Chapter 8: Lilly Fights - Marina Watches Her And Is Thrilled Again

Mr Marcilenus slipped away. A gentle and kindly old man, he would sooner not see women fight. He knew that blood would be shed and had no wish to see. The two girls talked about Lilly.

"Have you kept in touch with her, Angelina?"

"Oh, yes. She may have taken off like a moon rocket almost as soon as we got home on her journey of self destruction, but I hear from her every now and again. She hasn't changed from the sixteen year old who walked out on her parents! Still ready for a fight, still brave as a lion and still rebellious! She toured fairgrounds for a while, challenging any woman to a bare fist fight. Got quite a few takers! Mostly she won - almost always in fact. But she had a few defeats and was put in hospital by one tough lady who really took her apart! That bitch really went to town on Lilly! Broke her jaw and her nose and cracked a cheek bone. To say nothing of a few broken ribs. She finally knocked her out after playing with her for the best part of an hour. Out for twenty minutes! But the girl was right back in the ring as soon as she had recovered! Took on the same woman later and had her revenge!

"Then she joined a bare fist underground fight club - overwhelmingly male of course, but with a few like minded women, all very butch and hard as nails, like Lilly. She toured the world with some of them until she finally struck out on her own. That's what she's still doing - fighting and lapping up the adulation she receives from sweet little things! Very girl oriented these days is Lilly!

"She fell foul of one country's law in a big way. She was a bit vague about it but in her only letter in two years she mentioned that she was doing a bit of time breaking rocks again, building up muscle and getting another superb all over suntan! So she obviously got herself a stretch on another chain gang or some such arduous punishment! She seemed cheerful enough and taking it all on the chin. Silly girl! One day, she'll learn! She sent me a photo of herself a month ago, and she still looks lovely in spite of all the fists that must have crashed into that face over the years! I wish she'd stop it, though. I think she still feels guilt for Martha. I'm afraid Lilly is looking for her own Lilly - the one who will end her life!"

"Lilly is a heroine in this part of the world! I've met a few of the people I knew in my days undercover trying to get you out, and she's still remembered here. They still talk about her fights in the market place and how she never lost - even against you! But I suppose you are right and this fight today ought to be her last. Win or lose, she should retire soon. I rather think she might, especially if you and I work on her. We'll talk to her after the fight. I know poor devoted Karl still hungers for her. It would be so nice to see her marry that guy and settle down."

Then the girl they had been discussing arrived and climbed into the ring for her much awaited fight against the island's female champion. It had been agreed to dispense with boxing gloves. Bare knuckle fighter Lilly had never fought in them and she never would. The crowd cheered when Lilly slipped off her gown and revealed her naked body, once such a familiar sight in this square.

"I'd forgotten, Angelina, just how hairy it's possible for a woman to be! Gross! But she's wonderful, isn't she! Look at that stomach! Most men would be proud of abs like that! And my thighs are thinner than her arms!" Marina's heart had missed a beat when that body was revealed! Lilly had put on weight in the last three years - all of it solid muscle! Talk about impressionable young teens falling for her! Marina had the hots already, unshaven legs or not!

"Yes." said Angelina "After three years I'd also forgotten how an unshaven woman looks, even though I worked side by side with plenty for so long! I don't mind her pussy being hairy! I think her cunt should be that way if she still insists on fighting in the nude - there's a lot of it and it's best kept hidden! It gave me a lot of comfort, mind you! But the legs and the armpits! Please!"

"I'd have thought her back would have healed up much more than that after over three years, but it still looks terrible!" said Marina in a puzzled voice. "I wonder?"

Lilly's opponent, Donna, took off her gown and she was dressed in shorts and a sleeveless top, but barefoot like the completely stripped Lilly. The bell went and Lilly and Donna went into action. By the end of the first three minute round the two girls realised that Lilly had lost none of her skill and power, in fact she was more fearsome than ever! But the other woman was no slouch and Lilly's nose was bleeding slightly and her body showed where Donna's bare fists had slammed into her, as she went back to her corner.

"It's going to be a great fight!" said Marina. "And I wouldn't necessarily bet on Lilly! This could be her Waterloo! That other girl is something else! I bet she's pretty fantastic when stripped!"

"I agree. And she has age on her side. Although Lilly's still only twenty one - that's not exactly ancient!"

In round two Lilly opened the proceeding with a straight left jab that hit the other girl a glancing blow on the cheek.

"Mistimed that badly! She'll need to sharpen up - and fast!" muttered Marina.

Donna didn't mistime her first shot! Lilly looked stunned for a split second and then let loose a blistering right cross and drew blood from the other woman's nose.

"Broke it! Lovely shot! Broke it badly, too!" commented Marina. She was loving this! After three boring years as a sales manager, she was ready for a bit of excitement and Lilly was providing it!

The other girl tried to stay out of trouble after that but Lilly pursued her and landed a dozen blows in fairly rapid succession. Despite her dark complexion Donna's face showed plenty of damage as the bell finally went.

"Lilly's round" commented Marina. "Don't write Donna off, yet, though. That girl's plenty mad and she's a fighter. Don't be too cocky, Lilly!"

Round Three saw the first knockdown as Lilly was caught by a wild swing that had little skill behind it but plenty of power. Marina could see that her friend was not hurt. But Lilly wisely took a count of nine. Lilly had a red mark on her right cheekbone and looked worried. Marina prayed that her friend would not be disgraced in front of a crowd who all willed her to win, even if she was not the local girl.

Marina went for Donna's body for the rest of the round. Just before the bell Donna punched Lilly hard in the gut, five inches below where her belt would have been if she had been clothed. She grinned evilly at Donna and replied in kind! Donna dropped to the floor in agony and the bell went. Lilly walked back to her corner and Donna was assisted to hers.

"Honours even" said Marina to Angelina. "Donna won't be trying any more low blows. Lilly has a stomach like iron and fists of steel!"

Lilly put Donna down in Round Four and was about to do so again when the bell went. But Donna had landed a few good blows that made Marina wince as they crashed into Lilly's face, ribs, stomach and breasts. Lilly's body was red and her ribs bruised, but she looked calm as ever, and concentrated. How those breasts looked to good after all the punishment they must have sustained over the years was a mystery. Marina's own figure was definitely sagging more than a little these days and Lilly looked tremendous! After the fight, she must ask her how she did it!

Both women traded punches in Round Five, making no effort to evade the other's fists. It was a war of attrition and Marina was unable to decide who was winning. The paler skinned Lilly was looking decidedly pink! Donna was hurting her!

"Nobody's round" she whispered. "Donna is tough. Maybe as tough as Lilly! This could go on for ages! Great stuff! Are you glad you came, darling!"

"Yes and no, Marina. I hate to see Lilly get hurt. I just wish this was over. And I'm going to persuade the silly girl to call it a day. She'll be brain dead in a few years if she doesn't stop!"

Marina nodded. But she didn't agree. All her words to Angelina about getting Lilly to retire were forgotten! She couldn't wait for the next round to start! And she no longer cared who won! It was just such a great fight!

In Round Five the pair continued to slug it out and Lilly ended with a very bloody nose, as did Donna, who must have been in great pain with her broken nose and bruised ribs. But Donna seemed happy to trade punches like this for as long as Lilly wanted!

"Still too damned close to call! Wow! What a fight! Can those two take it! And can they dish it out!" enthused Marina. But Angelina didn't look so happy!

In Round Six both girls were floored, Lilly going down just before the bell.

"Lilly's tiring! If she can't do something soon, she's had it!" said Marina. "Come on, girl! Don't let us down!"

Lilly didn't let them down. Round Seven was all hers. Donna looked a terrible sight when it ended with her mouth bleeding and her nose spurting blood all over both herself and Lilly.

In Round Eight Donna came back and pounded Lilly all over her body, slamming her hard in the ribs a dozen times and Lilly winced in agony, but stood her ground and answered with fewer punches, but they were telling ones to the face.

"Another drawn round. But Donna's started losing too much blood. They'll have to stop it. Damn! I was loving it!"

And they did stop it. Lilly was declared the winner and the two fighters embraced and kissed.

LILLY TELLS HER STORY AND MARINA IS SPELLBOUND

Afterwards the friends met in Mr Marcelinus's house.

"I wish you'd give up this fighting, Lilly." said Angelina. "Stop it while you still have your looks!"

"I thought the marks on your back would have faded more by now!" said Marina, whose curiosity about the rather fresh looking scars had been rising ever since Lilly had stripped for the fight. "It's been nearly four years since they whipped you and yet they look as bad as they ever did - worse, even!"

"They did fade away quite nicely for a few months. Then I ran into a very serious spot of bother in the shape of a jurisdiction where they used the whip a lot, and they used it on me - many times! I never had a chance to heal until three months ago when I finally left their ungentle custody! My bare back received simply loads of whippings, more than fifty in fact, Marina! All of them administered in a tin pot little country where I spent two years, most of that time breaking rocks, getting flogged and fighting off my fellow prisoners.

"While I was first in that country I kept getting arrested for illegal fighting. I had a fight a week - two some weeks and was raking in the cash! But I got caught a few times. That, as you must realise, is an occupational hazard for me! The first few times they hauled me in, I was given a choice of hard labour or a lashing. I chose lashes each time! I couldn't afford to lose income by being in the joint! It started two weeks after I arrived in their country with ten fairly gentle lashes for the first offence, then twenty appreciably more vigorously applied ones for the second - and so on up to fifty real sizzlers for my fifth brush with their law! That fifty really made me jerk and twitch, but I kept my mouth shut! They were laid on by a master craftsman! The other fighters were allowed to go free with only a ticking off or a small fine, but I was different! That's what comes of fighting naked! That is the price of sticking to your principles in the face of bigotry and intolerance! They really didn't like it! The crowds who came to watch me lapped it up, but not the stupid cops - or the dumb judges!

"I made plenty of cash while I was there, although each time a fight was raided the cops took all the takings - and kept it for themselves the corrupt scum. So for three months I was fighting pretty well all my bouts with a raw back. Being forced back on to the ropes, which my far from sporting opponents all tried to do to me, was agony! But I only lost one fight!

"When I was arrested for the sixth time they threw the book at me! They were getting really angry with me! I suppose it was because I wouldn't cover myself up to fight and also I kept beating their best women fighters and quite a few men, too! It's a pretty macho place and they took a very dim view of my knocking out guys, especially when one was the police chief's son! Maybe they thought that sixty lashes was too much for me to take in one go, so they sentenced me to thirty lashes, followed by nine months hard labour, and then another thirty at the end to sort of round off the experience! It was damned hard work they had me doing, believe me! They said that since I seemed to like fighting naked I could serve my sentence that way - not even shoes were allowed me - even when the weather got cold, which it certainly did for about five months of the year! I worked in a quarry and they made sure I was kept at it until I dropped! They made me do two seven hour shifts every day seven days a week and three hundred and sixty five days a year! And the others worked only one eight hour shift. By Golly, I was worked hard! If my arms weren't going up and down the whole time I got a taste of the overseer's whip - which I didn't like! I couldn't avoid his attentions altogether but I slaved like a Trojan to keep it to a minimum! Even in winter, with a hard frost, the sweat poured off me all day.

"I got into a prison fight in my first week, while I was still sore as hell from my introductory flogging. They gave me thirty more for that. Three guards had me tied up and were laying into me within seconds of my knocking the woman out. Very efficient!

"The other women could see how strong I was - without a stitch on me all day and every day, how could they not! And they kept challenging me to fight them. You know me! I never turn down a challenge! I had twenty more fights during those nine months with the same penalty each time! As if that wasn't bad enough, four months into my sentence, I punched a guard who had really pissed me off. I got all of fifty lashes with a much heavier whip for that piece of gross insubordination and they told me they would double my closing thirty at the end of the nine months! And when I thought my time was up and I had taken my sixty lashes with no more than the odd gasp and thanked them at the end like a good girl, instead of showing me the door, the bastards told me I must serve twelve more months for general bad behaviour and get another sixty lashes at the end of that!

"Even I, with my Stoic acceptance of life's little setbacks, was a bit stunned at such far from happy news! It was the middle of winter, with the coldest weather still to come! I vowed not to prolong my stay even further by hitting any more guards! I asked to see the Warden and put it to him that I only fought when challenged, that I would always accept a challenge, as a woman of honour, and would never back down even if it meant spending the rest of my life toiling in that quarry. He looked almost friendly and agreed that, as long as I never actually started a fight, he'd not extend my sentence further. He said instead of getting more time I'd get more lashes for fighting and eighty at the end. I thanked him. That was the nearest thing to friendship that was shown to me in my time there!