Humid and thick air, laced with the putrid smell of pundits and thugs alike made the arena feel more like a Viking's sauna than a rookie league tournament. The fighter’s ring had not been used yet so was unspoiled. The time for the first fight was approaching. Master Wen wiped the sweat off her brow and took a swig of water, glancing over at her two fighters sitting on the bench with their t-shirts off and their masks on. Now that they had a little muscle on them they actually suited the reasonably large gauntlets they had used in the previous fight.

More and more Wen was doubting throwing them into the deep end so quickly, it was part of her plan to show them a hard time but this jump may be a little too severe. She watched the announcer take the stage and came to terms with the fact that it was too late now to change her mind.

“Get up boys, show ‘em what you got.”

The boys nodded and took the stage, they had an air of confidence that may be due to the fact that they won the last fight they competed in.

Antony took the stage first, his black mask set off a small round of shouts from the truly passionate fans, most were only here for the big fight at the end, a rare few were there to watch the legendary Taijitu make its competitive comeback.

Antony stood to the left of Uvo, both standing still, the last minute mental preparation whilst the other fighters came to the stage. One strange looking man with only one eye, he was big and frighteningly ugly. The other looked to be some kind of android, it was silver and new looking but most notably, it was tiny.

The boys had been taught not to judge a fighter by their looks so they took their stance.

The bell rang quickly, there was no ceremony for small time fighters like these. Uvo charged forward, looking to get the jump on the one-eyed man, letting Antony handle the small robot, assuming it's uselessness.

Before he could get there he felt a pain in his thigh, he looked to see the android pulling back from a punch. Before Uvo realised what was happening a punch launched towards him, the strange man was going for a sloppy punch to his head. Uvo was prepared for this and attempted a dodge to the right, only to find that his leg buckled under the pressure. The punch landed cleanly on the left side of his face, the mask offered very little protection as it was made of bendy material so that it didn’t break.

Uvo slammed onto the ground, his leg now burning and his face throbbing.

Antony had been taken by surprise by the speed of the android. His immediate reaction was to follow it but by the time he got there Uvo was on the ground. As Uvo tried dragging himself up Antony went to block anything that tried to stop him, he was quickly dispatched by a well-placed knee to the stomach by the android, Uvo was finished by a kick to the head, after the brutal move, the one-eyed man moved to finish Antony who was keeled over and quite winded. With some sort of mechanically rhythmic follow up he raised his hands over his head forming a pile driver of fists which was brought down onto Antony’s back, knocking him to the ground. The strange man stepped on Antony’s back and leaned over to whisper to him. The announcer finished the fight by calling the winners names, Wen Daiyu came on stage and brought Uvo off, Tom hoisted Antony onto his shoulder and carried him off.

The recovery took a couple of hours, Uvo was dizzy for a while and Antony was struggling to breathe for a little too long for Master Wen to be comfortable with.

The punch to Uvo’s face was so hard it had split his eyebrow and left a sizeable imprint of the man’s fist on his cheek. There were no words spoken, Master Wen knew they had learned something, they were probably not aware of what yet, she was also aware of what the man had whispered to Antony and was worried it would hamper his spirits, maybe even cause him to quit completely.

She’d have to handle this with great care, if they came back from a defeat like this it would start a fire even she would struggle to contain, or they would back out now and let the spark fizzle out like a soggy campfire. Secretly, part of her was hoping for the latter, it hurt her watching them get beaten like that, especially with the knowledge that it was completely because of her that they had competed in the first place.

Meanwhile, in the boy’s minds was a whirlwind of emotions. Mostly pain, anger, and fear. Uvo had woken up dazed, with an aching like he’d never felt before and a searing pain in his thigh and the side of his head where the kick had collided with his cheekbone. His first reaction was to look at Antony who looked to be panting in very tiny breaths like he was only using one of his lungs. A huge bruise was starting to spread on his back, what caused it, Uvo was not sure.

They both understood one thing however, they knew when they looked at each other. Their minds racing so fast, the adrenaline pumping to dull the pain and the faint roaring of the crowd outside manifested as a manic smile on their faces.

Master Wen watched as her two boys looked at each other smiling and let out a sigh of relief.

The fire was lit, how big it would grow would be up to them.

The next day was thankfully a Sunday, Uvo was recovering in the dojo as they at least had a functional shower and a proper bed, they had spent the small amount of money they earned on the medicine to heal him up for school on Monday.

Antony was at home, his wounds were not as visual as Uvos who was cut all over, excluding the giant bruise on his back.

He was lying in bed, the bruise still hurt but was smaller now thanks to his medicine. He was about to have a shower when there was a knocking on the door. His eyes cast downwards in dismay. He approached the door and opened it. A beautiful woman was on the other side, her smile deceivingly innocent.

“Where were you yesterday darling?” No matter the answer they both knew what was about to happen.

“Just with some friends Mum, we were working on some school work.”

“And you decided that I didn’t need to know.”

“Mum, I told Dad, you know I did.”

Without talking anymore, she grabbed her son by the hair and dragged him to a separate room.

“Mum, I have school tomorrow…”

“And…?”

She questioned before instructing him to remove his t-shirt, revealing the bruise on his back. She lurched back in horror.

“Are you being bullied, darling?”

“No Mum! I just fell, don’t worry about it.”

“You know I can’t help but worry about you, why do you think I do this?” She stated as she brandished the nine tailed whip and struck out at Antony’s back.

The lash was practiced and accurate. It cut deep and caused Antony to flinch slightly, she had struck him harder than he was used to even after all these years.

“I’m sorry Mother, next time I will make sure to let you know when I go out.” He went to open the door so he could shower and try to heal the wounds.

“Sorry darling, but I just don’t feel like you’ve learned your lesson yet. Come back will you?”

Antony paused at the door, his eyes a reflection of reservation and deeply engraved sadness. He made his way back to the centre of the room. His so-called Mother whipped him a further 4 times, rounding it up to 5 total for the first time in a year.

“Thank you for your instruction Mum.”

He stated robotically and left the room, the pain from the lashes being dulled slightly thanks to the painkillers he’d taken for his bruise but needless to say, it was still agonizingly painful.

Monty thrust his feet up onto the table of his hotel, he was bored. He was fully aware by now of the whereabouts of his brother, he just couldn’t understand what he was doing on this horrible planet and why he was here. The hotel he was staying was good enough for a human but horribly cramped for someone of his status, not only that but pretending to be nice to the group of misfits in the gym was giving him the most splitting headache. The only saving grace was the charming lady called Tracy.