Fight Night

3

The day goes by pretty fast, with Rex getting amused looks, smirks, and quiet jokes made at his expense. Where he is mainly seen as a pariah in the school of rich brats, Dreeka is still one of them. He learns from Dreeka that all of this was indeed a setup put together by the boys' boxing team and the student council, both of which are led by Allen Hunter. Allen is the most popular boy in the school. The Hunter family is one of the richest and most powerful in the country. Allen’s father is the current Vice President. It is not uncommon for the students of Golden Oak to have a security detail, but Allen having the actual Secret Service protecting him has increased his status, but he has always been an entitled asshole and the ring leader of Rex’s bullies. That didn't seem to change even after Rex knocked him out the first, second, or third time Allen challenged him. The fact that Rex has also knocked out pretty much every other male high enough in the Golden Oak social ladder to challenge Allen likely helps.

Dreeka is pissed off by the fact the school is not only allowing this but actively sponsoring it. They have gone as far as having the Boxing Commission sanction the fight and plan to have it live-streamed. She has been harping on it all day. She calls Allen every name in the book and some she made up, which Rex finds extremely entertaining. Saying the school is nothing but a money-hungry cesspit of corruption and entitlement, to which Rex was like duh. And calling Dale a lap dog who will do anything to hide the fact that he can't f*****g fight, including fighting a child, which Rex argues that he is legally an adult, which earns him a smack upside the head.

In the end, though, she is in the gym locker room as the school’s trainers tape his fist and straps on his strap on his gloves. She is the only one there with him outside of them. He really doesn't have any other friends in the school and few outside of it. The gym is packed with students and media. He can hear the music, stomping or cheering because his music is blasting in his ears. His head I bobbing, and his shoulders are moving. The Headmaster Shelia Owen, school lawyers, and reps from the Boxing Commission already came in to have him sign waivers, which further disgusted Dreeka, but she just watched me doing so while chewing gum like she is doing now.

The trainers finish with his gloves and give him well wishes and supportive shoulder and back pats before leaving. He is shirtless and dressed in his training shorts and sneakers. Once the song changes, he gets up and begins to shadowbox. He visualizes Dale as bobs, weaves, and punches. His movements are as loose and relaxed as his breathing, and his punches are like blurs as he works through different combos.

Dreyka watches him with a quiet smile, knowing that he needs no motivation or advice. She knows that when it comes to fighting, he is an artist. Her anger doesn't come from the fact that she is worried about him. She isn't worried in the least. She is offended for him because she can see that he is being used, and she knows he doesn't care enough to be offended. He gets to fight, and that is the beginning and the end of his concerns. She is offended because she knows that he is so much more than just a fighter. He is smart enough to ace any course and be whatever he wants, but he only does that to pass the time until his next fight. It frustrates her because sometimes she feels like their friendship is the same.

There is a knock on the locker room door, and Dreeka signs, “It is time.”

Rex removes his earbuds and walks over to her. She smiles up at him, and he returns it before putting his fists up. She bumps them. She is offended, and it frustrates her, but she is always in his corner and always has his back. She walks out with him, and they step into the roar of the students in the gym as Rex’s music starts to play. He is greeted with boos and jeers more, which he ignores as he walks to the ring in the center, still vibing to the music. They may as well not be there for all he cares unless they want to trade hands, too, which they don't.

They reach the ring and find Allen sitting in the front row of the chairs that sit ringside with some of his cronies and Secret Service agents. There are also teachers, other students, reporters, and judges at a table, although no one believes this fight will go to a decision. Cameras are flying through the air, live-streaming the fight to the school website and social media page. Rex sees all this but still doesn't care.

He turns to Dreeka and leans down, letting her put in his mouthpiece.

She pulls him close and whispers in his ear, “They want a show. Give them one.”

He nods, and they bump fists again before he jogs up the steps into the ring, where the referee checks him over before pointing to his corner, where he goes. Dreeka stands on the apron, and they watch as Dale enters, and the crowd erupts in cheers. He plays to them and poses for the cameras as they fly around him. He has a full team behind him, of course, and they fill his corner as he enters the ring. They all get out, and Dreeka drops off the apron as the ref calls the two fighters to the center. He goes over the rules, which are the standard boxing rules, to which both men nod their agreement.

“Touch gloves,” says the ref, and they do, “Back to your corners.”

Both skip back to their corners with their hands up. The ref signals for the bell, and when it rings, Rex slips into another zone. The crowd disappears, the ring disappears, and there is only him and Dale. Dales is no longer a man. He is a target. His body turns into a mass of strike zones of different colors. Right now, all of them are healthy blue, but Rex knows that will change. He will change it.

Dale is a Southpaw, so Rex shifts his stance and style to match him. Dale seems entertained by this as he moves in. He snaps out three fast left jabs, testing Rex’s guard. Rex blocks them all. Dale then suddenly drops low, moves left, and faints a left hook only to shift right and throw a right one instead. It is an incredibly fast move he uses in all his matches and which few of his opponents can block because of the speed. Rex snaps up his high guard and sits into the powerful blow before he counters with a lightning-fast left hook that catches Dale in the jaw.

Dale staggers back, shocked by the block and counter. His jaw goes from blue to yellow. Rex doesn't press the advantage, instead letting Dale regain his composure and get his guard up. Then Rec goes to work. He gets low and moves in. He throws a left jab to the body, a right hook to the face, and a left hook to the body. Dale blocks the jab and blocks the right hook but takes the left hook just below his ribs. That area goes yellow. Dale counters with a right jab but misses as Rex moves his head left. Rex counters with a left hook that jacks Dale’s jaw again, turning it yellow-orange. Again, he let Dale stagger and reset.

Now Dale comes forward, throwing lightning-fast combos. Rex blocks some, but mainly he dodges. He moves through the punches as if he can see them coming before they are thrown, and in a way, he can. It has always been this way, a tiny voice in his head guiding him.

“Lean right, duck, shift left, lean back, right hook to the body.”

It took him years to learn to trust the voice, which always gets louder and more confident as the fight goes on. He learned his opponents’ styles and their weaknesses as the catalog in his head grew. Then, he realized that the voice was his. It is his voice pulling information from his mental fight catalog and feeding it to him in real-time as he studies his opponent's moves. After that realization came the synchronization between his eyes, his mind, and his body; he had to learn to let his eyes study, his mind process, catalog, and decide, and his body execute almost all at once. It is something he is still working to master, as is proven when Dale lands an uppercut that rocks him back. But, the mastery he has achieved so far allows him to duck the following left hook and shoot a right uppercut into Dale’s gut, sending him back and almost doubling him over. This strange ability Rex has makes him a danger in any fight. Dale thought he was stepping into the ring with a talented amateur. He expected a little effort but, ultimately, an easy win. Well, he has been cataloged, and now he is about to be added to the tally.

Rex gives him no time to recover as he moves, throwing combos that slip past Dale’s guard like water and hit like boulders. Right jab to the face, left hook to the ribs, and right uppercut to the chin. He is dazed and trapped in the corner. His upper body is now mostly orange and yellow. Rex wants red and starts lighting into him like a punching bag.

Right, left, uppercut, lean, uppercut, uppercut, right, left, block, body shot, body shot, uppercut. Dale is red now. End it. Right hook to the jaw, left hook to the jaw, step back, Dale falls forward. End it. Rex whips his left fist forward and up, catching Dale full in the face with a bolo punch. Dale’s entire head goes red, and he hits the mat hard face first. It is four minutes and forty-five seconds into the first round.

“Stop the fight,” yells the ref, waving his hands in the air and moving between Rex and Dale.

Rex had already turned around and started walking back to his corner. The crowd is dead silent. Then, they explode, cheering so loud that the gym shakes at the volume. Dreeka jumps on the apron, screaming as she pulls Rex into a hug. Rex returns the hug with one arm and puts his other fist high in the air, accepting the cheers of his classmates. He still doesn't give a rat’s ass about what they think of him, but this is his victory, and he has earned their cheers. 158-0. The record lives on. He is still the Top Dog of Golden Oaks.