Chapter 9
With every minute that passed, I lost hope that Deacon would break down the doors before my fight. After losing two violent fights in two weeks, and after the torture session that afternoon, I was in no shape to win.
Boris Fadeyev's eyes didn't betray anything, but I could read my future in Ilya's eyes. And if that wasn't enough, Viktor came to my locker room. My corner men wanted to object but they knew better. He barked at them in Russian, and they scurried out.
I wore nothing but my ring gear, a pair of lycra biking shorts and the chest protector. We were in the process of wrapping my hands when he came in, but the bandages were still on the table, and my hands were naked.
He walked slowly toward me. I was getting ready for a fight; fear was already under tight control. I didn't flinch when he stopped so close to me that our bodies touched. He was head and shoulders taller than me as I was standing barefoot on the cold tiles of the locker room. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end when he lowered his head to look me in the eye. His breath touched my skin when he spoke.
"If you don't win tonight, I'll be the one to take your life."
"Oh, thanks. It was really weighing on my mind who'd do it."
I tried to sound confident and arrogant. Maybe I could have pulled it off if he hadn't had me tied to a chair and tortured me earlier that day. He traced his fingers over one of the cuts he had drawn with a steel blade and Doctor Bachman had sewn.
"Don't worry, Maleficent," he whispered, relishing the sound of my Disney villain nickname. "I'll never let anyone else kill you."
He kissed me hard and without passion. My mind flashed to the Italian Mafia's kiss of death. The bite on my lower lip changed my mind. He would kill me if he had to. And he would fuck me if he didn't have to.
The cavalry better show up soon, or Joanna 'Maleficent' Blanchard was going to have a very, very messy night.
*
My opponent was so hopped up on drugs, I could see it from across the cage. Viktor's words and Fadeyev's cold stare were all the motivation I needed to give the Viper the beating of a life time. Unfortunately, she was a horribly precise striker and the chemical boost made her faster than I could see.
I was so desperate, I even tried to do a Skywalker thing and use the Force. I got hit hard in the jaw and fell to the ground. She pounced on me and heavy punches rained down. I managed to keep my guard up to protect my face, and I blocked away the pain.
I had to exploit her focus on hitting me with her fists. I locked my legs around her waist, and I started to squeeze the breath out of her. At first, she didn't even realize, she kept hitting under my ribs, delivering merciless punches to my side. Soon enough, the rhythm slowed down. Her punches got just a little lighter. I concentrated my remaining strength and managed to sneak one punch between her barrage of punches. I broke her nose and blood sprayed out and began pouring on my face. It wasn't the pain as much as the surprise that made her stop. I hit her again, and I increased the pressure on her ribcage. She covered her face so sloppily, I managed to hit her twice more.
Fear took over her and she tried to wriggle out, to be able to take in a full breath. I let her escape and I crawled to my feet while she drew her breath. She didn't expect me to attack, but I moved too slowly. She was ready for me. She resisted my takedown attempt, not realizing it was a trick. We rolled around and I ended up behind her. My legs wrapped around her waist and my left arm snaked under her chin. I felt her windpipe in the crook of my elbow, and I locked my left hand on my right upper arm. Then I applied pressure. My whole body was flooded with adrenaline reducing it to numbness. I thought about Leo Dvorak's hand on my own throat. I thought about the handcuffs digging into my flesh. I thought about how good it felt to have Anna's throat under my forearm just like I was holding the Viper's now. And I kept holding on while the Viper clawed at my arm, and thrashed trying to get me off her. I thought of Tatiana, tied to a chair and beaten, and I increased the pressure, wanting to snap tear the Viper's head off.
I didn't feel her tap on my arm. I didn't feel the referee's tap on my shoulder. I didn't hear him shouting at me to let go. I heard the roar of the crowd, chanting my name. And for a heart stopping moment, I thought it was my real name.
"Joan! Joan! Joan!"
I shifted my focus to the here and now. My vision cleared and I saw the referee's lips moving. I felt his hands trying to get me to release the limp body of Claudia 'The Viper' Oliveira. I let go and she fell like a rag doll to the floor.
I stood up, and the last conscious thought was the referee holding my arm up while the doctor was kneeling above Claudia. I stumbled out of the cage while the ring announcer proclaimed that the winner of the tournament for the bantamweight class was Joanna 'Maleficent' Blanchard.