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The fight was on!

The baseball field, that was normally reserved for the sport that's in the same, was now being repurposed as a gladiatorial arena. The fight started on where the pitcher normally stood.

Eli was quick to instigate the fight, rushing Darnell. Despite the boy's muscles, he was small and fast, lithe even when compared to Darnell's top heavy physique, giving him a significant advantage when it came to agility. He swung a kick at the tiger, a spinning roundhouse, kicking Darnell in the hip. "Got him!" Eli said, grinning. His kick was followed up with a whip from his tail, aimed at the tiger's leg, aiming to trip him.

Darnell meanwhile only winced in pain, but didn't stagger nor budged, the tail whip didn't even knock him off balance. "Sorry, Eli," he said, as he swung an open palm at Eli's face, not only slapping him but shoving him. With a diagonal motion to the ground, Eli found himself quickly brought to the wet and soggy ground. Painful as it may be, he was grateful that the grass softened the impact.

"A slap?" Ravi laughed, the jackal's paws propped up on the chair in front of him, thankfully no one sitting there. "Darnell, what are you doing?"

"Eli isn't going to take that well..." Wes said, nodding, watching the fight through a pair of binoculars, something many people brought. For those who didn't, the fight was easily visible on the jumbotron, broadcasted via drones.

Often times, a slap serves two purposes. The main one and most recognized purpose wasn't to damage your opponent. The purpose of a slap, rather, was to demean and insult your opponent. Looks like Darnell was in the mood to play a heel. From the irritated expression on Eli's face, he certainly was feeling the insulting effects of the slap. You could say it was a form of psychic warfare. "Come on! What the hell was that?!" He quickly got off the ground and went for a palm strike, hitting Darnell in the chin with the very bottom of his hand, where it was hardest.

WHAM!

The impact of the sound was heard and Darnell staggered away, rubbing his chin. Maybe the slap was going a bit far, he thought to himself. His opponent was an adult, yes, but just barely. In his eyes, he was still just a kid to him. He didn't want to do anything to Eli that would seriously hurt him at such a young age. This was what was going through his head while he tanked several punches from the young boy. Darnell had his arms out to the side, tensing up completely, letting each blow hit him.

"Oh here we go!" Ravi continued to rant. "Dude is going with this approach?"

"Dude is too nice." Cutter laughed, Brook leaning against him, a beer in his hand. Something that he brought himself. "It isn't that he isn't taking the fight seriously. I think he just doesn't want to hurt a kid."

"Still, it' s a bit rude," Brook said, "But I get why he wouldn't want to hurt him too bad... Even if he is legally an adult."

"Well, thankfully, Darnell's enhancements benefit a more defensive fighting style," Ravi said, whistling, looking over to Brook, who was the only one here not in the loop. "Just wait and see, I think it's easier to understand if you watch. Eli is gonna be the one to tire out if he keeps this up."

Back on the battlefield, Eli continued to hit Darnell, who continued to stay on the defense. From the bleachers, Ethan watched, still uncertain about victory, always the pessimist. At least the sunflower seeds that he was munching on tasted good and kept him comfy.

Despite how many times Darnell was struck, even with how hard Eli was striking him, he didn't look like he was being wounded, his body was completely still.

Eli, on the offense, began to feel something. Pain. His hands hurt like hell!

"Look closely, Brook," Wes said, adjusting his binoculars, zooming in, getting a real close up on the two fighters. He handed the binoculars off to the hyena. "Specifically, pay attention to Eli's hands. Notice something?"

The hyena looked down, following Wes' instructions.

Eli hit and punched Darnell, until there was blood on his hands. The blood wasn't Darnell's. Until finally, with one last punch, he felt a strong, sharp spike of pain in his hand, running down the length of his forearm, causing him to take a few steps back. "Gah!" Clutching his hand, he groaned. Did he even hurt Darnell at all?

No, from the looks of things, Darnell didn't have a scratch on him. Any of the blood on the white fur of his belly and chest, was belonging to Eli. The tiger stopped tensing up, and laughed, "Sorry, Eli, that was terrible of me. But I wanted to give you a taste of what you are in for. You can forfeit if you like, but you can't hurt me."

Eli went silent for a bit, looking at his wounded hands. Rubbing them, feeling the sting when his fingers touched the sore spots. His hand still wet from when he was on the ground, he used the moisture to wipe some blood off, before speaking again. "So that's it? You... Don't take me seriously?" Eli panted, spitting a wad of saliva to the ground. "Fuck you..." He said, his usual smile disappearing with one of annoyance.

"Sorry, but I just think you're too young for this. Too naive. I don't know what Primal's staff is thinking." He frowned, "I have a little sister the same age as you, and I would hate to see her get hurt in such a way. Just call it a big brother instinct." He wiped some of the blood off of his chest. "I'm not that strong compared to the other fighters in this tournament, even the guy you fought is better than me... So what I'm trying to say is, if you can't even scratch me, then you will never hope to beat any one else in Primal. This is for your own protection."

Eli gritted his teeth, seething, before shouting at the tiger, his fist clenched. "What gives you the right to decide what I can and can't do?!"

Chatter could be heard among the onlookers, all of them having their own thoughts on the matter. Some agreed with Darnell. Others sided with Eli. But all of them, at least most, saw the point that Darnell was making.

Eli continued on with his rant, Darnell was silently taken aback. Such verbal confrontations were nothing new to Primal. As a matter of fact, verbal arguments in the middle of a fight were just the drama that viewers couldn't get enough of; everything was audible, again, thanks to the various drones picking up and projecting their speech. "It's my future! If I was afraid of dying or getting injured, I wouldn't have joined in the first place! If I'm going to die, I'm going to do it because of my own choices, not anyone else's."

"Oh here we go." Ravi nodded. "Heard a million speeches like this one."

"Feel kinda bad for the guy," Cutter said, "Uh, Eli that is. But Darnell has a point, you think?"

Brook and Ethan didn't have anything to say on the matter, only silently watching, but they understood what the boy had to say. Despite being nowhere near each other, they both felt a mutual sympathy for Eli, both of them resonating with him in that moment. "Eli..." Ethan murmured, wide eyed, going against the fence of the dugout, wanting to get a better look at the fight. As the man who put Eli in this fight, he wondered where he lied in these choices of Eli.

The ability to choose your own life was something to be envied in this world.

Eli dried his hand on his shorts. "So come on," He urged Darnell on, "Come on and fight me!" He dashed forward, he slammed his right elbow into Darnell's stomach. This time, he caught him off guard, Darnell hunched forward in pain from the impact, and fell back, ass first, on to the grass.

He was quick to stand up. With a solemn expression, he clenched his fist. "Alright, Eli," He swung his fist at the young man, hitting him in the chest. The punch was strong enough to send Eli flying backwards, slamming and sliding onto the wet grass, until he was a few good meters away from the initial impact. "I don't like it, but I'll let you have it your way."

Watching just a few meters away from the fight, the Redliner Oleg grinned, removing his sunglasses. Oh this was going to be a good one.

"Damn, Eli!" Brook shouted, eyes wide, putting the binoculars down, her cigarette nearly falling out of her mouth.

"Crazy, huh?" Cutter said, still smiling, not quite feeling the weight of Eli's words. He was too easy going of a person to get caught up in this kinda thing. "Kinda young to be saying shit like that. Where'd you find this guy anyways?"

"What are you talking about?" Ravi said, "You were saying shit like that and worse when you were 12? Remember that whole phase?"

"We all want to forget that phase," He laughed. "I was a stupid kid!"

"You were both weird kids, so don't start." Wes said, as Brook handed his binoculars back. "So, Brook, you're wondering what enhancements Darnell has?"

"Some defensive skill?" She said, quick to change the subject.

"Something like that, yes," he nodded. "A creation of Maxx Muscles, another biotics group, not quite as famous as Second Chance. A lot of his muscle fiber is enhanced. Not super high end stuff you'll see with Primal's champions, but certainly some good stuff."

"Right, right." She nodded, "When he tenses up like that, that's some sort of skill right?"

"Yup," Cutter said, "He-"

"His muscles, completely tense up, harder than iron." Wes interrupted Cutter, coughing momentarily, at the smell of cigarette smoke from Brook "When Eli was hitting him like that, over and over, it was like hitting a punching bag filled with bricks. I've seen people lose fights again Darnell because they broke their hand from punching him. He lacks a lot of skill and fighting knowledge, but he makes up for it in defense! He calls this technique Bulwark!"

"So that means..." She nodded, trying to understand the whole strategy here. "Eli has to just punch him harder?"

"It means he's got no hope of winning," Ravi laughed, "Does the kid have any enhancements of his own? From being able to take a punch like that, he has to have something."

"I honestly don't know, but I'll ask him later." She said, smiling, still hopeful. "Come on Eli! You just have to hit him harder!" Full of energy, that one.

Ravi, though, raised a brow, looking at the hyena, thinking about what she said. She didn't know if he was cybernetically enhanced? Something the vast majority of Primal fighters had to have? Worrying, to say the least.

Ethan, alone in the dugout, was too lost in thought to comment on the fight or shout to Eli. His mind still focused on what Eli had to say. "Come on, Eli, you got this..." He smiled, clenching his fist, watching the young boy fight. With that smile, he figured what he wanted to tell Eli after this, no matter the results.

Drones continued to fly by, the two fighters. Observing them, picking up the tiniest motions and the tiniest sounds, some of them even broadcasting to people faraway in some sort of violent, private livestream. Looked like Darnell was finally putting in effort into the fight, with the occasional swing and kick in Eli's direction. Eli was still not doing significant damage, but when Darnell's punches landed, he could feel each one of them. Hard. When he hit Darnell, he didn't quite make as much of an impact. Hitting Darnell when he was tensed up was foolish and only hurt himself. Hitting him when he wasn't, like after an attack? That was when he could do some damage.

"So now you get me?" Eli said, his smile returning. "So now you see what I mean? Because I think I figured you out too."

"What do you mean?" Darnell said.

"Your body is strong and durable, yeah, your muscles and stuff?" Eli said, dodging an overhead swing, "When you go all tense like that? Well I think I know a weakness of yours? I'm not talking about hitting you when you're not tensed up." He swung a low kick at Darnell, who immediately jumped away, not blocking it. "Oh ho? What was that? You dodged? You must know where I'm aiming?"

"Brat." Darnell said, furrowing his brow, more annoyed than anything, before swinging a punch at Eli that the boy blocked. Still hurt even when blocking...

But Eli wasn't giving up on his assault. He attacked again, a low kick. Being so close, Darnell didn't have time to dodge or the maneuverability to block. The attack landed in the one of the few spots of Darnell's body that wasn't fortified: His crotch. This time, the impact was definitely felt, Darnell groaned in pain, holding back a scream.

"His balls, his eyes, a few select parts of his skull, and the inside of his mouth... Those are all the spots that haven't received any modification as far as I know." Ravi said, being the cybernetic expert of the group. "He only had his muscles modified after all. If the spot doesn't have any muscles, then it isn't strong. Balls are just an organ outside of the body surrounded by skin."

"Yeah I think we understand," Wes said, "Don't have to give us an anatomy lesson."

"I don't get it. So with all these cybernetically enhanced people, doesn't that mean anyone can join Primal?" Brook asked, watching Darnell reeling in pain from the kick, feeling a bit of phantom pain again. "Like if I got a cybernetic arm and leg combo, I could join."

"Not really," Wes said, "You still have to be decently strong to use decent cybernetics. Strong enhancements require a strong body."

"Think of it this way," Ravi said, "Getting a powerful cybernetic with a weak body would be like building a house with support beams made of steel and walls made of styrofoam." He snickered, "I actually have seen some guy's arm explode because he punched with a force that was too strong for his own body."

"Ravi!" Cutter chimed in, looking over to his friend, looked scared, "Don't tell me that! That's horrifying!"

"Cool..." Brook said, looking back to the fight. "Uh, guys? Are the fighters allowed to interact with the drones?" She said, seeing, Eli grabbing one of the orb shaped drones that got a bit too close to the two of them. It was mostly spherical, other than a fin shaped rig on the top, bottom, and sides. He was beginning to use it as a bludgeon, holding it by one of the fins!

Hitting Darnell over in over, with the drone. The jumbotron had cut to what it was seeing, as it was smashed into the tiger over and over. Darnell, although back on his feet, was still stunned by the nut shot from before, unable to tense up. He had to defending himself the old fashioned way, with his arms.

"I told you! Don't look down on me! I don't fight so I can win! Victory is secondary! I don't fight because I like hurting people either! I don't fight for money!" Eli said, punctuating his sentences with each hit. His enthusiasm fully returned. "I fight because I like to fight!"

He was not about to lose a fight because he was pitied!

"Yes." Darnell gritted his teeth. "I get it." He said, as he swung a fist at Eli, smashing into his chest, causing him to let go of the drone. The attack was followed up with another, a strong left handed punch, the tiger's dominant hand, this one too hitting Eli in the chest, hard enough to send him tumbling away once more, sliding across the grass, right towards where the batter's box normally was. "I understand..." Tired, wiping the blood from his face, Darnell sighed. "I'm sorry for belittling you."

Eli stayed lying on the ground. He tried his best to endure the attack, but he wasn't able to compensate most of the damage. Darnell really did hit hard.

Oleg began to step forward, approaching Eli. "Eli, are you okay?" He asked, with a necessarily demanding voice. At least Eli looked to be alive. "If you do not get up in the next 10 seconds, you will be considered unfit to continue fighting." He wasn't offering a hand, the fighter would have to get up on their own strength. He rubbed the side of his head, "Also, I don't know if there are unspoken rules against damaging the drones, but please don't do that again. They're expensive."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Ethan started to get up, Darnell watched him from afar, arms crossed. Both fighters were clearly exhausted.

10... 9... 8...

"Just a bit... of a breather." Eli said, hoping from his sitting position, straight to a standing one. His body was caked in dirt, blood, and grass. "Come on, that's what I like!" He stretched, groaning, "Don't think I can get hit like that again, tensed up or not."

"Tensed up?" Darnell raised a brow, taking a pause from the fighting, letting it happen so he could regain his stamina.

"Tried to do the same thing as you." He said, visible tensing his arm. "Didn't quite work, but it got the job done."

Darnell paused, confused by his statement. That made zero sense... He didn't have the same modifications that he did. Did he? With a 100 percent flesh and blood body, tensing up like that would surely be more of a detriment to the person doing it, right? Not wanting to think too hard on it, Darnell laughed, "You really are full of surprises, kid. But I'm still going to win this fight." He cracked his knuckles. "As a matter of fact, I am going to win this fight in a single blow."

Eli grinned, his tail wagging. "Oh? Funny you say that. Because I plan to do the exact same thing."

The audience, from Brook and her new friends, to Ethan in the dugout, and all the strangers who came from miles just to see this one fight, waited with baited breath, ready for the climax of this fight.