*Hands over an Oreo*

The picture on top is Emily beating the crap outta all the negativity in your life. Also, it's reference to the chapter.

I hope you enjoy :)

Greed bows to me. It is my servent and my lever.

Kaz Brekker once said, but there aren't many who stand by this. People follow greed, bow to it, even. And do things that they wouldn't do otherwise.

I, on the other hand, believe in Kaz supremacy. The only thing I'm greedy for, is the adrenaline and the feeling of content.

It was Friday and well it took every ounce of control in me to not snap at Lexi, because of how fidgety she's been all day.

The following days after my match on Tuesday, were pretty eventless, thankfully. Lexi and I trained everyday after school at my place. Most of the people were now used to the 'new' students and the stares had reduced quite a bit.

It could have something to do with the, not so subtle, glares that Ryder and Alec threw at anyone, who was stupid enough to try and check me out when I was with either of them.

The final bell went off and I swear I heard like half of the class sigh in relief.

This generation is going through some serious shit.

I sighed at that thought myself before getting up from my seat, heading to my locker.

I hadn't gotten back at Ryder yet and well, I was enjoying, having the upper hand. Everytime he was around and I looked at him with a smirk, he would go on high alert, as if I had planted a bomb and won't tell him where it is.

It's almost concerning how normal things are between all of us. I, somewhat expected them to bombard me with questions or accusations, but no one had mentioned anything about my disappearance yet and I don't know if I should be relieved or not.

It's too soon to know anything for sure.

After putting away my books, I closed the locker only to be startled by Lexi standing there, looking at me with a scowl.

"Lex... What is wrong with you?" I said with clenched teeth and a blank look.

She sighed before shutting her eyes for a moment before speaking.

"I know I've said this before but are you sure this is a good idea?" She said lowering her voice to a hushed tone. "You are an amazing fighter, but that Brody guy is like twice your size. You could get badly hurt." She continued, now grabbing my hands, looking at me in desperation.

"I know and totally understand your concern Lex but I can't back out from a fight I got myself into, on purpose." I said smugly, making her roll her eyes.

I slung an arm over her shoulder guiding her out of the school towards the parking lot. "Let's face it Lex, I've faught guys bigger than him and won. Fine, I was hurt quite a bi-"

"You had fractures and a fucking concussion because of being slammed on the concrete floor." She cut me off, fiercely.

I hissed at her volume and gestured for her to quite down. She wasn't completely insane to be concerned. Yes, I've been hurt pretty badly in some fights but that's what I signed up for.

If I'm willing to hurt someone in that rink, I should be willing to get hurt in return. That's called a fair fight. I can't back out because I'm scared of getting hurt.

We reached her car and I turned to her before getting into the car. "There's no victory without pain, Lex."

She groaned in response before getting into the driver's seat.

I put my seatbelt on and noticed movement in my line of vision. I looked up, through the window of Lex's car to see Ryder walking across the parking lot and I stiffened when I saw him reach his ride.

And before you get any weird thoughts, no I'm not obsessed with the guy to the extent that I stop functioning, altogether. It was his ride that made me freeze.

He stopped in front of a Ducati Panigale V4 SP. Yeah, I know bikes but I wish I didn't.

'When did he get a bike?'

Who cares...

'Suurrreeee'

He must've felt my gaze because his eyes found mine once he was on his bike. A smirk found its way to his lips as he grabbed his helmet.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked away, as Lexi peeled out of the school gate.

*****

"I didn't think you would show up, kid." I rolled my eyes as the voice made me turn away from Lexi to a very smug looking Brody, the couch guy.

"What? And miss the chance to officially kick your ass? No way." I retorted with a dark chuckle.

Brody narrowed his eyes as his arms stiffened, while the few people who were around us, probably his friends, tried to stifle a chuckle.

I noticed a familiar blonde figure in the group and couldn't help but smile. "Hey! nice nose."

I cheered, pointing at Sophia's nose, wrapped in bandage, along with a huge one wrapped around her head.

Yeah, I'm a bitch.

She looked at me with a weak glare while her boyfriend tried to advance towards but was held back by one of his friends placing a hand on his shoulder.

Under the sleeve of his jacket, I saw a tattoo, that looked something like a serpent and my eyes scanned all of them one by one to see everyone with the same tattoo on their wrist.

"I'm gonna show you your place today, you brat." He glared at me, the nerve on his forehead visible again.

I smirked at that. "Good. I'm expecting a good fight today. The last one was pretty disappointing."

A growl echoed in the room as Brody was pulled back by his little gang to their side of the rink, before he pounced on me.

I had grown used to the stares by now but the people here are fucking creepy. In the fighting arenas in London, everyone knew who I was and no one dared to look at me in the wrong way. They feared me.

I chuckled and turned to Lexi, handing her my jacket so I could warmup. I was now in my outfit for the fight, which was some white nike sports bra and black tights.

She was still nervous about the fight but on our way here I told her about the pointers I picked up from Brody's previous fight, making her relax a little.

That guy is all muscle, he has no strategy. He throws punches left and right and doesn't bother in blocking himself. I made note of his posture which was loose and open on all sides. All I had to do was play smart. I needed to block his blows and land my own whenever he left himself open.

After warming up for about 10 more minutes I was called by the rink as it was time for the match.

"This is when you tell me to be careful and not get hurt badly." I tell Lexi wrapping my hands in wraps, smirking.

She looked at me then glanced at something behind me, before shaking her head. "Change of plans, I know that look. Just don't kill him." She said finally making me chuckle.

"No mourners." She said.

"No funerals." I said rolling my eyes and walked towards the rink.

"Now, for the challenge match everyone's been waiting for," the announcer started grabbing everyone's attention immediately. "LET'S CALL UP THE 'ROOKIE', MILES!"

He said air-quoting 'rookie', making a smirk form an my face as I walked into the rink.

"AND ON THE OTHER CORNER WE HAVE THE CHAMPION AND CHALLENGER, CRUSHER!" He yelled, as I tried to suppress the smile threatening to grow on my face.

'Crusher? Really?'

He walked into the rink shirtless and I almost wanted to gag. He definitely was double my size but it was just that. He wasn't ripped and wasn't properly built. He had two sloppy excuses of abs and I almost felt bad for Sophia. She could do so much better.

'Ryder could knock him dea-'

Shut the fuck up!

I shook my head as the referee entered the rink to go through the routine, while Brody- nah I'm gonna call him 'the couch guy', it suits him more, the couch guy openly glared at me, which I ignored and looked around.

There were a lot more people around the rink as compared to my last match. I guess a new girl fighting the guy who was a 'champion' is a big deal. I saw a huge crowd at the betting counter when I entered arena and I'm pretty sure I have an idea about who they bet on.

People were standing around the rink with smirks on their faces, impatiently waiting to watch a girl get beaten up, while I scoffed at them.

We shook hands after the referee was done speaking and we took steps back to take our positions.

I couldn't help but notice that his position was better than Sophia's but it was still sloppy. I guess this match wasn't going to be that tough, either.

My neck tilted to the sides on their own accord as I thought of ways to break at least two of his bones.

Crack

Crack

I squared my shoulders, now seeking the relief of kicking someone's ass.

The referee blew the whistle and I saw Brody's muscle tense up but I noticed how loose his posture was.

Was he planning on going easy on me?

The thought made me want to rip his hair right out, and I thought of showing him what he's in for.

I advanced, without giving away my move as we were going in circles. I raised my left arm mid-way, faking a left and his attention turned to that arm.

What a dummy.

I raised my right arm all the way, landing a blow right in his face, which was open, with no defence whatsoever.

I smiled in content when I heard a satisfying crunch and he staggered back in surprise as he probably didn't expect to be hit with that much force.

"Oh look, you match now." I cheered with a smirk, glancing from him to his girlfriend, just outside the rink.

He growled in return, now advancing at me with rage clear in his posture.

Nice. I smirked.

I could tell by his stance that he wasn't holding back anymore. I had pushed him over the edge.

Well, I'm a professional at getting on people's nerves.

He attacked this time, just the way I saw in his match on Tuesday, and I blocked.

He was attacking me left and right, while I ducked and blocked, landing a few blows of my own.

I noticed him raise his right hand and I assumed he would fake a right and blocked my left but he landed a blow on the right side of my stomach itself, making the air being knocked out of my lungs.

He didn't stop there and landed another punch in my stomach, before I could block and while I comprehended that, I felt an uppercut in my jaw and then I was in the air, before landing on the floor.

The concrete floor.

I had the metalic taste of blood in my mouth and I felt blood gushing out of my nose as well. I could feel I huge bruise forming on my abdomen as the pain spread through the area.

A chuckle escaped my mouth as I got on my elbows, looking up at Brody.

This feeling, this pain and adrenaline, I missed this.

This is gonna be fun. I thought before getting up on my feet, ignoring the pain it felt in my abdominal area. At this point, I had blocked out all my senses as my hands clenched into fists.

"That's all you got?" I chuckled again, while he glared at me, masking his surprise at the fact that I stood up after taking his blows.

I've been through worse.

I stretched my head to the sides, again.

Crack

Crack

I looked at him with what is the most sadistic smile I could muster, and gestured for him to come at me.

He advanced towards me and raised his hand while I ducked and advanced myself to collide with his middle, grabbed his hand, twisting it behind his back and used my leg to kick his foot making him loose balance and land on the floor, face-first.

Since his hand was twisted behind his back, he couldn't break his fall and his face collided directly with the concrete floor.

Take that, you fucker.

I didn't wait for him to catch his breath, and used his dislocated arm to turn him so he laid on his back and landed punches on his already bloody face.

I didn't stop.

I didn't stop when I saw him struggling to block the blows. I didn't stop when I saw blood gushing out of his nose. I didn't stop when I saw him bleeding from the cuts all over his face. I didn't stop when he choked and struggled to breathe. I didn't stop when he tapped the floor. I didn't stop when he stopped struggling and laid limp under me.

I was suddenly pulled back by two pairs of arms, and I noticed that my hands were bloody and I was breathing heavily.

"KNOCKOUT!" The referee's voice brought me back to my senses as I finally heard the chaos that was around the rink.

I ripped myself away from the guys holding me back and noticed that some people rushed to Brody who was lying on the floor. The first thing they did was check his pulse, before sighing in relief, which made me let out the breath I was holding.

I almost killed him.

At that thought Lexi rushed to my side, handing me a bottle, while looking at Brody wide-eyed.

"Wow" She looked at me, taking the bottle and handing me a towel. I definitely needed that today, I was covered in sweat and blood.

"I know." I sighed, attempting to wipe my face without wincing.

She looked at Brody once again. "You almost-"

"Killed him. I know." I said, looking at him being carried away by his gang.

"Well, he had it coming, anyway." She said.

Thats when I noticed the uproar of the crowd as they made way for their former champion being carried away. Since I blocked all my senses during the fight, I didn't notice how people were yelling at the top of their lungs.

I noticed their faces when the referee yelled a K.O., and they were all standing there with their mouths hanging open.

Let's just say a lot of people lost a lot of money today. Jokes on you for underestimating me, because I'm a girl.

I scoffed when I suddenly heard clapping from the crowd. A very happy man, in his 20s stood up from a couch, wearing a weird overcoat and a hat, covering half his face, looking at me, while the crowd looked at him, just as confused as I am.

Since no one knew me here, I figured no one would bet on me and by the glum looks on everyone's face here, I'm pretty sure I was right.

But this man cheered for me as if I just dug out a treasure for him. Which brings me to two conclusions, either he bet on me, and won a lot of money or he is straight up insane.

One of the guys who helped carry away the couch guy suddenly walked into the arena, towards the rink, his nose flaring.

"Who the fuck are you!?" He yelled pointing at me, as I was walking out of the rink myself, along with Lexi.

I smirked at that, and opened my mouth to answer when I was cut off again.

"Oh this is gonna be good." Said the overly cheery man, adjusting his hat.

I turned to look at him, sliding my arms in the jacket. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Not important." He replied instantly, waving his hand dismissed. "What's important is, you just helped me win 20 grand, and these losers are just jealous."

I heard tiny gasps around me, and some people grumbled under their breath, while I raised an eyebrow at him.

"And why, exactly would you bet on me?" I asked crossing my arms over my chest.

"Why wouldn't I bet on you," I noticed a smile grow on his face. "K.O. queen?" He finished.

I stopped my eyes from widening as my lips parted in surprise. The crowd broke into murmurs and I heard gasps that were a lot louder than before as people looked at me, wide-eyed.

K.O. queen. It was a stupid name that the fighters gave me in London, despite my fighting name. It was because of the fact that 4 out of 5 times my fights ended with a knockout.

Since street-fighting is a small community, word spread. Even people who hadn't seen me fight knew about a fighter named, K.O. queen.

I cringed at that name. I didn't like it, at all. It just sounded weird, almost as cringe as crusher. Heh

"You're the K.O. queen?" The couch guy's sidekick stepped in, looking at me, astonished, just like most of the people in the crowd.

I sighed, raising my hand to massage my forehead, before looking at him with a bored look. "As much as I want to deny that, yes. I am... that."

Lexi snorted from behind me making me elbow her on her side.

"Now if you'll excuse us, we have homework to do." I groaned, saying the last part under my breath, making Lexi laugh and grabbed my bag.

I turned to look at the man, who's responsible for this chaos, only to see him nowhere in sight. I shrugged, turning to the exit, following Lexi as the crowd parted for us, on our way out.

We were halfway to Lexi's car when I suddenly became aware of the pain spreading through my body, specially, my stomach.

I hissed as I adjusted my bag, making Lexi turn to see me look down at my stomach. She followed my gaze and gasped at the huge purple bruise forming on the centre and right side of my stomach.

"Yeah, this is gonna be tough to cover." I let out a wary chuckle, making her sigh and nod in agreement.

'Tomorrow's gonna be interesting.'

How is my conscience more sarcastic than I am?