Elite

by Joseph C. Anthony

  “What stuff?” he demanded.

  “Just some stuff,” she replied vaguely.

  “Some stuff?” The man asked confused. He seemed to be growing angrier. “Were you with that punk-ass deejay again?”

  “Shut up,” the girl replied, continuing to evade the question. Then she turned back toward the bar and picked up her cosmo.

  “You’re coming with me,” the older man ordered, grabbing her by the arm.

  “No!” she shouted, pulling her arm away.

  The man reached for the much smaller woman again, and that was Daniel’s cue. He stood up from his stool and approached the quarreling couple.

  “Please let her go,” Daniel said with extreme calm in his voice.

  “Excuse me?” The man said, releasing the girls arm and stepping forward in an attempt to intimidate Daniel.

  “Please keep your hands off the young lady,” Daniel replied, still calm.

  At this point Daniel saw a couple of large bouncers approaching from behind the man in the pink polo. Daniel turned his head to the side and out of his peripheral vision could see a smaller bouncer a few paces behind him.

  “Do you even know who I am?” The man asked Daniel, as if it mattered. “I own this place punk. This isn’t your business. Why don’t you just take your punk-ass out of here?”

  Daniel remained calm on the surface, but inside he was taking control of his body, pumping himself for the physical confrontation which at this point was pretty much guaranteed to go down.

  This asshole had picked the wrong day to play tough guy.

  “You like to throw the word ‘punk’ around, don’t you?” Daniel asked, referencing the man’s description of both Daniel and the DJ. “To me a punk is any man who would lay hands on a woman against her will, no matter who the fuck he is.”

  Any sane human being probably would have been scared shitless while standing a few inches from someone as intimidating as Daniel, but the bar owner was cocky. Of course he probably believed Daniel was insane, talking to him that way while surrounded by a group of large men ready to unleash hell should Daniel make a move.

  “Get…the fuck…out,” the bar owner said in a violent half-whisper, moving his face now within an inch of Daniel’s.

  Daniel’s muscles were now pumped full of oxygen and adrenaline. He was ready.

  “Make me,” Daniel responded in a matching tone.

  The bar owner was clearly not an experience fighter, letting out a psychopathic yell as he reared his fist way back, preparing to throw a punch.

  Daniel attacked before the owner even started his fist forward, opening his hand and jamming the area between his forefinger and thumb hard into the owner’s throat.

  The bar owner grabbed his neck, gasping for air as he dropped to his knees. The two bouncers, each built like an offensive lineman, lunged toward Daniel.

  Daniel quickly chose the one on the left and charged him, ramming his shoulder into the man’s lower chest. He put all of his strength into his legs and shoulders as he drove the man into the ground back-first.

  Daniel knew that the other bouncer would be right behind him, so he threw a mule kick behind him, contracting his quad muscles as far as they would go. He made contact with the bouncer’s stomach, causing him to fold over.

  Daniel had just enough time to look up to see two more bouncers running right for him. One was the man who had been standing behind him during the initial confrontation with the owner. He had a shorter, stockier build, much like jitters.

  The other was coming from the opposite direction, and had a stature similar to that of Titan.

  The two attackers got there at the same time, throwing punches simultaneously.

  Daniel ducked the giant haymaker thrown by the Titan bouncer, but was unable to get out of the smaller bouncer’s uppercut.

  The smaller bouncer’s fist hit him right in the chest, but Daniel reacted quick enough to grab onto his arm. He reached up and grabbed the back of the man’s head, focused on the strength of his upper body, and slammed the bouncer’s head down onto one of the high top tables standing next to him.

  Daniel had never had to divide so much of his focus between what was happening both inside and outside of his body. He couldn’t think about anything other than responding to each move that the bouncers came at him with.

  Slamming the shorter bouncer’s head on the table caused Daniel to lose focus on the Titan bouncer, and as he turned to face him he was greeted by a powerful black fist smashing into the side of his face.

  The ferocity of the impact sent Daniel backward, falling over himself.

  The Titan bouncer followed up by jumping on Daniel’s back and slamming him to the ground face first. The other three bouncers regained their composure and jumped on top, forming a thousand-pound dog pile.

  Daniel’s ears were ringing as he gathered himself on the bottom of the pile. His face was burning after taking the hit from the herculean bouncer, and he thought he might have a broken cheekbone. He could already feel it starting to swell, so he focused on keeping his blood vessels in the area from expanding to prevent the swelling until the fight was over – which for all intents and purposes, it seemed to be.

  Daniel thought about turning off the pain, but saw no point. He had felt so much emotional pain over the last few days that the physical pain was a welcome change.

  “Beat the shit outta him!” He heard the bar owner yell. Apparently he had regained his ability to speak.

  Daniel smiled and began to focus, remembering the last stage of the obstacle course.

  He let his conscious mind flow into the rear of his brain, commanding it to release all the adrenaline and testosterone humanly possible – and then some. He absorbed enormous amounts of oxygen into his blood stream and pumped his heart as fast as it would go. He began to lose himself in the back of his brain and it felt good. Nothing had made him felt good since Norma’s death.

  He opened his eyes – he was going to win this fight.

  There were random body parts all over the place. Fists and feet were ramming into the sides of Daniel’s body but he hadn’t even noticed. He could feel the bodies of the four bouncers moving around on top of him, keeping him pinned helplessly to the ground.

  Or so they thought.

  Daniel managed to get his palms flat on the floor on either side of his chest and began to push upward. He didn’t budge. The feat seemed impossible. They were just too heavy.

  But not for Daniel.

  Daniel closed his eyes and focused, sending everything he had to his arms and chest and contracted his muscles further and further until he finally starting pushing the pile upward. His heart was now beating out of his chest. It wouldn’t be able to handle the intensity much longer.

  He heard the other people in the bar gasp and they noticed the pile starting to move upward.

  The bouncers furiously jabbed at his sides and the back of his head, but he was too occupied within his own mind to feel or notice.

  He moved his legs forward, bringing each knee to his chest and shifted his focus from his upper body to his mid and lower body. He commanded his quads and abs to contact further than they ever had before and thrust himself backward at an upward angle.

  He felt the bouncers groan in shock as they fell from the now vertical pile. Only the Titan bouncer was able to hang on by wrapping his arm around Daniel’s neck. Daniel continued his backward motion, picking up speed before slamming the bouncer’s lower back into the bar.

  Daniel heard the bouncer’s spine crack as he let go of Daniel and collapsed on the floor.

  The other three security guards were now charging back after the disruptive patron, ready to rip his head off, but now showing a slight amount of fear in their eyes.

  Daniel used his arms to prop himself up on the bar as he lifted his legs and thrust both feet forward into the chest of one of the big bouncers who was first to arrive.

  The three-hundred pound man stumbled backwards almost ten feet, clutching
his chest, before falling to the floor.

  The other two reached Daniel at the same time and both decided to just try and grab Daniel this time and wrestle him back down to the floor.

  Daniel had other ideas.

  He was immovable as they grabbed and clawed at him, trying to pull him away from the bar. Daniel first pulled his right arm free from the shorter bouncer and used it to throw a quick jab. He was so amped up at this point that he no longer had to think about how strong he wanted his punch to be. His muscles were now locked on superhuman mode.

  He made contact with the side of the short bouncer’s face, the one quick jab proving enough to knock him back a few steps.

  He then turned his body and put everything he had into a big right hook directed at the other larger bouncer. The bouncer let go of Daniel and tried to block it, but was only quick enough to get his fingertips on Daniel’s arm which did little to nothing to slow it down. Daniel made contact with the bouncer’s nose, sending him to the ground unconscious, just as he had done to Jitters.

  He then turned to finish off the shorter bouncer, who at this point was the last man standing. Daniel simply rotated his body and threw a left hook at the man who was now standing upright after recovering from Daniel’s jab. Daniel’s left fist found its target, delivering a knockout blow.

  As Daniel stood above his fallen foes, he felt a pain in his chest. The pain was not caused from battle wounds, but from too much stress on his heart during the battle.

  He winced as he sent signals through his neural pathways, easing his heartbeat and slowly bringing himself down from his pump.

  Then he remembered one final piece of business he needed to attend to.

  He turned toward the bar owner, who looked on in horror at his men scattered around the floor of the bar. Then he looked up at Daniel, a new sense of terror in his eyes.

  “Please keep your hands off the lady,” Daniel said in the same cool voice he had used when the whole encounter started.

  The bar owner didn’t say a word, only nodded in terrified comprehension.

  Daniel took the back allies back to Elite from the bar as to avoid the police whom he knew must have been called at some point during the bar fight.

  The momentary pleasure he had felt from taking down the bouncers at the bar had now faded as he realized that he had gained absolutely nothing from it. He stood up for a young woman – yes, but she had put herself in that situation, and it probably hadn’t warranted critically injuring four men to get her out of it.

  Of course he had only fought the bouncers in self-defense, although there would have been no cause for it had he just left when the owner asked him to. He did not fire first, but he might as well have.

  The momentary distraction from losing Norma the fight had provided him was now gone, and he still had to live with the pain of knowing that she was gone forever.

  Frank had gone home for the night when Daniel returned to the complex, so he had to use his key to go in through the back door. It was only the second time he had ever come back to the building after hours. The back door opened up to a narrow hallway which led to the main hallway on the first floor.

  Daniel made his way down the hall, trying not to gather attention from anyone as he passed. He decided he would be less likely to run into anyone if he took the stairs rather than the elevator, so he turned into the fitness room. Before he could get to the stairwell however, he heard Richfield call for him.

  “Daniel!” he yelled from the walkway outside of his office. “Get your ass up here!”

  “What the hell were you thinking?” Richfield asked Daniel as they stepped into his office. “I just got a report from the police concerning four security guards at a bar who were taken out by one lunatic.”

  “That’s crazy,” Daniel said, his face covered in bruises and the dress clothes he had worn to the funeral tattered and torn.

  “You do not use the abilities I gave you to engage civilians!” Richfield barked.

  “They attacked me,” Daniel explained in an apathetic tone.

  “Why?” Richfield demanded.

  Daniel paused, knowing his reason why was not going to be good enough for Richfield.

  “The bar owner was harassing some woman,” Daniel explained sheepishly. “I told him to stop.”

  Richfield shook his head and took a deep breath.

  “I know you’re real broken up about Norma,” he spoke. “But unfortunately there are rare occasions in this job when we lose people. The rest of these guys have been through that sort of thing so it’s easier for them . But you’ve got to be more careful Daniel. You’ve got to know what you’re capable of and be able to control it.”

  Daniel nodded silently, staring at the floor as though he should feel some form of shame for his actions.

  “That being said, I am rather impressed.” Richfield added with a smirk. “They big guys, these bouncers?”

  Daniel forced a half-smile in return. “Three of ‘em. The fourth reminded me a lot of Jitters.”

  Richfield released a quick burst of air in the form of a laugh before dismissing Daniel. As Daniel opened the door and started out of the office, he made a decision. He was unsure of where the notion had come from, as it was not in any way premeditated, but as soon as it came to him, he knew it was right.

  “I challenge Titan for the top ranking,” he said sternly.

  Richfield’s eyes widened in disbelief at the unprecedented challenge.

  “Excuse me?” He asked, seemingly confused.

  “I think I’m ready,” Daniel responded with full confidence.

  “You’re not ready,” Richfield retorted. “Look at you – you’re all beat up.”

  “This Saturday,” Daniel said, stepping to Richfield’s desk and reaching for a pen.

  Richfield opened his mouth to say something else, but he had been around enough to know that Daniel wasn’t going to change his mind. He had decided, and if he wanted to commit suicide in four days’ time that was his right. Richfield pulled a challenge agreement form out of his file and set it on his desk in front of Daniel.

  “You miss her so much you want to die yourself, is that it?” Richfield asked degradingly as Daniel filled out the form.

  “This isn’t about her anymore,” Daniel countered succinctly. “I’m done living my life for other people. I’m doing this for me.”

  After he finished filling out his portion of the form, Daniel turned abruptly and made his way for the door, taking the form and pen with him.

  “Where are you going with that?” Richfield shouted through the doorway.

  “To challenge my opponent,” Daniel called back.

  Daniel made his way down to the first floor and over to the lounge where he knew he would find Titan with the other agents.

  As he walked through the door, a hush came over the room as every agent he passed took notice of the rough shape he was in.

  “Daniel!” Charlie shouted from a table in the back.

  Daniel ignored the call and made a beeline for Titan who was standing at the bar, chatting it up with Theodore and a couple of the other agents.

  “What the hell happened to you?” Titan asked in a deep rumble as Daniel stopped in front of him.

  “I’m challenging you Titan,” Daniel stated plainly – to everyone’s surprise without so much as blinking. “For the number one ranking.”

  Daniel held the paper up to Titan, who suddenly had a very serious and threatening look on his face. Titan took the form from Daniel and the room slowly came to complete silence as word instantly spread of Daniel’s challenge.

  It was like a sea otter challenging a Great White Shark.

  Titan finished reading the form and glanced down at Daniel with a deep, dark stare.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked, almost angrily.

  Daniel responded by holding up the pen for Titan to sign with.

  Titan slowly took the pen, setting the challenge form on the bar and signing his nam
e to it. He then turned and handed both the form and the pen back to Daniel.

  “I like you, Little Man,” Titan said after handing Daniel the form. Daniel didn’t know if Titan was paying him a compliment or if that was some form of backhanded trash talk. “But when we climb in that cage together, you will become my enemy and I will rip you to shreds.”

  If Daniel had been capable of feeling any emotion he might have been frightened by Titan’s comments, but he didn’t give a damn about Titan’s size, strength, or freakish athletic ability right now. He was tired of being told that his best days were still in front of him. He was ready to be number one and Titan was the beast he had to slay to do it.

  Daniel thought about attempting some witty comeback to prove he wasn’t intimidated, but he didn’t bother. Instead he turned around and strode silently out of the lounge.

  It was on.

  Chapter 21

  Daniel sat on the cold metal table where he had waited for his first fight with Jitters, only this time there was no Robby there to psych him up. No, this time he was alone. There was no one in his corner. This was one mountain he was going to have to climb on his own.

  If people were unsure of his chances against Jitters, they were absolutely certain of his chances against Titan. They were zero – there were none. No one was giving him a shot. The other agents wouldn’t speak to him because they knew there were no words of encouragement they could give him. Even Charlie and Shifty had done nothing but beg him to back out of the fight. To everyone else he may as well have been a man on death row.

  He went to Elise to ask her to help him prepare, and even she told him there was nothing she could do.

  “For one,” she said, “you’re never going to hit me as hard as you will him.

  “And two, Titan is bigger, stronger, and faster than I am,” she explained. “There is nothing I can do to prepare you for that.”

  Daniel agreed that her logic made sense, and decided to spend his time preparing through meditation – or at least some form of it.