Knock-Down!!

>Sipping your rum, you smiled lazily at the woman across the table from you.
>You were slightly buzzed, enjoying a night out on the town with your girlfriend, Natsuki!
>Tonight, the two of you were checking out the newly opened bar and boxing ring, Fisticlub.
>Where amateurs could prove themselves, people could settle scores, and most importantly, patrons could enjoy two people beating the snot out of each other!
>With padded gloves, of course.
>A couple bouts had passed while you drank and ate snacks, and you were enjoying yourselves plenty. Well worth the cover charge!
>But then, just within your hearing range, you heard something from behind.
>A mumbling voice, saying something about pink hair.
>Listening close, you discerned what the voice was saying.
>"Yeah, that one, sittin' across from the dude in the jacket. That hair's shtupid as fuck." You looked down at your jacket, then across from yourself. "She's got a fuckin' fang, too. Like a... a vampire or somethin'. What a freak!" Your face contorted, wondering who the slimy fuck was who just signed their own death warrant.
"Did you hear that?" You asked across the table.
>"What?" Natsuki responded, confused.
"Some dude just talked shit about you, hold up." Filled with bravado, you stood from your seat and turned around. "Hey! Which one of you just said that?" You shout, doing your best to stand up straight.
>The booze plus the blood rushing around your body from the sudden start was not helping this endeavor.
>Most of the crowd just kept watching the fight, ignoring you aside from a few turned heads.
>Two identical men stood up from a nearby table.
>"That'd be me, buddy! What you gonna do about it?" Which one of them said that?
>You focus to determine it, and the two morph into one kinda wobbly bearded ginger man.
"I'm gonna kick your ass, man!" You slur, and start to make your way toward him. Maybe you were a little more than slightly buzzed.
>"Anon, wait! He isn't worth all that!" Natsuki hollers from behind you.
>"Listen to your freak of a girl, boyo!" He says, beginning to move toward you.
>"Freak? Nevermind, Anon! Kick his ass!"
"You got it, cupcake!" Staggering towards each other, you nearly meet when someone rushes in between you two.
>"Woah, woah, fellas. This ain't no way to be!" The shorter man says. He's dressed well, in a vest and white shirt.
"Tell that to this guy! He's insultin' my girl!" You say, waving your hand at him.
>"Yeah, well-" The ginger man starts to say.
>"I don't care who did what! All I knows is you ain't fighting drunk in my establishment! Now, if you want to settle something, we can get you guys set up for a fight in the ring? Does that sound good?" The shorter man says, turning to both of you.
>"Sounds good to me." Ginger McBeardface says, looking you in the eyes with a slightly intimidating glare. It might've worked had he had full control of his face, or you realized the intent.
"Alright, let's go." You say, beginning to stagger to the ringside.
>"Hold up, hotshot! I just said you ain't fighting drunk! Our next opening is in two weeks time. That cool with both of you?" Shorty O'Welldressed says.
"Fine, sure, whatever!" You say.
>"Yeah, I'm fine with it." Ginger says with a cocky smile.
>"Alright. Now, gimme some names and contact information." Shorty produces a notepad.
>"Joe. My phone number is 180-6875." Ginger, apparently name Joe, states.
"Anon, 184-6046."
>"Right. Alright, two weeks, expect a call. Oh, and you'll also both be paid a bit. Winner gets more, yada yada yada. Bring trunks if you got em!" With that, Shorty moved on.
>You looked at the man, and gave your best 'eyes on you' motion. Your fingers were kinda pointed off-center, but he got the point.
>He scoffed, and kinda... wiped his finger across his chest?
>Weird. You scoffed in response and sat back down.
>"So what's up? You guys talk it out or something?" Natsuki says, an angered glint in her eye at the man.
"Nah. We'll fight on stage in two weeks, when we both got legs for it."
>"Alright." She sipped on her drink, then sighed. "You don't have to fight, you know? It's alright, really."
"That guy pissed me off. First, he's rude, talking about anyone like that. Second, he's damn wrong. Only thing freaky about you is how fuckin' cute you are." You slam back the rest of your drink, and set the glass on the table. "So I'm gonna put him in his place."
>She blushed, and smiled.
>"Geez. Alright, whatever you want to do. But we're getting you in peak shape for it."
"You know it. Wanna get out of here?"
>"Sure, let me call us a cab."

>You awoke the next morning, free of hangover due to drinking water before bed, but slightly groggy.
>Realizing that you had work to do, you set out immediately.
>Natsu, being the ever diligent person she was, prepared for your training before you had awoke.
>Going through your closet, she found the best pair of sweat pants and hoodie she could find for maximum comfortability while training.
>The comfy material was nice, though you wondered how good you'd look in hot pink.
>She also outfitted the hoodie with a marking in black tape.
"Since when did you have a gang, honey?" You asked, perplexed.
>"I don't, but I thought it sounded cool." She answered.
>It did. And the tape did look kinda neat.
>Whatever, you thought, as you donned the gear and put on your tennis shoes, and she her common casual clothes.
>Walking with her to the door of your house, you step outside and begin to unlock your bike.
"Think I'll start with a ride for cardio, then go punch stuff or something." You realized you actually had no idea what you were talking about.
>Finishing up, you look up to see your cupcake is sitting on the seat of the bike, hands gripping the handlebars as she looks down at you.
>"Nuh-uh. You're not gonna be on a bike in the ring, so you should run! I'll ride along with you to keep ya company, though."
"Fair enough, I guess." You say, standing back up and stretching as you do so. "So, where we gonna go through? The park, the beach, or-"
>"Just follow me!" She says, before taking off at a pretty brisk speed.
"Woah, wait up!" Breaking into a sprint, you caught up to the speeding pinkster and slowed to a jog to trail behind her.
>Running along behind the cycling cutie, you couldn't help but take in the sights as she lead you down a seaside path.
>The crystal blue sea, the cityscape over the bay, the sand down on the shore.
>The flash of pastel pink panties whenever the wind caught her skirt the right way.
"Hey! Nat!" You huffed out through jogging.
>"What? Need a break?" She said, glancing back to you.
"Nah! Cute butt!" You give a thumbs up.
>Rolling her eyes, she turns back and speeds up her peddling. A slight punishment, but a worthy price to pay to tease her. You match the shift in speed.
https://i.imgur.com/7zzeIwQ.png

>The next two weeks consisted of the tightest training courses.
>When you weren't at work or spending time with Natsuki, you were training.
>You ran along the bike path! You punched meat in a fridge! You ran up some steps!
>You studied the greatest boxers known to man! Muhammad Ali! Joe Louis! Mike Tyson!
>You purchased the necessary gear to look super cool! Black and pink trunks, emblazoned with "FANG GANG" on the waistband, and boots to match! No gloves, though, due to the ring providing them.
>And Nat even sought out forbidden knowledge, which you studied with her.
>You felt good about this.
>The night of the fight came, and you entered into the ring in the bar. All eyes were on you as you shed the robe, showing off your black tank top, sweet trunks and boots, and super ripped bod.
>Well, kinda ripped.
>A good amount of muscle, anyway.
>You stood in your corner, waiting for your opponent.
>The man duck through the ropes, and stepped into his corner. Taking off his own robe, you saw the man was slightly taller than you, and more muscular to boot.
>He looked less intimidating two weeks ago, you thought. You kinda wanted to leave.
>But momma didn't raise no bitch.
>You turned back to Nat, and nodded at her.
>"You got this?" She asked.
"Yeah, no problem." You stifled the worry. You trained for this!
>Shorty came out and announced both of your stats. Turns out ol Joey has fought in here before!
https://i.imgur.com/JIyNAiG.png
>He also gave the rules of the fight. One round, fifteen minutes, by points or knockout. Simple enough.
>You met in the center of the ring, and touched gloves.
>Joe spoke down to you with a look of contempt.
>"I will break you." He said.
"Rocky IV! Nice." You respond.
>"W-what?"
"What, you thought I'd never seen that or somethin'? Oh, and it's 'must' by the way. But good choice, it's a cool quote!"
>"Whatever, man. Get ready to get knocked out." He stanced up.
>In turn, you did too. Putting your mouthguards in, you both began to circle the ring, looking for an opportunity.
>You thought of busting out the secret weapon, but you decided to wait. No point in blowing it all in the first few seconds, you had to have the perfect timing.
>Just then, he swung at you with a right hook! Dodging deftly, you were proud in the moment.
>But then a left jab caught you in the side of the head. You were pushed back, and dazed, but held your ground.
>You waited for him to get close, and swung, connecting with his ribcage with your right fist. A nice body blow!
>Following it up, you hit him with a left to the other side, pushing him back. An unrelenting assault, you continued with a few more blows.
>Suddenly, his gloves swung down and blocked your fists, pushing you off. You looked up into his eyes and caught a fist to the face, knocking you backwards toward the edge of the ring.
>Another one to your face sent you spinning, and the world started fading away. You felt ropes, you heard voices, and yet they drifted farther and farther alongside your strength to stand.
>Bouncing against the ropes, you began to fall forward toward the mat when you heard it.
"Anon!" Natsuki shouted. That voice pierced your ears, and kickstarted you.
>Many would fall after two blows to the head like that.
>But not this Anon.
>Not today.
>As you fell, you positioned your foot in front of you to catch yourself. Bracing yourself with it, and pushing your limits, you brought yourself back up with a small shout as your battlecry. Biting down on the mouthguard, it was time to go all out.
>You brought your elbows into your stomach area, and put your fists against your chin.
>Dancing toward the man in a figure eight, you bobbed and weaved to avoid any punches. Your movements too erratic, you closed the gap quickly.
>Your gliding movements getting closer, you waited for the opportune time, and it presented itself. He threw a left, and you dodged to his left.
>At the same time, you sprung forward toward him with your own left hook toward his now unguarded head.
>Your dance built momentum, your arm built momentum, and the final step toward him built momentum, all unleashed on the man's head.
>The mighty blow made him stagger back, and with your weapon spent, instinct took in. You followed up with further moving toward him, and a series of uppercuts to the stomach followed.
>His hands swung down once more, but you didn't bother to look up.
>Your right arm was already cocked back, and you let it loose into his face.
>Joe was felled, and spun to the ground.
>You smiled, knowing you won.
>But the blows to the head and exertion caught up to you, and tunnel vision came back.
>It was set aside as Shorty slid into the ring, and jumped up beside you, holding your arm in the air.
>"And our winner is Anon, by total knock out!" The crowd roared for you, but you looked around through eyes swamped with sweat and blood for the one you cared about.
"Yo! Natsuki!" You struggled to shout.
>"Anon!" Blindsided, Natsuki had managed to get into the ring too and was now hugging against you. "You did it!"
>"And to the victor, the spoils! Two hundred dollars!" He handed you a wad of bills. Or, rather, he handed it to Natsuki after realizing you still had your gloves on. Taking the mic away from his mouth, he leaned over to you. "Nice technique, kid! Want to sign up for the circuit?"
>Looking to Natsuki and seeing the look in her eyes, you agreed. Looking back to him, you answered.
"Nah, I think I'm done. I did what I wanted." He looked disappointed at your answer.
>"Hey, whatever you say, pal. Damn shame, though. Go ahead and leave your gloves by the ringside and have a good night."
>With the pink at your side giving you support, you made your way out of the ring, dropped off the gloves, and continued on out of the club and into the night as they rolled the ginger trash-talker off of the mat.
>You held her close as you walked down the sidewalk, and reflected.
>It felt good to be able to defend her honor, as lame as that sounded.
>The money was nice, but it was never about that. Hell, you didn't even know about it at first.
>She stood up on her tiptoes as she walked, and planted a kiss on your cheek.
>It was nice for a moment, but the stinging pain came through as contact reignited it.
>At least you had plenty of money for painkillers and icepacks.