A week had passed at a relatively even pace, at least according to Kaito. In that week he had taken time to prepare for his next big fight, apparently bigger than last week's or the week before because apparently it was going to be the debut of some very promising fighter that went by the name of Edge. It was rather corny and unappealing to Kaito, but then again he hardly gave a damn about what the hell his opponent was called cared only to win and claim his spoils. Despite being so connected to the emotions of others, sometimes the Carpathian was as practical as the next man; or rather person considering that he wasn't human. Kaito simply wanted to get this fight over and yet...
As he stood there in the changing room he pondered what his sponsor had told him just moments before arriving in the abandoned warehouse again. "He's a newbie. He's got to settle a rep somehow, don't he? Look here, its easy money for both of us and you don't need to be gettin' a beatin'. Now that sounds good, don't it? All you gots to do is let him take you down, though not without puttin' up a good show, and the money's yours." The words of Cavan set off a chain reaction from shock to offense, to anger, to down right pissed off. It was difficult to set someone as calm as Kaito off but once he was angry he was like a bomb, just waiting to burn anything and everyone in his path. Yes, he was practical enough to understand the necessities of survival in this world but he had his morals. And never had anyone specifically wanted to pay him just for him to lose! The very idea was against everything Kaito had been taught about honor in the ways of the warrior. Ritual suicide was one thing, an act he deemed more cowardly than capture, but this was an offense to all the hard training the Carpathian had put into his work. To lose just for another fighter for money was not only cowardly and stupid, but it would show that Kaito took no pride in his role as a fighter of the Underground and that he was just another one of his defeated opponent. He knew that if he participated in the scrap just for pay, he already lost. No, not to the fist of another but to himself, what he believed in and what he had been taught.
He knew also that the amount of pay for this one was three times as much as when he defeated and killed Foxhunter. But suddenly it wasn't about the money anymore. As Kaito finished wrapping his fists, he looked over his reflection in the mirror across from him and was determined to teach the proprietor a lesson. With rage surging through him like a lava stream, he quickly struck the mirror before him, leaving it cracked and broken in a sign of rage.
He then departed out to the circular ring in which, as usual, was surrounded by the sponsors and proprietors shouting out and waving their money about like starved animals. And then he saw Edge come before him. For such a lean creature, his opponent was something of a giant compared to the smaller, more agile form of Kaito Cadeyrn. The tall man, thick with muscle wore boxing shorts in red and gold, apparently his signature colors and bounced on his toes as the fight began.
Though angry, Kaito had a way of concealing his emotions and keeping them tame enough to work to his advantage. Emotion was an unseen ally in a warrior's blood and to learn to use it took a great amount of time to master. Albeit not a master, he was proficient enough to know how and when to use emotions to his advantage in a fight. The two fighters went at each other in cold blood, at least on Kaito's part. Within a few minutes he knew that Edge would not be an easy opponent but then again, he did not expect him to be. The two exchanged blows, strikes, parries, and blocks and Kaito dodged a multitude of strike attempts in an effort to provoke the anger of his enemy. It only took two or three of these actions to set Edge off and he went at Kaito in full force, grimacing and screaming out a string of obscenities that made many of the ladies in the circle blush furiously.
Cunningly Kaito dodged another attempt to punch his face, his body covered in glistening sweat before pulling on Edge's arm and tripping him with his left foot. The giant of a man fell to the ground in a heavy swooping fashion, face first. Kaito quickly knelt and pulled up his enemy's head by his hair and struck him several times in his face until blood dripped from his nose and several swollen sores exposed themselves around his eyes. He felt his anger surge through him but he kept it controlled even as they exchanged blows a few more times and finally let it explode when Edge performed a roundhouse kick to his face. The blow landed but Kaito was already so filled with rage that he numbed his whole body of the feeling and caught the leg of his opponent when he tried it a second time. He held Edge's leg by his calf in a vice grip and punched him in his nads with his free right fist.
Edge immediately went into shock, clutching his wounded manhood and whimpering like a little girl who dropped her ice cream. Kaito was not about to let his opponent regain his footing and immediately punched him in his gut then gave a swift uppercut to his face, knocking the tall man to ground rendering him unconscious. There was silence about the crowd as Kaito stepped away from his fallen enemy, spitting on him before thrusting his way through the crowd. Upon his departure of the ring, the circle of proprietors screamed out in the commotion, most cheering and others tossing their bet slips down in anger. Suddenly, Cavan, the man who sponsored Kaito tonight came dashing out of the tumult of people, crying out, "'Ey! I thought we had a deal."
"No," said Kaito turning around, his eyes poised in perfect anger. "You had the deal. My end was shit! Rat bastard, you don't seem to understand the meaning of victory. Its more than the money but its also something I don't expect a greedy son of a bitch like you to understand. So to hell with you and your money." With that he snatched the betting slip from Cavan's hand and tore it to shreds, slamming it to the ground before turning to walk away.
Just then the proprietor grabbed at his shoulder, saying, "Wait a goddamn minute! Just who do you think—" But his words were cut short when Kaito swiftly turned struck Cavan square in the nose. "Fuck you," was all he said before walking back to the changing rooms.
~~~
Later that evening a shadow with a swollen nose made his way to the enigmatic offices of a Mr. Ottah, or so that was the name that he went by. The meeting ensued, with Cavan removing his hood and staking his claim, "I'll pay ya good money for you to take him off my hands. The bastard him me in my face and needs to be taught a lesson. He goes by the name of White Tiger and can be found usually in the ironworks district about this time of night. Do ya think you can help me?"
"Yes," the shadow of Ottah replied. "I think I have just the person in mind."
