Chapter 73: The Joys of Watching Two People Beat the Shit Out of Each Other

~Ding! Ding! Ding!~

The bell sounded, and the fighters in the ring tore apart as the cheers from the crowd swelled around them.

The arena was dark except for the ring of overhead lights centered on the sparring ring at the center of the area and the sporadic flashing lenses of photographers.

The stands were thick with people cheering, waving homemade signs, or yelling at the referee.

“Fuck brain!” Gracie shouted. “That was a clear hit!”

“Kick his ass, Crusher!” Octavia hollered.

Besides them, Lila and company sat looking extremely out of their depths. Lila herself sat with her knees squeezed in together and clutching her bag to her chest as if someone was waiting to steal it.

After informing the referee of her incompetence, Octavia sat back and looked to her companions with a smile.

“Are we enjoying ourselves?” she asked brightly.

“I…I thought you said this was an awards show?” Lila stammered out.

“It is. Whoever wins the MMA fight wins the title. That’s an award,” Octavia explained.

“It’s so…violent,” Elle said. For once, the empty look in her eyes had been replaced with one of shock.

“That’s the beauty of women’s MMA,” Gracie remarked, “just two women beating the shit out of each other.”

“For sport, of course,” Octavia said.

“It’s very empowering,” Gracie said.

“Wait,” Lila exclaimed, “those are WOMEN?”

“Yes, Lila. This is the women’s MMA tournament,” Octavia said. “Just like it says up there on those screens.”

“But they look so…,” Lila started, looking toward the two fighters in the ring.

“Shredded?” Octavia said.

“Ripped?” Gracie said.

“Fucking powerful?” Octavia added.

“Like they could BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF ANYONE???” Gracie whooped.

For the hell of it, the two of them cheered and high-fived one another. They started chanting the nickname of the fighter they were rooting for.

“Cam!” Octavia yelled.

“Crusher!” Gracie answered back.

“Cam!”

“Crusher!”

“Cam!”

“Crusher!”

From the front row seat behind a short barrier, the girls got a clear view of the ring.

The fighter on the right, heavyweight fighter Cam “Crusher” Samuels, retreated to her corner where her coach handed her a towel and bellowed instructions in her ear.

She listened with her eyes riveted on the floor, wiping sweat off her brow and a little blood from a punch that had landed on her nose. She was nearly six feet tall with biceps the size of watermelons.

Her dark hair was styled in cornrows, and her skin was a deep brown. Though at that moment, it was bruised black in many places.

Her opponent was Stacey “Steel-Fist” Owens, the three-time national champion.

She was serious about defending her title and more than capable of “beating the shit out of anyone” as Gracie so eloquently put it.

She stood a few inches taller than her opponent but with a physique to match.

Stacey sat back in her corner and took a swig of water, ignoring the shouts of her fans in the stands and the Crusher supporters, cussing her out.

She simply adjusted the headband around her dark hair that was done up in a French braid and nodded in response to her coach’s instructions.

The bell dinged once more—back to the fight.

Octavia cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, “LET’S GO, CRUSHER!”

“FUCKING BEAT HER ASS!” Gracie yelled.

Lila looked between the fight going on and back to Octavia and Gracie, unsure of what to do. She turned to her friends.

“Can you believe what they’re making us watch?” she said, looking as if she were about to cry.

“It’s unbelievable,” Elle remarked.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Muffy said.

“Horrible!” Lila pouted. “Ugh. I can never unsee that! Who likes this kind of stuff—let alone participates in it?” She shuddered, her eyes following the Crusher as she moved around the ring.

“I don’t care what anyone says. A woman that…that…muscular just isn’t attractive. She looks like a man.”

“Hmm,” Elle remarked, “I don’t know. It’s not like they’re a lot of men who are that shredded…”

“And she clearly has boobs,” Muffy agreed. She remarked in awe, “Whoa…even her boobs are muscular.”

Lila looked toward her friends in horror when she realized that they weren’t watching the ongoing match with her same sense of mortification.

All of a sudden, her skin felt icky, like she was reacting to some foreign substance in the air. She wanted nothing more than to get up and run. But she couldn’t move from her seat.

In the ring, the Crusher and Steel-Fist circled each other. Each of their focus was trained on the other, anticipating their every move and planning their own attack.

They were so fast that when either of them finally made a move, it happened in the blink of an eye.

Just like that, the Crusher threw a precise roundhouse kick at Steel-Fist’s head. Steel-Fist dodged it, but then the Crusher moved in throwing some powerful punches.

She backed Stacey to the edge of the cage, unrelenting as her fists rained down on her. Stacey kept her guard up, protecting her face from the punches but still being driven back by their force.

Crusher had Steel-Fist up against the wall. She moved in to finish her. But then, quick as a blink, Stacey whipped out a pushing kick from nowhere.

Her knee flew up at a 90-degree angle, and her foot rammed into the Crusher’s middle. Cam went stumbling backward as the force of Stacey’s foot almost made her spit her mouthguard out.

“NO!” Octavia screamed.

“GET UP, CRUSHER!” Gracie yelled.

Crusher managed to stumble to her feet before Stacey was on top of her. Stacey rained down her own jabs at Cam’s head.

Cam hunched over, her head flanked by both arms, protecting herself from Stacey’s fists. She dodged what she could, but there was the unmistakable sound of Stacey’s fists slamming into Cam’s skull.

“Ew!” Lila shrieked. “Is…is that…blood?!”

Sure enough, scarlet rivulets were trickling down Cam’s face. Some of her blood ended up on Stacey’s white tank top. Neither of them stopped to assess the damage.

Stacey stayed close to Cam, hitting her with her fists even as Cam tried to dodge her and skirt around the ring.

“It is,” Elle said breathlessly.

Some demon must have come over her. One minute Elle stood there with wide eyes fixed on the sight before her, the next she had shot out of her seat and was screaming at the ring.

“FUCK OFF, STEEL-FIST, YOU BITCH!!!” Elle screamed. “FIGHT BACK, CAM! COME ON!!!”

Muffy shot her a surprised look, but then she also jumped up and waved her small fist toward the fight.

“KICK HER ASS!!!” Muffy yelled. “DESTROY THE STEEL-FIST!!!”

Even though Cam was the one getting bloodied before them, Lila seemed to be in more pain. She stared up at her friends in utter shock—more shock than she had expressed at the sight of the fighting.

Meanwhile, Stacey continued to pursue Cam, and Cam did all she could to keep herself safe.

Suddenly Stacey flew at Cam with her knee, knocking her back against the cage wall. Cam didn’t recover in time, and Stacey locked her in a head grip.

Steel-Fist threw her to the ground and kept her head locked in her metallic grasp.

“NOOOOOO!!!!!” Octavia hollered.

“CAM! GET THE FUCK BACK IN THE GAME!” Gracie yelled. Her face was red with anger.

“CRUSH HER!! CRUSH HER!!!” Elle screamed.

“GRIND HER BONES TO DUST!!!” Muffy shouted.

“Oh god…I want to go hoooommeee!” Lila wailed.

Just when it looked like Cam would not recover and Stacey would be crowned the reigning winner of the night, something amazing happened.

Cam twisted herself out of Stacey’s grasp just enough to angle her legs at the right position.

Cam managed to swing her legs around Stacey’s neck, and once she had that small hold, she clenched down. Immediately, Stacey’s grip loosened on Cam’s neck.

She kept her locked with one arm and began jabbing at her head with the other, trying to get her head out of the deathly grip of Cam’s legs. And that was what Cam wanted.

In a split second, just as Stacey managed to swing out of Cam’s locking grasp, Cam threw herself to the side in some kind of tumble, safely away from Stacey.

Stacey immediately pursued her, knowing she was weak from the headlock and that she would be vulnerable in the instant she landed from the tumble.

But Cam was faster than Stacey anticipated.

Just as Steel-Fist closed in on her, Cam threw a precise front kick at Stacey’s head. The ball of her foot slammed into Stacey’s chin, sending her head whipping backward with the force.

There was a pause, during which everyone held in a breath, while Stacey remained upright and still. Then her body went crashing backward, falling to the ground. And she remained still.

A knockout! A wave of cheers erupted from the arena as people stood and clapped and yelled and screamed and did all the things.

Octavia, Gracie, Elle, and Muffy all cheered along with the audience, waving their hands in the air and shouting out victory chants till their throats were hoarse.

Muffy began crying, and Elle put a comforting hand on her back, still exclaiming over the victory.

Octavia jumped up and down, and Gracie started hurling insults at the shame-faced Steel-Fist fans, mocking them as loudly as she could, though none of them could hear her over the din.

Shortly afterward, the awards part came. A shiny belt was wrapped around Cam’s waist, and she was presented to the crowd as the new champion.

She wiped blood and tears from her face and then waved to the crowd, demonstrating her gratitude. Octavia, Elle, and Muffy all shed a few tears at that.

“Come on,” Octavia said excitedly once the crowds had begun to disperse. “We get VIP access; we can meet the new champion!”

Elle, Muffy, and Gracie all followed her enthusiastically. Lila trailed behind with a sick look on her face.

They were directed to a private area where some men in suits were milling around, reporters were taking pictures of the event participants, and the champion herself was being interviewed.

The girls stood by in anticipation, and eventually, Cam the Crusher walked over to meet them.

“You were amazing!” Octavia gushed.

“Phenomenal,” Gracie said.

“Astounding!” Elle declared.

“I’m so h-h-a-a-p-p-y for y-o-o-u-u-u!!” Muffy blubbered, overcome by her emotion.

Cam smiled at all of them appreciatively. “Thanks for coming out to support us,” she said. “We owe it all to you guys.”

“Thank YOU for doing what you did!” Octavia said. “The way you turned that on her and stole the title from Steel-Fist? BEST. MOVE. EVER.”

“I’m such a huge fan,” Gracie said. “I’ve been following your career. You’re incredible!”

“I had no idea this was a thing until today,” Elle said. “I wouldn’t have thought I would like it—and I don’t.” She paused dramatically. “I LOVE IT!”

“Can…can we get a picture with you?” Muffy asked timidly.

They all crowded around for a picture that Lila took.

Cam was nice enough to take several with them, including ones where she picked up each one of them and carried them up in the air as if they weighed nothing.

She even gifted her bloody tank top to Octavia when she asked and signed it for her too.

“Oh my god! I am going to keep this forever!” Octavia exclaimed.

“Can I touch it?” Elle asked.

Octavia handed the shirt to her.

“W-o-o-w-w…” Elle breathed in awe.

“So, it’s a protein shake with six raw eggs in it every morning, is it?” Muffy was saying. She had been plying Cam with questions on her fitness routine and diet.

A tall, burly man with a red baseball cap over his graying sandy hair walked up to them.

“They want some more pictures of you back there,” he said to Cam.

“I’ll be right there, honey,” Cam said.

Lila’s jaw dropped open. “What?!” she exclaimed.

They all looked at her.

“Is he your…your…,” Lila fumbled.

“Husband,” Cam supplied. “And coach.”

“But a husband first and foremost,” the man said, placing an arm around Cam’s shoulders. He looked down at her with pride. “That’s right, ladies. I’m married to the champ.”

Octavia shook her head. “I don’t know how you manage to stay calm when Cam’s out there. I was about ready to jump into the cage on her behalf.”

They both laughed, and Cam’s husband said, “I’m her trainer. I know she can handle herself.”

When he gave his wife a quick kiss, Octavia, Elle, and Muffy all went, “Awwww!!!”

He walked away after that, and Cam started to bid her ardent fans goodbye.

“Lovely meeting all of you ladies,” Cam said, shaking all their hands.

When she got to Lila, instead of responding to her farewell, Lila blurted out, “That man actually likes you?”

Octavia face-palmed herself, and for the first time ever, both Elle and Muffy wondered why they were friends with this woman. But Cam wasn’t fazed.

“Actually no,” Cam replied, “he loves me. That’s why I married him.”

“But…but…you’re basically a man.”

“Ignore her, Cam,” Octavia said hurriedly, “I’m so sorry about this. She…um…forgot to take her medication.”

Cam smiled in amusement. “Don’t worry. I get that often enough that it doesn’t bother me anymore.”

She turned back to Lila.

“I actually take it as a compliment. I know people aren’t used to the idea of strong women. But we exist, believe it or not. And we don’t have to turn into men to become like this.”

“It’s the twenty-first century already,” Gracie said. “When the hell will they wake up?”

“But…,” Lila started again, “how?”

“Please let her stop talking…,” Muffy prayed silently.

Cam grinned. “The way any person loves another person. The same way I love him. The same way you would love anyone else, or that they’d love you.”

With that, Cam left. She left four of them with a new sense of camaraderie, and one of them with words she would remember long after that momentous event.

“Thanks for bringing us,” Muffy said shyly as they exited the arena to the waiting limo.

“No problem. It was fun, wasn’t it?” Octavia said. “Man, I forgot how much I love MMA fights. I need to keep up with watching them.”

“Maybe…maybe we can all watch them sometime?” Elle suggested. “I just got my home theater room redone.”

“There’s another high-profile match coming up in a week,” Gracie said.

“I’ll bring cupcakes,” Muffy offered.

“It’s a date!” Octavia declared.

They slid into the limo, laughing and chattering among themselves about the match. Lila climbed in after them, quiet and surly. But no one really cared.