Adrian counted out a few coins on the table, before pushing them over to the cashier. He took the two paper bags, one in each hand, and tried to thank the man without making any eye contact. He was trying to keep the hood to his jacket up and his head down, avoiding any curious stares or comments. The left side of his face had a number of bruises and small gashes running along it- it looked like he'd taken quite a beating. He could conceal his limp well enough, but it was a little difficult for the rookie fighter to avoid attention with his face messed up like that.

He walked briskly out onto the sidewalk, managing to light up a cigarette without dropping either of the grocery bags. He hadn't received any of the injuries in a fight of any kind. In fact, he'd won the few fights he'd been in so far, including the one the previous night. He was being billed as a natural talent with potential, one who needed some solid foundation and practice to be a real contender. The only problem was that he wanted out. And after he'd announced that to his manager after his bout the night before, well.. Apparently criminal organizations didn't take kindly to their prospects leaving them behind for greener pastures. If promising a better life wouldn't get him to stay, then they'd just have to beat the urge to leave out of him. He wasn't scheduled for any matches in the near future so, as long as they didn't permanently damage him, now was the perfect time to send him this sort of message. He was only sorry he'd given his boss the opportunity.

Addrian had tried not to let it bother him, tried to keep his head high and hope that he'd figure a way out soon. But it seemed like the odds were highly against this. Perhaps the fight tonight would take his mind off of things.. It was one of the rare times that he'd be sitting outside the ring, and it'd be his first taste of what real, champion fighters would look like. It was sure to be impressive. But he'd be there for the sole purpose of trying to learn to be a better fighter. He couldn't just casually sit back and watch the blood sport unfold before him.

No, he should've been happy.. Today was basically a day off today. The only thing he had to do that even resembled training was watching the match tonight. He hadn't had to step foot in the gym today, which was rare. He had to make the best of things.. It wasn't all that bad. It could've been worse.
'Right,' he thought to himself, 'It could be so much worse..'

Sakura grumbled, watching as the strange  boy walked away swiftly. "What was that about, Sakura?" Dante asked coming up behind his sister. She just shrugged, not really sure her self, she shoved the envelope in her pocket continuing to walk down the side walk. "You pumped for your match tonight?" Dante asked, trying to break the silence between them. She shrugged again. "Not really, I heard that the guy I'm supposed to ofight is a real rookie. Knows absolutely nothing, unlike a new rookie that I want to fight. He apparently has natural talent, so I have to set that up with Papa. She said nonchalantly. Papa is what the sibling's manger asked them to call him, said it made them sound weak so the opponent would let their gaurd down. Sakura didnt care for the real reason, she liked to think that he was the closest thing to a father that the two had ever been with so she welcomed the name with open arm. She shoved her hands in her pocket, as she went to rest for her up coming match.

((Sorry its so lame.))

((I'm timeskip this to the up and coming tournament.))

Sumnor walked through the crowd of people, watching with a blank ex
pression as they sperated like the red sea, a look of bloodlust on their faces, knowing already this was a death bout. His eyes snapped up to the metal spectator box twenty feet above the ring as the speaker blared out, Coming to the ring!! with Thirty Seven fights in his career of five years, and thirty seven victorys to no losses at all!! it's SUMNOR PEGAGNYX!!

He glared at the double sided gl*censored*, this side a mirror, but he knew he was glaring straight into the eyes of one of the owners of this busines of debauchery. You'll get him one day.... don't worry.  He thought to himself, before walking to the edge of the ring, which was basically a crude circle drawn in the sand, around a dozen feet wide.

He glared through the now seperating crown across the ring from him as a large man began to thump through. The man - nay, beast - stood at around 6'11'', weighing more than most well known body-bulders could ever lift, Sumnor instantly isolating speed as a weakness. Now approaching the ring, with an equal record, although he's been in the game an extra year, it's Carlos Contrerez!!

Sumnor removed his leather Jacket and Plain black long sleeved shirt, having removed the hoody earlier, before throwing them to Raz, "I'll be back to get them later..."  Raz nodded slightly, "That's a boy..." Raz nodded, proud, having become mroe of a father figure of the years he had known the boy, loving him in his own strange way.

The crowd began to get eager, an even split for bets, the ring was going to make a killing either way, the new ones bet for the big guy to win, the more experienced fight attenders, had bet for Sumnor to come up better off.  Now, now, settle down, this may be a DEATH BOUT but that is nothing to get excited about....  They knew what buttons to press, the crowd were now throwing even more bets down, wanting to make money out of the violence.

The siren went, before the big man launched at Sumnor, severe vengeance in hsi eyes, met only by the steel-capped knuckles of Sumnor's well planted fist, snapping the bridge with little effort. "First Mistake." The big man puhed himself to his feet quicker than Sumnor would have expected, before tackling him to the floor, punching him to the lower abdomen, "And yours, boy."

Sumnor headbutted hard into the already broken nose of the man, shattering it completely, before standing whilst rubbing hsi side, "No, yours."

The sea of bodies pressed against Lanens own in uncomfortable ways. A mans leg against her hip, anothers arm brushing her head. She shuddered. Just let me through... "S'cuse me," She muttered, ducking low and dodging flailing limbs as she went through a human tunnel. She was stopped once, twice, to be asked her age and was she supposed to be here. "Yes and no," The girl answered, hurrying away. If they knew her at all, they wouldnt have asked the silly question.

Nearer the ring, she could hear the excited shouts of the blood-thirsty crowd as they shouted bids and insultes at one another as well as the fighters in the ring. Lanens eyes narrowed as she sized up the opponents. 

The big man's more likely to have more strength, but less speed. Less brains than brawn. The boy-ah. Well. Fancy meeting you here...

Sumnor, whos name she had read on the display, was unmistakably the one she had seen leaving the bus stop; who else had hair like that...that was agile enough to move without a walker, let alone fight. Lanen brought her hand up to her mouth as she shifted her weight on her better leg, hiding a grin. When the boy went down and took a few blows, she winced in sympathy, then cheered when he retaliated, smashing the brutes nose completely. She whooped.

"Alrigh'! There go!"

Sakura stood to the side watching the brawl, waiting for her turn. She popped her joints and smiled evily as she watched the fight unfold. Whoever won this battle would be her opponent unless something went wrong and neither one could fight anymore. "You pumped?" Came her brother's voice from behind her, his muscles tense as they always were in a place like this. He never relaxed in buildings with loads of people because of a past issue when he had been jumped in a middle of a crowd that did nothing to help. She smiled and nodded, downing a bottle of water. "My money is on the twig that gave me the letter." She stated looking at the two. "One has pure strength, but the other will have endurance." She said turning to her brother. "You know what they always say, sis. The bigger they are the harder they fall."

Standing, Sumnor looked around, *censored*essing his situation, looking at the brute on the floor coverring his face, Sumnor almost felt what he thought was sympathy, but it didn't manage to claw it's way through, remaining held off by whatever had snapped in him so many years ago. "Get up, only a bug dies on the floor." The big, burly man stood, cracking all knuckles of both hands, before swinging a blind left towards Sumnor's head, the shatterred nose causing two black eyes and imparing his sight.

Sumnor ducked, narrowly avoiding the *censored*ault, retalliating with a heavy elbow to the ribs, followed by a simple high knee to the jaw, knokcing him down again, "Now, now, the rule stipulate that if I don't land at least seven mroe hits on you before you die, this fight becomes null and I don't get paid, so get back on your feet you useless maggot."

There was a mix of cheers and boos from the crowd, all rather satisfied at the jeers Sumnor was getting in at any chance, always the crowd pleaser.  His thoughts flashed, causinga  smirk on his face, he muttered, "With looks still this good who wouldn't be?" The big man had been dragging himself behind Sumnor, throwing his full weight into the backs of his legs, causing him to land on his front.

Raz pushed hsi way through to teh front, examining the two fighter on the ground, the bigger man nursing his rib-cage,  which Sumnor had obviously damaged, "That's a boy, Sumnor..." Sumnor lay his knuckles on the ground, before pushing himself up gruffly, throwing a heavy kick into the damaged ribs of his opponent, shattering at least three of them completely, "Third and fourth mistake.... getting up on the first place and then making me mad."

he straddles Carlos, throwing steel capped punch after steel capped punch into the face and neck of the spanish man on the ground, landing a good two dozen before standing and stamping on his head for good measure. He looked up at the box and pointed to the man he imagined he was staring at earlier, "That, I do believe, is a win."  He popped his knuckles before walking through the crowd, nodding at the girl he had spoken to earlier, "Keep that letter, my career's far from over yet."

That hardly counted as a fight. The smaller guy had absolutely destroyed the bigger one. Adrian couldn't help but look a little pale. They hadn't done any of the things he'd seen other fighters do, cautiously trying to land a few hits to guage their opponents before really starting the attack. No, these two guys had just gone straight for each other, with almost no obvious thought about their own well-being. They just seemed not to be afraid of getting hurt- or killed, in this case- and Adrian couldn't understand it.

Both of the fighters were absolutely heartless, although somehow Sumnor's brand of cruelty seemed different than Carlos'. Carlos seemed like a gigantic, mindless hulk of a person, who couldn't understand comp*censored*ion if it hit him in the face. But Sumnor seemed.. was 'calculating' the right word? As if he knew exactly how what he was doing was vile and yet did it anyway?

Adrian kept his head down as the crowd started to press forward to collect their winnings and take a better look at the dead fighter. He stayed close to his manager, who, in turn, was chatting with an *censored*ociate of his who ran some of the betting. All the young fighter could think about was how he wanted to lose way before he ever got into a bout that would take someone's life. But, in the ring, would it be different? Would he just cast of that idea of decency and beat another person to death in the eyes of spectators just to save himself? The idea only scared him because he saw it as a real possibility.

"He's fearless," Lanen mused to herself, noting the different fighting style. "Quick and deadly. Hornet." She glanced around the crouded room, not noticing before how close she stood beside 'Papa'. A shiver ran down the petite girls spine. She had learned to tolerate the man who treated them like dogs...the fighting kind. A master and his hounds. Lanen frowned; she couldnt deny the grudging respect she felt, however.

She turned and walked away, unable to stand the smell of death. She'd been in one death bought and that was enough for her. The sickness afterwards had left her unable to move. The girl looked at her hands, flipping them over. "Nobody's perfect, but we could try..."

((Lol 'papa' is my thing lol jk jk but i did use that. sorry reubin.))

Sakura nodded as he walked off, then realized she was being called up into the ring. "Guess its my turn." She sighed hopping up effortlessly, listening to the excitement of a match between a female and a male. "What losers. It ddoesnt make a difference what gender I am as long as I win, that is." She growled looking back at her brother who just shrugged. "Who am I up against?" She asked beginning to shake out her muscles. Dante turned to follow the one who had just finished his match, catching up easily. "Interesting style. Who's your sponsesr?" He asked keeping his pace even with the other fighter.

(Epicly failishly short XD))

Sumnor walked straight past Raz, taking his shirt and leather jacket, pulling them on to cover his upper body, "I don't particularly have any sponsors, Raz is my 'master'.... other than that it's just the owners of the business that I get paid by..." He rubbed his abdomen where the big man's blows had landed, they hadn't done any permenant damage but the area would be tender for a few hours, Sumnor had never had trouble healing quilckly.

He ma.ssaged the bridge of his nose with the index finger and thumb of his right hand, "And as for the style, it's just something I've adapted from my regular bodily motions." He flexed his arms, doing his utmost to get rid of the left-over adrenaline from the fight, not liking the feel of his body being hyped up when it was not necessary, "I've been fighting since i was eight, living on the streets forces you to be hard.... Raz found me when I was ten, beat what was left of my humanity out of me and created what walks along side you right now, nothing more than a machine."

He took out a cigarette and lit it up, taking small drags, wanting to make it last as best he could, as he did not smoke often, wanted to save as much of his lungs as he could, "And as for the obvious thoughts running through your head about me killing that guy without a second thought, I'm a sociopathic sadist, so in my mind its kill or be killed, nothing else... plus the sadistic side of me enjoys inflicting pain."  He thought for a few moments, before running his tongue across his upper teeth, "Plus there's the fact that guy was a bit annoying... and completely thick."

Dante laughed, he couldnt help him self. "In the ring, especially in a death match, it is kill or be killed. Thats the way it goes. As for you being a sociopathic sadist of a machine, I really dont see that about you. My sister and I were the same way, living on the streets. We were found and raised to fight, not knowing anything but." He whispered, knowing that if his sister found out that he had sai anything about their past, he would be dead. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall. You proved that today. Anyone who wants to argue should join the bafoon." He changed back to the fight that had finsished. He looked inside, wondering who was going to fight his sister next. "You should fight my sister, she would love a match that gave her a challenge." He offered, knowing she would truely love to fight this guy, as long as it werent a death match.

(Epic fail)

Sumnor looked at Dante, before shrugging off his jacket and handing it to him along with his shirt, "I can't see why not." He winked, a smirk playing on his lips, before tightening his gloves and walking into the ring, opposite Sakura, "Well hello again, Mon Amici." He bowed, but this time it was not a mocking bow, as he had done in the past to provoke an aggrovated as.sault, this one was to show respect.

He began to bounce up and down on his feet, attempting to get the adrenaline pumping once again, succeeding within a few short moments, "Been a while since I've been in a fight against one of the opposite gender, thought they'd made rules against it, guess not."  He arched his back, the scars on his chest catching the light, causing a fewgroans of sympathy from the crowd, knowing he must have gone through pain at one point, all scars lookig like they had come from deep cuts.

He put up his guard, deciding not to remove his steel-capped gloves, before taking a carefully measured step forward, nodding at Sakura, showing there would be no hard feelings on his part when the fight was through. "Let's go."

"With pleasure." Sakura smirked taking a quick step forward and punching his side before he could react. "Sorry, was that too fast for you?" She joked, but the humor never reached her eyes as she bounced back and forth on the mat. She had seen this guy fight, he was slim and fast but by nature he was still heavier than her. She sometimes is able to mave and knock you down before you can even bl
ink, but she wasnt in the mood today. "She sighed wondering if this guy was even worth her time.

Dante smiled watching as his sister made the first blow. "You are going to make her real happy. Just dont rough her up too badly." He mumbled waiting for Sumnor to fight back.

Sumnor pressed his elbows into his side, allowing his centre of gravity to lower, "Oh, of course not," He smirked, firing a quick shot into just underneath her ribs, "Sorry, wsa that too fast for you." he fell to the ground, kicking his feet towards her ankles, wanted to take this fight to the mat, mat-technique always had been his strong point.

Raz was standing next to Dante, "She may be making a mistake baiting Sumnor like that, he may seem pretty laid back but once he loses his tempre he does not relent until his opponent isn't able to stand, you may want to calm her down slightly, if that's at all possible."  Raz was a heavily set man, bulky muscle coverred his entire frame, the only plump part of his being his stomach, as he was getting on now, sixy years old now.

"Once she is in a zone, it doesnt end until she wins. Sorry to say, but this may get ugly if neither of them will rein themselves in." Dante sighed, looking over at the man who must have been Raz. "Im Dante, thats my sister Sakura. Sumnor is a good fighter, I really want to see how this turns out." He grmaced as he watched Sumnor's feet meet her ankles.

Sakura forced the air out of her lungs as Sumnor punched her, so she wouldnt be left breathless, but she stumbled as her ankles were kicked out from under her. She bent backwards, her hands landing on the mat as she twisted her body to kick at Sumnor while still in her hand stand. Her heel made contact with his cheek, but it didnt appear to do much good. SHe pushed off the ground with her hands landing on her toes as she returned to the mat, shifting from side to side without missing a beat.

Sumnor smirked as the keel of Sakura's foot scraped off his face, before his shin crashed across the backs of her legs, before he threw a kick into her rings, rolling backwards and getting back to his feet, returning to his composed fighting stance. "Got to say, up to now you're the trickiest I've fought, you may make me break a sweat."

Raz nodded to Dante, "I'm Raz, and I always want to see how Sumnor's fights play out, i've been watching and mentoring him for five years now, although it's hard to mentor someone who fights on raw emotion, he doesn't train, he doesn't need to, he stays in shape just by fighting and all the walks he goes on..."

He looked at the intersted ex
pression look on Dante's face as he watched the fight, "If you ask Sumnor I'm a monster, for what I did to him in his earlier years, but what he gave back to me more than amde up for it, he has one hell of a brain on him, blocked one of my most vicious blows at the young age of 12 and turned my weight on myself, putting me on my back before knocking me out, amazing..." 

"Im glad I could make your day. I might actually be nervous if this were a death match." Sakura smiled rushing forward again to punch him in the gut. She growled in frustration as he moved out of the way of her blow, and she continued punching in Sumnor's direction.

"Our mentor is hardly ever around. When we were found, we were asked to fight for him, he said if we did we would be treated like royalty. But we turned the offer down, still agreeing to fight as long as we could do it our way, by our own rules and to be left alone. Ofcourse he agreed, but at the age we were at, I dont think we could have done what Sumnor did. We were fast, hard targets to catch with little strikes that dont seem like much until you are down on the ground. Or the next day if you make it that far. Thats how my sister fights anyway." He sighed watching his sister jump at the first oportunity she got to land a blow. Never thinking, all instinct. 

((Woo! Fight fight fight! X) ))

"Could they just....not go on like a death is nothing?" Lanen said as her lip curled in disgust. Kill, watch one be killed, get back to fighting. Mind numbing. "And they say violent video games are turning people into homocidal maniacs...they know nothing." Still, the prospect of guaging other fighters was tempting...she gave in and turned to watch, only to find bodies blocking her line of vision. The only thing she could see was the back of people.

With a slight growl-sigh type noise, Lanen began to climb a beam supporting a narrow catwalk that ran the edge of the building and heaved herself onto the deck, where she sat with her legs dangling, watching the fight with intrest from her vantage point.

And now the champion fighter was in a second bout that night. His endurance was positively astounding, and this time Adrian seemed to be watching with keen interest. He'd come off of that last deathmatch so utterly unharmed that he was in another fight already? He was simultaneously impressed and freaked out. That man wasn't human.

He was no less shocked that a girl was the one fighting him. He hadn't run into any female fighters yet, and had no idea they were in on this. On top of that, a woman fighting a man just seemed a little unfair. There were reasons that real, regulation boxing matches didn't cross gender lines, weren't there? And how could she possibly want to fight the guy who'd just beaten someone with his bare hands and walked calmly away?

These people.. He couldn't comprehend their motivation for this. He understood that some people actually liked fighting, but at some point he'd expect some self-preservation instinct to kick in and to keep them from going out and tossing their lives away in a bare-knuckle fight. He didn't know how he'd even come this far, if these were the sorts of mentalities he was up against. Adrian was a natural fighter, he didn't have any of the well-trained foundations that others might, but somehow everything that was going on before him was utterly bizarre. He appreciated a good fight.. Sumnor was just so scary, what was that girl thinking?

Speaking of girls- his pale gray eyes had locked on a woman who'd climbed up to get a better view of the fighting. His gaze lingered on her a little while before turning back to the fight, not particularly wanting to miss it. There was actually a lot of give and take this time, this lady was definitely holding her own better than the other man had. Then again, he noted that the difference in fights might just be because this one wasn't a death bout. These people weren't fighting for their lives. And yet.. They seemed just as serious about it. The brunet fished around in his pocket for a little while before he extracted a cigarette from its pack, placed it between his lips and lit it. He didn't know how he was going to survive this place.