The wealthy man hadn't been lying. Minutes after he had shown up and left, one of the officers approached and told Jahn to return to his bunk. At first, Jahn thought that it was a trick, and waited in his bunk for the local law enforcement to show up and take him away to a real jail. Instead, an official showed up with papers to sign (he was not given a choice) that released him from his debt to the government and put him in debt to one Eli Dipsatch.
After being taken to his new 'home', Jahn's new reality was explained bluntly to him. Mr. Dipsatch had bought him so that he could be used for entertainment and gambling.
Now, here he sat, several weeks later, trying to mentally prepare himself for another fight. He imagined it would be easier without the muted noise of the crowd chanting and yelling for the fights going on in the dirt arena just down the hall. Of course, Jael's constant prodding his various wounds and asking him how they felt wasn't helping either.
Finally she gave up, frustrated by his silence. "This is insanity Jahn." She threw her hands up in the air. "Five weeks, and you've been put into eight fights already. It has to stop." She waited for a response, but only got a raised eyebrow. "I know we've talked about it, and I don't really have any experience with this sort of thing... but I've done some checking. There's a lot of talk about you around town, Jahn. Because nobody's been put through the sort of thing you are now."
"This is my out." Jahn finally opened his eyes. "I'm paying down my debt faster than any of the mudders can dream, and in time I'll be done with Dipsatch and his games. Whatever training or experience I had in my past, it's giving me the edge I need to get out of this."
"Whatever training you may have had in the past is no better than instinct now, and soon enough that may not be enough. That same instinct is what's causing them to raise the odds against you each time and move the fights closer and closer to keep the bets coming in." She sat down next to him, and grabbed his hand.
When he turned and met her eyes, she pleaded. "They're trying to find your breaking point, Jahn. Everyone has a breaking point, regardless of how special they may be."
"What choice do I have? I..." Jahn started, only to stop as the door handle turned and Eli Dipsatch entered. He was wearing one of his finer black suits, though it fit tightly around his midsection. He also wore a black cape with red underlining that he seemed to think had a slimming affect, though it didn't.
"Jahn! How's my favorite fighter doing tonight?" The large man laughed. "I'm kidding... of course you're doing great! Everyone's doing great... especially my banker!" He continued to laugh.
Jahn could see Jael steeling herself to confront Eli for the man she was growing to love. He glared at her, hoping to keep her from getting herself into a predicament that neither of them could handle. "Mr. Dipsatch, sir.... please listen to me..."
"Yes, yes of course dear." Eli interrupted. "There will be plenty of time to chat later. Now, it's time for our boy Jahn here to go into the preparation room."
Jael started to try again, but Eli wouldn't have any of it, interrupting before she could get more than a word out of her mouth. "Now, now... don't you worry. A lovely woman such as yourself belongs in the best seats in the arena with me. Come along, and I'll get you a drink."
He waved for her to follow him as he turned and left the room.
Jael shook her head. She was furious, but she did her best to control herself. Her being upset was the last thing that she wanted Jahn to think about while he was out there, facing what ever ridiculous match Eli had set up for him. Instead, she needed him to be thinking positive and to the time they'd be able to spend together after the fight. She always took care of him after the fights.
"Oh well." She admitted. "Even if we could convince him, there was no chance in space that he'd postpone a match he already had set up and wagers placed."
She turned to face him directly and grabbed the back of his head, pulling him into a desperate kiss. "You take care of yourself out there. If you could somehow get those instincts to kick in before you've taken a massive beating for once, I could spend less time cleaning you up... and more time getting dirty." She winked at him and gave him another kiss before leaving him to go get ready.
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Jahn stepped out into the dirt arena to the raucous mixture of cheers and jeers so loud that he could not distinguish them. With a loud clack, the spotlights cranked on him, and he could no longer make out the crowd, but he was familiar enough with the setup by now. Beyond the lights was glass barricades that the fighters wouldn't be able to break through with any of the objects that they may have in the fight.
He looked straight forward and up as he tightened the protective cloth wraps he had around his hands. He knew that the luxury box was up there, and that was where Jael would be now, with his boss. She'd be relatively safe up there from the mob of violence crazed individuals who wasted their money on guessing how much of a beating he and others could take. Hopefully the money he'd made Dipsatch would help protect Jael from the wandering eyes of some of his unsavory friends as well.
One more reason to make this quick, if he could.
The rest of the spotlights turned on, signalling Jahn that his contest was about to begin. As expected, two large men entered through the second entrance. They were both quite a bit larger than he was, but no bigger than his previous opponents. He seemed to be getting the largest the planet had to offer, though it was possible that larger fighters had come and gone. He'd heard the shelf life was pretty short for this profession.
Then a third figure stepped out into the light, slightly larger than even the other two. He carried with him three swords, and he unceremoniously handed one to each of the other men. Jahn had faced others with weapons before... but rocks or blunt objects, not swords. Eli really was upping the ante this time.
Then Jahn noticed something else. The third man to enter was limping a bit. It took a few more seconds for recognition to hit him. The man who brought the swords in was the same man who had attacked him back when he was still a mudder, securing his release to Eli.
The man had likely asked for a chance at redemption, or he simply wanted revenge. It didn't matter to Jahn though, and as soon as the men were in striking distance, he launched his attack.
The large man was starting to say something, likely a taunt, but he didn't get much of it out as Jahn swept to flank them. By attacking them from the left, he put one of the men in between himself and the others, buying himself at least a second where he did not have to worry about the other two.
A quick punch to the face of the man on the left struck before he could prepare himself at all. It was followed with a few quick punches to the midsection while the man struggled to keep his balance. As the other two began to circle around, Jahn had to take his real shot.
A strike to the wrist currently holding the sword caused it to fall to the ground, and a hard hit to the face caused the man to finally stagger back and fall.
It was too late though, as an attempt to reach for the sword would have exposed Jahn to attacks from either side, and he couldn't take the chance against blades like these. Reluctantly, he backed away.
The large man was talking again, but Jahn couldn't hear him over his own thoughts. He was desperately trying to figure out how to stay alive. He tried to swing around quickly to flank one of them again, but they were prepared for it and would not allow it.
It didn't take long for him to be facing all three men again. He was wildly dodging and ducking under their lazy swings, but he knew it was only a matter of time before one of the managed to connect, and things would go downhill from there if that happened.
In his previous matches, he had started out well enough, but ultimately only took full control of the fight when things began looking rather bleak for him. For some reason, his training and experience from his former life only returned when he was under extreme duress, and Jael was right after all... he couldn't afford to wait for those instincts to kick in for him in this fight.
And then it happened. The cold metal bit into his right arm and while he tried to hold in his scream, he failed.
He was barely able to move out of the way of the next few swings, but his opponents gained confidence in seeing the flow of blood down his arm. His left arm took a glancing blow and also began to bleed.
Rather than finish him quickly, they began toying with him. No matter which way he moved or how he tried to get some space to recover, he was met quickly with blows from the hilts of the swords.
His vision began to go, and everything became fuzzy. He may have passed out. He wasn't sure, yet somehow he ended up restrained from behind by one of the men, while the poke in the chest from the tip of a blade brought his head back around.
Now he could hear the taunts from the large man. "Poor little man isn't so good against blades, is he?"
Jahn wasn't sure when he had been struck in the mouth, but he spat blood back in response. "Pitiful big man isn't so good with fair fights, is he?"
The man ignored him. "I think I know how you became so ugly, little man." He placed his blade over the scar that ran down from his hairline through his eye.
Something in Jahn broke, and he felt anger that he hadn't ever felt before. He yelled again, and the man who was restraining him was blown backwards from him inexplicably.
The large man took a step back in shock, his mouth open with confusion. Jahn turned to the third fighter to his right and punched him square in his sternum. There was a sickening crunch and the body flew meters away.
Jahn stretched his hand towards the large man, who had no more taunts for him. Once again, it was as though he wasn't in control of his own body or mind, he just did things. The man began floating into the air, grasping at his throat.
There was a loud buzz that deafened the arena, to signal the end of the fight. All it did to Jahn though was cover the sound of a spine being crushed before the body fell to the ground lifeless.
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Jael entered his prep room first. He could somehow feel that she was happy he was ok, but it was hidden behind concern for his wounds and whatever else had taken over him in the ring.
Eli Dipsatch followed only seconds after. "Well, Jahn... I think I may have to find another way to take advantage of your... skills." There was a bit of concern on his face as well, though it was more likely tied to the end of a high revenue fight ticket. "Nobody will likely bet against you again." He flashed a smile, as cheesy and fake as Jahn had ever seen.
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