Although both Jonas and Ahmed had suspected that Brow would eventually feel confident enough to set Jonas up for a fight, they hadn’t anticipated that it would be almost a month before he got his first shot at real caged combat.

Perhaps Brow wanted definite proof that Jonas was ready to take on the best fighters in Little Wrath City, or perhaps he just didn't have enough pull in the gang to set up a fight for a dummy slave.

Over two months had passed since Jonas first entered Hell, and it would take some time to register the fact that the once skinny youth was dead and gone, and had been replaced by a daring hunk whose beautiful blue eyes seemed full of life, desire, and power.

Jonas Ariel firmly stood his ground in a sandy pit. His body looked as if he had put on ten pounds of pure muscle, and his oily unkempt golden locks were long enough to just stretch down his neck. He had a serious look in his eye, it was the same look he always had when he prepared to fight Ahmed.

‘This time,’ he thought, ‘This time, I’ll beat him,’ and this sentiment of his had never died, no matter how many times he had his bones broken, his ass spanked, and his pride trampled on. Speaking of Pride, the crimson cross-shaped Sin Scars on both his hands were glowing as splendidly as ever and they had never looked more clear. It was obvious to the experienced eye that Jonas had truly embraced the art of Sin.

Ahmed appeared quite similar to how he looked when Jonas had first met him, the only difference was that his ash-colored hair was much longer, and his beard looked much more impressive.

For a moment, the two simply stared at each other and it appeared that they were standing around doing nothing. However, Simon and Johnson knew that the spar had already begun, and they were simply fighting with their minds.

Jonas took a step forward, and although his newfound muscularity made it seem like he would have heavy steps, his feet were surprisingly delicate as they slid gracefully through the sand. Jonas exploded with force as his strong legs kicked off and he charged toward Ahmed who had braced himself with his arms ready for impact.

Their punches were cartoonishly fast and Simon lost track trying to count them, even Johnson couldn't track the attacks and he had great eyesight from his time as a sharpshooter in the military. Only a few seconds had gone by but the two fighters had already stopped attacking and stood some ways apart, staring at each other. Although Ahmed looked disheveled, he was better off than Jonas who had blood running down from his newly broken nose.

“How many hits was that?” Began Simon who was in a state of disbelief, “I didn’t even see Jonas get hit in the face.”

“Fuck me,” said Johnson, “I think Ahmed parried an attack and managed to get a jab in while Jonas’ guard was unsteady,” and they both squinted, clearly trying to prepare themselves for the next bout of fighting.

The staring didn’t last long, but it was just enough for Jonas to consider his next plan of attack. He slid forward on his left leg, bent his right leg like a bow, and prepared to release a kick but just as his foot was released, Ahmed dodged at the perfect angle to avoid it. However, Jonas was quicker, he jumped on his planted foot and turned his roundhouse kick into a flying kick that completely missed, but it allowed him to throw his momentum backward. His body did a backflip and he landed far enough away from Ahmed to avoid the next attack.

“Good choice,” said Ahmed, “Some fighters will tell you to always commit to your attack once you’ve started. I believe that it’s better to be adaptable.”

“You know a backflip off of one leg isn’t easy, right?” Jonas was breathing rather heavily, “I think I pulled something.”

“Don’t bitch out now,” said Ahmed with a teasing expression, “I have yet to break any more bones,” and his fists were like rockets that exploded and soared towards their target.

Jonas perfectly parried the first, but the second punch had forced him to absorb some impact by using his bicep. Although nothing broke, Jonas could have sworn that there was a large fist-shaped indent permanently imprinted into his arm. He didn’t process the pain and an attack that would have left the previous version of himself reeling in agony felt more like an annoyance than an actual debilitating affliction.

Jonas quickly performed his counterattack. His left arm shot forward and just missed Ahmed who dodged backward, while his right fist followed quickly after, and he did something that Ahmed had not expected. Instead of trying to use his right fist to hit his target, Jonas purposefully missed with the heavy haymaker and he used the momentum forward to do a quick front flip. His foot came down in mid-air like a fire ax and it caught Ahmed on the shoulder, dislocating it instantly.

Simon and Johnson were in shock as they had never seen Jonas deal an attack that had caused actual damage to Ahmed, but their excitement was short-lived because before Jonas could even launch another attack, Ahmed had used one hand to push his shoulder back into place and left nothing behind but some redness.

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“You should have aimed for my head,” Ahmed was always giving pointers as they fought, and Jonas was always eager to listen.

“No way,” Jonas argued, “You’re too good at using your head to dodge. I wouldn’t be surprised if you had the reflexes to dodge an arrow if it had been shot at your skull.”

“Even so,” said Ahmed, “You underestimated your kick, you could have at least tried to dislocate my dominant shoulder, that way it would have taken me longer to put it back in.”

“Duly noted,” said Jonas as he used the back of his hand to wipe away the dried blood from his broken nose. He growled as he launched himself forward, his left fist was going for a vicious uppercut, ‘He’s going to dodge,’ Jonas thought as he watched in real-time as his fist left his hip like a holstered weapon, and it began building momentum towards Ahmed’s chin. Jonas' brain was whirling as he tried to absorb as much information as he could in that small moment before his attack could land.

He noticed that Ahmed’s feet were slightly raised, which meant that he was standing on his tippy toes, ‘If that’s the case,’ thought Jonas, ‘He’ll use his whole body to dodge,’ and time sped up as his uppercut shot towards Ahmed’s jaw who proceeded to jump to the right side of Jonas while swinging his fist.

Jonas lifted his elbow, and with a sickening crunch, Ahmed’s hand shattered as he hit the hard bone with all his force. He didn’t shriek in pain, but he was forced to retreat. Jonas didn’t let up and he immediately launched a devastating onslaught of various blows that Ahmed was having a problem blocking because he only had a single good hand, ‘I can get him!’ Jonas became excited, ‘I’m going to win!’ and for the first time, he felt like victory was within reach.

Jonas slapped away a desperate hook shot from Ahmed’s good fist, which caused that same arm to fly outwards, completely exposing his opponent's chest. Jonas slid forward, right into Ahmed’s personal space, and with all the power he could muster; brought his right knee shooting upwards towards the old warrior’s ribs. Just as Simon and Johnson thought that the fight was finished, something happened that stopped Jonas' momentum.

Ahmed smirked as he caught the knee in his bad arm, wrapped it around Jonas’ leg like a snake, and his good arm that had been sent flying shot forward and coiled itself around Jonas’ neck.

With a vicious pull like a snake contracting, Jonas felt his entire body bend awkwardly, and to make matters worse, Ahmed threw his momentum backward and slammed Jonas’ head hard onto the sand.

Even Jonas couldn’t avoid the pain of having the combined bodyweight of two men smash his skull. He felt his vision flash white, and he tried to breathe but Ahmed’s bicep was around his neck and it felt like he was being choked by a silver-back gorilla. Jonas was completely incapable of summoning any strength because his back was still bent, his knee was still in Ahmed’s bad arm, and he was only semi-conscious.

“Tap,” said Ahmed, “You’re done,” and Jonas felt his body going into panic mode as he tried to struggle for air but couldn’t breathe it in. His hand gripped Ahmed’s arm tightly and the urge to tap out overtook him for just a moment, but he felt a sudden urge from his inner Pride that screamed for him to try and win.

Jonas still had two hands available to himself, and although he couldn’t bring forth any strength from his legs, he relied on nothing but his arm power to grip Ahmed's hands and try to pry his neck from underneath, “Don’t be stupid,” said Ahmed, “You’re not getting out, you’re done,” and yet Jonas still struggled as the little air he had begun to run out and he could feel his vision darkening, “Just tap!” Ahmed said much louder, hoping to shock the young lad.

Every cell in his body told him to follow the direction, to simply move his finger back and forth and lightly tap the skin on Ahmed's arm, and if he did this, he would once again be allowed to breathe air.

The suffocation was getting worse, and Jonas could no longer move as his clawing hands dropped, and he felt his eyes roll back into his head. Seeing as he felt no force from his opponent, Ahmed let go of his chokehold and watched as Jonas limply fell to the ground.

A few seconds passed, and Ahmed watched as Jonas began breathing once again but he was still unconscious, and after a few more moments passed, Jonas’ red eyes opened and he gasped for air as panic set in.

“You stupid fuck,” said Ahmed as he flicked Jonas across the forehead. “Don’t be so prideful, just tap out next time.”

“I had a plan,” said Jonas breathlessly, “I was going to wait till you let go, and then start my attack, only, I passed out by accident,” and Ahmed nearly fell over from exasperation.

“Simon, Johnson, do you know what this moron did wrong?” Ahmed stood up and began rounding on the two of them.

“He should have tapped,” said Johnson, immediately looking proud of himself.

“Wrong,” said Ahmed, “Don’t just repeat the shit that I say, come up with a more creative solution,” and Johnson’s face went beet red as he looked down at the ground in shame, “Simon?” For a second, Simon thought back to that moment that had just watched.

“He should have grabbed your scrotum and ripped it off,” and both Johnson and Jonas looked at him in disgust, as they felt their nuts twitch in protest.

“Exactly,” agreed Ahmed, “If it was a choice between winning the fight by submission, or having my balls ripped off, I’ll choose to keep my manliness. That way, Jonas could have escaped the chokehold, but unfortunately, most Crusaders don’t prefer winning dirty.”

“Well he’s going to need to learn to fight dirty if he’s going to win his fight this weekend,” a stern voice called out, and Jonas looked over to see that the eagle-eyed Brow had suddenly arrived, there was a gleam in his eye and he looked pleased with himself.

“Did you say you got me a fight?” Jonas asked excitedly, he had completely forgotten about the pain he had just been in.

“I just got it approved,” said Brow, “This weekend you’ll be fighting a preliminary matchup against a small-time fighter from the Young gang.”