Chapter 12: Queen of the cage, part 2
Kate
Right after Kate reaches her room, she slams the door shut and throws her bag on her couch. She walks around for a while, trying to calm down. She gets her phone out again, but still, there's no answer from Max. During the last hour the blonde girl knocked several times at Max's door, but she wasn't there. Drawing always helped her to get her head free, but whatever she's doing nothing helps her to get rid of the feeling that something's wrong.
Suddenly she hears that a door is closed nearby and stands up from her desk. 'There are still classes, so it could've been only her or somebody skipped class…like me.' she thought and makes her next attempt. But this time she doesn't knock. To her relief the door opens and she enters the room.
As the Christian girl sees her girlfriend, who stands with her back towards her, some anger rises inside of her again. Max seems to have noticed that someone entered her room and turns around, clearly surprised to see Kate.
"Kate!" Max says.
Actually, Kate planned to give her girlfriend some heat for showing her this kind of mistrust, but as soon as she looks into her pale and partially blood stained face, her anger fades and is replaced by worry again. She gasps and covers her mouth with her hand. "Oh my god! Max, w-what happened to you?"
The black-haired girl tries to give her a faint smile, but it's hard for her to stay conscious. "S-sorry that I didn't answer…I r-ran into some trouble…I…s-sorry…" she stammers, right before her legs can't support her anymore and plummets to the ground.
Kate jumps forward and catches her girlfriend. With all the strength she's able to muster, the blonde girl drags the unconscious Max to the bed, lies her down and starts to check her condition. 'Her vital signs are steady. She seems to be pretty exhausted. And this scratch. That's not a normal one and it needs to be taken care of. Luckily, she's pretty well equipped with some medical supplies.' Rummaging through the drawer with the medical stuff, Kate manages to find some clean wipes and some disinfection spray. After she's done with the treatment, she puts everything in the drawer again and lies herself down beside her loved one, wrapping an arm over her body. 'I wonder what happened to my poor Max. Although I should be mad at her, I'm not. She seemed to be really sorry about not telling me. Hopefully she'll wake up soon so that we can talk about this. But for now, she needs some rest.' Kate gives her a kiss on the cheek. 'Sleep now, my angel!' she thought and after some time she drifts into a light slumber.
Seattle, December 2012
Downtown Seattle right before Christmas time. The streets are full with people, running around in search for their last Christmas presents. Although, winters in Seattle are not that cold - mostly the temperatures are above the freezing temperature - everyone is packed in thick clothes, because of the constant wet weather.
Max stands in front of a store window, wearing her black winter jacket, generic blue jeans, a dark blue beanie and a scarf which covers the lower half of her face. The cold wind is playing with her uncovered black-dyed bangs. Her hands are sticking inside her pockets.
"I see that your style has finally improved, Caulfield." A familiar voice chimes beside her, making the edges of her eyes wrinkle as her mouth forms a smile under the scarf.
"My new attitude doesn't fit the old hipster style anymore." She says with a scoff and turns her head a bit and looks at slightly taller girl, dressed in a black coat and also a scarf. Her golden hair is bound into a ponytail. Blue eyes lock with stormy grey ones as the blonde girl turns her head too. "I missed you."
"I missed you too!" A sigh escapes her mouth. "So, how's my little Max doing?"
The black-haired girl giggles. "Your 'little girl' is kicking some butts to make our plan work." She gets serious again, turning her head away. "Sam, how are you holding up?"
"It's hard. Mike's giving me a hard time on a daily basis. Y'know, treating me like shit; yelling at me; putting me under surveillance. They even installed a fucking cam in my room now." Sam makes a pause and sighs. "Max, I'm not sure how long I can take this anymore. It's like I'm imprisoned; imprisoned by two Madmen. I'm getting paranoid; live in a constant fear that they might find out about us; that they'll hurt you again." A sniff escapes her and both girls look at each other again and Max sees that Sam's eyes are already misty, filling with tears. "I miss you so much every day. I want to be with you. Without living in fear; without all this fucked-up shit. Max, please, make this plan work!" she pleads.
The smaller girl stays stern. "Sam, pretend that you're sticking your hand inside of the pocket of your coat and come a bit closer." The blonde obeys and as they're close enough, Max takes out a piece of paper and hands it to her girlfriend. Their fingertips meet and both stay like this for a while. Max closes her eyes and enjoys the feeling of Sam's skin on hers. "This is for you. See it as a promise." She now entwines her fingers with Sam's and gives her a soft, but reassuring squeeze. "Sam, I'll get you out of there and then we both are gonna be free! I'm also working on a plan B, if they're doing some funny business."
A faint smile rushes over the taller girl's face. "I trust you, Max!" she says and takes a look at her watch, using the reflection in the glass to take a peek behind her. She sighs. "Damn, my shadow gets nervous. I need to go."
"Should I beat the shit out of his brain?" the smaller girl asks with gritted teeth, angry that her time with her beloved one was already over.
Sam scoffs. "Love that idea, but we need to keep the low profile for now. But promise me one thing…"
Max glances into her girlfriend's grey eyes again. "Everything!"
"Whatever happens to me or wherever we'll end up, please, never ever give up; never stop living; never despair. Please Max, don't waste your life! Move on and…"
"Stop saying that!" the black-haired girl says angrily. "I'll get you! I promised and I'll keep my word and if anyone comes in my way, I'll make them pay!"
"I know, you will, my guardian angel!" Sam says with a warm smile and let go of Max's hand. "And please, be careful and don't get hurt! I love you, Max! See you around!"
"I will. I love you too, Sam."
With these words said, Sam walks away, leaving a very sad, but also very angry Max behind. 'These fuckers are gonna pay and I swear to everything there is in the universe, if something happens to her, hell will be a walk in the park compared to my wreath!'
Max
As Max opens her eyes again, she's blinded by the bright light that comes through the windows of her room. She closes them again and lets out a groan, because of her still hurting head. 'Ugh, dammit! Next time, I need to be more careful. It was really a close call.' More and more she gets aware of her surroundings and recons that she's laying in her bed. 'How did I get into bed? Ugh, fuck! Everything that happened before I passed out is just a big blur. Okay Caulfield, try to remember. Chloe brought me back to Blackwell, then I went to the dorms and then…I think I entered my room and then…ugh…what happened then?' The black-haired girl tries to massage her temple with her hand, but just notices that there's something holding on to it. She looks down and sees that a small hand rests on hers. And suddenly she remembers. 'Kate! Fuck, now I remember! Kate came into my room, right after I was back and she was about to rage on me and I…oh shit, I idiot passed out! Ugh! Well, at least it looks like she took care of me and seems not that mad, because she's holding my hand. But still, an apology is definitely in order!'
Slowly, Max turns around to look at Kate, who is spooning her. She glances at her face and her heart warms up as she inhales her girlfriend's fragrance and enjoys her beauty. With a cautiously and slow movement of her hand she brushes a stray wisp of hair from her cheek. The soft touch wakes Kate up and her eyes are opening slowly. Max smiles at her warmly. "Hi, my Katie!"
Faster than Max could've ever anticipated, Kate flings her arms around her neck and embraces her in a strong hug, like she's afraid that she might go away forever. "Oh Max, you're finally awake! I was so worried about you!"
"Yeah, I'm sorry that I haven't told you anything and…and I'd understand if you're mad at me."
Kate breaks the hug and looks at her girlfriend sadly. "I'm not mad at you, just…disappointed. I thought we'd trust each other."
"I do trust you, but…" Max sighs as she tries to find the right words. "I just didn't want to worry you."
"And not telling me, making Dana telling me lies and passing out in front of me is the best way to do that?" the Christian girl says cynically with a slight accusation.
Max averts her gaze. "No…" she answers and sighs. "Listen Katie, I know that I messed up big time and I'm sorry."
"Wanna at least tell me what happened?"
'Damn, if I'm telling her what really happened, she's definitely gonna freak, but also I don't want to lie to her again. Better I tell her the true story and leave out some details.' Max thought and tells her what happened, leaving out some pretty hot topics like drugs or gunshots.
Kate stays silent for a while, looking at her hands. "Max?" she says with a quiet voice.
"Hmm?"
"I know that you don't tell me everything and I'm fine with it. I trust you. But please, promise me that you will always take care of you." The Christian girl says, looking into her girlfriend's blue eyes and squeezes her hand, softly.
Max leans forwards and gives Kate a long kiss. "Promised! And you know what? I wanna make it up to you!"
"How?" Kate asks, but this time she's full of anticipation, like she's awaiting a big surprise.
"How about some big cuddling right now and a date tomorrow evening?"
Kate smiles wide. "Sounds great! Where are we going this time?"
"Can't tell you, it's a surprise!" Max says with a mockingly grin.
"C'mon! Please!"
"Nope, you have to wait until tomorrow. But for now, let's get mushy!" The freckled girl tries to hug her girlfriend, who surprisingly backs away, making Max to look at her with concern, because she's worried that Kate is nevertheless mad at her at some point. "What's wrong?"
"Sorry, b-but I can't." the blonde answers her, averting her eyes.
"Why?"
"I…uhm…I have to be at detention in 10 minutes." Kate stands up, brushes over her clothes to get rid of the wrinkles and takes her bag, heading for the door.
"Detention? Why are you having detention?" the black-haired girl asks in surprise, now sitting on the bed and gaze fixed on her leaving girlfriend.
Kate turns one last time towards Max and gives her a kiss, followed by a warm smile. "Because I love you so much." she whispers and leaves Max alone.
'Great Max, you're a really good influence on Kate. We've only been a couple for some days now, and she's in trouble already. Hopefully it's just an exception and doesn't get common.' she thought and asks herself what she should do until Kate gets back. 'I'm still too fucked up to do some exercises. Maybe I should text Chloe and ask her how she's doing, since she was pretty harassed by the whole situation.'
With this thought, Max takes her phone from the nightstand and starts typing.
Max: Hey Chlo, how are you doing?
Chloe: still a bit shaky but fine. and u?
Max: Passed out again, but Katie took care of me.
Chloe: best gf 4e, dude
Max: Agreed!
Max: Chlo, what happened after I passed out the first time?
Chloe: short version: i picked u up and hauled ur ass into my truck
Chloe: then I picked up the 4 grand
Chloe: and then I threw that fucking gun into the ocean and drove us to the junkyard
Chloe: thats it
Max: Let's hope that these fuckers learned their lessons.
Unknown: Miss Caulfield, I'll give you one last chance to change your testimony or I'll give the attached files to the Principle and the school board. You have until tomorrow morning 8 am to give me an answer. S. Prescott
Chloe: amen!
Max blinks a few times as she reads Sean Prescott's message. "What the fuck?!" she whispers and opens the attached files. Her eyes widen as she recons that this is a report from Homeland-Security, regarding her connection with Alexei Stukov and the Russian mob. 'Shit! I knew that this shit would give me some trouble sometime. If these files get into the hand of the Principle and the school board, losing my scholarship will be my least concern. No, they'll throw me out of Blackwell for this. How did this asshole got his fucking fingers on these files?' For a moment the black-haired girl just sits there and thinks, evaluating her next steps and forming a plan inside of her head. Still, bailing on Chloe is not an option. No matter what! Her phone chimes again.
Chloe: yo maximus. still there?
Max: Yeah. Just received a message from dirt bag Prescott, he's blackmailing me again.
Chloe: asshole! u have a plan?
Max: Yes. Meet me at the parking lot in 15 minutes.
Chloe: b right there.
She sighs. "I can't catch a fucking break." Grabs her bag and puts her laptop and some other tech stuff into a backpack. As Max heads for the parking lot she's in deep thoughts. 'Okay Prescott, you want some trouble, you'll get some trouble. Damn, why are these Homeland fuckers even keep these stupid files? I thought after the interview the case was closed and period. Ugh, I should thank my dad for that bullshit. At least, Alexei gave me the assignment to deliver a message to Prescott, this will come in handy. And this time I will tell Katie where I'm going!'
Seattle, May 2013
A fist rushes towards her head. 'Predictable!' She easily avoids it by tilting her head a bit. The next punch aims for her stomach. 'Too slow!' She parries it with her right arm. And again, the fist of her opponent, a tall and muscular woman with red-dyed hair, tries to hit her face. 'Time for some acting.' She lets it miss her cheek by only an inch, but throws her head to the side and takes a step back to fake a hit.
The crowd cheers as they see that the almost invincible Super-Max receives a blow. Some of them are hoping to win their bets, but since Max is only acting, they're gonna be very disappointed at the end of the evening. Now a foot is about to hit her leg, to throw her more off balance, but again she easily fends it off.
After her first fight, which ended only seconds after it started, Alexei had told her to prolong the fights in order to make them more entertaining. That sounded reasonable for Max, because nobody wants to see a boring fight and no audience means no money, because no bets were placed and the price money wasn't nearly enough to make her plan work, so Max had to play along. At first it was annoying to fake hits and to let the fights last longer. But with the time Max developed a lot of fun to play with her opponents.
The next hit aims for her head again and she fakes another hit. Stopping in her movements, the red-haired woman looks at her with a very agitated expression. "Yo bitch, what are you pulling off here? Stop fucking around with me and fight!" she demands.
Max just shrugs. "Alright."
Before the taller woman could even react, Max's flat hand hits her chest, pushing out all the air from her lunges. A punch in her stomach makes her bend over because of the pain. The red-head goes down on her knees with a groan and a final blow of Max's elbow on her neck sends her in a rather uncomfortable slumber. KO!
The audience goes wild as the black-haired girl leaves the cage, but as always she doesn't care. She wasn't here to get famous or to boost her ego. She just wanted the money and she already had enough, so it was time to quit and get Sam. 'I haven't heard from her in a week. I hope she's alright.' she thought and entered the locker room. Soon after, Stukov and his bodyguard Dimitri entered.
"Aaah, there she is. My queen of the cage!" Stukov cheers with a big smile and arms wide open, as if he wanted to hug Max.
The small girl wrinkles her nose. "Stop calling me that, Alexei! It makes me sound even gayer than I already am. And no, it doesn't sound as cool as in Starcraft."
"But it's true. You rule them all!" he replies. He grabs into the inner pocket of his jacket and brings out an envelope. "Here's your payment, although this fight was a bit too short, devochka."
Max shrugs. "Yeah, this bitch wanted me to fight her properly and so I did. Her loss if she couldn't defend herself." She takes a short break and sighs. "Listen Alexei, this was my last fight. I have enough money and it's time for me to bail."
At first, Alexei looks at her sternly, like he's overthinking her words. Max knows that this is a big blow for him, because she brought him a lot of money, but he also knew that it was just for a short period of time. The Russian nods. "Alright, I'll let you go, but only under one condition."
"Name it."
"The day after tomorrow is the grand Finale. That means you'll fight against the U.S.-champion. If you win this fight you'll be the champion and can quit anytime. But if you quit now, I'd lose all bets that have already been set for that fight. You understand? It would cost me a lot of money to cancel the fight. And you know that I hate losing!"
For a short moment, Max takes in a deep breath, gazes at the ground and breathes out again. "Fine. But this will be the last one!"
"Of course." Stukov says, while Dimitri whispers in his ear, but the boss only tells him to be quiet again, by waving with his hand. But Max could see the bodyguard was looking at her with concern. "Well, we'll see us in two days. Do svidaniya, Max!" With these words, both men leave the room again and Max is alone again. She packs her stuff and heads home, the whole time thinking about Sam.
As soon as she enters the house, the freckled girl throws her stuff and shoes into the next corner and heads for the living room, where still was some light on. 'Maybe dad and Kyra are up late. I should at least let them know that I'm home again.'
As she walks into the living room she sees a whole different scene than she'd expected. Besides her dad and Kyra, an Asian looking woman and her dad's new girlfriend, a third person sits there. A tall, Caucasian man dressed in a suite. All three of them are staring at her sternly. 'Okay, I feel some tension here. I wonder who that other dude is.'
Ryan Caulfield stands up, his face now showing some anger. "Where were you, Maxine?"
'Shit, he called me Maxine, that's never a good sign.' "Uhm, I had training and after that I went for some food."
Max's dad shakes his head and continues. "Max, I called Master Tsun. You haven't been to training for some months now, so stop lying and tell us the truth!"
Ignoring her father's order and reluctant to tell him anything, Max crosses her arms and gazes to the unknown man. "Who's this?"
The unfamiliar man stands up and walks over to the freckled girl with a smile to shake her hand, but her arms stay crossed. "Hello Maxine, I'm agent Ferryman and I'm with Homeland-Security. I would like to ask you some questions, so please…" he says and points to the sofa in order to sign Max that she should sit down. Rolling with her eyes, the small the black-haired girl sighs and takes a seat. Agent Ferryman sits down on the chair at the opposite site. "Miss Caulfield, does the name Alexei Konstantinowitsch Stukov tell you something?"
Max, who still has her arms crossed doesn't move a muscle. "No, doesn't ring a bell." she answers plainly.
"That's strange, because…" The Agent reaches into his bag and takes out a series of pictures, showing them to Max. They show her talking with Stukov. "…you seem to have talked to him very often, even in a very friendly way."
Everyone is now looking at her and she gazes back, radiating anger. "So what, am I not old enough to talk to strangers?"
"No, you're not!" her dad yells in an angry tone. "Especially not in a club where you're not even allowed to set a foot in."
"But this is not the reason why I'm here." the agent throws in, before Ryan could continue his rage. "Miss Caulfield, as you might probably know, this man is involved in a lot of serious crimes along the west coast of the U.S. So far, no Authority was able to get him into custody. He's too clever, always a step ahead of us, but you…" He leans forward, looking deep into Max's blue eyes. "…you are close enough to him."
"Are you fucking crazy?! I'm not a criminal! I don't work for him, I just…" she blurts.
"We know. You are his number one fighter. Maxine, we're watching your activities for some time now and I think, now is the time to strike against Stukov. But we need your help. We need you to find out his next steps. Deals, shipments, meetings, you name it. Everything that could be used as evidence against him."
Max sits on the couch in silence, thinking about what Ferryman just said. 'I'd like to help the Authorities. Although, Alexei always treated me well, he is a criminal; he killed people; sells drugs and illegal weapons; he is a bad man. But what are the consequences, if I help them? I have enough money, but if I betray Alexei it would be possible that he sends a killer to get me out of the picture. And what about Sam? I want to get her in the next days, right after the last fight and bail with her, without causing too much attention, but such a big case will draw a lot of attention. Ugh, sorry for disappointing you, dad, but I have to decline.'
"You don't have to answer me right away." The Agent draws a card from his jacket and hands it to Max, but lays it on the table as he notices that Max won't move. "This is my number, if you made a decision, just let me know." He stands up and packs his stuff. "Ms. Caulfield, Mr. Caulfield, Ms. Kawara, thank you for your cooperation, good bye." he says and walks for the front door, accompanied by Max's dad.
Ryan returns after a minute and sits down opposite his daughter, his eyes looking right into her blue ones. "Give me one reason…one very good reason…why you did this."
"I have my reasons." she says, holding her father's gaze.
"Was it for the adrenaline, for fame? Haven't I given you enough love or attention? Have I given you too much freedom? Why, Maxine?"
"Stop guilt trippin' me, dad! It hasn't anything to do with you! I haven't broken any laws, so cut me some slack here!"
"Participating in such fights and hanging around with such criminals is considered to be illegal, let alone that it is very dangerous." Ryan stands up rapidly, throwing a vase against the wall, out of anger. "Goddammit, Maxine! This is not why I sent you to Master Tsun! I thought you were smarter than this! Now tell me, why the hell you did this or I swear to god that…"
"That what?" she yells back. "That you're gonna hit me, like mom did? That you're gonna lock me up in my room until I fold? What, dad? Tell me!" Ryan stays silent. "I have my fucking reasons, but I can't tell you…not right now!" Max eyes are welling up, because she doesn't want to do this. 'I want to tell him, I really want to, but I mustn't. It would only make things more complicated. Dad would try to bring in the police, but they can't do anything, because there's no crime going on. And as soon as the Authorities show up at the Brighton's House, Sam's father and her brother would know that Sam still has some contact with me and then they would take her somewhere else. Probably out of my reach and I can't let that happen, not when I'm so close to get her! Sorry dad!' she thought. "Have I…like ever…given you a reason to not trust me? Do you really think that I'm a bad person; a bad daughter?"
Max's father averts her gaze for a moment, but then looks at her again. "Don't put that on me, Maxine! This isn't about some banality. This is serious and until you don't give me a very good explanation, I'll have no other choice than to ground you."
"No!" she gasps, knowing that this would mess up her whole plan.
"Then tell me." he says, knowing that he just pushed her into a corner.
Max now averts is his glare, tears now running down her cheeks. "I-I can't."
"Fine!" he says furiously. "Then this is how it's gonna be. You'll go up to your room and stay there. Tomorrow I'll bring you to school and pick you up after classes. Then we'll go to see Agent Ferryman. You'll make a statement. Worst case, they'll take you into a witness protection program. But either way, you'll be grounded until you're 18, period. Now go up to your room!"
Max stands up and runs towards her room. Once inside, she slams the door shut and screams out her frustration. "FUCK!" 'Two days. Two fucking days and everything would've been fine. Why? Is someone making fun of me? Trying to keep me and Sam apart? It's not fair!' she thought, but then sighs and starts to meditate. 'I'm sorry, dad. But I have to pull through this shit. Once I have Sam and we're far away from here, I can explain everything. I'll make it up to you, but for now I need to do things on my own.'
The black-haired girl takes out her backpack and duffle bag and starts to pack them with everything she would need to get around the next few days, as it suddenly knocks on the door.
"Max? It's me, Kyra. Can I come in?" the voice of her dad's girlfriend chimes from the other side of the door.
"It's open." the freckled girl says, continuing packing her stuff.
The Asian woman enters and sits down on Max's bed. "Can we talk, before you run away?" she says, giving Max a warm smile.
"Sure, talk." Max answers, not stopping what she's doing.
"Your dad is right, y'know."
The small girl pauses and sighs. "I know, but I can't give up now. I'm so close. So fucking close to get her." she says and starts to sniff. "I can't lose her. Not again."
Kyra stands up and embraces Max into a tight hug, while the smaller girl starts to cry. Since the first day she came into her life, Max got along with Kyra very good. The Asian woman was the daughter of a Japanese diplomat and an American interpreter. As a profiler for the FBI she worked on a case with Max's dad and both of them fell for each other right away. First, Ryan was very cautious to introduce her to his daughter, but eventually couldn't avoid it any longer as Max wondered, why he was always working late or stayed away whole nights. This was the time Ryan introduced his new girl to Max and both of them found each other very sympathetic, but not only because they both liked Martial Arts and video games, no. Max crushed a little bit on the beautiful woman, but tried to suppress it. Of course, with her profiling skills, Kyra found out eventually. Sometimes Max even had the impression that her going-to-be-step-mom could read her like an open book. Kyra confessed to her that she's bisexual, but because Max has Sam and Kyra is in a relationship with Ryan, a relationship between them was impossible and they both agreed with it, but she became a very close friend to Max; a person she could trust. Soon, the girl told her about Sam; about this whole messed up situation; about her plan.
"Max, are you really sure that your plan will work? It is indeed very dangerous. And what if you lose your next fight?" Kyra asks with some worry in her voice, stroking through Max's hair.
Breaking the hug, the small girl looks at her sternly. "It has to work. It will work! So far, no opponent could even touch me. I'm gonna win this fight, get Sam and leave the country."
Kyra nods, but her smile fades. "I hope you know what you're doing. My uncle and my aunt are still willing to take you two in for some time, until you both got a place of your own. Are you sure that you wanna move to Japan with her?"
"Absolutely! But you need to cover my ass. I know, it will be hard for dad, but he has you now. And as soon as the sea has calmed down, we'll visit you two. Promissed!"
The Asian woman sighs, but takes Max into another tight hug. "I wish you two all the luck in the world! I'll distract your dad. Stay safe, Max!" she says with a warm smile, plants a small kiss on the girl's forehead and then leaves the girl's room.
Max stuffs the rest of things into her bag, sneaks to the front door and leaves the Caulfield's house. She checks into a hotel in downtown Seattle and tries to make contact with Sam, but again, without any afford. Worries are swirling around in her head. She tries to suppress them with some meditation, but it's no use. They stay and everything Max could do is to fight them for the next upcoming days.
Finally, the day of the last fight has arrived. It's nearly midnight and everyone is preparing for the grand Finale. Max sits in the locker room, meditating, trying to keep her nervousness at bay. 'Only one last time and tomorrow morning I'm gonna get my Sam, finally!' A smile rushes over her face. 'I can't wait to see her again after all this time.'
The door to the locker room opens and a tall man, dressed in a grey suit enters. He's probably between 25 and 30 years old, tanned and looks like a surfer with his long blonde hairs, bound into a pony tail. "Hi there!" he says and Max just opens her eyes slightly to look at him.
'So this is the U.S. champion. Looks more like a stock broker to me than a fighter, but who am I to judge?' "Hey." she replies.
The tall man starts to change and at this point she can see that the first impression is sometimes a false one. His body is very muscular and an example of perfection. If Max would've been interested in men, she'd probably crush on him in an instant. "So, you are Super-Max? The tiny girl, that shakes up the whole fighting scene. Nice to meet ya!" he speaks and reaches his hand to Max, who, at first, just looks at it, but finally shakes it.
"Pleasure. And you must the champion."
A wide grin grows on the man's face, showing his sparkling white teeth. "James Lloyd Cartwright, the Third, a.k.a. Hammerfist, at your service." The door opens again and Dimitri walks in. "Ah, Dimitri! How's business?"
"Busy. Lot of people to kill." the assassin answers nonchalantly. "I need to talk with the girl in private."
Hammerfist shrugs and heads for the door. "Sure. But after the fight we need to talk about another assignment."
"Again?" Dimitri asks with a raised eyebrow.
"The stock market is a battlefield. Only the strong will survive."
"Or the ruthless. We'll talk later." the Russian says and the champion leaves the room. "This guy is an asshole and we need to talk about him."
Max furrows her eyebrows. "Why? I think I can handle one more asshole."
"No, you can't. Not this one." Dimitri sighs. "Maxine, there is a reason why this guy is the champion. Not only is he a very good fighter, but he also kills every opponent. This son of a bitch has no conscious and gives a shit about life."
"Okay, if you're here to give me some courage then I must say that you really suck at it! So, are you telling me that I have no chance against him?" All worries she tried to suppress all these last days emerge again and are about to make her despair. "Are you telling me that I shouldn't fight? You know that Alexei will literally kill me, if I back out now."
Dimitri shakes his head. "I'm not telling you that you should give up, but you need to be cautious. Maxine, to be honest, your technique is far away from being perfect. Your only advantage so far was your speed, but this won't help you here, because Hammerfist is fast and has perfected his skills. His strategy is to force his opponent into defense, until he finds a weak spot and then he'll use it."
"So, you mean I have to be offensive?"
"No, you wouldn't last a minute if you let your defense down. But sometimes, a well-timed offence is the best defense."
"Okay, that doesn't make any sense at all."
"I know." he chuckles and then gets serious again. "Wait for the right time and then give him hell. He may look like he could run through a concrete wall, but he is human after all." Dimitri takes a look at his watch. "It's time, Maxine."
"Yeah." she replies plainly, stands up and walks slowly out of the locker room, followed by the Russian killer.
"Good luck, Maxine!" Dimitri says with a smile, now changing direction to head upstairs into the office.
"Dimitri?" the girl speaks and he turns around one last time. "It's just Max, never Maxine."
"Sure." he says and continues his way.
As Max enters the arena, the crowd goes wild. Everyone apparently waited for this fight. Hammerfist is already waiting in the cage, grinning at her the whole time like a wolf, waiting for his prey.
The door closes and she's trapped in this cage with this man. A man, who is merciless, kills for joy and just stands up the next morning, going to work like nothing happened. Her hands are sweaty; her heart beats in a fast pace; every muscle in her body screams at her to run away from this maniac. But she mustn't. 'Okay, Max. This is it; your last fight. Just focus and do as Dimitri has told you. Find the right moment and strike hard.'
The bell rings and before Max is even able to get ready, a fist rushes towards her face. Her eyes widen, time slows down and it is only thanks to her ability that she averts the hit by some millimeters. Another punch follows. Again, she dodges it. Next, a high kick comes up. She fends it off with her arm. The next blow follows only a blink of an eye later and again, the small girl is barely able to defend herself. 'Damn, this fucker is really fast. He leaves me no time to breathe; no room.'
Faster than she anticipated, Hammerfist sends another series of attacks towards her and this time she isn't able to avert the hit. His fist connects with her cheekbone. Max's head rocks to the side, followed by the rest of her body. She makes a 180 degree spin and lands on the ground, upholding herself with her hands. Lights are dancing in front her sight. Staying conscious becomes hard. A sharp pain emerges from her cheek. 'Now I know why he calls himself Hammerfist.' She knows that the next blow isn't far away, therefor she focuses even more and time flows even slower. 'How should I find a weak spot, if I'm too busy to fight for my life all the time? This asshole is way too fast. It can't go on like this. Sooner or later he'll find another hole in my defense and then I'm toast. I don't know how long I can keep this going. Goddammit Dimitri, why haven't you given me some useful advices? This guy is gonna kill me.' Despair engulfs her heart, until she remembers something Dimitri mentioned. 'Wait! Dimitri said that this sick motherfucker always kills his opponents. This is the only constant and predictable thing; the moment he's vulnerable; the moment he's probably feeling superior; his weak spot! So all I have to do is provoking him to do a kill blow. Well, this is gonna hurt.'
Only milliseconds have passed, since Max hit the ground. With a smooth move, she rolls aside, preventing that Hammerfist's foot stomps onto her back. The black-haired girl gets up fast, ready to continue the fight. Her cheek is already swollen and throbs painfully with every heartbeat. The tall man moves in for the next hit. At first Max dodges all of his attacks again, until he performs a hit that Max waited for. 'Time for step one.' she thought as a punch hits her in the stomach, making her groan and bend over. The pain is almost unbearable. She'd like to vomit on his feet, but she needs every bit of strength and body control. Despite the aching, the black-haired girl focuses again and as time slows down again, she knows that Hammerfist tries to break her neck by hitting it hard with his elbow and this is the moment his guard is down. 'Step two.' Every bit of strength is now pumped into her muscles as she tries to move faster than possible. Her whole body consists of pain.
For the audience it seems like the fight is as good as over, but suddenly Max darts with her head first towards Hammerfist. Her head collides with his jaw, which breaks with a loud cracking sound. Parts of teeth and blood are flying around the cage. The tall man falls backwards, followed by the smaller girl's body. She lands on him, sits up on his chest and with a loud and constant scream she lets her fists hail on his already deranged head. After what felt like a hundred beats she stops. Hammerfist lies under her, unconscious, face covered in blood.
Max stands up. Her body shakes and aches; she breathes heavily; her head throbs like someone is hitting it with a hammer, constantly. Blood runs from the top of her head over her cheek, dripping on the ground. The audience is silent. Nobody could believe what just happened. The cage door is opened and the referee enters. He checks on Hammerfist and after he made sure that he stays down, he gets to Max, raises her arm in the air and pronounce her the new champion. This is the moment the crowd goes wild again, but Max doesn't care. Everything is a big blur for her. She's barely able to stay on her feet. Two of Alexei's thugs grab her and carry her to the locker room.
She collapses onto one of the benches, on the edge of fainting. Alexei and Dimitri come into her sight.
"You did it!" Dimitri says with a smile, touching her shoulder in appreciation.
Max just smiles back, weakly.
"Don't worry, devochka. We'll patch you up and bring you home." Alexei says with a warm smile.
'No! Not home. I need to get to her! Please!' are her last thoughts, before darkness overcomes the freckled girl. She tries to fight it; tries to speak; to protest. But before her lips could even form a single syllable everything fades into nothingness.