Pat... Pat Pat Pat.
The satisfying sound of his fists hitting the punching bag soothes Steven's anxious mind and soul. He has been thinking about tomorrow's fight ever since he found out about his little brother's debt and something has seemed off about it.
To forgive a debt that is nearing $500,000 just by losing the upcoming fight doesn't sit well with Steven. He knows the man that Brandon is indebted too and Steven knows he has the reputation as a ruthless killer that has committed many horrifying crimes. Fearing for Brandon's life, Steven is forced to accept any and all terms Sergey Mikhailov gives him.
Pat Pat Pat...
Apparently, Sergey's son, Nikola, wants to get into underground fighting and plans to make a grand entrance into the business. What better way to make an impression on everyone than to beat the greatest fighter alive right now. This is the reason why Steven must lose the upcoming fight.
Pat Pat... Pat Pat Pat...
'Still, something is not right. Nikola's attitude when we made the deal was too haughty and Sergey's face was full of shrewdness. There is a catch... There has to be!'
RRIIIPPPPP~
The sound of the punching bag ripping and the sand inside of it falling to the floor interrupts Steven's thoughts. He had accidentally done a powerful roundhouse kick to a weak part of the punching bag's stitching and ripped it wide open, spilling sand everywhere. The rip is near the top of the bag and it is threatening to continue ripping and fall of the chain connecting the bag to the ceiling.
Steven lets out a long deep breath to calm himself down. Ever since he was a kid Steven has had an insane amount of strength and is confident that if he would punch someone in the chest with his full raw strength, their ribs would collapse and they would die a quick yet brutal death. Steven has of course never used his strength to its full potential and in fights, he only knocks out his opponent and never kills them, even though it is allowed in his line of profession.
Steven walks over to the nearest weight bench and picks up the towel folded on it. Wiping the sweat from his face, Steven picks up the plastic bottle on the floor near the bench and drinks the lukewarm water inside.
He has been training vigorously for about 3 hours now but does not feel an ounce of fatigue or soreness in his body. This has always baffled Steven's trainer. It's about 9:00 p.m. and Steven sent his trainer home so they could spend more time with their sick daughter.
Knock Knock
Steven looks to the door to his personal gym and raises an eyebrow. He wasn't expecting guests and so he warily walks towards the door. There is a table beside the entrance to the room and on it is a bunch of random items but the thing that Steven takes from it is a black pistol.
The Glock 18 is fairly light in Steven's hands and he tucks the deadly weapon in his sweatpants at the waist. Unlocking the door and slightly cracking it open, Steven can feel the bone-chilling breeze coming from outside.
Snow is pelting his brother's face that is full of anxiety and caution. Beside Brandon is his brother's current girlfriend, Samantha. Seeing his brother, Steven sighs a breath of relief and takes the pistol out of the waistband of his sweatpants and sets it on the table where it was originally.
"Hey, Little Bro, what's up?" Steven says finally opening the door all the way. The sweat on Steven's body quickly drys as the wind pelts his bare chest and his face. Brandon's face that was full of anxiety shifts into a face of relief as he sees his brother is doing well before the fight.
"Well, since you're helping me out with my... problem. My girlfriend and I have brought you some homemade dinner since I know you hate to cook." Brandon says as he holds out a plastic bag filled with Tupperware. Handing the bag over to Steven, Brandon begins to leave but Samantha grabs his arm and pulls him back.
With a low voice, Samantha silently yells at Brandon. She is trying her best for Steven to not here it but his sense of hearing is top notch and he hears her clearly.
"Your brother is risking his reputation and everything he has done for 10 years and you're not even going to say thank you or even be with him the night before the fight?!" Samantha's tone of voice is harsh and her face is full of anger at her pathetic boyfriend.
Steven's face turns sour as he hears Samantha scolding Brandon and Samantha notices the expression on Steven's face and she flashes a submissive and apologetic smile towards the angry Big Brother. Steven accepts the apology sent from Samantha with the smile and his face turns calm and gentle.
"I can imagine my Little Bro's nerves are on edge and he would want to go home and relax as soon as possible. I appreciate the gesture from you two and thank you for the food. The air outside is cold and you should go home and rest." Steven says to get his brother out of the doghouse and chuckles as he puts a hand on his brother's shoulder.
With a firm gaze, Steven looks his brother in the eyes and his voice comes out with a stern and authoritative tone. "Don't worry, Big Bro has your back. I promised Momma that I would do anything to protect you and I will keep this promise."
Looking over at Samantha, whose face is blushing with shame, Steven continues his speech. "My reputation doesn't matter to me. He is the last bit of family I have so I don't mind taking a loss for his sake, so don't beat him up over this. Ok?" Steven asks with a hope that Samantha's anger towards Brandon would dissipate like thin air.
"Fine. I understand. If you ever need anything, Steven, please call us." Samantha was reluctant at forgiving Brandon at first but seeing that Steven, who is the one paying for Brandon's mistakes, forgive Brandon so quickly melted Samantha's heart and she decides to forgive Brandon too.
Brandon, who has been quiet for most of the visit, has a dark and depressed expression. "Samantha, please go to the car. I want to say something to Big Bro before we leave." Brandon says with a shaky voice.
"Ok babe." Samantha says and she gives Brandon a quick peck on the cheek and hurriedly makes her way to the car. Steven has a surprised face as his little brother had always been a coward who has never spoken his mind or commanded someone to do something.
No one says anything for about a minute as Steven waits for Brandon to speak his mind but Brandon just keeps opening his mouth like he is going to say something but soon closes it without a single word coming out. Soon, streams of tears flow out of Brandon's watery eyes. Steven takes this as a hint and even though he is only wearing a pair of sweatpants and it's about 20 degrees Fahrenheit outside, he walks outside the warmth of the personal gym and pulls his brother into an embrace.
At first, Brandon's arms hung limply at his sides but after a few seconds of processing what is happening, he hugs Steven tightly and begins to shout in a hoarse voice.
"Sorry! I am so sorry Big Bro! Everything is my fault and I've learned my mistakes! Even if you hate me for the rest of your life for what I have done to you, I will never forget the kindness you've shown me throughout my life... thank you!"
Steven just shakes his head at Brandon's shouting and crying. With a gentle voice, Steven calms the violent storm brewing inside of Brandon's soul.
"Shhhh. I would never hate you. I also got your back. It's what I'm here for. Now, go and get a good night's rest. Don't fret over tomorrow's details and let your Big Bro handle it. Alright?" Brandon nods his head up and down then wipes his tears on his winter jacket. With a final nod from Brandon, Steven watches Brandon walk into the snowstorm and to his car.
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The headlights of the car pierce Steven's vision and almost make him blind before they disappear into the night, signifying Brandon's journey back home. Steven sighs and walks back into the warm personal gym and closes the door behind him.
He opens the plastic bag and observes the food inside. It is steak with mashed potatoes, corn, and broccoli. Everything is cooked exactly how Steven likes it, making him smile wide in pleasure as he is ready to dig into this meal.
*Day of the Fight*
The bloodthirsty shouts of the crowd make it impossible for any regular human to be able to think straight. Inside of the octagon shape metal cage, Steven looks back and forth and can see there are more people who have shown up than usual.
Most of the people in the crowd are familiar faces to Steven but there are a few that seem new and are also on edge. Steven remembers what happened last time people like this showed up and he prepares himself for the worst.
Jumping up and down and shaking his fist to keep himself warm and ready. Steven's opponent finally emerges from within the bowels of the crowd and he has a cocky grin on his face.
Nikola enters the arena and sizes up Steven. Steven is only wearing a pair of Dri-Fit shorts so most of his body is open for anyone to observe.
Steven is 6'3 and most of his body is covered in tattoos. From Dragons, spiders, and even the Grim Reaper being tattooed on his body, it adds a level of fear in his opponent as everyone knows why Steven has these tattoos. Each one of them symbols a win Steven has had ever since he joined the underground fighting arena making there be 152 tattoos on Steven's body in general.
Steven's muscles bulge as his body is defined and it looks like he has no body fat at all. His short brown hair matches the same color as his eyes which have a sharp and deadly glint to them. Most opponents when seeing the monster that is Steven begin to quake slightly but Nikola has a grin that spreads from ear to ear.
Nikola is only 5'7 and you can't see any bulging muscle on his body and his gut even extends out a little bit. Nikola is a lazy and prideful man and everyone can tell that just by looking at him.
Everyone expects Nikola to be knocked out within 5 punches, but no one knows about the situation that Steven's brother is in. With all of the bets being placed, the announcer shouts out the names of the contestants and a girl wearing skimpy clothing carries a sigh as she struts through the middle of the arena.
The referee, who is only used to start matches and actually never interferes with the fight, looks at Nikola. "Are you ready?" he asks Nikola. Nikola nods his head up and down. The referee looks at Steven and says the same thing. "Are you ready?"
Right before Steven can nod his head up and down, a woman runs up to the cage surrounding the arena and slams into it.
"Steven! Steven!" the woman yells with a voice full of sorrow. Steven turns around and looks at the battered and bloody woman that he recognizes as Brandon's girlfriend, Samantha. Steven immediately runs to the side of the cage Samantha is at and begins to panic.
"What is going on, how did you get these injuries?!" Steven yells and the crowd begins to yell louder as they are losing their patience. Everyone came here to see blood and they want it now. Samantha knows she doesn't have much time so she chooses her words carefully.
"Sergey captured us last night! I managed to escape but they still have Brandon. I heard them say they plan on killing all of us after the fight, hurry you have to-!"
Samantha's frantic screaming is cut short by someone grabbing her and putting a hand over her mouth. The person who grabbed Samantha begins pulling her away from the cage and as she struggles, another man shows up and punches her in the face constantly while the original one holds her down.
The crowd notices the fight but pays no heed to it. This was within Steven's predictions though. He knew Sergey would most likely not let the debt go down like that but he never expected them to openly kidnap his brother then assault his brother's girlfriend.
As Steven's breathing becomes shallow in anger, he knows there is only one way to leave the arena after entering it. Steven turns to the referee and says "Ready".
The referee had not heard what Samantha had said so he nodded up and down and signaled the beginning of the fight. Steven stands still and watches as Nikola comes towards him with his hands up. Nikola had noticed Samantha and decides to sneer towards Steven.
"I am surprised that slut managed to escape my room last night. I figured with what I did to her last night she would barely be able to walk."
These words resonate through Steven's soul and his breathing turns from shallow to calm and his pupils become like needles. His stare becomes intense at Nikola and he releases a killing intent that actually seeps into the shouting crowd. The crowd turns silent as they have never felt so horrified from a fighter within a cage before.
Nikola notices this and slightly raises an eyebrow and smiles at Steven's anger. Deciding it is fun to push Steven further and further to the edge of madness, Nikola holds out his left hand and waves his finger towards himself. This is a taunt aimed at Steven and it is the last straw that makes Steven's mind go blank.
An unknown force takes control of Steven's body and he disappears with a flash. No one's eyes can keep up with Steven's speed and he closes the distance of ten feet in under a second. When everyone's eyes finally catch up to Steven's speed, his has jumped and is finishing a spin with his left foot planted firmly into the left side of Nikola's neck.
CRACK
The sickening sound of bones shattering hits the ears of the crowd and all of their mouths turn agape. Even Nikola's men, who were busying beating Samantha to the brink of death, look up and try to find the source of the sickening crack.
Nikola's body hits the side of the cage before Steven lands on the ground with a soft thud. The referee runs to check on Nikola but is stopped by Steven grabbing him.
Referees carry a pistol just in case someone tries to interfere with the fight or the police show up and that is exactly what Steven is now aiming for.
Grabbing the Glock from the Referee's side, Steven's arm is quick as he aims to one of the brutes beating Samantha senseless.
BANG
A sound shakes the soul of everyone and also makes them deaf for a few seconds. The thug that was beating Samantha falls to the ground and a pool of blood forms around his head.
BANG
Before anyone can recover from the first shot, Steven has already shot the thug holding Samantha down in the head. The crowd finally realizes what is going on and runs in several different directions and out of the many exits. A few people emerge from the running crowd and Steven realizes that the new faces in the area where all of Sergey's men.
There are 5 men and before they can even pull their guns out and point at Steven, two more gunshots ring in their ears and 2 of the 5 men fall to the ground. Steven uses his newfound speed to run and he jumps over 8 feet to completely clear one of the 8 sides of the metal cage.
Landing on the ground and rolling into a crouching position, Steven points the pistol at another man and pulls the trigger without hesitating. It goes through the man's neck and pierces the eye of the man beside him, who was shorter than the first man shot.
The one that got shot in the neck falls to the floor and lets out gurgling noises as he chokes on his own blood. The one shot in the eye screams like a banshee and rolls on the ground while holding his hands over his injured eye. The final one fumbles his gun after seeing the gruesome scene and the inhuman speed and jumping ability of Steven.
Steven's arms move on their own as he points at the final thug and pulls the trigger. Blood shoots from between the man's eyebrows and he falls backwards, dead before he even hits the ground.
The stone cold Steven takes a few breaths and he regains control of his body. He begins to breathe heavily and he falls onto his bottom. Steven brings his head up to his face and begins to shake profusely.
He has no idea what he just did or how he did it, what he does know is that he just killed 7 people and gravely injured another one. Steven looks back towards the arena and sees blood pouring from Nikola's mouth and his head turned at an unnatural angle.
The sounds of several footsteps echo throughout the hallways leading to the room Steven is in and he can hear that there are at least 20 people coming. He pulls the clip out of the pistol and looks at it. There are about 7 bullets inside of the clip and he slams it back into the gun.
Remembering Samantha's state, Steven gets up and runs to the other side of the room where Samantha is laying. There is a pool of crimson blood around her but Steven knows that it isn't hers. Slightly relieved with seeing she only has a black eye and a bust lip, Steven almost reaches her and he puts his hand forward, but he was so focused on Samantha that the people who were drawing near are in the room.
Armed with assault rifles, the 20 men point their guns in Steven's direction. A loud voice echoes throughout the room.
"Fire but don't kill!" the voice says.
An intense pain fills Steven's legs as the sounds of the assault rifles going off deafen him. He falls face first into the ground and looks down at his calves. Each calf was pierced cleanly through by a bullet and he can no longer move his legs at all due to the pain. Steven is screaming in pain as warmth spreads to the lower half of his body due to the pool of blood forming.
A man with white hair and a long beard walks up to where Steven is and a large boot falls down onto Steven's back.
"Guh. AHH!" Steven yells as the man steps down hard on Steven's back. The man crouches down and becomes face to face with Steven.
"You knew all along that this fight would not pay off your little brother's debt but I didn't think you'd go to this extreme. Not only did you kill 7 of my men, you even killed my 3rd son Nikola! This makes your debt even greater than before. A debt that can only be paid with your blood." Sergey says with a rough and old voice.
Sergey pulls a golden Desert Eagle from his hip and puts it up against Steven's head.
"By the way, I already killed your brother. I wanted to play more with you but oh well, da svidania." Sergey says his goodbye in Russian and then pulls the trigger to the golden Desert Eagle.
Steven's consciousness fades before his mind can even process the sound of the bullet escaping from the massive pistol.
In a sea of black, Steven floats with his eyes closed until a voice awakens him.
"Do not worry Tamer. After being switched at birth you can now return home."