21 Black and White
Jack followed the man's gesture and went inside. He found himself in a big warehouse and saw a crowd up ahead. In between the crowd, he saw a raised circular platform about a foot of the ground. People were gathered around it. Some were smoking cigarettes and holding beer cans.
Jack walked closer and saw that the hall was getting higher and over the arena, there were two platforms on two of its sides with seats. He figured the VIPs were seated there during the fights. It was currently empty since he was half an hour early.
Behind the arena, there was a big blackboard, and a guy on a suit was writing down the names of today's fighters and also two numbers with a negative and positive. Jack figured it was the odds for betting.
Jack understood what they mean since he did some work for a sports betting company. For example, a positive 100 meant you need to pay 100$ to win 100$. A negative number or for example -200 would mean you need to pay 200$ to earn 100$. Jack preferred the decimal system he also implemented on that website, but he guessed it was easier for the organizer and patrons in such venues to stick to the old ways. For example, a -200 would mean the odds of 1.5 and 100 would mean odds of 2.0.
Underneath the man writing on the blackboard was a desk with a laptop and a POS printer, so they were not entirely behind the times. Jack looked around and also found a bar of sorts selling beer out of 6 refrigerators.
Jack was not planning on betting since he only had a little more 50$ in his pocket and he didn't even know any of the fighters, so he just skimmed the names and looked around.
You could see an ethnically diverse crowd huddling into similar groups. There was a Chinese group, a group of tattooed white guys, a black group, and a Latino group. There were also a people who were mixed together, and Jack went to that part of the arena.
According to the blackboard, the first to fight would be Bones and Johnson. Jack looked around, and across the arena, he saw a black guy being seated on a chair having his fists wrapped in bandages.
The black guy looked to be around 6 feet tall and had well-defined muscles of a fighter. He didn't look puffed up like bodybuilders buy you could see his body was well trained. He was staring at the ring with calmness in his eyes while an older guy who Jack could only presume was his coach wrapped his hands in bandages.
He used inspect on him. First, there were a lot of question marks, but soon all the information he wanted showed up.
Name: Joe "Johnson" Conley
Strength: 7
Constitution:7
Endurance:6
Speed:7
Dexterity:8
Perception:6
Intelligence:5
Wisdom:7
Willpower:10
Charisma:6
Luck: ???
What really surprised him was the high willpower. The other stats were all below Jack's except charisma temporarily, but the unusually high willpower was surprising.
He clicked details:
Ex-military Green Berets. Has a daughter in treatment for cancer.
That would explain the unusually high willpower. Some probably came from training in Special forces and some from determination for getting money for his kid's medical treatment.
Jack looked around and soon spotted a topless muscular white guy on a chair also getting his hands bandaged. He could see right away why he was called Bones. The guy had a giant swastika in the middle of his chest with two skulls facing it from each pectoral muscle or breast if you will.
The nazi did look muscular, and he was twitching at pointing towards Johnson's direction shouting something every now and then. His attendant was trying to keep his arms still for wrapping, but the Nazi was just all over the place. He looked like he had ADD(Attention Deficit Disorder) and could not sit still for a moment.
They both looked similar in size and weight, and it will probably be a close fight.
Jack looked at the blackboard and saw the odds for the nazi were -450, and for the black guy, they were 400.
Jack thought the organizer was really daring to pit a Nazi against a black guy in the first fight, but he imagined the number of bets would be better if there were a conflict. He inspected the nazi.
Name: Christopher »Bones« O'Hara
Strength: 6
Constitution:7
Endurance:7
Speed:7
Dexterity:6
Perception:5
Intelligence:4
Wisdom:4
Willpower:5
Charisma:4
Luck: ???
He also clicked details and got:
Member of the KKK. Warrant for his arrest in South Carolina for hate crimes.
Jack decided at once he would bet on the black guy. It was probably his first match, and they didn't know his capabilities, and that is why the odds were so low in his favor. There were a lot of factors in a fight, but Jack could not imagine a scenario where the black guy could lose. He was a former Green Beret and was on a mission to earn money. Even Johnson's stats were better, and he would only risk 50$.
He went to the crowded betting desk and placed a bet on Johnson. Jack got a paper slip, and he went looking around if he could find the other participants.
There was no one being wrapped up at the moment, so Jack squeezed his way into the mixed crowd again.
The fight was imminent, and both fighters got up from their seats. Bones was wearing black shorts which Jack thought was quite an irony. Johnson took off his top and exposed his muscles and was wearing khaki green shorts. They were both barefoot, and they entered the ring from their respective sides. Soon a guy wearing black pants and a white t-shirt came up holding a microphone.
The Nazi was jumping up and down and swinging his fists on his side, raising his hands to hear cheers from his crew. Johnson on the other hand only made some stretching moves and waited patiently.
The announcer yelled into the microphone: »Welcome to the fight club!!!
Tonight we have four fights for you. Contestants for the first fight are Bones wearing black shorts, with a record of 4 wins and one defeat and for the first time in our fight club Johnson.
Last chance to place your bets.«
The announcer gestured to the fighters to come closer and instructed them. Bones just grinned exposing his blue tooth guard and gesturing a slit throat with his hand. Johnson just nodded and went back to his part of the ring.
The announcer yelled: »All bets are final and gestured for the fighters to start.«
Bones started jumping up and down again and raising his hands in the air pumping himself up as Johnson just put his hands into a defensive posture like a boxer.
The crowd was cheering and yelling.
From Bones corner the yells were mainly:
»Kill him. Kill the ni****, « and all sorts of other racist slurs.
»Well, they will surely be disappointed soon,« Jack thought.
Bones ran towards Johnson swinging his fists in the air with seemingly random moves, but once he came near enough, he performed a jump kick. Johnson dodged to the side maintaining his defensive posture. The crowd was yelling even harder.
Bones made an idiotic move next. Seeing that Johnson was on his right side and that his kick missed the mark, Bones tried to use his right hand to make a backhand move to punch Johnson in the face.
Jack shook his head at once as he saw it.
Even if this move hit it would be weak, and it left Bones open for a devastating counter. It was exactly as Jack predicted. Johnson switched from boxing and grabbed Bones' hand and pulled it behind Bones' back and at the same time kicked his right leg from behind the knee.
Bones lost control of his right leg, he kneeled, and there was a popping sound as his shoulder got dislocated. There was a savage yell from the pain he was experiencing coming from Bones' mouth.
Johnson let go of the arm an put on a choking grip on Bones' neck and wrapped himself around his opponent's waist then just pulled himself back and let gravity do the rest.
Bones had no choice to tap out if he didn't want to pass out from lack of oxygen.
Johnson eased his squeeze and rolled away as Bones swung at him with his left arm. The announcer came between them. Bones knew he would get in trouble if he tried anything else, so he stopped and held his left arm to his chest which was dangling like it was attached to a puppet.
The announcer raised Johnson's right hand and said:»For the first time and hopefully for many more the winner is Johnson.«
Bones just spat on the ground and moved towards his crew.
Johnson didn't stick around either and went to collect his pay for tonight. Jack also moved towards the betting table as soon as he saw the chokehold since he didn't want to face the crowds once the fight was over.
He pocketed 200 dollars and looked who was next.
Their names were Muerte and Loong.
»In a battle between Death and a Dragon, I wonder who will win.«, Jack smirked.
