Sweat and Blood

by Jack Stornoway

ludicrous sci-fi thing where astronauts visited Alpha-Centauri and found a subterranean race of intelligent insects. He passed out near the end, and woke up fifteen hours later surprised he'd slept for so long. His foot felt better, but it still hurt to walk.

  He got up and made something to eat, and then sat down at the window looking out over Multan and the ruddy-brown desert beyond. His mind drifted to his farm, he needed to rebuild the greenhouses, and put up sonic shields, so the next storm didn't rip the greenhouses down again. If he made enough he might be able to find a used harvester-bot, that would really cut down on his work. He was looking forwards to returning to his farm, to a peaceful life. He wondered if Carey would be there. The idea that Carey might not be there hurt, but not as much as it would have before he left for the UFL. Time. Carey might not go back with him, but the real question was if he would place the bet in Calabar. If Artemio didn't get the credit from Calabar he wouldn't be able to buy a harvester-bot, he might not even be able to build a full sonic shield array.

  The night of the fight Yousaf approached Artemio in the locker room as he was preparing for the fight. "Chichi wants you to fight for her again. She's offering ₹250,000 for you to take a dive, plus your mortgage."

  "She's that worried about Mudiwa?" Artemio asked dismissively.

  "There are more than a million viewers subscribed," Yousaf explained. "Think of how much a rematch would earn."

  "You already told her my answer I assume," Artemio replied.

  "She was your agent, she already knew what your answer would be," Yousaf stated. "She's hoping you're broken enough to take the dive."

  "And you?"

  "I'm betting on you," Yousaf stated. "But don't tell Chichi."

  "Thought she owned the gambling scene in this town," Artemio observed.

  "She does. I placed the bet in Canaan City," Yousaf stated.

  "She'll still find out," Artemio said. "I recommend you leave for Calabar before the end of the fight."

  "After this fight I won't have any useful fighters left," Yousaf said. "I'm heading to Calabar as soon as we're done this conversation. Going to setup my own fight club up there. Just make sure to win okay?"

  Artemio chucked and injected his taurage, then walked to the cage. When Artemio stepped into the cage Mudiwa was already there. A tall Earth-born black, with long dreadlocks. The Earth-borns all had a different more-vibrant shade than the Mars-born, which Mudiwa had used to his advantage playing a heal in the Multan FC. His body was chiseled ebony that showed no signs of fat anywhere.

  As soon as the cage locked Mudiwa advanced and jabbed a fast left at Artemio's eyes. Artemio ducked under Mudiwa's fist, and slammed a right to Mudiwa's ribs. Mudiwa jabbed again for Artemio's eyes and missed again. Artemio faked a right, and Mudiwa stepped back, smirking, then stabbed left at Artemio's eyes again. Artemio ducked again, but caught a fist to his forehead which knocked his head back like it was on a spring. Mudiwa followed it up with a right that knocked Artemio's entire body back.

  Mudiwa threw another right and Artemio ducked again, rising into Mudiwa's arms and let it curl around his neck, then smashed both hands into Mudiwa's solar plexus. Mudiwa stepped back a few steps, but then advanced again, and jabbed a right into Artemio's mouth that split his previously cut lip. Artemio dodged Mudiwa's next two lefts and closed in on him, slamming a couple shots into Mudiwa's kidneys, before Mudiwa connected with a stiff right to Artemio's head, sending him tumbling across the cage floor.

  As Artemio rose from the cage floor, Mudiwa caught him with a left to the right eye and a trickle of blood started down his face. Artemio struck a left hook into Mudiwa's ribs that jolted him backwards a couple steps. Artemio advanced and stabbed a left to Mudiwa's mouth, then Mudiwa ducked a left and smashed his right knee into Artemio's ribs, knocking Artemio back a couple steps.

  By then blood covered both fighters, and Artemio was blinking the blood from his eyes trying to see Mudiwa. Mudiwa spun a roundhouse kick up towards Artemio's face, but Artemio saw it coming and dropped under it, slamming his open palm into Mudiwa's knee. Mudiwa buckled and fell. Artemio stepped back waiting to see if Mudiwa could get back to his feet. More than a million people were watching, and he didn't have a mask on, he'd avoid killing Mudiwa if possible.

  Mudiwa rose slowly, watching Artemio with a vicious look on his face. Artemio's stepping back would make people believe it was a rigged fight, even if he killed Artemio. He advanced on Artemio again, now they were both limping. Mudiwa swung at Artemio's face again, but missed as Artemio dodged, and then took a shot to the solar plexus before stepping back. Artemio advanced as Mudiwa backed up, pounding him with both fists. Mudiwa took a few shots to the face, and then lifted his right knee into Artemio's solar plexus, lifting him off the ground, and knocking him back several steps.

  Artemio recoiled from Mudiwa's advance, and then turned suddenly lashing out at Mudiwa's eyes, cutting a gash under his right eye that started bleeding immediately. Mudiwa moved in again, and slammed a wicked right that knocked Artemio back into the cage wall. Mudiwa advanced pounding Artemio with an unrelenting blur of fists and knees.

  The next thing Artemio knew he was standing over Mudiwa, who was sprawled on the floor on the other side of the cage. He backed off again and Mudiwa rose, slowly. Mudiwa walked slowly towards Artemio, whether biding his time or sizing up his opponent, Artemio did not know.

  Mudiwa shot another left for Artemio's face, which he dodged before pummelling Mudiwa with a barrage of blows that drove him back into the cage wall. Artemio nailed Mudiwa with hard right to the heart, and stabbed two lefts to his mouth, before Mudiwa turned it around with a couple of wicked hooks into Artemio's torso that knocked him back. As Artemio fell back Mudawi jumped at him, plunging his elbow into Artemio's face.

  Artemio fell back and then jumped at Mudawi, lancing his lip with a left hook and then landing behind him. Mudawi anticipated Artemio's position, and knelt driving his elbow back into Artemio's body, and then spun around and headbutted him, knocking him back to the cage walls. As Artemio's head it the cage wall, Mudiwa followed though with a right straight into his jaw.

  Artemio lashed out and caught Mudiwa just above the left eye, splitting the eyebrow and causing a trickle of blood to run down into Mudiwa's eye. Mudiwa came back fast, with a brutal, bloody onslaught of rights and lefts. Mudiwa's eyes were cut as badly as Aretmio's, and he clearly wanted to inflict as much damage as possible before it became too hard to see through the blood. Artemio returned the attack focusing on the Mudiwa's body, pounding shot after shot into the ribs and kidneys.

  Sweat and blood streamed into their eyes and Artemio tried to wipe the blood away and caught a right hook for his trouble. Artemio ducked into a crouch and dove for Mudiwa's legs, lifting him off the cage floor before slamming him back down onto it. Mudiwa landed on his back, his arms spread at his sides, and Artemio was immediately on top of him, pounding him with both fists.

  Mudiwa managed to jab a right into Artemio's ribs, followed by a left, and then another right, and Artemio fell off him and rolled to his feet. Mudiwa rose slowly again, and then rushed at Artemio jolting him with a shot to the head. Artemio fell and rolled backwards away from Mudiwa, and rose to his feet as Mudiwa closed in and slammed him back into the cage wall. Mudiwa continued his assault with knees and fists knocking Artemio to the brink of unconsciousness.

  The next thing Artemio knew he was standing over Mudiwa in the middle of the cage. Blood was gushing from Mudiwa neck where his throat had been, and Artemio realized it was in his hand, dripping.

  The cage unlocked, and a medic rushed in, but Mudiwa wasn't going to recover. Artemio dropped the throat and headed for the cage door. When he reached the locker Tumelo Koena and several other Arean MPs were waiting for him. He barely saw them as he headed for the shower. The shower's water automatically turned off after five minutes. It wasn't enough. The hot air blew him dry, and he walked out towards his locker. The MPs were still there.

  "Tough fight,"
Tumelo started.

  "How'd it go outside the cage?" Artemio asked as he opened his locker.

  "The Multan CMZ has been dissolved by the confederacy," Tumelo stated. "We've seized the offices of the Khewra-Mars Mining Corporation, as well as the banks and casinos. We're waiting to see if Arab-Iranian Caliphate decides to retaliate."

  "What about Chichi?" Artemio asked, pulling on his pants.

  "Dead. Up stairs," Tumelo stated. "Yousaf Dulai seems to have disappeared. You give him a head's up?"

  "He was already heading out before the fight," Artemio answered pulling on a shirt. "Canaan City."

  "Did he know we were coming?" Tumelo asked.

  "No. He just wanted away from Chichi," Artemio observed. "So what happens to me?"

  "It's what we discussed," Tumelo answered. "Your contract was signed before the senate disbanded the Multan CMZ, so Multan Casino's estate will settle your fee in Arean credit, at your bank account in Sirenum. Your mortgage at the Bank of Multan has also been nullified, of course if you placed any side bets, they've been nullified as well."

  "That won't be a problem," Artemio stated. "And no charges against me for the fight?"

  "The fight started before the CMZ was disbanded, so the fight was legal. Just make sure it doesn't happen again," Tumelo warned. "And we don't want to see Chico Violento again either. Everyone knows that's you now."

  Artemio returned to his suite, and laid down on his bed. He wanted to sleep, he was sore, and weary, but not tired. He got up and walked to the mirror. He didn't look good, it was probably a good thing Carey wasn't there. He went to the kitchenette, and took a whisky from the vending machine. It was a local Multan brew, not that good, but strong. He preferred American whiskey, if he had to drink whiskey. If he had his choice he'd drink bourbon, preferably the bourbon brewed in Èkó. But at least this stuff was strong, and before long be was asleep.

  He woke up a couple hours later, still drunk, but hurting too much to lay down. Every part of his body had been pummelled except the bottoms of his feet, but both feet now felt like they had broken bones. He went back to the kitchenette and pulled a package of barbeque flavoured tempeh, and then sat on the sofa. He picked a movie from the pay-per-view and tried to relax. It was a movie that had been popular about a decade earlier, he'd never watched it. Several of the guys he served with had raved about it at the time, but it was about a bunch of wizards and he never got that magic thing. The movie annoyed him, and he passed out before it ended.

  He woke up a few hours later. There was a noise. His feet hurt, and his hands, everything hurt. The noise was the door chime, and he shook is head. He picked up the half drunk whiskey bottle and took a swig before limping to the door. He looked through the eyepiece and saw Carey standing outside, so he opened the door. Carey had died his hair, and was wearing very tight clothes, it was a good sign but when he saw Artemio's face his expression changed.

  "It'll heal," Artemio said stepping back to allow Carey to enter the suite.

  "Does it hurt?" Carey asked entering the suite.

  "Yeah, it hurts," Artemio answered closing the door.

  "Good, means your brain is still working," Carey said as he dropped into a chair. "Did you hear what happened during the fight?"

  "The Confederacy dissolving the CMZ?" Artemio asked walking to the kitchenette.

  "You heard," Carey confirmed. "They seized everything during the fight, while everyone was watching you. The casinos, the banks, even the bets on the fights. A quarter of the Confederate population must have been betting on the fight!"

  "That many?" Artemio asked as he pulled a couple beers from the vending machine. "Yousaf said there were only about a million subscribers."

  "He was wrong," Carey stated as Artemio handed him a beer. "Or maybe a lot of people pirated the broadcast, either way a lot more than a million bet on it."

  "And they all lost their bets. Sorry about that," Artemio said sitting down carefully into a chair across the room from Carey.

  "Didn't affect me," Carey replied. "I placed all my bets in Calabar."

  "Why?"

  "I took your advice," Carey explained. "I watched some of your old fights. How much of your fights do you remember?"

  "Depends on the opponent," Artemio answered honestly. "Sometimes everything. But with good opponents, there are generally gaps. With a good opponent I usually don't remember the end."

  "Ever happen outside of a fight?" Carey asked.

  "A few times in combat," Artemio answered, "in hand to hand."

  "Never in a relationship?" Carey asked seriously.

  "Never had a lover that tried to kill me," Artemio stated.

  "Well then, I guess it won't be a problem," Carey dismissed the issue.

  "Coming back with me then?" Artemio asked.

  "Was that in question?" Carey smiled.

  "I was concerned my farm was too dull for you," Artemio stated honestly.

  "Maybe it was," Carey admitted. "But the Confederacy is changing. The cities are changing. And besides, now it'll be our farm."

  "Our farm?" Artemio asked intrigued.

  "I watched you old fights," Carey reminded him. "I placed the money I earned the last few months on you. I'm coming back with you, but I'm investing."

  "How much did we make?" Artemio asked with a smile that split his lip again.

  "Assuming you earned enough from the fight to repair the greenhouse and by seeds," Carey started. "We made enough in Calabar to put up sonic shields, buy a harvester-bot, and put up another wind turbine, and, well I've been looking into the cost of setting up a micro-brewery..."