Loud cheers and buzzing chatter sounded as Darren and Atlas hurriedly made their way towards the ring.
The fight was midway through the first round, the air thick with tension and anticipation. The ring lights shone brightly onto the ring, casting harsh shadows on the two fighters as they were caught in a strong clinch. The chests of both fighters could be seen heaving up and down heavily as they took in large gasps of air.
Pure determination and anger could be seen on Jax's face while his opponent's face was showing a look of confusion and shock as he held on as tightly as he could, trying to buy as much time for himself as he could so that the round would come to an end faster.
The referee immediately cut in and separated the two. A look of foreboding could be seen flashing in Jax's opponent's face as he immediately took on a defensive stance with his hands up to block. Jax moved with fluid grace, his body conditioned for speed and power, quickly approaching his opponent and barraging him with a series of jabs and hooks. Meanwhile, his opponent, a hulking brute with a reputation for brutal knockouts, has his confidence nowhere to be seen despite his huge figure. He seemed to be holding out though as he managed to defend quite a lot of the punches that Jax was throwing.
'I need to find another opening,' he thought as he continuously blocked Jax's punches.
And on the third punch, he saw his chance. An overthrown hook by Jax, the man quickly parried the punch to the side and countered with a jab, catching Jax off-guard as his eyes unfocused for a split second.
'I'm taking this chance,' the man resolutely decided at the presented opportunity. He delivered a flurry of punches, managing to land three consecutive jabs on Jax with the final jab setting himself up for his signature mean right hook that had completely knocked out all his previous opponents.
A smirk suddenly appeared on Jax's face as he saw the hook being coiled back and getting ready to be delivered. As soon as the hook rang out, Jax's shoulder shifted to its side, narrowly missing the punch, shocking the beejeebees out of the man who was suddenly feeling extremely vulnerable.
"The only way to lure out the weaker wolves is to act like a sheep," Jax mocked as his arm shot out from his waist and flung upwards, aiming right for the man's chin.
'Ah, shit...' was the last thought of the man as he saw the incoming uppercut as he could do nothing as all his momentum was driven into that hook.
And like the sound of a low drum being hit, a clean sound bellowed as the man was flung upwards, gaining airtime for a clean second. However, just as the punch was also delivered, the timekeeper's bell also rang out, signifying the end of the round with that punch.
The man crashed onto the floor, completely dazed and out of it as his team immediately rushed in.
The bell rang, and the two fighters exploded into action. Jax danced around his opponent, using his agility to avoid the heavy blows aimed at him. The crowd roared with excitement as Jax landed a series of quick jabs, followed by a powerful right hook that made his opponent stagger.
Darren was watching from the sidelines, his heart pounding. He had trained Jax for fights like these, and Jax had executed it to perfection. He glanced at Atlas who was standing beside him, his eyes wide with a mix of fear and appreciation.
Darren hurriedly proceeded to make his way to Jax in his corner and as Jax saw him, a spiteful gaze appeared on his face as he dismissed the father and son duo, "Piss off, old man! I'm taking this piece of shit down!"
"Jax," Darren called out as he made his way through the ropes and knelt down to Jax's level, "You need to hear me out. You're going to have to hear me out."
"Why should I listen to you?! You betrayed my trust. You knew how much this tournament means to me and yet you bow your head to the people at the top!"
"There's more at risk than you know!" Darren shouted out as he grabbed Jax's shoulder, catching him off guard as he had never raised his voice before. Darren proceeded to stare into Jax's eyes as he spoke in a solemn tone, "They have my family by the neck and probably have your sister too..."
At this, Jax's mind shook as the news hit him like a tremor. He was immediately barraged by dozens of thoughts...
What had he been doing? Was all the work and training that he had been doing all for naught? Was his opponent supposed to win this tournament just because he had money?
His thoughts were nevertheless interrupted as the timekeeper rang the bell, indicating the start of the second round was near.
"No," Jax spoke as he got up, "You are just trying to get in my head to save your own family."
Darren could not believe that Jax was this far committed to this, he desperately tried to convince him, "Jax lis-"
"Coach, you care about your family. But what about mine? My sister will die if I don't get the cash. My only family left," said Jax as he stood up and walked towards the center of the ring where the referee was. He proceeded to stare at his opponent who was only beginning to slowly get out of his corner slightly staggering.
Darren stood there in the corner frozen as the gears in his head spun double-time. He stared blankly at the corner buckles as he considered what would be the best choices of action now.
"Yo Coach, you need to get out of the ring, the fights starting!" one of the security around the ring called out as he saw that he was still in the ring. However, Darren was still frozen and remained in that position.
Instead, he began to shift his gaze to the spectators as his eyes scanned the crowd before landing on one specific person, the man in the suit who had offered them the bribe. He was on the phone with five burly men behind him, his expression cold and seemed to exude anger as he stared at Darren as he brought his hand to his neck and made a slicing motion.
"This bastard," unhappy that he was ignored, the security guard began making his way towards Darren but before he could get to him, Atlas got in the way as he hurriedly apologised, "I'm so sorry about that. I'll go get him, he's been getting these moments of paralysis where he seems completely absent."
Hearing this, the guard stopped and told Atlas, "Go get him and make sure it doesn't happen again."
Atlas hurried into the ring and tapped on his father's shoulder, bringing him out of his stupor, "What's the game plan?"
Having been forcefully brought out of his thoughts, Darren turned and looked at Atlas, "As soon as we get out of the ring, I want you to make your way home immediately. Go check up on your mom"
"Huh," Atlas was left confused, "And what about you?"
"You are fast, Atlas," Darren spoke with full seriousness, "You are the fastest person I have seen in my life without speed augments. You will be able to make it there faster than I will."
"OI!" the guard's voice was heard by the both of them.
"They couldn't have gotten to mom that quickly right?" Atlas asked, "The fight hasn't even ended yet."
Darren's eyes seemed to give him the answer.
"That's why you need to go. Take the ladder to the roof, the elevators are being watched," he answered as the two got out of the ring. In that instant, everything began.
The fight resumed while Atlas immediately began to sprint straight towards an air vent hole that was seen in one of the walls. As he immediately began running, from the corner of his eye that there was a group of men in dark clothing began to move in his general direction and he immediately knew that they were after him.
"I'll take care of them," Atlas heard his dad say from behind him as he also saw him run towards the hole. Without another word, Atlas sprinted out of the arena, his mind now fully focused on making it home to make sure his mother was safe.