13

You wait out his charge and block his strike, then push him away. He tries attacking again, and again, and again with all kinds of punches and kicks, but you try your best to endure.

You have to use all your endurance against him because he unleashes an absolute onslaught on you, but soon he slows. It seems like since you have withstood his strikes, he's all tired out. He must've used up all of his energy!

This is your moment. What do you do to end this? Man, you sure are in pain though….

You begin to evade instead of block and endure, sure that it will not take too long for you to spot an opening, but unfortunately you soon find that he is not as tired as you originally thought.

Eventually he makes a last effort, all or nothing, to grab you. He jumps forward much faster than you had thought he could and latches onto your torso before striking you in the stomach.

The pain from that combined with your other injuries makes you crumple, and he pulls you to the floor. He positions himself on top of you and holds you down as he gets his second wind.

Running on adrenaline, he slugs you over and over, smashing his fist into your face as hard as he can. Those fists hurt, and he doesn't let up. On top of that, he is too heavy for you to throw off, especially as injured as you are now.

Your vision blurs, but you can feel the blood streaming down your face. He's too much, and he doesn't let up for a while until you can barely see anything but stars. It is only then that the beating stops, and you feel his weight lift off of you. Thank God he stopped there….

The crowd's cheering hurts your ears, and you can't stand up. Soon, you hear what sounds like the wannabe cowboy speaking and congratulating Number One. You lost….

Two people pick you up and carry you somewhere. It takes a while for your vision to return, but when it does, you find yourself in a barren dressing room with Paper Poe and Jane sitting on your right in front of a few cheap looking mirrors. The wannabe cowboy is standing over you.

"Hey partner, you alright?" The cowboy helps you to your feet. "Don't fret none, no one's ever beat Number One on their first try. You'll get him next time, I'm sure. But anyway, we cleaned ya up good."

"It's not that bad," Jane calls over. "You should have seen how Poe looked the last time he went up against him. Compared to that, you look like you just got scratched up a bit." She chuckles.

"At least I only lost to him once…," Poe retorts. "You've lost eight times."

"Maybe because I'm not a quitter." She frowns at him.

"Or because I know my limits…." Poe doesn't look her in the eye.

"Why don't we have another match?" Jane asks him.

"No!" he replies quickly.

"Easy there y'all two," the owner scolds them. "You're both losers, okay? Good." He turns back to you as Jane scowls and Poe gives him a sober look.

"So, let's talk about how much the crowd bet on you."

"Oh really? Well I don't get it but more green for me then, partner. Thanks."

You put your cash away, and the cowboy claps you on the shoulder. "Just realized I never gave you my name. It's Carson, and I'm really glad ya came here today, partner. Hope I'll see you again too. But I gotta get back out on the floor now, they'll be wanting their money too. See ya!" He tips his hat at you, then turns and hurries out.

You look over at Poe and Jane for a moment. Jane frowns and looks away, and Poe just shrugs. Whatever.

You leave through the door and walk out of the venue. Although plenty of people try to stop you and chat or offer you a beer, you hurry out.

Why did you do this?

I guess you won't be returning anytime soon then. But you may want to look behind you.

"Hey, Candleshaper, be a dear and help us settle something." It's Paper Poe and Jane. They walk up to you side by side, Jane and her unmistakable aviators over well-maintained eyebrows and Poe with his scrawny figure and clean, pale features.

"Sorry to bother you, but Jane needs to ask you something…."

"Oh, shut it, Poe. You were the one who suggested we ask Candleshaper in the first place. Now then, be honest…." She gives you a hard look. "Which one of us do you think is the better fighter?"

They really came to you just to ask this?

"Now then, I'd like to settle this with a match, but Paper over there apparently isn't feeling well."

Poe looks over at Jane with a rare semblance of bravery. "It doesn't matter who would win in a fight. This is about who's better. Sure, you would beat me, but you would use the same move that you always do. At least I actually try something different when I fight."

She glares at him. "But you would still lose, if you didn't just up and quit first. I'd actually win!"

They both turn to you, Jane looking as if she dares you to say Poe, and Poe looking as if he would do anything if you'd say his name.