Chapter 27 - Underground Competition Pt. 3

Ying Yue slowly walked towards the stage, her fists tucked into her pockets with her head down. The crowd looked around trying to catch a glimpse of the new fighter but were surprised when they saw a small body approach the stage. Was this a joke? This small, frail looking body was Viper? What man even looked like this?

Ignoring the stares she hopped onto the ring and secured her hoodie and mask preventing anyone from seeing her face clearly. No matter what her identity could not be revealed tonight hence so many precautions were taken. Her eyes lit up as she reveled in the attention and anticipation of the fight. Her competitor stood across the ring from her with a haughty grin adorning his face. Sun Bin had joined this competition again to maintain his title and who did not love the extra cash? Last year he had torn up the competition and crippled his weak opponent. A sinister laugh left him when he remembered the man's screams begging to be released and the melodic crunch heard when his arm had snapped. It was fun hurting his opponents but they had no one to blame but themselves - who told them to be so weak? Glancing at the frail man in front of him joy bubbled within him. It was clear that this boy had overestimated himself and thrown himself in this competition for the cash rewards. He was small, had no defined muscles, and hid his face like he was afraid. 'Yes keep your head down, be more and more scared. Fear me!' A smirk graced his face as he continued to look at this "Viper," he could not believe how lucky he was tonight, he was sure this would be the easiest match yet!

Ying Yue fought to control her laughter, Sun Bin's expressions revealed everything he was thinking and the idiotic confidence he had compelled her to laugh in his face. He wanted to hurt her? Thought that this was an easy win? 'Hmph, I'd like to see if you can even make my hood fall off!'

The cage doors shut, a loud click and the signature bell were the only signs to indicate the fight had started. Drowning out the crowd and all the random noises she focused her energy on the man before her. She stood still and waited for him to make his first move, her eyes were sharp as she caught every small movement made. As soon as she saw his toes turn towards his left she had already turned her body towards the right slightly in preparation for his attack. The minute she finished turning she saw Sun Bin run towards her and lift his left leg up to complete a round house kick. A spurt of wind grazed her face as he missed her by a couple of inches. Sun Bin stepped back in confusion, he had calculated everything before striking so how did he miss? Taking it as a mistake he charged forward again to grab her. His hands were stretched out and as he wrapped them around her to cage her within, she disappeared from his clutches. Ying Yue had seen him running forward to grab her, at the moment he reached to put his arms around her she squatted to her knees and side stepped away. Sun Bin was lost again, not once but twice he had escaped him. He could not understand how this little boy kept escaping him - what was going on?!'

Ying Yue was enjoying teasing him, after so long she finally had an opportunity to play around. Seeing Sun Bin stand and glare at her in agitation and confusion was amusing. Her eyes crinkled as her mouth curved into a smile behind her mask. The initial plan was to avoid his attacks and end the battle early with a couple of quick strikes. She had wanted to keep her skills hidden, that way anyone who saw the match would be only able to guage her defensive ability and nothing else. Now her mind changed, she wanted to drag this match till he exploded in anger. See him get red in the face, make aggressively stupid movements and ultimately become desperate to win. So till then she would keep avoiding his strikes, maybe pretend to let a couple of hits land. Then when he exploded she would end him quietly with a couple of bruises and some broken body parts. Even this way she would not reveal much, only how weak of an opponent Sun Bin was.

Sun Bin was filled with anger as he saw his opponent smirk at him. He was the current champion and this newcomer dared to make a fool out of him! Despite not being able to see much of his opponent's face he saw the twinkling eyes and curve of his face that meant he was smiling. It was his mistake to use such small moves in the beginning, he could not let this continue. He was determined to both destroy and cripple Viper. Laughing out loud he drew the attention of the crowd and spoke in a mocking voice.

"Why do you keep escaping huh? Afraid of getting hurt? Boohoo why did you even join this competition if you're such a coward huh. You're such a weak little baby. Do you need your mommy to come save you or will you fight like a real man!"

'A real man? She wasn't even a man!' Ignoring his taunts, Ying Yue stood still as she waited for him to continue the match. Sun Bin stared at his opponent as he awaited a reaction but was surprised to only see disinterest. No! He would not believe that his words did not faze him, he must be so scared he couldn't respond. 'Yes that's it, he's just scared!' Filled again with confidence he went towards her again. His hands were clenched and placed near his face in a protective stance as his back lightly crouched to imitate a boxer. He got closer to her and aggressively started speed punching aiming for her face and body. Each strike was filled with power and speed guaranteed to hurt anyone who made contact but they never landed. He felt his hands hit air as he saw her slightly move away from the attack while pretending that she got hurt. The crowd went wild as they saw this attack, finally the match was getting interesting!

Increasing the aggressiveness of his punches he tried to go faster and harder but could still only graze the ends of her clothing. Angered he moved his right foot forward in an attempt to trip her and then use the momentum to do a blitz attack. As he stretched his leg out to trip her a searing pain emerged from his leg as he felt his ankle shatter. Ying Yue had expected a petty move such as this. Pretending to stumble from his punches she striked her heel against his angle with just enough force to fracture it. Pressing against the cage she acted as though she was weak and haggard from his attack. It was clear that the match was coming to an end. Fake stumbling to the middle of the ring she hunched her body over as a show of "catching her breath." Sun Bin felt as though he was loosing his mind, the crowd edged him on as they screamed shouts of support and praise but for what? He had not hit him once!

Leaning back on his good food he made one last ditch effort to win the match, he ran and threw his entire body onto her.