The Devil's Advocate

Chapter 3

By Vixen

It took a while to get out of the hotel on the night of the big fight. Spike was on his case, as he had been ever since the talk on the basement stairs. Angel was worried too now. Took him long enough, Connor grumbled to himself when his father had asked what his plans for that night were with that concerned frown the vampire had perfected over the years.

Connor hadn't really lied; he told his father he was going out to kill some demons. Just a little twist of the truth. In actuality, there was only one demon he cared about, whoever he was pared up with. He still didn't know what kind of thing he would have to fight. That was part of the fun for the crowd that came to watch, he figured. Though going in unprepared bothered him.

He'd practiced with Illyria for the past week, been kicked in the ribs enough times by the ex-goddess to learn how to duck her blows. At least some of them. But that had just been practice. She had restrained herself, made sure she didn't injure him beyond repair. Connor would not have that luxury tonight.

Walking up to Club Evolution, Connor could feel the excitement in the air, the rush of adrenaline already kicking in. Wearing just a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, he stood out among the high-class well-dressed spectators. There were people staring, sizing him up, probably in order to see which way they should place their bets that night. They'd be disappointed if they bet against him, Connor thought to himself, because there was no way he was going to allow himself to lose that night.

He pushed his way through the crowd into the building and down to the bottom level of the club. On the balcony, the wealthier congregation could watch the nightly games without having to mingle with the masses of drunken rowdy fans, but down on the bottom level the smells of smoke, beer, and sweat invaded his nose. There was something else in the air too, the metallic scent of blood.

Connor could see the source when he got to the front of the crowd. There was a cage in the middle of the floor, about fifteen feet big. Through the cloud of smoke that hovered in the room like a fog, Connor watched as the first fight of the night progressed inside of it. A tall scaly gray demon was in the process of jamming the razor end of its elbow into a vampire, taking it's sweet time with the victory. The crowd cheered the demon on, chanting to finish it.

As the vampire's head was completely sawed through, the bloody stump of his body fell to the floor. Before it reached the cement ground of the cage though, it had turned to dust. In the demon's hand, the head simultaneously dusted, while he threw up his hands to accept the crowd's ovation.

"Dazzling, isn't he?" An unfamiliar woman's voice tickled Connor's ear. She cooed out her words, wrapping her lips around each syllable, "He does this nightly, a true warrior if I ever saw one."

"I doubt you have," Connor replied coolly as he glanced over at her. Though short and thin, she wore an expression that said she was not to be taken for granted. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail of tiny dark brown braids, each of them dropping down to her tiny waist. The dress she was wearing was long and slinky, not the type of outfit that suited the rest of them down there. She looked out of place, like she had gotten lost on the way to the stairs and now was forced to mingle with the common people.

She was watching at him intently, like she knew something about him. Or wanted to know. Probably trying to gain more information for the upcoming fight, he figured. She touched his shoulder playfully and spoke again. "I've read up on you, Connor. Wolfram and Hart had this whole big case file on you. I had to go through a long list of contacts to get it once your father destroyed the Los Angeles sector of the company, but it was worth it. You have led quite an interesting life; it was good reading." The woman took a sip from her long-stemmed wineglass and continued in a gossiping tone, "So, tell me, what was Quor-toth really like?"

Connor shrugged, trying not to make a big deal out of how annoying this stranger was becoming. It would be better to save up all his hostility for the match. Instead, he just flashed her a twisted grin. "It was fun."

When the woman instinctively stepped back, Connor thought he had succeeded in scaring her off. Though when he heard Mr. Petrovia's voice behind him, he knew that wasn't the reason why, "Alexandra, what have I told you about walking around down here?"

Alexandra instantly left Connor's side and nestled up to Petrovia, "Oh, honey, we weren't doing anything. I was just talking to the boy, honest." She threw a smirk in Connor's direction. "He amuses me."

"There's 9-to-1 odds against your new friend here. I just don't want you to be disappointed if he dies tonight." He pushed her away, handing her off to another suited gentleman. "Go with Michael. He'll get you back to your seat." As Petrovia's associate led her away, she pouted. When his girlfriend had left, Petrovia asked, "Are you ready?"

"More than." Connor said proudly, trying to gain an extra bit of confidence. "I didn't earn the nickname The Destroyer for nothing." He glanced back at the demon in the cage as a judge was making the final announcement of the win. "Is that who I'm fighting tonight?"

"Not him, no. We've got a special opponent picked out for you, someone who will match your strength and skill." Petrovia answered, looking back at the ring as the demon fighter walked away almost unharmed. If Connor's opponent was stronger than that one, he might just have a problem on his hands.

A judge with a microphone walked to the center of the ring. Speaking to the crowd he announced, "The next match will begin in five minutes. Please finish all betting at the ticket office as soon as possible, because you will not want to miss this next match."

Petrovia turned to Connor, "Time to go, kid."

"Oh goodie," The boy muttered before heading to the ring. The crowds jostled him as he pushed his way towards the entrance of the ring and he only narrowly missed getting beer splashed in his face by a lady who was too wobbly to stand up on their own. He glared at the woman and she managed to avert the direction she was falling in. It really wasn't Connor's kind of place.

If his parents had found out he hanging out in a dive like this, they'd be more than a little pissed off. His kid sister would probably get a laugh out of it though. She still thought of Connor as the straight A-student, making the honor roll and top of his class, not getting into bar fights with demons. How little she knew.. Connor shook his head, clearing his mind of thoughts of his family. They would only distract him from what he had come there to do.

Connor stepped into the makeshift boxing ring. As the judge padlocked the gate that encircled it, the boy looked out at the mixed crowd of demons, vampires, and humans who came to see this underground cage match. Then he turned to see his opponent, all eight feet of him. Oh, this was going to hurt. The prize had been too good to pass up though.

The Destroyer smiled, "Bring it on."

He wasn't going to fail this time.

The demon and the boy circled each other, neither making a move, only studying their opponent. Spike's protruded from each of the demon's knuckles, looking much like brass knuckles only much sharper. The first objective would be to avoid those things at all costs, especially with the size of the muscles that made up the thing's arms. It was liable to take Connor's whole head off if the boy missed ducking a punch. As he surveyed the demon's moves, Connor realized that it didn't use its legs much, the thing looked a bit top-heavy. Even when it began throwing punches, it didn't make any kicks. Perhaps that was the key.

The demon made another swipe at Connor with his hairy arms. The boy dodged and the crowd cheered. Part of them did at least, the rest was boo-ing. He threw his frustration into a punch aimed at the thing's torso, not believing how sick some people were. There he was in a fight to the death, trying to entertain the crowds, and they were boo-ing at him. Connor kicked at the demon's legs, causing it to stumble a bit and cry out in pain.

"What? Sensitive down there?" Connor laughed, kicking again. The demon retaliated by hurling its fist into Connor's shoulder. The boy tried to get out of the way of the approaching onslaught, but failed when he realized he was too close to the cage wall to move. Backed into a corner, he grimaced as the spikes on the demon's fist rammed into his shoulder, drawing blood. It was such a rookie mistake, Connor was more angry at himself than at the thing who had just damaged his shoulder. He blamed it on being out of the game for so long, there was no need for a demon fighter back home. He'd only been in two fights that whole year, Sahjahn and that guy at Wolfram and Hart before the building had collapsed. And Angel had won the one at Wolfram and Hart, while Connor had gotten knocked out. He hoped this wasn't a repeat of that, getting knocked out right there would not have been a good thing. Connor probably wouldn't even wake up if he did.

The demon backhanded Connor and the boy flew into the side of the cage. Connor's nose smashed against the metal bars and he let out a small groan, wondering if his nose was broken. He watched the crowd while trying to get his bearings and cried out again when he spotted someone he knew. He held onto the bars, squinting to get a better view through the harsh stage lights, hoping perhaps that it wasn't who it looked like.

Angel came closer to the front of the arena, flanked by a woman with blue hair and another vampire wearing a duster; there was no way Connor could mistake him. Angel looked at the cage and saw his son. At that moment, Connor wanted nothing more than to be invisible.

There were other things to occupy his mind however, as the seriousness of the fight snapped Connor out of his thoughts. The demon grabbed him by the shirt, lifting him up in the air. It slammed his back against the gate, hard enough to knock the wind out of Connor's lungs. As the boy gasped for air, the demon drew its spikes back into its fists, hitting Connor with its bare fists instead. It seemed to be enjoying the slow death this way would bring, instead of the quick death the spikes would wreck.

Connor tried to kick at the demon, put he was being held too high. When he punched the thing, his fists could only reach the heavy iron armor that it wore. He glanced sideways, when he heard a commotion in the crowd. His father was trying to stop the fight, but getting nowhere against the heavy security the bar

Two guards held Angel's arms while the vampire unsuccessfully tried to get past them. Connor's eyes met those of his father, as the vampire screamed out, "Connor!"

It was too late though; his father would never be able to stop the fight. Connor clutched his stomach as he slid down the wall. Why the demon had let him go, Connor couldn't be sure, unless it just wanted to torture him with a slow death. He came to rest in a little ball, curled to offer some protection against the demon that had delighted in hurting him. Connor could hear his father still calling out to him, but all he could think about was how much his body hurt and how much he had failed.

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One more chapter left. :)