Sang glances at Adam.
- "So, how strong is your teacher anyway?"
Adam stops eating his ice cream.
- "Two years ago…"
- "Why are you telling me a story?"
- "Just listen, the story will tell you how strong he is."
Sang leans back in his seat.
- "Okay, go ahead."
- "Anyway, two years ago, I ran away from a certain laboratory. They sent multiple people after me. Those people were trained fighters from birth with special traits, like me."
- "Special traits? Like what?"
Adam's sclera turns black, and his pupils turn white.
- "Special traits like this."
- "Woah, that's so cool!"
Jitae pays attention to Adam's eyes.
- "The King's Eyes? At such a young age!? No wonder Jacques took him as his personal student."
- "Back to what I was saying, after I ran out of the alley, I bumped into him. I didn't know how to speak English then, but he instantly knew that something was wrong. He told me to get behind him as the people came running out of the alley too. He beat them up one by one using strikes and grappling. After he saw my eyes, he took me in and well, I've been training under him since then."
- "Woah, your teacher's really cool!"
Adam places his head in his hand and sighs.
- "Yeah well, he probably only took me in because of my eyes. Not that I'm complaining. He told me his goal was that he wanted to make the "Mixed Martial Arts" sport mainstream. He wanted to make it more accessible to the average joe."
- "Your teacher sounds really interesting."
Adam chuckles and smiles.
- "I know, and I honestly believe he would win this tournament. He is the strongest person I know."
Sang scoffs.
- "Yeah, well, my dad's stronger!"
- "Nuh uh!"
- "Yuh huh!"
The kids go back to bickering about who is stronger between their role models.
As Saran Lerdpisit walks to the entrance, he is stopped by Luthfi Ramadhan.
- "Good luck man!"
He says as he raises his hand. Saran replies with a high five.
- "Don't worry, I got this."
He says, continuing his walk.
- "Now it's time for round 1, match 9! Jacques "The Storm" Williams versus Saran "The God of Fire" Lerdpisit!!!"
The fighters get into position.
[https://imgur.com/3SQ6AkP] - Illustration of their staredown.
- "Fighters are you ready!?"
The two nod.
- "Then…BEGIN!!!"
The fight starts, but the fighters stay still.
- "Before we begin, I heard that you were trying to make Mixed Martial Arts into a public sport."
Saran asks.
- "Yes, I am. What about it?"
Jacques replies. Saran smiles.
- "After this tournament, I would like to join you in your venture."
Jacques chuckles.
- "Sure! I would love to have a strong guy like you working with me, but let's continue this conversation afterwards.
- "Agreed."
The fighters start circling around each other.
- " This guy is a master at Muay Thai and is also a wrestling freak. Heh, looks like the history of public MMA will start with this match!"
Jacques goes for a jab rush. Saran blocks, and teep kicks Jacques, pushing him away. Using his height advantage, Saran goes in for an elbow, but Jacques pulls back and hits him with a hook counter, landing on Saran's face.
- "A right hook straight to Saran's face, but he's unfazed!"
Jacques backs off.
- "I guess that's what I should expect from a man like this."
He switches stance, from an orthodox boxing stance to a low wrestling tackle stance. Saran scrunches his body, keeping his guard low.
- "He's got two options: One, just a regular tackle. Two, a fake-out tackle where he uses the same movements but ends the attack with a strike."
Saran thinks to himself, as he slowly moves backwards. Jacques bursts forth. Saran prepares to block the tackle, but Jacques went for option two, throwing a punch aimed at Saran's face. Saran grabs his wrist before it reaches his face.
- "Jacques uses his tackle as a feint to throw a punch, but Saran successfully catches it before it could deal any damage! This is his chance to strike!"
He tries to counter with a body shot, but Jacques inches his leg forward and sweeps his leg, tripping him.
- "Jacques has regained the upper hand! The ground-and-pound is coming!"
Jacques showers Saran, but he just barely dodges from the bottom. Just before Jacques could throw one more, Saran hits him with a double hook from the floor. Jacques gets rocked, and Saran escapes the mount. As he gets up, Jacques goes behind him. He performs a suplex.
- "Jacques lands a suplex! Saran's weight is now being used against him!"
Saran takes massive damage. Jacques attempts a soccer kick, but Saran gets up and performs a Single Leg Takedown. Both fall. Saran attempts to mount, but Jacques sweeps his legs and escapes.
- "A mount attempt! But it's no use, Jacques has escaped before Saran could get into position!"
Jacques goes into a jab rush, but Saran is blocking in a forward stance. He slowly closes in through the rush of punches. He parries the last jab and throws an elbow but Jacques backs off. Saran follows up with a Spear Knee, hitting Jacques right in the torso. He coughs up blood.
- "A DEADLY SPEAR KNEE! WILL JACQUES RECOVER FROM THIS!?
Saran grabs his hips.
- "And it looks like Saran isn't done!"
He then performs a Front Suplex, throwing Jacques into the ground.
- "A FRONT SUPLEX AFTER THAT SPEAR KNEE!? JACQUES IS GETTING BOMBARDED WITH STRONG ATTACK AFTER STRONG ATTACK!"
Saran turns around to see his opponent trying to get up. He's on one knee, and his head is bleeding. He goes for an Axe Kick finisher, but Jacques slips back and gets back up.
- "Jacques is back up, but he's bleeding profusely! At this rate, his consciousness won't last!!!"
Saran goes in, but Jacques gets closer. Saran throws a punch, but Jacques ducks under and tackles him. They both fall and Jacques gets into mount position.
- "Jacques has gotten him into another mount! Will his hits land this time!?"
Just before Jacques could throw his punches, Saran uses his superior physical strength to grab Jacques' waist and roll him over. Saran gets the mount position, but Jacques counters him with an armbar in guard position.
- "Saran tries to switch positions, but Jacques gets him into an armbar!"
Saran struggles. Their combined weight is making it almost impossible for Saran to stand up. He attempts to break free from the arm bar by pushing Jacques' legs, but Jacques has another idea. He lets go of the arm bar and wraps his legs around Saran's neck. He then slams him into the ground.
- "A Neck Scissor Takedown from the ground!? How's Saran going to get out of this one!?"
Jacques grabs his arm and hyperextends it. Saran is trying his best to get free, fighting back against Jacques' attempt to hyperextend it. This would've been a win for Jacques, but the hits he took earlier have taken a toll on his body. The blood loss steps in, and Jacques' grip gets loosened.
- "Now's my chance!"
Saran uses all of his strength to get out of the lock, rolling Jacques off. Both are still on the ground.
- "Saran gets out of the lock! Looks like the blood loss is starting to influence Jacques!"
Jacques gets up, wiping the blood off his eyes.
- " The MC's right. I could've ended that if I focused more."
Jacques thinks to himself, as he gets into a Southpaw Boxing stance. Saran stretches his arms. His right arm is in excruciating pain due to hyperextension, but Saran puts his guard up anyway.
- "The two are back up! What monstrous endurance!"
Jacques goes in, but Saran kicks him away with a teep. Saran follows up with an elbow, scraping Jacques' eyebrow, scarring it. Jacques counters with a low kick to the thigh. Saran flinches but pushes forward with a punch. Jacques performs a shoulder roll, slipping the punch and countering it with an overhand right. It lands flush on Saran's face. The force of the punch sends him back and has him reeling in pain. His nose is popped, blood is pouring out like a faucet.
- "A SHOULDER ROLL INTO A MASSIVE OVERHAND RIGHT!!! SARAN'S NOSE IS GUSHING OUT BLOOD NONSTOP!!!"
Saran blows his nose. Jacques goes in, but Saran counters with a knee kick to his face. He grabs Jacques' nape and begins a knee kick rush. Jacques is getting pummeled.
- "A knee kick barrage from Saran! Jacques' face is going to look a bit different after this match is over!"
Saran lets go of the nape and finishes the rush with an elbow uppercut.
- "This is what I was waiting for!"
He shouts before going in for a downwards elbow. Jacques regains his composure and grabs Saran's arm. He then brings him down with a Front Triangle Choke.
- "This is what I was waiting for."
Saran is once again caught in a choke.
- "A FRONT TRIANGLE CHOKE! SARAN'S ON THE WRONG END ONCE MORE!"
He struggles to escape. His face scrunches up in pain, he's struggling to breathe. Jacques holds the grip even tighter, trying not to lose consciousness this time.
- "Saran's trying to stand up! Despite his neck carrying a 110kg monster of a man!"
Saran's consciousness is fading.
- "You really will stop at nothing to make MMA a public sport, eh? I'm happy that I was defeated by you."
Saran is knocked out but standing. Jacques releases the choke. He looks at his unconscious opponent, still standing after he was knocked out. He grabs something from his pocket and puts it in Saran's pocket. It was a calling card.
- "I'm glad that I'm going to have someone like you on board."
He says before raising his arms in the air.
- "LET'S GOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
He shouts.
- "And the winner is…JACQUES "THE STORM" WILLIAMS!!!"
The crowd is absolutely loving Jacques, but also the display of manliness from Saran. Despite being knocked out, his unconscious body still stands. Adam is out of his seat bouncing around celebrating.
- "Your teacher's really strong."
- "Yup! The strongest in the world!"
Adam says before cheering with the crowd. Jitae covers his mouth. He's smiling underneath.
- " What a beast! I hope I get to fight him!"
He thinks to himself.
Luthfi Ramadhan walks up to Saran's unconscious body.
- "Let's get you patched up buddy."
He wraps Saran's arm around him and personally carries him into the infirmary. As they were heading towards the hallway, Luthfi stops in his tracks. He feels something, something threatening.
- "What is that? My head's splitting apart!"
He thinks to himself. He continues his walk until he sees a man walking towards the entrance hallway. It's Francisco Luna. He glares at Luthfi. Luthfi's shaking.
- "W-what? Am I…scared?"
Francisco looks away and continues walking. Luthfi looks back as he exits.
- "Damn, I can't believe I was shaking because of a guy smaller than me. Francisco Luna, was it? I wonder what's got me so scared."
Luthfi continues to the infirmary.