Action time or suicide

I grimaced already knowing the outcome. 'Is there any way out of this?', I asked Kade, my eyes glued to my opponent. I prided myself on my Amazonian traits, but now I feel puny. 'No', he replied casually. 'Can I just step in and admit I give up?', my voice wistful to my ears. 'No'. 'You realize I'm coming out of that ring in a stretcher, right?' 'No'. 'You are going to pay the bill for the hospital ', I said, not acknowledging his answer. 'No'. 'Remind me again why am I fighting?' 'No'. 'You said you are not into illegal stuff anymore. What is this then? As far as I can see here, it not only squeaks illegal but also shouts', I asked quoting his statement with my hands. 'No comment' 'Are you going to answer with other than no or no comment?', I exaggerated my irritation. 'No'. 'Oh, come on, I'm about to get beaten here. At least try to motivate me. You know, all those prep talks coaches give before the fight', I rubbed my hands ready to get motivated. 'No'. 'Ugh, you are useless. Do you not watch any action movies? Anyone would say to try to get in the zone. Here you are, instead of pumping my confidence, you are irritating me to no end. What am I going to do with you?' 'Nothing', he deadpanned. 'That's it. I gave up. You are a lost cause', I lift my hands. Now that he shut gracing me with his verbal expertise, I turned my concentration on the ring. As far as the rules go there are none. There is no particular format to fight, you could say fighters of any martial discipline, such as boxing, karate, jiu-jitsu, wrestling, and judo can compete that allow kicking, punching, and grappling techniques, both stand-up and on the ground. In other words, you can beat the shit out of the opponent until he is unconscious or gives up. I watched her trying to find any weak point when the referee announced my name. 'Wish me luck', I said to Kade and started towards the ring not wanting to hear his 'No'. One minute we were facing each other, assessing others' body language, the next minute at the sound of 'Go', I was hit with a truck. There is no other word for it. I landed on the ground groaning, my face aching with the punch it took. Oh no, you didn't. Not my face. Besides me, everyone already started counting. In my mind's eye, I can clearly see Raphael with a disapproving look saying-'Ms. Anderson, this is not proper etiquette for the office. I must cut from your today's salary for improper professional appearance'. That landed me on my feet as nothing did. Irritation mingled with adrenaline helped me to charge. Nothing existed other than her, me, and this ring. I attacked with everything I got punching, blocking, ducking, flipping, backtracking, defending, and charging. There is no room for strategies. It was like a dance that came to me after a few stumbles. We were both panting from the exertion, both sporting bruises, her more than me. If this goes on for another minute, there won't be any energy left of me to defend. Time to end this. I flipped her on the ground, holding her throat, not cutting the supply of air, but enough to render unconscious. She tried to flip me, flapping like a fish, trying to dislocate me. 'Shh, I'm not harming you. It's just a sleeper chokehold. Don't fight it', I tried to soothe her in between my panting breath. The next minute she loosened her struggle, enough to make my hold take root. I held her even after she fainted, giving her the respect, she deserves. I laid her gently and looked up, my mind coming into focus, to the cheer coming from everyone. I scanned the crowd for Kade when my eyes clashed with a certain grey eye. I blinked to make sure I'm seeing right. What is Raphael Sinclair doing here? 'Erica', I whip around at the sound of Kade calling me. He doesn't need to raise his voice to be heard. Which sucks when you try to do the same thing because it drowns in the buzz. I checked the spot one more time where I saw Raphael, only to find it empty. It's weird. Either I'm obsessed with Raphael Sinclair or he is gone all stalker on me. The former explains nothing much other than I'm delusional. The latter, well, it seems as likely as me dancing naked on Brooklyn bridge. Not that I'm dancing anytime soon. Focus Erica. 'Coming', I jumped from the ring, stumbling clumsily. Shit ruined the badass effect. 'Did you see the fight? I was like boom, chop-chop. I won. I'm great. I'm a badass. I'm a goddess. I think we should stick to my picture here. Erica Anderson, the ninja queen. Ninja queen must be highlighted. What do you think? Ninja queen or warrior princess. Personally, I prefer ninja queens. What about you?', I screamed euphoria running through my veins. I winced as soon as the pain registered on my face. Damn, I'm going to look colourful on Monday. 'Here, put this on your face. Let's go. We need to talk', he said, giving me an ice pack and turning to the exit. 'What? No 'good job, I'm proud of you'? At least pat my back. I know my fighting prowess made you speechless. Ah, you need not be jealous. I will share my techniques with you. After all, I'm a good girl. It will only be on weekends mind you. I'm busy on weekdays. Where are we going? I have to go home', I said following him. 'Hop on', he said pointing to the seat on Harley. We tore through the city lanes as fast as earlier. Within no time we were back in Kade's office. 'What's the urgency? Look I said on weekends, but as you can see, I'm not at my best', I pointed the ice pack towards the bruise on my face. 'Do you want a drink?', he asked, diverting the subject. 'What's the matter, Kade? You never offered me a drink', I said the obvious. 'Why don't you sit on the chair', he motioned me to the chair. 'Now you are scaring me. It's not like you to stall. Spit it out. I can take it', I said all joviality gone. He took a long breath and said,' it's about your sister' 'What about her?' 'She was murdered' 'Ya, I know. I told you about it', I swallowed the lump in my throat and blinked the tears that came easily to me now, whenever I think of her. He looked into my eyes and said, 'not by the serial killer'.