Mayumi heavily pants as she stares up at the ceiling, noticing the peeling paint for the first time. It just shows how old this place really is, and how it needed to be renovated.

Better tell the Manager about it.

Mayumi lazily eyes the metal bar above her, and lets out a pained groan. She could still lift it. Her muscles weren't protesting and the ache wasn't seeping in, yet; But damn, does she want to ditch this place and buy a juicy burger oozing with cheese with a fat patty. She kicked her legs like a child in tantrum and let out an annoyed sigh before plugging back her earphones. With a furrowed brow, she gripped the metal bar of the weights above her and started lifting them until she could feel the familiar ache on her arms.

Don't overdo it today, Yumi.

If her mind said so, then she'd trust her mind. She placed the weights back on the handle of the bench press, before sitting up. She grabs her water bottle and takes a swig before wiping the sweat on her temple and her neck. She looked at the time on the huge wall clock and licked her lips. It's one in the afternoon... No wonder she was getting hungry.

Screw it. I am buying that burger for luck tonight.

She stood up and found an empty spot on the old gym and started to cool down. She closed her eyes and regulated her breathing for about a minute, before starting to stretch her limbs. As she sat down and stretches her legs, she saw a blonde teenager on the bench press doing reps. Mayumi tilted her head a bit. She counted how many he was lifting in one rep, and she was shocked at how many reps he did in just a minute. She wished she could do it, too, if she wasn't a lazy piece of ass. She looked closer and realized that he looked familiar. She might have went to the same Junior High School. As he rested, his head suddenly snapped to hers, as of sensing someone watching him. He sat up, and immediately furrowed his brows.

"Whatcha lookin' at? This ain't a fucking strip show!" He scolded. Ignoring him, Mayumi just stood up as if nothing happened.

She didn't need anyone's shit today. Not if she wants to focus for tonight.

~•~

"Yumi, hurry the fuck up!" She heard the Manager exclaim from the staircase.

"Wait the fuck up, old man!" She shouted back, shrugging on her hoodie and grabbing her duffel bag and skipping steps down the staircase. She met up with the Manager at the ground floor, which she met with a smack to the back of her head.

"We're going to be late, you idiot!" He said, putting on his fedora and shrugging on a scarf. Mayumi rolled her eyes and scrunched her lip up, mocking the old man as they walked out of the building.

"You wanna lose tonight, old man?" She threatened, as he opened the door of a sleek black car for her.

"Just get in the car, you damned cretin!"

"Oooh, 'cretin'! You're age is showing old man!" Yumi teased as she went in the car. The Manager looks so done with her.

"You better not fucking lose tonight, or else, I'm kicking you out."

~•~

The Underground Fighting Rink was nowhere as accurate as they present it in movies. The movie version was so much cleaner and lighter. In the UFR, the only lights present were a few fluorescent bulbs dangling from the ceiling, the brightest ones being above The Cage and the bar. If that wasn't enough, the smoke from the many lit cigarettes made everything within a mile radius seem hazy. The movie versions also didn't say anything about the smell. The UFR always smelled of sweat from a hundred men, tobacco, and alcohol. None of it smelled appealing by itself, and even more so when mixed together.

"Totally didn't miss this place." Mayumi said as she and the Manager weaved through a sea of cheering men and women. The first fight had already started, and by the looks of it, it was going to be a quick one.

"Hurry the fuck up, you brat! You still have to warm up, and we ain't got 10 minutes!" The Manager hissed as they made it to their designated room. "Plus you still have to get dressed!"

"Calm your tits, old man! I've got that covered." Mayumi said, zipping down her hoodie to reveal her already wearing her sports bra. The Manager also failed to notice how she already had her hair braided into two. She took off her jogging pants, and she was in her shorts already.

"Okay, get your war paint on, kid, and get yourself warmed up." The Manager said, before tossing bottles of silver and black face paint to her.

~•~

"Now that the two prelimenary cards are dead and gone, it is now time for the main event!" The announcer shouted through a hanging microphone.

"UFR, are you ready to see some blood?"

"Yeah!"

"Are you ready to see some bones break?"

"Yeah!"

"Then without further ado, let me introduce to you our first contender! The jaw-snapping, scale scalping, beady eyed monster of death, here to cure you of your sorry ass life, Doc Gatoooooor!" The crowd cheered when a large, scaly man strutted down to The Cage, smug confidence radiating from him. He shrugged off his silky red robe before stepping into The Cage. His skin was green in color, and scaly like an Aligator's. His size was a different matter, though. He was a 7 footer, and he flashed a toothy smirk to the crowd as he strutted around The Cage, revealing long, sharp teeth.

"And our next contender -oh, she's hardcore alright! Harder than your mother's whooping! Harder than your so-called balls of steel! Here to defend her title, the top 3 fighter here in UFR, the ass-whooping Iron Laaaaadyyyyy!" The crowd howled as Mayumi walk down towards The Cage, a sheen of sweat aready coating her body. Her whole face was painted with silver paint, with black around her eyes, like a mask. She slams her closed fists together, jumping from time to time to release the tension. Her oponent was huge, and there is no way that she will underestimate her oponent, no matter what gender, size, or shape. She steps into The Cage, barefooted. She goes around, raising her fist as the crowd cheers for her. She then goes to the middle of The Cage, and meets with the host (who is also the referee), and Doc Gator.

"Okay, kids, now you know the rules. You can bite, elbow, headbutt, or knee each other to your heart's content. Beat each other to a bloody pulp within the time limit and the 3 rounds, but if one of you taps out or falls unconscious for 10 seconds, you're out. Now, give us a good show, alright?" The host says between the two of them, before backing off. "Okay, let's do this shit!" As the host left The Cage, the bell rung and Mayumi held her gloved fist out, as a sign of sportsmanship. She saw it in her father's old videos of Mixed Martial Arts before, when it was still an official sport. The contenders would bump fists before they start beating each other bloody, and some would walk out friends after the fight.

However, this was the Underground Fighting Rink. Honor and nobility are often disregarded.

Doc Gator immediately swung a right hook at Mayumi. The thing was, he was a large man, and large men are often slow with their movements. Mayumi was able to doge it, her face a hair's breadth away from the tip of her nose. She heard laughter from the crowd as she stumbled back, but she didn't loose her footing. Immediately going to a defensive stance, she braced herself for another punch directed to her face, but was instead attacked from the side, which sent her rolling.

Shit I forgot about the tail.

As Mayumi looked up, she saw Doc Gator about to bring down a foot to her stomach. She acted out and brought up a foot and kicked it ti the only open spot a man has when he raises one of his legs. With the activation of her Quirk, she sent Doc Gator flying towards the fence of The Cage. She quickly stood up, running towards Doc Gator, and bringing a heavy foot down to his stomach. The crowd yelled and cheered on for her, and it drove her wild. She was going to win this. She was going to prove her worth to the Manager. She needed this money.

She wanted it.

Feeling pumped up, she straddled Gator and punched him with consecutive left and right hooks. He managed to push her away, prying away from her straddle, and was going to crawl away. It was his mistake for turning his back on Mayumi, as she hooked her left leg under his left shoulder, and her right leg over his right shoulder. She flipped them over, both of them on their backs. Gator tried to sandwich Mayumi between the wall of The Cage by pushing himself towards it, but she managed to grab his left arm, threatening to break it.

"Come on, man! Tap out! Don't wanna do this!" Mayumi said to him, and for a while, she thought that he actually would.

"Fuck you, bitch!" He spat out.

What Mayumi said was true. She didn't really like breaking bones, or dislocating joints for no reason. However, when someone does give her a reason, for example, someone calling her a bitch, then she wouldn't think twice about it. The sound that it made was sick enough for someone in the crowd to puke. Mayumi could make out shocked gasps from some of the audience members. Of course they would. She completely dislocated his shoulder from the joint. But again, she forgot about the tail, and in Gator's writhing, his tail slammed on Mayumi's right temple, making her vision blurry and drowning everything out. She couldn't feel her limbs, but she felt repeated banging on the sides of her head. She tried her best to block it, to move away, but it kept on coming. She wasn't unconscious yet. She could still fight. She was on the brink of closing her eyes, when she was saved by the bell.

The beating stopped, her face felt numb, but she could still stand. She was assisted to her corner, and she could feel something wet being poured on her face. It was probably water. She could feel her hearing coming back, and the ringing in her ears becoming faint.

"You doing okay, kid?" The Manager's face becoming clearer to her. He was squatting in front of her as she removed her mouthpiece. Mayumi nodded, and she felt a water bottle being placed between her lips. After drinking her fill, she felt someone putting on the paint on her face once again, and she felt stings on her left cheekbone and on her right temple.

"Fuck, why do I need the paint again? It hurts like shit." Mayumi cussed.

"Cuz you're still a minor, which is still illegal in this underground rink -even more so in a normal fight. You need to look more mature. That's why I've been telling you to lose some of the fat, get some abs." The Manager said, and Mayumi sighed.

"But I like a bit of fat. Makes me soft... Huggable." Mayumi smiled, and she swore she saw a hint of a smile replace the Manager's ever-present scowl.

"Whatever. Just remember, in this fight, you're fighting against five limbs. Be careful."

"It's four, now. Dislocated his shoulder. Called me a bitch, now his arm should hurt like one." Mayumi said, and she felt the Manager ruffle her head.

"Taught you well. You make me proud, kid." Mayumi knew that it was a bit of a joke, but she felt something swell in her chest as she heard those words.

"You good to go?" He asked, and she nodded. She walked towards the The Cage as the bell rang once again, signaling the start of the second round. This one started with Mayumi on the defense once more, waiting for Gator to make the first move. He did, by sending her a flying kick. Mayumi instantly blocked his kick with her arm, his shin hitting her arm with a loud pang. Gator let out a loud roar and stumbled with one foot. Mayumi used this to her advantage to grab his foot and with her Quirk, she managed to carry him, and slam him on the ground like a rag doll. The impact was so strong that the whole floor shook from the slam of Gator's body. While Gator was down, Mayumi climbed up the metal wires of the wall of The Cage, and pushed herself off, using it as a boost for her final blow to Gator's head. Her punch formed a crater around Gator's head, and they saw that he wasn't moving.

The countdown from the crowd and the host began.

Ten

Nine

Eight

Seven

Six

Five

A twitch from his tail and fingers, but nothing else.

Four

Three

Two

One

The host immediately went in the Cage and held Mayumi's hand up. "And the winner is, The Iron Ladyyyyyy!" He cheered, and the crowd went wild. However, Mayumi looked at Gator, and back at the host.

"Is he still alive?" He brought out a mirror and held it to Gator's nose. Mayumi sighed in relief when she saw steam cloud the mirror.

"He'll be alright. You did good, don't worry."

Mayumi knew that she fought a good fight, but she can't help feeling like a bad person as she looked at the bloodied face of Gator.

Mayumi and the Manager celebrated with a slice of pizza and two bottles of Smirnoff Mule in their favorite pizza place. It was a tradition of theirs ever since she won her first fight two years ago. They come here so often that the staff in the graveyard shift are already used to her coming in the middle of the night with gauze and stitches on her face.

"Yumi," The Manager started as he took a swig of Smirnoff. "What do you plan on doing if ever I take you out of the Fighting Rink?" Mayumi scoffed at the idea, thinking that the Manager was in a light mood, but when she looked at him, he was looking out to the city, a solemn look on his wrinkled face.

"What do you mean 'take me out of the rink'? Fighting in the rink is my life, now." Mayumi said.

"Yes, but it doesn't have to be that way." He said, and Mayumi looked at him, confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Look, kid... I'm old, and I ain't going to be here much longer. When I'm gone, I want you to make a decent life for yourself -with a proper, legal, good-paying job." The Manager explained.

"You're taking me out of the rink?!" Mayumi exclaimed. He can't take her out. She doesn't want to. "You can't! Fighting is all I have left, and you know what fighting means to me! What do you want me to do, sit in a desk job and die?!" The Manager scoffed at the last part.

"Look kid, I ain't saying that you should get a desk job. What I'm saying is that you fight good, and you can make a decent, legal living with that. It's called being a pro hero." The Manager explained, and Mayumi's brows furrowed.

"But I don't want to be a hero."

"Who the fuck doesn't want to be a hero?! Are you sure that fighting didn't rattle your damned brain or something?"

Mayumi and the Manager were silent after a while. Mayumi looked down at her pizza, and she didn't want it to go to waste just because she wasn't in a good mood. Eating her anger out, she devoured the remaining pizza in a second. She chewed angrily as she looked out of the store, watching the stoplight on the street flicker.

"Okay, fine... Let's make a deal that'll make your debt repaid." Mayumi looked at the Manager, and she knew that this is an offer that she cannot refuse.

Mayumi was back in the gym after two days, earphones blasting rock music as she jogged on the treadmill. However, neither the lyrics nor the muscle fatigue registers to her senses, as she thought about the deal that the Manager offered her. She knew that she would spend her life repaying the debt she owed to the Manager until he dies, but he just offered a payment for it. He made it sound like it was his dying wish or something, and if it is, she can't refuse it. But she didn't like the conditions.

"Get out of the treadmill, creep." She heard a voice from behind. She slowed it down to a stop, and she turned to see that blonde haired boy from the other day. He wore, what seemed like, a permanent scowl, just like the Manager, and his brows were furrowed. "The fuck happened to your face? Someone finally fixed it for ya?" He asked, a smug grin forming. Mayumi had it with this boy. He was plain rude for no reason, and she has no patience left for him.

"What the hell is your problem, asshole?" That's right. She remembered him now. They did go to the same school in Junior High, but he was in another class. However, she remembers stories about this boy with a better-than-thou attitude, and this was him -Bakugou Katsuki, or, as Mayumi likes to label him, the school dipshit.

"You're hogging the fucking treadmill, idiot." He plainly said, and Mayumi found that she couldn't argue with that. It's true that she's been jogging for an hour, or so. With a frustrated sigh, she grabbed her water bottle and waved her hands.

"Fuck! Fine! Whatever!" She exclaimed, moving to get her gloves to let out steam on the punching bag. She groaned as she remembered something about Bakugou Katsuki. He, along with a classmate of his, managed to pass the entrance test of U.A., and only the two of them were able to pass in their whole school.

Okay, kid. Here's my deal. I'll keep arranging fights for you in the rink, and even help you get the spot of Top 1.And in return?I know a guy in U.A., so you go study there to become a licensed hero... for me.

~•~

Hi, so it's my first time writing an anime fanfic (especially action scenes), so please comment if there's room for improvement. _