Chapter 384 - Ass Kicking (Checks and Christina BG, can skip)

Christina was on her feet less than a second later, but she was too late. Checks was already inside the cage with his opponent.

"You f.u.c.k.i.n.g idiot!" she said and slammed a palm against the metal net. 

"Christina," warned Jaws from the second floor. "Back off the cage."

Christina glared at the man who was a spectator today. With a final kick on the cage, she backed away. She would never forgive him for this day.

She knew that he was just trying to make sure that they would both advance. But this was not the way that she wanted to do it. She knew she was weak when it comes to continuos combat. She easily got tired despite trying going through other trainings with Jaws, her hopeless attempt to make her body better.

There was a time that she thought that she was doing fine and exhausted herself. The moment that the sparring was over, she was so spent, that she fainted before she even got back inside her bedroom. She thought that her body finally surpassed its limits, but it turned out that it was just the adrenaline running through her veins. Her body would just give up at some point. Both her and Jaws gave up and instead focused on her other skills.

"This is stupid," she muttered under her breath when the fifth person in the ring with Checks finally tapped out. He was already sweating under the harsh yellow lights. Sweat lined his back and made his arms, face, and neck glistened.

But even then, he was not breathing as hard as Christina would be. His chest falling in a beautiful balanced rhythm, something that she had always been jealous of.

Checks cracked his neck to the side as the next opponent finally stepped in the ring. The moment that the bell sounded, he was on his rival, locking him in with his long limbs until the other man yielded less than a minute he was in there.

"What a show-off," she said loud enough that she knew that Checks heard her. He had been showing different ways to tackle down an enemy, always stopping before he hit a critical point that would render his partner paralysed for the rest of their lives.

No one could believe it. Checks was in that cage. More than half of them were already gone. It was like he was trying to create the world record in this academy. No one had ever done this before.

When the fifteenth person finally gave up, Checks was clearly exhausted. His whole shirt was drenched with his own water and he pulled it over his head, exposing the years of hard work on his body. Lines sculpted his torso, outlining the muscles, accentuated everything to make it look like he belonged to some museum in Europe.

He was breathing hard but the cage gates opened again. Christina saw that he and Jaws exchanged nods. It possibly only meant one thing. Even if he lost, he was already going to advance. Checks looked at her through the metal net and caught her eyes. She kept her face blank.

She did not want to show any emotion. She was angry at him. She hated him that moment. But above all else, she was thankful for him.

She wouldn't have lasted in there. Not as long as he had.

He was only trying to cut down their enemies—THEIR enemies. They had always been a team. They were partners. He was helping her.

In a moment of sudden tenderness, "It's okay," she mouthed to him, telling him to stop already. He looked exhausted and haggard. Some spots on his skin were already turning blue and purple, forming a bruise. One of his eyebrows had popped and blood streamed down from it. His lip was cut and earlier it filled his mouth with red.

But Checks did not give up, he took out two more people before he finally surrendered, as if he wanted to slap people in the face by giving up rather than yielding. There were two new people inside the cage and Checks got out.

Everyone stepped away from him as he sprawled himself against the cold and hard ground. It looked like he was going to fall asleep. Maybe he did because he closed his eyes. But Christina had more important matters to attend to.

She was going to get inside the ring after nine more people.

With the greatest threat eliminated, it was like the remaining people had gained a boost of confidence. They were fighting like they would no longer see tomorrow. The winners were changed, the losers were made to step out of the cage.

"Hello, Christina," said her opponent. It was her time inside this small ring. "How would you like to get your ass kicked?"

She smiled at the other woman. This was probably the female version of Checks. She was strong and athletic. Her eyes were wide, as if she could see her enemy's every move. Her arms and legs went on for days. Her physique more impressive than anyone. This girl didn't want to lean on the soft side. She wanted to show that she was strong with her hard-earned muscles.

"Are we really having this conversation? Or are we going to fight?" Christina asked, getting into position already with her two fists in front of her. "Are you ready?"

"Bring it on, bitch."

The fight started out slow. The other woman was already slightly fatigued having taken out the five ones before Christina.

"Stop playing around, Christina." Christina would've known that voice from anywhere. It was Checks. "Get it over with."

"Are you afraid of a senseless win?" teased the other woman, pulling a crazy look on her face. "Don't worry, I'll spare you the trouble of feeling bad."

She launched towards Christina but she ducked away, kicking the back of the woman, letting her hit the metal net. "I can do this all day."