Mason did the oddest thing. He got up and gave Travis a minute to get to his feet. What was he doing?
Travis charged at Mason, throwing punches that were connecting and even managed to split the top of Mason’s eye. I cringed at the blow, but it didn’t faze Mason at all. It seemed he was in a haze of some sort as he took Travis’ punches as if they were nothing. Now I could tell Travis’ punches were deadly. Hell, I kind of knew firsthand how hard his hits were. But to Mason, it looked like nothing. The couple of hits that landed on Mason’s head only caused his head to tilt on impact.
However, when Mason threw his punches, Travis practically fell over. I walked toward the side of the ring until I came into Travis and Mason’s line of sight. Travis saw me and smiled. It seemed as if seeing me gave him energy. He charged Mason and did a move, rendering Mason on the mat. Alex was yelling at him and, hell, so was Lou. I knew Travis was the king on the floor. He could put you in a hold so tight you would either find yourself passed out or you would tap out.
This fight was over. I could see it. Travis gripped his hands tight together, and I saw Mason’s face grow red. Shit!
Travis then looked at me and whispered something in Mason’s ear. Mason then looked over at me, and I couldn’t meet his gaze. It hurt too much. I simply stood there and watched as Mason was going lights out.
What I learned that moment was to never underestimate Mason ‘The Reaper’ West. Some way he managed to get out of a superb hold. It surprised everyone in the room, including Travis. Mason smiled at Travis and said something I couldn’t quite catch. Then he waited as Travis charged in anger.
Mason wasted no time. He threw a few punches and directed a series of kicks at Travis’ midsection. I could see it was already red, so I knew he was in enormous pain. Mason didn’t care; he was not about to let up. He was relentless. Just before the round was over, Mason stepped up on the side of the cage for momentum and drove his fist to the side of Travis’ face. The hit was so hard that his head snapped back. I watched in horror and awe as Travis fell back against the cage and then hit the mat face-first.
Mason stepped back and waited as the ref counted. His chest heaved up and down, as the ref got to ten and ended the fight. The crowd went bananas. They chanted Reap’s name loudly, as the referee announced Mason as the winner of the fight. Train and two of Trip’s boys entered the cage, as well as his trainer. They gave him some smelling salts to revive him. Once they did, Travis jumped up and was still ready to fight.
I heard him yelling, “You think this is over mother fucker?”
Train was holding him back, but it looked like he was holding him up instead. Mason didn’t seem to care. He took off his gloves, pushed Train out of the way, and walked right up to Travis’ face.
I got close enough to hear Mason say, “Anytime you want to dance, you just let me know. I’ll be there to beat the fuck out of you again, and there won’t be a cage or a referee to protect you.”
He then got closer to Trip, and I could have sworn I saw Trip back away slightly.
Mace said, “If you ever put your hands on her again, I swear in front of everyone in this fucking room, I will kill you slowly and painfully and then revive you only to do the fucking shit again. I will make you regret fucking living every day of your miserable fucking life. Please, test me.”
My hands went involuntarily to my neck, as Mason backed away from Trip. He never lost eye contact until he got to the side of the cage and sat, so Lou could fix the cut above his eye. I then saw Alex lean into Trip’s group.
“You fucking pussies, watch your backs.”
Trip then looked over at me as he was helped out of the cage with his brother. Mason looked over at me, too. It was at that very moment that I wanted nothing more than to feel his arms around me. I heard someone else calling Mason’s name, talking shit, and I turned to see “The Butcher” approaching. I moved next to Alex as The Butcher headed toward the cage.
“Yeah, you try that shit on me, motherfucker.”
He pointed at Mason. Mason watched as his next opponent approached the cage with the air of annoyance and impatience. He looked over at me, and I really tried to sit down slowly to make sure I didn’t show how much pain I was in. But by the look that crossed Mason’s face, I knew I failed to do that. I wanted to cry; it hurt so much. I felt the tears in my eyes, and I wanted to let them go, but I didn’t. I wanted him to focus on this fight. Then we can have our own fight that I knew was coming.
Mason glanced back at the fighter opposite him with, what it seemed to me, a mild calm.
“Hey, baby girl. Are you okay?”