Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

I just placed the thought in the back of my mind because the guy I was chasing down turned around and decided to barter with me. He had his arms stretched out like he was trying to conjure an energy ball and I only stopped to give him a bit of respect from doing that.

"Hey! Hey! Let's make a deal!"

"Nope!"

"Wha—"

I just clocked the guy on his jaw before I left him with a tooth missing and I just went on my merry way.

The crowd just started dying-laughing from that very short interaction but some of them were tuned in to the other fights.

My group was doing particularly well, given the circumstances, but Alexei had already dropped out when he was about to get mobbed. Nikolas and Ilya had each other's back, for the most part, and they were piling bodies on their own side of the play area.

I can't believe the last event would be reduced to such chaos but the people from the viewing platforms were loving it.

They've already seen intense fights from the women's division and since this was the last event, it was time for them to see something on the side of entertainment. Granted we could have seen the same fights on our end, it was interesting to see if the participants could make something out of it.

With that said, I eventually bumped with Dan, the middle-aged dude that signed with the Garcia Family, and he opened up a proposal I was willing to partake in.

"No kicks?"

"No kicks."

"Hmm~"

"That's the only way for this match to be fair."

"Heh. What's in it for me?"

"Ah— Well~ You get to humor an old guy's wish."

"Alright. But I call you Lieutenant Dan if you lose."

"Huh?"

"Just agree!"

"Sure…"

Ignoring Mason and co.'s curses from the viewing platform because I made a deal with future Lt. Dan, I actually assumed a boxing stance to fight fairly. I was lightly bouncing from my orthodox stance while he kept his feet planted on the ground. We were slowly inching towards each other—right until we were in punching range—but I got hit with a crisp jab when I caught him about to send a frontal kick.

I wiped my bloody nose with a devilish smile, "You motherfucker—"

"I didn't kick you, right? I just feigned kicking you—"

Much to his surprise, I licked my lips as I ducked down and lunged at him—almost copying Zack's movements—and he was too late to shuffle back as I grabbed hold of his right ankle.

"Fooled me once…"

"Shit—"

'No kicking still… I just grabbed him…'

Dan was still moving backward as I clamped on his heel, but I suddenly tripped him down by pulling hard with my left arm. However, I still had a firm grasp on his ankle and I pulled him even more before I mounted him fully.

"Hey, kid! Wait a second—"

"Ice your face after this, yeah?"

"Fuck—"

It only took a second before I sent punches and elbows straight to his wrinkled face and he'd probably look better if he got stung by a swarm of bees. I died a little inside because I thought he was still a straight-shooter but being in this place for so long could change his behavior.

Despite that, he accepted his loss honorably and he offered a fistbump before climbing off the play area.

To my surprise, there were fewer people than I thought and Mr. Alvarez was just staring at me with the rest of his crew. He looked he just went for a short jog but even his hair was still slicked back and looked cool as fuck. However, on the other side of the play area, Mauro looked like he actually went for a brawl because aside from his bleeding nose, his left eye was bruised and half-shut.

It's just that Mauro took down more people—almost all at the same time—while Mr. Alvarez had strict rules with his own mano y mano clause.

With that said, what I saw next was Nikolas and Ilya, splitting off and heading to each of the heads' turfs in the play area before issuing a challenge.

Nikolas went straight for Mr. Alvarez while Ilya just threw a "Yo! Let's fight" to Mauro.

Funnily enough, the rest of Mr. Alvarez's crew gave way while Mauro was the one to approach Ilya. Mr. Alvarez was waiting inside the circle of dirt they made themselves while Mauro was about to meet Ilya halfway.

Once each pair was face to face, Mr. Alvarez and Nikolas properly introduced themselves before assuming a boxing stance but Mauro and Ilya just threw whatever flash move that came to mind.

Almost instantly, Mr. Alvarez and Nikolas' fight got overshadowed by Mauro and Ilya, and their match was now on the big screen.

Even I disappeared from their view because no one else dared to square up against me and I was just sitting pretty in one portion of the play area.

With that said, Ilya's fighting style changed drastically because from the last time I met him, his movements were explosive yet compact but this time, a bit of showmanship was involved. He was even rallying the crowd at one point but Mauro's clout was just bigger than his.

The de Leon Family was just chanting Mauro's name and they went wild when he went for a simultaneous hit. He could've easily avoided Ilya's telegraphed hook but he wanted a taste to make sure he was squaring up with someone worthy.

However, his face just contorted from pain when he noticed that Ilya's fist was now replaced with a foot because Ilya actually threw his head backward—from their simultaneous hit—and used the momentum to spin forward and send a kick from an impossible angle.

'That's almost like Eddy's movements…'

Mauro just exhaled hard and grabbed hold of Ilya's collar but to everyone's surprise, Ilya did the same even with the height disadvantage.