Page 14 of Pulse
“Sorry, it’s just-”
“I’ve never come to watch you fight before?” He laughed, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah, fighting really isn’t my thing, but if you’re going to be all superstar champion of the world, I thought I’d better come along for at least one, right?”
I threw my arms around his shoulders and buried my face into the crook of his neck. “Thanks.”
“Anytime.”
I heard Dad call out behind us, which meant it was time to get ready for my fight. Pulling away I smiled up at him, remembering that awkward date we’d had the year before. Fuck, I was glad we were still friends after that train wreck.
“It’s really great to see you again Ren.”
“I’m sorry I haven’t seen you at the cafe…”
He waved me off. “Don’t worry about it. Just don’t go getting a broken nose or anything, huh?”
I shoved his shoulder playfully. “I’m not planning on it.”
“I’ll be hanging out in the stands with Josie,” he said.
“Cheering for me, obviously.”
Seth laughed, shaking his head. “Was there any doubt?”
Dad yelled out for me again and I started to back away. “Never.”
I weaved my way into the fighter only area around the cage to meet Dad for his usual pre-bout pep talk. It made him happy, so I went along and besides, as a fighter there were things he could teach me that nobody else could. He’d been a champion boxer back in the day. MMA was a very different sport, but a lot of the techniques were interchangeable. He thought it gave me an edge other fighters didn’t have, and maybe he was right.
Dad clapped a hand on my shoulder and eyed me, trying to get my focus.
“She’s low on her right hand side,” he said. “Remember, light on your feet and go for the-”
“Left then high right.” I rolled my head from side to side. “Got it Dad.”
“And protect yourself. No unnecessary risks.”
I nodded, just itching to get into the cage and sink my fists into the bout. Dad grabbed my hands and checked my gloves before cupping my face in one of his big hands.
“You’ve got this Ren. In and out.”
“Like lightning.”
He laughed, glancing over my shoulder at the chaos behind us. “Give her a chance, huh?”
Bouncing from foot to foot, I said, “We’ll see.”
Training with Dad had brought us together like nothing else, but all my best moves I’d learned from my midnight training sessions with Ash and the deep end initiation of The Underground. There were no trainers there. No contracts, advertising or TV cameras. They were two different worlds.
The other difference was the equipment. One, it was clean and two, we had to wear padded gloves. The kind that left fingers free for grappling, but protected bones from being broken. I’d learned how to use the first two knuckles on my fists to absorb the force of my blows early on. That was Ash’s input, but even I could see it was something that should be listened to. If I hit with my fist straight on, then there was a higher chance of breaking my hand and without the gloves the AUFC made us wear, then the break would be a million times worse.
So yeah, The Underground had toughened more than my spirit.
“Go get ‘em,” Dad said, nudging me towards the cage.
As the announcer introduced us, the crowd roared, making me narrow my eyes. I wasn’t shy about the crowd watching me fight; it was the intensity of it that got underneath my skin. The crowd that hung out at The Underground was a different beast to this.
Shaking it off, I sized up my opponent, giving her a curt nod. They called her Sally ‘Foxy’ Fisher, on account of her being so pretty. She was highly placed and would likely get a spot in the pro league, no matter who won the bout.
I gave her a go, and to her credit she was pretty good, but I felt bad playing with her. A false sense of hope and all. It was mostly for her benefit and the cameras, but they didn’t call me ‘One-Shot’ for nothing. We grappled and had to be separated a few times and she got a few impressive kicks in, but I was getting impatient.
I struck left and she blocked easily enough, but she left her right slightly down, so when I swung right, my fist sailed straight past her guard and smacked into her temple.
Her footing slipped as she tried to keep her hold onto her consciousness, but it was pointless. She crumbled to the mat and the crowd roared as the ref slid onto his knees beside her and began to count it. That was another difference between the bright lights of the AUFC and The Underground. They counted to ten here...and there? I didn’t know if they even knew what number came after one, let alone if they could count all the way to ten.
Someone grabbed my hand and forced it up into the air and just like that, I’d been declared the winner. I caught sight of Dad through the cage and he was beaming, shaking hands with other trainers and all kinds of random people. This was what he wanted all these years. This was his Championship.
Turning around, I watched the crowd and the lights and wondered what that meant for me. What did my future look like now? I didn’t know how many points this win gave me, but from the reaction of the crowd, I must be in.
Fancy that.
