Boulder
My first opponent was no match for me, and I took him out in mere minutes. I hardly broke a sweat and went back to my duty of protecting Christina, receiving a pat on the shoulder from Khan, who was delighted by the whole thing.
I fought my second match the next morning, facing a young, aggressive male who made the mistake of overestimating his own speed. I took him out in less than five minutes too.
My third opponent wasn’t much harder and it didn’t surprise me, since I always suspected that Khan had influenced the games to make sure the right people went all the way.
In the end, I stood opposite, Nelson, a man around forty who had a fierce reputation of making his opponents suffer painfully before killing them. I remembered him from when I was a teenager and our paths had crossed. Being six years my senior, he had once trained me and my peers, and I would never forget the way he did it. The man was a sadistic asshole who had tortured us in the woods for weeks. I raised my head, searching out Khan on the balcony with Christina and Magni by his side. The expression on Khan’s face told me it was no coincidence that Nelson was my opponent. I had told Khan about my experience as a young man and he was giving me the chance to get my revenge.
In an exaggerated gesture, Nelson bowed to Khan and blew Christina a kiss. That last part made my insides twist in a knot. I’d spent three days with Christina and my view on women would never be the same. She might be naïve, small, fragile, sensitive, and easily rattled, but she was also intelligent, sweet, and innocent, and there was no way I would ever allow a monster like Nelson to get close to her.
With revenge and protectiveness as my fuel, I stormed against him. He turned his head at the last minute and managed a surprised “The fuck?” before I knocked him to the ground.
The fight was dirty and brutal. The audience loved it and cheered in a blood rush as we fought like lions.
After getting in some really good punches, I thought I heard Christina scream my name and in the second it took for me to look up, Nelson had my left arm in his grip and wrenched it backward. Massive pain shot up my arm when it snapped and I knew it was broken.
“Which limb do you want me to break next?” he roared at me.
I managed to break free and move back, protecting my arm with my body. Nelson came at me again like a wild boar and I made a quick decision. Rolling my body to get under him, I swallowed the hellish pain of landing on my arm and managed to trip him over and get a hold of his hair with my right hand. Jerking his head back I swung my legs around his neck and squeezed.
Nelson was arching up and reaching back, but he couldn’t get loose from my death grip, and his pounding on my hips only made me squeeze my knees tighter, completely suffocating him.
Roars of excitement rose from the audience, who were on their feet shouting for me to kill him. I waited for Nelson to pound the dirt, but he didn’t. Foam was forming at his mouth and his facial color was almost blue. His hands were waving uncoordinated, slapping at me without force, and I knew it was a matter of seconds before he would pass out.
Among all the noise from the audience, I heard one plea in a high-pitched scream. “Have mercy.”
I looked up to see Christina with both hands clasped in front of her face in a display of horror and cursing under my breath, I let go.
Nelson deserved to die, but Christina wouldn’t understand that and I didn’t want her to resent me. A few clapped because of my mercy, but most booed with disappointment.
As I walked away, medics came running to check on Nelson. I honestly couldn’t care less if he lived or died, but supported my left hand with my right and cursed the motherfucker for breaking my arm.
Christina
I don’t know what was worst – the brutality in front of me or the fact that the crowd encouraged it. Disgusted, I watched Khan, Magni, and the crowd beneath us cheer for Boulder to kill the man trapped between his legs.
My heart was racing so fast I felt close to a heart attack. This was madness and I had to do something. As loud as I could, I screamed for Boulder to show mercy, and received annoyed glances from both Magni and Khan.
“What did you do that for?” Khan asked me in irritation when Boulder released his opponent.
“I don’t want Boulder to become a killer.”
The way they both raised their brows made me suspect that he already was.
“Has he killed before?” I asked in a mere whisper because part of me didn’t want to know.
Khan pursed his lips and seemed to consider his answer. “I’ll let Boulder answer that question himself. For now, let’s rejoice that the winners have all been selected and that tonight you’ll be able to pick your champion.”
“A shame about Boulder, though,” Magni said distractedly and waved at someone he knew below.
“What about Boulder?” I asked.
“I think his arm broke. That means you only have four to pick from.”
“Why?” I asked, slightly panicking. I was used to Boulder now and I didn’t want some other big man in my room.
Magni shook his head at me. “Well, obviously, you can’t choose a protector with a broken arm. That should be fucking obvious.”
