Chapter Twelve
"Ready to go, Matthew?" Bryce asked glancing at the clock. He had gotten home about an hour ago. "The drives almost two hours."
"Yeah." The Canadian said closing his book and standing up. He gave Kumajirou a pet as he passed. "We'll be back by morning, Karmajello."
"Okay." The cub yawned rolling over. Matthew smiled, he was so cute. Bryce just groaned at the wrong name.
"You have the worst memory." The ginger said as they went out the door to get into the truck.
Matthew just smiled. "Well when you get to be my age." He said mimicking an old lady's voice. Bryce just rolled his eyes. He started the truck and they drove off.
-❄️"I'm willing to wait for it."❄️-
AN: Just jumping a head a few hours.
Matthew sighed and looked around. There were a lot of people he recognized from last year, but a few new faces stood out. A lot of mercenaries he remembered from last year weren't there at all.
It was fairly easy to tell who was a mercenary and who wasn't. Most of the mercenaries were dressed more causal and not drinking. While the potential clients were dressed in suits and dresses and were drinking a lot. He spotted TJ leaning against the wall.
"There's TJ." The blond said nodding in his direction. Bryce nodded and they both walked over to see if he had any good information about their rivals.
"Sup guys?" TJ greeted seeing the pair come over.
"Not to much." Bryce said.
TJ smirked taking a sip of his beer. "Only time I'll drink on the job." He laughed.
"Sure." The red head said rolling his eyes. "What do you have for us this time?" He asked crossing his arms and leaning on the wall next to TJ.
"Welp, we're down to twenty eight from last years forty six. Few deaths, but mostly 'retirees.'" TJ explained. No one was really able to retire. "Oldest are first up and youngest are going last. Snipers first, then pistol and then hand to hand."
Matthew was listening, but not quite paying full attention. His eyes were busy scanning the crowd looking for any unwanted familiar faces. He hadn't seen any the past years he'd been there, but he knew the type of clients that were hanging around. Most of them were they type of people that would buy a person.
"And Matthew, you'll be going fourth to last." TJ finished. The Canadian nodded hearing his name. "Well, I'm going to go and socialize with the peoples. See what I can drum up. Good luck guys!" The bartender waved pushing off the wall and heading into the crowds.
"You only heard half of that didn't you?" Bryce asked as Matthew leaned against the wall next to him. He smiled guiltily biting his lip. "Wasn't anything too important, don't worry. See anyone?"
"No." He said simply with a shrug. He knew what Bryce was asking. The ginger was very protective of him and Matthew knew he would jump at the chance to hurt someone who had hurt him in the past. "Not yet anyways."
The organizers called all the mercenaries over to the sniping range. The first few to go were the oldest among them. It was a bit of a mixed bag with the sniping, some were dead on while others were off by a bit. They're eye sight must have been going. Bryce's aim was perfect, he didn't miss a single shot. Matthew's wasn't nearly as good as his, but still finished in the top half. The ginger ended up second while he placed twelfth.
The Canadian did a lot better with the hand guns. He had quick and accurate aim when it came to them. Bryce did good as well, but not quite as good as Matthew. He placed fifth while the red head finished ninth. Hand to hand was the Canadian's thing. The rules for the rounds were easy, who ever pin who first wins. He was paired up with the younger ones first and easily fought his way up the ladder. Before he knew it, he was in the top two only earning a few new bruises.
Matthew's last opponent was a middle aged lady. She didn't look very intimidating; the deadliest ones normally didn't. She had long dark brown almost black hair and brown eyes. She wore a simple jacket and t-shirt with jeans.
The Canadian had watched her earlier rounds and noticed how she fought. The woman was very calculated, she seemed to predict her opponents every move. He noticed that she watched her opponents shoulders closely, all of her other rivals wore short sleeved shirts while Matthew had a hoodie. He hoped it would give him an advantage against her.
"Good luck, kid." Bryce said patting him on the back lightly. "Kick her ass."
Matthew stepped forward into the ring where the woman was already waiting. She outstretched her hand and the Canadian shook it politely.
"May the best fighter win." She said with a smile. Matthew nodded in agreement smiling as well. Both stepped a few feet back waiting for the officials signal to start. He gave the nod and neither one of them made a move.
"Ladies first." Matthew said with a smile.
The woman rolled her eyes. "Such a gentleman." She mumbled stepping forward. She immediately threw a punch aimed for the throat. Matthew deflected it with his forearm and spun around to be behind her. He went to grab her shoulder and force her to the ground, but she spun and grabbed his wrist. The woman turned again tossing him over her shoulder.
The Canadian landed with a thud flat on his back. He quickly recovered and saw the woman about to jump on top of him. He rolled to the side and quickly climbed back onto his feet. She had just landed in a crouch were Matthew had been on the grounds and quickly straightened up. The woman tried to punch him, but the blond ducked under. He dropped into a crouch and kicked a leg out sweeping her feet out from under her.
The woman landed flat on her back with a gasp trying to catch the breath that had been knocked out of her. Matthew jumped on top of her and was about to pin her hands, but suddenly she produced a knife and slashed at him. He yelled as the blade cut into the flesh below his collar bone right across to his shoulder. The blond jumped back off her onto his feet. He put a hand over the cut with a growl. He easily fought through the pain, he was used to it. The woman had already climbed back to her feet and was about to strike again.
Matthew glanced over to one of the officials. They didn't look like they were going to stop the fight, they were too entertained. He took his blood covered hand off the cut and readied for the woman's next attack. She smiled and slashed at him again with the knife, but the Canadian hopped out of the way of the first slash. She quickly attacked again swiping. He threw one arm up to stop her mid slash and grabbed the woman's wrist with his other hand. He twisted her wrist making her drop the knife.
The blond kicked it away and quickly put the woman into a head lock. He heard the official start to count down as she kicked and struggled in the Canadians grip.
"Good!" The official called and Matthew let go of the woman. She turned on her heal and looked like she was about to attack again, but stopped. He looked over to see Bryce was at his side. He gave the woman an angry look and handed Matthew a clean cloth to put pressure on the wound.
"You okay lad?" He asked moving the Canadians hand to get a look at the cut. The red head winced seeing the wound. "That looks deep."
"I'm okay, it will heal." Matthew said putting pressure back on the cut. Bryce still looked worried. He looked over and the Canadian followed his eyes to see the official walking up to them after talking to the woman.
"Good fighting..." The official trailed off.
"Matthew?" The blond said raising an eyebrow.
"Oh yes, Matthew. Good fighting Matthew." The man corrected himself. "You win this year's hand to had portion of the display. Congratulations."
Bryce looked like he was about to say something, but the Canadian spoke first. "Thank you, sir." He said with slight annoyance and disrespect in his voice.
The man didn't seem to notice. He turned to the crowd. "That ends the display. Everyone have a good night." He announced loudly. Everyone started to leave. Matthew and Bryce went to the truck and the ginger grabbed the first aid kit.
The Canadian let Bryce check the cut. He knew the red head wouldn't be happy until he was absolutely sure that it would heal properly. He didn't mind Bryce being a mother hen and fretting over him. The wound would need stitches. He winced feeling the pulling and tugging of the needle.
"All done." Bryce said cutting the thread. "You're really lucky it wasn't worse. How did she get a knife in there? We were all checked!"
"We're all mercenaries, what did you expect?" Matthew asked and Bryce rolled his eyes.