Page 87 of Kings & Carnage

The crowd parted as the older woman who emceed the fights made her way to the front of the theater, her platinum hair glinting in the lights.

I couldn't help wondering what kind of sway she held over the townies. She didn't even have to tell them to shut the fuck up. They got quiet as soon as she took up her position at the front of the crowd.

"Welcome to another fight night!" she shouted.

The crowd roared in response.

"Let's meet tonight’s sacrificial lambs!" she said.

Next to me, Neo bounced on the balls of his feet, rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck.

"First up we have our favorite pretty boy, Neooooo!”

The crowd was a mix of cheers and boos as Neo bounded to the front of the theater to stand on one side of Marge.

He was fucking huge, his sheer size menacing. Add to that the still expression on his face, a mask for the reservoir of rage I knew lurked under the surface, and I would have been absolutely terrified to confront him at the Orpheum.

Or anywhere really.

"Fighting Neo is our very own Phantom Menace!" Marge shouted.

"Someone's a nerd," Rock shouted.

"Star Warsisn't nerdy anymore," Oscar said. "Haven't you heard?”

I watched the crowd, waiting for someone to peel away and head to the front, then felt a rush of fear when I saw a big man in jeans and a wifebeater join Marge and Neo.

"Fuck," Oscar said. "That's Caesar. He's a mean motherfucker.”

"At least his boots aren't as big as Marvin's," Rock said.

The fight between Neo and Marvin had been the first one I'd attended at the Orpheum. Marvin had been a mountain of a man wearing giant black boots that looked like lead weights on his feet, and the moments before the fight had been a flurry of instructions from Oscar and Rock, mostly to avoid Marvin's boots.

Caesar had boots on too, but they looked like ballet flats compared to the ones Marvin had worn.

I tried to relax a little. Neo had won the fight against Marvin even with the boots.

He could do this.

“Okay boys," Marge said, looking from Neo to his opponent. "You know the rules. Don't be dicks. Time to fight!”

The crowd went wild and Marge moved out of the way, retreating to a group of townies huddled in the front.

She’d barely gotten out of the way when Neo charged his opponent.

I'd seen two fights at the Orpheum: Neo had won one of them and lost the other, but in both cases it had been a fight.

I'd expected more of the same but Neo was like a raging bull, charging at Caesar with the full force of his height and weight.

Caesar was surprised too. I could see it in his flinch when Neo landed the first punch, the way he tried to gather his wits afterward.

But it didn't matter.

Neo was on the warpath, punching and kicking like a rabid dog.

At first Caesar tried to fight back, but after about a minute he gave up and danced around Neo, trying to dodge his kicks and blows instead, probably hoping to tire Neo out.

It didn’t work. Neo stalked after him, a blank expression on his face as he punched and kicked until Caesar, dripping blood, collapsed on the ground.

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