11.

"The crowd is electric this afternoon!" Machita roared into the microphone. 

He, Cheryl, and Ahim all sat in the commentators' booth, which hovered above the crowd, suspended by wire they had a full aerial view of the ring. 

"In just a short while, the fight between King Byron Cartt and his opponent and newcomer to the sport Ivy will begin," Ahim announced. 

"What do you guys think the outcome of this is going to be?" Machita asked. 

"Something I've noticed about her," Cheryl stated, "She has a good knowledge of her danger zone, understanding where she's safe, and where she's not."

"She's relentless," Ahim said. 

"She has the endurance to keep up the ferocity throughout the whole fight, too," Machita agreed. 

"Okay, but let's not kid ourselves. None of these new fighters have any chance against the Three Kings," Cheryl said.

"Yeah, that's true," Ahim laughed. "These fights are gonna be fun, but I think the train stops here for them all."

"I agree with Machita," Cheryl started, and will say that she's talented. I just don't think she has any of the skills, power, or experience that Byron has. She-"

"Hold on-" Machita attempted to interrupt her, but Cheryl continued. 

"If we look back at her previous fights; from what she has shown us so far, I don't think she has anything in her arsenal that could even damage Byron." They broke into chatter, arguing for a bit, until Machita put his foot down. 

"A'ight, bet. I am so confident that Ivy will beat Byron that I will bet $2 million of my own money on her winning!" There was a second of silence before the other commentators erupted with laughter. Those who were paying attention in the crowd burst out laughing, too. 

"Are you delusional?! She's like twelve years old! How the hell is a twelve-year-old going to do anything to Byron?" Ahim asked while catching his breath from laughing.

Machita stood up from his chair, "Y'all must be blind. When I tell you that she is not the underdog in this situation, I am one hundred percent when I say that she will win! Byron has no chance against Ivy, and that's just facts!" he yelled. They continued to argue for a while more. "If y'all are so confident, then put a million on Byron. Put your money where your mouth is! I said what I said! Byron has no chance against Ivy! I'm looking online right now and I'm seeing all the Byron fans getting mad, but look, y'all, this is my job, you get it? I've been studying fighting and analyzing this for over twenty years now. I understand what I am talking about. If you take a 200lbs Pitbull and put it in a cage with a kitten, what do you think is going to happen? The Pitbull is going to tear that kitten to shreds; this is how it works; this is how bad this matchup will be. Guess what?! Ivy is the Pitbull in this situation! It's over!"

Both Cheryl and Ahim burst out laughing again. 

"Bro, stop." Ahim shook his head. 

"Come on." Cheryl chided. "You're being facetious." 

Machita told everyone to watch the betting numbers on the screen. So far there was $1,000 bet on Ivy who had a +990, and over $17million on Byron who had a -995. He typed something into his phone and a few moments later, the betting amount on Ivy jumped up to $2,001,000. Machita had just placed two million dollars on Ivy.

The other commentators looked at him with stunned looks on their faces as Machita sat back with a smug grin on his face. 

"Machita, I know being a contrarian is your thing, but this is crazy! You're going to have to file for bankruptcy here pretty soon. When you do, I'm going to laugh at you," Cheryl said while laughing hysterically. 

Machita fired back, "Hey, like I said before, if y'all are so confident he's winning; either put up a million bucks or hush." 

"Are-are you serious?" Ahim asked.

"A million percent. Why are you guys hesitating now, huh? What's up?"

They all eventually agree and put their bets on Byron, and then talk about some of the other lineups. 

There were ten minutes before the fight, and Ivy had just gotten dressed in the shorts that Machita had given her yesterday. 

"Where'd you get that?" Tobi asked, nodding at the basket of chocolate in her hands. 

Taking a bite from a massive chocolate bar, she shrugged, "Someone came by a while ago and said it was a gift," she pointed to the corner of the room where a pile of flowers sat, "along with those." 

"I was wondering what those were doing here."

Looking at the television in the room, it was directly broadcasting the arena, where the NFC was playing promotional content prior to the fight above the ring. Showing clips from a documentary where they told the story of how Byron was working for minimum wage in a factory since highschool. One day, his daughter got violently ill, and he couldn't pay for any doctors or medication. He decided to try out for NFC; through pure talent and tenacity, he was able to make a name for himself and pay for his daughter's medicine. Byron's narration came through, saying, "Now, at the age of 34, I am in the top 20 richest athletes of all time. I am undisputed, undefeated, and have been the reigning champion of the NFC for the last nine years! Who will challenge me!"

They show slow-motion videos of Ivy's last fights. A subdued flame smoldered in Ivy's eyes as she gritted her teeth, ducking out of the way of Len's fist before launching herself in the air, kneeing him right in the face. Blood exploded from the wound, making it splatter against the camera lens. 

Ahim said, "Not much is known about this newcomer, but she has fighting fans all over the world intrigued! The way she has easily defeated all her opponents so far has people wondering if she could defeat Byron Cartt the same way! Her most notable victory was against a fighter named Len, who has been the only person to ever come close to defeating Byron. There is a lot riding on each of them, so make sure to place your bets, as they will soon be walking to the ring! In just five short minutes, someone's 0 will have to go!"

Ivy tossed the chocolate bar to the side, hopping up and down eagerly, "It's time! It's time!"