Wasteland Rules: A New Dawn (The World After Book 3) (14 page)

   “I have waited for this day Storm.” The champ suddenly
said. “Beating up chumps was fun at first, but it got old. I needed a
challenge, someone to really test me, to let me know if I was as good as I
thought I was. This fight will be my legacy. After I beat you, no one will ever
want to fight me again.”

   “I’m glad I could be of service.” Derek replied
sarcastically. “How did you know I was like you?”

   “A man told me you would be coming to Vegas. I’ve been waiting
for you. If you hadn’t challenged me I would have challenged you.”

   “What man? When?” Derek asked insistently.

   “You’ll have to beat me to find out.” The champ said with
a smile.

   With that he launched a superman punch at Derek, hoping
to catch him off guard. Derek dodged to one side and countered with a spinning
back fist. The champ ducked under it and grappled with Derek. The struggled
across the cage, each man trying to gain a better grip on the other. But they
were too evenly matched. When one would gain a momentary advantage, the other
would quickly counter it. They ended up pressed up against the cage, face to
face.

   “How did you get enhanced?” Derek asked the champ.

   “Just like you I assume.” He replied softly. “I had a
near fatal combat injury and I woke up one day almost fully healed.”

   “How did you find out you were improved?”

   “They didn’t tell you? Oh that’s rich.” The champ
replied. “The scientists told me when I woke up. They wanted to make sure I
knew about my abilities before I went on my first mission.”

   “What scientists?” Derek asked eagerly.

   “You ask a lot of questions…” The champ said as he broke
the clinch and pushed away.

   On the screen, Rora could see that Derek and his opponent
were talking, but she could only make out what Derek was saying since she could
read his lips. It looked like the champ was telling him something about the
SuPERHUMAAN project. That was interesting; even she didn’t know anything about
the actual facility where Derek had been altered. She only knew about the work
itself and its effects. Finding the facility and learning exactly how the
process worked would be amazing.

   “He is good.” The Voice said, interrupting her thoughts.

   “Who?”

   “The hacker. I cannot find any trace of him.” The Voice
said with a hint of admiration.

   “That’s impossible; there must be some trace of him. What
about the vault footage?” She asked.

   “Nothing, it’s like he doesn’t exist. Similar to the
effects of the device.” The Voice informed her.

   “Hmmm…Wait, we can use that.” Rora exclaimed excitedly.
“Look for the blank spots in the data. The files should be slightly smaller
because the bits containing his image were removed.”

   “That is a brilliant idea.” The Voice agreed. “Give me a
few minutes.”

   “We need to hurry up, I’m not sure how long Derek can go.
It’s already been fourteen minutes.” Rora said worriedly.

   “He should be fine. His abilities give him a huge
advantage.”

   “I think the other fighter is SuPERHUMAAN too.” Rora
explained.

   “That is an interesting wrinkle. As far as I knew, Derek
was the only one.” The Voice mused.

   “Me too, but apparently not.”

   “Then we better finish this up fast.” The Voice agreed.

   When the fight broke the twenty minute mark, Derek could
see that the champ was getting frustrated. He wanted an epic fight, but he also
wanted a big finish. The longer the fight went, the less impressive he seemed.
The crowd had really quieted and was watching with hushed amazement at the
strength and endurance of the two men in the cage. At ringside, the security
head was watching the fight carefully and he still had a look of concern on his
face.

   The champ noticed Derek’s slight distraction and he
surged towards him fists flying. Derek blocked the blows and fired off a
counter, but the champ surprised him by dropping down for a double leg
takedown. Derek suddenly found himself on his back with the other man on top of
him. The crowd roared in appreciation as the two gladiators hit the ground. They
engaged in a wild scramble on the ground and ended up with the champ on top of
Derek. Derek swiveled his hips to gain the guard position, his legs wrapped
around the other man’s waist and his hands grabbing the champ’s wrists.

   They struggled for a minute as the champ tried to posture
up and rain elbows down on Derek’s head. He moved his head rapidly to avoid the
blows and he could see the frustration grow on the man’s face. The champ then
shifted to try to obtain a submission hold on Derek. He ducked under Derek’s
arm and tried to reach around his head to secure a triangle choke, but Derek
squirmed free. Then the champ grabbed his arm in a figure four hold and
attempted an Americana, attempting to bend Derek’s arm backwards ninety degrees
the wrong way. But again, Derek squirmed free.

   While the champ was trying for the holds, Derek had
slowly worked them backwards until they were against the cage. With a burst of
strength he was able to push himself back up the cage and carry them to their
feet. His opponent snarled and backed away throwing punches as he went. Derek
dodged them and pushed off the cage. They circled again in the center of the
cage. Until now, Derek had done nothing to attempt to end the fight. Eventually
people would begin to get suspicious.

   It might already be too late. The casino head of security
was standing up and looking up at the owner’s box while talking animatedly into
his walkie talkie. Derek assumed he was asking someone if Rora was there. The answer
angered the security head and he gave Derek a dirty glare before storming out
of the arena while screaming into the radio. Time was up. Derek looked directly
into a camera and made a few quick hand gestures. He hoped Rora would see them
and know what they meant. It was up to her now; all he could do was to finish
the fight and get the heck out of here.

    “Uh oh.” The Voice suddenly told Rora.

    “What? You can’t find blank spots?” She replied quickly.

   “No, I found plenty of blank spots. I have tracked him
from the airport to the casino and down to the vault. The Major was right, he
did enter the vault. I have him tracked back out of the casino and back to the
visitor center.” The Voice told her.

   “So what’s the problem?”

   “The Major just signaled us.” The Voice said as he
flashed a replay of the gestures Derek had just made onto the screen.

   “What is he saying?” Rora snapped.

   “It’s Special Forces hand signals to hurry up, your cover
is blown.” The Voice replied calmly. “Here, on this screen.”

   The screen changed again to show the head of security
racing up stairs and heading towards their location. Armed guards were rushing
down a hallway and she assumed they were coming for her. How could they be sure
she was in the security room though? That was when she noticed the radios on
the guards belts were buzzing. They must have turned down the volume so they
could listen to the fight. When Jonas couldn’t reach them, he realized Rora
must be there. Now everyone available was on their way to the office.

   “We have to go!” Rora said urgently.

   “I almost have it. One more minute.” The Voice replied
calmly, and infuriatingly.

   “We don’t have a minute…”

   “Okay, I’ve got it. Unplug me and let’s go. Turn right
when you leave the office.”

   “Why? That’s a dead end.” Rora asked as she unplugged the
phone.

   “I can alter the video too.” The Voice assured her. “Once
they get in here and see the video, they will be off on a wild goose chase. If
you just go down the hallway and wait in a side room, they will all race off to
another part of the casino and you can just walk out.”

   “Not in this thing I can’t” Rora said as she fingered the
cocktail waitress outfit.

   “We can collect your clothes along the way.” The Voice
said with a hint of amusement. “I’m more worried about Derek finishing the
fight and getting out.”

    The minute Derek saw the security head run of, he knew
he had to finish the fight and get out of the casino. There was no way he could
beat his opponent in a straight up brawl, they were too evenly matched. Even if
he somehow managed it, it would take too long and he would sustain too much
damage. He needed to end this with a submission. But his opponent was obviously
very skilled and very well trained, there was no way he would fall for a
regular submission. It was time to pull out something so old school and rare
that the champ wouldn’t even have heard of it.

   So Derek rushed towards his opponent and dropped his head
like he was attempting a double leg takedown. The champ seized the opportunity
and wrapped his arm around Derek’s neck looking for the guillotine choke. Then
he jumped up on Derek and dragged him to the ground, trying to wrap his legs
around Derek into the guard position as they fell. This was exactly what Derek
wanted him to do. The crowd leapt to their feet and began cheering as the
smelled blood. They expected the fight to end as the challenger was choked out
by their champion.

   To their surprise and the surprise of the champ, Derek
didn’t fight the choke. Instead he shifted his position as they fell and landed
to the side, his head still gripped by the champ. Derek quickly wrapped his
arms around the champ’s neck and surged forward levering the arm around his
neck up against the champ’s neck. Unaware that he was in real danger the champ
responded by trying to tighten his grip on Derek’s neck.  The crowd continued
to scream as they were unaware of what Derek was doing.

   By the time the champ realized he was in trouble it was
too late. Derek used his superior position and leverage to press the champ’s
own arm against his neck and squeeze him unconscious. A perfectly executed Von
Flue choke. Being a longtime student of mixed martial arts had just paid off in
a big way.

   Derek didn’t waste any time gloating or celebrating,
instead he rushed from the cage and headed for the locker room. He passed by
several stunned security guards who still weren’t sure what they had seen. It
took them a minute; but when the crowd realized their champion had been
defeated and all the money wagered on him lost, they started rioting. The
security guards rapidly became too busy to chase Derek.

    He rushed into the locker room and quickly changed his
clothes and laced up his boots. The room was empty, all the fighters having
been cageside to watch the fight. But a brief cough snapped Derek’s attention
to a man entering the room. It was the fight manager, Charles Slidell. He
walked over to confront Derek.

   “Nice choke.” Slidell said smugly. “Very old school.”

   “Yeah, I figured it was old school enough the champ
wouldn’t have even heard of it.” Derek replied. “It’s something I learned a
while ago.”

   “Now I know you.” The fight manager said with a slight
smile. “You fought under the nickname Hailstorm. You fought on the underground
circuit a long time ago; so no one would recognize you now, but I remember
you.”

   Derek nodded. “I remember you too; you were a legend on
the big stage back then. But that was a long time ago.”

   “It was. That’s why I’m wondering how you still look so
young?” Slidell asked congenially.

   “Living right I suppose.” Derek replied.

   “No, you’re just like the champ. You had something done
to you to make you better.” Slidell insisted.

   “What do you want?” Derek hissed.

   The fight manager laughed. “Are you kidding? Nothing. You
already made me a pile of money. I bet big on you and you were a massive long
shot. I don’t know how I’m going to top this fight night though…You better get
out of here. Jonas is looking for you. He seems pretty angry. Go out through
the main entrance, the crowds have overwhelmed the guards. There is an entrance
to the casino floor just down the hall.”

   “Thanks.” Derek said in surprise.

   “No problem. And hey, if you every want another fight. You
know where to find me.” Slidell said as he stuck out his hand.

   Derek took the offered hand and nodded. No more words
needed to be said, it was one warrior to another. He exited the locker room
without a look back and made his way onto the main floor of the casino. Slidell
had been right; the casino was a mob scene. Crazed fans were fighting with
security and each other. Gamblers were tipping over slot machines and grabbing
for chips on tables. Dealers and floor staff had run for cover, but he could also
see a few getting in on the looting. Security was completely overwhelmed.

   The main entrance was just ahead and Derek hustled to the
front doors. Across the street he could see Rora waiting. He was almost out the
doors when a hand grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around. He found the
angry face of the security head, Jonas Blackmon, right in front of him. The
man’s face was bright red and he had a few slight bruises and his suit was
torn. He had a Glock 23 pistol in his hand and it was aimed at Derek.

   “I don’t know how you managed it, but I want to know what
you took.” Jonas demanded, literally spitting as he spoke, he was so mad.

   “I’m just a fighter; I don’t know what you are talking
about.” Derek lied.

   “Fine. What did your boss take then?” Jonas said angrily
through clenched teeth.

   “I don’t know.” Derek insisted.

   “I’ll just shoot you then and track her down.” Jonas
informed him coldly. “No one will question me killing you during this riot. And
no one will get out of Vegas once I lock it down. I will find your boss and get
the information from her any way I have to.”

   “Good luck with that.” Derek said as he looked over
Jonas’ shoulder.

   The man looked back despite himself. His face changed
from anger to dismay as a horde of rioters swept over him. Derek turned and
fled, he didn’t want to be caught up to. He glanced back to see the security
head go down under a flailing mass of arms and legs. Derek shook his head. He
felt bad for the guy; he had seemed like a decent man. But they had their own
mission to worry about.  Joining Rora on the opposite sidewalk, he asked for an
update.