241 The art of MMA (1/2)

Stepping closer to the dark-skinned woman but not too close…he then delivered the words ”Hey, we got off on the wrong foot. Why don't we split those cantaloupes, one each?”

The girl looked at him and smirked. ”Can't get sh*!”

…

”Huh?” Ben blinked.

”The fruits are mine! Vai tomar no cu!” After saying something he didn't understand, the girl took her fruit, and walked out, glancing back at Ben with a hateful expression for trying to steal her favorite food.

Meanwhile, he stood there, confused as he watched the fruits of his labor ripen…

[Target's current attraction level: mortal enemy(-1)]

'So unreasonable?' He recalled that the last time he'd reached the bottom level with a woman, it was when he accused her of committing genocide on millions of people…

Now, it was because of a cantaloupe?

…

Ben could only wonder what the correct divine line was as the wrong ones disappear from the system window, soon answering his doubt.

[A: ”Wow, you have the chin of Superman. I bet you could take a serious punch.” ]

…

Ben cringed. 'Who is she, Mick Foley? ...Mickey Rourke? ...Mickey Mouse?'

The line seemed too cartoonish...

He didn't get it. 'Or maybe another masochist?'

Ben shook his head for a few seconds. Then, he chalked it up to not being able to win them all, as he grabbed a banana and a protein bar and made his way over to the gym.

***

After taking the elevator to the bottom floor, Ben exited to the sounds of shouts and bodies hitting mats.

Walking into an off-white reception area, he saw there was a large sign on the wall that read, ”Barbosa MMA Gym.”

There, behind a desk, a huge muscular black guy was going through some paperwork, as a few others passed through from time to time. Ben observed that the space was only the beginning of a much larger compound though. On each side, there were entrances to many rooms where blue mats lined the floors and walls, with jacked guys running around and wrestling inside. At the end of one room, he could even see what appeared to be an octagonal cage. 'Is that the famous MMA octagon?'

He wasn't a big MMA fan but he'd watched it on TV before. So he knew that like boxers, MMA fighters sometimes fought in a ring overseas, but in the west, a cage with an octagonal shape was the norm. Inside, Ben could even recognize a face. 'Haven't I seen that fighter on TV?'

He didn't know the man's name but was certain he was a pro, and a famous one if even Ben could recognize him.