Boos rained down from the crowd encircled above them. Jörg opened his mouth in front of Gigi’s face. She braced herself for the rush of poison, but none came. She opened her eyes again. Jörg stood looking furious. Gigi realized that he could no longer spray poison. She began to try and wiggle from his grasp.

Jörg huffed and whipped her around the air as he repositioned them both. As quickly as a knife sliced, he had her wrapped up in a vice. The familiar sensation of being continually squeezed began swallowing her entire form. Panic flooded her brain as she continued to feel the squeeze constricting down. Remember your training! She clenched her jaw. The poor man’s punch! It was her only hope. While the vice was locked in, it was not as strong as she expected or remembered. Gigi wondered if perhaps the poison in his system was making him weaker.

She supposed it didn’t matter since the poison in her was going to do the same. Both cheeks burned with the venom as Gigi riggled her fist into place. She placed her knuckles flat against the fat coil in front of her. There was no room or give; her knuckles lay against his skin. She didn’t even have the inch she needed.

Gigi flexed and pushed her fingers into the scaly flesh until she got her inch. Doing the punch without being on her feet would be much more challenging. However, if she could twist and kick off against the other coils, she might get a decent punch. It was admittedly a long shot, but she didn’t see any other way.

She drilled her first punch into the serpent's side with a grunt, a twist, and a snap. It was weak. She drew the deepest breath she could and tried again. Then she kept trying. Gigi kept snapping her knuckles into the same spot. Eventually, she noticed Jörg’s entire frame flinched with each hit. No individual punch was strong, but throwing them over and over against the scaly hide was working. However, she was beginning to lose all sensation in her feet. Whether this was the wrath of the poison of the subjugation from the submission, she didn’t know.

Then it happened. When she untwisted her fist, she felt something inside of Jörg crack. The coils compressing her slipped. A muffled cry of agony could be heard as her restraints loosened. She tumbled to the floor as Jörg retreated to the middle of the pit. Gigi pushed herself to her hands and knees before staggering back to her feet. She saw Jörg nursing a spot in his long body. She knew she could end this right now. One more hit. That was all she needed.

However, her body was running out of time. Each uncertain step was a crushing reminder that the poison loose in her system would be the true victor of this match. She looked down, only to see that her legs were no longer cooperating with her mind. Her eyes widened. Was she already out of time?

Jörg turned to her with fury. Gigi tried to take a fighting stance, but it slipped. She was barely able to stand. Her entire body felt like it was made of stone. Jörg rushed at her. Gigi tried to throw a punch, but it went wide. Jörg quickly slipped through her guard and again began wrapping her up. While injured, this felt like the tightest Jörg had made the vice yet. He was trying to break her.

Breathing was becoming difficult. The pressure grew intolerable. Yet, there was nothing she could do to ease it. Her arms were pinned at her sides. She didn’t think she could throw the punch in her state even if they weren't. That was when a fat coil slid directly over her face. Now, she could not breathe at all.

She gasped to try and find air but found only scaly flesh. In an act of fear and defiance, Gigi bit down as hard as she could. Her sizeable incisors pierced the skin of the serpent. Hot blood filled her mouth as a scream of agony blew through the arena. Gigi was spitting out the fiend’s blood as she could feel the snake’s body begin to unfurl at crack speed.

The snake’s body unwound so quickly Gigi could feel herself being popped into the air. Gravity seemed to fall away as the mighty tail flicked and threw her up. For a moment, she lost herself in the world spinning around her. As she spun in the air, everything was a blur of color and sound. However, it was only a moment before she found herself. Jörg was directly below her now, holding his bleeding tail.

While her body was stiff like iron, she fought to regain control. She knew this was it, the last chance she would have. Gigi summoned every ounce of adrenaline and hatred for the man below her. With a cry, she ripped her fist back and lined it up with Jörg’s oncoming skull as best she could. If this were going to be her last punch, she would put her soul into it.

A second later, gravity brought the two combatants together. Jörg looked up right as Gigi was on top of him. She screamed, and her knuckles slammed into the serpent’s face. With the weight of her will and spirit, she drove her fist through Jörg’s face. The two collided until Gigi felt both her hand and his skull crack. In a flash, it was over, and Gigi crashed meteorically into the unforgiving stone. The world was stripped from her and replaced by an all-consuming darkness.

***

Drake gasped as the scene in front of him unfurled. He wanted to help her with every fiber of his being. Yet, he knew that there was nothing he could do now. This was not his fight. Whether he liked it or not, it was Gigi’s. He wondered if he had done enough as her coach and if he could have done more and better.

Lili gave a slight chuckle. “Serves you right, snake.”

Drake’s heart lurched watching Gigi hit the ground. His entire form tensed, and he edged closer to the fight.

“Remember, no interfering, just stand there and look pretty,” Lili chidded.

“I know,” Drake said grimly.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Besides, Jörg is not getting back up from that,” she said, shrugging.

“It was never him I was worried about.”

Monsoon shuffled out from the shadows behind Drake. “Duty calls,” he took flight. He landed in the pit where both the downed fighters lay in heaps. He placed the stick topped with moss up to his muzzle. “IF NEITHER FIGHTER CAN MAKE A COUNT OF TEN, THE MATCH WILL BE DECLARED A DRAW.” Thunderous booing caught like wildfire through the crowd at his words.

“What does that mean?” Drake asked Lili.

“It means your girl down there has ten seconds to reach her feet, or she ties with the snake.” She took a sip from her goblet and set it back down. “I hope she does, too. The crowd hates a draw.”

“LET’S GO, GIGI!!” began to trickle from the crowd until it was a roaring faucet. They clapped and hollered as they cheered for Gigi.

Drake’s fists tightened as his stare locked in on Gigi’s prone form. You can do this! I know you can! Stand up!

***

Gigi was lost in an abyss of memories. A hazy reel of her looking up at her father and then looking down at the pit played. The pit was empty…no, she was standing there. Her fist raised high.

“Gigi?” her father called to her.

She looked back at him, but he was gone. Instead, her sister, Gerinna, sat beside her. “It’s embarrassing to say, but I’m proud of you,” her sister said, looking annoyed. “You got this,” Gerinna said, hugging Gigi.

“Gigi?” it was her mother’s voice this time. Gigi swiveled in her seat. Her mother was now on the other side of her. She looked to where Gerinna had been, but she was gone.

Griselda sat beside her now. “I always believed in you, sweetheart, but please, Gigi, don’t half-ass this. Now get up.”

“Gigi! Gigi! Over here!” Gena called out to her. Gigi’s attention came back to the pit. She was there beside a very beat-up-looking Gigi lying on the ground. Gena tugged on her arm to try and pull her up. It fell limply back to the ground. “You have to get up! It’s almost over!” the little goblin shouted at her.

Gigi felt a new presence beside her. “Gigi,” it was Drake. “It’s time to show the world what I’ve known since I met you,” he said, taking her hand. "That you can do anything.”

Gigi’s eyes shot open. A “LET’S GO, GIGI!!” typhoon drowned the entire arena. Her, they were chanting for her.

“FOUR!!” was the next thing she heard. Understanding crashed over her. The ten count! It was almost half over! Adrenaline flushed through her, and she tried to seize control of her body. Every inch of her was stiff and unresponsive, but she fought through. The poison had begun its paralytic work. Pins and needles of pain coursed through her tired frame.

With an effort unmatched in her life, she got to her knees. She wobbled as the crowd above her exploded ever louder at this development.

“SEVEN!” shouted Monsoon.

Gigi’s eyes widened. Where had the time gone?! She grunted as she threw her foot out in front of her. She saw more than felt her foot hit the ground, but she knew it was there and had been planted firmly.

“EIGHT!”

She cried out in agony as the poison pierced through every part of her. Gigi tensed her body and threw her weight up and forward. She almost teetered over, but catching herself, she found her feet.

“NINE!” Monsoon waved his arms, signifying she had made the count. The audience's burst of joy unglued the roof. They might be able to hear this up in Poppy. “AND WINNER, BY TECHNICAL KNOCKOUT, GIGI OF THE RISING FIST!” Monsoon boomed. His furry little hand grabbed Gigi’s to raise it in victory. Searing pain shot through it.

She reflexively pulled it back. “I think it’s broken,” she said.

“Then raise it, kid. You earned it,” Monsoon said with respect. Gigi raised her broken fist into the air. The crowd exploded. Gigi grinned as she looked up and around. She wanted to find Drake before she started to feel woozy. Quickly, she realized it was too late for that, and her feet began slipping from under her.

Her center of gravity gave way as she began to fall. An instant later, she could feel herself being plucked out of the air. Then, being held close, Drake. She looked up with weary eyes to his relieved blue ones. “You did it, champ!” Gigi passed out smiling.

***

When she awoke next, she was in a white bed surrounded by white curtains. She looked over to see an arachne with a needle in her arm. “Now, the anti-venom is almost as strong as the poison. It will take a long time to work out of her system. If she feels woozy or dizzy, tell her to lie down.”

“Any thoughts on how to convince her to do that?” Drake asked. Gigi turned her tired eyes to the man holding her hand at her bedside.

The arachne sighed, “These fighters, they just don’t listen, so you’re on your own there, do your best.” Gigi watched the medical arachne leave. She tried to bring her other hand to Drake’s but yelped in pain.

“Oh, you’re awake!” Drake said with joy. Gigi looked down at her hand to find it bandaged tightly. “Yeah, I guess you broke a few of your fingers on our snake friend’s skull,” Drake laughed.

“I feel weird,” Gigi croaked.

“Yeah, they said you would say that.”

The curtain behind Drake flung open to reveal a grinning Lili. “Now, THAT was a match! I couldn’t have written it out better myself!” she laughed.

“Really?” Gigi asked.

“Oh, I would say if you keep pulling performances like the one tonight, you will be challenging for the title in no time,” Lili said as if it were obvious. The casual comment stole Gigi’s breath away. “Well, rest up, then I’ll find the next opponent for you to tear the house down with.” Then, as quickly as she arrived, she left.

“I won?” She asked herself. “I really did it?”

Drake squeezed her hand. “This is only the beginning,” he said with a wink. She giggled.