Stu and Chaos stood in the middle of Market Street facing a girl dressed like the others, but her hair was platinum colored. Stu could feel her presence now, almost like his blood gravitated towards Chaos and pushed away from Silence. Stu yelled, “Are you Silence?”

  The girl smiled raising her finger to her lips, “Shh..”

  Stu looked at Chaos, asking, “Is that a yes?”

  Chaos nodded saying, “Yeah, that’s her alright. The question is, where’s her worshipper?”

  Something hit Stu on the side of the head sending him flying into a roadside kiosk. Dust and debris flew up as Chaos cried out, “Stu! Are you Okay?” A man stood where Stu had been before.

  The man wore a Gi and said, “I am the worshipper of silence. My fans call me the thunderclap! My name for those who choose to fight me is Sterling..” Sterling sat there flexing and showing off his muscles.

  The debris of the kiosk moved, and Stu pulled himself out coughing. He didn’t know what hit him, but he figured it must have been the pompous asshole next to his God. He yelled out, “A sucker punch? Really? I thought this was a tournament?” He spit a tooth out wondering if his blue blood regrew teeth as well.

  Sterling flexed saying, “That was no sucker punch! The Tournament began yesterday! I told my god that I only fight experienced opponents. You are the only one with experience in the tournament so far! So, it’s only natural that we’d come for you.”

  Stu watched as the weird guy continuously flexed as he talked. Suddenly Chaos yelled, “Watch out!” There was a wall of wind and dust. Somehow Chaos had made it almost fifty feet in a split second. She held a knife that had been thrown by Silence, Chaos stopped it just before it had cut Stu’s forehead. He realized, he almost died again. Chaos looked back at Silence standing there just smiling.

  Sterling said, “This is already disappointing. I thought surely anyone who worships Chaos would be more powerful than this.”

  Stu recognized Sterling, he was a popular fighter in the EFC, the Extreme Fighting Championship. Stu spoke softly to Chaos, “We’re in trouble, I’m an office worker and that worshipper is a professional fighter.”

  Chaos asked, “Why does that matter?” Stu almost had a stroke when she asked that.

  Sterling yelled, “Are you two going to just stand there making out or are we going to fight?” He was still flexing and posing.

  Chaos looked back at Stu saying, “You are a blue blood in the service of Chaos! I need you to win for your God…” She started the sentence strong, but she softened as she heard herself speak the words aloud. She looked sad again looking at Stu.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  He stood up straight and removed his glasses wiping the dirt off of them and he put them back on. Smiling at Chaos, even if it was forced he faked it well, and said, “Alright, I’ll win for my God! Also, Prosperity is coming over tonight when we go home, I figured I should let you know before it gets too late.”

  Chaos smiled at him. He hoped that he was doing his part, because Stu knew he was no match for this guy under real world circumstances. If he made her smile, then he could hide the fact that he was about to throw up from fear.

  Silence still in the same spot held her finger to her mouth and said, “Shh..”

  Chaos ran for her as they both disappeared in front of the worshippers. Sterling watched more interested than Stu saying, “Whoa..”

  Stu ran at Sterling, throwing a punch that found its mark at the base of Sterling’s skull. He fell forward and stumbled to his feet. Stu stood ready for a counterattack. Stu was nearly having a heart attack; Sterling should have been hurt after the hit this guy just took. Stu said, “You’ve never seen Gods fight before I take it.”

  Sterling faced Stu saying, “No I haven’t. It’s truly a beautiful sight, and I’ve also never been hit like that before.” Stu perked up a little at the news, Sterling then said, “That almost hurt, and you aimed for a critical strike to a vital area. That shows critical thinking skills and knowledge. You might not be a disappointing fight after all. Tell me blue blood, did your last opponent underestimate you, is that how you won?”

  This guy was good, Stu thought; he was figuring things out quickly. He said, “As a matter of fact it is. She thought I would lie down to die, it cost her an eye.”

  Sterling looked impressed asking, “So, you mean that you fought a god, won, and you took her eye? Well, I’m glad I didn’t continue to underestimate you. You look like someone that answers phones, not the kind of person that fights, or a warrior.”

  Stu understood what was going on here, the guy was a professional after all. He was learning a little about his opponent and giving final respect, because one of the worshippers was about to die here today. He asked, “What are my chances of winning the fight, based on the first strikes?”

  Sterling said, “Honestly, you are weaker than me, but you are most likely smarter than I am. So, I’d say you have a forty percent chance here.”

  Stu replied, “That’s awfully generous, are you trying to convince yourself that I’m worth fighting?”

  The man smiled at Stu saying, “Not at all, as a matter of fact I’d say it’s higher than that. The more we talk the less sure I am of my first impression of you. When I hit you the first time I thought I killed you, then you got up and I was surprised. I didn’t think you’d hit me back; I was surprised again. Now that we’ve talked I’m sure this will be a good fight, hell I may even die here today.” He had taken a defensive posture now grinning ear to ear.

  Stu couldn’t figure it out, this guy kept talking him up like he was impressive, but he knew better. Whatever his angle was, this is a fight to the death, and he had to kill this guy or die. If he uses the dagger on this guy it may work but he may not be able to use the surprise on silence. Wherever the Gods were fighting at he couldn’t be sure that they wouldn’t see what he did. Physically his skinny frame couldn’t handle this muscle bound badass, that’s even before you consider his pro fighting career and blue blood. What did he himself have to work with? All he could think of was the last 24 hours, he couldn’t die here. He wanted to see this through, for himself, for chaos, and maybe some others. Stu readied himself, because what he had was only one thing, he would be fearless in the eyes of Chaos.