Chapter 3: Mule boxing Part-2

1

Louis’ pulse was beating faster and faster as he narrowed his eyes. He was pulsing with anger as he stared at the two opponents circling in around him like a pack of hyenas. The mustached man was brushing the sand off his face as he grinned at Louis, while the other huge man was popping his knuckles. They were going in for the kill. At the edge of the boxing ring, Nick lay there lifelessly, his face planted in the ground. Louis knew he could never beat the two men alone, but he was willing to take them on face to face.

“I’ll take you right on!” Shouted Louis as his face twisted in anger. “I’ll take you both on!”

Silence fell upon the stadium as the crowd looked down at the ring. Then With a sudden burst, they all laughed. Their laughter filled the entire stadium, “Oh look who's so angry! Go back to mama.” Yelled someone in the crowd. Another man said, “ OoH he's angry.” Louis was too enraged to care about what the crowd said. He only wanted to avenge Nick.

“I’ll beat you up for you,” replied the mustached man as he approached Louis. “I’ll pay you back for humiliating me in the ring.” He sounded very irritated as he wiped the sand off his face. He wasn’t happy that Louis tripped his mule and ego to the ground. He cracked his knuckles as he forced his mule to charge forward. He was aiming for Louis’ body, and he wasn’t going to miss this time. At the same time from the opposite end of the field, the huge man with green eyes charged forward just like his teammate. He too was planning on crushing Louis. Louis was stuck between the two moving forces. The mule under him didn’t seem like it would be standing anytime soon.

“I’ll make you into a pretty sandwich!” Shouted the mustached man as he charged forward raising his fist. The other huge man coming from behind was also raising his arms as he pumped his biceps upwards

Louis watched as the two men swung their arms down at him. He too had pumped his fist back as he anticipated to be crushed. He hurled his fist forward with all his might, knowing that he would get punched. “Bang!” Louis’ fist rammed into the face of the huge man. He shoved the bandaged knuckles right into the nose, the same place Nick had punched. However, Louis paid a dear price for this punch. He was crushed between the huge fist of the two men as he coughed up blood and spit. “Grunch…” the sickening crunch of the sound of Louis being crushed echoed throughout the stadium.

The stadium roared as they watched Louis slump over on the mule. The two men crushing Louis flex their muscles even more. Even still then Louis keeps his arms up, ramming his clenched fist deeper into the face of his opponent. He couldn’t back down now.

2

Every person was glued to the duel. The crowd held their breath as Louis continued to fight. Every punch and blow was echoed with a loud cheer from the bystanders in the crowd. Nick still laid at the corner of the ring as the intense fighting continued. Every swing Louis took he gave it everything he had. The sound of the battle rang throughout the ring, as the crowd watched. His opponents punched Louis with all their might. However, even still then, Louis continued to fight on. The fist of the two huge men couldn’t silence the flames of Louis.

“Bam!” The sound of a punch vibrated all over the stadium. It sounded closer to a gunshot than a punch.

“Crack- Pow!” More sounds of intense battling continued. The three men continued to fight without a word. Blood slowly seeped out of their nose as they twisted their faces even more as they continued to stare each other down like hawks. The crowd continues to cheer on as they watch the magnificent battle.

“Back down now,” says the huge man with green eyes as he popped his knuckles. “This is your last chance” he continues to rant.

The mustached man adds on, “I’ll beat ya to death.” He seems deadly serious.

Louis however doesn’t back down at all. He grins like Nick as he prepares another punch. He almost seems unfazed even though his body is covered in bruises inflicted upon him by the two men. He continues to stare in silence, as his eye says it all. The fight shall continue.

3

The crowd watched down at the ring in dead silence. No one could believe what they were seeing. Louis was still standing even after taking numerous hits from his opponents. Blood was spewed all across the sandpit. His face was bloody and broken. One could say it almost looked like a pomegranate. His body too was broken and swollen. His cloth was stained with his blood, and the bandages wrapping his knuckles were also stained in both with the blood of his opponent and his. It wasn’t a fight anymore, it was a public execution.

“Why are you still standing?” Asked the mustached man. He too had taken a couple of hits from Louis, however, he was in much better shape than him. “What are you fighting for?” Continued to ask the mustached man.

“I- I don’t know man,” Louis said weakly. He was barely conscious as he sat upon his mule. “I’ll like to ask myself,” said Louis as he continued to wipe his blood.

“Just give up,” muttered the huge man with green eyes. His face was bloody, and one could make out the shape of Nick’s fist embedded in the man’s face like a bruise.

The two men who were dueling Louis could continue all day against their weaker opponent. Louis’ attack didn't do much physical damage, however, they seemed to be hurt too. These people were humans. It sickened them beating up a man half their size, let alone a barely conscious man. They watched, hoping for Louis to fall to the ground or surrender, but both of them knew deep down that the man they were fighting wasn't a man who would easily give up.

“Just give up,” continued the huge man with green eyes. “We’ll spare you.” There was no weight in his words. You could see the wear and misery in his eyes. He was sick of beating up a fellow soldier.

“Yea, there's no reason for you to fight anymore.” said the mustached man. “You're in no shape to fight.”

Louis just sat there on his mule. Slowly he raised his right arm as he whispered, “I’ve gone past a point of no return… Come at me again, I’ll continue to fight you.”

The two huge men looked at each other and hesitated. They slowly nodded and looked at Louis. They too slowly raised their fist as they pumped their clenched fist. They were going to attack him again. They both bit their lips down, not because they were in pain, but because they were not sure if they wanted to continue fighting Louis. They just continued to circle Louis like a pack of hyenas waiting for the prey to fall. The air of the stadium was thick and heavy as everyone held their breath in anticipation. The stadium went dead silent.

One minute, two minutes, three, four, then five. Not a single soul said a peep. It was so quiet that you could even hear a pin drop. Louis sat there, for the entire five minutes he seemed to recollect his strength in his right arm as he patiently waited for his opponents to strike. The two opponents sat there too, completely silent, they were no longer circling Louis. They too were recollecting their guts and strengths as they stared at each other.

4

The silence was cut short by Louis as he yelled, “If you're not going to attack me, I’ll attack you first.” He clenched his fist harder than ever as blood continued to seep down. Drops of his blood dripped down onto the mule and sand. He looked very hideous. “Come at me!” Louis continued to yell. He knew that he couldn’t last much longer, the pain was unbearable and his adrenaline rush was finally coming to an end.

The two other opponents after hearing Louis seemed to finally conclude as they redirected their mules at Louis. “If you wish,” the mustached man said. He had sensed the end of Louis, and he knew that he had to finish Louis off with all his might. Louis’ opponent both nod, this time without hesitation before charging into the center of the pit where Louis stands.

As his opponents approached Louis took a deep breath in, he then hurled his blood-soaked bandaged knuckles as fast as he could at the face of his opponent. He feels his knuckles making contact with his opponent's face. He could even feel his knuckles and opponent's face caving into the energy. With a sudden blow, Louis feels the wind being knocked out of him. He looks down as he sees that his chest too had crumbled under the might of his opponent. The pain spreads all over his body as his consciousness slowly flies away. As he slips out he feels the other fist landing right into the side of his face, he can tell his face is twisted oddly. He coughs up warm blood as the bandages holding his legs down dig deeper into his skin until finally, it rips off. Then Louis flys up, his energy leaves his body. He feels his body being projected upwards as he spins out of control. I must look like a ragdoll he thinks to himself. Then for a split second everything goes blank before he feels his body slamming right onto the sandpit ground.

5

Louis opens his eyes, the loud cheering from the crowd echoes throughout his head. He winces in pain as he raises his arms. His vision is blurry as he slowly looks up. His head hurts as if he has a bad hangover. He looked at his knuckles and hands, he could tell that both of his hands were broken. The two men he was fighting were both still standing, celebrating their victory by pumping their fists up. Louis at least hoped that his final blow would have taken down one of them. Then slowly Louis lowered his head down. The pain was getting much worse, as he looks up again with his eyes closed. “Oh, fuck man,” Louis whispers as he looks up at the ceiling of the tent stadium. “I guess my efforts were futile,” he continues to rant. He then looked to his left where he saw Nick. “Heh,” Louis says to himself as he grins. “This was for you,'' he says. Nick was still there laying silently. Louis smiled as he looked away. He wasn’t expecting him to reply anyways.

Suddenly Nick quietly replied, “Maybe you could have won if you were a chivalrous knight.” You could tell the friendly playful voice in Nick’s voice.

Louis was surprised but he quickly recollected himself as he replied sarcastically, his face still looking up at the ceiling. “Maybe if you did better we could have won.”

“Ha, look who's talking. You're so puny your punches did nothing” Nick scuffed.

“Don’t wanna be told by someone who couldn’t last five minutes fighting,” Louis responded. Then both Louis and Nick took a deep breath in as they let a loud burst of laughter.

“Thanks, bro,” Nick said in between his laughter. “I owe you one.”

“Yup… Yup, you do.” Louis mutters as he covers his eyes. Then very slowly both Louis and Nick raised their bloody right hands to the sky. They pumped it up and down as if they had won. In their minds, they had won the fight. A different kind of fight.