Chapter 25
Jayden
As I walk through the door into where the fights set up, I’m met with a deafening roar of cheers. They aren’t for me, oh no. They’re for the underground legend Serge Volkov. A man rumored to fuck up every opponent he’s ever come across. Too bad that ends tonight because no way am I walking out of here a loser.
Z walks with me to the ring as Read Me My Rights blasts through the ancient sound system. Brantley Gilbert gets me pumped the fuck up. It was comical they asked for an intro song to come out to, as if this is a legitimate fight in a prestigious league.
As we come upon the octagon it almost makes me laugh when my eyes spot it. It’s a bunch of chain link fence matched together and bound with chains. There’s no flooring, just the cold hard concrete to break the fall should I end up on the ground. Serge’s already in the ring staring at me as I walk in front of him. Let him stare, I know he’s going to try and intimidate me. Too bad it won’t work. There’s too much on the line for me to cower to anybody, let alone a pussy that uses cheap weapons to beat his opponents. He’s known to hide shit under the tape on his knuckles. Let him, I’m ready for it.
A few spectators are cursing me out, telling Serge to fuck me up. All I do is look at them and smile. They can wish for that all they want but it ain’t fucking happening.
Once I’m in the ring I look behind me and give a nod to Zander, acknowledging I know he’s there. Then I turn back towards Serge and put on my game face. Body wise we’re identical, other than his hideous tattoos covering every square inch of his skin. He matches my 6’2” height and I’d guess he’s within five pounds of my 210. I wonder if he’s even trained half as hard as I have.
I can’t believe there’s a ref for this fight. It’s comical. This is a no holds bar underground fighting league. There are no fucking rules. It’s all about appearances. The people here spending money want to believe it’s legit. I hope that asshole isn’t stuck in the ring with us because something tells me this is gonna be one hell of a fight.
Skid stands up from the balcony he’s on. This guy really thinks he’s god up on his perch. He gives me a sinister smile and clears his throat. Everyone immediately shuts up listening for what he’s about to say.
“Thank you all for coming tonight, it should prove to be one of the best fights you’ll ever see. Most of you know Serge…” The crowd goes crazy for him and he eats it up strutting around like he already won. This is only fueling the fire, wanting to get in there and prove everyone wrong.
“And his opponent is new to the circuit but in no way should he be underestimated. For his first match, we have Jayden Cage!” I’m met with boos and I could care less. I’m not here to impress these people, I’m here to win this fight for my girl.
“Alright gentlemen, I don’t want a clean fight, the dirtier the better… am I right?” He yells to the crowd and they go crazy. “You hear that gentleman? Don’t disappoint me. On the bell, you better bring everything you’ve got!”
Not once have I taken my eyes off this asshole who keeps making kissy faces at me. It’s clear to see he’s underestimating me and I welcome it. Let him think I’m nothing, it’ll blindside him when I rip his fucking head off.
The bell rings and we’re on each other in an instant. I pull him down to the ground and wail on his mid-section with a series of punches. He counters by getting a hit in on my temple and rolling me off him. When we’re both on our feet we circle each other a bit. Each of us trying to figure the other out.
I go in for the attack again but he catches me, slams an elbow into my ribs and throws me into the cage. When I bounce back he lands a kick to the side of my head. Jumping back, I shake my head trying to fight off the haze. Damn that was a hard kick.
When he gets close enough I punch at him, my fists met with air as I miss my target. He whirls around and jumps on my back. As he throws his arms around my neck, his legs wrap around my waist locking in a hold that’s leaving me breathless. I have no choice, I fall backwards and hit the concrete with a thud. Luckily, Serge was there to break my fall.
“Go for his legs!” I hear Zander yell and I do just that. I fly on him before he can get off the ground and get him in a tight hold causing him to call out in pain. His ankle is bent at what I would guess is an excruciating position as I wrap my legs even tighter.
He starts rolling, gaining momentum, and I’m stunned when he rolls and ends up on top of me once again. He starts hailing his fist down on my face over and over. I’m trying to block him and kick at him with my legs. Finally, after taking several blows to the face, my legs latch onto his shoulders and slam him backwards into the concrete of the floor.
He gasps for air as the wind gets knocked out of his body. Time for me to capitalize. My legs straddle his waist and I begin punching him in the face. Straight on, and his nose starts gushing after my third or fourth hit. I’m so in the zone I don’t notice something flying through the air over the fence barrier. I also don’t notice Serge reach over and grab something before something cracks me in the head and I’m rolling off him.
Motherfucker, what was that? As I look up a 2x4 is coming down on my ribs. Once I grasp the severity of the situation I try to get to the other side of the ring and jump to my feet as fast as I can. The pain in my ribs is horrendous but I push the pain into the furthest point in my mind and try to figure out how to disarm this asshole.
He holds the piece of wood over his head and when it comes down I block it with my wrist. I have immediate pain shoot up my arm and I know something bad just happened. Fuck! As the wood comes down again I manage to get a good grip on it with my good hand and shove him backwards to the floor. As I look at the loot in my hand I debate using it to my advantage. Damn my mama for instilling morals in me. I can’t do it, so I throw it back to where it came from.
“You could have warned me bro.” I shout to Z.
“I did, you were too busy punching the shit out of him.”
“Touché.”
Serge moves to the middle of the ring and starts bouncing around, trying to throw me off from what move he’s about to make. My injured wrist is tucked into my body, the good one out ready for attack. Something else flies through the air and Serge catches it in the air. A fucking pipe! Really?
“Z, I think it’s time you start helping me out here.”
“On it!” I hear some commotion and quickly glance over in time to see Zander kicking someone out of there chair before slamming it against the floor. He picks up a leg that broke off and throws it in the air at me. What the hell is this gonna do?
“He’s not a fucking vampire! Do you want me to stake his heart?” This would be comical if I wasn’t about to be on the pipe end of a beating.
“It’s all I could get.”
I’m going to need to make this work. He charges at me and when the pipe connects with the chair leg it flies out of my hand, no match for a solid piece of steel. I’m gonna have to get old school and think of how to get this thing away from him.
He runs at me and I duck when he swings for my head. It misses me by millimeters I’m sure. With the momentum, it took for him to swing I take advantage and kick him in the ribs numerous times causing him to drop the pipe. It rolls to the corner and I run for it. He has the same idea because we collide and he takes me to the ground. I’m stuck on my stomach as his arms wrap around my neck, squeezing. I try to move my arms but there’s no leverage, nothing to grab onto.
“Jay, you have to get out of it! Fight god damn it!”
Does it not look like I am? I’m trying with everything in me to get out of this hold but he has me locked in tight. I’m immobile and I feel my resolve getting weaker and weaker. My movements become jerky as I’m finding it harder and harder to breath.
“Fucking fight!” Zander roars from the other side of the cage. But, I can’t. There’s nothing left in me.
“Jayden!”
It sounds like someone’s yelling my name and that’s when I see her. Georgie is running down the aisle in my sights coming for the cage. She doesn’t stop until she’s right in front of me shaking on the fence.
“Fucking fight!”
“Get out of there!”
“Jayden, you have to fight!”
Their comments are in and out, my head feeling hazy. I can’t believe I’m actually going to lose.