by K. D. Jones
“Intrigue, romance, new players, new species never seen on the circuit before. I just can’t wait to see what will happen next.”
“Tonight will not disappoint you. Not only do we have several pair matches scheduled, but we have trio teams that will be fighting.”
“I, for one, am looking forward to seeing those trio matches.”
“I hear that Coco will be the ring girl for all the matches this evening.”
“Why is that, Poland?”
“Our new SPLIT girl has had an accident in practice and is recovering from her injuries,” he chuckled.
“Too many splits can’t be good for the body,” Johann chuckled.
“I was told she should be back to her full SPLIT self by the next event.”
“Looking forward to it.”
*****
Maya huffed in the chair she was sitting in. When Rage chuckled, she glared at him. “It’s not funny!”
He held up his thumb and forefinger, “Little bit.”
“Ugh! I’m a laughing stock.”
“Don’t worry, they’ll find a new person to spotlight. For a while there they had a whole romantic story going on between Talon and Zen. They also had me and Hammer in a love triangle over Zara at one point.”
She couldn’t help but giggle before asking him with innocent eyes. “That wasn’t true?”
“No, damn it!”
She giggled and turned back to the television. She felt a little better. Rage wasn’t so bad.
*****
“First up this evening is a pair match with Sersan and Gana. They are up against a full female Martian and a full Siren.”
“I believe this is the first time I have seen a full Siren fight in a sanctioned circuit.”
“You are right, Poland. They had been banned a few years ago when the GCFA fighters went on strike. There were two fatal incidents involving the Siren fighters. Sirens, as you know, have the vocal ability to immobilize an opponent. No one could stand against them. The fighters involved had taken the opportunity to not only freeze their GCFA opponents but took their lives as well. The GCFA fighters were outraged and demanded the banning. After two years, and several high profile protesting by Full Species Advocates, the GCFA is allowing the Sirens to come back under specific conditions.”
“What conditions are those, Johann?”
“They cannot use their full vocal abilities until the third round. This gives the opponents a fair opportunity to take them out before then.”
“Well, I am looking forward to seeing how the Siren does.”
A siren? Wow. Maya had never seen one before. She had been taking her finals for college two years ago and did not have time to watch any of the GCFA matches.
“Damn, Sirens,” Rage grumbled.
“How about some pizza and beer?” she offered.
Rage looked at her with a new respect. “You can cook pizza?”
“Uh, no. But I can order it from room service.”
“Order three then, you might want one.”
Aw, how thoughtful. She laughed as she dialed the number to room service. She settled back down in her chair and waited for the match to begin.
* * *
Chapter Sixteen
Maya watched as Sersan and Gana walked into the cage. The crowd was clapping and singing with their opening music. It was some kind of weird chanting in rhythm to a beating drum.
“It was Gana’s choice of music this time. She was raised in a monastery,” Rage told her.
“Oh.”
A round of boos started through the arena as the two opponents made their way to the cage. The two females didn’t look that much bigger than Gana and Sersan. The Siren was wearing a very tiny two-piece leather outfit. The female Martian was red in coloring as all full Martians were. She was a little bit taller than the Siren.
The bell rang and round one started. The Martian was up first against Gana. They were pretty evenly matched in height. The Martian rushed across the cage as soon as the bell rang. She tried swinging out her hand, but Gana ducked under and double-legged her. The Martian delivered punches to Gana’s body winding her. She managed to tag Sersan and the Martian tagged the Siren.
With the Siren restricted on using her vocal ability, it gave Sersan the advantage. A minute into their match it was clear the Siren did not have the same strength as Sersan. This was her chance to take the Siren out of the match altogether. But then the bell rang signaling the end of round one.
“Damn it! Sersan almost had her,” Rage grumbled.
Maya just smiled at his comments. She was thinking the same thing. She watched Coco as she walked across the cage mat carrying her sign above her head. She smiled and winked at the males who were calling out obscene things to her. Coco really was good at this whole ring girl thing. Maya actually missed it, too. She had always been a shy girl, but being a ring girl brought out a side of herself, she had not known before. She found a sexual confidence in herself that she was only now appreciating.
The bell rang announcing the start of the second round. Sersan went after the Siren landing right hand punches to her body over and over. The Siren landed a knee to Sersan’s body catching her off guard. She then made her way over to tag the Martian’s hand.
The Martian got to Sersan before she was able to reach Gana. The Martian grasped hold of the back of Sersan’s neck smashing her face into the cage bars. Maya cringed knowing that had to hurt. The cameras zeroed in and showed the blood streaming down Sersan’s nose. Somehow Sersan managed to push back into the Martian and maneuvered out of her grasp. She leaped over to where Gana stood with her hand outstretched.
Once Gana tagged in she went after the Martian with everything she had. She wanted the other female to tag out so she could get to the Siren. It needed to happen before the third round. But the Martian wasn’t budging. She threw loose punches at Gana, which only made her angrier.
Maya actually growled when the bell rung. She sat on the edge of her seat to watch. She looked back at Rage.
“If the Siren can now use her voice, what will stop her from freezing up more than Sersan and Gana?”
“That was part of the conditions given by the GCFA. Sirens had to demonstrate that they could target only their opponents with their vocal abilities. They would not be allowed to fight unless they showed that kind of control.”
Maya turned back to the television when the bell rang. Coco walked across the cage again. Then all the fighters were now allowed to fight simultaneously. Sersan and Gana went for the Siren. They needed to take her out fast.
The Siren opened her mouth and Gana slowed her steps. She seemed to be struggling to get her limbs to move. Sersan punched the Siren in the face knocking a tooth loose. The Siren spit out her bloody tooth in anger and opened her mouth toward Sersan. Sersan’s body slowed down until her movements were almost completely still. That’s when the Martian came at both of them hard.
She started to pound Sersan first. Over and over. She kicked the immobile female in the ribs hard. She gave the Siren a nod and the Siren slowly released Sersan who fell to the mat. Then the Martian did the same to Gana. Once both GCFA fighters were on the mat barely moving, the bell rang announcing the end of round three and the end of the match. The referee declared the Martian and Siren the winners.
“That’s just bullshit! They never should have allowed the Sirens back into the circuit.”
Maya agreed with him fully. It just didn’t seem fair.
“I’m going to call the GCFA advisor about this. There has to be other restrictions that can be put on the Sirens.” Rage picked up the phone and started dialing.
The bell to the suite rang. “That must be the pizza and beer. I’m starving.” Maya stood and walked over to the door. She opened it and frowned. “Hello?” No one was there. She looked down and froze.
“Rage. Rage!” she had to yell to get his attention.
Rage walked over to the door with the phone still in his hand. “What is it?” He looked
out the door but didn’t see anything.
Maya pointed to the floor with a trembling finger. “It’s…it’s my…purse.”
* * *
Chapter Seventeen
“Thanks for that commercial break from Beastial Cereal, the flavor that always makes you growl. We are back at the transport arena awaiting the first of two trio matches. I haven’t seen a trio match in a while. How about you, Poland?”
“This will be the first trio match that I have had the pleasure to commentate for. I have watched them televised before though. For our viewers out there, could you explain quickly the difference between a pair match and a trio match?”
“A pair match has two members on each team. They take turns fighting through the first two rounds, then can fight simultaneously during the third round. With a trio match, there are three members to each team. You have four rounds instead of three. Each member is required to fight at least one round each. By the fourth round, all members can fight simultaneously. All it takes is for one fighter to be counted out though for the whole match to be over.”
“Thanks, Johann. Who do we have for the first trio match?”
“The first trio team consists of Taurus the Ape Man, Esan, and one of the new male fighters, Maxim. If my stats are correct, Maxim is the first ever human Droid to participate in the GCFA circuit.”
“Wow, a human Droid. Haven’t seen one before. In case any of our viewers out there do not know about Droids, they are computer mutated life forms mixed with different alien DNA. In this case, Maxim’s DNA has human in it.”
“I hear Droids are super strong.”
“They are going to need that strength because the trio’s opponents are triplet Cyclops.”
*****
Taurus was frustrated. He didn’t want to be fighting in the cage tonight. He wanted to be with Maya, protecting her. But he had a trio match that he needed get out of the way first. He wasn’t sure what the outcome was going to be because normally Hammer or Rage would fight the matches that involved the Cyclops. He also worried over the new male that he had not seen fight yet. He pushed thoughts of Maya to the side for now so he could focus.
Taurus and his other two team members climbed into the cage. The human Droid, Maxim, didn’t say anything to him. He was very focused. Taurus would start round one. He stretched his bare toes. He was going to need every advantage.
The bell rang to start round one. Taurus advanced toward Cyclops number one. His goal was to tire out the Cyclops, if he can put him out of commission, all the better.
He threw a right hand. The Cyclops didn’t bother to duck. He took the punch barely flinching. Oh shit. This was not going to be easy.
The Cyclops double legged him. Taurus worked to get inside the Cyclop’s closed guard. Taurus delivered punches to the Cyclop’s body. Just when it seemed that he was making headway with the Cyclops, the bell rang announcing the end of round one. Taurus was breathing hard.
When the bell rang a few minutes later for the start of round two, he immediately tagged Esan. Cyclops one also tagged the next fighter. Esan looked human for the most part. Except that he had small scales on the sides of his head. Like his sister, Sersan, he was told to let some of his hair grow in for the upcoming promotion tour. So he sported a small blond Mohawk. His advantages were that he had good endurance and was extremely flexible. He could bend in almost impossible positions without any bones snapping. Hopefully it would be enough to last him through the second round.
Esan and Cyclops two traded right hands. But Cyclops two moved faster. He tied up Esan and went for a takedown. Esan barely made it out of the hold. Esan landed a knee, which gave him enough room to move. Esan was slightly relieved when the bell rang ending round two. Like Taurus, he was completely winded.
“They’re kicking our asses tonight,” Taurus commented.
“We might not be able to take them down. Let’sss aim to get in asss many punchesss before the end of round four and maybe that will be enough to sssway the judgesss ruling.” Esan turned to look at Maxim. “You with usss, Maxxxim?”
The human Droid looked at them with electric blue eyes. “I don’t think it will come to that.”
“How do you see that?” Taurus asked him.
“Because I am fighting next,” he said simply.
When the bell rang signaling for the third round to begin, Esan tagged Maxim’s hand. He then turned to Taurus. “We’ll sssee how the little human Droid handlesss a full blood Cccyclopsss.”
Cyclops three walked toward the center. He towered over Maxim. He pointed at Maxim and then punched his own fist into his palm. He was sort of saying that he was going to pound Maxim into nothing. Half the crowd booed and the other half laughed.
Maxim kept his eyes on the Cyclops but stayed in the center of the cage. Cyclops three walked around Maxim in cocky strides.
“You’re pretty much human aren’t you?” the Cyclops asked in disgust.
Maxim didn’t respond. Just kept his eyes on his opponent. He didn’t turn his body, just his head.
Cyclops three tried to do the Thai clinch with a knee to Maxim’s body. Maxim didn’t budge. He didn’t try to block either. Maxim took more shots. Then, Maxim moved suddenly. He used both his hands and pinned the Cyclops against the cage.
He landed several hard knees to the Cyclops’s body. The Cyclops struggled to get out of the hold, but there was no budging Maxim. His hold on the Cyclops was unbreakable. Then Maxim lifted the Cyclops up into the air and threw him over his head as if the Cyclops was nothing.
Everyone in the arena was shocked into silence. No one knew the human Droid had that kind of strength. Maxim ignored everyone. He was completely focused on his opponent. He gained top position and quickly moved to the mount position. He applied a naked chokehold, but the Cyclops was fighting it. Maxim straddled him and began punching him in the face. A couple of punches and chokeholds later, the big Cyclops collapsed before the third bell could ring. The whole match was over. Again, there was a pregnant pause, then everyone in the arena erupted into applause.
The other two Cyclops were outraged the fight was already over. They rushed toward Maxim who was just pulling himself up. Taurus and Esan joined Maxim and took out the other two Cyclops.
The GCFA was not going to be happy. Barely three matches and then it was over too soon. The GCFA had wanted a show, but Maxim took out the drama. Taurus was just grateful that he was done. He would go to the healing facility quickly and then head upstairs to Maya. He hoped she had a good night.
*****
“What do you mean there is no recorded footage of this floor?” Rachel demanded over the phone. She paced up and down Taurus’s suite.
Maya cringed. She would hate to be the person on the other end of the phone. Rachel was scary when she was pissed. And she was extremely pissed off that someone got past her security undetected.
“You have feed but it’s scrambled? Well unscramble it!”
“Easy, Rachel, you’ll make them piss themselves,” a male voice said from the open doorway.
Maya turned to look at the newcomer. She had never met him before. He was almost as tall as the halfsie fighters, six feet five inches. He had mocha colored skin, an earring in one ear, and the most beautiful blue eyes. He was hot.
“Trig, it’s about damn time that you showed up!” Rachel walked over to the man and gave him a hug.
Rage growled from the other side of the room. He didn’t share well with others. Especially his mate with other males.
“Give me the update on the situation,” Trig said, ignoring Rage altogether.
Rachel motioned for him to follow her to the couch where Maya was sitting with her knees tucked up under her.
“Trig, this is Maya. Maya, this is Special Agent Trig Roberts of the Intergalactic Department of Justice.”
“Nice to meet you.” Maya reached out her hand to shake his.
She then noticed two more males were standing by the door wearing IDJ uniforms. Trig noticed he
r apprehension.
“I brought two IDJ officers with me to help protect you, Office Jenkins and Officer Browning.” He turned to back to Rachel.
“Right, so here’s the breakdown. Maya overheard a conversation that involved an employee at a local orphanage. The conversation eluded to something being done to the halfsie children. She was chased and lost her purse there. A few hours ago, the purse showed up on her doorstep.”
“Video footage?”
“My security people say there was some kind of interference that caused the signal to scramble. They haven’t been able to clear it up yet.”
Trig motioned to one of his officers. “I’ll send Jenkins. He’s an expert with IT and computers.”
Rachel nodded.
“There’s more,” Rachel said looking at Maya worriedly.
“What else?”
“Maya, excuse us for just a moment. I need to speak with Trig privately,” Rachel told Maya.
“Of course.” Maya nodded, hugging herself.
Rage growled his dislike of Rachel wanting to be alone with another male.
“Stop it. This is business. But you can come, too, if it makes you feel better.” Rachel had barely gotten the words out for him to come, too, before he pushed his way out into the hallway.
Rachel grumbled as she followed him out, “Men.”
Trig chuckled. “Can’t live with us, can’t hide our bodies easily either.”
Maya smiled from the joke. It lightened up the mood quite a bit. She glanced back and forth from the door to the television, which was muted now but had the final matches going on. Taurus finished his match and was probably at the healing facility. The match ended quickly, but she felt bad she had missed watching most of it. About fifteen minutes later Rachel, Trig, and Rage returned. All of them looked at Maya with concerned expressions.
Trig walked over to Maya. “We need to take you into protective custody.”
“I don’t want to leave.” Maya shook her head. There was no way she was leaving Taurus.