As the kids filed out, Sevs stayed behind to talk with Markus. Father had a little bit of time before he was done as well. “Nice speech.”

“Ya think so? Got it from an old football movie I watched last night.”

“Not really, you are so dramatic.”

“Hey, well, some of you take this very seriously, and State only happens once a year. I’m going to get these kids as ready as I can. I’m also not going to let them get complacent.”

“No fear of that. Half of them are terrified of you.”

Markus just grunted. “Not sure how to feel about that.”

“Ah, don’t worry too much. The other half worship you.”

“Hey! That’s not helping. How is that any better?”

Sevs just laughed at him. “I did have a question, though.”

“Shoot”

“So Hank and I need a favor. We got a prospect, but he still needs to be convinced to join. I set up a bout between him and Hank, and I would like you to referee.”

“When?”

“This weekend”

“I’ll be there.”

“Thanks.” With that, Sevs spotted Father coming up to the entrance of the training room. He waved to Markus and started walking over. As he got halfway to the door, Markus called after him.

“Do either this new guy or Hank know this is a recruiting session?”

“Of course not.”

***

The next couple of days passed quickly. Soon it was time for the coming contest. Sevs had worked as an intermediary during the past week. Despite some hiccups, everything was on track. On Saturday, Sevs showed up to the gym early. They had reserved one of the octagons. Sevs had planned to get one of the ones more out of the way but soon realized that wasn’t going to work. This would draw everyone's attention. At first, it might look like just any other sparring match, but Sevs guessed anyone would soon be able to see that it was not.

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Usually, Hank or any fighter would prepare for a fight, and there would be weigh-ins and judges. Technically, it was just a spar, but they wouldn’t treat it like one. Besides, Hank didn’t need to prepare for this. Sevs hoped Hank would finish it quickly. Get an easy takedown and submission. They might have to do that a few times to get the point across. However, when he brought it up with Hank, he had not gotten a promising answer. Hank only said, "we’ll see", then changed the subject.

This didn’t sit well with Sevs. If Hank drew out the fight longer, there was a greater chance of him getting hurt. Also, it would draw more attention to it. That was when Sevs had decided to pivot. He got the ring right by the entrance. It was next to some tables that sometimes acted as a viewing area when they were not being used for lunch. Now there would be plenty of places for people to watch. He made sure that a few regulars would be there too. Jerome would probably bring some friends. While that could be trouble, Sevs also saw this as an opportunity to show off. If he was lucky, maybe one of those friends would have some humility and be curious enough to come back.

Sevs had also started a few rumors. He was new to the school, but it hadn’t been hard to figure out a couple people to tip off who would then spread the word. There would be a large crowd of hopefully neutral people who might be interested.

Father dropped Sevs off at eleven, and the fight wasn’t supposed to start for at least 2 hours. Sevs had planned to warm up Hank, make sure Markus was ready, and set up equipment. They had spare headgear, gloves, and stuff. He even set up a mic system so they could have an MC and commentary. If he had his way, this would be a professional event with spectators, interviews, and everything short of a live broadcast. However, if any authority showed up, it should look like practice and maybe a show. Not an official fight. He had even got Jerome to sign the waiver and get a day pass for the gym.

Even Lily had come around. It wasn’t until Sevs promised she could join him on commentary that she got excited. Once Markus found out about the other preparations, he wasn’t satisfied with just being the ref. No, he wanted to introduce them too. He said he had been working on his old-timey boxer voice.

Sevs walked in two hours before the match began. He wasn't close to the first one there. Right as he walked in, a couple stopped what they were doing to come to talk to them. The first to reach Sevs was a boy he recognized from school but didn’t know his name. He stopped in front of Sevs and rattled off. “So we needed more power to run the speakers. They kept tripping the breakers in testing. Can we run a cord upstairs? I think it’s on its own circuit. The cord might get in the way a little, so Mike left to grab a cord-hider from home.”

The boy stood there, clearly waiting for something from Sevs. It sounded fine, so Sevs just nodded, and the boy sped off. The second person to reach him was a girl he knew. Before she could get a word out, Sevs greeted her. “Hello, Morgan. I see the chairs are all set up. Good job.”

Morgan flushed slightly “Thanks. Actually, there is something I wanted to ask you about. I don’t think that we are going to have enough space. Also, it's kinda hard to see from the back. We are getting more chairs, but they aren't going to be useful if you can’t see when you are sitting in them.”

Sevs frowned. How many people would be coming? The last time he checked, it seemed they would all fit. “Are you sure we don’t have enough space?”

“Absolutely! We barely have enough space for everyone already helping set up. We may have an extra ten seats beyond the thirty people here.”