10

Fang looked at Mouse's rival, the boy called Bull was big but had arms just as long as Mouse himself, this was good, but with that wide body his punches were sure to hurt, it was better for Mouse to act calmly and intelligently as in the other fight waiting and looking for his opportunity.

However, the boy did not have the same idea, as soon as the referee gave the start he launched himself against Bull's body, his hand hit the rival's face, but it was not a punch, it was the palm that pushing with all his strength forced Bull to take a step back, but Mouse's leg was already behind.

The clumsy Bull lost his balance and could not avoid falling on his back, Mouse did not waste the opportunity and gave him two kicks where he could before the boy began to get up. With a sidelong glance he saw how on the table the judges raised the count, it was a clean knockdown.

One of the surprises that Mouse had in the previous evening of fights was that many times the fighters did not look for the takedown to finish or do damage, just so that the point would count for them, with three takedowns even being the worst fighter of the two could win a fight. That same thing had happened in the last fight of the night, and Mouse had tried to learn from them everything he could.

While Bull tried to get up Mouse charged again, two quick blows with the left forced Bull to cover himself with one hand, but that precarious balance is what Mouse wanted, who immediately kicked the arm he was supporting himself with.

Bull fell face down again and Mouse kicked the boy in the stomach twice, the third kick hit him in the head and knocked him to the side. He had not touched the ground with his back, it would not count for the point, but in just a few moments Mouse had gained a great advantage.

He continued to harass the other boy every time he tried to stand up. For a weak, malnourished and care-deprived pooper, standing up without supporting himself on one arm was difficult, especially if he had a body that was unbalanced like Bull's. As soon as the boy tried to stand up, Mouse was ready to hit or kick him.

Mouse managed to knock him down on his back once again, but the other boy was not stupid, it was obvious he understood what Mouse was up to. In the end, Bull crawled on his back to the metal fence, only then was he able to stand up by holding on to it.

But the beating while it was happening left its mark. Mouse's punches hurt, how could a weak child be hitting so hard?

In reality it wasn't a question of Mouse having increased his strength in ten days, it was that he was imitating how professional fighters hit, and that made the difference, fifty percent of the force of a punch was the technique and how to put the weight on the body.

Mouse hadn't transformed overnight into a boxer but it was the difference between hitting and punching, and the ones the boy had thrown had hurt.

But the problem with the children of the gutter, with the poop cleaners, is that they would cling with all their might to an opportunity like this to improve their future life. The boy's attack was cruel, Mouse tried to get away and hit from afar, but Bull had no intention of stopping.

The first blow hit Mouse in the shoulder, but a vicious open hook punch hit him in the face. For a second he lost stability, it was as if his knees were made of butter. Bull charged forward, hitting Mouse's stomach with his shoulder and tried to lift him up.

If he had continued hitting Mouse he would have had victory within reach, but by lifting him up to slam him against the fence he gave Mouse the second he needed to focus.

Mouse's hands were unleashed again and again against Bull's back, sometimes he grabbed the metal mesh with one hand so that Bull wouldn't knock him down. At that moment the referee blew the whistle for the end of the round, Bull continued pushing, ignoring the referee who finally grabbed the boy by the waist and threw him rolling around the ring with Mouse behind him.

The blow was hard, although Mouse got up after rolling a bit, but it seemed that Bull had fallen badly with all his weight on his arm, his wrist had been bent or broken and the boy complained and complained about the referee. But the adults cared little about the complaints of a simple lazybones, and the referee had given the signal to stop.

The judges did not hesitate to award the round to Mouse despite his rival's last outburst. The seconds of rest between rounds focused their eyes and allowed Mouse to catch his breath. He had received only one blow, it is true that it almost knocked him down, but once the opportunity was lost, the damage that the boy had caused Bull throughout the fight had been much greater, and now he was holding his arm in pain.

Fang approached the fence, he did not ask, he just threw a glass of water in Mouse's face.

"Thanks..."

"Don't give me that and finish that idiot off quickly, don't let him catch you again."

The referee called the children and asked Bull if he wanted to continue. He said yes, they separated to their corners and the fight resumed. Bull charged again with his head first, but Mouse was expecting it, he got out of the way at the last moment but left his leg behind.

Bull's stumble sent him stumbling across the ground, but from behind and with all his strength Mouse kicked the boy who was trying to get up and was on his knees, the impact was directly on Bull's balls. The male audience shouted an "ouch!" in solidarity while the boy fell to the ground, huddled and holding his parts while crying.

Mouse looked at the referee as if asking if it was necessary to finish him off, and at that moment he began to count, however Mouse's rival no longer had any will to continue fighting or receiving damage. The count reached ten and the boy was declared the winner by KO.

It had not been as difficult a fight as the previous one, but even in this Mouse was on the verge of losing, he should not underestimate the other children so much, that was a mistake, the blow almost knocked him out, only Bull's bad decision had saved him.

Rat's stew took a little longer to arrive, no one expected the fight to end like this, or so quickly, the boy began to eat the stew anxiously, eating the gray and tasteless mash made of overcooked organic waste, including corpses, had been torture. At night, Rat had dreamed of the taste of spicy sauce and the texture of rat meat.

He felt no excitement about hitting a child, on the contrary, but it was the benefits that this opportunity gave him that he really longed for.

The following fights with the Battle Suits taught the boy many things, the first being that it was the fighters' problem to maintain and repair their combat suit. One of the fighters could not fly or propel himself in the air, he had to fight from the ground while his opponent harassed him from the air, but against all odds the fighter made a virtue out of necessity and ended up catching and crashing his rival to the ground where he gave him a sovereign beating.

On his return, he put the box away first and then the bucket. Mouse was already thinking about the night of the next fight and everything he had to improve if he didn't want to have problems like that night again. He had come close to disaster when he already had the fight under control.