CYPHER

The camaraderie before death

" STOP! ".

Dean stopped running as the stadium lights moved to focus solely on him , the crowd had stopped screaming .

Since the light was now on Dean , he could not make out the faces of the crowd and had now become a piece of furniture to be scrutinized .

Only the commentators voice filled the court .

" HOLD UP , HOLD UP ! SAVIOR OF THE WEAK AND THE WOMEN . WE ARE AN ORGANIZED AND DISCIPLINED ESTABLISHMENT !! ".

They were ?

They did not exactly look so .

Wait , where they going to end the fight ?

Dean relaxed , grateful for their organization , he nodded at Truck whose features he could not make out as he was not in the light .

" WE DO NOT LET PEOPLE JUST JUMP INTO GAUNTLETS THAT WERE NOT ORIGINALLY MADE FOR THEM OR DO WE ??! ".

The crowd came back to life , screaming and cheering .

Dean nodded in understanding , it made sense .

It was what he expected from an organized establishment like them .

He would have cheered too but there was already so much attention on him .

" THE ONLY CONDITIONS FOR COMPLETING A GAUNTLET WOULD BE A DIRECT RELATIONSHIP WITH ONE OF THE FIGHTERS !!! ".

The crowd cheered louder .

What now ?

Dean looked around , what the f**k was going on ?

The commentator soon replied like he could read exactly what was going on in Dean's mind .

" NOW , WE KNOW YOU MUST BE CONFUSED BUT YOU STARTED THIS AND YOU MUST COMPLETE IT , YEAH?? !!! "

The crowd went crazy again , the way they were screaming would make anyone assume that they had known each other for years instead of it being barely two days .

The prospect of sudden death tended to bring out the camaraderie in people .

" THE FIRST AND ONLY RULE OF THE MIDNIGHT GAUNTLETS IS ???!!! "

The crowd began to chant , gibberish that Dean could not make out , but it was rhythmic gibberish that had a sort of flow to it .

Truck began to c***k his knuckles as his body moved with the rhythm of their chanting , like some cultural throw down .

Dean sighed , he was completely without rhythm and could not execute even the simplest dance moves .

If this was going to be a dance battle , Dean might as well bite his tongue and die now .

Truck had assumed a stance despite his dancing , alerting Dean of the impending attack .

He had never fought someone this large and attacking first would be suicide so Dean's only hope would be to tire out Truck , he assumed a defensive stance .

Truck rushed towards Dean with his whole body and defenses wide open , a tricky move that only largely built people could pull off .

There was no point in avoiding it , so Dean let him come and received the swing that Truck aimed at his guts .

All the air rushed out of Dean in a forced and painful exhale .

Dean fell to the ground as the pain exploded in his abdomen , clearing any of the other thoughts that had been lingering on his mind .

Now , he could hear what they were chanting .

" NEVER INTERRUPT A FIGHT , NEVER !! "

" NEVER INTERRUPT A FIGHT , NEVER NEVER !!! "

Seriously ,were they children ?

He could hear as the commentator laughed , his laugh booming louder than the chants and his enthusiasm fueling the crowd .

Dean was suddenly in the air , floating or was he flying .

He looked down to see that Truck had picked him up like he weighed nothing , Dean began to struggle as the crowd laughed .

Truck's hands clasped tighter around Dean's abdomen , the same spot that he had received the hit just now and Dean yelped loudly earning another round of laughter from the crowd .

Truck threw him to the ground , letting his body bounce off the cold , hard tiles .

The crowd cheered loudly while the people around Dean began to touch and push him back into the fight .

Dean rolled away to avoid their hands that had been in God knows where .

" HOW ABOUT OUR TOP DOG GETS ON WITH THIS GUY AND GOES BACK TO THE UNDER b***h FOR A SLICE AND AFTER HE'S DONE , WE FINALLY BID FAREWELL TO OUR ORIGINAL UNDERDOG !!! ".

The crowd cheered in approval .

Dean sighed , even with his interruption , the original fight sequence would not be interrupted .

There was no way May could take on Truck and then there was the other guy who already had a foot away from life and was only still here because the train was late .

There was no other choice .

Dean got up to his feet , he held on to his abdomen , trying to regulate his breathing so it did not hurt as much .

He spat out the blood that had gathered in his mouth and wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeves .

He would have to make sure the fight ended with him so May and the half dead guy did not have to fight .

The crowd quieted as they watched what they assumed was Dean's last grappling at life .

" Hey , Big Guy ? " , Dean called with a little grin on his face , he had learnt it from Jay and she called it , all hell is loose grin , she said it meant that she was going all out in the recipient of the grin .

Truck turned around to look at him and Dean activated his inner powers of scorn , it was not just Jay that could systematically insult a man , he could too , he just chose to be rational most times .

" Does your mum know how much steroid your inferior ass his on ? ", He questioned with a large s

grin on his face as he nodded at Truck's biceps .

Trucks eyes twitched and Dean applauded himself , he had not completely lost it .

Mums were always sore topics for Big guys , Dean licked his fingers .

" Or is her mouth too occupied to notice you ? Even after you got so jacked up ? ", He called sinisterly .

Truck began to huff loudly , his shoulders rising and falling rapidly as his eyes narrowed in on Dean's face .

" How many d***s does she have to suck for a ten , huh ? How about I be a saint and give her a ten so she could notice your presence and sit a while with you ", Dean said softly , his words dripping with venom .

" You know ? Have a little chitchat about work ? You could tell her how many people you scared with your mug and she could tell you how many d***s she sucked , y'all could compare numbers " , He added , going straight for the kill .

Dean began to laugh hysterically .

As he laughed , he forgot about his predicament and slapped his stomach , his laughing immediately turned into a series of yelps as he began to cradle his stomach to reduce the self inflicted pain .

The arena quieted as Truck watched Dean's display , he suddenly roared with all of his might and rushed at Dean , his body poised like a bull .

Dean bounced on his feet and waited for Truck to come , he would get only one chance at him .

Truck reached Dean and reached out to grab his head , his arms looking like they were going to slam Dean's head into mush and brain juices .

Dean ducked , twisting out of the way and punching Truck's left armpit as he came out from under him .

In an instant ,he was behind Truck who had veered to the side from the impact of the punch to his armpit .

Dean moved his weight to his other leg and jumped , calculating how high he needed to jump for a man of Truck's height .

Truck turned around at the same time that Dean's knee and combat boots came flying into his face .

Truck staggered from the impact but did not fall , he was still holding on to Dean's leg as he tried to stay upright , shaking his head probably to get rid of the numbness that was settling on him .

Dean hissed and moved his weight back to the leg that Truck was holding .

He saw the moment Truck noticed that the leg had grown heavier .

He tried to lift up his other hand to shield his face but Dean was faster .

He jumped up again and this time put every strength he could muster into his other leg as he kicked Truck's head.

Truck released Dean's leg and he fell to the ground .

Dean quickly rolled to his feet to see that Truck had not gone down but still stood in the same position .

What was the guy on ?

Dean took a step forward and noticed that Truck's eyes were closed .

He walked closer and pushed a finger into his chest to wake him up .

Truck crumbled with the push from Dean's fingers , falling to Dean's feet .

Everywhere was quiet as everyone , including Dean waited to see if Truck would stand up.

Above them , the Commentator was counting , his voice filled with thrill .

" ONE ... TWO .... THREE ... FOUR .... FIVE .... SIX ... SEVEN ... EIGHT .... NINE .... TEN !!! ".

Something akin to a gun shot went off.

The crowd erupted into cheers as Dean heaved a sigh of relief .

It would have been really surprising if Truck had stood back up .

He walked off , pushing his way through the crowd as the commentator droned on and the crowd put their hands on every available part of him .

" AND HE MANAGES TO SURPRISE US WITH HIS KILLER LEGS THAT HAVE RENDERED OUR 'HAS BEEN' TOP DOG IMMOBILE !!! . HE WALKS OUT OF THE GAUNTLET WITH HIS LIFE AND THE LIVES OF TWO OTHERS AS TROPHIES AFTER SUCCESSFULLY ENDING TOP DOG'S SEVEN BATTLE STREAK !!!! "

The crowd continued to cheer to the commentator that just would not shut up .

Dean searched the crowds but could not find May or Blade anywhere .

He was worried that something might have happened to them while he had been fighting .

The crowd had gotten denser making it harder to maneuver between them .

Suddenly , someone pulled Dean from within the crowd .

Dean turned around and saw that it was Blade.

" Where the heck have you all been ? "

Blade smiled , completely Oblivious of Dean's worry .

" That was an awesome fight pal , you got moves like Jagger ".

Dean scoffed as he watched Blade whose excitement disappeared a moment later when he realized that Dean was not impressed with the false comparison.

" I told May to wait somewhere hidden , Incase Top dog's friends decided to retaliate ".

Dean blanked , momentarily surprised by Blade's also momentary wisdom .

Blade was watching something from behind them .

Dean turned to see too and saw three also well built men headed towards them .

Ahh , Top dog's friends .

" We should go now ! "

He turned around and discovered that Blade had taken off already and was almost out of the court .

Dean went after him , cursing Blade and Top dog and the 'organized' establishment as he ran .