What Happens In Vegas

-LAS VEGAS, NEVADA-

Life was good for Blade, at least by his standards.

It had been a year and a half since his escape from Manhattan. He had broken out of prison during a citywide crisis when dragons had attacked, led by a maniacal knight on a single-minded mission. Long story.

But the long and short of it was that here he was, clear across the country, ready to begin anew. It was here he had settled in among the nightlife. His history of petty crimes didn't follow him here, and he had a fresh start. Perhaps he was interested in turning over a new leaf, or perhaps he was just paranoid of running into a kobber, but whatever the reason, he'd kept clean since his arrival.

That didn't mean he didn't still skirt around the darker edges of urban life, though. Hell, he was in Las Vegas, a city notorious for dark dealings, nearly as much as Manhattan when it had been at its worst a few years back. Gambling, weapons dealers, black markets, bootlegs, drugs, and ladies who promised a fun time were par for the course here.

So it was that Blade was watching one of the oldest scams in the book play out before his eyes.

"Step right up, all who dare! Anyone is welcome to challenge my client!" a small man wearing a top hat waved his cane enthusiastically, addressing the crowd of onlookers Blade formed a small part of. "Just forty dollars to try your luck, and a prize of two hundred if you score a victory!" Two scruffy men in front of Blade looked at each other.

"I hear this Balrog guy is a total pushover."

"Yeah, a dude in his fifties knocked him out last weekend!"

"Didn't it used to be twenty dollars to enter?"

"He must be losing too much money, heh. What a joke. I'm going in."

Blade knew all about this little carnival trick. A tough guy would invite adventurous tourists an opportunity to test their mettle, and during his initial arrival, would take a fall and get a reputation for being a pushover. Then, after the word had spread, the price of entry would shoot up and the tough guy would quit playing around, fleecing would-be heroes before moving to another city to start all over again. He watched, rolling his eyes as the scruffy guy paid the barker and stepped into the ring.

Balrog played with his new opponent a bit at first, to make it seem like a fair fight, but after the mark got in a few almost-decent punches, he drew back a fist and slammed it into their face. In an eyeblink, his foe was down and out, forty dollars poorer.

"You're welcome to try again once you heal up a bit!" the barker said as he flashed a faux-sympathetic grin and shuffled his latest income into a lockbox.

The crowd murmured. Some were worried, but others remained confident they could take down Balrog. After all, all those other people did the other day.

Blade had seen about enough of the thuggish boxer downing random schmoes, so he was just about to leave when he noticed someone slowly making their way through the crowd, approaching the ring.

The first thing he noticed is that they were huge - close to six and a half feet in height, from the look of it. The second thing he noticed was the mask covering most of their face. The third thing he noticed was that they appeared to be female. Between those three observances, Blade decided to stay for a bit longer to see what was up.

The barker craned his neck back to look up at the hulking woman. "Well! Interesting! I do say, though, that I'm not sure Balrog will fight a woman. ...You are a woman, right?"

She glowered down at the man, her one visible eye twitching a little, before slowly nodding her head.

"I'll fight anyone who can pay the entry fee!" Balrog boasted, smacking his gloved fists together. "If she wants in, let her in!"

"Very well! Forty dollars, 'miss'." the barker sneered.

The woman reached into her pants pocket, producing a battered old wallet from which she pulled out the money. The barker took it and waved her in. She stepped into the ring by stepping over the top rope and stared down her opponent. Until now, Balrog had never been outmatched in height by any of the marks, but after a split second of hesitation, he grit his teeth and got into a fighting stance.

She made no sudden movements, no dashing or darting or planning, no weaving or bobbing or feinting. Instead she simply strode forward unflinchingly towards her opponent, slow but inevitable, like a slasher film villain. Balrog shifted back and forth, confused by the apparent lack of tactics, but finally bit the bullet and darted in with a quick right cross. A light attack, to test the waters. The woman barely flinched, reaching out with her hands to try and grab Balrog's arm, but he retracted it before she could do anything and retreated a little.

There was no playing around with this one. Time to win. Balrog darted in again, this time with a powerful haymaker aimed directly at his foe's face. She staggered, finally showing that she was human. Emboldened, the boxer kept up the pressure, launching punch after punch to his opponent and driving her back with a hailstorm of fast, sharp blows to the face and chest until she was slouching slightly against the ropes.

With a sudden swiping motion, the masked woman whipped one arm out and smacked Balrog's arm away, deflecting his latest attack. Shaking off the attacks, her bruised form rose off the ropes and began to regain momentum. Once again she strode forward, this time blocking Balrog's shots as he tried to keep his advantage. His fists shot forward again and again, only to meet his opponent's beefy arms, which were getting bruised but keeping her face and body safe. She kept striding forward, boxing Balrog in until he was trapped in a corner. With less room to wind up his punches, his desperate attacks lacked the stopping power he desperately needed. Suddenly moving quickly for once, the woman dropped her guard and grabbed both of Balrog's arms simultaneously. Before he could lash out with a kick, she kicked first, nailing him in the stomach. Next, she tugged him in close, wrapping her arms around him. Finally, she lifted the stunned boxer off the ground, taking him up and over in a suplex. The crowd roared its' approval.

The masked woman rose, staring down at Balrog. Her exposed eye had been hit by a punch, and was swelling up. Her arms sported multiple black-and-blues. But from her gesture - a single hand beckoning in a "get up" motion - she was enjoying this.

Balrog growled as he picked himself up. "So! A REAL fight this time. You're pretty good."

Balrog took a couple steps back and smoothly moved one of his hands behind his back, the other one pointing at his foe. "But I'm better. Time to lay down, woman."

As he was boasting, the barker had stepped up next to him. What the audience - and the masked woman - didn't see was the booker slipping a horseshoe into Balrog's glove.

All too quickly, though, the woman was moving in again. Balrog lashed out with his other glove, waiting for the right moment to use his secret weapon. She got socked on the shoulder, and retaliated with a couple punches of her own to Balrog's chest. The boxer took a couple steps back and launched himself forward in a shoulder barge. His enemy staggered, but didn't fall. A second ram did the trick, toppling her. Balrog kicked at his downed foe, then performed a fist drop. As he rose to continue kicking, she reached out and grabbed his leg. She rolled on the floor, pulling him off his feet. Quickly, she grabbed his other foot, got up, and began a Giant Swing. After nearly a dozen rotations (to the crowd's delight), the masked woman let go and Balrog crashed into a ring post.

He was dazed and confused, and his end was approaching fast. It was time to use the secret weapon. Balrog shook his head to clear the stars from his eyes, glared defiantly at his enemy, and let loose with a vicious haymaker square in the middle of her face with his loaded glove.

She fell like a sequoia, crashing down as suddenly as if she'd been a robot toy that had been turned off mid-stride. Balrog panted, the barker grinned, and the crowd stared wide-eyed. For his part, Blade in the audience had missed the horseshoe trick but knew as soon as the woman had fallen that it couldn't have been clean. He clenched his fists. "C'mon, lady..." he muttered under his breath. "Don't let this douche take your money..."

"A worthy challenger indeed!" The barker cried enthusiastically. "What a match! She's welcome to try again any time, of course, but I think Balrog needs some time to recover, so we'll be closing up shop for now! Come back tomor-"

She sat up.

Balrog looked as if he'd seen a ghost. Somehow, the masked woman was getting up again. She staggered to her feet. Blood was leaking out from under her mask, and her swollen eye was nonetheless seething with rage. In two steps, she was right in front of him. One hand shot out and clamped around Balrog's jaw. His eyes bugged out of his head as her hand trembled, threatening to dislocate something. Instead, she crouched a little to get momentum, then heaved Balrog up, swung him over her head, and whipped him downward as hard as she could.

While this was happening, one could swear that Balrog was screaming something, but with that hand clamped over his mouth it wasn't very intelligible. Blade's best guess was something about money.

The boxer crashed through the ring, leaving a large hole in the canvas.

After holding her "hurl downward" pose for several silent moments, peering down into the hole she'd just made, the woman slowly straightened herself out and turned to the barker.

"Here y'go!" he squeaked, handing her two hundred dollars in bills.

She took the money, placed it into her worn old wallet, and staggered out of the ring as the stunned crowd's silence gave way to cheers.

"W-wait! H-hold on a second!" the barker said.

She turned and glowered at him.

"What's your name, anyway, lady?!"

The wallet came out once more, and the woman produced a well-worn scrap of paper.

Written on the paper in black marker was the word "SILENCE".

"I... I see. Um... Congratulations, 'Silence'." he stammered.

And with that, Silence turned and began slowly limping away into the neon and shadows of Las Vegas at night. Everyone watched her go. Most were frightened.

Except Blade.

Blade was intrigued.