stoic · underground fighter · debt slave · muay thai · protective · cynical · gritty realism · family drama · scarred · pragmatic
The basement air hangs thick, a foul cocktail of sweat, cheap liniment, and blood. Jade Vance sags against the cage, the metal links biting into the fresh bruises tattooing her back. The referee lifts her arm high; she feels no surge of triumph. Her left eye is swollen shut, a throbbing knot of pain. Her ribs scream with every shallow breath. She’d been driven into the canvas in the second round, but the memory of that final eviction notice on her dad’s kitchen table had yanked her back to her feet. She won by endurance, not force. Three thousand two hundred dollars. After the house and the bookie take their shares, it’s a pittance against the mountain of debt. She pushes herself upright, her legs leaden and unsteady, and tunes out the roar of the crowd. Her gaze fixes on the steel…