After Zane and Sadie split up from the others to deal with Saul, they had some difficulty getting through the crowd leaving the Arena. The crowd was either going into the illegal marketing area, claiming a lounge seat, or leaving the building altogether. It wasn’t until they made it to the betting booths that they were able to get a break.

“Where are they all going?” Zane asked turning back to see Sadie clumsily bouncing off random people in the crowd.

“Sorry, excuse me. Sorry. Sorry!” Sadie kept repeating over and over as she tried scooting around them with little luck.

Upon hearing Zane, she answered while still struggling towards him, “The Arena had most of its flooring destroyed during the fight with the Clover Cutters and Queen. The staff are fixing it all now for the last fights and there was a call for a short break. Hopefully, everyone comes back later, but it is not likely. You should have seen how much dust was on stage, it was so thick no one could see her beat them!”

“I wish I could have too.” Zane said with a bit of regret as Sadie finally joined him by the booth. “What do you mean by ‘If they come back’?”

“Well, the last few fights for today are not all that high ranking or likely to be exciting. Not many fights can top Queens’s victory.” Sadie said pointing up at the TV above to booth workers. “See all of them are low ranking Shadow League fighters or new fighters, like you. Most patrons around here won’t give them a second thought.”

“That’s kind of a letdown, but a good thing too.” Zane replied scratching the back of his head.

The two of them got in line together to collect the bet winnings and Sadie asked, “What do you mean?”

“Well, I want to be as popular as Queen’s fights are but having so many people watching me is stressful.”

“That’s understandable.” Sadie said nodding knowingly. “I get the same way on the sidelines but once the fight starts, I don’t even notice them watching anymore.”

“Next.” A lady booth worker called to them and as they approached, she continued speaking in a rushed manner. “Name, how much and form of collection?”

“Uh, Zane, I bet one thousand on Queen winning and cash.” Zane answered.

Tapping on a tabloid on the desk she pulled up the information, confirmed it and pointed next to her with a thumb. “Get your winnings from the next guy over. Next!”

The male booth workers attitude wasn’t all that different from the ladies. He grumbled something under his breath about having to work here and handed, or rather tossed, Zane a small briefcase. Zane took it unsure how to respond, but the man had already turned to go work elsewhere without another word. Shrugging, Zane and Sadie left for the Arena.

“Real ray of sunshine, isn’t he?” Zane said to Sadie jokingly.

“Indeed.” Sadie answered suppressing a smile. “How much did you win for Lisa?”

Zane and her then rounded the corner and entered the Arena. Staff were seen hurriedly replacing the stage flooring and sweeping up loose debris as they then headed for an open isle in the stands to sit. Where the bodies of the three fallen brothers went, was unclear. Not that it mattered to them.

“Let’s see.” Zane replied as they sat down. He started to explain aloud as he opened the briefcase, “The betting ratio was 30:9 so that should be $30,000 dollars?”

“Thirty thousand!” Sadie remarked wide eyed.

Zane opened the briefcase full and revealed ten stacks of bound bills strapped down to the bottom of the case by a posh black band. Tentatively Zane slipped out one of the stacks and counted each bill with his thumb.

“Three thousand!” Zane murmured. “It’s all here! This is a fortune.”

“I didn’t realize betting was so profitable. I feel like I wasted my time here by just stayed huddled up in the office all this time.” Sadie said softly not taking her eyes off the money. “Wait, is it alright for us to have all this cash out in the open?”

They both looked quickly around them to see if anyone was watching them. Zane also stuffed the stack of bills back into the case and shut the lid. He then handed it to Sadie.

“Here. You carry it. I am feeling to tempted holding onto it right now.” Zane cleared his throat to distract himself from all that money. “Lisa is not someone I want to cross at all, and I need to get ready for my fight, right?”

“Oh, yes, I still need to explain our strategy. Luckily, there is one fight before ours, so we have time.” Sadie replied taking off her backpack to try and fit the briefcase inside the already stuffy backpack.

Sadie and Zane spent the next half hour talking about what his options were. Their opponent, Watt, was also a newer fighter with only two fight previous. Watt preferred to fight using a Bo-staff and had beat both previous fighters by keeping up a steady pace of midrange attacks and holding them help off at a distance until the moment presented itself. Watt was a careful, patient fighter from the footage Sadie presented. It seemed that Watt’s manager, Shawn was doing a good job at training Watt to use his reach advantage to win.

As they were discussing how to get in close to attack Watt and end the fight quickly, Lisa, Hanna and John returned from dealing with Zane. All three of them looked tense but not enough to seem like there was a problem.

“You ready for your fight, Zane?” Lisa asked as they sat down alongside Zane and Sadie.

“I hope so.” Zane answered.

Suddenly, the Announcer’s voice boomed out into the Arena. “Ladies and Gentlemen, the Stage has been repaired and the next fight will commence shortly. Please get your bets placed and claim your seats.”

“Well, I have seen your progress up until now. So, this guy shouldn’t be a problem for you.” Lisa said casually propping her heavy red laced booths up onto the seat in front of her. “Remember that staying confident in yourself is key to winning any fight.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Zane replied.

The fight that started next wasn’t very exciting as Sadie guessed. The two men on stage were fighting barehanded and spent most of the time grappling on the ground. There were hardly any boxing or martial arts skills being used and the crowd was restlessly quiet. In the end the winner choked out his opponent with a rear naked neck hold and won after nearly ten minutes. Now it was Zane’s turn.

The Announcer droned on to the waning crowd about the two newer fighters as Sadie gave Zane a little bit of advice. “Listen Zane, make sure you keep your head moving at all times and keep your claws up. Get him to make the mistake and get close to you once you’re inside his guard can you win easily. Also, you don’t have to kill him to win either. Wounding him is also fine.”

“Got it.” Zane answered tightening the straps of his Tigger Claws around his wrists.

Stepping into the Arena’s stage Zane felt small. The Arena was so much bigger being in the middle of it with all eyes fixated onto him. The heat from the lighting was unexpectedly hot and Zane could immediately feel the sweat appear on his back. Flexing his hands to open and close a few times he tried to calm himself.

Looking at his opponent for the first time, Zane was relieved. Watt wasn’t some hulking monster like the triplets or Golem were, but rather he was a young shaved headed man wearing a gray Buddhist monks robe. With his Bo-staff in hand, Watt looked very much like a typical monk might.

“I got this in the bag.” Zane mused to himself. “He’s scrawny and I know I’ve been in more fights than he has. I’ll show him what a former gangster is made of.”

The referee stood in between them as he explained the rule once more. Zane didn’t hear a single word the referee said as his focus remained solely on Watt, who in return, glared equally back.

“Begin!” The referee shouted in unison to the starting bell breaking Zane’s focus.

The two inexperienced Fighters rushed at each other and clashed weapons at the center of the stage with a metallic ping. Immediately, Zane was put at a disadvantage. Watt proceeded to swing and jab repeatedly at Zane’s head and torso forcing Zane to retreat to stay out of range. Zane struck out at the Bo-staff and tried knocking it away to step in for an attack, but Watt utilized the staff’s length well. Watt simply twirled the staff around to attack with the other end and they cycle of attacks continued unrelenting.

Zane could hear Sadie calling out for him to keep staying mobile and change his path of retreat. He was getting closer to the fence and this was right were Watt wanted him. Here Watt could tire Zane out from defending until Zane exposed himself for a final blow. All while staying easily out of range from Zane’s weapon.

Zane knew this, yet there was not much for him to do but keep blocking with his Tiger Claws and dodging. From his peripherals Zane could see that he was nearly at the fence. In a fit of desperation, Zane blocked a downward rap at him from Watt’s staff and then using his other claw, clamped down on the Bo-staff and held it still.

Annoyed at being caught and unable to move, Watt tried to wriggle free and tugged at the staff with both hands. Feeling this, Zane pulled at the staff and the tried kicking at Watts undefended stomach. Watt was however, just barely out of reach and Zane’s foot succeeded in only touching the monk’s robe.

Then giving a sharp tug Watt freed his staff from Zane's grip and took a step back. Zane too took a step back and found he had no more room to retreat, the fence was now at his back. Unperturbed by his unfavorable position, Zane stuck out his tongue mockingly at Watt and egged him on with one hand.

“Is that all you got? You haven’t even hit me once yet.”

Watt sneered and taking both hands slipped down the staff to hold it at the end like a bat. “I’ll end this quickly then.”

Then rearing back Watt went to swing at Zane's head. Zane saw the attack coming and ducked low to avoid the swing. The Bo-staff hurled sideways at Zane with unwavering speed to try and knock Zane's head clean off!

“Pa-ting! Thwack.”

Watt had done the unthinkable! Just as Zane ducked, the Bo-staff struck the fence to hit a support pole. Then bouncing off the pole the staff rebounded and struck Watt squarely in the jaw. This happened so fast Watt had no chance to react.

Watt immediately crumbled unconscious, knocked out by his own weapon!

“Match over!” The referee yelled running forward before Zane could strike at Watt lying flat on his back on the stage floor.

Zane's luck hadn’t run out yet! He had won his first Match Fighter Association match without landing a single strike or receiving one.

…

“Well, that was a waste of my time!” Ernest yawned. He then got up from his red cushioned seat and stretched. “Zane is completely a crap fighter and a letdown. Why did I bother watching this country bumkin anyway? I’m going to go train, because when we cross paths next, I’ll take you out in one throw.”