Among the VIP tables, one man seemed to be watching a different fight than the rest. Most of the tables were laughing and predicting that the beating of the boy called Mouse would surely knock him out in the next round, or some even thought that the boy had better give up if he didn't want to risk dying or getting seriously hurt.
But that man called Nimus Blacker, a class E in charge of the station's engineering systems, had seen something very different. A fan of fighting since he was young, he had even participated in fights to pay for the advancements that took him out of class F and gave him his position as an engineer.
He didn't have the talent or the courage to continue with that career, but since then he became fond of fights, both official and clandestine, like this one. What Nimus saw was a taller and stronger boy, but clearly weakened and exhausted, who hit hard but was clumsy, and another boy who was only looking for his opportunity, had an instinct to dodge and even to accompany the blows that came to him with his body and head to minimize the damage, as if he was used to receiving beatings and blows. When the Round ended, and he saw how the big boy was panting and breathing with difficulty while the other little one was calmly clinging to the fence, he knew that two surprising Rounds awaited them.
Fang had approached the fence, he was worried, but he was more scared by the smile that Mouse had.
"Can you continue?"
"Sure, this is nothing for what I can bear... is he still panting and panting?"
"Who, Cube Chub? Yes, keep snorting..."
"Now is my time..."
Fang didn't understand what the kid was referring to, he had received a good beating in the last few seconds, maybe it had been a mistake to bring him, maybe a fight without the metal reinforcements was too much for that slippery kid no matter how accustomed to fights he was.
The referee called the two kids and the second round began, Chupacubos didn't even have time to raise his hands, the weak but direct blow to the face surprised him, but the worst was the second blow with the other hand in the stomach.
When he tried to react and hit the slippery kid was already out of range, he gave three or four slaps trying to take the initiative again, but when his own inertia made him continue behind his fist, Mouse hit him three times, two in the side with his fists while he passed under his arm and a kick in the leg.
None of the blows were strong or could pose a danger to him when counted one by one, but Chupacubos had spent a lot of energy trying to knock down his opponent at the end of the previous round. He turned around trying to hit the boy, but his fist missed again, Mouse had retreated out of range. Another pair of blows crossed the air but only served to get him kicked in the belly.
Chupacubos felt his stomach churning, he was short of breath, but he was not willing to lose everything he had gained, this opportunity to build a future and buy good skills against a weak child. If he could not hit him with his blows, he would knock him down. Suckerbucket still weighed more and was more corpulent, he launched himself headfirst with his arms open trying to catch Mouse's body, but Mouse had space and retreated at the same time as his foot launched quickly upwards.
He narrowly missed Chupacubos' head, but his foot hit his shoulder hard enough to knock the big guy off balance and force him to use one hand to keep from falling to the ground. But Mouse didn't miss the opportunity; before he could stand up, two punches in a row hit him in the eyebrow and left eye. He tried to throw himself at Mouse's legs, but Mouse was already surrounding him, and he only managed to fall face downwards.
He thought the dwarf would lunge at him again to hit him, but this did not happen, that annoying microbe was once again out of range waiting for him. Suckerbucket stood up, his arms were heavy, but he was stronger, bigger, he advanced and threw a punch with his left hand, however he did not go all the way in, it was just a feint, the real blow was from his right hand that was projected like a very open hook.
However, for Mouse those slow punches were obvious even with the feint, he simply ignored it, strengthening his feet, at the last moment he crouched and launched himself forward with all the strength and power of his small legs. The first punch hit Chupacubos' stomach again, who spat with his mouth open until an uppercut closed his mouth. But the attack did not stop this time, another quick and dry blow hit Chupacubos' already injured eye.
Two more body blows and a kick to the leg finished the combo. By the time Chupacubos regained control and raised his guard, Mouse was several steps away again.
There was less than a minute left in the round, Chupacubos could no longer hear the crowd cheering him on, it seemed like a strange silence was spreading through the room.
Everyone except Nimus Blacker was surprised, most children fought by instinct, with poor technique of course, but without any strategy, without any skill or talent, it was just survival of the toughest. But Mouse was not just another child, he knew how to fight, but what was better was that he knew what his weaknesses were and knew how to exploit his strengths.
Every punch he threw and missed weighed more on Chupacubos' arms, and every miss provoked a round of two or three quick punches from Mouse. But worse was when he hit him in the guard or the body, at that moment the scrawny child reacted by punishing the same leg with kicks. He received at least six blows to this leg before the referee declared the end of the Round.
Victory was clearly on Mouse's side this time, he had barely managed to land a couple of blows on the boy's guard, he retreated to his corner limping, panting, short of breath and his eye was closing by the moment.
His sponsor was not happy, many people were going to lose money because of him, or something like that he was telling him, but Suckerbucket did not have the senses to listen to the nonsense of an adult who had not paid attention to him in years until a few weeks ago he offered him to participate in a fight after seeing him hit another child.
He felt like dying, he was nauseous, and his eye was beginning to close, but he could not lose the opportunity to build a future for himself, he had suffered a lot to save money, and now he had put all his savings and everything he won in his previous fight into this bet. He had to continue, he had to turn the fight around.
In his corner Mouse was much fresher, not that he wasn't tired, his weak body of a class G poop cleaner was beginning to show signs of the continued physical activity, but luckily in this round he had barely been hit. Fang approached.
"Keep going like that Mouse, don't let him hit you and the fight is yours"
"Go ask for my food..."
Fang smiled, that look and that confidence was what had caught his attention in the dining room. Fang went to talk to the assistants of the place. At that moment the referee called the two contenders, the last and definitive round of the fight began.