Chapter 5 : Megalo Boxing 

Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, a fight between demons, on my right 213Kg for 200cm, Boxer known to have killed his opponents in the ring, 31 victory for 0 defeat, Will Polnarev and on my right the rising star of the underground box, the tireless machine that put Ko all his opponents these last three weeks, 78kg for 185cm, with 11 wins, 0 losses, the young man called to the lightning fists!! James Arte!"

"James ! James! James!"

"Will ! Will ! Will !"

The room was filled with a hundred spectators, shouting the names of James and his opponent, the man was tall with protruding muscles, red hair and several scars on his face, he had a calm and serene gaze as he looked James in the eyes.

Both stood silently in the ring, doing only a few stretches as the commentator approached.

"Tonight there is an exceptional reward at stake, a citizen's license!!"

Hearing this, James and Will were not surprised, he already knew this before the game, but the audience was starting to get excited, the atmosphere in the hall became even hotter.

"What!? A citizen's license!"

"The fight became bloody!".

"I bet 1,000,000¥ on James!"

"I bet 2,000,000¥ on Will!!"

"I bet 500,000¥..."

Then the commentator looked at James and Will.

"Will, are you ready?"

"Yes."

"James?"

"Yes."

"Fight!!!!"

Ring!

The bell rang.

Will rushed in from the start and took control of the center of the ring.

James quickly moved towards the center, too. They both threw out a one-two punch without hesitation.

But James was the fastest, his fist hit Will's left cheek, then he threw a second straight-punch, then he followed it up with an upercut.

Thwack, thwack!

Will staggered backwards, hut he quickly regained his balance and rushed back to James.

James then leaned slightly to the right, dodging Will's punch, James didn't give him any time to adjust. He attacked Will's guard with a one-two punch, finishing it off with a Upercut.

Smack!

Will's upper body bent backwards, so he hastily ran away to the side.

Another one of James's Upercut connected. Will could not withstand the power behind the punch, shifting his balance to his side as his leg lifted.

Instead of retreating, Will tackled James's lower body.

He intended on taking it to the ground.

But that was the worst decision he could make.

Because to James, Will was just a snail trying to fight, his speed wasn't fast enough to surprise him.

Overhand-punch!

Thwack!

It was a chilling sound.

James had kneed Will straight in the face, Will fell to the floor with blood spurting out of his face.

"1..3..6...8...9..Will Ko!!!"

"James Win!!"

"James! James! James! James! James!"

The audience gave a standing ovation.

No one was sitting.

That was the end.

. . . . . . . . . .

In the locker room James got dressed and sat on a bench patiently waiting for Tôjo.

About ten minutes later Tôjo came back with an envelope in his hand, which he then threw at James, James grabbed the envelope and then looked the contents for a few seconds before smiling.

Tôjo then took out a cigarette and lit it, and sat down next to James.

"Kido, when you came to me and told me you wanted to win Megalo Boxing, I figured you were still one of those kids dreaming of glory without talent, but after training you, I'm sure of one thing, you've got a monstrous talent for fighting."

"Your speed is inhuman."

"So I ask you, are you ready for Megalonia tournament?"

The smile on his lips became even bigger, his arms even began shivered with excitement.

"I'm ready!"

. . . . .

In the main city, James and Tôjo rented a small, simple apartment thanks to the money James earned from his fights.

Then they both came to the registration office.

For the Megalo Box qualifications, anyone can register as long as they have a citizen's license. Just stand in front of the registration office and scan your citizenship card.

James had now become a contender in the Megalo-boxing Tournament.

Then the two went back to their new homes.

On the way back Tôjo lit a cigarette and took a puff of smoke.

"Now, tell me what your plan is to get a Gear, it's an expensive little machine, you know, maybe we could rent a used one."

James then looked at Tôjo in amazement and said

"I'm not going to use Gear in the competition."

*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*

"Kid, you're crazy! Do you know the power of these machines in a competition?"

"What you want to do is just suicide."

"My decision has already been made and nothing can stop me from participating."

Tôjo then looked at James' determined gaze and knew that he couldn't convince him to give up this crazy idea, so he sighed and took a puff of his cigarette.

"Then I'll teach you everything I know, so you don't get killed."

"My God, kids these days are crazier than us old people."

Hearing this, James couldn't help but smile as the two walked off into the sunset.