Always Down

Chapter 1 ? Round one

For once, I pushed myself off the seat having a sudden urge to watch the fight. Mostly to watch him fight his way out of this. His opponent wasn't scrawny, instead there stood a sturdy man with a muscular physique and grave face expression. It was the perfect opponent for him. The voices soon faded, making way for the music to push through the speakers. The song safari flowed, hyping up the people and unbinding a feeling of eagerness into the crowd.

The two men circled each other with their stares glued on each other. The opponent bounced back and forth, up and down, in a way of pumping the flow of adrenaline coursing through his body, compared to an unbothered Hades, standing at the end corner of the ring. The referee motioned both of them to come forward, urging them to prepare themselves for the upcoming fight. As they did so, the referee gave both of them a nod and stepped back to the far end corner.

"And fight!" The referee shouted at the same time as the bell rang, indicating that the round had already started.

Sooner as the sound resonated in the ring, the opponent lunged in a leap, swinging a punch at Hades. He dodged in time as the fist flew past his face, across his ears. He came right back with an uppercut, colliding with his chin which made the opponent lose his balance and stumbled back in a haze.

Whispers flared up in the area as the man coughed out repetitively, a sticky red substance dripping on the soiled floor. He spat the blood, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and looked up, rage searing in his eyes. He didn't seem to back away any sooner, instead he was ready for more.

He scrutinized cautiously each of the movement of the man as he watched him sprint towards him, throwing up his forearms in an charging mode but due to his fast instincts, Hades had time to move to the side and elbowed him on his back. His hands curled around the opponent's head as he pushed him hardly off his body and onto the ground with a thump.

A series of hollers broke out as the man again got on his feet and charged towards him like an unleashed beast. The man reached for him, his right hand in a fist aiming for the face only for Hades to block him. As he was left unfocused, the opponent hit him a left hand in the V, under his ribcage. He backed away, staggering through the blow.

Taking this as an opportunity, the man pushed himself for a shoulder hit. However Hades managed to slip to the side as if he had already anticipated that move and grabbed a handful of the man's hair, pulling his head forward. As the unexpected went, he banged his nose with his forehead, a crack echoing through the crowd. Still holding his grip around the man's hair, he smashed his elbow into the side of his skull and sent him slamming onto the hard surface.

A look of horror shadowed my face as he got on top of the man, fist raised up only for the bell to go off. However, the fight didn't end yet. The crowd went silent as he started to deliver blows onto blows on that man's face. He looked like a lifeless bloody mess on the floor, black swollen eyes and bloody spit drooling from his slack jaw.

My chest rose up and down in a frenetic way as a relentless silence trailed in the squared surface, with the only sound of Hades' fist colliding with that man's flesh known. No one dared to say anything, let alone stopping the fight. As much of a dismay, even the referee stood inert at the corner, the color draining from his face and an expression of terror plastering in its place.

I turned to a visibly different Ines. Eyebrows creased, lips parted slightly, eyes stuck on the scene ahead and definitely not forgetting the excessive tapping of foot. For someone who never felt intimidated by anything, this surely had an daunting impact on her. My hands flew around her wrist, pulling her down to her seat as she looked at me with widened eyes.

"Your hot guy is a psychopath!" I shouted through the silent crowd, earning a few frustrated groans from the spectators.

She glanced to the ring, then back to me, nodding passively. "I can see that."

"More of a fucking sociopath!" I spoke, this time my voice deadlier and rough, catching the attention of a few people around us.

"We can't do anything about that, so shut up Mia!" Ines shouted back, her voice edged with fear.

"That's where you're wrong. You don't want to do anything about it but I won't stay quiet and let an innocent man die!" I yelled back, this time catching a few more heads and confused whispers.

Ines started shaking her head dismissively, looking around at the crowd. "Mia don't!"

I pushed back her hand resting on my thigh and stood up, feeling all the eyes on me rather on the fight. I gave Ines one last look before diverting back to the ring where Hades didn't seem to stand down from punching that man.

"Hey you! Didn't you hear the bell go off?" I shouted, my voice loud enough to gather the attention of the crowd except the one that I wanted.

I moved from my seat and walked a few steps down, standing in the center. I looked around to see all the people standing up and looking at me with horrifying expressions playing on their faces. They might be wondering what the hell was I doing. They weren't wrong. If only they knew that I was thinking the same.

"You've got a hearing problem now?" I shouted again, only to get ignored the second time.

"Hey asshole with a hearing problem! I'm talking to you!" I shouted louder, hoping this time this could work and indeed that caught his attention.

As soon as those words left my mouth, he stopped midway from punching that guy and looked up to the crowd. His eyebrows were furrowed and his eyes searched through the crowd to finally meeting mine. He gave me an unsure look from up and down, before a tint of anger contorted his face. He got onto his feet and walked out of the ring, not before kicking the man in the ribs one last time.

His footsteps echoed through the silence, as I turned around to see Ines standing behind me. I gulped, as the distance between us closed until he was standing in front of me, my eyes facing his toned chest due to the difference in our heights.

"What the fuck did you just say?" His voice was rough and thick, suppressed with equal anger underneath.