Isekai'd into New Meridian

The Pit

During the drive over to The Pit was held was quite with only the sound of the tires on the road reaching my ears. With my hands still cuffed behind my back and the blindfold on, I often pondered what unfortunate person I would be pummeling to Death's doorstep tonight. Over my years in the arena, I fought in numerous fights that ranging from simple fistfights to the most sadist matches the organizers could imagine. One of the more sadist matches saw several people, me included, where the floor would have an electrical current flow through it every other minute to induce incredible pain to the individuals how didn't time their jump correctly, which was difficult due to the metal shoes they were forced to wear. Another match saw fighters on a small, raised concrete island that was surrounded by rusted objects ranging from nails to old saw blades. To further complicate ever match is that onlookers would often throw objects at the contenders at inopportune moments. That is how I nearly fell into the sea of rusted objects; would've been gravely injured had I not used my opponent as a cushion. It wasn't just humanoids that were forced into fights. I had seen every form of animal cruelty under the sun with dog fights being the favored events. There was even a time where another poor soul and I were given nothing but combat knives to kill a starved lion. 

Regardless of the injures, gore, and pain I endured, I couldn't afford to lose; knowing that Lorenzo would hurt Kane and Charles or even send them into The Pit as punishment for failure. As such, my current record is 274:70, which turned me into a high profiled fighter in the underground arena. While my loses did result in punishment, Lorenzo seemed to be overall pleased with the record as it allowed him to have greater wagers and attend more anticipated brawls. As I pondered the match ahead, the van stopped abruptly, causing me to slam against the van's interior. I straightened up, waiting for the backdoors to open alongside the usual spiel of "Don't try anything funny bitch." As I expected, the doors opened, and the thug said:

Thug: "No funny business, okay? Else one of your siblings is going to have a VERY bad night. Capiche?"

I felt my arm be grabbed and pulled out of the van to be led down numerous rooms I couldn't see. Finally, we stopped at what could only be the entrance to my "Changing Room" where I had my restraints removed after being lead in there. The metallic doors slammed shut behind me as I proceeded to remove my blindfold. It was a room similar to the one I originally found myself in after being kidnapped; except a locker replaced where my clothing was held replaced the bed. I approached the locker, opening it up to the usually clothing and the information Lorenzo would give me on a piece of paper about the upcoming brawl. I changed into my cargo shorts, tank top, and steel-toed combat boots before picking up the piece of paper. 

"Upcoming brawl is simple hand-to-hand fisticuffs, you fight until there is only one left standing amongst the bloody pulps on the ground. You'll only be fighting one individual, but he isn't your typical bloke you're used to fighting. This guy's win to lose ratio is on par with yours, and he has himself a streak of brutality to match it. So, I expect you to win as this fight's got a bunch of high rollers betting tonight. Don't !#*% it up!"

I rolled my eyes and proceeded to do some stretches to ensure my peak performance in this fight. During my seated toe touch, the door opened to reveal two armed men ready to escort me to the arena. Upon arriving at the arena floor, I proceeded to quickly take note of any hazards or obstacles that could complicate the proceeding fight. From my quick examination of the circular arena, there didn't appear to be anything of concern. Instead, I looked up at the spectators staring down at me from seats around 3-meters above me lining the 10-meter diameter hole in the ground. Upon hearing the door on the side of the arena opposite to me, I looked towards the man that was my opponent. It was evident from the scars on his muscular frame that he had been put through the rigor like me. He was bald, around 2-meters in height wearing jeans and combat boots. His face was broad with a prominent chin, brow ridge, and nose that was crooked from the numerous times it was indubiously broken in prior scuffles. But what surprised me was his expression, it was determined with an unmistakable glint of sadness of someone who was about to do something they would regret. Knowing that this man probably was forced into a set of similar circumstances as myself; a gave him a solemn nod. He quickly looked up to see if anyone else was watching, but the scum above was too focused on placing their bets. Seeing no one was watching, he mouthed out, "I'm sorry. But I got to do this, or they'll go after my little girl." I shook my head and mouthed, "Don't be. I wouldn't do this either if I wasn't forced to."

Above us, we heard the chatter die down as the announcer began to do their usual theatrics before the bell rang and we approached each other in defensive stances ready to fight. After getting within arm's reach, the man immediately threw a solid punch that I barely avoided. However, he must've expected that I would dodge because his knee came up towards my jaw. I used my arms to intercept his knee before I deflected another punch aimed at my head. I countered by using my deflection to elbow his left side lower libs. I disengaged quickly as he stumbled barely an inch. From there the fight between use got intensely more gruesome has both of use became to fight each other with the intent to concave the other's skull. While I was able to avoid and block most of his heavy attacks; he quickly adjusted for my better maneuverability with quicker jabs that would be followed by more pronounced blows. I felt my ribs crack after being blindsided by his knee as I was focusing on the volley of white-knuckled fists. I kindly repaid him by headbutting him in the chest before shoulder checking him onto the concrete floor. I was able to get a few solid kicks in before he recovered and proceeded to grapple me. 

The grapple quickly turned into a choke hold, but he foolishly had his left hand close to my face. It didn't take a genius to figure out where the scarlet blood came from shortly thereafter. With his left index bitten off, he slackened his grip which gave me enough room to elbow him in the chest to fully let of me. Seeing an opportunity, I grabbed his arm and proceeded to throw him over my shoulder onto the blood-stained floor of concrete with a loud thud. I then straddled his chest throwing blow after blow onto his face without mercy as he attempted to block with his arms. I felt his nose crack under my fist before he grabbed both my arms and proceeded to headbutt me in the face to get me off him. I quickly retreated to regain my bearings, feeling warm liquid oozing from my nostrils. He and I looked each other dead in the eyes, but before we could continue, a door above was knocked clean off its hinges by a squad of Canopy Soldiers. 

Pandamonium broke out above as the rich mob bosses began to sprint towards the nearest exit while both the Black Egrets and thugs proceeded to unload their firearms at each other. We both looked at each other and without words nodded. We both knew this was the chance we couldn't afford to lose. The man proceeded towards the arena wall where he lifted me up so I could climb out. I had to keep low to the ground to prevent one of the numerous bullets from embedding itself in my cranium. I lowered my arm and proceeded to pull my opponent turned ally out of hole. Once he was out both of us began to army crawl through the debris towards the nearest doorway. The screams, gun fire, and sound of destruction deafened my eardrums to the point I thought they would burst under pressure. I felt an all too familiar pain radiating from my upper left arm as a stray bullet lodged itself in my flesh. Despite the pain, I continued to crawl towards the exit, my freedom, my path to liberation. When I heard an explosion behind me that shook the very foundations of the structure.

I turned and looked to see what could've caused such an explosion; only to have an image that would sear itself into my nightmares forever. My sister Vannisa, standing there with skin pale as death, hair whiter than bone, torso flesh burned away by a pale blue flame, and the eye socket of a skull emblazoned in her eyes. 

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Sorry, this took a while to come out. Had some IRL things that took priority. I hoped you enjoyed this chapter and I look forwards to providing you with a new chapter.

Sincerely, Metal49.