Oops, Wrong Girl to Bully Chapter 171

Maya's POV

My hands were locked around the cage fence. Metal biting into my palms. I couldn't let go even if I wanted to.

Marquis was dying in there.

Blood ran from his nose. From his mouth. His left arm hung at a completely wrong angle. Dislocated. Maybe broken. His right leg kept buckling every time he tried to stand.

Theodore circled him like a shark. "Come on," Theodore said. His voice was mocking. Cruel. "Show me something. Give me a reason to remember you."

Marquis tried to throw a punch. It was pathetic. Slow. Weak.

Theodore dodged it easily. Laughed. "That's it? That's all you got? Forty-three kills my ass. You're a fucking joke."

The crowd roared. Hundreds of people packed around Cage 13. All screaming. All wanting blood.

I felt sick.

Marquis had been teaching us. Me and Jen. Basic self-defense stuff. How to stand. How to protect ourselves. How to throw a proper punch.

He'd been patient. Kind even. Making jokes to keep us relaxed.

And now he was in there getting murdered.

"Please," I whispered. My voice was lost in the noise. "Please someone stop this."

Theodore grabbed Marquis by the hair. Jerked his head back. "You know what? I'm gonna take my time with you. Make this last. Let everyone here see what happens when you challenge Redwood Pack."

He kneed Marquis in the stomach. Hard.

Marquis doubled over. Gasping. Choking.

"Fuck!" Jen was next to me. Her voice was high. Panicked. "Maya, we have to do something! He's going to die!"

"I know! But what can we do?" My hands were shaking. "We can't stop a Cage 13 match. Nobody can. The rules—"

"Fuck the rules! He's dying!"

Theodore hit Marquis again. This time in the face. The sound was horrible. Wet. Crunching.

Marquis fell. Hit the sand hard. Didn't get back up.

Just lay there. Curled on his side. Blood pooling under his head.

The crowd was going insane. Chanting Theodore's name. Throwing money. Taking bets on how long until Marquis died.

I wanted to scream at them. To tell them this was a person. A human being.

But my throat was closed. No sound would come out.

Theodore stood over Marquis. Looking down at him. "Get up. I'm not done with you yet."

Marquis didn't move.

Theodore kicked him in the ribs. Not hard enough to finish him. Just hard enough to hurt. To make him suffer.

"I said get up!"

Another kick.

Marquis coughed. Blood came out of his mouth.

"This can't be happening," Jen said. Tears were running down her face. "This can't be real."

But it was real. So fucking real. Everyone was watching. Cheering. Enjoying it.

"Attention! We have an official substitution request!" A voice over the loudspeaker.

The crowd noise dropped. Not silent. But quieter. Confused.

"Fighter Marquis will be replaced by fighter Aria Sterling!"

My brain took a second to process that name.

Aria Sterling.

Wait.

Aria?

"What?" Jen grabbed my arm. "Did they just say—"

"Aria," I said. My voice sounded strange. Distant. "They said Aria."

"No. No way. That can't be right."

The referee was unlocking the cage door. "Marquis, you're being removed. Your substitute will take your place."

Friedrich rushed in. That big German guy who'd been with Marquis earlier. He grabbed Marquis under the arms. Started dragging him out.

Medical personnel were waiting at the cage door. They took Marquis. Laid him on a stretcher. Started working on him immediately.

Theodore watched all this. His expression was annoyed. "What the hell is this? A substitution? You've got to be kidding me."

"It's legal," the referee said. "She signed the waiver. The fight continues with the substitute."

"Fine." Theodore cracked his knuckles. "Bring her in. I'll finish her too."

The crowd was buzzing now. Everyone talking. Speculating.

"Who's Aria Sterling?"

"Never heard of her."

"Must be some veteran fighter."

"Maybe she's good if she's willing to substitute."

I looked at Jen. She looked at me. Both of us had the same thought.

It couldn't be our Aria. The fifteen-year-old girl from the military selection. It had to be someone else. Same name. Coincidence.

That's what I told myself.

But then I saw movement at the cage entrance.

Everyone turned to look. The crowd noise dropped even more. Almost silent now.

A figure walked through the crowd. Small. Wearing a black tank top and tactical pants.

My stomach dropped.

"Oh my god," I said. My voice barely worked. "That's Aria."

"WHAT?!" Jen's scream was loud enough to hurt my ears. "No no no, she can't— That's not— Maya, that's HER! That's actually her!"

I couldn't speak. Couldn't move. Could barely breathe.

Aria walked through the crowd. Her expression was completely blank. No fear. No hesitation.

She moved past us. So close I could have reached out and grabbed her.

"Aria!" I tried to yell. My voice cracked. "Aria, stop! Don't do this!"

She didn't look at me. Didn't even acknowledge that she'd heard.

Just kept walking toward the cage.

The crowd was silent now. Dead silent. Everyone staring.

Then someone laughed. A harsh, ugly sound.

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

More laughter. Spreading through the crowd like wildfire.

"They sent a GIRL?"

"She's like fifteen! Is this a joke?"

"Look at her! She's tiny! Theodore's gonna kill her in ten seconds!"

"Get her out of there! Someone stop this!"

"This is gonna be a massacre!"

The laughter got louder. Meaner. People were pointing. Making bets.

"I give her thirty seconds."

"Twenty."

"Ten if Theodore's not playing around."

Jen was pulling on my arm. "Maya, we have to stop her! We have to—"

"How?!" I couldn't take my eyes off Aria. "The waiver's signed! The substitution's official! We can't—"

Aria reached the cage door. The referee opened it for her.

She stepped inside. Into Cage 13. Into that blood-stained sand.

The door clanged shut behind her.

That sound. That final, metal clang. It made everything real.

She was in there. Locked in. With Theodore.

With a man who'd killed fifty people. Who'd just beaten Marquis half to death.

And she looked so small. Standing there in the center of the cage.

My heart was pounding so hard it hurt. My hands were numb from gripping the fence.

Jen was crying next to me. Full-on sobbing. "She's going to die. Oh god, she's going to die and we're just standing here watching."

I couldn't speak. This couldn't be happening. But it was.