Max was no longer standing on the staircase, like he was before, along with Chad and Wolf. He was now on the main floor, facing Dud directly.
The area around them was mostly clear. Tables and chairs had been shoved to the sides in the panic earlier, leaving a rough makeshift arena. Most of the remaining fighting was happening at the front of the venue, giving the two of them plenty of space to go at it without interference.
'This wasn't how I planned it,' Max thought, his fists tightening. 'I didn't want to fight Dud so early. I wanted to grow stronger first, at least be on equal footing. That's the kind of opponent he is. Even if everything was balanced between us, he'd still have a good chance at winning.'
But in the world Max lived in now, the world of gangs, betrayal, and the underworld, nothing ever went according to plan. You learned to fight with what you had, and if you came out on top, that's how you knew you were growing.
