He's never liked the Baltimore Martial Arts Association. Whenever he comes by to inspect our headquarters, he's always too busy picking the dirt out from under his nails to pay any attention to what we have to say, and he never fails to cause trouble before he leaves."
"Jessop has tried his best to tolerate Kenneth, and he's spent a lot of money keeping the Baltimore Martial Arts Association in tip-top shape to keep Kenneth from bothering us. But Kenneth saw how much money Jessop gave us, and he just hated us even more because that was all money that wasn't going into his own organization.
"The former president of the Baltimore Martial Arts Association went to Florida to help out some retired martial artists, and Kenneth pushed for his son Todd Petrie to take over. But our members didn't buy it, and we wanted nothing to do with him. Finally, after Jessop's recommendation, we elected you as president instead.
"Kenneth was angry that his son got snubbed, and he wants to get rid of you. He doesn't want to be here just as much as we don't want him here, but he's set on ending your career."
Alex tapped his foot impatiently. Why do they have to play stupid power games like this? he wondered. They should know that I don't care about being president.
Russell leaned in and whispered, "I think you should fight Jacob."
"So you finally agree with me," Alex replied, rolling his eyes.
They walked into the hall as they talked, and once they arrived, the hall was eerily quiet. Four people were on the floor on their hands and knees, including Edward, Jeffrey, Will, and Russell's son Dennis, all strong young men that Alex had endorsed for their skills.
The four men clenched their teeth in pain. Their clothes had been torn into shreds, and their bodies were bruised and bloodied from the wounds that Kenneth's men had inflicted on them.
A group of muscular men stood behind them with bats in their hands, waving them menacingly as if they were ready to strike at any moment.
Kenneth sat on an ornate chair in the center of the hall. He had white hair and a long, flowing beard. His face was defiant, and his eyebrows were fierce. He looked down at the battered martial artists with a condescending expression.
The whole hall was dead silent aside from the sound of his fingernails tapping on his chair's armrest.
Several young women stood beside him, pointing and laughing at the four martial artists on the floor.
"I've been waiting for you for a long time, Alex," Kenneth said. "Why don't you join your friends over there?" He gestured at the men on the floor.
Alex frowned. He must have been stalking me for a long time if he can pick me out of a crowd so easily, he thought.
A muscular woman stepped forward and said, "Kneel down with them if you know what's good for you."
"Why should I do that?" Alex asked, placing his hands on his hips.
"Don't you know that you should respect your elders?" the woman replied. "Just because you're the president doesn't mean that you can ignore authority. If you don't kneel, we'll have to force you to."
Kenneth lightly waved his hand at the woman to gesture for her to stop. "I'll handle this, Ava," he said. "I'm the American Martial Arts Association arbitrator, after all. It's my job to settle these things."
Alex narrowed his eyes. "Since you're the arbitrator, tell me what rule I broke that I need to be punished for," he said.
Edward looked up at Alex and saw the fearsome anger on his face. He didn't dare to speak when Alex was in such a state.
"You're wasting my time, kid," Kenneth said with a loud yawn. "How do you not know what rules you've broken? Don't play dumb with me, or your punishment will be even harsher."
"I don't understand," Alex said, and then shrugged. "Please clear things up for me."
"You're a fool if you accept Jacob's challenge," Ava said, butting into the conversation. "Do you think this only affects you? You're the president of the Baltimore Martial Arts Association.
"If you lose to Jacob, your organization's reputation will be ruined forever, and in turn, our organization will suffer too. We'll be the laughingstock of all the martial arts circles worldwide for letting the foolish and cocky president of one of our chapters get himself killed by a legendary master. We can't let that happen."