Chapter 51 Hostile Welcome
Climbing down the gloomy staircase, at the bottom of it were two large figures that were armed and could barely be seen in the dimly lit staircase that went down very far.
It was damp and musty and it was hard to believe that there truly was the biggest fight club in the city behind the door that the two men guarded.
But since Achara was so confident it was there, and two armed men dressed like the men that accompanied the one-eyed demon were guarding the entrance, it must be the right place.
"Fight or spectate?" one of them asked simply.
"Fight," they both said in unison.
"Follow me," one of them said before opening the door behind them.
As soon as he did, almost as if the door led to another world, their ears were assaulted by the blaring cheers and their eyes by the blinding lights that shone through.
"I said follow me," he repeated, this time much more sternly as they followed after him.
As soon as they stepped through the door, they saw hundreds if not thousands of people all cheering as they watched over a large cage-like arena in which two large men were going at it.
It was like a coliseum, and after being patted down to make sure they didn't have any weapons on them, they were led away from the arena and towards a separate area in which they were greeted by none other than the one-eyed demon and his men.
It wasn't unusual for fighters in the fight club to wear masks, and it wasn't like two unarmed individuals could do much, so they had no reason to worry as Xavier and Achara came in.
"I was wondering which one of my elite fighters it was that came through the reserved entrance, but I never expected it to be you. The Unstoppable Killer. Long time no see," the one-eyed demon greeted her with an evil smile.
Hearing that name, her face distorted slightly as she gritted her teeth, while Xavier was pretty calm despite being before one of the men he sought to take down.
"Why are you wearing a mask and who's this masked friend of yours? Can this twirp fight as well as you can?"
"I want to wear a mask and yes, he can fight. We both want to fight tonight, and want good money for our fights," she stated bluntly.
She was surprisingly stern, as she said so.
"He fits the description of a wanted man. One that caused quite a commotion in our territory by starting conflict with a small gang. What was the gang's name again? The-the..."
"The Black Hang Gang, sir," one of his subordinates chimed in.
"Yeah, that's it. The Black Hand Gang. It must've been you that was in the police reports, right?" the one-eyed demon inquired, with an evil smile as he got up and walked over to Xavier.
Staring straight into Xavier's left eye with the only eye that he had, the one-eyed demon was inches away from him and expected him to be afraid and intimidated.
But to his surprise, Xavier laughed and was relaxed.
Leaving a mental note that the Wolf Gang had access to the NYPD's police reports and likely had police on their payroll, Xavier responded after laughing, "There are plenty of men that wear masks and hoods. Who's to say it was me? And even if it was me, I'm sure I did you a favour by getting rid of those pests."
The one-eyed demon and his men burst out into laughter, but Xavier could see that despite their amusement, they held hostility towards them and many of his men had their hands on their guns.
"You are right. You did me a favour. But kids these days really don't know their place. First that kid not long ago, and now this little fucker," the giant man said to himself.
Stood before him, Xavier felt small and his height rivalled that of Connor's, while his frame, although not as muscular, was large and nothing to scoff at.
And with his bald head, broad shoulders and multitude of visible scars, he certainly had a frightening appearance.
But that wasn't the most intimidating thing about him.
His suffocating presence and powerful gaze made it so that it even felt hard for Xavier to breathe before him.
-
'Maybe the rumours aren't that exaggerated,' Xavier couldn't help but think to himself, as he fought the urge to take a step back.
Seeing that Xavier was standing strong before him, the one-eyed demon had a crazed smile on his face as he commented, "I must say, this kid and the other shithead are both quite brave. Or maybe just crazy. But either way, I like it."
However, despite his comment and smile appeared positive, his actions weren't very.
Withdrawing a knife from his belt, he ran it across Xavier's face and if that wasn't asserting one's dominance, what was?
Xavier wouldn't have moved back, as he didn't sense any malicious intent from him. However, he couldn't have reacted even if he wanted to, which showed him just how vast the gap between them was.
-
Even with his Gangster Instincts and the speed he prided himself in, he was too slow to even see his movements and the one-eyed demon could have slashed his neck with ease.
'So, this is the difference between us?'
A chill ran down Xavier's spine as the one-eyed demon retracted his knife, and patted his shoulder.
Walking back over to his large chair that was almost like a throne, the large man said, "You've still got quite a way to go kid, but I'll give you some credit and I've been looking for some interesting fighters that have the potential to enter the rankings, so I'll give you a chance. Beat one of my subordinates, and I will let you fight in my fight club."
"Which one?" Xavier asked without hesitation.
"Take your pick. They are all skilled fighters that could take on a group of average men, and that is without any weapons."
His words didn't intimidate Xavier in the slightest as he looked around the room, and gauged the skill and danger level of all of his potential opponents.
-
"Hmmm. I can't handle you or any of the guys that are around you," thought Xavier out loud, feeling as though they were too dangerous and not people he could take on yet.
The one-eyed demon smiled after hearing that, and Xavier wasn't wrong.
The men who stood closest to him and the few that were sat had the most dangerous and intimidating presence, and for them to be so close to the one-eyed demon, they must be the most capable and trusted of his subordinates.
"But other than that, I can take on anyone else in this room," he said with a smile.
Thinking that the masked youth knew his place, the Wolf Gang Executive didn't expect Xavier to be so arrogant and confident in his skills as he leaned back in his chair.
'Let's see what this kid's got."