Black Market Merchant

Queen jumped to the right just as Golems fist pounded onto the pavement, sending a puff of dust off the ground and cracking the pavement. Hanna and the others could feel the impact vibrate through their feet, despite the distance.

Saul let out a chuckle upon feeling the impact. "Golem is getting warmed up now. Shame really. She was doing well up till now. I think he's going to use it now."

"Used to what?" Sadie asked glancing sideways at Saul.

Saul didn't reply and ignored her question. He only smiled and nodded in the Fighters direction. “Just watch.”

Feeling slightly annoyed Sadie looked back at the Fighters. Then she saw something that Saul might be referring too. Golems metal gloved hands had smoke coming from the back them. Sadie immediately opened up Golem’s shared file on her tabloid and scanning the notes quickly she felt her gut tighten. Those gloves were bad news!

Queen jumped back once more to create some more space between them. Golem stood upright from his attack and once again took his boxing stance. His powerful smoking fists were ready to strike. Despite all the armor on him, Queen could tell Golems muscles were bulging out and full of strength. The amount of oxygen he needed to keep up his stamina and still move so much weight with hardly any effort was quite impressive.

"It's rather lucky of you to be able to ware all that in such cool weather. I bet you're sweating buckets in that thing. Can't imagine what it's like in summer." Queen started speaking trying to stall for a few moments to catch her breath. She needed to think of something quick or she might be in trouble. She did have "That" ability, but now probably wasn't the time to reveal those secrets.

The odd smoke starting to rise from the back of Golems gloves worried her. Just what was it? Whatever it was, Queen knew she had to be careful of them.

Golem, however, didn't give her another chance to think. He charged at her again like an angry rhino. His fists jabbed out at her at a seemingly unnatural speed for their size. Weaving to-and-fro, Queen narrowly avoided the massive fists while moving backwards. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that she was nearing the fence surrounding the complex.

"Look out for the fence!" Sadie shouted.

She was starting to take Benny's advice to heart. However, it seemed that Queen ignored her or didn't hear her. She was about to call out again, but then the memory of Lisa's fight with Owen popped in her mind. Sadie elected to stay quiet and see if that was what Queen was going to try, like from before.

Queen was now only a few meters from the fence, ducking and dodging every punch Golem threw at her. Golem could sense that she was about to get trapped by that fence and pressed his attack even further. Just as Queen was about to collide with the fence, she suddenly launched into the air. Sadie's thought was mostly right.

Queen had grasped the fence with her free hand and yanked herself upwards. She made her escape move just as Golem swung at her and he looked at her climbing backwards up the fence in confusion. As the two locked eyes, Queen couldn't help but flash a taunting smile at him.

With the heel of her boot and the weight of her body, Queen launched herself off the fence and struck down at his head with a Downward Axe Kick. She couldn’t miss his massive, armored head from this close, not even if she were blind! The sound of the kick striking home reminded everyone of the sound of a bell’s toll.

Golem saw his vision blur for just a second as the sound rang violently in his ears. The momentum of the swing he missed, plus the hit from Queen sent him head long to the ground. Then as if emphasizing her attack, Queen landed right on the back of his undefended head like a gymnast! Arching her fist high, Queen then sent it pounding onto the back of Golems armored head. The pavement underneath his head crackled when she made contact and cracks webbed out all around him.

Queen tried to gain her balance as she stood on his helmet and raise her sword at the same time. Then with her sword grasped with both hands she aimed for a tiny gap where his exposed neck was. The blackened sword shown dully in the sun light as she raised it up.

Hanna held her breath seeing all this. Finally, her parents would have some revenge! Saul also looked on in surprise, his confident smile gone. It had been some time since he had seen Golem in that position.

"Wake up you idiot!" Saul yelled out.

Without warning the smoke rising from Golems metal gloves burst out into flames!

His body shot up from the ground as the gloves launched him upright onto his feet. This caused Queen to be flung off of him like a rock from a catapult. She flew so far that she nearly landed against the main buildings wall, which was clear across the parking lot. Fortunately, she had time to twist around in the air and make a proper landing. She slid on her feet for a moment, upon landing and came to a full stop.

"Darn it! I nearly had him!" Queen seethed in her thoughts. "So those gloves have propulsion abilities. That's annoying."

Golem roared angrily now and turned around to find the Queen. Upon turning around, he revealed that his face was covered in dirt and rubble, a palm sized piece of pavement popped off his cheek, which would have been comical if not for the situation. That's also when a hot trickle of blood came out of his nose. The two eyed each other and prepared to charge once more.

"Ringggg!"

The alarm marking the end of the five-minute duel blared out. The two Match Fighters glared angrily in the noise’s direction. Neither of them wanted this fight to end so soon.

Giving an inward sigh of relief Saul stopped the alarm. "Well, Queen, you surpassed my expectations. You will definitely make a great fight happen next week."

"Noooo! I can't be over yet!" Hanna blurted out. "Queen was about to win, it's not fair!"

"Of course, it was fair little girl." Saul replied with a scoff. He turned to look at the girl that had spoken for the first time throughout the fight.

When they locked eyes Hanna's mouth dropped. He was also there at the time of her parents’ murder! She had been so focused on the Golem that she failed to notice Saul. Yet she recalled that he was there when they sent the dogs after her.

"Hey, have we met before somewhere? You seem kind of familiar…" Saul said eyeing her. He stared hard at her muddy red hair, dark tan skin, and timid dull green eyes. Trying to recall where he had seen her.

Seeing the reactions of the two, Clair realized the sudden problem at hand. Immediately she put herself in between the two and used her larger height to block their view of each other.

"Oh, don't be silly." Clair said speaking to Hanna. "The Match was fair. They both agreed to that time limit. You are just getting all wrapped up in the excitement."

"But Clair I saw him when…" Hanna started to speak, but Clair clamped her hand tightly over her mouth.

"Shhh! Shut up!" Clair said with an urgent whisper. "You don't want him to know who you are. He'll probably try to kill you or something!"

Realizing her own mistake, Hanna's eyes widened. She then nodded that she understood, and Clair took away her hand. Hanna turned her teary hot face away before Saul could catch another glimpse of her.

"Ah, I can't recall." Saul said giving up. "It doesn't matter anyway." He then turned towards Sadie. "Now remember, in one week from today be there at the Arena. If you are late, you forfeit."

"I know the rules. We'll be there no problem." Sadie replied. She was content knowing that Lisa had shown that she had what it took to fight Golem.

"Right then." Saul said turning to go. "Come on Golem. Let's head back for now. You'll have to get back at her later."

Golem threw up his hands and let out an awkward angry grunt. He clearly was not pleased with how the fight went. Lumbering over to where his duffle bag was laying on the ground, he plopped heavily on his butt next to it. He then started to remove the armor parts and put them away.

Seeing this, Lisa let out a sigh of relief and went over to join the others. There was a clump of grass growing in the pavement along the way and she wiped the blood on her sword on it. Then returning the blade to its compact state, she approached Hanna.

The little girl turned to her with tears reappearing in her trembling green eyes. Lisa couldn't help herself and embraced Hanna.

"Sorry. I'll do better when the time comes again. He was a little better than I expected." Lisa whispered to Hanna.

Giving a small sniff Hanna replied. "It's ok." Then pushing out of the hug Hanna looked at Lisa again. "T-that manager was also one of those men that were there."

"Really?" Lisa said looking back at the two men just as they were leaving out of the gate. "Well then that makes it easier. Now we have one less to identify. Good job."

Lisa stood back up and Sadie and Benny came up to her. "Well, that was certainly a close fight." Sadie said speaking first. "Are you alright? Those hits you took looked painful.”

"Unfortunately, it was closer than I wanted it to be." Lisa replied tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I think that I can hold off on the training for today. That was a great workout." Lisa then patted herself all over. "Other than the bruise that will surely show on my side and some scrapes, I think I'll be fine."

"That's good to know. Besides on the bright side, now I don't have to go find a fighter for you to go up against." Sadie replied in relief.

Benny motioned for Lisa to come closer to him. "You want me to get them right now." Benny said in a hushed tone. "If I go now, I can make it look like a robbery. Heck, I have seen enough to know how to frame one."

"No, that won't be necessary." Lisa said softly while shaking her head. "Trust me, my plan will work out. So far things have been within most of my expectations."

"Ah, if you say so." Benny replied shaking his head. "I am glad you didn't get into trouble. I would have had trouble shooting at him with all that armor."

"That would be a hard shot. I didn't expect him to have that armor either." Lisa replied. Then speaking normally, she asked, "Well, what brings you all out here anyway?"

"Hanna and the other girls wanted to see where you were staying at and they had never seen the dam up close either. So, I thought it would be a nice walk out here and to show them something new. I had no idea that all this was going to happen!" Benny replied opening his arms with exasperation.

"Well, if that was the real reason, I would be happy to show them around. Though, other than the view from the dam it won't be all the interesting to them." Lisa replied before turning to the three girls. "So, girls, Benny tells me you came to see the dam. Is that right?"

"Yes, it is." Rachel said excitedly. All this fighting and new stuff was making her way to excited. She could hardly contain herself and was bouncing up and down in anticipation.

"Alright then. Let's go see it then!" Lisa said giving a small laugh.