Pitch black darkness.

That’s all Ben could see for several moments before he opened his eyes and recognized the ceiling of the MMA gym, as the hazy ceiling light flashed behind a person’s silhouette. He felt something soft underneath his head as he heard her voice. “Is he okay?”

Ben recognized that voice right away. It was Valentina, the thick Brazilian beauty. Although the light from the ceiling was still very bright, making it difficult for him to get his usual favorite glances at her, he still understood the situation. Although he didn’t know what happened, at the moment, he was getting lap-pillow service from her. Thinking of that, Ben dug his head back a bit to feel her soft thick legs brushing his hair. Grinning, he wanted to stay here forever.

“Let me know when he wakes up. I’m going to cool things down over there.” Valentina’s voice faded as she walked away, but Ben wasn’t paying too much attention as he continued rubbing his head against her legs…

‘Wait…’ Something seemed off to him. If she just walked away, then her legs… ‘Motherf*cker, WHOSE LEGS ARE THESE?!?’

Sitting up, Ben rubbed his eyes and looked back to find his “favorite lap-pillow.” It was Fariq with a look of concern on his face…

Ben’s face also showed concern, for what this meant for him, having gotten his first dreamed of lap-pillow from a f*cking man! “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOIN’?!?”

Fariq ignored his tone though. “Are you okay, bro? You got hit, hard.”

That’s when Ben recalled what happened. When he turned, he recalled catching Nick taking a swing at him. As for what the result was, the current situation made that obvious. Ben got hit. Just then, he also heard screaming at the other side of the room.

“Get out! You’re done here!!!”

He looked over to see Nick facing down someone. It was the big boss Ricardo Barbosa, who was fuming with his arm pointing to the door. The people nearby also showed various expressions of surprise, having never seen the gym boss so riled up. How could he not be though? One of his students just assaulted another student right in front of him and he didn’t stop it! This was serious! This was a situation where it wouldn’t be strange for the cops to be called. So what if they found and confiscated his collection of vintage porn?

…

There was a questionable tape in there involving a horse.

…

Which he collected for its comedic value, of course!

However, this bastard Nick was now creating a problem for him!

In Nick’s case, facing off against his fellow giant of a master, Nick was still grimacing, but his hands loosened from fists. He knew he couldn’t beat his master, so he wouldn’t do something stupid, even if Ricardo was kicking him out of the gym. Nick’s mood was bad because of that, but when he looked at Ben on the ground, Nick’s face eased into a smirk. It was worth it… Just seeing that punk go flying like that, he’d do it again if he got the chance!

Seeing that cocky expression, Ben almost had the urge to get up and start a fight, but when he remembered that hit he just took, he realized something crucial—he wouldn’t be Nick’s opponent!

Even if Ben beat him in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, that was only grappling. In striking, Ben was still a complete amateur, and Nick was a mixed martial artist with a well-rounded skillset. BJJ was only one aspect of his whole game. If instead of BJJ, they fought an MMA match, Ben would’ve gotten knocked out in the first round!

Thinking about this, he gritted his teeth, realizing he’d gotten ahead of himself. He still had a lot to learn. So, even if he was good at BJJ now, there were still many better than him, let alone if he counted striking. Turning his head though, Ben glared at Nick. ‘You may have given me a cheap shot now, but I’ll get revenge, by giving 10 shots to Lia!’

He was the type that if you slapped him, he’d turn the other cheek, of your girlfriend to the side as he banged her.

…

This was Ben’s credo…his way of the world…and how he believed karma was meant to work. In other words, his d*ck was an agent of karma…

A karma-c*ck if you will…

As for Nick, with the room of people looking at him with expressions of scorn, he wasn’t in a pleasant situation. So, he snorted at all of them, including this master of his, before turning around and walking out the door, heading home. Although he couldn’t train here anymore, at least he got some of his stress out with that hit, although he’d seen get it back as many people called him Ryu on the way back home, on account of wearing his gi because he’d forgotten his change of clothes at the gym but was now too embarrassed to go back for it. ‘I’ve walked too far already…’

Meanwhile, back in the gym, most of the people had cleared out already, still talking about the tournament as they went their separate ways. It was an event giving one shocking upset after another, with the winner even taking a sucker punch at the end. They wouldn’t forget it any time soon.

And that aforementioned winner, he didn’t feel like much of a winner at all, sitting in an office in the MMA gym across from Ricardo Barbosa who was crossing his arms. Ben adjusted the icepack he was holding against his head as he frowned, feeling the pain at a deep level.

Ricardo had some important things he wanted to say but now showed a strange expression as he looked between Ben and the icepack. “Didn’t you get his in the face? Why are you holding the icepack to the back of your head?:

Ben scowled as he thought back to the lap-pillow. “Cause that’s where the real pain is.”