The bell rang—sharp and metallic, slicing through the air like a gunshot.
Reese stepped forward, fists raised, heart pounding in his chest like a war drum. Across the cage, Kai cracked his knuckles, exhaling slowly as he approached. The crowd above them leaned in, shadows over their faces, a hundred voices murmuring with excitement. Bloodlust. They wanted violence. They wanted a victor.
And Reese would give them one.
Kai struck first.
A blur of movement—too fast. Reese barely got his guard up in time to block a hook, but the force knocked him off-balance. Kai was precise. A jab to the cheek. A knee to the gut. A leg sweep that forced Reese to stumble back.
Pain exploded in his ribs, but Reese gritted his teeth and stood his ground.
He had taken hits before. In the backyard with makeshift gloves. In alleyway scraps. In every unpaid, unrecognized brawl he had ever been in. This was just another.
But it mattered more.
He circled left, then darted in—left hook, right jab, uppercut. Kai blocked the first two, but the uppercut caught his chin. His head snapped back.
The crowd roared.
Reese pressed the advantage. He feinted high, then went low—body-body-head. Kai grunted, his guard dipping slightly.
Reese saw the opening. Stepped in.
But Kai wasn't giving up ground.
He struck back with a spinning elbow that cracked against Reese's temple. The world tilted. Reese's legs buckled, but he stayed on his feet, stumbling back.
Then Kai was on him again. A blur of fists. A knee. A hammering overhand punch that sent Reese to the floor.
Michael's voice rang from somewhere above. "Get up, Reese! Get up!"
Reese saw spots. Blood filled his mouth. But when he looked up, it wasn't Kai he saw.
It was his mom.
In her work uniform, face tired, fingers raw from scrubbing dishes.
It was his sister, Maya, looking out the window of their crumbling apartment, her dreams shoved aside because they couldn't afford them.
This fight wasn't about winning glory.
It was about survival.
Reese pushed himself up, staggering. His lip was split. One eye swollen nearly shut.
But his fists were still clenched.
Kai tilted his head. "Damn. You're still standing?"
Reese spat blood. "You're damn right."
They charged at the same time.
The cage echoed with the impact of their bodies. Fists flew. Elbows cracked. Blood sprayed.
Reese ducked a right, slammed his shoulder into Kai's ribs, then used the momentum to drive them both into the cage wall. He broke away with a vicious elbow to Kai's jaw, then a knee that buckled the taller fighter.
Kai gasped.
Reese roared and moved in—combo, combo, hook. Another hook. An uppercut.
Kai's defense cracked. His legs wobbled.
Reese saw it.
He threw one last punch. A brutal, full-bodied right cross straight to Kai's jaw.
Time slowed.
Kai's eyes went wide. His body jerked backward.
And then he collapsed.
The crowd exploded.
Reese stood above him, chest heaving, sweat and blood dripping from every inch of him. The ref—a grizzled man in a bulletproof vest—stepped in and checked Kai.
Then raised Reese's arm high.
"Winner: Noob-Fighter!"
The roar was deafening.
Michael nearly fell off the booth in excitement. Reese barely heard him. Everything was a blur of noise and adrenaline.
He didn't smile.
He didn't cheer.
He just stood there, breathing hard, as the reality of it sank in.
He'd won.
He'd won.
Someone passed him a towel. Another handed him a water bottle.
But all Reese could think about was the money. Rent. Food. His mother's eyes when he'd hand her the cash.
A door opened at the far end of the cage. Medics moved in for Kai, who was already coming to, blinking up at the lights.
Reese turned to leave, but a hand caught his wrist.
It was Kai.
He was bruised, bloody, and grinning.
"Next time," he muttered, "you won't catch me with that hook."
Reese nodded, pulling his hand free. "Then you better be ready."
The crowd still chanted his name as he limped from the cage.
For the first time in a long time, Reese felt like he had control over something. Over his life. Over their future.
And this? This was just the beginning.