“Maybe not,” said Brow, then he went quiet as he contemplated his self-worth. Jonas noticed his manager had stopped talking, so he dropped the conversation and focused on his upcoming fight. Win or lose, the riot would start right after, and Jonas hoped that the result would be a win. Inside the waiting room, the other blue-collar fighters were waiting for their turn in the preliminary matchup, and Jonas knew most of them by face and not by name.

An hour ticked by very slowly, and Jonas felt his heart begin to pump blood through his veins because the preliminary matches were over, and the main event would soon begin.

“Here we go,” Brow broke the silence. “That guy was the last preliminary fight,” he nodded towards a beaten slave that was miserably limping out of the barracks. Not everyone was undefeated like Jonas and Garth.

Brow led his fighter through the waiting room and into the main lobby, and both slaves and gangsters occupied it by the hundreds. Some turned their heads when they saw Jonas because they recognized the Comeback Kid, while others gave arrogant glares and sent gang signs with their hands. Jonas winked, gave one gangster a middle finger, and Brow shook his head.

"John, how's it going?" Jonas nodded at the harried doorman gibbering away into his earpiece.

"How does it look like it's going?" John gave him a stupefied expression, like Jonas had asked the dumbest question in the world. "I'm trying to organize an entire fucking fight, and I've got spectators throwing shit, gangsters trying to poison fighters, and half-dead slaves in need of medical attention. How the fuck do you think it's going?"

"Not great, apparently," Jonas rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "When am I up?"

"In a few minutes. Just let me get the blood scrubbed off the arena floor. The last match was crazy, if you know what I mean?" John laughed maniacally.

"Yeah, sure thing," Jonas gave Brow a look, and his manager shrugged his shoulders. A few minutes went by, and then John nodded.

"They're about to do the introductions. Get ready."

“Ladies and Gentlemen!” The announcer yelled into his microphone. “The main event will now begin! Fighting out of the Hurts gang, standing in at six feet tall, weighing in at two hundred pounds, and with a professional record of fifteen wins and zero losses,” the announcer paused before shouting. “The Undefeated, the sensational Comeback Kid: Jonas Ariel!”

Hearing his name called, Jonas punched his chest like a gorilla and nearly kicked down the lobby doors as he and Brow entered the arena for the last time. A wave of excitement blasted his body as he strode heavily toward the ring, slapping hands with whatever member of the crowd had leaned over to touch him.

“Jonas! Jonas!” He heard his name chanted, and it lit a fire in his belly as his Sin Scars began to glow brightly.

“Don’t lose,” Brow said half-heartedly, but only because it was more of a tradition for him to say that.

“Got it, boss,” Jonas winked, and before entering the cage, he made sure to rip his shirt off and toss it towards the crowd. It was always entertaining to watch them fight over sweaty prison scrubs.

“And his opponent!” The announcer shouted. “Fighting out of the Von Trip gang, standing at six-foot-two, weighing two hundred and forty pounds, and with a professional record of twenty-five wins, five losses: Bannji ‘Bone Crusher’ Balewa!” Jonas watched as the crowd roared for a very hulking fighter with a bald head, a silver hoop nose piercing, and scary black eyes with abyss-like deepness.

Bannji and his manager from the Von Trip gang—presumably Billy Von Trip—made their way to the arena, and Jonas watched as the referee locked his opponent in the ring along with himself. The two began staring at each other as they took their respective corners.

“The fight won’t end until one opponent taps by submission or is knocked unconscious. There are no judges, only carnage. LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE!” The referee took center stage as the crowd went wild, and he first looked toward Jonas.

“Are you ready?” Jonas nodded, and the referee asked the same of Bannji, who also nodded. “Fight!” he chopped his hand down and quickly got out of the way, for the two fighters had immediately rushed each other like angry bulls.

Jonas smiled as he felt his first punch hit Bannji across the jaw, and the pre-fight nerves flew from his body as he took a bone-crushing hit to his face. The crowd went wild because they loved it when two fighters went right into a shot-for-shot contest, and they watched on tippy toes as Jonas and Bannji took turns blocking attacks and smashing each other in the face.

Jonas was impressed with his opponent’s strength and knew a win wouldn't be easy. His eyes glanced down and saw two glowing, flame-like Sin Scars on the back of Bannji's hands.

‘Let’s see how dodging works against him,’ Jonas blocked a heavy kick to the head and changed tactics as he began dodging the attacks sent his way. He juked around a vicious right hook and ducked under a kick which nearly took his head off, and he quickly circled his way around his opponent and sent an attack at the back of his knee, which caused Bannji to buckle awkwardly.

Jonas capitalized on this and shot forward, giving two hard punches to his opponent's kidneys, but quickly jumped out of the way when a spinning back fist almost hit his face.

Even though Jonas had wanted to dodge as many attacks as he could, his opponent was someone who had once defeated Xiao Lin. After taking a tooth-breaking elbow to the mouth, Bannji forced Jonas to change his tactics.

Blood began to build up on the arena floor as the two fighters aimed carefully at vital parts, and Jonas was contributing a lot to the mess, as a large gash above his right eye was bleeding heavily. However, he hadn't tried using True Sin to make his blood translucent because he didn't sense that Bannji cared about seeing blood.

Bannji charged forward, and Jonas sent a head kick toward him. However, the African fighter timed his block perfectly and hit Jonas right on that same bleeding gash, which caused it to open up even more as crimson began to flow down the young man’s face, pouring like an open faucet. Jonas swore and commended his opponent's ability to capitalize on attacking weak points. He tightened his sore jaw in anticipation of another punch aimed at his face.

Bannji noticed his young opponent could barely open his right eye and had enough experience to know what to do, so he began circling toward Jonas' blindside. He saw how his opponent reacted by moving the opposite way. His flame-like Sin Scars flashed with color as the bloodlust flooded his body, and his inner mind became like a roaring fire filled with the burning thoughts of violence.

Jonas felt irritated as he watched Bannji become faster and more powerful. The young Crusader began to worry that the fight's momentum was getting out of hand, and he needed to do something to turn the tides back his way.

During the few minutes that he and his opponent had gotten to know each other, Jonas could see that although Bannji’s technique, hit power, and speed were all great, his instincts as a Sinner shined brightly above all.

Going shot-for-shot with Bannji wasn't viable, so Jonas began scheming a plan to knock his opponent unbalanced. He wanted to end the fight by submission. Jonas wasn't the tiny youth that had once been afraid to get down and dirty with his opponent, and after a year of practice, he was confident in his wrestling techniques. The question remained: how to get Bannji on the ground?

Jonas watched his opponent sidestep through a small puddle of blood that had formed on the arena floor. It splashed, splattered around, and inspiration came to him. Jonas needed a much bloodier ground, and Bannji would help accomplish that.

To do this, the young Crusader dropped his guard and allowed Bannji free range at his face. However, his opponent realized something was afoot and didn't take the bait. Unfortunately for Bannji, not attacking Jonas wasn't an option in the fight, so when Jonas punched the African fighter, he had no choice but to hit back. Just before the attack landed, Jonas dodged his head, so the fist would scrape his skin and make the wound much worse. Then, he tried performing True Sin.

Jonas willed the blood seeping out of his skin to multiply, and he also boosted the leaking speed to a level visible to the naked eye. He looked like he was sweating blood, and the visual made Jonas look like he was about to die from blood loss. The blood flowed down his body and onto the stage, forming a massive puddle.

Bannji narrowed his eyes suspiciously and mouthed something inaudible. The referee grimaced and stepped back against the cage wall. For a moment, Bannji didn't want to approach Jonas. However, he eventually caved and made his way forward, splashing through the puddle of blood. 'Slip!' Jonas knew in his heart what he wanted. 'You can't just walk through my blood, so slip!" He envisioned it in his mind, and his heart screamed the order: commanding its creation to listen.

His Sin Scars became crystal-like as they shined ethereally, and then he watched Bannji suddenly lose balance, and his face was full of panic and confusion as he tried to remain upright but fell onto his ass, causing a wave of blood to splash.

Jonas didn't hesitate to capitalize on his success. Just as Bannji's back hit the floor, the Crusader leaped from his spot and came crashing down on top of his opponent. The crowd screamed as the two fighters hit the floor, and Jonas quickly transferred himself to Bannji’s side, grabbed his arm, and tried to put it behind the struggling warrior's back.

Everything had gone to plan, and it was one of the best strategies that Jonas had used to put himself in a position to win a fight. He huffed as he tried his best to maintain a hold on his bucking opponent, who was flopping, punching, and trying to kick his way out of the arm lock.

"You cheat!" Bannji shrieked as he became the worse for wear and came very close to losing the battle of positioning. Jonas knew an armbar was no good for winning the fight, but he had used control of Bannji's arm to position himself behind his opponent. All of that was for Jonas to get his arm around the African fighter's neck, and when he finally accomplished his goal, his muscles constricted and pulled as hard as he could.

Bannji's neck bent backward. Jonas could feel the panic as his opponent clawed at his arm, but it was so slippery that he couldn't get a grip.

There was a gurgled cry as Bannji tried to scream but couldn't make a proper noise because of the pressure on his throat from Jonas' arm. His flame-like Sin Scars glowed as he charged his Sin for extra strength, and Jonas had to use every ounce of strength in his body to keep Bannji under control.

Cheating? Jonas didn't think so. Original Sin and True Sin were just tools of the trade, and if a person couldn't learn them—stay out of the business of real Sinners.

As the crowd screamed in joy, Jonas could feel the fight draining from his opponent, and there were only seconds left before the African fighter would take a deep slumber. There were deep gashes on Jonas' arm from where Bannji had tried to claw his way out, and Jonas' face was swollen from all the time that his bucking opponent had punched and headbutted him. However, Bannji grew still as his eyes rolled back, and his tongue fell out of his mouth.

"Let go," the referee tapped Jonas' arm, who let go of his slumbering opponent. Blood had drenched Jonas from head to toe, but he got to his feet and raised a fist in the air. The announcer grabbed his microphone and began yelling for all to hear.

“The Comeback Kid does it again! The winner of the match: Jonas Ariel!”