“Isn’t this a nice surprise?” Hemon asked first as he walked on his team’s designated starting point.
On the dais, Kai had recovered from shock and hugged her father tightly whispering “Thank you , thank you, thank you, I love you, I love you, I love you!!! Best gift ever!!”
She turned around without looking back to her father, who was smiling from ear to ear. Her friends had quickly gathered around her and started whispering among themselves excitedly.
Wardho waited for the applause to subside before continuing his announcing the best part,
“Now that we have learned about the participants of the first bout, ladies and gentlemen, you have exactly five minutes to place your bets”.
Niko’s house servants promptly went to every section of the guests and collected the bets for this match. Niko watched as his daughter and her friends bet a large amount of Rais on the fighter named Hemon, her favourite and from the looks of it, he was a favourite of many of her friends as well.
In the mound, all six fighters were engaged in final preparations for the upcoming match.
Hemon's entry certainly made Sasa happy.
Sasa replied to Hemon's question "Oh, it's a very big surprise. I'm very happy to see you and very much looking forward to fighting beside you, Hemon".
"Me too!" he replied, feeling relieved.
He turned his attention towards his other teammate, the one who was looking at him very angrily, clutching her fist tightly.
"Hello, I'm Hemon. It's nice to finally meet you". He introduced himself in an effort to lessen her anger.
Hemon knew exactly why Charlot was angry with, but personally he didn't care all that much, but for the sake of their upcoming match, he had to try and lessen that anger in order to properly fight as a team, or atleast try to.
"I know who you are" Charlot finally said.
"You messed up my plan and a chance to further my winning streak" she added.
Hemon just smiled at her and shrugged his shoulders.
"I happened to be the better fighter that day… It happens sometimes" he replied.
Charlot just stood there thinking about what to say next.
"Oh cut it out you bitch!" Sasa finally started expressing her thoughts.
"With a spear you are better than us but as he showed me and you… he's better than us in hand-to-hand combat. You lost because you had no answer to his offence once your spear was out of the mix. A glass fighter… proficient with a singular weapon, but lacking in close-combat" she finished saying it to Charlot.
"I know!I know it too!!" Charlot snapped at Sasa.
"Then why are you here in a hand-to-hand combat match?" Sasa asked her.
"To prove that I too am willing to work and improve in areas in which I lack" Charlot replied to her.
"In a sanctioned match!" Sasa asked incredulously.
"Yes… yes in a sanctioned match where if I fail… it may very well be the end of the fate I was dreaming of and that's why I have to be in this match" Charlot clarified herself.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"We can't certainly trust you to maintain pace with us. Under pressure I'm tenacious while his ability to fight through pain is massive which makes us both perfect for this match while if you get hit hard enough it's over for you as well as us" Sasa replied.
"That's not true" This time Hemon spoke.
He explained further, "To be proficient with a spear, you need to have a great sense of balance, quickness of arms and feet, and power for strikes. All of which she has".
He turned towards Charlot and explained further
"You have long arms which will give an advantage for you to strike from long range. So keep yourself out of your opponent's reach, and you can shower them with your powerful strikes easily, just like you can with a spear.
As for defense, this is not the place to start learning. So you have to keep your opponent within our reach, and be outside of theirs".
"In teamwork, they have the advantage, but if we can isolate one of them and isolate him, then we have a chance to gang up on the other two and limit their team play" he said.
"I think so too. I think when we square up and the signal is given, that's the best time to take one of them out" Sasa agreed with Hemon's assessment.
"That big one needs to be put down first. It's highly likely they'll think that way and be prepared as such. I say we start with a feint right at the beginning" Charlot added her views too.
Wardho continued with his announcement “Alright ladies and gentleman, the bookie has indicated to me that all bets are in and it's finally time for the match to start.
TEAMS!!! TAKE YOUR POSITIONS!!!” he screamed for everyone to hear.
Both the teams walked up to the middle of the circle and faced each other with Charlot on the right, Sasa on the left and Hemon facing the perceived powerhouse of the opposing team in the middle.
Hemon just before squaring up for the match whispered to Charlot “When I move, you move on the opposite”.
Wardho “ORPHANS!!! SHOW THEM YOUR SPIRIT!! BEGIN!!!” screamed.
Hemon, as soon as he heard the bell ring, launched himself towards the fighter on his right, who was facing Charlot.
Before the fighter could react, Hemon ducked underneath the fighter’s guard and positioned behind him with his arms locked around the fighter. Without wasting even a second, he hoisted up the fighter and suplexed him over his head and onto the mound. The fighter landed on his head and shoulders while most of the impact went to his shoulders upon landing on the mound with a thud.
The rest of the members of the Free Hawks stood still and in shock. What shocked them wasn't the move itself but the speed with which it was done.
["A release suplex!! Hemon with a perfect release suplex to Jus of the Free Hawks!" Wardho screamed.]
The sudden move gave time for both Charlot and Sasa to seize the initiative and land the first blows respectively. Charlot kicked the fighter, who originally thought he was facing Hemon, right on his chest.
["Charlot with a kick to the chest of Rowe, pushing him back" Wardho continued with his live commentary of the match.]
While Sasa rocked the man facing her with a quick combination of a hook and a jab.
["And Sasa with a quick series of offences to Davy of the Free Hawks" Wardho commented.]
Her opponent instinctively put his hands up to guard to the face leaving his mid section wise open. Sasa quickly kicked him on his midsection with a powerful straight kick which forced her opponent to drop to one knee while clutching his stomach. He began to cough and wheeze, gasping for air.
["Oh!!! Sasa with a devastating kick to Davy and downing him on one knee. Davy seems rattled and is trying desperately to get some air in him to get into this fight!"]
Hemon got up to his feet and surveyed the rest of the mound. He saw Charlot trying to keep herself out of her opponent's reach while peppering him with multiple strong punches.
["Hemon is up on his feet and is looking towards his team mates. Charlot in place of a spear tonight is fighting with her fists. She's using her long arms with great effect.
Ladies and gentlemen, the team of the single stars has the initiative and is really pushing the Free Hawks on the back foot." Wardho added.]
Charlot's opponent tried to power through the attacks and made a move to grab her hands, but she used her long legs to step back and created more space between them.
["A low kick by Charlot hitting Rowe's knee and Rowe's knee buckled after the hit and he's down!! Charlot has forced Rowe on the ground with a well timed kick using her long legs" Wardho announced to the guests excitedly.]
Her opponent tried to get up. He got his legs under him and just as he was about to try to stand up with the help of his arms, a well placed powerful roundhouse kick connected to his face with a loud noise.
[Wardho "A roundhouse kick to the face! Rowe is down!! What a devastating move by Charlot… you could hear the kick landing loud and clear".]
As the match progressed, the guests got into the match more. Cheers started to form for different fighters from different sections of the crowd. Some conveyed positive shouts for Sasa, some for Charlot especially after watching her connect with a powerful roundhouse kick.
On the other side, Sasa was already sitting on top of her opponent. She had locked her legs around his waist as she was pounding him, aiming for his face with one punch after another.
["Davy too looks to be in a dire situation himself. He has his guard up, but a few punches have gone through the guard."]
He went over to Sasa and tapped on her shoulder. She turned and looked at him. Hemon signalled her to stop her strikes for a moment which she complied.
Hemon went down on one knee and spoke to the man Sasa was straddling.
"Both of your teammates are out, I think you should concede this match" he said to the man.
The man coughed and turned his attention to Hemon with a questioning look. Hemon pointed his fingers to his rest of his team, on the ground, out cold.
The man cursed audibly.
"I thought we could win this one… fuck!" He said to himself.
With a frustrated look he raised his left hand and showed two fingers for all to see.
["Ladies and gentlemen, Rowe of the Free Hawks have signalled for their forfeit.
Your winner… The team of Sasa, Charlot and Hemon!!!]
The guests at the garden erupted in cheers as they witnessed something special. A few guests looked annoyed as well while many guests smiled ear to ear.
On the dais, Kai was hugging her father in joy. She was overjoyed with what she had seen.
Hemon, Sasa and Charlot stood up and soaked up the applause they received.
"Wanna go get something to eat?" He asked while waving to the guests.
"Oh yes! I could go for a little celebration tonight" Sasa replied with a huge smile on her face.
"I am… I am not sure" Charlot hesitated.
"Oi you are coming with us you bitch" Sasa replied with her back to Charlot.
"I guess there's no harm in it" Charlot mumbled.
"I know a great place that sells fish fries" Hemon added.
["Thus, we have reached the conclusion of the first match of the evening and we are just getting started" Wardho informed the guests.]