Never Back Down

What defines friendship?  I don’t know about girls but for boys if you don’t fight you ain’t friends.

1.

FIGHT!  FIGHT!  FIGHT!  FIGHT!

The crowd cheered madly. It was music to my ears. I looked around with my half blurred vision and took a bow to the crowd.  The cheerings skyrocketed.

It was my 8th fight of the night. Seven beaten opponents and I was still standing in the arena waiting for the eighth. I checked my bleeding nose. The last opponent had punched my nose badly and it had not stopped bleeding since then. My swollen eyes and broken ribs were a gift from my sixth opponent. Both of them were huge, professional fighters but unfortunately no match for me.

I blew flying kisses to the beautiful ladies in the front row to which they giggled and flew them back to me. My eighth opponent was standing in front of me.  He was a huge, masculine fighter almost twice as me. He looked at my bleeding nose, swollen eyes, limping legs and laughed.

‘You sure you wanna fight buddy,’ he chuckled. ‘ you are in pretty bad condition. ‘You look sleepy.’

‘I sleep..’ said I. ‘When I’m dead.

He came close to me and spat on the ground. ‘Then let’s just make you dead.’

The bell rang and the fight began. The crowd was getting mad.

Kill!  Kill!  Kill!  Kill!  Kill!  Kill!

Again the music fell in my ears.

I was confident I would win. I had defeated seven fighters before him. He was no match for me.

I threw a straight punch on my opponent’s face, intending to finish the fight quickly as possible.

But my fist punched the empty air, my opponent was nowhere to be seen.

‘Where are you fighting Kiddo?’ He laughed. ‘Daddy’s right here.’

Sh#t, I thought. My vision was too blurry to see him. My limping legs made me slower.

He knew I was finished. He lurched at me. Threw a straight punch on the chest followed by a round kick on my face.

I tried to block but my movements were slower. A second later I fell on the ground. My ribs cracking, my head buzzing.

‘You’re done kiddo.’ He laughed again.

Shit, I thought. F##k him. I can’t lose. Not yet. I am so close to the record. 10 fights and I’ll be the new arena champion.

He came close to me. Grabbed me by neck and started rapidly punching me on my face. I couldn’t see anything but the cheering stopped. Crowd couldn’t bear seeing his favourite getting punched to death. I was fighting for last hour.

He kept punching me on the face. I was bleeding badly but it didn’t pain. I was too numb to feel pain.

‘No, No.’ I told to myself. ‘You can’t die yet. You made a promise,  remember.  Never back down. Kings never back down. Kings never surrender. I’m the king. I’m the KING.’

‘What are you mumbling about?’ He kept punching me on the face. Every punch harder than the previous one. My face looked like mango pulp. Too swollen and red to recognise.

Never Back Down… Never Back Down. .

I kept whispering. I couldn’t see him but I could feel his punch. The next one was coming. I mustard my strength and lifted my arm.

The time had gotten slower for me. I could hear his breath. His muscles twitching. His jaws clinching in madness. I heard his fist getting closure to me.

And before it could connect with my face, I caught it in midair.

The crowd cheered madly.

Never Back Down. … Never Back Down..

I kept enchanting. My left leg was limping so I used my right leg to throw a full 360° round kick on his neck and he fell a full 2 meters away from me. His mouth spraying blood on its way.

I tried to get up. But my body was too broken to obey.

The crowd felt silent. My whispering could be heard everywhere.

I mustard all the power I had left and got up.

Never Back Down… Never Back Down. .

The crowd heard me loud & clearly..

Suddenly a miracle happened. The crowd was now singing with me..

NEVER BACK DOWN!  NEVER BACK DOWN! NEVER BACK DOWN!

The crowd was cheering for me.

I can’t lose now, I thought. I’m a winner. Winners dont quit. There’s no way I’m gonna quit.

My opponent stood up bruising blood from his face. He had not expected this. It was impossible for him to believe that I,  who was on verge of death after fighting seven opponents could still throw a kick like that. It was too much for anyone to believe.

‘You are dead.’ He lurched at me. His body shaking with anger. He was faster than a hunting tiger. His arms ready to grab me and crush me in an instant.

But it was still to slow for me. I could hear him lurching. The tightness in his body, the sweat coming from his brows.

Before he could reach me I moved to his left and grabbed his neck and broke his jaw with a heavy uppercut.

The crowd kept singing for me.

NEVER BACK DOWN!

NEVER BACK DOWN!

The sweet music fell into my ears. I looked at my opponent. He was trying to get up. Not so fast.

I approached him from his back and grabbed his neck and twisted it with an anaconda chock.

He tried to tap out but I kept his hands under my legs. There’s no way he was getting out of here unharmed.

He cried with pain. His face turned red with pressure. His lungs desperately attempting to breathe. The crowd stared at us. Soon he passed out. The fight was over. The bell announced my victory.

Few people came into arena and carried the passed out opponent on a stretcher.

I again took a bow to the audience and flew kisses to the ladies.

My next opponent was ready to get in the ring. Just two more opponents and I would have broken the record of most consecutive fights in a battle arena.

The crowd cheered madly. But before My opponent could reach the arena, I felt sudden pain in my head. My body had reached its limit. My legs refused to get up. My eyes was blurred with blood. My ears buzzing with pain.

I tried to get up but I couldn’t.

So close yet so far. I was so close to become the champion. My staff came rushing to the arena. My super hot girlfriend got into the arena. She holded me and kissed me on the lips.

‘You did great.’ My trainer told me.

My manager counted the money I had earned in the eight fights. 40 lakhs to be precise..5 lakhs per fight.

Not a bad deal. Not a bad deal at all.

I didn’t broke the ultimate record that day but I did become the champion and the crowd got a new cheering for me.

As my girlfriend separated our lips to allow me to breath. I could still hear the music in my ears.

Never Back Down, it said. No matter what situation you face in life. Whether it be a fight to death or a school assignment or a family problem. You tackle every situation head on. Refuse to give up, I say. Never Back Down you hear me. NEVER BACK DOWN

And then something happened.  A song made me open my eyes. The alarm clock had broken my sweet dream but I could still taste my girlfriend’s sweet lips on my tongue. I got up and hit the snooze button. I had a good night dream but now it was time to get back to reality and face it head on……..

-‘–NEVER BACK DOWN –‘-

–END–