Is this destiny?

~ Austin, Black & White club ~

Sarah entered the Black & White club through the main door this time. The noisy throng reminded her of the last time she was here. She entered through the side door and Aiden held her close, protecting her from one of her biggest fears: the crowd. Sarah inhaled sharply and reminded herself that she is here for a reason, and Aiden is not. She can't allow herself to be weak, not now.

It was an impressive scene. Sarah in the middle with Ade and Jamari slightly in front of her and Jesse and Haru slightly in the back. Four of them enclosed Sarah in a square-shaped formation. All five of them wearing completely black outfits and black face-masks which cover top half of their faces. Five of them were cordoned from the crowd by two rows of bodyguards who work under White family.

Announcer enthusiastically screamed: "Ladies and gentlemen, Nyx is in the houseeeee!"

Three huge screens high above fighting cage form a triangle, and each of them showed blinking 'NYX' for few seconds before switching to:

'1. Mr. A -> Wins: 723 wins, Losses: 0 losses, Ties: 1

2. Shift -> Wins: 151, Losses: 3, Ties: 0

3. Blackstain -> Wins: 124 wins, Losses: 3, Ties: 0

4. Nyx -> Wins: 12, Losses: 0, Ties: 1

5. n/a'

Ade and Jamari had difficulty not to bounce up and down from excitement. But they stopped themselves because they had to look cool.

"Hey, Chad!", Sarah greeted the handler in the glass-enclosed booth. "Thank you for arranging this."

"No problem, Miss Nyx!", he greeted her back. "The pleasure is all mine."

Chad glanced at the four companions and asked Sarah: "These are?"

"Future champions.", Sarah responded. "This is our first stop. Do you have the list ready?"

"Yes, yes. Just a sec…", Chad dashed back to his original spot and started going through the papers on the table.

"Shift and Blackstain are not here?", Sarah noticed that other than Chad no one else is here.

"Shift is in the Black Hole club and Blackstain… should be here soon. He said that he will stop by the White Valley club, but only to check out the status.", Chad responded when he returned by Sarah's side.

"I want to verify: for a champion, they need to win 10 fights without losses?", Sarah asked Chad.

Chad confirmed. "New rules are that as long as there is a vacancy, ten wins are enough. But if all spots are filled, then they need to knock down a champion. And… five wins are enough to challenge a champion, but even if the challenger wins, he will not get the position on the board, but that will cause the defeated champion to lose his spot."

Sarah nodded in understanding and turned to her four companions. "Did you decide which one goes first?" There is only one spot available, and she is the only champion present. There is no point in them fighting against each other, they do that daily. Goal of coming here is for them to experience different fighting styles.

Sarah saw that all of them want to go.

After some time, she puffed her cheeks while exhaling in frustration. "Come on! From here we will go to the next club, and before we head back everyone will get a title of a champion. Do I need to pick who goes now?"

They all nodded, so Sarah picked: "OK… Jesse, you go first."

Jesse grinned at Sarah's words, and Ade, Jamari and Haru frowned but they didn't dare to object.

Jesse left toward the fighting cage and Sarah sat with Chad to discuss things he prepared.

She reminded Ade, Jamari and Haru not to sulk, but to pay attention to Jesse's fights. Because they can learn from watching, and they will get their chance soon.

Chad handed Sarah papers with information on clubs, handlers and current champions. The list has data on fights, as well as confidence level in their loyalty. He has another list ready with promising fighters who he believes are a good match for what Sarah requested.

Sarah is looking for fighters who are fighting for more than the money. This is something she learned from Stella: as long as they are in it just for the money, they can be bought by anyone who pays more; but if they are fighting for a cause, if she helps them get closer to their goal, she will earn their loyalty. That is priceless.

"Thank you for trusting me this much.", Chad smiled at Sarah when he saw that she finished reading the information he provided.

Sarah looked at him with a complex expression for some time before responding almost robotically: "I don't trust you. Aiden does."

"Oh…", Chad was not sure how to respond to this. He lowered his gaze and went through the names on the list. "The top five and these two are available here now if you want to see them."

"Yes. I will be grateful if you can arrange that. Now.", Sarah responded while glancing toward Jesse who is in the cage.

He is in his third fight and doing great. One hit wins. Very powerful.

Chad made a phone call and stood next to Sarah, awaiting further orders.

"How is the man I asked you to look for?", Sarah asked Chad. She told him to observe Noah's progress.

"He is persistently winning six to seven fights every night.", Chad responded. "And no matter how hurt he is, he comes back the next evening."

Sarah's brows furrowed slightly. "Seven wins, and he didn't request to challenge a champion?"

Chad confirmed. "He said that only when he wins ten fights, he will be worthy of challenging you."

Sarah thought about the evening when Noah begged to be punished, and she told him to scram because he is not worthy… At that time, she instructed him to win 10 fights and challenge her, and only then she will listen to him.

Sarah is creeped out by his masochistic behavior… but she can't deny that he has character. He does not want to take a shortcut and challenge her after five wins. He really wants her recognition by winning 10 fights. That is… commendable. And he is loyal… but if she takes him in, will she be able to control him? She needs cool and levelheaded people and thinking how he drops on his knees and begs for punishment makes her cringe internally. Maybe it's better to leave Noah for… later.

Just as she finished that thought, someone knocked on the glass enclosure from the outside and waved at Sarah cheerfully.

The man is all bruised up and his left eye is swollen, but there is no mistake… that is Noah.

Sarah moved her mask slightly so that she can pinch the roof of her nose. She felt a headache coming.

Chad shifted from side to side few times before asking: "Should I send him away? Or…?"

Sarah rolled her eyes internally. Knowing Noah, he is not going anywhere, and if she tries to send him away, he will cause a scene. "Let him in."

"My Mistress!", Noah exclaimed as soon as he got inside. Haru, Jamari and Ade blocked him from coming closer.

Noah glanced at each of the three with a frown before peering over Ade's head and smiling at Sarah. "Mistress?"

"Speak from there.", Sarah said curtly.

"I just wanted to say hi. Nothing more… and if you could hit me once, that would be an unexpected treat."

Ade and Jamari could not hide their surprise. Just what is this man saying? Haru pretended that he didn't hear anything.

Sarah stood up and gestured to her three-man human wall to move. "Noah. I am hiring capable fighters, and if you stop with that weird behavior, I might consider you. Do you understand?"

Noah widened his eyes and took a deep breath. "I am honored that you are considering me, my Mistress… but I can't pretend that I don't enjoy the touch of your fist and the loving pain that comes after that. All this…", he gestured toward his body, probably pointing out his injuries. "I endure through this pain because I know that at the end of it I will get to feel the pleasure of your punches."

Sarah took a deep breath and closed her eyes while wondering, what would Aiden do? Noah is exactly what they are looking for. Loyal, motivated, and if he can win seven fights in a row, he is not a bad fighter either. But, what will Aiden say when he wakes up and sees that Noah is on their payroll?

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