Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Artem and Morales were brand new faces and the only reason that the crowd was so hyped, aside from the people that knew them was because word got out about the bet I made with Rod and Iskoh and the bad blood between the two fighters. Truth be told, what happened between them was due to poor communication and sometimes, a simple talk wasn't enough for people to get closure or simply forgot the loss that came with it.

Doing this event was just a way to quickly bridge the gap between the two.

"Ready to lose your ship?" I goaded Iskoh.

"I was away for a few hours and the ship that I painstakingly procured was now in the betting pool… OF COURSE I'M NOT READY!!! DID YOU EVER SEE ME GAMBLE?! NOT ONCE HAVE I TOUCHED A DICE, OR A CARD, OR A- I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT ELSE YOU USE FOR THAT!!!" Iskoh was sitting quietly but he started losing his shit the moment I mentioned his ship.

"A ship, you could use a ship." I immediately replied with a blank face.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! This morning was perfect, so fucking perfect..."

"Relax~ you could have another one, right?" I chuckled.

"Hah! You're too confident, kid. You never know what'll happen until the end." Rod chimed in, ruffling Iskoh's tidy and slicked-back hair.

"Don't touch my- You're the reason I'm too nervous right now!" Iskoh exclaimed, slapping Rod's hands off.

"Jesus fucking christ, relax, will you? Imagine if you win." Rod started to seemingly paint a picture with his hands.

"Imagine if we lose!" Iskoh immediately retorted.

"SHHH!!! Can you two shut up? It's starting! It's starting!" Oscar excitedly stood up from his seat.

'Finally...'

"Didn't you say you were gonna do something?" Kaley tapped me, handing over a referee's shirt.

"Right, I almost forgot. Thanks!" I just put it over my shirt and jumped back on the ring, replacing Bing that immediately held a mic to solely be the announcer instead.

I was fucking shocked when I saw Bing ripped his uniform off and a tuxedo was right underneath it but I figured he did more things than being just a bouncer from where he used to work. At the same time, the way he introduced the two and the way he hyped up the crowd deserved some praise, in a different way.

"IN THE BLUE CORNER~~ WEIGHING XXX POUNDS, XX FEET TALL, FROM THE PHILIPPINES AND SOUTHERN MINDANAO, AN UPTIGHT FUCK WITH A RESTING BITCH FACE THAT IS SECRETLY A PERVERT WITH A MOM COMPLEX~~ MIGUEL~~ MORALES~~~~~!!!"

"The fuck did you say?!"

"Hold up."

"Who the fuck are ya?!"

"HAHHAHHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHA~!!!"

"Want a piece of me?!"

"LET ME DO MY JOB!!!" Bing roared as he was holding the same placards.

Bing was almost lynched by Morales' troops but the president started dying-laughing. As it turned out, the president was the one who ordered Bing to say those things about Morales. Despite that, Morales walked into the ring, stone-faced and ready for battle. He was actually just staring at me, hinting that I would be next after he was done with Artem.

I just grinned while looking at him and then Bing finally introduced Artem.

"IN THE RED CORNER~~ WEIGHING XXX POUNDS, STANDING AT XX FEET TALL, FROM MOTHER RUSSIA, A SCARY FUCK WITH PROBABLY A HUGE DICK~~ ARTEM~~~ BL- BL- what do you- how do you pronounce this shi- b- b- ARTEM~~~!!!"

Artem almost tripped as he walked into the ring but all the single ladies started losing their shit. At the same time, the old dudes were already in a sorry state from laughing but Artem's team weren't faring much better either. Mikhail and Bogdan's laughter was overpowering everyone but I decided to do my job after the commotion.

I walked to the center of the ring and the two did as well.

"This thing will be different from earlier. There would be no limit to time and moves used as long as you're inside the ring and as long as it's not meant to kill. The moment one of you went out of bounds, knocked unconscious, tapped out, or surrendered, the fight is over. Let me remind you, I'm the ref and the only thing I'll be watching out for are those signs and those signs only. Listen to me at all times and when I stop the fight, you stop fucking moving. Do something else and I'll personally stop both of you because I can. Am I making myself clear? If I am, touch gloves and wait on your corners."

The two were staring at each other dead in the eye but they followed my instructions. The pressure of being inside the ring with two people ready to rip each other wasn't something for a regular human being.

As soon as I gave the signal, both fighters dashed forward.

Right hooks from both sides.

A loud thud came from both of their faces as their head blew back from the impact. However, Morales was quick to recover and delivered a left hook right into Artem's face. Artem's head blew back a second time but he winded up and sent a revenge body blow straight into Morales' side.

The two actually planted their feet on the ring and started slugging each other.

Morales' body reeled from the body blow but he threw an uppercut right after he recovered. However, Artem dodged it at the last minute, throwing an overhead punch from above. It was supposed to be a direct hit but Morales made it slip past his face by turning his head at the right moment.

Cheers after cheers came from the crowd and all of a sudden, Morales grabbed Artem by the neck as he sent several knees right at Artem's abdomen. Artem took the first one like a champ but he definitely felt the second one. The third one was partly guarded but Artem caught the fourth one and brought the fight to the ground by slamming Morales down.

Despite that, Morales kept a tight grip on Artem's head and left arm but several punches were coming in from his exposed side. Morales was showing a pained expression but as soon as he let go to deliver a nasty elbow to Artem's face, Artem slammed his head down twice right at Morales' nose before he tried raining down punches and elbows.

Artem managed to connect a few times as he tried to fully mount Morales but another elbow came from a dead angle, hitting Artem in the temple that allowed Morales to push from below, getting away from the half-mount. Morales backed away for a few steps to catch his breath and Artem did the same as soon as he got up.

"JESUS FUCKING- I ALMOST FORGOT TO BREATH!!!" Bing gasped loudly on the mic.

Artem and Morales had different cuts and bruises on their faces but no one was about to surrender. As soon as they caught their breath, Artem started with a spinning backhand, following it with a spinning high-to-low kick. Morales dodged the incoming fist but his legs suffered from the quick switch.

It was then that Morales started a rush, forcing Artem to back away. However, Morales pursued him until his back was on the ropes. It was then that they traded blow for blow, not bothering to dodge what the other one was throwing at them. Full-powered full swing after full-powered full swing came one after the other and their heads were taking the brunt of it.

No techniques, no tricks, only there to prove who was the stronger one.

Each punch that came stronger was followed by a louder cheer from the crowd yet the punches thrown were echoing throughout the place.

Morales' right eye was already closed while Artem's left eye was partly closed but his right eyebrow had a cut and bleeding through his right eye. However, Morales' nose was bleeding profusely and I could already see that he was starting to have a hard time breathing. Despite that, the two still kept going at it like the fight had just started.

Another right hook came into contact with Artem's head and he almost toppled over. However, Artem decided to throw consecutive body blows to make Morales' knees shake and wobble. It could be anyone's game right now but neither side was giving up. Their eyes still had some fight and how I wish I was fighting either of them instead.

My eyes never left the two fighting for their own reasons and I didn't miss the final moments of the fight.

Morales had the advantage because of all the headshots he gave Artem and one more concussive blow would've ended it. However, as soon as another one of his right hooks came flying in, Artem swung with a left hook, changing the trajectory of Morales' punch a few centimeters away as their arms tangled at each other.

A deafening thud echoed in the ring and Morales' jaw tilted sideways with his head before falling down.