Seth wasn't sure what he should have expected, but seeing it... This was exactly what he should have expected. Behind the mansion was a barn that may have once been used to house livestock, but was now used to house a speaker system and dozens upon dozens of party-goers. Beside it was a fenced-in area, one of those circular arenas used to break wild horses.

Somehow, fold-out bleachers that looked suspiciously identical to the ones in the school gymnasium had wound up out here and were set up on either side of the arena. The seats were packed, and the DJ table was perched atop the one furthest from the house. David was chilling next to the DJ who was currently playing a remix of a song he didn't recognize. It was well outside his usual listening, seating itself firmly into the EDM category.

As they walked down the slope behind the house, past the in-ground swimming pool complete with a high dive, Seth could see the two fighters in the ring currently. Two boys that could only be described as 'country grown' were having an unskilled but nonetheless brutal slugfest in the center of the ring. One had the dominant position in the tie-up and was throwing repeated underhands--calling them an uppercut was too gracious for the level of technique he was using.

One finally got through the other teen's defenses and connected squarely with his chin. Seth couldn't hear the crack over the music, but his mind filled in the sound for him: he'd heard it enough times. The teen fell backwards on the ground and his opponent finished him off with a brutal soccer-kick to the jaw.

The crowd erupted in drunken, bloodthirsty cheers. Seth was getting a very gladiatorial vibe, and while his head told him to be repulsed by it, his heart was rapidly warming to it. The void inside him craved this type of violence.

Nicole walked towards the fence, all sway gone from her hips as she stalked up like she meant business. From the side, Seth could see that there was no longer any hint of mischief or pleasantry on her face. She looked cold. It was a warrior's look, and Seth knew of only a few people who possessed it like she did.

David stood from his seat beside the DJ and lifted the mic to his mouth.

"Alright, alright, simmer down everyone. We have our last fight of the main card! Per the request of our rapidly rising fan favorite, not only will weight classes be crossed off the list of things we care about tonight, so will gender differences. She asked for it, you said okay, so now I give you our first contestant!"

David pointed across the ring from the opposite direction of where Nicole waited.

"Weighing in at a solid one hundred and eighty pounds, an expert in boxing and wrestling, give up for John... 'The Spartan'... Wallman!"

Seth looked across the ring as a mean-looking senior with a buzz cut and a freckled face performed a one-hand vault into the ring, rolled, and came to his feet with his arms outstretched. The crowd went wild. As he turned around, Seth saw he had his entire spine tattooed with skulls. Where the hell had they found this kid?

"In the opposite corner, weighing in at a no-less-fierce one hundred and thirty-three pounds, a black belt in Judo and an expert in Filipino Escrima, raise your voices for Nicole... 'The Iron Maiden'... BAUER!"

Nicole looked back at Seth, gave him a predatory grin, then proceeded to calmly step through the fence without any flashy movement and stand still with her hands at her sides opposite the ring from Wallman.

"Now," said David. "This is truly no-holds-barred. Just no biting or gouging, because none of you want AIDS. Anything else goes until one person is unconscious or submits to the victor. Fighter are you ready?" He pointed to Wallman, who nodded. "Fighter are you ready?" He pointed to Nicole and she gave him a thumbs-up without taking her eyes off of her opponent.

"Let's get it on!"

The two closed the distance in a matter of seconds. The DJ dropped a beat.

Wallman swung straight for her head.