It was early in the morning, and everyone was asleep in the home of Ebbs Guerrero.
In the last upstairs bedroom, the owner of this home is extremely proud of his accomplished fighter, and is sleeping soundly in his bed. By soundly, his snoring can be heard through the whole house.
Lobo, the new fighter under the tutelage of Ebbs, is on the couch. Well, he has one arm and leg on the floor, and he has found a way to get some sleep in the home. In Lobo's ears are his earbuds, and his phone is playing music, so he can sleep.
As Lobo sleeps, he is calm, at peace, after his sister's win, he was happy that she wasn't hurt. Lobo may wish he could tell his sister his name, but he is fine with calling her, Predator. He does hope that one day, he can call his sister, Drew, and she will reply back by calling him Dean, but that can wait.
Predator, after her big win against the up and comer, Santiago, is asleep in her room. She has solidified her place as a combatant in the Shadow Fist tournament. She will now have to fight her way to the top in order to save not only her life, but the life of her Coach, and his dojo. Unlike the other two inhabitants of the home, Predators sleep is not quite calm.
Her eyes opened to reveal she was outside. It was daytime, but their was a breeze out. She looked around and saw trees. Lots and lots of trees. The only thing that wasn't a tree was a huge stone that towered over her. She was taken out of the beautiful sight when a voice spoke.
"Are you ready, Sweetie," spoke a male voice. Drew looked up and saw a man. This man was a rather large individual. He stood probably six foot eight. His skin was tan. His eyes were brown, but his most eye catching feature was his hair.
The man's hair was gold. It almost seemed to glow with the sun. His hair moved gently with the win. He gave off the warmest aura. Like he wouldn't hurt a fly, or at least never hurt her. She felt so safe around this man. He looked so familiar, but she couldn't think of a name to match the face. She has seen him before, but doesn't know where.
"For what," she asks.
"For training, silly," answer the man.
"We are going to work on one of my most favorite style of fighting, RIIIIINNNNNG."
"What?"
RRRRIIIINNNGGG
Everyone woke up at once. Predator opened her eyes, but remained lying in bed, Ebbs rose up from his bed. Meanwhile, downstairs, Dean shot up like a rocket. His earbuds fell out of his ears, and he stood straight up. He immediately got in a defensive position, and was ready to take down whatever was making the loud noise.
Ebbs looked at the clock and phone next to the nightstand. The clock read 6:00 A.M., but the phone read, Franklin Sykes. That name woke Ebbs up and he immediately answered the phone.
" Mr. Sykes, Hello, Sir. Sorry for the wait."
"Ebbs, hi, I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time."
"No, you did no such thing. I was away from the phone. May I ask why you are calling?"
"Yes, seeing as it is a rare occurrence for me to be calling you, That question would pop in that head of yours. I would like to be the first to tell you congratulations on your fighter, Predator, on making it to Shadow Fist."
"Thank you, Sir."
"I wasn't finished. It has come to my understanding, that you have a fighter by the name of Lobo that just so happens to have some strange circumstances with how he became your second fighter of Shadow Fist."
"Yes, well, I can certainly explain that."
"Good, my boss and I will be at your dojo in about twenty minutes or so. You can explain it to us there. Bye Ebbs, and I'll see you real, soon. Beep Beep Beep" The three beeps indicated that the line was dead. Sykes had just hung up to give Ebbs this gut punching news.
He gently sat the phone down. He then stood up in his boxers for that was what he slept in. A look of absolute fear was plastered all over his forty eight year old face.
"EVERYONE GET UP," his voiced boomed through the house. As the man scrambled to put on some decent clothes, he issued a threat to his the other two inhabitants of the home.
"If you two aren't ready to go by the time I'm out of my room, I'll beat all of you black and blue."
Dean understood the threat, but he wasn't scared by it. He knew that this was urgent. He could hear the urgency in Ebbs voice. Behind the bravado he hid fear, something scared him. Dean quickly changed into a new pair of clothes. Drew felt the same way about the threat, and she began doing the same.
When Ebbs came out the door to his room, he walked down stairs to see Lobo and Predator both standing in the living room, and looking at him. Predator was wearing some black shorts, a blue short sleeve shirt, and blue sneakers. Lobo was wearing blue shorts, a grey short sleeve, and black sneakers.
"You guy's will need your masks," was all he said. He held up his bear mask to show them he was not joking, but he didn't need to do that. The two could read his face. He looked pale. He wasn't just scared, he was terrified. Predator ran upstairs to get her mask, and Lobo ran to his bag for his. He also took time to grab his phone. While they were doing that, Ebbs grabbed his laptop.
Once everyone had their needed items, they all jumped into the Black Chavelle, and Ebbs sped off.
In the car, Dean finally decided to ask a question.
"Ebbs, where are we going?"
"We are going to my dojo. Once we get there, we will wait for some people to show up. Once they show up, they will talk with us. Kids, when I tell you that these people can make or break you I mean it. You two are about to meet Franklin Sykes, and, the Beast King, Calian Teowulf."
"Who are they," asked Drew.
"They are the two most powerful people of the underground."
The two remained silent by this shocking revelation. They now understood why Ebbs was afraid. This meeting could be life or death.
"Franklin Sykes has always been in Shadow Fist. He's the announcer of all the fights, and it's his job to help the owners run the business. He was a nobody before Shadow Fist. He has helped three of the owners of Shadow Fist. That is how he's made a fortune.
"And Teowulf," asked Dean.
"I'm going to let you kids in on a secret," spoke Ebbs.
"I have fought in Shadow Fist for thirty years. All the men in my family were fighters in it. The men consisted of my father, brother, and me. In all my years of participating in Shadow Fist. I have never met a man like Calian Teowulf.
"What do you know about him," asked Drew.
"What do I know about him? Five years ago, my family and I were making our way up in Shadow Fist. We were all going to make it to the winners circle. My father had passed away, so it was my brother, Mateo, and I.
We never really paid attention to the other fighters, we would only want to fight each other. My brother had beaten me this time, so he was going to be fighting the last opponent. I was in my brothers corner, and he didn't know who he was fighting. We then see this extremely large man. He had this aura about him.
All his clothes were black. He wore black combat boots, black camo jeans, tight black long sleeve, and the most unsettling thing was his mask. He had a white sheep mask with blue eyes. My brother wore the mask of a Mountain Lion. Mateo wasn't worried.
The two listeners can see that there is a but coming after that sentence.
"But, he should have been."
With that, Predator and Lobo were taken out of their thoughts by the car slowing to a stop.
"We're here," spoke Ebbs.
They had made it to their destination. Everyone got out of the car, and they walked inside. The two fighters followed Ebbs to a door in the far back of his dojo. There was a mirror right next to the door.
When Ebbs opened the door to reveal the mirror was actually a one way window. Ebbs could be in here, and not be seen by the outside. This room was Ebbs' office. It was small tan walled room. It had a lamp, had a desk, and three chairs. One was for the desk, and the other two were for the people on the other side of the desk. Ebbs had sat his computer down on the desk, and He then walked out and brought two extra folding chairs. He laid them against the wall.
"This is where you guy's will sit," spoke Ebbs. "Leave the good seats for them."
"I think I'll stand," spoke Dean.
"If he tells you to sit, you sit. I'm not ordering you, he just has a way about him. You want to do as he says."
"He sounds like a bully."
As soon as he finished that sentence, the sound of a car pulling up alerted the trio.
"They're here," spoke Ebbs. "Don't speak unless spoken too, and be polite."
Everyone was silent. All of them were looking out the window. Three car doors shut simultaneously.
"Why did I hear three doors," thought Dean. Before he could think another thought, the door opened. The feel of the room changed as man wearing an all black suit, black gloves, and white tie had entered. That wasn't the man's most striking feature. He was wearing a white sheep mask with blue eyes. The whole aura of the room changed. Even Dean felt uneasy. He has felt a feeling like this many times.
"Threat," he thought. He knew this feeling all too well. It's the same feeling he felt when he saw his uncle. This man had power, and, given the right motivation, he is not afraid to use it.
As he walked by, two things followed close beside. One was black , and the other was an ivory color. Both had one thing in common: they were equally unpleasant to be seen with an already intimidating aura. They were dogs, big ones. Both were trained as guard and hunting dogs. They were bred to hunt, work, guard, and fight.
Behind the colossal canines, another gentleman followed behind him.
This man was a lot pudgier than the first. His suit was grey with a red tie, and he wore brown shoes. He couldn't intimidate a fly with his stature. He was about five foot even, and his mask was a red parrot. He wasn't a threat, if anything, he reminded Dean of one of the poachers from is first altercation in Jasper.
All those thoughts of the past ran out of Dean's mind as the unexpected third man had to duck under the doorframe in order to come into the building. He was in a black leather jacket, brown pants, and combat boots. His mask was a dog. He had to at least be seven feet tall.
The three men and two animals walked into Ebbs office, and they looked around. It was a very tense few moments. The sheep headed man turned his head to Predator. Both of his dog's eyes' were locked on their master and the person he was looking at. He then extended his hand.
"Nice job on the victory," spoke a calm, quiet voice. Predator took the handshake. "Thank you," she spoke.
Then, the pudgier fellow took her hand.
"Way to go champ," he said.
"Thank you."
Then the seven foot tall behemoth of a man took her hand. His hand enveloped hers, and shook it gently.
"Good job," spoke the man.
"Thanks."
Everyone caught the accent from those two words. This man was Russian.
The sheep headed man then turned his head to the wolf headed boy, and he extended his hand. His dogs did the same thing to Lobo.
"You must be Lobo," spoke the man. "Do you know who I am?" Dean took his hand, and answered.
"The owner of Shadow Fist," spoke Dean.
"You're right. Calian Teowulf is my real name. What's yours?"
"Lobo."
"Look kid, you don't have to tell me your fighting name. I know Ebbs and Drew, so what's your name?"
Dean could see Drew's eyes grow wide. She had no idea Teowulf knew her name. The only one who knew her name was Ebbs or ,at least, that is what she thought. Dean decided to stick with his fighting name. This made Dean a little bit angrier. Nobody makes his sister upset.
"Lobo," answered Dean. "I don't feel comfortable revealing my true name."
Teowulf was silent.
"You little punk," spoke Sykes. "When the boss asks you a-" Calian raised his hand, and both dogs let out a vicious growl. Franklin immediately ceased the sentence he formed in his head.
"I can respect that," spoke the sheep headed individual. "It just so happens that I have an individual that has a past clouded in mystery. As I have already said, I am Calian Teowulf. "
He then motioned to Franklin. "This is one of my employees." He then motioned to the giant Russian. "This here is my personal fighter from Russia. You remember him Ebbs. You fought him before. He calls himself "Pasti."
"Shepherd," spoke Dean.
"You know Russian," asked Pasti.
"я знаю много вещей," (ya znayu mnogo veshchey) (I know a lot of things,) spoke Dean.
The canine headed giant remained silent. He was clearly not prepared for this fighter to understand what he was saying.
"You are just full of surprises, Lobo," spoke Calian. He then looked down.
"Oh, I almost forgot," spoke Teowulf. "These two are my personal guards." He was referring to his dogs.
"The black one here is Nyx, and the straw colored one is Ivory. Do any of you know what breed of dogs these two are?"
Everyone was silent.
"No? Well it's quite interesting. You see, both of these beautiful animals are Cane Corso. These dogs were bred to fight. I bred, and trained these two myself. Both female, but these two are my strongest dogs. They out pulled and out fought my males. They are my best guards."
Calian then peered at Ebbs.
"I am getting sidetracked," spoke Ebbs. "We came to talk business. Ebbs, as Frankie has already told you, we needed to discuss the induction of Lobo. I wasn't aware he was in Shadow Fist. I haven't even seen him fight."
"Yes," began Ebbs. "I can see how their would be some clarification needed. I can explain, Lobo's induction as one of my Shadow Fist combatants."
"Go on."
"Two days ago, Predator and I were getting ready to train. We came across this bum on the front of my doorstep. I didn't think much of it. Bum had a smart mouth, so I decided to let my fighters rough him up a bit."
"So, what did your fighters do to this bum?"
"Nothing."
"You had thirty fighters," Spoke Franklin. "None of them touched him? I saw your fighters, they had skill. They should have relished the chance to show their power. Especially some nobody."
"That's just the thing," answered Ebbs. "My top ten fighters couldn't even touch him. He had beaten my guy's so badly, that the rest of them had quit on me. I decided to recruit him, and he agreed. That is why I can vouch for him, and I hope that you would be ever so gracious to allow him to participate in Shadow Fist, Sir."
The sheep face man stood in silence. That mask was hiding his emotions, for no one knew what he was thinking. For all Dean, Drew, and Ebbs knew, Calian was plotting how to kill them.
"While your story is very interesting and does give me the information I was needing, Ebbs," started Teowulf. "Do you have anything else to back up your word? Forgive me if I don't trust your word. I do."
" I just have a business to run, and you can understand that fighters have fought battle after battle, fight after fight to get a spot in Shadow Fist. Predator is one of the lucky few to make it to Shadow Fist. "
"Lobo here has had no sanction fight, and all we have is your word, and his mask. I am going to ask again, Ebbs. Do you have any evidence that will support your proposal to bring this kid into the world of Shadow Fist?"
"I understand," spoke Ebbs. "I have my cameras, and I have the footage on a hard drive. I intended to send it to you Sir, but Mr. Sykes had called me before I could."
"Oh, well why didn't you say so in the first place," spoke Calian. "Let's see the footage."
"Yes, Sir. Right away." Ebbs pulled a hard drive out of his shirt pocket, and he then turned his computer on. Ebbs began to show the three gentleman the footage of all of Dean's fights in the dojo.
As the three gentleman were watching the footage, each of them would take quick glances at him. Dean remained standing against the wall with his arms crossed.
One thing was for certain. Dean was not happy with Ebbs. He hated that he didn't think there was a camera somewhere, and Ebbs caught him on it. He was raised to be stealthy and out of sight. How can you be out of sight when you are seen on video knocking someone out. It not only did this, but it revealed his face. This revelation had Dean fuming, but his outer expression showed none of that.
"Well, color me impressed," spoke the sheep masked boss. "You have quite the talent. Those ten guys were considered masters of their styles, and you beat them with their own techniques. You even made some of them go wild, and just tried to do something to you. You adapted to that as well."
"Thank you," answered Dean.
"I don't impress often, Lobo. The last time I was impressed was when I saw Drew's first video. She was beating a fighter that was participating in Shadow Fist. The coach wanted to promote his fighter by putting her against a weaker opponent. He filmed it, and Drew laid her out so fast. The coach sent me the video, and I made a call. Well I should say Frankie made a call, and I had her training with Ebbs."
Everyone was silent for the moment, and Calian continued.
"I have seen enough of Lobo, and I can say that he has earned his spot in Shadow Fist. Not only did he fight ten masters of different martial arts, he did it consecutively. Now, that I allow this, Ebbs, will he also become apart of our little bargain?"
"Yes, sir."
"Lobo, you are aware of the little deal Ebbs and I are having, right?"
"I am aware."
"Good, you aren't fighting for keeps. All that you are winning, will go to me, due to a debt Ebbs owes me. Not only will you be doing that, you'll be helping Predator with her freedom. Question is, are you willing to give up your freedom too?"
Dean expected something like this would happen. Now his life is on the line.
"I understand. If Ebbs' team doesn't win I along with Predator and Ebbs will be at the mercy of Mr. Sykes and in turn, you. I agree to the terms."
He didn't need to think about his answer. He would have laid his life on the line for his sister.
"Good, Shadow fist begins the day after tomorrow. Our bracket consists of forty fighters."
This confused Ebbs.
"Sir, I must ask. Why are there so little fighters compared to what we had at the last one? I also am wondering why it is so soon?"
"Well, It's quite simple Ebbs. I don't want to see any weakness in this tournament. I assume you noticed I had fighters win a consecutive twelve matches."
"Yes."
"Well, I added another rule. The reason we had so many fighters was because mobsters, gangsters, and other leaders were flooding the tournament with multiple fighters. I decided to eliminate this problem by making a two fighter minimum. Once the leaders caught wind of this, most of the countries couldn't meet my demands."
"I get it now," spoke Ebbs.
"Now to answer you're second question. I decided to start this immediately after the preliminary battles. Drew was actually the last fight for the preliminaries. This will give the fighters a taste of what Shadow Fist will be like. Everyone understand?"
No one objected.
"Great, then I'll see you guy's in two days."
"You'll be picked up by some of my employees," spoke Calian. "Have your masks and other personal belongings ready to go. If you are in trouble with the law, then you can't bring any electrical device. Police may be tracking you more carefully than others. Are any of you in trouble with the law?"
"No sir," spoke Ebbs.
"No sir," spoke Drew.
"No Sir," spoke Dean.
"Excellent, then I'll see you three at the tournament."
With that, Calian began walking out. Nyx and Ivory followed close behind him, then Sykes, and finally Pasti.
Before he left, Pasti looked at Dean.
"мы встретимся снова маленький волк," (My vstretimsya snova malen'kiy volk,) he said. He then laughed and followed the other gentleman.
"я рассчитываю на это," (ya rasschityvayu na eto) spoke Dean.
"What did he say," asked Ebbs.
Dean kept staring holes in the back of Pasti's head.
"He said "We will meet again little wolf.""
"And what did you say?"
"I'm counting on it."
"You don't know what you just started."
"Apparently you do. Care to explain?"
"Pasti was last year's champion of Shadow Fist. I had only seen a force like that one other time. The other time was Calian. He had beaten all of his opponents in less than ten seconds. For a man of his size, his speed is unheard of."
"So he's quick, big deal."
"He is inhuman."
Dean then walked over to Ebbs.
"That's all fascinating, but if you have seen the things I have, you wouldn't fear something inhuman." He was now right next to Ebbs.
"So that's how you heard of me, and what was he talking about," asked Drew.
Ebbs looked at her and sat down.
"Yeah Champ, that's how I found out about you."
"What did he mean by my freedom?"
Ebbs sighed.
"Coach, what was he talking about?"
"Kid, not only are you fighting for my dojo, and my life,...you're fighting for your freedom too."
Drew's eyes grew wide.
"When you left and went to the car after the stipulations were set, Sykes, and Teowulf got an idea. If my team loses, not only will I lose the dojo and my life, but you two will be at the mercy of Sykes and Calian."
Drew now understood the scope of what she got herself into. She took her mask off and looked at the tiger staring back at her. This surprise felt like a punch in the chest. She didn't feel powerful, like a tiger. She felt vulnerable. She felt scared.
"And you neglected to tell me this why?"
"I didn't want you to know because it would throw you off your game. I know now that it was a mistake to do so. I am sorry, Predator.
The pressure that just shoved itself upon her shoulders became too much. She began to breathe rapidly.
"I..I..I," she began stuttering. "I can't lose. I still don't even know who I am. I can't become their property. I have to find out my past, who I was, who I am. I...I...I.
Dean ripped his mask off and walked over to her. He put his hands on her shoulders.
"Predator," he began. "Hey, Hey, Hey, calm down. Calm down. Stop talking and listen.
She stopped and looked at him.
"We haven't lost anything yet. It'll be fine. We are going to be fine. These next fights are just like any other fight. We are gonna wipe the floor with them. Do you know why?"
"Why?"
"Because we have no reason to say otherwise. We are a team, and we are going to win Shadow Fist. It'll be ok. Alright, I have seen you kick butt without breaking a sweat. You may not know how you can do it, but you can. How doesn't matter right now; being able to does."
"We just need to keep fighting. This is what it means to survive. We are going to survive. Now Predator, I wanna hear you say we will survive."
Predator was silent for a moment.
"Come on just three little words."
Dean gave her a small smile. She didn't know why, but that smile looked so familiar and felt so reassuring. Even if he was lying, the reassurance was what she needed. She couldn't do anything but return the smile.
"We will survive," she said.
"Alright, that's what I'm talking about. Ebbs, I wanna hear you say it."
All the while, he was watching and listening to Dean's pep talk. He was pumped up as well.
"We will survive," he said.
"Great, now that the team is on the same page, we wait. We have a full day to rest and prepare ourselves, mind and body, for the fights we will face together as a team. Now, I don't know about any of you, but I am starving, so I would like for us to decide where we eat."
And just like that, Dean was back to his normal happy self. It is the afternoon and the three know that their lives are now intertwined with one another. If they lose the upcoming battle, their lives will be forfeited as payment for the horrible dealings of Ebbs Guerrero, and Calian Teowulf. Right now, they are going home, so Ebbs can cook all of them something healthy and delicious. The three then spend they day resting, watching Tv, and training. They all went to sleep, or at least tried to sleep.
Their minds were running wild, but all for different reasons. Ebbs was thinking about all the possibilities and all the different fighters they would face. He thought of Pasti, and the fight he saw. Pasti destroyed his opponent. Ebbs thought of what Lobo said. His voice echoed in his head.
"If you have seen the things I have, you wouldn't fear something inhuman."
"You are very interesting, Lobo. I pray you're not all talk."
In the other bedroom, Drew was thinking about her upcoming challenge, and the man in her dreams.
"I hope you can tell me something helpful, dude." She spoke. "Maybe you can help me figure out who I am." After that, she closed her eyes and began to sleep.
Downstairs on the couch, Dean's mind was planning. He was planning how to fight and not exert too much energy in order to come out of this alive.
"If use my party trick, it definitely has the possibility to kill me. I may not even be able to use it. My claws may not be aloud. Magic may be aloud. Pasti will definitely be a tough opponent. Especially, in the state I am in. Whatever it takes. I'll die before I let anything happen to Drew. All this planning will go out the window once I'm in the ring. Everything will depend on what I see the day after tomorrow."
Dean then turned over on his side, and he went to sleep.
