Turn 134 of 226

Beat each other unconscious with a smile on both of your faces. Join the same tournament for the first time. Fight in the finals

The fight does not stop. The stopping is the thing the bodies do not do — the bodies that are on the concrete and the concrete is the thing that is wet with blood and sweat and piss and the wetness is the thing the bodies slide in. The body throws the cross and the cross is the thing that lands on Diane's jaw and the jaw is the thing that turns the head and the turning is the thing that exposes the neck and the body's mouth is on the neck before the neck is back. The bite is the thing that draws blood. Diane's blood in the body's mouth. The copper that is the thing the body swallows.

Diane's knee comes from the clinch. The knee is the thing that hits the body's ribs — the ribs that have been hit before, the ribs that bruised in the first tournament. The bruise is the thing that reopens. The pain is the thing that is the warmth. The body's grin is the thing that splits the face — the grin that is the teeth red with Diane's blood, the grin that is the fighter's grin, the grin that is the animal showing the teeth. Diane grins back. The grinning is the thing that is the mirror. Two bloody mouths smiling at each other in the warehouse.

The bodies trade. The trading is the thing that is not defense — the thing that is the two fighters standing in range and throwing and the throwing is the thing that lands. The body's hook to Diane's body. Diane's hook to the body's body. The body's uppercut. Diane's uppercut. The impacts are the things that echo off the walls. The warehouse is the drum. The bodies are the sticks. The beating is the thing that is the rhythm. The body's legs are heavy. The heaviness is the thing that is the lactic acid, the thing that is the muscles filling with the byproduct of the work. Diane's legs are heavy. The heaviness is the same. The bodies are slowing. The slowing is the thing that is not stopping. The slowing is the thing that is the bodies choosing power over speed, choosing the shots that are the single shots, the shots that are the ones that end things.

The body's vision goes. The going is the thing that is the right hand — Diane's right hand, the right hand that is the body's right hand, the right hand that lands on the temple. The temple is the thing that is the switch. The switch is the thing that turns the lights down. The body's knees buckle. The buckling is the thing that the body has seen in fifty-two opponents and the body has never felt. The feeling is the thing that is the falling. The concrete is the thing that is coming up. The body's hand finds Diane's hand. The finding is the thing the body does on the way down — the fingers interlocking, the grip that is the thing that holds. The body hits the concrete. The hitting is the thing that is the last thing the body feels before the dark. The last thing the body sees is Diane's face. The face is the thing that is smiling. The face is the thing that is falling too. Diane's right hand is still in the body's hand. The bodies hit the concrete together. The hitting is the thing that is the sound — the sound that is the warehouse shaking, the sound that is the two masses landing. The smiling is the thing that is on both faces. The dark is the thing that takes them both.

The waking is the thing that happens four hours later. The waking is not gradual. The waking is the thing that is the body opening the eyes and the eyes are the thing that find the ceiling. The ceiling is the warehouse ceiling. The hand is still in Diane's hand. The interlocking is the thing that held through the unconsciousness. The body turns the head. The turning is the thing that hurts — the neck that is stiff, the jaw that is swollen, the temple that is the thing that throbs. Diane is looking at the body. The looking is the thing that is the smile. The smile is the thing that is the blood on the teeth. The body smiles back. The smiling is the thing that hurts and the hurting is the thing that is good.

The tournament is the thing the body registers them for on the burner phone. The registering is the thing that is two names — the body's name and Diane's name — in the same bracket. The bracket is the 40,768-fighter bracket. The body's tier. The body's level. The tier the body has cleared four times alone. The bracket that is the thing the body enters with an equal for the first time. Cal's confirmation comes in the text. The text is the thing that assigns them numbers — the body and Diane in the same pool, the pool that is the thing that will narrow. The body knows the math. The math is the thing that says they will meet. The meeting is the thing that is the final. The final is the thing that is the two bodies in the ring. The body looks at Diane. Diane looks at the body. The looking is the thing that is the grin. The grin is the thing that is the blood still on the teeth. The tournament is on the seventeenth.