Chapter 29

Xander’s name roared through the speakers. Pulling the curtains back, he could see signs with his name on them and people standing to get a better look at ´The Beast.´

I’ll never get used to this.

He bowed his head to the fans lining the aisles. Tommy was waiting for him in the corner of the ring, and he could see Mr. Pain standing to the right, bouncing on his feet in anticipation.

Xander went from being awestruck by the show of support from his fans to feeling a violent resentment building as he looked at his competitor. They had been enemies since Xander first started at Tommy’s gym. Spitzer’s boys would show up from time to time just to stir the pot, leaving right before it boiled over and got them into any serious trouble. There was one exception, and that was the night when Xander was mugged by three of Spitzer’s guys on his walk home. Xander hadn’t seen his mugger’s faces, but heard a few of their voices and swore one of them was the man now standing less than ten feet in front of him.

The referee gathered ‘The Beast’ and ‘Mr. Pain’ in the middle of the ring, commencing Round One with a ‘sportsmanlike’ fist bump and an obligatory reading of the rules. Xander stared directly into his opponent’s eyes, channeling the fury and hatred within himself.

Two rounds passed.

“I’m sick of seeing this guys’ ugly face, Tommy.” Xander said as he took out his mouth guard and drank the water Tommy was holding up to him.

“I know you are, but be smart about this fight, kid. Don’t let your emotions get in the way. You may want to see a bloodbath, but the fans and scouts will want to see a clean, skilled fighter.”

The bell rang and Xander stood up.

“I don’t care what the fans want Tommy, this guy needs a good beating.”

Mr. Pain was being thrown around the ring.

This ain’t fun if there’s only one player.

Giving the other fighter room to get himself together, Xander stood back and watched as Mr. Pain swayed left to right, his eyes rolling around in their sockets as he tried to focus on where Xander was standing.

What a little girl. Xander thought to himself, standing back and looking at his competitor. He rubbed his eyes and pretended to cry like a child. He saw audience members laughing at him and booing at Mr. Pain while they shook their signs, cheering Xander on.

Not what the fans want to see huh, Tommy?

A woman sitting in the front row stood up and swept popcorn crumbs from her chair. She gathered her long, brown hair to one side and lovingly swatted her friend’s hand away from touching her behind.

Xander squinted.

Molly?

Xander felt a blow to the side of his head. Mr. Pain had moved too quickly for Xander to register and react.

What the hell?

His fury was now as red as the blood dripping down his right cheek, and Xander wiped it away on his shorts before looking up at Mr. Pain who resembled an angry bull, breathing heavily through his nose. Xander was now the one who had been made a fool of, and he looked up to see Mr. Pain waiting with his arms outstretched.

“Come at me now, Beast.”

When Xander would later describe the last part of the fight, he often said it was like he ‘blacked out’ and ‘his body just took over.’

He remembered running right at Mr. Pain, throwing his fists left and right with wild abandon. One punch to the head would have sufficed, but Xander couldn’t stop himself. Blood was coming from Mr. Pain’s forehead, nose, and mouth as the blows rained down over his head. Xander paused for a moment, looking Mr. Pain up and down, before one final hit knocked the man out cold.

The referee didn’t notice at first that Mr. Pain had been lying on the ground motionless. In the articles that followed he made sure to mention that it looked like he had just fallen to the ground under the immense beating he had taken—an attempt to cover his own ass. Xander however, knew that Mr. Pain was knocked out the second he hit the ground.

Xander was angry at himself for being distracted yet again by some girl he had thought was Molly, and was shocked at how severely it had interfered with his fighting. Jumping onto his unmoving body, Xander proceeded to strike Mr. Pain. Blood pooled to the surface of his skin wherever Xander’s fists landed. Finally, the referee knelt to the ground and called the fight, holding Xander’s hand high into the air.

There were mixed feelings about Xander’s win, and the sounds from the crowd reflected the controversy that would arise from this fight. Looking around the stadium, Xander saw people covering their mouths in disbelief, some even shielding their eyes. Others, mostly the very type of guys Xander disliked, were standing out of their seats throwing fists in the air and chanting “Beast, Beast, Beast.”

Tommy had walked out of the ring and disappeared into Xander’s locker room. Johnny escorted Xander to the back, not saying much about what just happened.

“You really let him have it, Xander.”

Johnny opened the locker room door and then shut it behind him, letting Xander and Tommy speak privately. Tommy was sitting on a bench, visibly fuming.

“What the hell was that, Xander? What were you thinking? You nearly beat him to death! I knew you hated the guy, but I didn’t think you would try and kill the poor asshole. They call you ‘The Beast’ because you’re like an animal out there, not because you actually are one, Xander. Jesus Christ.”

Now that the fighting was over, Xander was coming down hard from the adrenaline. He thumped down beside Tommy onto the bench.

“I can’t explain it, T. It felt like I had no control over my own hands, or any part of my body. It was like seeing his face brought out the evil in me. I just wanted to see him hurt, you know? It won’t happen again. I don’t want to be that kind of fighter.”

Tommy turned to look Xander directly in his eyes.

“You’ll be lucky if you’re any kind of fighter after that show you just put on, Xander. Your fans and the press are too in love with you to see through what just happened out there, but I know the danger of putting someone with that kind of instability into the ring again. I won’t have that kind of fire on my hands, Xander.”

Tommy packed up his briefcase and left Xander to contemplate his future as a competitive fighter.

“I’ll call you in the morning, Xander. Go home and get some rest.”

Xander knew that Tommy wasn’t being unreasonable. He knew he was out of control fighting Mr. Pain. It was as if a poison had taken over his whole body—a toxin that had made him merciless and unforgiving. But there was another aspect to his total lack of sanity in the ring that made him feel even less self-assured. Thinking he saw Molly in the audience almost cost him his career. He had become obsessive in his thoughts of her, seeing her face everywhere he went, and now that he seriously considered it, imagining she would actually attend his fights after how he had treated her was completely ridiculous.

This had to end.