Standing in the small privacy changing room, Vatra contemplated leaving the gods to their own devices. They'd gotten themselves into their own mess, they could get themselves out.

    But, I also get to have a good fight. Isn't this the bit of trouble I was hoping for? Vatra clutched her folded jumpsuit and sheathed godkillers in one hand and held her boots in the other. She shouldered aside the pale curtain and strode out into the locker room for the fighting arena.

Walking across the white tiled floors, Vatra would normally cringe at the thought of being barefoot in such a room. But, she was bound to be covered in much worse than dirt and grime. Her toes curled at the mere thought.

    Why am I so eager for this fight?

    Even from inside the locker room, the announcer over the speakers echoed through the walls. There was a fight currently going on, and by the sound of it, the fight was bloody and brutal.

    Vatra felt a rush of excitement as she shoved her belongings into the locker assigned to her.

     "This is humiliating." Hisato's voice interrupted Vatra's thoughts about the fight.

    Locking away her personal effects, Vatra turned and immediately stifled a chuckle. She drew a gaze up and down Hisato, noting the particularly short black shorts they'd given him to wear. It wasn't much better than her own black sports bra and shorts she'd been handed, however.

"Wow, those are... tight," Vatra said.

Hisato folded his arms. "Vatra. Vatra!"

"Huh?" Vatra shook her head and blinked, not realizing she'd been unfocused from what he was saying.

"I know you're not interested in sex, but the way you're staring at me right now has me wondering if you're thinking about something R-rated," Hisato said.

"Not at all. Well, not really." Vatra giggled and stepped away from the locker. "I just didn't realize how really muscular you were. You're always showing off your arms, but you have abs, too!" Vatra flexed her own bicep and prodded the slightly defined muscle.

Hisato laughed and shook his head. "This is demeaning, and all for those idiotic gods. They should have just listened to the plan."

"Ah, come on. It's just a little fight. I know you can fight," Vatra said. She raised a brow after a moment. "You can still fight, right? Those muscles aren't just for show?"

"Of course I can," Hisato shot. "It's just that I don't enjoy getting punched in the face. I really don't get why you're excited to get the shit beat out of you."

Vatra gasped. "Who said I'm going to be the one to lose the fight? With you as my partner, I think we're pretty well off. Remember, I have trained with the best over the centuries," she said.

"And yet why do I recall you dying so much?" Hisato asked.

"Why do you sound like Spyro? I'm pretty sure I've heard him say that once or twice before," Vatra grumbled. She stomped past Hisato and headed for the locker room door. Rasping her knuckles along the door, Vatra signaled to whoever had been posted outside that they were done.

A rush of cold air blasted across Vatra's skin with enough force to throw her braid over her shoulder. She shivered.

Lorenzo stepped away from the open door, marveling at Vatra and Hisato like he was looking at two, prized animals. "My fighters," he said with a glint in his eyes. In one of his scarred fists, he held a roll of gauze and tape.

"Oh, brother," Vatra grumbled. She was a little disappointed they weren't going to be getting weapons.

But, a fight is a fight.

"I'm afraid it's a bare-knuckle fight this round," Lorenzo said. He stepped into the locker room, and Vatra and Hisato parted ways to allow him through.

Flitting his dark eyes between the two of them, Lorenzo motioned for Vatra to hold her hands out to him first. She obliged begrudgingly, and Lorenzo started to wrap her knuckles and wrist starting from her thumb.

"Bare-knuckle?" Hisato questioned. He watched the process of Lorenzo wrapping Vatra's wrists with apparent curiosity. "I can't say I haven't fought without a weapon in a hund... in a while." Hisato cleared his throat at the exact moment the word 'hundred' almost left his lips, though Lorenzo was too preoccupied in his work to appear like he noticed.

"Afraid to get a little bloody?" Vatra toyed.

Hisato raised a fist in front of him, clenching and unclenching his fingers. "I suppose it depends on who we're facing off against."

Turning on his heel, Lorenzo clasped Hisato's wrist in his grasp before he could even let his arm drop away. With swift movements, he started wrapping Hisato's hands and wrists as well.

    "I can't say I know who you're facing," Lorenzo said after a moment. "The fights are anonymous. Though, I can say it will be two versus one. Which means your opponent most likely won't be human."

    "Fantastic," Vatra and Hisato said in unison, but their tones were vastly different.

–

The hallway leading to the arena felt cramped. Flickering, translucent lights buzzed overhead, lighting their way down the metallic passage. Aside from the locker room they'd exited, there were no other doors they passed.

Hisato pushed back the sides of his mohawk and sighed. He slumped his shoulders, keeping in stride just beside Vatra.

"You know, I don't think we've fought together in a long time," Hisato said after a moment.

Glancing over at Hisato, Vatra nodded in agreement. "It's a shame. You should know I like to stay in close with my opponent when I can."

"And I like to strike and leave," Hisato said. "You hold them while I take the hit?"

Vatra shrugged. "It might work depending on who we're facing. If it's some brute like a Grethorian, I don't think any amount of digging in our heels will do much good." She frowned in thought and watched the back of Lorenzo's bald head. The lights overhead flashed in lines from the top of his skull to the nape of his neck.

Lorenzo tugged at the collar of his black t-shirt, as if he knew Vatra had been watching him. "You can plan all you want, but the ring will erase all you know about tactics. I'm quite a veteran around here."

"Yeah?" Vatra mused. "Yet you wrangle in any poor sap to do your fighting for you, huh?"

Tapping his thigh beneath his jeans, Lorenzo's knuckles audibly struck against metal. "I'm retired," he stated plainly. "Besides, I only place my bets on those I think stand a chance in the ring. I've gotten pretty good at picking out the good ones."

"Your fighters have won often?" Hisato inquired.

"Win or lose, they certainly win me a lot." Lorenzo looked over his shoulder with a mischievous grin.

"I take it by that tone of yours, you don't win very often," Vatra said. She rolled her eyes and bit her tongue from shouting at the man.

Lorenzo laughed in response. "You two will be fine, all right? Fight like I know you can, and win me some money."

"And our companions will no longer be on Tau Honnor's bad side, right?" Vatra clarified.

    "Completely exonerated," Lorenzo said.

They stopped at a pair of swinging doors at the end of the hallway. Lorenzo took no time in pushing them open, pausing just long enough for Vatra and Hisato to catch them before they swung shut.

    A deafening roar filled Vatra's ears. There was a mixture of cheering from the crowd and music blasting from the speakers. The three of them faced a narrow path leading into a sand ring, settled in a depression that was surrounded by hundreds of voracious spectators.

    Lorenzo walked only a few strides out of the door before he halted. He motioned into the ring ahead of him with a broad wave of his arm. "Your arena awaits you both," Lorenzo said.

    "Win or lose, right?" Hisato mocked the man's words from earlier, his brow furrowing as he spoke.

Digging her toes into the sand, Vatra raised her eyes from the alleyway to the chain-link fence that separated them from the stands above their heads. There were fingers poking through the gaps and eyes peering down at them as nosy onlookers tried to catch a peek of them before they even entered the ring. She could smell the fried foods they were waving about like flags, and wished for a moment she could take a bite of the nearest, greasiest cuisine.

The music vibrated up through the floor and rattled Vatra's bones. She steadied her shaking fists at her side.

"Let's get on with this," she said with an assured nod.

Hisato and Vatra walked down the alley. They stepped out into the ring, enveloped by the flashing, pink neon lights of a projection overhead. A digitized image of a woman paraded around the ring well above their heads, dancing along to the beat of the song that played.

It was clear that Hisato's attention was drawn to the crowd, as he gaped around in visible bewilderment. But, Vatra's gaze was murderously set on the man standing across the ring from them. Lorenzo had been right, their opponent was no mortal.

The person causing an uproar, encouraging a reaction from the crowd behind him, turned with a cocky smile toward Vatra and Hisato.

Ares.

The god looked from Hisato, then to Vatra, and his grin disappeared with the haste of a bomb dropping.