"What the fuck," I say out loud as I look at a man punching another man till he is knocked out. It was brutal, but that was not what shocked me. What shocked me was the man punching the guy till his nose bled. The man looked like Jon Bernthal... or the fucking actor who plays Frank Castle, the fucking Punisher! I could not believe my eyes; for the first time after Tony Stark, I have seen someone from the TV show in my last life in this life. This was insane; he beat that guy so hard... and then I snap out of my awe for a second.
And I started thinking, 'Wait, why is he here? If I think about it, then right now, why would Frank Castle be in here? fighting? There was no reason for him... wait! He is not here to fight; he is here to gather information... or maybe he is here to take someone down. Ugh, this is way too deep. I never expected to see the fucking Punisher here... Should I run away? No, even though Frank Castle is a fucking beast, he is still human. Any of my aliens could beat him up or even kill him, so there is no danger. So what now? ...'
I brainstorm while I sit in the corner. I keep my eye on Frank Castle, and after thinking a few seconds later, I make up my mind: "Well, since he is gathering information this way, this means we have to be at the start of the first season of Punisher, which I did not watch. Well, I mean, I did read the reviews of it, so I know the core stuff. Still, this is a golden opportunity!" One of my goals is to get stronger.
Sure, I know how to fight, but that's the fucking Punisher! I don't think there could be a better teacher than him if I do want to learn how to fight. Plus, the Punisher at the start of the first season was pretty chill. After he killed every one of the gangs that killed his family, he was a chill dude trying to be human... Yeah, I can learn from him. In fact, maybe I could help him in his revenge... And well, who would not want a guy like the Punisher to owe them one? That would be crazy...'
And as I form a plan in my mind, the guard says, "Hey Skinny Tracksuit, you're up next," and Leo almost falls down from the chair he was sitting on after hearing the guard. I stand up, and with an almost evil smile, I walk to him, and I pat him on the shoulder, and I speak, "Just call me L, ok? none of that Skinny Tracksuit... crap," and then the guard nods and says, "Ok, fine, L, go now; it's your turn, and also give me back your belongings. I keep them till you fight," and I give the guard my phone and earphones and my MP3, and as I was going to walk out of the room, the guard stops me, and he says, "Hey, L, your wrist—you're wearing a watch. Take it off."
I stop for a second, then I turn around with a smile on my face. I step closer, and I take out a $10 bill from my pocket, and I tuck it inside the guard's hand casually, and I speak, "Hey boss man, I need my watch, ok? It's like a gift from my dad, and he, like, kind of passed away, so I won't take it off, ok? Sorry." Can I please wear it while I fight?" And the guard was going to say no, but the second Leo slips a bill in his hand, the guard nods his head and gives Leo a thumbs up, and then Leo walks out of the room and to the ring.
And as Leo walks inside the ring, the crowd cheers, "Skinny Tracksuit!!! Skinny Tracksuit!!!" and Leo looks like he wanted to jump off a roof because of his nickname, and just then the speaker starts to speak, "Hey, hey, hey!! What do I hear? Now it's the crowd's loved Skinny Tracksuit!!! Back at it again; this night is his first time, but he's going crazy!!! Skinny Tracksuit is in the left corner again, and in the right corner we all shiver because he's a cunning and dangerous character, the perfect evil, the child kicker!!! The Viper!!!" And then a tall man wearing a green suit and a weird green mask walks in the ring, and he does a backflip, and he does a weird dance... and Leo looks at all of this, and he speaks, "Are you a viper or a dancer? Are you going to fight or do the Ayy Macarena with me?" And I mock him by shaking my hips a little, and the viper has anger in his eyes, and then the speaker says, "Fight!"
And the second the speaker says, "Fight the viper," he pretty much jumps at Leo, his hands going for Leo's neck, and Leo casually steps back, and then the viper quickly throws a kick to Leo's chest, and Leo sidesteps, and then I grab the viper's leg. I knew he would do this. Why? Because, well, Viper was always kicking like crazy in his past matches, plus Viper right now was angry because of my taunts, so he did what he knows always works—the predictable Spartan kick—and Leo pulled Viper down to the floor with him, and Leo held Viper's foot in his hand, and Leo twisted Viper's leg hard, making the man scream and slap his hand on the floor fast!
And after a few seconds I looked at the speaker and the referee, and both of them didn't stop me, so after a second of thought I let Viper go. I did not twist and break his foot or anything... but before I could step back more, Viper did a leg swipe on the ground, making me loosen my footing for a second, and then Viper threw a kick right at my stomach, and I blocked it with my forearm, but I got pushed back, and I fell on the rings, and I held myself up, and I took deep breaths as I watched Viper stand up, looking at me more carefully now. He was not angry...
And I stand up on my feet, and I shake my head a little, and I put my hands up in a boxing stance, and I start to slowly take fast steps to Viper! And it looks like I was tired, and Viper fast smiles, thinking he won. He throws a fucking axe kick right at my chin, and just then I duck, twist my body fast, and spin myselfon one foot. I spin and kick Viper right on his chest, pushing Viper back, and well, that was a spin back kick! And before Viper could get back up, I throw myselfat him, and I pin him down with my knee as I slap his face again and again and again till the speaker says, "OHHHH MY GOD, it looks like we have a winner! It's the one and only Skinny Tracksuit!!!! The young, youthful, weak-looking Skinny Tracksuit won again!!!!" and the crowd cheers, "Skinny Tracksuit!!! Skinny Tracksuit!!! Skinny Tracksuit!!!"
I stand up from Viper, and I pant. Now I was really out of breath, and I hold my back, and I grunt, and I think, 'Fuck, I think I pulled something!' 'Ahh, fuck, fuck, I really should not have tried the fucking spinback kick, but fuck, I just love doing that. At least in my past life that was the kick I practiced the most. Fuck, that fight was hard...' I get out of the ring and drag myself to the waiting room, and I sit down, and I pant, and then I take a deep breath, and I think about everything that just happened. 'Viper was actually kind of good; his spartan kicks were a little scary, not to even talk about the fucking axe kick. If his axe kick actually had landed on my chin, I'd be knocked out or worse...'
Fuck, I was playing a mind game from the start. I taunted Viper and made him angry, and taking advantage of that, I put his foot in a hold, and I could have just broken his foot and well, won, but it was not that big of a deal. I don't know, Viper; there is no reason to break his foot, and also the fucking Punisher was here. If Frank saw what I did, there was no way he would train me after all. Deep, deep down, Frank was somewhat a good man, but everything after that was just a mess. If I was in my past body, I would have never fallen for Viper's leg swipe; I would have never lost my footing... I am way too slow and weak. This body needs more work than I thought, and I also might have fucked up my back a little...'
And I lay back, and I stretch my back a little, and I look at the ring outside, and I see Frank beat up the other person without a second thought, and for a second Frank even chokes the fucking guy till he is knocked out. Only then does Frank stand up and walk out of the ring, and then I look at the guard fast, and I speak, "Hey! Boss man! Don't tell me I have to fight that man!" I point at Frank, who was walking out of the ring, and the guard speaks in an almost sorry tone: "Uh, sorry, L, looks like you have to fight that dude. He is crazy for real, but don't worry, if you do somehow beat him, you win the $1000!" But if you don't, then, well, you know that dude does not kill people, or he has not yet, so like, you know, you should be fine!"
And I look at the guard who slowly walks out of the room, and I blink, and I smile a little, and I think about it: "Fighting the Punisher?" Crazy, what the hell am I doing? Well, let's think about this. Even though we know the outcome, can I win against the Punisher in hand-to-hand combat? No way, maybe in my past life? '... Ok, no, no way. I used to fight in MMA a little, so I won't say I was useless against the Punisher in my past life, but let's just say I won't win even if I had guns. Hell, I won't even win if I had a group of skilled people with me... Yeah, that's just how weird the Punisher is; he is a freak...'
And just then the speaker says, "It's time for the last fight!"