Chapter 3

JACOB

The roads were quiet as I made my way to Brawlers Fight club. It was set back in a deserted side street, away from the hustle and bustle of people looking for a pub to drink in. You could only get in if you were a member, and even then, you had to show your I.D. I pulled up just down the road from the club. From here, I could see my two mates waiting for me. I'd known Danny since we were around ten, we struck up a friendship one day when we were both sat outside the headmaster's office. Danny was there for answering the teacher back and swearing at her, and I was there for fighting. We met Ethan at twelve when we started high school. Ethan was the quiet one, and even though Danny and I were loud and mainly got into trouble, he balanced out our personalities. We'd been inseparable ever since.

I quickly grabbed my gym bag from the back seat and locked my car as I headed towards the boys. It's not the safest part of town, but I'm sure no one would want a clapped-out old banger. "Yo!" I shout down the street.

"It's about time." Ethan called back. "I thought you'd chickened out."

As my brows pinched at his stupid statement, I sniggered. "Fuck off. I had to go and see Nix first."

"She still panicking?" Danny asked, shaking his head.

"Yeah, but she's okay." I shrugged.

I clapped hands with them both in greeting and we went around to the side entrance, the big guy on the back door let us in, shutting the heavy door behind us. "Rico is waiting in the back for ya."

"Cool," I lifted my chin to him and carried on through the next door until we entered a dark corridor. We followed it to the end until we reached the back of the club and rapped my knuckles on the heavy door in front of us, it opened instantly to two more huge fellas. Guys I'd never seen before. As one guy's broad frame filled the doorway, I nodded. "Hey, I'm Jacob King, I'm fighting here tonight."

"I.D." His voice was gruff, and his eyes dark, sunken into the back of his head. A scowl twisted his features as he waited for me to prove who I was. Tugging my wallet from my back pocket, I took out my driving licence and held it up for them to check. His meaty fingers took it from me as he looked between the card and me. "Go through." The other guy that stood behind him nodded, too. Thanking them, I carried on around to the room at the back. I grinned as I walked in. Finally, I was doing this. A bench stretched along the back wall, the painted white walls were bare other than a couple of pegs and I sat down. I rested my head back and it gently thudded against the wall. I breathed deeply, trying to ease the nerves that were now settling in the pit of my stomach.

"Jacob King." Rico, the fight club owner called out cheerily as he popped his head around the door. As he came in, his hands rubbed together with a smile stretched across his face. "Are you ready for this?"

"Always," I jumped to my feet enthusiastically and dragged my t-shirt off. It hit the bench as he came over.

"Looking good, kid." He patted my arm firmly. "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good," I said with a cocky grin.

"I just wanted to pop in and say hello, make sure you hadn't had second thoughts." I tutted; I may have been many things, but a coward wasn't one of them.

"Please…" I smirked. "Always ready, mate."

"Right, I'll leave you to it, then. You've got about fifteen minutes before we start."

"Thanks, Rico." I called out as he spun around and left the room. I slipped through to the small bathroom and turned on the tap to wet my hands. I rubbed some cold water over my short hair and dried my hands on my joggers, I took my wallet and loose cash from my pockets and dropped it all into the front pocket of my bag. As I picked up my phone to add it to my belongings, I noticed a message from Nix.

Nix: Please don't get hurt Xx

I smiled at my screen, and quickly typed back a message.

Who am I? Xxx

I asked cockily and hit send. The bubbles danced on my screen to indicate that she was already replying.

Nix: Jacob King xxx

Exactly xxx

You don't have to worry. I've got this. I'm a sure thing xxx

Nix replied straight away

Nix: Ok. I love you xxx

Love you more, baby xxx

I quickly hit send and powered off my phone before dropping it inside my bag with the rest of my belongings. Halfway through getting undressed Danny popped his head around the open door. "Hey. You almost ready?" he handed me a bottle of water, and I immediately screwed off the lid and guzzled down a large amount, then put the lid back on and left it on the bench. I toed off my trainers and pushed my joggers down my legs and took those off, then placed them in my bag with the rest of my stuff. Swiftly, I leapt into fighter mode, and started shadow boxing, warming my muscles up, and bouncing on my toes.

"Turn around." I did so with my fists up in front of me as I took on a fighter stance. Danny held his phone up in front of him and snapped as I pulled a cocky grin. "Promotional purposes." He grinned, and I shook my head in response.

I began to jog on the spot to loosen up the muscles in my calves, shook out my arms and kicked my legs out to stretch. My fists punched as I shadow boxed in the mirror on the wall, warming up until I was called for my fight.

But this isn't boxing, this is underground fighting - anything goes. There are no rules.

"Where's Ethan?"I asked as I looked around me.

"He's waiting out front, keeping us a spot."

I lifted my chin and carried on. I didn't have to wait long before the bouncer appeared in the doorway. "You're up, King." I inhaled deeply as I nodded, my lungs filled with air, and I exhaled as I made my way to the door.

Danny followed me. "Wait," He rubbed something over my shoulders and patted me on the back. "You ready for this?"

I glanced back at him and met his eyes. "Let's do this fucking shit."

We high fived each other and walked down the corridor towards the chanting. The raucous crowd were hoping to watch a decent fight. But I'm the new boy here, the underdog. Not that I couldn't handle that, but I'm sure they were thinking I was going to be a pushover.

Pushing through the second door back to the main room, I watched as money was passed around between punters and bookies. I had no idea what kind of bets I was pulling in, and honestly, I didn't want to know. I didn't need the extra pressure. I was sure, being the underdog, the odds were definitely in the other guy's favour.Rico and I had already shaken hands on a deal if I won tonight, and we'd agreed on what cut he would take.

My stomach did a flip as we passed through the doors, Danny led us through the crowds as Ethan met us halfway to the makeshift ring. He also gave me a friendly pat on the back and nodded. The punters parted for us to pass through, stares and insulting comments were slung at me, but they didn't deter me; in fact, it made me stronger. I followed Ethan through the warehouse and Danny stayed behind me. The crowd were still shouting and bawling, their voices echoed off the basement walls. But I closed them down, shutting them out of my head, and focussed on the ring and the voices of my two best friends.

I moved into my corner; Danny massaged my shoulders while we waited for my opponent. I didn't expect him to be a pushover; expect the unexpected, that's what I was taught. But the unexpected had a way of shocking the hell out of you, too. The crowd got louder by the second, and I looked up and saw the guy I was about to fight. Although he looked older than me, he was much bigger. But I wouldn't let that deter me either. He looked mean as fuck, his eyes black as he stared at me. There were scars on his face and his nose was crooked. Jesus, I thought as doubt crept into my mind. I couldn't back out now, I needed this money.

My gaze wouldn't shift from my opponent, I was sure if there was a weakness, I'd find it. His eyes met mine for a split second, I didn't want to look away. I didn't want to seem weak, but Danny slapped my cheek to get my attention. "Hey, look at me." He pushed his forehead against mine. "Don't look at him, just focus on me." I did. I let his strength urge me on. "You've got this, mate. Now, get in there and beat the fucker." He tapped my cheeks again. "It's you or him, remember that."

I nodded. He was right. I stood tall as the bell rang, I wasn't sure what you'd call the guy stood in the middle, there was no referee, and he wasn't really a master of ceremonies, maybe more of a speaker. Who the fuck knew. I didn't even know where all this stupid shit running through my head had come from. I should have been concentrating on the fight.

"Good evening. Do we have a treat for you tonight? We have our defending champion, The Punisher, and in the other corner, we have an exciting newcomer, Jacob King." The noise rose even more, with a mixture of applause, chants and boos.

The speaker pulled us in closer. "Guys, remember there are no rules. There will be a count out, but as it goes, it's last man standing." He looked between us. "Do you understand?" I think he said it to me more than the other guy, what with me being new. I nodded my agreement and banged fists with The Punisher before I shook out the tension in my arms and kicked my legs to the side. Danny shouted and clapped his hands at me, while Ethan said nothing, he just observed quietly as we communicated. He'd always been the more silent type. I turned back and faced my opponent. We met in the middle as I brought my guard up in front of me to cover my face.

Right off the bat, he punched out, but I saw it coming and leant back from it, so he couldn't reach me. It wasn't long before we were exchanging punches, that is until I'd had enough of his pussy punches and swung for him. As my fist connected with his jaw, he wobbled slightly, but he brought himself back and pushed forward. I was bored. I swung a leg out but missed. The Punisher carried on around the ring as he ducked and dived, I was almost dizzy as I followed him around the ring. He was moving around so much that I didn't realise he was trying to distract me, at least not until his fist connected with my face. As stars formed in my eyes, I blinked in quick succession to rid them and regain focus.

His leg swept mine and I hit the deck, my back slammed against the ground. I scrambled back up to my feet and shook my head still trying to get my eyes to focus. He moved towards me again, but I was ready for him this time. My next punch connected with his jaw, his head turned to the side from the impact and as I went to follow it up, he was quicker and blocked it with his arm. I didn't see his other fist until I felt it cracking me on the side of the head. I stumbled back a couple of steps, but then ran back at him, attacking his body with short, but quick, punches to the kidneys. It slowed him down long enough for me to hit him again and again. As he staggered back from the array of punches I slammed into his body, I moved forward. Danny shouted from the corner to hit him again. And suddenly I'd found my feet, and my confidence soared. I attacked again as I filled his body and face with a quick succession of hits, pounding his ribs and followed it up with more rabbit punches. He managed to shove me away from him and bolt forward, but I pulled my arm back, and let it go. His nose split and the blood splattered across his face and onto the mat, but I carried on, regardless. He got a sneaky hard punch in as his fist connected with my right eye, but he moved so quickly I didn't know what was going on, I was dazed. It wasn't until I felt his meaty forearm wrapped around my neck that I realised he had me in a headlock. His tight hold squeezed my neck and the blood rushed to my head. I had to get out of this. I heard Ethan shout out to hit him. I heard Danny yell at me to sweep his legs, but I couldn't get a firm foot on the ground.

I took a second to compose myself and breathed through my nose. I focussed on the arm wrapped around my throat, trying to cut off my air supply. I knew the only way to get him to release me was to be underhanded. After all, there were no rules in here. I used all the strength I had and yanked on his arm. It pulled away just enough for me to bite down on his arm. He yelled out as I fought to catch my breath as he released me. I turned and lunged forward and hit him. A barrage of punches and kicks attacked him. I took a second to look at him as he stumbled backwards. His nose was broken, his lip and eye split… blood poured down his face; I just needed to go on.

He wobbled on his feet as I hit him with everything I had. I couldn't stop now. I had this. I could see it; he was weakening. The blood, mixed with sweat, ran down his face. As he lifted his arm and wiped away the blood he hesitated, it was only slightly but it was enough to distract me. He looked at his hand then powered forward. A punch was thrown from his right and his left hand got me in the gut, causing me to bend in the middle from the blow. He then struck my head with his hard fist, but it wasn't enough to stop me. I ducked out of his way and shook my head to focus again. He danced around me a little, but I knew he was tired, he breathed harder now and as his heavy feet moved around me, I pondered my next move. I needed to lure him back in to stop him.

We exchanged a couple of light punches again, but we were both getting tired now. He was bigger than me; held more weight than me. His shoulders dipped slightly, and I made my move. I caught him with a punch in the side of his head again, his head dropped from the impact and wobbled slightly. I kicked out and shoved him back and landed one last, hard punch to the side of his head, and with enough force, it was his undoing. He hit the floor. I waited a second and watched closely as he tried to lift his head, but it was useless. I must've blocked out the crowd while we were fighting, and as I refocussed, I heard some of them now chanting my name. Then, the more loyal fans were calling for The Punisher to get up and finish me off, but there was no chance. He was out cold.

I glanced at Danny and Ethan, they were jumping up and down at the side of the ring, cheering as the speaker came over and counted him out. When he got to eight and still wasn't getting up, I knew I had this. Danny launched my arm above my head just as the speaker made the announcement,

"Your new winner, Jacob King!"