A/n- This story takes place in the future of the Magvel Nights universe. If you haven't read those all you need to know is that Magvel=Las Vegas basically and Elibe=Hollywood basically and that Mark and Lyn are a famous director and actress respectively. Enjoy!
The Commission Files- File #994 Cross Counter
Characters: Rutger, Narcian, Lilina, Roy
Based on: a commission by Tuteheavy on Twitter
Rutger's chin hit the mat of the boxing ring with a hard thud, he had just taken yet another fierce right hook to the face and this one sent him spinning. The referee started the ten count and Rutger began struggling to get up as he heard the crowd and his friends yelling for him to go faster. He couldn't help but wonder just how he got into this position.
A Few Hours Earlier
"I know we've gone over this a million times Rutger, but you have to stall out the fight as long as you can so Roy and Chad can find Chief Zephiel's laptop and hack it." Mark reminded Rutger as he was about to leave the hospital. "And I know it's gonna be hard, Narcian being the one putting your mother in here, but if you can do this then him and everyone above him is going to jail and will suffer for a much longer time than some bruises from a fight will." There was an edge to his words, he wasn't the same happy-go-lucky man he was just a few weeks ago.
"I just want to smash his face in and get it over with." Rutger stated. "Seeing Mom laying in that bed and not knowing if she's ever gonna be the same just ignites some sort of primal rage in my heart that I don't know if I can control for long enough."
"Believe me, it does the same to me Rutger, but you have the power and ability to make him and the people who put him up to doing what he did take responsibility." Mark replied. "You don't have to have a completely cool head, I don't expect you to, just keep it together long enough and then you can beat the shit out of that bastard."
"I'm glad you understand." Rutger noted a bit darkly. Now you might be wondering what exactly happened to put Lyn, Rutger's mother, in the hospital in the first place and why it was this Narcian's fault. It all started a few weeks ago, Lyn was taking part in a charity boxing match to promote her new movie where she was an up and coming boxer with Mark as the director. They actually took inspiration from their son Rutger because he was a rising star in the boxing world himself and they wanted to do something to support him and put him in the spotlight a bit more. Turns out the boxer they chose to fight Lyn was part of the Bern mafia, a group intent on burning the city of Elibe down to the ground for almost unknown reasons. Their leader was even the Chief of Police, Zephiel Dragnar, but since Elibe was such a large city he was still being held in check, for now. He was being investigated by both FE-6 and FE-7, Elibe's top intelligence agencies, and that's where Rutger came in.
"Roy, you better know what you're doing today." Rutger muttered to himself as he picked up a burner phone and called his contact. Him and Roy had always been friends since they were kids, but as they grew up they grew a bit distant even though they regularly kept in touch because of someone else special in their lives. Rutger always thought it was Roy being too into his work that kept them apart, and he was kind of right, but it was more the fact that Roy was a special agent for FE-6 that they couldn't be normal friends. Roy was one of the best and knew a lot of government secrets that could get people hurt, so for this part in his life he was deciding to be cautious with his relationships.
"This is Roy." Roy said answering Rutger's call.
"It's me, I'm on my way to the Grand as we speak, I should be there in an hour or so." Rutger stated as he closed his car door and turned the engine on. "How are things going on your end? Anything I need to know about? Is Lilina doing okay?"
"An hour? That's good, that should give us enough time to do the final briefing." Roy noted. "Things are going about as smoothly as they can, your father's connections to the owner of the hotel are paying dividends, we were able to put Zephiel in the perfect room for the operation and he even gave us room keys to make it easier. As for Lilina, well, she's still a bit off put by the outfit she has to wear, but other than that she seems to be doing well."
"Yeah, I know she's not a big fan of having a whole crowd see her like that, and honestly neither am I." Rutger replied. Lilina was Rutger's fiancée of a few months and also Roy's best friend who rounded out their little trio as they grew up. A lot of people thought that Roy and Lilina would be the ones to get together, but again with Roy's work being of a dangerous nature he felt it best to keep any feelings he did have in check, but he was happy for his friends either way.
"I keep telling her she looks good, but she just keeps giving me the pouting face she does when she's doing something she doesn't want to." Roy commented. The issue was that Lilina was going to be replacing the ring girl in this next fight Rutger was going to be taking place in at the Jehanna Grand hotel. The fight was going to be against Narcian, the man who put his mother in the hospital, and since Chief Zephiel always was in person to all of Narcian's fights to see that his plans went through FE-6 and FE-7 decided that this would be the best shot of trying to dig up evidence on him being connected to the Bern Mafia and a number of criminal activities. He always had a laptop on him, but his rooms were always so tightly guarded so not even the best agents could get inside, until tonight. Working with the hotel's owner, Joshua Gamble, they were able to set up a plan to hack the laptop for all it's information without a hitch. It was still a treacherous mission, but it was the best shot they would have in a long time. And that's why Rutger's fight was so important, the longer it dragged on the more time they had to get the information.
"I mean would you want to be in front of a whole crowd like that in your swim trunks?" Rutger countered.
"Don't you basically do that as well?" Roy noted.
"Yeah, but I'm used to it at this point. Besides, I have to worry about not getting punched in the face so I really don't have the time to think about it." Rutger answered.
"Fair. Well, I'll let you go so you can get here safely. We'll talk more when you get here." Roy said before hanging up. After that Rutger put his car in drive and started making his way to the Jehanna Grand hotel. It was located in the heart of the city of Magvel, a very lively and entertaining place to live and work, at least from what his parents had told him. He never really had a chance to visit when he was growing up and since he started boxing he figured it was too much of a distraction for his training, but maybe someday he'd be here with Lilina to have some fun and blow off some steam. The lights were very bright as the sun started to set on the horizon, but eventually Rutger made his way to the hotel and parked in the area for the entertainers and athletes to enter the building without a fuss and closer to their arena.
"I'm so glad you're here." Said Lilina as he stepped into the hotel. She had been waiting there for him, not wanting a lot of people to see her in the outfit she had on. It was one of her old bikinis just altered a bit to have more flourish and look more attractive for obvious reasons. "This outfit looks ridiculous, don't you think?"
"I mean, maybe a little, but you still look good in it." Rutger noted. "Though I say that about everything now that I think about it." Then he got a good look at the outfit's chest area. "Your chest usually isn't that big."
"Tell me about it." Lilina sighed. "They have me wearing a push-up bra and padding under this thing, it sucks. But we're doing this for your family and for the good of Elibe, I can deal with it for a night and then never have to wear it ever again." She was considering telling Rutger he could just rip it off after this whole thing went down and they were alone, but she stopped herself knowing those kind of thoughts wouldn't be helping at this moment. A few minutes later they made it to the locker room where Roy and two other agents, Chad and Wolt, were waiting for them.
"Glad you made it in one piece Rutger." Roy said with a small and contented smile. "We've checked this place for bugs and microphones so we should be good to go over the plan one more time here."
"You can talk while I get changed." Rutger said, starting to take his clothes off. Like his parents before him, he wasn't too ashamed to let people see him naked or in various states of undress.
"Alright." Roy noted. "So as we discussed Chad and I will be sneaking into Chief Zephiel's hotel room and trying to hack his laptop to get information about any crimes he's involved with. The problem is that we don't know where it would be and what kind of encryption it has on it. Chad is a good hacker, but he still needs time to crack something he hasn't seen before. Luckily we have the hotel owner's help since he gave us a key to the room to get in and he said he'd cause a distraction if we needed it as well. Even with all that, we don't know how long it's going to take, so as much as you want to beat Narcian's face in during the first round, you have to drag the fight out."
"Yeah, we've been over this before." Rutger noted as he slipped his boxing shorts on. "You still never told me why Lilina and Wolt here have to be involved."
"Well, you want to win right, get your revenge and all that?" Roy asked rhetorically. "That's why they are here. Once we get the information we'll send a signal to Wolt, who is going to be your ring man, who will tell Lilina to tell you that you can let loose. That way Narcian or Zephiel don't get suspicious and think something is going on."
"A bit convoluted, but okay." Rutger replied. "How is she going to tell me, it's not like she can say anything to me directly."
"I'll give you a wink to let you know." Lilina explained. "I'm pretty sure you'll still be able to see with a few punches to that thick head of yours."
"Whatever, you guys just better not get in my way when the time comes." Rutger stated. "I'm not gonna put him in the hospital, on purpose, but I'm gonna knock his lights out as best I can."
"Believe me, that's what all of us want you to do Rutger." Roy assured him. "Now let's get ready, we need to be prepared." So Rutger went through all his pre-fight preparations and Roy and Chad got their infiltration gear on and ready. What seemed like forever later the fight was ready to begin. Everything was a blur to Rutger after that, he really didn't pay attention to the announcer or the crowd, or anything really. He was zoned in on one thing and one thing only, getting his revenge. So when he and Narcian met at center ring for the start of the fight he had the most serious looking face he could make on.
"I can't believe they have me fighting a chump with a major case of 'resting bitch face' instead of someone who can actually give me a challenge." Narcian taunted Rutger before the referee came up. Rutger didn't say anything back, he just stared into Narcian's eyes with a fire and intensity that he hoped couldn't be matched. "Fine, be all serious and have a stick up your ass, I've broken better men than you with an arm tied behind my back."
"Alright, enough bickering." The ref said before going into his spiel. "As always we want a nice clean fight, no shots below the belt, no biting, no kicking, none of that fancy MMA stuff either, got it?"
"But of course, boxing is the gentleman's sport, I wouldn't dream of it." Narcian replied, playing innocent.
"I don't need to cheat to win." Rutger said simply.
"Good, when the bell rings you're good to go." The ref said and the two boxers put their mouth guards in. For simplicity's sake all dialogue with them in will be said as normal. They took a few steps away from each other to let the announcer talk about the start of the fight and have Lilina come in and display the round card.
"That is one hot piece of ass, I might invite her up to my room after this fight." Narcian commented, which obviously angered Rutger quite a bit. So much so that as soon as the bell rang he used his speed to clock Narcian in the face with a right hook that caught him so off guard that he fell to one knee immediately. "Hm, I think I might have struck a nerve there." Narcian commented with a snear, using part of his ten count to prod Rutger some more. "Let's see how much more I can get out of you."
"Do you ever shut up?" Rutger asked annoyed as Narcian got up at the count of 6 and the ref allowed them to fight again. And that's how the first couple of rounds went, Narcian would taunt and tease Rutger as much as he could and no matter how much he wanted to knock him out Rutger couldn't. It was actually very tiring, both mentally and physically, and it was taking a toll on Rutger. Narcian was actually a pretty decent fighter even with all his blabbing, and he knew how to take that to his advantage.
"Dude, you don't look so good out there." Wolt commented after the end of the 6th round as he poured water into Rutger's mouth so he could drink it. "You kind of look like your slowing down while he's still at his peak. Is everything alright?"
"What do you think?" Rutger asked a bit angrily. "And didn't you guys want me to drag this thing out? Apparently they needed all the time they could get if it isn't done yet."
"Yeah, I was thinking it's taking a bit longer than expected as well." Wolt admitted. "But I'm sure things are going fine, they'll be done before the fight is over."
"They better hope so." Rutger noted. A few more rounds passed and eventually Narcian struck the final nerve in Rutger's mind. He had known who Rutger was all this time, he knew that this was supposed to be a revenge fight for him, and he knew just how to play that fiddle since he'd played in many times over in other fights.
"Oh yeah, that's where I remember you from." Narcian said out of the blue as he continued to dodge Rutger's punches. "You're that movie star's son, the one I put in the hospital a few months ago. Elimine that fight was such a bore, putting a woman up against me, what a joke. I'm surprised I didn't end up killing her, though who knows, that day might still come." It was at that point that Rutger just snapped. He didn't care about stalling for time anymore, this asshole had just disrespected his mother and said he'd do it again so he needed to be silenced.
"Shut the fuck up!" Rutger yelled before winding up for his special technique. It was one where he used a burst of speed to surround each side of his opponent and land a flurry of blows, catching them off guard and finishing a fight with ease. At least that's what happened every other time he used it. This time was different though, he got a few blows in, but Narcian ended up being able to block pretty much all of the haymakers and only take minimal damage.
"Huh, I guess you taught that one to your mother since she tried the same move on me during our fight." Narcian taunted with extreme superiority. "A bit more oomph behind your blows than hers, but you can't beat my Delphi Shield style with an attack like that." Rutger was floored to say the least and that set him back quite a bit in the fight. Luckily for him the bell to end the round rang and he was able to walk back to his corner. He was starting to doubt himself and what he was doing here, and that was not a good sign. And that's what led him to being splayed out on the mat during the next round. He was so tired an distracted that Narcian was able to pummel him freely, so much so that he knocked him down and he felt like he wanted to stay down.
3...4...5
He could barely hear the count his ears were ringing so badly. He just felt like giving up then and there, but as he looked out past the ring he saw what looked like his parents watching in the crowd. Cheering him on to get up and fight on, even if he knew they were at the hospital watching on TV
6...7
He looked around more and saw Lilina and Wolt yelling at him to get up. He couldn't hear them but he could see the looks of distress on their faces and he knew he had to get up and not let everyone down. He had to prove that assholes like Narcian were wrong and that bad people get what they deserve in the end.
8...9
Rutger struggled to one knee and right before the ref counted to 10 he got to his feet.
"You good to fight still?" The ref asked, looking into Rutger's eyes, a small flame starting to glow hotter again.
"Yeah, just got the wind knocked out of me with that last one." Rutger replied and the ref stepped away.
"You just don't know when to give up do you?" Narcian taunted some more, going back on the offensive. This time instead of taking the hits Rutger started to dodge and weave, not throwing any of his punches back. He just wanted to make it to the end of the round so he could sit and rest and regain some energy so he could come up with a plan to win this fight. He got lucky again when the bell rung a few seconds later and he was able to do just that.
"Had us scared there for a bit." Wolt said giving him some water and patching up his face as best he could. "Maybe you should start actually fighting since it seeems you're at a big energy disadvantage."
"Yeah, I think I'm gonna have to, just to drag the fight out longer honestly." Rutger noted. "Any tips you can give me?"
"I'm not much of a boxing guy, but he seems to be able to hit you from a distance very easily, maybe if you close the gap on him more it'll throw him off? Like if you make him whiff a punch and then step into your next one quickly?" Wolt suggested.
"That's not actually a bad idea." Rutger mused. "It's worth a shot." After that Rutger stood up and got ready for the 11th round to start. But as soon as Rutger left the corner Wolt got the signal that Roy and Chad got the information they needed and he signaled to Lilina to tell Rutger about it.
"Just hang in there, I know you can make it." Lilina told Rutger quickly as she passed him to show the crowd the round card. Then she got the signal and quickly winked at Rutger to let him know he could go all out now.
"Ah, I see why you decked me at the beginning of the fight now, the ring girl is yours." Narcian commented. "Well, she's yours for now, we'll see how it is once I knock the snot out of you for good." The round began and Rutger continued to just dodge Narcian's blows to try and tire him out. Meanwhile Lilina and Wolt got to talking outside the ring.
"What took them so long?" Lilina wondered.
"Apparently the files on what Chief Zephiel is in on where so huge it took forever to download." Wolt replied. "Chad said that it was just one folder called 'Delphi Shield' but it took up almost the whole memory of the laptop. Guess Zephiel doesn't know about file compression."
Back in the ring Narcian was getting tired, both mentally and physically, from not being able to hit Rutger worth a damn. And that was a godsend for Rutger because not being punched was letting him think and regain his own energy.
"Will you stand fucking still so I can end this?!" Narcian raged, charging like a bull at Rutger.
"Sure, I'll stand right here." Rutger teased, being just in range of one of Narcian's long range attacks. Narcian took the bait and attempted to send a haymaker right into Rutger's jaw, but Rutger took a half step back so it would whiff before taking a powerful step forward and hitting Narcian in the face with his own right hook. Narcian stumbled backwards, but not down, but now he was in a rage. He ran straight at Rutger with his arm cocked and it was so telegraphed that Rutger was able to slide out of the way and land another blow to Narcian's face. Again he was knocked back, but not out. And once again Narcian charged Rutger with all he had, yelling all the way this time.
"I am strong. I am wise. I am lovely. And most importantly, I am right!" He screamed and Rutger knew this blow would determine everything. He prepared himself as best he could and wound up his own punch as much as he could, taking enough time that Narcian would actually be able to hit him, but banking on having enough strength behind the blow to take him out.
The two boxers clashed in an epic looking cross-counter as the flashes of cameras basked the arena. But a few moments later one of them fell to the floor, knocked unconscious as the other staggered back against the ropes. As the lights dimmed the crowd could see Narcian laying on the mat with Rutger looking down on him and a large cheer came from all around. Of course the crowd had no idea behind the real meaning of this fight besides the information about Rutger being Lyn's son, but to them they had just watched one of the best knockdown dragout fights they had ever seen.
After that it was all a blur to Rutger again, getting out of the ring, celebrating the win, talking to the media. It didn't really matter to him. What mattered was that he did what he came here to do and he could get a bit of closure with this part of his life. It really set in around one in the morning when he heard a knock on his hotel room door. He got up to answer it and it was Lilina, still in the outfit she had been wearing during the fight. He let her in and there didn't need to be any words between them, they knew what they wanted, what they needed, and that was each other. It might not have been a blur for Rutger this time, but the details don't really matter. What really mattered was what came after.
"Are you going to keep boxing, even after all of this?" Lilina wondered, knowing that it must be a bit traumatic for Rutger at this point.
"I think I am." Rutger stated quietly after thinking it over a bit. "I can handle it now that all of this is over, and it's still something that I enjoy doing. And I think it's a way I can honor my mother, whatever may happen to her. Are you okay with that?"
"As long as I don't have to worry about you changing too much and as long as I don't have to wear that stupid outfit again, yes." Lilina replied genuinely. "But maybe take a break for a bit, have our wedding, train a bit more, get your mind totally right. Sound good?"
"As long as I have you by my side Lilina, everything sounds good."