Saul couldn't fathom this kind of cruelty being performed in front of him. Sure, he himself had participated in some nasty cruel business before, but not without a purpose. All six of the people, turned pool table pockets, were in horrid physical condition. Noses were busted, eyes swollen shut, teeth shattered, and bleeding jaws were bruised on every angle. The rest of their bodies weren't spared either. Partygoers would be walking around the table and would either kick or step on the legs and feet of the tied-up prisoners. Some even went as far too spill drinks needlessly onto them.

Saul looked around at the triplets, each playing this terrible game of pool. He had seen them a few times before at the Arena, but not from this close. They were all very tall and muscular, like they had been taking steroids for a long time. Each of their legs and arms were swollen beyond normal with powerful looking muscles and their shirts looked ready to burst at every movement. Their chiseled physiques were rather off putting when considered that they all had very bushy, curly ginger hair and freckled farm boy faces. It was even more comical when they spoke with their light Irish accents.

"Aye, that was a good shot Sean." One of them said to the eldest triplet.

"Thank you very much, brother." Sean said adding chalk to the end of his pool stick. "Is it your turn Conor or was it Patrick's turn?"

"It was mine." Patrick shouted eagerly stepping forward.

He immediately took aim at a 'side pocket' and sent the cue ball flying. It bounced off a wall and narrowly missed the target. The man, tied up as the pocket, let out a sobbing noise of relief that the ball had missed.

"Awe come on!" Patrick shouted stomping his foot. "That should have hit and shut up ya twink!"

Patrick proceeded to poke the sobbing man’s forehead with the end of the pool stick. The man tried to force himself to stop sobbing, but a bloody tear still managed to seep out of his swollen, plum colored eye. Patrick sighed heavily as if disappointed and a few partygoers watching laughed.

"My turn then." Conor said shoving Patrick roughly aside to grab the cue ball.

Saul decided to ignore what he saw and just keep working his way around through the crowd to them. The sooner he could tell them their bosses order and get out, the better. The unpleasant sight and smells were starting to give himself a headache.

The crowd was annoyingly thick and the dancing antics they performed were no better. Even if he tried to shout over the music pounding into his soul, they wouldn't notice him. He eventually quit trying and just bulled his way through the people. When he did make it to the closest of the triplets, he was exhausted.

"Finally." Saul panted. "Hey Conor, I came with a message from Boss Martinez." Saul patted the big guys arm to get his attention.

Conor must have felt angered by this and turned to grab Saul by the shirt collar and lifted him upward. "What you think you are doing, touching me? I ought to toss you in the factory myself."

Saul was having trouble breathing as his own shirt was strangling him. The look in Conor's eyes was pure rage. He was still able to squeak out a few words. "Boss… got a fight for… you!"

"Oh, does he now?" Conor replied giving a smirk. "Let's take this somewhere quieter."

Conor, still holding Saul by the collar, effortlessly carried him into the next room. The crowd was thinner here and at least now there was a wall in between them and the speakers. The other two brothers noticed what Conor was doing and followed.

"What's this loser doing to you?" Sean asked looking at the struggling man in Conor's hand.

"This guy said something about the boss, but I never seen him before." Conor replied giving Saul a heavy shake. Saul’s hapless body flopped about like a limp fish as he tried gasping for a breath.

"Let's hear it then." Patrick said. "If he's legit, then it might be something interesting. Boss ain't had us do much lately."

"Fine." Conor replied and dropped Saul.

Saul tumbled to the dirty stained carpet and gasped deeply for breath. He rubbed his neck gently as he stood up to look at the three giants nervously. Looking at them Saul imagined himself speaking with three mean muscular, baby faced carrots.

"I am, *ahum*, I am Saul, your new Match Fighter Manager. Boss Martinez has someone he needs you three to fight, maybe kill while you're at it." Saul stammered, but still managed to mask his nervousness somewhat.

"Never heard of you." Sean replied crossing his heavily veined arms.

"I was Golems manager! You should know of him." Saul replied spreading his arms wide.

"Oh, I know that guy." Patrick said to his two brothers. "He's that mute dude that like to put on that useless body armor. One of the Boss's guards, right?"

"Ya, that's Golem." Saul replied.

"Eh, not really that impressive of a fighter. A bit slower than us." Patrick continued and he flexed his muscles to exaggerate his point.

"Who does the boss want us to fight?" Conor asked ignoring his brother’s actions.

"A new, but dangerous, fighter. She goes by the name Queen." Saul answered.

"Pfft, never heard of her. Why would the boss send us to fight some nobody, and a female at that?" Sean smirked.

"She beat Owen and killed Golem by beheading him. Then after that she insulted the boss by pointing her sword at him giving a threat. She must have been trying to provoke him or something." Saul explained. "It must have worked, because here I am. To have you fight her."

Sean leaned forward menacingly. Saul could feel Sean’s hot alcoholic breath brush his cheek as he spoke. "First of all, you are not going to 'have' us fight anyone. We will do that if we want too. Secondly, sure why not. Hahaha!"

Sean broke out into a fit of laughter and the other two joined him. Saul gulped visibly and gave a halfhearted smile and nodded.

"So, you guys are good with this?" Saul asked just to be sure.

"Yes, watching over the factory is getting boring." Sean replied. "Besides, we need to have a few words with the big bad boss. Some things need changing around here."

The other two brothers gave a menacing bit of laughter hearing their brother's reply. Apparently, they were talking about something that Saul guessed he better not ask about.

"That's good to hear." Saul replied. "Not to rush you, but when can you come do the fight?"

"Eh, let’s see. How about the end of this week?” Conor replied. "York will be back and he can watch the place, not that it would matter. All that’s gone on in the last month is a few miserable workers trying to escape."

"They never get far or put up much of a fight." Patrick chimed in.

"That will work, the end of the week." Saul replied nodding. "So, I guess I'll be going now then?"

Saul tried to step around the three big brothers, but they had other plans. Saul, once again, was grabbed by his shirt, from the back, and lifted to dangle in front of Conor's smirking face.

"Why leave so soon? The night party hasn't even started." Conor said as the three brothers turned to go out into the party again.

"I don't really think I should." Saul stammered. "I need to get the fight set up and other stuff."

"Ah, that can wait." Sean answered yelling over the music as it got louder when Conor carried him into the previous room. "Try using this. It will get you in the mood."

Saul cringed seeing what the huge man was reaching for. A nearly topless waitress was walking around carrying a bowl of tinny plastic baggies with a white power inside. Meth.

"I really shouldn't." Saul said as Sean took a baggie and opened it.

"Bottoms up!" Sean shouted. He then grabbed Saul’s face and dumped the bag into his nose and face.

Saul sputtered as his breathing was even further blocked up. He had no choice but to breath in the meth. A small puff of powder shot out as he tried to exhale. The three brothers and everyone watching laughed heartily seeing him struggle.

"Now let's get this party really going!" Sean shouted pointing at the DJ standing at the opposite end of the parlor room. The DJ, wearing a neon lit turtle mask, nodded and the music started pounding even harder as his hands flicked across the panel in front of him. The crowd cheered in reply.

Conor finally let go of Saul and he was able to breath freely. The last thing Saul could remember thinking that day was that things were getting out of hand. Then the rest afterwards was a forgotten blur.

…

Lisa and Zane were outside the Powerhouse building listening to Sadie talk to them. The unhindered sun was warm, and the spring breeze felt good on their skin today. A great day to start Zane's conditioning for becoming a Match Fighter.

"Alright, since you are injured Zane, let's just work on arm and leg strength." Sadie explained. "Lisa, you just do triple of what he does for now."

"Ok." Lisa replied while stretching.

"Let's start off with putting these on your arms and ankles." Sadie said pointing at four small bags laying on the pavement next to her.

Zane picked one up curiously and found that they were full of sand. He looked over at Sadie questioningly. "What are these for?"

"You are going to put them on as weight training. With them on you will do this workout regimen I have put together." Sadie explained as she patted the top of her tabloid. "It's going to be hard, but we need to break you in quickly. Other Match Fighters won't wait for you to get into top shape, so neither will I. Fair warning, this is going to suck!"

Zane patted the sack and chuckled. "This doesn't seem all that heavy. I doubt it'll be too difficult."

"Lisa, you put on that vest I made after your fight. It's the same design as Zane's sandbags. Since you are in better condition, you'll naturally be worked harder than him." Sadie explained.

"Understood. I could use a good core and shoulder workout." Lisa said picking up the vest.

"Go ahead and stretch and then Lisa, you plank for as long as you can. Then break for two minutes and repeat. Zane once those bags are on, we will do arm lifts and curls. After a few sets, you'll switch to stairs." Sadie ordered.

The two started to stretch obediently and Sadie couldn't help but feel giddy. The feeling of being in charge was new and exciting to her. Being bossed around in the Associations office all the time was really getting to her. This was a nice change of pace.

"Oh, Lisa, don't overdo yourself. You still are going to meet with Mrs. Smithy's leader later today." Sadie said as the thought came to mind.

"I know. I promise not to get to tired out. I too know that I need to make a good impression." Lisa replied loosening her shoulder blade muscles. "I hope that the leader will be as easy to deal with as Mrs. Smithy was."

"I am sure it will go smoothly." Sadie replied reassuringly.