"Lies leave bruises that will never fade away"
Fire Dragon is an underground fight club well known for their bloody fights and almost no rules. Earth "the shadow" Pirapat is Fire Dragon's best fighter. Having grown up in the club, it would be surpri...
— things happen. even unpleasant ones. many, many times —
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It was nice to be back.
The ring under his feet felt like home. The enthusiastic screams and shouts from people around were like a boost of energy Earth had been missing those couple of weeks he was out. Adrenaline was burning through his body. Blood was precisely pumped into his veins by his racing heart.
Earth was in a good mood. First fight after weeks. One winning round behind him and the second round looked very promising as well. Just a couple of more minutes and his opponent would be able to leave with his head hung low and hoping that someone would patch up his wounds, while Earth would yell in victory, and then leave the ring as well, pleasantly tired, he would tend to the minor injuries he got and then he would make sure to have a fun rest of the night.
In the corner of his eye, he could see Mix. His arms crossed on his chest, bottom lip sucked in as if he was nervous or maybe he was just concentrating too much — after all, Earth had no idea how Mix looked during the fighting nights. Funnily enough, this was the first time they both were at the fighting night at the same time. First out of many because Earth was back in full force, and Mix as their assistant trainer was bound to be at every game.
Earth should be focusing more on his opponent than on Mix, but the more glimpses of Mix he caught, the more something didn't seem right. Mix was too nervous for some reason. There was no way he would be so nervous just because two grown-up men were illegally fighting under his watch.
The punch into his ribs threw Earth off his kilter for a while. He stumbled a couple of steps back, now hearing Joe's worried screams, "are you okay up there? Earth, do you need to stop?"
"Bullshit!" Earth yelled. "I'm fine."
He let himself wince in pain for a brief moment and then he was back in the fight. Why Mix was worried was none of his business anyway. And he didn't care. This fight. This was the only thing that should matter right now. Earth. His opponent. And how to win this. Unlike some of Earth's regular opponents where he already knew a thing or two about them; how they move, are they more on the faster side or do they love taking their time? Are they more flexible or do they usually go for easier kinds of moves that don't require them to twist their limbs in positions that many times defy the laws of human anatomy? Or Earth's favourite... were they injured before? If so, where? Is that their Achilles' heel? Most of the time it is, and Earth doesn't mind playing dirty to win.
However, this guy was new. And Earth knew almost nothing about him besides his name, The Blade. So, how to get The Blade guy to lose?
Earth won the first round by kicking the back of his opponent's knee and then when the guy was on his knees, one swift kick into the chin did the rest. However, doing the same thing twice in a row rarely ever worked. And The Blade didn't look dumb. This time he was being careful, not letting Earth behind him for more than a fragment of a second.
