"Just that, whether or not you come tonight, I'm going to the tournament tonight. I want another crack at the Destroyer, but I want everyone to see me beat you." "How did you find out?" she questionlly asked.
"I've known for the better part of the time I've been here at the precinct. That first day, during class, one of the guys from the class was warning me to not piss you off. He told me that not only did you teach police officers how to fight well, but you also ran an underground fighting ring and was its undefeated champion." Derick said as fast as he could trying to get everything out before it all registered with Dannie. He had been trying to piss me off that day. He wanted to test my strength. I guess he judged wrong.
Dannie looked at the clock hanging on her wall near the door, it read 5:30 p.m., she had to change and get ready for the tournament tonight.
"Fine, if you want to come tonight, just realize two things. You had better have the grand to get inside the door, and you better be ready to fight. Not one person, except me, gets in the door tonight without buying in, and everyone who buys in fights." Derick looked at her with shock. She never looked so determined before.
"Why does everyone have to but in, and why is it so much tonight?" "Just think about it. The tournament starts at six o'clock and goes until everyone had fought. Everyone who comes usually want to fight, but there isn't enough time to fit them all in, so tonight everyone gets the chance. The reason the but in is so much higher is that the champ takes home half the pot, and the prize money dwindles down from there. This way, the top fighters after the champ, me, are able to take home some money tonight as well." she hurriedly answered. "But if I don't get ready fast, and get down there faster, than it won't matter because tonight won't happen until next month."
Derick went outside to wait for Dannie to get ready to go. He had decided, without saying anything to Dannie that he would drive the both of them to the fight. She was in too much of a hurry to argue with him when she left the house.
The tournament night was a big success. Over twenty people showed up including Derick, and there weren't any problems with the new rules for the night. People were just glad that everyone was given a chance to fight, but were surprised that other people besides the Destroyer took home prize money.
Dannie, of course, emerged victorious and took home over ten thousand dollars that night. Derick on the other hand, only took home twenty-five hundred. Both of them were in the second to last fight, but he lost to Dannie's next opponent. Derick would have been named fourth place, but he had almost won his battle, and only lost by just a little. Dannie hadn't had to put forth any real energy toward defeating him, so Derick was named third and the other guy was named forth.
Dannie drove home because Derick couldn't see out of one of his eyes. He had cuts, scrapes, bruises, and a cracked rib; he looked like crap, but she felt like it. The dude in her last battle pulled off a couple of dirty punches, and a dirty kick as well. he almost broke her jaw, but he seriously bruised her right shoulder blade when he pulled off that kick. Derick had been watching the fight with his one good eye and nearly jumped into the ring to help her, but for the last fight, there is a cage placed over the ring so no one can interfere with the fight, not even a ref. The cage is only allowed up after someone goes unconscious.
After he kicked her in the shoulder blade, it took most of her strength to not scream from the pain, and if she hadn't gotten as enraged as she did, then he would have won, and there was absolutely no way she was going to allow that to happen. She stood back up after having fallen from the force of the kick, threw as good an upper cut as she could manage with her shoulder causing immense pain with every movement, and knocked him on his ass. Then she fell down next to his unconscious body and punched him across the face for added measure just as the cage was being lifted up to officially end the fight. Everyone was given their prize money, and the building was emptied by three o'clock the next morning.
When she got them to her house, Dannie cleaned his cuts and scrapes, and did what she could for his cracked rib, despite her own injury. Derick fell unconscious on her bed, so she slept in the living room on her couch, after making a promise to herself. "I will never allow him to fight in the ring again so long as I am the one running it."
Derick stayed in her room the entire next day. Dannie gave him a strange liquid the night before and made him drink it. It tasted horrible, she knew that, but it helped him sleep throughout the night without any pain, and when he awoke the next evening he was sore from sleeping all day without moving any muscles, but that was all. He still had cuts and scrapes, but he wasn't bleeding, and there wasn't nearly as much pain as there had been the night before.
Dannie came in the room carrying a tray with some hot soup, a grilled cheese sandwich, and a very large glass of water. Derick smiled at the sight and Dannie stopped him from saying anything, "Don't move around too much, and don't try to speak right now. That liquid may help your body heal faster, but it seriously dehydrates you, so if you try to talk before you get some water in your body, I won't be able to hear anything you say. I should know, Kyra used to give me that stuff all the time when I first started training as a kid. She hits far harder than I do during class." She set the tray down on the little table next to the bed and said, "Here you go. Eat, you've been out for over twenty hours, your body needs food."
Derick looked at her in surprise. "Don't worry, I told the chief most of what happened. He understands, and hopes to see you tomorrow ready to go. But that won't happen if you eat up and get some more rest." Derick took a long gulp of water, felt his body cry out for more, and finished off the 32oz glass of water in just two gulps. Dannie didn't look too surprised, but instead took the glass and went to fill it back up. As she was leaving, Derick forced out, "Thank you, for everything." and commenced eating while she was gone.
When she got back, she had a full glass of water in one hand and a bottle of aspirin in the other. She offered them to him and sat down on the edge of the bed. After he polished off the other glass of water he sat it down on the table next to his empty bowl of soup. She took the tray away, rinsed off the bowl and plate, and brought him another glass of water. For the rest of the night they talked.
"Why do you do this night after night? I mean, how can you?" "Well, I was trained for every situation. I have incredible stamina, and I am usually the one inflicting all the damage, I don't usually take any. That guy just threw some dirty hits, I should learn to watch my opponents more closely, if I had, he would have been on the ground before I had gotten hit that last time."
"But why did you start doing this in the first place? No one seems to know. I asked everyone who knew about the ring why you would put yourself through this kind of torment every night, even if you can fight as well as you do. I couldn't get a straight answer out of any of them." "Well, that is a story that I reserve for only the closest of friends and family, and you are neither. It's time I checked those wounds again. I'll be right back."
As she went to get up, Derick grabbed her wrist, pulled her back to him, and into a kiss. Dannie almost pulled away, but she had secretly been hoping that he would do this, so she relaxed and just allowed it to happen. I can't believe she isn't fighting or pulling away. I should have done this before. Derick ended the kiss before it went too far and said leaning his forehead against hers, "So does that make me a close enough friend now, or do I have to take this farther?"
"This rates you as close, but not close enough. And anyways, you can't do too much more without hurting yourself in the process. Now either you let me go, or I'll break your hand. I need to get the med kit to check your wounds and it's in the other room."
Derick let her go, she got the med kit, checked and rebandaged his wounds, and before she knew what to think he had her underneath his body. They both knew that she could easily throw him off of her, but she knew if she did, it would only end up hurting him more than he already was, so she didn't.
He could feel her start to breath heavily, and she could feel every muscle in his body, most importantly, the ones in his almost bare chest. "Dannie are you alright? Your breathing changed when I did this." he said with real concern in his voice. "I'm fine. You just startled me, that's all. Please move off of me, I don't want to hurt you by throwing you off." He leaned down and covered her mouth with his, and felt her body give in. He put one hand on the side of her neck for support and the other on her hip for his own pleasure.
Dannie pushed him up, but not off, to stop him from going too far. "Please get up now?" "Fine, but only if you agree to answer my questions, truthfully, like you would your closest friends." "Fine! Whatever! I don't care, just move." He rolled off onto the other part of the bed as promised, but Dannie was too out of breath to move off the bed, so she laid next to him, side by side, while answering his questions for the rest of the night.
"So, I already know the big secret of who you are, without having to ask, so you get a reprieve. But why do you do this night after night?"
"You have to understand, I have a very sorted childhood, but that is a different story. I didn't grow up in a normal home, and that can cause some serious anger-management issues, so my Aunt Kyra started training me, when I was a teenager, in hand to hand combat. It helped, but then a couple of years ago, she married and left. I had no way to control my anger, so I started hanging out at gyms and training grounds, and eventually, one of the gyms that I frequented became my base of operations and people would just show up to watch and start betting. I needed the money, they wanted to get something specific from me, and they all thought that they could win. Women didn't start fighting until I had money and a reputation. They wanted money for winning, not sex. But there is also another reason. My father is best known for his fighting skills, among other things, and I had always hoped that he would seek out this girl who claimed to be the best fighter, and atleast then I would be able to see him for more than a fleeting moment. That's why."
"So who's your dad?" Dannie got out of the bed and left the room. Derick could hear her rustling through some papers and heard her yell out, "Damn it! Where is it?" "Dannie?" Derick said questionlly. Dannie returned to the room carrying a piece of paper. "Is your dad a piece of paper, or is he a man?" he laughed at her. "Very funny. My father is," she handed him the piece of paper, it was an old warrant, "Richard B. Riddick, escaped convict, murderer, savior of the Helion System, and new ruler of the Necromungers."
Derick looked as sick as a dog after eating an entire box of Valentine's Day chocolates. She's his daughter. It can't be. she looks nothing like him. "It can't be!" he screeched. "What's wrong with you? you look like your going to throw up." "There is no way in hell you are Riddick's daughter! I refuse to believe that I would be attracted to this pig's daughter!" Dannie left the room.
Derick suddenly realized that he had said that last part out loud and attempted to run after her. By the time he caught up with her, she was outside in the backyard standing next to a grave. "See mom, this is why I never allowed anyone to get too close. Why I never told anyone who my father was. I knew that no one would ever accept me." Dannie was saying this to the grave.
"Dannie, please forgive me. I should never have said those things, I shouldn't ever have been thinking them. Now you probably won't accept me when I tell you my secret. That is the reason why I had a hard time accepting what you told me. Dannie, look at me." "What does it matter if I accept you, it's not like you could care for me." she said through tears.
"Dannie, I am a merck and my crew and I are going after your father. I was sent in as an undercover cop so I could gather information on your father's whereabouts before we set out again." "Today is the fourteenth anniversary of my mother's death."
"Do you understand what I am saying?" Dannie looked up into his eyes and said, "Take me with you."
A/N: I swear, Riddick is coming very soon. I just had to get up to the point where I could introduce him and everyone would at least know why things were happening the way they were happening.
