Note: Big thanks to Meian16 for his help in writing this chapter!
Chapter Twelve
From their hiding place behind the bleachers near the Mafia, Cam and Barry saw the whole spectacle and jumped back in shock.
"Whoa!" Cam shouted.
"Did they just...?" Barry murmured.
"They smashed through the cage!" Cam ended as he saw Samuel and Clyde struggle on the concrete floor, blood and sweat flying everywhere.
At the same time, some members of the Mafia jumped up out of the way and started shouting yet the Mafia woman leader watched with an indifferent look on her face and merely adjusted her sunglasses.
Samuel and Clyde struggled more on the ground until finally Clyde couldn't take anymore and went limp in Samuel's grip ending the fight!
As that happened most of the crowd went wild and cheered, yet the Mafia cursed and looked disappointed.
The referee jumped down and saw Clyde was out cold and grabbed Samuel's hand declaring him the winner!
Cam and Barry meanwhile watched from their hiding place and gasped at Samuel's condition as he stood with his arms up and gave a primal yell in triumph.
He was covered in bruises and there were a few cuts and scrapes, especially over his forehead, his left eye was black and swollen, and he had blood tricking from the side of his mouth where he can been hit there, and he was missing a couple of teeth.
"That Sam guy is indestructible!" Cam commented.
"I'll say he is!" Barry agreed "He's almost as relentless as Tyroth! Yet human!"
Meanwhile Samuel stood on the concrete floor as the referee pointed at him and held up his arm, he let out a primal yell at the ceiling, the feeling of triumph and excitement filling his body.
At the same time, Alexandra had run down the stairs and ran straight over to him.
"Samuel!"
Her shrill happy cry cut through the crowd's cheers and Smauel opened his eyes to see his girlfriend standing before him proud.
"Babe!" Samuel opened his arms and Alex wasted no time running into them and he held her close and spun her around excitedly.
Alexandra didn't care she was getting sweat and blood over herself as she was so elated that her boyfriend had managed to fight his way to the end, and he had emerged triumphant.
"It's over Babe..." Samuel grinned as he set her down "I did it...I won!"
"You did! You did!" Alexandra squealed "I'm so proud of you!"
"Couldn't have done it without you and your support." Samuel said as he kissed Alexandra's cheek making her blush.
"Hey kid!" The referee said "You may want to enter the cage again! The organisers are entering!"
Samuel looked over and nodded then took Alexandra's hand and he climbed back into the cage helping her inside as well.
Alexandra couldn't help but feel a little shy as she looked at the crowd who were still cheering hard and she looked over at Samuel who stood proud as two smartly dressed men entered the cage grinning at them then took the microphone and addressed the crowd.
"Now that's what we call a hell of a final fight!" the first one said "And at the end of a phenomenal tournament, the last man standing is Samuel Henry!"
"Give it up one more time for him everyone!" The second man yelled, and the crowd roared and cheered more, clapping their hands, and stamping their feet.
"You definitely put on a show Samuel!" the first man said, "And with that being said, allow us to present you the grand prize...a check for five hundred, thousand dollars!"
No sooner did the words leave the first organizer's mouth than Alexandra gasped in shock!
"Oh wow!" she cried "Half a million dollars!"
Samuel meanwhile just whistled under his breath then his breath caught in his throat as a couple of women, one with brown hair, another with blonde hair wearing skimpy shiny outfits entered the ring carrying a 500,000 dollar check and presented it to him.
"Great fight sweetie!" the brunette said.
"You rock!" the blonde one said then looked over at Alexandra who blinked at them.
"You're a lucky girl." She said winking to which Alexandra smiled.
"Thanks." She spoke.
The girls nodded then started to play to the crowd doing some sexy moves and dancing before exiting the ring.
Alexandra watched them then looked to Samuel who handed her the check before kissing her cheek.
"Trust me love," he reassured her "They and no one else can compare to you.
Alexandra smiled back at her boyfriend then the second organiser clapped his hands and spoke into the microphone.
"A huge congratulations to you Samuel!" he shouted to which the crowd shouted and cheered again.
Samuel waved to the crowd again then turned to Alexandra.
"Well then? Shall we?" he asked.
Alexandra was more than happy to agree as she wanted to get away from the noise, but also to tend to Samuel's wounds before they head back to the hotel.
Samuel wrapped an arm around her waist and they both left the cage to head back to the changing areas.
"You did so well hun!" Alexandra said "But look at you! You're black and blue all over!"
"Thanks Babe." Samuel said then looked at himself as well as touched his face feeling where his eye was swollen along with the blood dripping from a split lip.
"Yeah, those fights did do a number on me huh?" he chuckled.
"You bet they did, and you're still standing!" Alexandra exclaimed as she led him down the hallways.
"Come on, let's get you cleaned and patched up then we'll get out of here. I brought some medical stuff with me knowing this would happen."
"Sounds good to me!" Samuel agreed.
As the couple left, they were unaware the Mafia were watching them and were glaring furiously.
"That didn't go according to plan, did it?" one of them, a bald man named Butch growled.
"No shit!" the second one spat, a black greasy haired male named Boris snarled "And we had our hopes pinned on Clyde!"
"This just threw a huge wrench in the plan!" a female member named Rosa hissed.
"So now what?" Butch asked.
"Well, we lost out on a few thousand dollars!" another member with curly black hair named Antonio shrugged.
"Few hundred dollars, to be exact!" Rosa hissed to which another male named Enzo groaned and glared at his comrade.
"Don't lose hope yet boys, Rosa."
The gang looked up and they saw their leader, the woman with the bun and wearing sunglasses walk over.
As she did, she removed the sunglasses revealing her sharp smoky hazel eyes.
"Ma'am?" Enzo asked.
"We can still get our money..." the woman smirked, and she looked to where Samuel and Alexandra had disappeared down the hallway.
"Clyde might have failed us, but we can deal with him later, after we've dealt with the one who swiped the prize!"
The five mafia members looked at their leader then down the hallway then back at her.
"You mean, we just off him?" Antonio asked.
"Is that the plan ma'am?" Asked Rosa "And if so, how do we go about it?"
The woman smirked again and licked her teeth.
"Wait for them to leave the building." She said, "Then follow them, then strike when we can!" she narrowed her eyes as her smirk got wider.
"This does bode the question." Butch spoke up making the woman look at him.
"What to do with Clyde? He did fail, after all?"
The other members agreed.
The woman merely frowned and looked over at Clyde who was being treated for his injuries by some medics nearby.
"I will arrange for what to do with that failure." She said "But, right now, we focus on Samuel and that girl!"
"Very well, as you wish ma'am." Butch agreed and the others followed suit.
Meanwhile, Samuel and Alexandra made it to the changing rooms where Samuel had a wash to get the blood and sweat off and soon, he was dried and sitting on a chair wearing black boxers whilst Alexandra tended to his wounds.
As they had walked down, they had gotten many congratulations from the other fighters, and Alexandra felt pleased that many of them were good losers, yet there were some that were bitter they didn't win, they didn't dare try anything with Samuel as he looked ready to fight again if they tried anything.
Alexandra wiped Samuel down with a black flannel then studied his wounds.
"Jesus Sam!" she gasped as she analysed some deep cuts as well as bruises that were forming.
"How do you do it?"
"You mean the fights?" Samuel asked, "It just comes naturally to me."
"I know that." Alexandra said as she dabbed some of his wounds with a disinfectant covered cotton pad and placed some band-aids on the less deep cuts.
"It's just the pain you go through."
"Jeez..." she tutted, her bedside nurse manner kicking in "You're gonna have some bruises and scars for a while!"
"More to go with the ones I already have huh?" Samuel asked with a wince as Alexandra touched his swollen left eye.
"Yeah!" Alexandra nodded.
She then studied his deeper wounds.
"These will need stitching." She said, "It's a good thing I got the tools I need." She reached for her purse and pulled out a surgical needle and thread then started to sterilise and prepare them.
Samuel relaxed in his chair and got ready, yet as he did, he saw Jason appear in the doorway.
"Hey Sam!" Jason said walking over with a smile.
Samuel and Alexandra looked over and both wondered what he was going to do until he walked up and patted Samuel on the shoulder.
"Hey!" he said, "You fought good!"
Samuel grinned looking up at the blonde-haired fighter.
"Thanks a lot. I appreciate that!" Samuel said gratefully.
"No worries!" Jason said "A fighter like you, you've worked hard to get where you are now!"
"But don't forget!" Samuel said "You were really impressive as well!"
Jason chuckled.
"Thanks!" he said then looked over at Alexandra.
"Oh hey!" he said.
"Hi!" Alexandra replied then Samuel looked sheepish as he realised he hadn't introduced Jason and Alexandra.
"Oh, sorry." He said "Let me introduce you. Jason, this is my girlfriend, Alex."
He gestured to Alexandra who held out her hand to Jason and he shook it.
"Pleased to meet you." She said with a smile.
"Likewise!" Jason said.
"She was here to support me as well as check out the fights." Samuel explained.
"Really now?" Jason asked eyeing Alexandra and her clothes and how she wasn't like the other women who had come along to the fights.
"Uh huh," Alexandra said, "I'm also his personal medic." She said glancing at Samuel with a playful frown to which Samuel gave a sheepish grin.
"I really am appreciative of you and thankful for your help Babe." He spoke.
"I know you are!" Alexandra replied as she started to sew up Samuel's deeper wounds.
Jason meanwhile watched as Samuel just relaxed and took deep breaths as he took the pain.
"Wow, you are a lucky one Sam." He commented as he watched how Alexandra expertly sewed up the wounds and closed them.
"Lucky to have me as a girlfriend or a girlfriend who's a nurse?" Alexandra asked cheekily as she snipped one of the threads and covered the wound with a band aid.
"A nurse, eh?" Jason asked impressive to which Alexandra nodded.
"Yeah." Alexandra replied as she started stitching another of Samuel's wound.
"Didn't always want to be a nurse at first, as I wanted to get into performing arts, but I soon discovered that nursing was more my calling and went to medical school after I graduated High School."
"And she's amazing at what she does." Samuel praised.
"I can see that!" Jason said as he continued to watch Alexandra's handiwork as she finished the last stitch and smiled at Jason and Samuel's comments.
As she put the last stitch in, Samuel winced slightly.
"Sorry about this." She said as she snipped it then placed a band-aid over it.
"No worries, Babe. Do what you gotta do!" Samuel reassured her.
"Okay, not too much longer now." Alexandra said, "and there we go! All finished." She placed the last band-aid on him and stood back.
"Thanks babe." Samuel said gratefully.
"You're welcome," Alexandra replied, "Those bruises will fade, but you're gonna have a swollen eye for a few days, we'll get a proper ice pack on it when we get back to the hotel."
"I have to say Sam, you are relentless." Jason said.
"Comes with the territory." Samuel shrugged then chuckled as he rubbed his swollen eyes slightly to which Alexandra gently pushed it away.
"And you showed how strong you really are, and how determined!" Jason said "Again, well done!"
"Thanks a lot!" Samuel grinned then Jason patted him on the shoulder and smiled at Alexandra.
"Well, Enjoy the money and hopefully see you at another tournament?" he smirked with a wink.
"Definitely." Samuel said clicking his tongue. "I'm already looking forward to it!"
"Well, I'll see ya round kid! And look after your sweetheart!" he gestured with his head to Alexandra who smiled back gratefully.
"Will do!" Samuel said fervently as Jason left the room.
Samuel may have won the fight, and half a million dollars! Yet the Mafia aren't ready to walk away the loosing party!
This doesn't look good to say the least!