Gigi’s breathing was deep and rhythmic as she prepared for what waited above her head. She had never been allowed to use the lift that rose into the pit. She had always used the far less glamorous side entrance for her matches. She had never been far enough down the card to warrant such a spectacle, let alone the main event. That was before all of this had started before she had jumped down to save Mai and challenged Jörg. A lifetime ago.

As her breath drew in and out, she tried to push the past from her mind, but it clung fiercely to her focus. Rage made her tremble when she remembered her hero, bested, tied up in a vice, and blinded. Gigi may not have been able to restore her sight or give her back her career, but by the gods, she would see Mai avenged. She would make Jörg answer for what he had done.

The lift began to clatter to life as the chains heaved the platform up. Electricity danced along her spine as she rose. Her thoughts turned to her family and then to Drake—to the people who believed in her, the people she refused to let down.

Her head emerged underground into the coliseum, and the glaring stage lights from the ceiling blinded her. Instinctually, she covered her eyes. Gigi pulled her hand away, remembering herself. The massive crowd above her stole her breath away. She tried not to gasp visibly. Gigi had only ever fought in the preliminary matches before the show. When people were still getting drinks and placing bets, she doubted more than thirty people had ever seen her fight. That was before tonight.

The crowd was at capacity, filling the circular rows above them. People cheered and jeered as the excitement reached a fevered pitch. She wished she could see Drake, but knowing he was one of the people watching gave her strength.

The announcer and man-bat, Monsoon, gently landed in the middle of the pit. “INTRODUCING, IN HER FIRST MAIN EVENT MATCH, GIGI OF THE RISING FIST!” Monsoon pointed at Gigi and made a clapping motion to the crowd.

There was a split between moderate cheers and a low booing from the crowd at her announcement. By the standards of the pit, Gigi knew it was a fairly average reaction, but to her, it felt like an overwhelming wall of noise. She turned when she heard the loud mechanical grinding once more. Her eyes narrowed as Jörg’s imposing form lifted from the abyss into the arena. He looked at her and sneered with a mouthful of needle teeth. Her opponent had arrived. The moment she had trained so hard for was here.

Jörg raised his fists and snarled at the crowd. The crowd exploded into a tidal wave of boos and adulation. The reaction dwarfed the one Gigi had received. She could practically feel the vibrations in the air. “RETURNING TO THE PIT, THE CAREER KILLER, THE UNDEFEATED JÖRG!” Monsoon boomed as he took once more to the air.

Gigi could hear Monsoon announcing the rules of their match somewhere in the distance. However, the crowd's noise, the glare of the lights, and everything else faded away as Jörg slithered up to the middle of the pit. He grinned and preened at her. She could feel her rage build, but she remembered Drake’s words. “All of his ‘tricks’ come with risks.” Gigi knew she couldn’t let herself get baited. She would not fall prey to letting anger get the better of her.

While the pit wasn’t giant, she took her time getting to the center of it, wearily taking small steps toward her opponent. She was in control of this fight, not Jörg. If he gave her an opening, by the gods, she would make him wish he had never heard her name. While she took her final step to approach, the bell rang. For a moment, she stared into the predatory slits that passed for eyes.

Then, she saw a quick movement and slid into her stance. However, she realized that Jörg was holding his hand out to shake. Jörg snickered, and a trill of laughter went through the audience. “If he’s dumb enough to give you his hand, Gigi, by the old ones, take it and pull it until you rip his arm off.” She still hadn’t thought of a better idea.

Gigi smiled, then lowered her arms. The next instant, she pulled the hand Jörg had so generously offered with every ounce of strength she possessed. The audience collectively gasped. Jörg was yanked forward and caught seemingly wholly off-guard. Gigi continued to pull and push to force her much larger opponent down. He was still far too vertical for her to lock in any kind of tight submission with their size difference.

Jörg grunted in strain as he attempted to rip his arm back. Gigi stayed locked in, bracing with each pull. Quickly, it became clear he was not getting the arm back without a fight. The crowd murmured with excitement. Jörg threw his other arm into the fray to try to pull his hand back. However, she still refused to let go. Jörg roared and threw his weight up with a mighty flex. Gigi could feel herself being lifted from her feet. She realized Jörg was trying to draw to his full height to rob her of leverage. Unfortunately, it was working.

The crowd was beginning to break out into raucous cheering as Jörg managed to lift Gigi off the ground completely, but still, she clung to his wrist. Thinking quickly, Gigi swung her body one way and then hurled her weight up and over. She planted one foot under Jörg’s ribs and the other directly into his fishy face. She wrenched backward with all of her strength the instant she found footing. Gigi could hear the crowd's shock and cheers, but it was background noise.

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Jörg cried out in surprise and pain as his arm was yanked in the wrong direction. His other arm flew to its kin’s aid. However, Gigi held firm and pulled. She knew she was close and almost had the armbar locked in. A few more seconds is all Gigi would need to end this right now, and she could tell Jörg sensed the same. Gigi let out a tiny yelp as the serpent whipped his arm around and raised his entire form before crashing down. Her skull bounced off of the stone floor. For a moment, all went black. The next thing she recalled was seeing Jörg slithering away from her.

She rolled away from him, groaning, finally coming to rest on her back. Clarity was coming back to the world. She rolled her weight through her body and hopped back to her feet. When she landed, she finally became aware of the overwhelming roar of the crowd. They weren’t just chanting. They were calling her name.

“LET’S GO, GIGI!” followed by rhythmic clapping that echoed through the arena. She saw Jörg nursing the arm she had tried to pull from its socket. She had come damn close too. Despite the ache in her head, she felt very proud of that interaction. Jörg knew now that she was not a joke, and next, she would show him that this would be the worst match of his life.

Gigi’s eyes drifted to Lili sitting above the pit for a moment. Her boss was leaning forward, wearing a thin smile, and appeared keenly interested in the events unfolding. Standing next to her throne was Drake!! Frowning, he pointed back at Jörg, motioning for her to look away. She regained herself and fixed her stare on her opponent, who was now sizing her up from across the pit. Their eyes locked, and they entered into a staredown.

Her fists tightened. She needed to aim for the poison sac, but she knew she wouldn’t get many clean shots at it. She would need to go all in if she could find one opening. Jörg began to slither back and forth as their staredown continued. He snarled, and the quills that formed his frill trembled. She guessed that meant he was angry. She decided that was good. Anger would make him sloppy.

Let him dig his own grave. Counterpunch when the opening was clear and win this fight. Gigi’s plan was simple, but executing it would be far more challenging. She noticed that her opponent appeared to be inching closer to her. Gigi sensed that he wanted to end this fight early, that perhaps he was beginning to regret being in this match. She raised her guard. There would be a trick at play for her, for sure.

He stopped slithering and coiled his body into a tight spring. He was still too far to strike, even with his extended reach. Gigi raised her eyebrows. What is this bullshit? The snake sprung forward, muscles glistening under the spotlights. Gigi saw his claws extend, poison dripping off the tips. In a moment, he was closing the gap.

Fear tremored through her for a moment, but then she saw it, her opening. By training or instinct, she couldn’t tell, but it was there plain as day. Her opponent was closing the distance, but it was coming at a steep price. “No move in combat is free.” Jörg was off his “feet,” and his belly would be above her. She would make sure of it.

Instead of retreating, Gigi pushed forward. Jörg slashed at her mid-lunge. Gigi fell to her hip and landed hard, halting her momentum on the stone floor. She barely noticed the impact. Gigi was far more concerned with the claws inches from her brown eyes. She watched as they sailed past her face. Relief flooded her system. However, while the strike failed to find its mark, the tip of the longest finger scratched her cheek as it flew past.

She felt her cheek begin to burn, but she forced the pain from her mind. She looked up. The serpent was flying over her now. An instant later, her feet were under her. Gigi placed them where she knew they needed to be. She lowered her fist, muscles corking with rage as she freed the memories of her hero’s defeat. The fury ignited within her and exploded upward as she found the mark above.

With a guttural scream, Gigi’s fist erupted skyward. Her body followed as she leaned into the devastating uppercut. “FOR MAI!!” Gigi felt something shift against her fist inside of Jörg, then pop. The serpent continued to fly through the air until he collided in a heap on the stone below. The gasp of the crowd penetrated her focus. For a moment, Gigi’s attention swirled around the arena. She saw a blur of the audience losing its mind, Lili grinning, Drake motioning for her to focus. She could hear Jörg groaning in agony, and his pain grounded her. The thought of his poison now working against him pleased her greatly.

She smiled as Jörg began vomiting. Whatever she had popped, it didn’t feel good. That was when her burning cheek came back to her. She touched the cut. By the gods, I’m poisoned! Panic swelled within her. She punched back the fear as she recalled her training. Yes, this was very bad, but if she could win in the next five minutes, that’s all that mattered. She repeated this over and over again in her mind.

Her focus crashed back to Jörg, who was in the middle of emptying his entire stomach and then some onto the floor. Five minutes. She burst forward toward where Jörg was losing the battle with his organs. Five minutes. She stopped fluidly right before him. Five minutes! Her fist flew back, lining it up with his face. Her fist rocketed forward, colliding hard with his jaw. She could feel the vibration of the blow from his teeth as they cracked.

She could hear the crowd explode around them once again as Gigi rang Jörg’s bell. However, this seemed to snap something inside her opponent. His eyes met hers, and whatever ill effects he was suffering were pushed to the side. He began to draw to his full imposing height before her. He hissed and slashed out. She jumped back and raised her guard. However, a moment later, she felt the familiar and dreaded sensation of being ripped off of her feet.

“Damn it!” cried Gigi. The next thing she knew, she was upside down. She was staring directly into the eyes of a predator.