2047, 21:17, Lower Bus Town.
FWOOSH!!!
A car just zoomed past Levi, and he was awfully close. The heavy rainfall during the evening had sent a chill throughout the city. Levi was so drowned in his thoughts that he barely noticed the incoming vehicles or that he had wandered off from the walkway where he was walking and onto the paved road.
"Watch where you're going." He was on his way home, barely able to see due to him lacking an eye and having a bad one for compensation. 'One day, Just one day without all this hustle.' He thought.
The buzzing of his mobile device in his pocket made him flinch as he came back to reality. He already knew his caller even before another call.
A soothing male voice came from the call. "Levi! My boy, you're still alive?"
Levi made no response as he silently listened to what the caller had to say.
The voice chuckled as he continued. "Good, now-listen. You owe me, a lot. And tonight is one of those nights you need to come to scrape off your debt. Lucky boy."
Levi was speechless, as his spine ran cold. "I've told you, I'm out, I've given you everything I've got. My godforsaken eye, half my kidney, one of my livers, what else do you want?"
The voice turned cold as ice. "Wrong! You've still got your sister and, of course,, your splendid fists."
Levi was thrown overboard by those words as he clenched his hands, feeling the pain of the old fractures under his skin.
"There's a private match tonight." The voice continued. "Big money, big crowd. Everything you wish for. You win scrap some of the debt you owe. You lose..."
He chuckled. "Not like you've got anything to lose.Well, except her maybe."
Levi's mobile device beeped as the location of the event flashed across his screen.
"District 12, Warehouse 7, Docks, Midnight.
Levi shuddered as he exhaled low breaths.
'Run!' he thought to himself, 'where?' There was nowhere for him to go. It was either his fist or his sister. His father had passed on to him his debt after committing suicide. A debt too high for even him to pay.
He stood still for a while before turning his head towards his new destination, The Docks.
The Docks reeked of saltwater, rust, and the ill odor of sea foods.
Levi pulled himself together, as he continued each step, sending shocks of pain all over his body. He just put his head low as he walked past rows of abandoned shipment containers. The night had an eerie feeling. No streetlights, no cameras, just the sound coming from the far end.
Warehouse 7 was easily located.
It was the only area still bustling with power and neon under the pitch-black sky. Font music buzzed loudly from inside, bass-heavy and violent.
Here he stood, at the entrance with the thought of hesitation coming to his mind.
Two men, the size of a hulk stood at the entrance. One scanned his face while the other simply checked through his attendance list on a cracked data pad.
"Levi Lupin?" The bouncer asked, narrowing his eyes at Levi.
Levi nodded.
The bouncer snorted as he made way for Levi. "Poor bastard." The heavy metal door shrieked as it was being shut.
The warehouse was eccentric, it had been gutted and rebuilt into an underground arena. Steel scaffolds hung overhead, dripping condensation. The spotlight turned down on a crude fighting pit. Around it, the crowd howled and jeered. Faces distinct from the neon shadows.
Gangsters, gamblers, low-life scums, broken men looking for blood to drown their regrets. Levi was their entertainment.
A sharp-featured man draped in a sleek black suit approached Levi, wearing a wicked grin like an open book. He looked too expensive for such an environment.
"Lupin." He called. "Been forever. Still breathing huh?"
Levi gave no response.
The man handed over to him a small, battered data pad.
"Sign it, waiver, you die in there, no one sues."
Levi didn't even bother to read it, he just pressed his thumb against the data pad. What was another of his signatures on a life already sold out?
"Good boy." The man chuckled.
The man leaned in closer to Levi as he reduced his tone to a whisper.
"Tonight's special, your opponent, he's not... normal. Fresh out of the gene pit. Big, mean, and hungry for blood. He's one of the members of the Reign family."
Levi's stomach twisted.
Not just a street brawler, then. An advanced fighter. Probably something worse.
"Win." The man said. "Or get eaten. It's that simple."
"Berlin..." Levi had bearly called out his name before he was interrupted.
The ringmaster's voice boomed over the loudspeakers.
NEXT MATCH!!!
The debt dog 'Levi Lupin.'
The warehouse erupted in booing, laughter, and some jeering chants. There was no doubt, the odds were against Levi with him being bet against his opponent. "Just lose already."
Levi forced his legs to move as he made it into the arena, one step after another.
The door behind him shrieked as it was shut.
The light dimmed.
Across the room, a new door opened and a hulk came through.
Levi's heart sank as he was at wit's end.
The man, if he could be described as a man, was a hulking mass, standing at over 6 feet already. Bulging muscles covered in snakelike veins pulsed under his pale skin. His face was a horror, beyond recognition save for his long black hair.
He was the crowd's attention.
The man needs no introduction, 'Dorian Reign.'
Dorian slammed his fists together, the sound echoing like gunshots.
Levi let out short breaths as he took a stance.
The door to the arena slammed shot, with the buzzer going off.
The fight began.
Dorian's attack came like a wrecking ball towards Levi.
Levi dodged the first blow narrowly, "The fist missed his head by an inch, smashing into the arena's wall, bending the steel frame." The ringmaster announced he was giving the commentary for the match.
'No way I can face him head-on.' Levi dashed in, snapping a jab at Dorian's rib before he danced back. It was like punching a stone.
Dorian grinned, a horrible cracked grin. He swung again against Levi. Levi ducked, but Dorian's forearm caught him across the chest.
Levi flew backward, skidding against the concrete floor, as he gasped for air.
The crowd roared. "End him already."