Tales From New Jump City

2. What happens in fight club stays in fight club

Emi stood in front of Darrick's desk as he reviewed her article on his tablet. As he read it he took a big draw from his vape and blew out a fat cloud between his buck teeth. Emi waved it out of her face.

    "Are you seriously going to do that here?" Emi asked incredulously.

"What's the big deal?" Darrick replied. "I need to be constantly on alert. News moves so I can never stop. I need this to help keep me sharp." Emi looked tired.

"You know you're still a teenager right? Don't you think it's a bit too soon to have nicotine addiction? " She asked.

"You know I'm an old soul. Besides this is pure water vapor. It keeps me on my toes."

"Water vapor?'' Emi looked in disbelief.

"Yeah", Darrick replied. "My doctor told me my lungs look like they had pneumonia, and I told HIM to take a hike."

"Understood". Emi fluffed up her hair bit to ease the feeling of awkwardness.

"I really like this story you managed to nab, Emi. This is some hard-hitting journalism. The student body is eating this stuff up. Did that guy you see really use an umbrella to fend off the Orange Viper Gang?" Darrick asked my squinting his eyes.

"That's right, sir. He did more than fend them off with it. He told me that he was trained with the umbrella from his teacher."

"And this is quite some speech he has here!" Darrick exclaimed.

Emi smirked at this. "Yes, it's definitely something." She said sarcastically.

Darrick put down the article and balled his fist. "He's just brimming with manly spirit".

Some girls in the office overheard and one said, "He sounds like a real cutey. Hahaha." Emi looked around in confused disbelief. She couldn't understand what was so appealing about this umbrella-waving moron.

"Well, this is really great stuff, Emi. Let's not stop the momentum. I want you to report to the Z Wing boys bathroom to get a story on how the fights go. No cameras are allowed in there so we need you to write the story," Darrick said while pulling out a fight press pass. Emi looked annoyed and pinched her nose.

"I hate it there. That place smells." Darrick smacked his hand on the table and pointed at Emi.

"Godammit Emi,  we're journalists. Our job is to wade through the shitty shit of this world and report that shit to the world." He handed her the pass which Emi reluctantly took. "Now get a move on. Apparently, Nerdy Nelson is gonna fight that one kid who eats glue."

Emi left the newsroom and made her way towards the Z wing of the high school. She walked up to the boys' bathroom, looked around to make sure no teachers were around, and then opened the door.

From the outside, it looked like your normal typical dingy boys bathroom, but the inside was completely remodeled and repurposed. Instead of typical urinals and piss-covered floors, it was instead a fighting stadium with hundreds of seats around the arena. It was filled with many students looking to see some action as well as some unsavory characters, looking to either gamble or take part in the fighting themselves. Local gangs were also looking for new recruits for their ranks.

As Emi walked towards her seat, she ran into Gustavo and Marcus, the flamboyant duo that run the underground fight club. Gustavo had pink cornrows and a fur crop top jacket and an arm wrapped around Marcus who had on a flowing blue shirt and an eyebrow piercing.

"Oh look, love, it's the girl from the papers," Gustavo said.

"Come to watch our little show, Emi?" Marcus said.