Chapter 37 UNDERGROUND BOXING RING
THIRD PERSON'S POV
Warning: Chapter involves Graphic violence, brutality. Read with caution.
The crowd roared, their fists slamming against the metal cage as Max drove a brutal punch into his opponent’s face.
“I told you he’d win!” two drunk men shouted somewhere in the arena of bodies.
The underground basement was buried beneath the city, a secret pit where only gutter men and women crawled to gamble, bleed, and survive. The air stank of cigarettes, sweat, alcohol, and blood. Dim red and yellow lights flickered like dying fireflies over the rusted cage.
Max stood in the ring, cold eyes locked onto the man across from him same build, same height, but weaker. Always weaker.
He stepped forward and slammed his fist into the man’s jaw. The impact crackled through the room like bone snapping under pressure. His opponent stumbled, teeth sent flying out with a spray of blood as he crashed onto the metal floor.
The audience howled, some excited, some furious.
Max lifted his chin arrogantly, scanning the crowd like a king surveying peasants.
“Come on, get up!” he taunted, voice sharp and mocking. Max had never lost a match. Not tonight. Not ever.
His opponent’s leg suddenly swung out, sweeping Max’s foot. It was unexpected and Max hit the floor hard, his skull smacking the metal with a sickening crack. The crowd froze.
Blood trickled down his forehead......He didn’t move.
For a moment, it looked like he was dead.
His opponent rose, chest heaving in disbelief, then lifted his arms in premature victory.
“BOOOOOOO!”
“You useless punk! I bet everything on you!”
“What the hell was that?!”
The insults rained down. Max’s vision blurred, buzzing like static. His pride burned hotter than the pain in his skull.
The ref began the count.
“8… 9...”
Max pushed up from the ground. The crowd exploded with wild cheers.
His opponent’s smirk tightened. He lunged, aiming straight for Max’s injured head.
Max dodged at the last second, moving faster than anyone expected, and drove a punishing blow into the man’s ribs. A crunch. His opponent bent over, gasping, pain rippled through him visibly.
Max smirked, then he moved.
He leapt, body twisting midair, and his foot came down like a hammer against his opponent’s face. The man crashed to the floor, cheeks swelling instantly, face red and bruised.
He stumbled back up at the count of three.
Max exhaled, annoyed. This was dragging too long.
He stepped out of the cage briefly and grabbed a metal bat from the arena’s side wall....illegal, but in this ring, illegal meant exciting.
The crowd screamed with savage hunger.
Max rushed back in and swung hard. The bat cracked against his opponent’s knee.
“ARGHHHHHH!” his opponent’s scream tore through the air.
“MAX! MAX! MAX!” The crowd chanted, losing themselves in the violence.
Max grinned down at his opponent, who glared up in fury.
He lifted the bat to strike again, but the man rolled away, barely escaping, then slammed his spiked gloves hidden, illegal too, deep into Max’s stomach.
Max’s eyes widened at the explosion of pain.
Blood poured out in thick streams, splattering the metal floor as the spikes twisted into him.
He staggered back, collapsing to his knees. The room spun. The injury was deep, ugly, bleeding fast.
His opponent rose with a sick smile and advanced toward him.
The crowd hushed, fearful, not for Max’s life, but for their money.
The spiked glove lifted.
Then....
BAM!
Max’s arm shot up, catching the strike mid-air.
His opponent froze, eyes widening. Max tightened his grip, pushing the glove aside. Fury surged through him.... cold, precise, unstoppable.
Before his opponent could recover.
Max spun, legs lifting off the ground in a sharp aerial twist
CRACK!
His foot smashed into his opponent’s skull.
The man flipped in the air before slamming face-first onto the metal floor.
Silence fell.
The crowd stared.
The skull had split open on impact, blood pooled out, thick and dark, mixed with fragments of bone and brain matter. The man’s body twisted unnaturally, neck bent the wrong way. His tongue hung out, limp.
And there, embedded in the floor was a small hidden blade Max had planted before the fight even began.
Calculated. Well Planned and Deadly.
“MAX WINS!” the host shouted into the mic.
The arena erupted...Cheers....Screams...Rage....Triumph. Some people wept in relief. Others cursed for losing everything they bet.
“That was a scam!”
“I want my damn money back!”
“I’m rich—HA!”
But Max didn’t care. His eyes weren’t on them.
They were fixed on the VIP section above.
His opponent’s boss sat glaring down at him, eyes cold like steel dipped in poison. Max smirked, dragging a finger across his own throat slowly, promising death to anyone who dared.
The boss scoffed, stood, and stormed out.
Max’s own boss clambered into the ring, beaming.
“Good job, boy!” He wrapped an arm around Max’s shoulder. “Thought you were losing for a second, you almost made me curse you out in front of my rival!”
Max didn’t respond.
“Who’s the undefeated champion?!”
His boss roared, and the arena answered with a deafening:
“MAX! MAX! MAX!” Max only smiled behind his mask.
BACK ROOM
Bandages had been wrapped his stomach tightly. He now packed his stuff into his bag in silence.
“That was genius, pretending to lose! My competitor nearly fainted!” his boss praised.
Max said nothing.
“I’ll increase your pay, alright?”
He pulled out thick stacks of cash, forcing a greasy smile.
Max slipped on his hoodie and face mask, then held out his hand.
“Come on, smile a little. You’re our undefeated champion. How about renewing your contract?” The fat man grinned, his golden crooked teeth flashing.
“My money,” Max said coldly.
The smile dropped, grinding his teeth, the man shoved the money into Max’s hands.
Max counted it immediately.
“We’ve been working together for a year, you still don’t trust me?” the boss whined.
Max only glared. The money was well counted. He walked out without a word.
The fat man’s smile twisted into something darker.
“He’s getting cocky… brat,” he muttered.
......The enforcers waved at Max. “Later, champ!” He nodded once, then stepped outside.
“Pretentious fools,” he muttered with a faint smirk. If they only knew how many of his fights were based on tactics, traps, and calculated cheats. He planned everything. Even the blade that killed his opponent.
But he froze.
Across the lot, leaning against a black car, arms crossed..... His opponent’s boss waited.
Max’s stomach dropped. He slowly stepped backwards, but six massive men stepped out from the shadows behind him, even as he was a great fighter, he would be an ant fighting giants, there was no escape.
“We can talk this out…” Max whispered, heart pounding.
The boss didn’t answer, he merely flicked his hand.
A sack was shoved over Max’s head and everything went black.
He was dragged into the car. And the doors slammed shut.