by RJ Johnson
The crowd roared as the ringmaster rang the final bell. One of the lower card matches had just ended which meant Meade was running out of time to stop the fight before it began. He hurried down the deserted hallway and looked into each empty room searching for Chau’s dressing room.
Down the hall, he saw a dressing room open and the sound of several men and women partying echoed out of it. Meade flattened himself against the hallway while several people filed in and out of the room.
He wasn’t sure where the man came from, but just as Meade stepped out into the hallway, Titus Greene was standing there right in front of him.
The man was massive – and it was more than just muscle that made him huge, it was the way his eyes stared you down. Greene was famed for having one of the most intimidating stare downs in the Zero-G leagues and Meade was forced to admit the man deserved his reputation.
“Who the fuck are you?” Greene demanded. “My people are the only ones who are supposed to be back here.”
“Coalition security,” Meade replied, thinking quickly, “We’ve had reports of some unauthorized personnel gaining access. With the Ambassador coming, we can’t allow for any mistakes.”
Greene stared at him suspicious, “Wouldn’t a Coalition security officer be wearing his fatigues?”
Meade knew he was caught. Goddammit, he forgot to update the clothing on the camo app. He was still projecting the dingy clothes the murdering psychopath was wearing.
“I’m undercover…?” Meade said hesitantly. But it was for naught, Greene knew he was a fraud.
“I don’t think so,” Greene leaned back and Meade recognized the posture of someone who was about to throw a devastating punch. He ducked under the clumsy punch from the champion (which was strangely easier than it should have been), and sidestepped the huge man. He aimed his taser app at Greene’s back and fired.
Greene cried out in pain, but didn’t fall. Meade’s eyes went wide and increased the voltage. Greene finally went down hard, his clothing smoking from where Meade’s taser had hit him.
“Jesus...” Meade said softly. That man was a beast if he was able to handle two full shots from his taser at full blast.
“Greene!” A voice shouted from down the hall, “Coming up on five minutes. Time to get moving, we gotta get your hands wrapped!”
“Fuck fuck fuck!” Meade said looking down at Greene. He needed to stop the fight, but not like this. If Greene was discovered unconscious like this, the Coalition would lock down the arena and everyone he cared about would be trapped like a rat.
“Greene!” A man emerged from the room down the hall peering into the darkness, “Where’d you go man? We need to get moving!”
In retrospect, Meade wasn’t sure why he did what he did, but at the moment, it seemed to be the most logical course of action.
Meade took off his duster and hat, and tossed it in the empty locker room that he often used before his fights to get ready. He dragged Greene inside and looked around the room for something to tie him up with. He spotted a jump rope across the room and used it to tie his charge up securely.
Meade scanned Greene’s body. He waved the amber light up and down Greene body several times hoping to give his ArmBar enough information to fool anyone who might be watching closely.
Someone knocked at the door, “Greene! You in here? Come on man, your public is waiting!”
Meade cleared his throat while his ArmBar processed the new image of Greene, “Gimme a second.”
The knocking continued, “Greene? You ok in there pal?”
Meade dragged the trussed up unconscious champ into the closet and closed the door, locking it. He quickly took his shirt off and grabbed the medical scissors that had been sitting next to the bed. He cut at his jeans turning them into cutoffs and slid his ArmBar back onto his bare forearm and swallowed, willing his ArmBar to process Greene’s image faster.
The doorknob jiggled and someone pushed against the door, “Hey Titus, seriously man, it’s time to stop fucking around. Those runabout girls will still be here after the fight…”
The camo app finished processing Greene’s image and blinked that it was ready to be projected. The second Meade pushed the button, the door swung open and three of Greene’s entourage entered the room.
They stared at him and Meade held his breath waiting for them to cry out that he was an imposter.
“You OK?” The first man asked in a friendly tone. Meade nodded and narrowed his eyes. He’d play his part as silently as possible. No one could ever accuse Greene of being overly verbose.
They considered him for a second until the first man in the entourage clasped him on his back, “Cool man, let’s get you ready. No sense in keeping your adoring public from watching you take that punk apart.”
Meade nodded and allowed the team to drag him into Greene’s locker room. There, several people surrounded Meade and began to wrap up his hands and prepare him for the fight. A masseuse stepped up behind Meade and he shied away from the man.
“I’m good.”
The masseuse looked confused and glanced at the main man running Greene’s entourage. The man snapped at the masseuse, “You heard him. Get lost!”
The masseuse quickly drew back as a man in a headset poked his head into the locker room.
“Time to get to your marks, Chau’s entering the ring now.”
Meade felt his heartbeat quicken the same way it did before every fight. This time though, there was so much more riding on the outcome. All he needed to do was get into the ring and warn Chau of how they were using him. This was not going the way he had envisioned, but, he could use this time in the ring to try and pass a message to Chau and hopefully stop the fight in time to prevent the assassination attempt.
Once his team was satisfied, they led Meade out and into the hallway that led to the main entrance to the arena. He could hear the roar of the crowd as they greeted Chau and got ready for the supposed “Fight of the Century.” The heavy rock music faded and Meade swallowed. He’d stood outside these curtains a thousand times during his career as a Zero-G fighter, but none of those fights had ever had so much riding on it.
He heard the familiar refrain of Titus Greene’s music and the curtains parted, the brilliant white light from the floodlights above completely blocking everything from his view.
Inside the arena, the crowd was going nuts. He’d never heard the audience so loud. When he stepped onto the ramp that led down to the ring and out of the direct glare of the spotlights, he saw why.
Thousands upon thousands of Coalition citizens were inside the arena. It was crammed full of more people gathered together in one place than he’d ever seen before in his life.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand his opponent,” the announcer’s voice thundered through the arena, “hailing from New Plymouth, direct from the Homeworld, your current heavyweight Zero-G champion of the system Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitus…. GREEEEEEEEENE!”
If Meade thought the crowd was loud before, he never would’ve anticipated the response he got once the announcer spoke Greene’s name. He could feel the pressure of the crowd’s reaction weigh down on him as he and his entourage moved down the ramp.
Thousands of Coalition citizens held their arms out, hoping to get a high five from the champ as he passed them. Meade couldn’t help but spot the blinking indicators on everyone’s ArmBar that showed that they had SecureCards installed on them. Thousands of people were both cheering and jeering at him, all at once. It was all Meade could to keep his eyes straight and focused on the man who was standing by himself in the ring. If anyone could tell it wasn’t actually Greene entering the ring, no one was saying anything. For now, it appeared that his Camo app was good enough to fool half of the Coalition.
He approached the side of the ring as an attendant opened the door for him.
“This bout is scheduled to last for five rounds,” the announcer intoned solemnly. “The winner of tonight’s bout will be crowned heavyweight champion of Mars and receive all
the privileges and purse that accompanies it.”
Chau never looked away from Meade (as Greene) as he entered the ring. Greene’s trainer appeared next to him and helped Meade shrug himself out of the ornate robe the champ favored. He moved towards the center of the ring as Chau approached from the opposite side. The ref approached them both.
“All right fellas, I know the pressure’s on for you two to put on a big show, but if you get out of line, I’m stopping this bout,” the ref said firmly, “I know there’s some bad blood, but if…”
“Start the fucking fight old man,” Chau snarled.
The ref was taken aback for only a moment, “Step back to your corners, and when the bell rings, you gents are on.”
Meade glanced up at the Ambassador’s box and spotted Sarah’s avatar sitting next to the Ambassador. Meade thought she looked remarkably serene for someone who knew that an advanced rifle prototype was aimed at her head.
They moved back to their respective corners and everyone who wasn’t about to get bloody exited the ring. In the distance, Meade could hear the crowd chanting their names, but he blocked it all out.
He had one goal. Stop the fight before the assassination attempt and keep everyone busy until Em could broadcast the infodump Sarah hacked off the Ambassador’s ArmBar.
The bell rang and Chau charged at him.
Chapter Thirty One
Meade tried to keep his cool and remember everything he could from his previous fight against Chau, but the man was relentless. Last time it hadn’t been personal for the man, this time, Chau was fighting for his family’s honor and that meant he was going to launch everything he had at him.
The G-circles weren’t activated yet, so there wasn’t anything Meade could do but try and retreat from Chau’s onslaught. The crowd booed at Greene’s sudden lack of interest in fighting.
“Come on you pussy!” Chau roared as Meade kept moving back, “Fight goddammit!”
“I’m not here to hurt you Chau!” Meade warned him. The G-circle he stepped on went to zero-g and he leapt up inside the cage up to the top. Chau followed him and grabbed onto the fencing landing some more blows on Meade’s head.
Meade’s flawless image of Greene flickered for a moment. He wasn’t sure if Chau had seen it, but it was enough to recognize that he couldn’t let the man touch him like that again. His holoprojection was too delicate to stand up to a full on knockdown drag out fight. If he wasn’t careful the whole thing could destabilize.
Meade released his grip on the fence, and fell back to the ring’s canvas just as Chau’s meaty fist flew by his face. He felt the power behind Chau’s punch and was grateful that he had missed.
Chau let go of the fence and landed gently next to him in a catlike stance. He rose and began to throw punches at him, as Meade was able to duck and dodge the man’s blows before they landed.
“Chau, listen to me,” Meade begged. “You’re being used by Laszlo.”
Chau ignored him and followed through with another punch that Meade ducked under. He took the opportunity to duck under Chau’s throw and retreat away once again. The crowd was getting rowdy now “Greene” as they threw trash and litter towards the ring to express their disapproval.
“Fuck Laszlo, fuck the fight, fuck you Greene!” Chau roared. “My brother is dead. He’s dead because you couldn’t stand the idea that someone might be better than you in the ring. You killed my brother to lay claim to some stupid piece of metal without a second’s thought to anyone you hurt along the way and it’s now your turn to pay with your life!”
Meade swallowed, whatever plans he had of stopping the fight with Chau’s corporation was over with. The man was blind with rage and the only way he was gonna get out of this was by fighting back.
Chau was so enraged that he didn’t even notice that he had crossed his feet in his approach to him. Meade took advantage and slid his leg behind Chau while simultaneously hugging his shoulders and drawing the man in a bear hug to prevent him from throwing another devastating punch. He tripped and body slammed Chau as hard as he could. He could hear the wind go out of Chau as the violent throw put the man on his back.
The crowd got on its feet and roared its approval. They screamed in delight as Chau lay on his back moaning. Meade had put enough force into the throw so that it might’ve broken a lesser man’s back. But this was not a lesser man, and Chau was not someone who went down easily.
Meade backed off and glanced back up at the Ambassador’s box. The Ambassador was leaning forward, licking her lips as she watched “Greene” take Chau apart in the ring. He could see Sarah in her disguise typing discretely on her ArmBar. Meade felt the slightest tinge of relief, so long as the plan was proceeding, all he needed to do was keep Chau busy for a little while longer.
The bell rang signaling the end of the first round. Meade moved back to his corner where his trainer and body man were waiting.
“What the fuck was that Greene?” his trainer demanded. “We had a plan to get out there and lay the man out in the first few minutes and instead you’re running around like…” he hesitated and looked to the body man for help, “I dunno man, what’s wrong with you?”
“I know what I’m doing,” Meade said looking away from them. “The second I see you step inside the ring to take a beating is the second I start listening to your dumbshit advice.”
The trainer rolled his eyes and held his hands up to surrender, “I’m just saying Titus, tonight is not the night to be off your game.”
“And comments from the peanut gallery ain’t gonna help me neither,” Meade shot back. He grabbed the water bottle away from them and drank it down. “Now, I’d like to get back to business if you don’t mind.”
They stared at him shocked.
“That means get the fuck out!” Meade roared and threw the water bottle at them.
The trainer and his bodyman withdrew without another word. Having seen Greene with his men back at his gym, Meade had the impression that this sort of behavior from Greene was completely in character for the man. Besides, he needed a few moments to see if Emeline or Kansas had spotted the Assassin. If they had, he could stop the fight himself by just giving up and leaving the arena mysteriously.
There was still a little under a minute left between the rounds and Meade used the time to open a comm link to everyone.
“So honesty time, this whole operation might’ve gotten away from me,” Meade whispered to his companions, “Where are we at? Em? Kansas? Tell me good things.”
Emeline clicked on the mic, “I’ve been watching Chau’s entourage, but I haven’t seen anyone leave yet, Kansas you got anything?”
Kansas clicked on, “I’ve been scanning all the possible lines of site into the Ambassador’s box. I haven’t found any heat signatures to worry about just yet, but I’ll keep looking.”
“What about you Meade? The fight’s already started, what’s your plan on stopping it?” Emeline asked over the comm link.
Meade glanced up at the clock and saw his time was about to expire, “Let’s just say I’m a bit more involved in the fight than I’d like to be.”
It took Emeline a second but as soon as Kansas chuckled, she caught onto what he was doing. “You can’t be serious, you’re in the ring?”
“Fighting Chau as Greene,” Meade confirmed, “the idea is that I keep ‘em busy and end the fight as soon as one of two things happen: the assassin takes his shot, or you guys find him.”
“Jesus Christ you’re an idiot…” Emeline muttered over the comm. Kansas’s chuckle turned into a full-throated laugh. He coughed and settled down with a smile.
“I never said it was a brilliant plan,” Meade admitted, “but unless you got any better ideas, it’s about the best I got at the moment. Plus Em, you’ll want to stay tuned, I spotted Sarah up in the Ambassador’s section, so the second you get Sarah’s infodump, start broadcasting that sucker.”
“I’ll be ready for it. You just try and stay alive,” she called back over the co
mm link. He closed his ArmBar and let the camo disguise it back into Greene’s bare arm.
Meade moved to the center of the ring as the second round bell rang through the arena. The zero-g circles under his feet flashed to remind him that the gravity within them would be twice as strong this round.
Apparently Chau had decided that the first round was only the beginning of his onslaught. He came after Meade throwing punch after punch and all he could do was throw up his arms to try and protect his head. He weaved his way through the Gravity circles on the canvas avoiding the doubly strong gravity within them.
The circle in front of him cycled to zero-G and Chau launched himself up, placing his feet on the roof. He pushed and dive bombed Meade. Meade was unable to move out of the way in time and Chau collided with his jaw, and Meade saw stars explode all around him. They fell to the ground in a tangled pile of legs and arms as Chau kept up his offense. In his bloodlust, he didn’t even notice Meade’s face flickered every time he landed a punch.
Meade threw up his forearms hoping to block most of Chau’s punching. He glanced to the side to see the Higgs circle cycle into 2Gs. He grunted with effort and rolled himself with Chau on top of him over onto the 2 G circle.
Everything suddenly became twice as heavy and Chau grunted with the effort of staying up. Meade was able to use the extra gravity to throw Chau to the side. Meade rolled back out of the Higgs circle and stood, breathing heavily. He watched as Chau slowly rose from the canvas and looked at him confused.
Meade cursed himself. Greene never would have let Chau leave that circle alive.
The bell rang and the round was over. Chau just stared at Meade, and he had to check himself to make sure his camo app was still functioning properly.
Chau slowly made his way back to his corner and sat, still staring at him. Meade returned to his corner and allowed his body man and trainer to go over him with the Vaseline and rubdown.
Greene’s trainer was droning on about tactics and how to best take advantage of some weakness he thought he spotted on Chau during the last round, but Meade wasn’t listening. He only looked at Chau who never took his eyes off of him.