C408 Family Boxing

At Ben's club, a month had passed since Steve and Antonio had started coming there every day. At first, Ben had tolerated them because he had no choice. So, for an entire month, he had allowed them to drink whatever they wanted. At first, Steve and Antonio had behaved themselves. But after some time, they had started becoming comfortable. Too comfortable. They began harassing some of the female employees. Sometimes they would grab a waitress by the arm. Other times, they would make inappropriate comments or touch them when the women were trying to serve other customers.

Ben pretended not to notice. Whenever an employee looked at him for help, he simply looked away. But deep down, Ben was relieved. He had been waiting for an opportunity. One evening, while sitting in his office, Ben opened the security camera system. He moved through several screens until he reached the cameras inside the main bar. There they were. Steve and Antonio were sitting at one of the tables, drinking and laughing while bothering one of the waitresses. Ben watched silently. Then a small smile appeared on his face. "Well," he muttered to himself, "I think I have a way to deal with you two." He leaned closer to the monitors. For the next several minutes, he watched carefully. He didn't intervene. Instead, he began gathering evidence. Every time Steve touched one of the female waiters without permission, Ben saved the footage. Every inappropriate action was recorded. Ben knew that Steve and Antonio were dangerous because they knew too much about him. But now, they had given him something he could use against them. Ben felt that the situation might finally be turning in his favor. He leaned back in his chair. "Enjoy your drinks while you can." His smile disappeared. "Because this is going to end soon."

That evening at Gupta Military Base after training was finally over, all of us sat around the fire. The night was cold, and the flames provided the only real warmth. Hammer's announcement from earlier was still on everyone's minds. The annual family gathering was tomorrow. And according to Hammer, we were expected to participate. I looked around at everyone. There was a long silence before I finally spoke. "Guys, you know going there isn't compulsory, right?" Everyone looked at me. "If you don't feel like going, you can stay here and train." Kiddo immediately rolled her eyes. "Here we go again." I frowned. "What?" "You guys said we are one family." She pointed at all of us. "So everything we do, we have to do it together." Bighead laughed. "She's got a point." Kiddo nodded. "If we stay here while the rest of you go, what kind of family would we be?"

Chipmunk smiled. "She's right." She looked around the fire. "Tomorrow, we all go." She straightened her back. "We will participate in the family gathering. And if they challenge us, we will fight." Everyone became quiet. Cipher looked into the flames. "But we've only trained for one month." Bighead shrugged. "It doesn't matter." He looked at all of us. "As long as nobody dies, that's okay." I stared at him. "That's your standard?" He laughed. "Of course." Chipmunk shook her head. "You are unbelievable." Bighead smiled. "What? I'm being realistic." Cipher laughed softly. For a moment, the tension disappeared. We all knew that tomorrow would be different. For one month, we had been training in isolation. Nobody outside the base knew how much we had improved. Tomorrow would be the first time we would show them.

At the Gupta family residence, Samson sat in his villa with Hanna. The atmosphere between them was serious. Samson looked at his daughter. "So, the competition is tomorrow." Hanna nodded. "What is your plan?" Samson leaned forward. "We must eliminate her once and for all." Hanna looked at him. "Who?" "You know who I'm talking about." "Alicia." Samson nodded. "Catching her off guard will make things easier." Hanna rolled her eyes. "Father, I'm not scared of Alicia." Samson studied her carefully. "Then what do you want?" Hanna leaned back. "I just want to see how capable she is." She paused. "I've heard too much about her." Hanna's expression became serious. "Tomorrow, I will only fight against her." Samson frowned. "Only her?" Hanna looked toward the window. "Yes, I want to know if she actually has the capabilities of challenging my future leadership." She turned back toward her father. "If she doesn't, then she better hand over Gold and Diamond to me." Samson smiled faintly. Hanna's eyes narrowed. "Tomorrow I'll find out whether everyone has been exaggerating about her."

The next morning, we woke up early. We prepared ourselves for the journey to the Gupta residence. Hammer arrived with Viper and Rider. They were going to transport us there. Everyone was excited in their own way. Chipmunk looked confident. Bighead was practically smiling the entire time. Kiddo was nervous but trying not to show it. Silver and Pixel were noticeably more worried. Survivor, on the other hand, looked excited. When we finally arrived at the Gupta residence, the event had already begun. The sound of cheering immediately reached us. We walked toward the gathering area. The younger members of the family were already sparring with one another. For a moment, all of us simply stood there and watched. No weapons were being used. The punches were controlled. Hard strikes were not permitted. It looked more like a friendly competition than an actual battle.

Victor eventually noticed us. His face immediately lit up. He walked toward us. "My children." He welcomed us warmly. I smiled. "Grandfather, is this what we will be doing?" Victor nodded. "Yes." He laughed softly. "It's just a family tradition. You don't have to think too much about it." He placed a hand on my shoulder. "Even if you lose, it doesn't matter." We all nodded. But I knew none of us wanted to lose. For us, this wasn't just a game anymore. We wanted to see how much we had improved. We wanted to know whether the training had actually changed us. After nearly an hour, the juniors finished their matches. Then the atmosphere changed. The senior members began lining up. We moved forward. Hanna had brought several people with her. Some of them looked like experienced fighters.

The the families began taking their positions. Under the First Family stood. Hanna. Tyson. Cloud. Cintia. Ignacio. Stacy. Bloom. Destroyer. Under the Second Family, almost nobody stood forward. Only Darry stepped out. He looked toward his father. "My family is busy with work, so we won't participate." He paused. "But my first brother has my support." Samson smiled faintly when he heard that. Then everyone looked toward the Third Family. That was us. Cipher stood at the front, Alicia. Who is our leader. Behind her stood me, Cracker. Then Bighead. Chipmunk. Survivor. Kiddo. Pixel. And Silver. Eight of us. Hanna's eyes immediately locked onto Alicia. For the first time, the two of them stood face-to-face.

Hanna looked Alicia up and down. Then she smiled. "So you are Alicia?" Cipher nodded politely. "Hello, Hanna." She smiled. "I am Alicia, your cousin." Hanna immediately rolled her eyes. "I don't have any cousins." Cipher's smile remained. Hanna looked at her again. Then her eyes narrowed. "So you're the one who drew my dagger from the pool." Cipher nodded. "I suppose I am." "I want it back." Cipher smiled. "If it was meant to be yours, wouldn't it have picked you a long time ago?" Several people around us became silent. Hanna's expression changed. Then she grinned. "So you're refusing?" Cipher didn't answer. She simply looked at Hanna. That silence seemed to irritate her even more. Before Hanna could say anything else, the referee stepped forward. "The competition will now begin."

The first fight was between Cracker and Destroyer. We stepped into the fighting area. I took a deep breath. For the past month, I had trained every day. I had been beaten countless times by the coaches. I had learned how to fall. How to block. How to counter. How to keep fighting when my body wanted to stop. But Destroyer had years of experience. The referee signaled. We moved. I tried to dodge his first attack. Then I attacked back. For a few seconds, I managed to keep up. But Destroyer quickly realized my weakness. He was stronger. Faster. More experienced. I blocked one punch. Then another. But the third attack caught me. He grabbed me and threw me off balance. I hit the ground. Before I could recover, he was already on top of me. He pinned me down. I struggled. But I couldn't get free. The referee stepped forward. "That's it!" He separated us. "The winner is Destroyer!"

I stood up slowly. Destroyer looked at me. There was no arrogance in his expression. He simply nodded. I nodded back. I had lost. But I had learned something. One month of training wasn't enough to close the gap between us. Not yet. The next fight was Survivor against Stacy. Survivor walked into the fighting area. Unlike me, she looked excited. She had spent the entire month training seriously. And she loved sparring. The referee signaled. The two women moved toward each other. Stacy attacked first. Samantha blocked. Stacy attacked again. Samantha moved aside. Then Samantha countered. The fight continued for several minutes. Samantha refused to give up. Eventually, she caught Stacy off guard and knocked her down. The referee immediately stepped forward. "The winner is Survivor!" Survivor smiled. She walked back toward us. "I told you I could do it." Kiddo laughed. "You were enjoying yourself too much." Survivor smiled. "Maybe."