Black Market Merchant

Lisa really didn't have much motivation for this fight. She had no problem with the hairy looking man before her on the stage. However, Sadie needed some help. She may not have ever met Nicky, but from Sadie's expressions and description Nicky, she didn't seem all too nice.

"Might as well get a win in at the same time." Lisa thought to herself.

The Announcer started his explanation of the rulings as the two Fighters eyed the other and as Lisa had mentioned it was going to be a one on one, with no limits on weapon choice. So far both the MFA and Sadie seemed to be doing everything within Lisa's expectations. Perhaps joining this Association might have been a smart move.

Sadie took her place behind Lisa on the east side of the stage. Watching Lisa warming up on stage, she couldn't help but worry.

"Is Lisa going to be alright?" She thought to herself. "I know she beat Owen, but I didn't see how she won or any of her skills. So, if she gets into trouble, I might not be able to help coach her out of it."

Sadie then went to place the box of her things on the bench next to her. However, upon placing the box down it was off center and flopped to the ground. Sadie moaned, feeling embarrassed and scrambled to pick it up. Fortunately, no one in the stands was watching her.

"In the west corner is Flandres, the Skinner!" The Announcer started. "With a total record of seven wins two loses, this man is still working his way up in the tier twenty of the Shadow League. Let's hear it for the contender!"

The crowd voiced their support. There were even some fans that started chanting his nickname. "Skinner, Skinner, Skinner!"

Sadie felt all the more nervous hearing that the crowd already had a favorite. This whole experience of being the manager of a Fighter that was actually in a real fighting stage was new to her. It was nothing like her schooling or practice Match's. She anxiously looked up at Lisa and immediately her worry started to melt.

Lisa was completely composed. She was casually taking off her leather jacket and Yankees hat. Underneath she revealed her skintight suit to the ogling crowd. Turning, she tossed them over the fence at her coffin, that was next to Sadie's bench. Looking at Sadie, Lisa gave a quick smile and confidently turned to face her opponent.

"In the eastern corner, is our newest edition to the Shadow League. You have seen her first victim just this morning. If not, you may see her now make another!" The Announcer said over the crowd. "With one win and zero losses in Tier Twenty, I give to you, Queen!"

The crowd cheered and one fan whistled sharply. Lisa turned and gave a quick wave to the whole Arena. She then took a deep breath, "Now to take on my queenly fighting persona. Pfft, that sounded so dumb."

The referee at this moment waved the two to come to the center stage. As they approached, neither took their eyes off the other. Any sign of weakness would surely give confidence to the other and no fighter ever wants to be seen as weak.

"Are you two set? Weapons ready and bets in place?" The Referee asked eyeing them both.

"Yes." The two Fighters answered in unison.

"Good. The fight ends when either one of you is no longer able to continue or I end it. No exceptions. Understand?" The Referee said while placing a hand on the two Fighters chests to back them up.

"Let's just end this! I'm getting tired of looking at her face." The Skinner growled taking a step back. He then unsheathed his weapon of choice, a large black steel cleaver. The blade shinned brightly in the stage light. Apparently, it was well cared for and looked razor sharp.

Queen sneered hearing his remark. "I have no real quarrel with you. So, I'll end this quickly and you won't suffer."

The Skinner just made an angry face and spat on the floor with disgust. The referee then called for the start of the match. The bell let out a sharp, 'Ding', and the match began.

Moving cautiously forward the Skinner approached Queen head on. His stance was spread wide and low, ready to attack or dodge. His cleaver was raised in front of himself, ready to deal with any attack or to make his own. Queen, however, made no such movements.

Unlike most of the fights she had been in before, she had her sword now. Giving a casual flick of her wrist, the sword slid out to take only half its full form. The long slender blackened blades unique reveling appearance awed the crowd. The Skinner was too taken by surprise. He hadn't expected such a weapon to appear, especially not one that could unfold itself.

Giving a cool smile Queen walked towards him, with her sword blade held up in front of her. The Skinner shook his head as if to refocus himself and charged the remaining distance. They were now only two meters apart and Queen hadn't made any move to strike. The Skinner saw this and raised his cleaver up for an attack.

It was all Queen needed.

In a quick half step motion, Queen slashed downward at the charging man far quicker than he could ever react too. The soft sound of metal on flesh swished out as the strike fell. A spray of blood shot out of the fearsome crescent shaped wound that had appeared across his hairy chest. A look of shock appeared on the Skinner’s face as he looked down dumbly at his chest.

Then without missing a beat, the Queen grabbed him by the shirt collar and pulled him forward. In the same instance she thrust out her knee. Skinners head and her knee collided to make a dull metallic thud! The Skinner immediately lost consciousness and flopped motionless onto the stage floor. It was over as soon as it begun.

The dumbfounded crowd suddenly broke out into a fit of excitement. Fighters rarely ever finished a Match so quickly. Not to mention in such a flashy fashion.

Sadie let out a squeak of excitement!

"She actually did it!” Sadie though gleefully to herself. “Getting such a fast win is sure to let Nicky know I am serious. I don't even know why I was worried before. Lisa has true skills!"

Lisa turned towards the cheering crowd to let out another wave, while the referee checked on the Skinner. Then her eyes fell on Sadie, who immediately waved at her excitedly. Lisa smiled back and gave her a thumbs up.

"The Match has been decided!" The Announcer called out over the intercom. "For her second win in a row is Queen!"

"Queen, Queen, Queen!" The crowd chanted.

Lisa waved once more then nimbly hopped off the fenced in stage and came over to Sadie.

"Now that that's over with, let's go home." Lisa said grabbing the strap to her coffin.

Sadie nodded happily and grabbed her things. The two then hurried towards the exit before anyone could bother them with questions. They had just gotten outside the Arena and crossed by the illegal marketplace, when someone stepped into their way. It was Nicky.

"Well, well Sadie. It looks like you actually managed to pull off something decent." Nicky said while eyeing Lisa. "Your Queen here seems like she's got some skills. Though I think my Fighters are still superior, Skinner was a small fry."

Lisa let out a laugh. Slightly surprising Sadie and Nicky. "I have no idea how good they might be, but they all will end up at my feet."

"Bold words." Nicky replied unfazed. "We will see how things go. You're far too low ranked to be a bother to them."

Suddenly someone off to their left let out a shout. "Hey! What are you kids doing there?"

"Kids? I hadn’t seen any children here in the compound." Lisa though curiously. She turned to look out the doors going outside to see two gangster guards running around the corner of the Warehouse Arena.

"One second. I want to see what going on." Lisa said holding up a hand at Nicky. Nicky gave an awkward offended look and glanced at Sadie. She merely shrugged back in reply.

Leaving the two ladies, and jogging over to the buildings corner, Lisa followed after the guards. Rounding the corner, she saw the two guards dashing after a group of scruffy looking kids. They were jumping off the top of a small building and racing towards a bush with some other girls in it, waving at them to hurry.

Then something caught her attention. One of the girls looked just like Hanna!

…

Hanna and the others were watching Lisa's fight intently.

"Is your Aunt Lisa going to be alright?" Rachel asked concerned.

"Of course. She's really strong!" Hanna quickly replied.

However, she herself was not confident in her own words. Sure, Lisa had protected her against all those gangsters at once before. Yet they were just regular goons. This man looked far stronger and dangerous compared to those drunken men before. Hanna couldn't help but feel worried for her. She gripped the windowsill tightly in anticipation. Then the Announcers voice could be heard coming through the window and the children listened carefully to every word he said. They had never seen such an event before and were not planning on missing a second of it.

"The Skinner! Oh, that's a tough name." Chase said jumping some.

"Careful, don't jump so hard." Malik said nudging him with an elbow. "I can feel the window shake when you jump."

"It’s hard enough standing on these bricks, so stop squirming so much." Sorra added.

"Sorry." Chase muttered.

Then the announcer then got to Lisa's part. When the Announcer said her name, he drug out the name and it made it sound really cool to them.

"Queen! That's just perfect for a girl battle name!" Rachel said gleefully. "Isn't it?" She asked looking at Hanna.

"Yes, it is." Hanna said nodding, but she never turned away from the stage. Thinking to herself, "She never called herself Queen around me before. Who exactly is she?"

Then they all heard the bell ring. The two moved towards each other and all the kids held their breath. Suddenly, Queens blade slashed in a stunning silver arc and the man stopped. They saw the Queen grab the Skinner and slam him into her knee.

All the boys let out a collective noise of awe!

"Ohhh, snap! Did you guys see that!" Derrick said with pleasant surprise.

"Your Aunt is a beast Hanna! Look the referee is calling the fight over!" Sorra said tapping enthusiastically on the glass, forgetting what he had just said to Chase.

Hanna let out a breath and relaxed. "I knew she would have been alright." She thought to herself. Then turning away from the window, she spoke to the others. "Alright we got to see what was in there. Let's head back before we get caught."

"That was too cool." Chase said and he hurried turned to jump off the brick ledge and onto the roof below. He then went to jump off the roof and onto the dumpster below; but he had forgotten that they needed to be quiet. Him landing on the metal top of the dumpster lids let out a huge 'Bang'!

Two guards that were standing around by the corner of the Warehouse and heard the noise. Turning the corner, they saw the cause and shouted at the children. Seeing they were caught the children panicked and ran for the bush. Dashing across the white pathway and hedge rows, they tried to escape. The gangsters now giving chase were getting too close when they started to disappear into the bush. Henry was the last to get in.

"Hurry! Hurry! They are almost here!" He shouted pushing on Chase's back.

"I can't, the girls upfront are too slow!" Chase called back.

Turning to look back Henry saw they were already here and getting into the bush! He shoved at Chase hard and started to squeeze into the hole in the wall. The gangsters jumped all the way into the bush just as Henry scrambled in the walls hole.

"They got away!" The children crawling away could hear the gangsters shouting. "Get someone to go around and find them!"

The children started to all come out of the hole one by one, when suddenly something heavy landed on the roof of the building above!

"Crash!"

Bits of rubble flew everywhere, and dust cascaded down onto them. In horror they saw that the cause of the crash was actually someone rising up from the dust. The persons eyes glowed seemingly silver-grey through the dust and was glaring right at them!