Scammed

Art and Violet sat beside the other participants after registering.

Violet, being familiar with the Undercity while some of the participants were people she was acquainted with, was calm and was waiting for her turn.

Art, however, was a little nervous and tried to strike up a conversation with the person next to him.

He was a large and burly man. The most distinguishing feature about him was his light pale grey skin and the tattoo that covered his upper body all the way to his bald fat head, making him look extremely intimidating and tough.

"How's your day been?" Art asked but was only met with a lazy look and a huff before the burly man looked away.

That was rude. What an asshole.

He then turned his gaze towards the beauty next to him and decided to talk to her instead to calm his nerves. "So Vi, do you have anyone watching you today?"

"Hmm," Violet nodded, "My siblings should be at the stands."

"Siblings?" Art inquired, his interest piqued.

"I'm the oldest out of four," Violet answered, seeing no reason as to why she shouldn't. She had an favorable expression of the two boys after they treated her to food earlier, and it wasn't like a simple question would harm anyone.

"Must be a headache being the big sister," Art joked, but was secretly interested to hear more about her siblings.

"Oh, don't even get me started on those three," Violet rolled her eyes.

Art wanted to ask more about her family but hesitated. They had just met he did not want to creep her out by bombarding her with personal questions about her family.

He merely smiled in response and changed the subject as the competition had begun.. "So, who do you think is going to win?" he asked.

Art and Violet turned their gazes to the people who were called out.

One was the large man that he tried to talk to earlier and the other was a burly woman with bronze skin and a fierce-looking face. They stepped out among the participants and confidently made their way to the ring.

"The woman," Violet said confidently, a hint of admiration in her voice.

"You seem confident," Art raised an eyebrow.

Violet smiled. "You'll see soon enough."

After saying this, silence followed was the fight in the ring was about to begin. The hose walked in the middle of the ring and

"Ladies and gentlemen! We have the Ogre of the Undercity for today's first fight, Sevika! And her opponent is the Giant, Lock! Let's give them a round of applause!"

The crowd began cheering after a short introduction from the host, their voices loud and boisterous. The fight started as the first to make a move was the man, he came in with the right hook.

The next second, someone went down, and it wasn't the person you would think.

Dodging the right hook with a step back, the woman had landed a clean kick on the man's balls. Every man could feel this kick, holding their own family jewels as they watched Lock go down on the ground in pain.

He tried to get up but was kicked in the face instead and again, and again as each time a kick landed, the crowd's cheers would get louder.

Lock struggled fiercely only to no avail. His face was bloodied, his jaw dislocated, and some of his teeth went missing.

Eventually, someone had to step in while the host announced the end of the fight. "Sevika moves on to the next round!"

Holy shit! That was quick, Art thought, shocked at the brutality of the fight. His mouth was wide open as he watched the man get carried away from the stage and heard the crowd chanting her name.

"Se-vi-ka, Se-vi-ka,, Se-vi-ka!"

Art waited for the crowd to calm down so that he could talk to the beauty beside him. "Vi. that was insane," he said, a little shaken. "Is it always like this?"

"Yep, so do you still want to fight?" Violet asked. "You can still back out now, I can talk to Huck to give you your money back."

"Ummm," Art hesitated but in the end, he still chose to fight, considering this was a good chance to show off to Vi... no, to gain combat experience. "I'm still willing to give it try."

Violet smiled and laughed. "I like your confidence. I just hope you have the skills to back it up."

"Thanks," Art said... I just hope they won't pair with a person with a title like Ogre of the Undercity.

***

As more fights went by, the more Art felt his nerves grow as if butterflies were in his stomach. But the strange thing was that he also felt excited for his turn to step in the ring.

Art waited patiently, studied how the other participant's fought and a few fights later, it was finally his turn.

"Good luck," Violet gave him a pat on the back. "You're lucky, if you are as good as you say, you should be fine against that guy."

"Thanks," Art said as he pointed toward his face, "Maybe if I can get a kiss on the cheek, I can do…"

"You rascal," Violet interrupted and pinched his cheek.

"Ouch, ouch, I was joking," Art hissed in pain before going up to the stage... Whatever, it was worth the try, he thought, rubbing his face while walking towards the ring.

And just as he expected, the moment the crowd saw him step into the ring, they were left confused. He could roughly guess what they were thinking... What's a kid doing here? Especially as someone as handsome as him.

The last part wasn't actually what they were thinking, rather it was Art's narcissistic side coming out.

Art paid no heed to whatever the crowd were thinking and looked around for Ezreal in the stand. He wanted to see if he was safe and wasn't causing any trouble that would get him killed or kidnapped.

Thankfully, Ezreal manage to control himself and was just sitting with some kids in the sand. He gave him a wave before focusing on the opponent in front of him, a blonde-haired teenager with blue eyes and an average-looking face. He was the same height as Violet, just over 5'5 and a foot taller than Art.

"Thank god this dude is my opponent."

Art felt extremely lucky at this moment that this young man was his opponent. He was just a normal dude and was quite underwhelming compared to the other participants he saw. He was not too big or too small, nor did he have a metal prosthetic arm like some of the other participants.

Of course, his opponent thought the same as well and belittled Art in his mind, believing this would be an easy win. He stood before Art, staring at him with a smug expression on his face. "Better forfeit while you still can, kid."

"No, thanks, "Art replied, waiting for the host to start the match.

A few seconds later, the host began to speak. "We have our youngest competitors for today, Art and Deckard! Alright, let's get right into it!"

The fight started, but not before a final last remark from Deckard like he was some third rate villain. "Don't say I didn't warn you--"

"--Ah fuck, my eyes!"

Before the opponent could finish speaking, Art had already been on the move. He threw the dirt he grabbed from the ground earlier into Deckard's eyes while he was talking and used his whole body to tackle Deckard on the ground.

Art quickly straddled Deckard like a horse to prevent him from getting up and started punching his irritable face with one of them landing on his nose.

"That fucking hurts!" Deckard was angered, covering his face with his forearms in front of his face. "Get off me you little shit!"

He threw a punch at Art but was dodged at the last second and with his guard open, his face got smashed in instead. He was knocked out, and for good measure, Art threw a few more punches at his face.

The crowd, upon seeing this, cheered loudly as they did not expect Art to win at all. But who could blame them? No one knew what both participants were capable of, and the difference in sizes between the two was obvious which led most to believe Deckard was going to win.

The host entered the ring with a group of people who ran over to the unconscious Deckard and carried him out.

"Wow, I did not expect that at all--" The host paused seeing Huck enter the ring, walking towards him. He put the mic down and the two began speaking.

No one could hear what they were saying, but it was clear something was wrong.

"Did I do something wrong?"

Art didn't wait long to have his question answered. Half a minute later, Huck left the pit and the host walked over to Art. "It was a great fight, but you've been disqualified boy," he whispered.

"For what?!" Art said angrily.

"Well, you see, the judge has determined that the dirt you used at your opponent's eyes is a weapon," the host replied, pointing at Huck who was standing outside the ring.

"..." Art looked at where the host was pointing and back at him. "Can I at least have my money back?"