That night I waited outside for James, who had called me earlier in the day and told me he would pick me up around 11 ish'. I saw the headlights through the trees at the end of my driveway and I climbed down from the roof and ran towards them. To my surprise, Dakota opened the door. "Get in." He said. I stared at him. "I dropped you once, I'll do it again." I said angrily. He grabbed my arm and pushed me hard into the truck. I looked in the backseat and saw James laying in the back seat, blood rushing from his arm. Dakota climbed in the driver's side and pushed the stick into first. "He got stabbed by one of his old 'friends', and that's not our only problem." he said. I looked over at Dakota, a little confused. "What could be worse than this?" I asked. James coughed a little and I turned around. "I have a fight scheduled for tonight and unless I find someone to fight for me, I'm through with these organized fights." he said. I shook my head. "I don't understand...these are just basement fights, why are they so important?" I asked. Dakota looked in the rear view mirror at James. "You haven't told her about R.I.O.N yet?" he asked. James shook his head. "Didn't think it was the right time..." he said. I glanced at Dakota, then back to James. "What's R.I.O.N?" I asked. Dakota sighed. "It's a long story."
It ends up that R.I.O.N is a large organization recognized nation-wide. It's kind of like a big gang except it's not even close. There are ranks, offices, people who are trained in every kind of weaponry and hand to hand combat imaginable. In short, it's amazing, in a kind of horrific way.
And it's huge.
The entire complex is underground a couple of miles away from Albany. When Dakota pulled up to the bay doors to enter the "arena" (the name they had been calling our destination all night) I just stared. As the bay doors opened, lights and screams flooded the truck, so loud that my brains rattled in my head. Dakota jumped out as the truck stopped just short of the edge of the ring and he ran to my side of the door. "This is your first real fight and I understand that you're probably nervous. But you gotta run right into that arena, face the guy that's in there, and get James outta this mess if you want to see him again. This could very well be life or death." he said urgently. I stared at him dumbly. "I'm not a fighter, I'm a lover." I said stupidly. Dakota sighed and dragged me out of the truck. He brought me over to what appeared to be an announcer's stand and did his best to be heard over the roar of the crowd. "This is Sara. She's fighting in the place of Avalanche." he said. The woman who was checking people in stared at him, then at me. "Is Avalanche present?" she asked. James stepped up behind us. "Yes, I'm here. And don't announce her as Sara. Announce her as Maytrix." he said. I looked back at him and he put a finger to his lips to shush me. The woman shook her head. "Well there's no record of Maytrix in my files." she stated. James shrugged. "You'd better update your files than lady, because she's fighting for me tonight whether your files say so or not." he said. The woman sighed and grabbed my arm. "Stretch your arm straight please." she said. I stretched my arm straight as she stamped my arm with a large 33. "This is your fighter number. The next time you come to register, please be ready with it. You're all set." she said. James grabbed my hand and nodded to Dakota to follow as he steered me towards the arena. "You'll do great. You wanna know why I nicknamed you Maytrix?" he asked. I looked up at him, trying not to show how afraid I was. "Do you remember that show ReBoot that you like so much? That big green dude...Matrix...well, you remind me of him. You can do anything. Don't let me down." he said. Dakota tapped him on the shoulder. "Hate to break up a good thing but the fight's starting without her and that ain't good." he said. James kissed me lightly and pushed me towards the ring. "Fight hard, Maytrix." he said. I walked out into the center of the arena, and was immediately overwhelmed. The lights, multi-colored and hot, pulsed with the music, a hard rock, and smoke filled the arena. I turned to see a short guy behind me with blue hair, and jumped when the PA system crackled a little. "Tonight's fight is between Ice..." the voice dropped out as the crowd started to cheer. "and Maytrix!" the voice finished. Everyone grew silent as they looked me over. Then, James and Dakota both stood up and screamed, "YEAH MAYTRIX! WOOHOO!" The crowd, who obviously agreed with them, also stood up and cheered as loud as they could. Ice walked towards me and extended a hand. "I don't shake hands." I said. He narrowed his eyes and raised a fist.

To be continued...