She should have expected it, in hindsight. She acknowledged his audacity, his willingness to defy Hunter, but she still believed he wouldn't risk her wrath.
Aera might be stubborn, but she could admit when she was wrong.
She ducked a punch, countering with a fist to the man's gut. He wheezed and keeled over. She patted his back as she moved onto the next idiot.
7 down, a dozen more to go.
She eyed the one in the back, some strange, plated armour strapped across his chest. He held a baton, and so did the few men who were standing in front of him. They were making this out to be gauntlet. And Aera didn't like her odds. She was strong, but the first round had been more than she'd expected.
She could see Jason smiling from the stands, a gleam in his eye. He was enjoying this more than anyone else. How long had he been planning something like this?
As she was entering Jason's office upstairs at the bar, someone injected her with something. She'd knocked the fucker out, but not before they'd dosed her with enough of whatever it was to knock her out as well. She'd awoken in the dressing room the fighters used before entering the ring, and felt that she'd be up against something like this.
The door remained locked for an hour before she heard an announcement. She could make out the sound of cheering as Jason Chan's voice rang through the establishment.
".. Witness the downfall of the house of Oberon. I present to you, Aera: Queen of the Ring!"
The doors to the changing room opened, and she walked down the hallway.
She wasn't one to flinch from a challenge. Jason wanted to see her downfall? She would tear the scummy little parasite to shreds in front of his own audience. If she had to, she would fight her way through the ring and his guards. She would chase him across campus, and then she would murder the little shit.
Stepping into the ring, she saw a small army awaiting her. She had no time to strategize before the fight began.
Two guys rushed her, and she danced through them. Two men, two hits, two lights out for the next few hours. The third guy feigned a punch, then another; she wondered what his problem was when someone pushed her from behind, and then the guy in front of her kicked her in the gut.
She hadn't let him get away with that without losing his ability to walk. The guy behind her fared little better.
She glanced again at Jason, and saw that he was distracted by his conversation with a familiar young woman. Aera cursed. Hunter wouldn't be happy when he heard about what Tilda Burner was getting up to in her spare time.
Refocusing on the fight, she dodged a fist, then repositioned as two more opponents appeared. She was far too distracted, and whatever they'd tranquilized her with must have still been in her system. She was never this sloppy.
She needed to gain some distance and come up with something like a plan. Again, a few of the fighters charged her, and she wondered why they weren't all rushing her at once.
The answer was obvious. This was a show, and they wanted to tire her out before delivering the final blow. Would it be Jason himself who delivered it? A symbolic gesture from the Chan's to Trey Oberon?
Her pulse pounded throughout her body, but she wasn't afraid. Anger and excitement surged through her. She hadn't had a good fight for a very long time.
Why not go all out? She'd just been forced to take a multi-hour nap, and so she had some energy to spare.
She reversed course and charged the three men, dodging to the right and punching the closest one in the kidneys. It took a second for the pain to kick in, but he wouldn't be a problem for a bit. The next one to approach left his crotch wide open, and she accepted the invitation, kneeing him in the face after he bent over in agony.
The third stepped back, and Aera chased him down. She raised a fist, and he tripped over himself. She turned back to the man who she'd hit first, who seemed to debate the wisdom of continuing to fight her, but a thousand vectors of scorn surrounded him. He glanced at Jason, and he looked at Aera with regret, understanding that he would not enjoy what came next, and was unable to do anything but accept it.
It was amusing for her to watch him resolve himself over a split second as he charged at her again. She could hear more coming from behind her, and she estimated they would all meet at the same time. There was only one option open to her. She met the charge of the man before her, and pivoted behind him, pushing him towards one of the newest wave of attackers.
The next one had a baton, and she dodged it as her heart skipped a beat. So, Jason had dropped the pretense of a fair fight — obviously, given the odds set against her. But this was no longer about business. He was making a statement.
He was telling everyone, especially her, that he was now above his own rules.
As the man swung the baton again, she grabbed it, wrenching it from his grasp. She then smashed his temple, hit his solar plexus with the baton's butt end, and smashed his temple again.
Lights out. She assessed the damage she'd caused to the other two. The one she'd tossed to intercept his companion had tripped over his friend and was getting to his feet. His friend appeared enraged. He was big and probably hoped that his ape-like reaction would intimidate her.
"Men," she scoffed.
He attempted to grab her with both hands, and she ducked, stepping into his reach. She was close enough to kick out one of his knees. Simultaneously, she pulled back one arm and moved to the side, extending it until his elbow pointed to the ceiling. Then, while holding his wrist, she smashed down on the elbow with all the force she could muster. There was a satisfying snapping sound, and the man cried out in agony.
She had no sympathy for the brute.
She'd not seen the next attacker, as his fist met the back of her head. Considering the man, she frowned and rubbed her head. She recognized him, one of Emelia's entourage. She glanced around the club and saw her near Jason with the rest of her friends. The intel she'd gathered had said nothing about Jason and Emelia having a relationship.
That being said, she'd always known Emelia had a mercurial side, acting on behalf of aggrieved students to send some physical messages once in a while. She was small, unassuming, and could project a bubbly facade. It made her the perfect agent for a surprise attack.
She winked at Aera, but Aera could see Emelia's discomfort as clear as day. She might be morally flexible, but she even she was uncomfortable with Jason's display. But Emelia's feelings were no longer relevant. She'd chosen the wrong side.
When Aera fought her way up there, Emelia would learn her lesson, just like everyone else.
He attacked, she countered. He wheezed, she patted him on the back.
She was warming up now. But she also knew that soon, Jason would grow worried that his plan might not work out. That's when he would tell them all to fight her at once.
She prepared herself for the next wave, which was already upon her.
That was quick. Jason had grown tired of his underlings embarrassing him. They swarmed her in a wave of fists, kicks, and thrown bodies. She danced, dodged, blocked, weaved. Flesh met flesh, hers to others and others to hers.
She danced around them, avoiding encirclement as much as possible. However, she was limited, particularly against the armored opponent. He seemed content to wait for an opening, and Aera didn't want to give him one. He always kept at least one or two men between him and her.
She wanted to finish him before he had a chance to finish her, but she couldn't find the right opening.
And she was pretty sure something had broken in her left hand. She couldn't close it anymore, which meant that her options were even more limited.
There was a scream behind her, and most of her attackers seemed surprised by the interruption.
Then one of them went flying overhead. Their attention wavered, the large armoured man most of all. She saw her chance and took it. The two big plates meant body shots were out, and he was wearing a helmet as well. An old movie came to mind, and she smiled at the memory. Having wanted to do this move for years, she extended two fingers towards his eyes, and thrust out with all the force she could muster.
It might have been too much force, and she gagged at the result.
She never wanted to do anything like that ever again. The wailing cries of her adversary spurred a new sense of urgency into the surrounding mob, half of which had split off from attacking her.
She sighed in relief. That just left four for her to finish up, and whoever had jumped in to help her could deal with the rest.
She heard more screams, and her attackers paused again. Someone else flew past her.
What the hell was going on?
She didn't have time to find out. She knocked out another one of her attackers and tripped another. The other two tried to grab her, and she swore when they succeeded.
She realized she was exhausted.
That stupid drug must have been effecting her more than she realized.
While one struggled to hold her in place, the other rounded up for a finishing punch. She kicked the moron in the nuts. He bent over himself, and then fell to the ground when one of his friends from the other group flew into him. She stomped on the foot of the guy who was holding her, and he yelped and let go. She elbowed him in the ribs, turned, and headbutt him in the nose.
For good measure, she kicked him in the groin. The pain made him drop to his knees. One more kick to his head would be enough to knock him out. She elected not to, instead turning towards the chaos on the other side of the ring. Her eyes widened when she saw the source of all the chaos.
"Hunter?"
What the fuck was he doing here?
He punched out towards his two last attackers, and they both flew back a few feet, landing in unmoving heaps, their limbs bending at unnatural angles.
She winced.
How had he done that? Hunter saw her and breathed a sigh of relief. He reached into his pocket and pulled out devices which mirrored the ones that she only now noticed he was wearing. He walked over to her and handed them over.
"Thumb this little button when you want them to go flying, but make sure they're close enough," he said, heaving between breaths. He looked at the surrounding devastation, pausing at the big man with the armour whose eyes she'd destroyed. He was on his knees, grasping around him, sobbing and asking for someone to help.
She felt pity for the man. Maybe she'd gone too far?
A movement caught her attention at the top tier, above the heads of the crowd, some of whom gawked in disbelief at her. Others cheered at the top of their lungs.
The cheers were empty. The only thing that mattered to her was that Jason was running.
"We can't let him get away with this," Aera snarled. She expected Hunter to protest, but he was staring at the armour.
"Hunter, let's go," she said, pointing towards Jason and his group.
He wrestled his gaze from the armour. His eyes followed her finger, but his gaze lagged beyond the fleeing Chan. When he saw Tilda Burner, the fury seemed to grow cold. The device in his hand shook in his tightened grip.
She wanted to grip his shoulder. Part of her felt bad for him. But they didn't have time for drama. He needed to focus. Just before she was going to drag him along with her, he surprised her by stepping forward first.
"Yeah, let's go," he said.
They both started running their way out of the arena, jumping the small fence that separated the ring from the bottom tier. She made her way for the stairs that lead up towards the entrance.
Jason's group hadn't left yet, as they were trying to push their way through a crowd who had their full attention absorbed by the two fighters on an intercept course towards the fleeing Chan heir.
Jason grew more desperate, outright pushing people down entire tiers.
Drained of energy, Aera still found a strange thrill in Jason's terror. He shouted at his men, and they turned to her, ready for a fight.
"Get out of the way if you don't want to get hurt," Aera yelled at the surrounding crowd as she approached the top tier, Hunter following close behind.
She tested out her new toy.
She thumbed the trigger as soon as she reached the first man-sized obstacle, blasting him backward as if a truck had hit him. Aera laughed at the sight, admiring the device that Hunter had handed her. Too bad her other hand was all mangled up. She'd have loved to see what two of them could do if she used them both at once.
She grinned at the next guy in her way, and he pretended to trip on himself, falling to the side. She shook her head in amusement. There wasn't much more resistance on her way to Jason, who was nearing the entrance. Aera jumped onto tables and over heads as she ran towards him.
The door to the club basement slammed shut as she reached it, and she heard it lock from the other side. She cursed. Hunter was heaving as he caught up to her.
"On three," he said, aiming both of his fists towards the door, and Aera grinned as she caught on. She aimed hers as well.
"Three, two, one."
They triggered their devices, and Aera expected the metal door to fly off its hinges, but she was disappointed when it just slammed open.
They heard a groan down the alleyway, and she saw Jerry half submerged in a pile of trash.
"Sorry, Jerry," she said as she and Hunter passed him. Jerry was a decent guy, just doing his job. Her investigation of most of Jason's employees revealed that, despite Jerry's intimidating presence, he was actually a kind man, working to pay for school. Hopefully, he'd be alright.
They exited the alleyway and looked both ways. There was no sign of Jason.
"He's probably in his office," she said, glancing at Hunter. He didn't look so good.
"You alright?" she asked. He nodded, but she could tell that he was exhausted.
"Yeah, don't worry about me. I've been through worse," he said.
She wasn't confident in his answer. He looked like he was in worse shape than she was.
Not literally, of course. She was pretty sure she would need to go to a hospital after they finished. She couldn't feel her right hand anymore, and it hurt to breathe.
"Let's get this over with," he said, taking the lead and cutting through the line of people waiting to get into the bar.
They got some concerned glances as they passed people, some even trying to stop them ask them if they needed help. Aera gave them the most threatening look she could, while Hunter told them it was best if they went elsewhere for the evening. Some people threatened to call campus security and law enforcement, and Hunter's laughter pleased her.
The meek kitten was growing into a promising little lion.