That’s when the third person arrived. “Actually, I had a question about that too. So there were a lot of people who wanted to come but couldn’t. We had a couple ideas about that. But we wanted to run them by you first. So we have a couple of phone mounts, and we thought we could get a few people to film from the ropes. This way, we can have a couple angles on the TVs above.” He gestured to the screens hanging by the tables. “Also, Gerald, the guy you have doing sound mixing, thinks he can also cut between cameras live. Apparently, whatever software he is using already has that built in. That should help with the viewing. Lastly, are you sure we don’t want to live stream this? I bet it would pop off.”

Sevs considered. “Sure, set up the screens if you think you can do it. If there are any issues with cutting between shots, just have two cameras from each corner and pin the feeds to a screen. But no live streaming. We don’t have permission from the sports commission for this, so I don’t want proof floating online. Also, I got someone already making sure no one is recording this.”

“Sure thing, boss,” and he walked away.

Sevs turned back to Morgan. “Can you put a platform under the extra chairs in the back? Maybe that would help with visibility.”

“Maybe… I’m a little worried if someone falls off the larger platform or something?”

“Hmmm.” Sevs thought for a bit. Then nodded to four larger boys Morgan had helped her out with. “Have them move the other ring in the back over. That would be safer as they are ripe to prevent anyone from falling. And Susan won’t mind as long as we put it back.”

“Good idea, Not sure that is enough for everyone coming though.”

“How many are we expecting anyways?”

“A little under a hundred as of this morning. You should have sold tickets.”

“Yeah, shoot. We would have made a killing.” Sevs joked. They wouldn’t have been able to legally.

Morgan left to go figure out the logistics. Sevs had barely made it through the door, and already it was a bit much. The familiar panic of having so many people aware of him and wanting to talk was still there, but he managed to tamp it down. He set out and began helping. Mostly he tried to stay out of everyone's way and resolve issues as they came up. About an hour before the event was supposed to start, Jerome and a couple of his friends showed up. Sevs got them to one of the upstairs grappling rooms and told them to warm up and wait. Someone would come to get them before Jerome was to get in the ring.

After he left them alone, Lily came up to him. She had been around, but he hadn’t seen her yet.

“Hey-ya Sevs.” As she gave him a hug. “How’s it going?”

“Not too bad things are coming together. Seems like everyone has an issue, but things are gett’n there.”

“You are really good at this. How did you convince everyone to come help? Honestly, impressive.”

Sevs shrugged. He was surprised himself. It hadn't necessarily been easy, but neither had it been that hard. There were significant skill gains, and he thought he might have more by the time the day was out.

Before he had a chance to vocalize any of that, Lily continued. “Oh, and not to give you another issue, but the food truck you called just pulled up and is looking for a place to park.”

Sevs sighed and gestured for her to lead the way.

***

Sevs had to spend some time getting the vendors set up. They wanted to renegotiate their contracts, and things had gotten a tad spicy. However, with some patience and persistence, they came to an agreement. Neither was precisely happy with it, though each could accept. Sevs figured he would come close to breaking even on the event. He didn’t have too much overhead, but food sales were the only way he had thought to monetize this whole thing. As he was walking back into the building, Markus arrived. This brightened Sevs mood significantly.

As Sevs crossed the parking lot, Markus’s gold mustang pulled in. Sevs stopped and waited as Markus pulled into a spot. As Markus moved to go inside, they fell in step.

“So things are ready?”

“Yep, the stage and viewing areas are set up. Both are in their rooms warming up.”

“Nice, you got this nicely organized.” Markus reached into his gym bag and pulled out a black and white striped shirt. “I got my zebra shirt and everything. This should be fun.”

“Awesome! I wasn’t sure if you would, but that’s a relief. You also wanted to announce the fighters as well, right?”

“Of course!” Markus dropped his voice into a lower register and made a pretty good impression of some famous boxing announcer... “FROM THE RED CORNER, WE HAVE A FIGHTER WITH AN UNDEFEEEEEEATED RECORD. COMING AT YOU FROM THIS VERY GYM…”

Markus trailed off, and Sevs nodded in approval. “Very nice. You’ll need to see Lily. She’ll help get you mic’d up and give you the rundown. The show starts in forty-five minutes. Expect the fight to be about twenty minutes after that.”

“Mic’d up?”

“Yeah, it should help save your voice a bit.” Ses swung open a door, and they walked through. Markus shook his head. “I think I can project well enough for a few people…”

As they walked through the doors, Markus trailed off. He stood there shocked for almost 5 seconds. His head swiveled, taking in the scene. After he recovered, he just shook his head and laughed. “I didn’t think you could still surprise me, but you have outdone yourself. How did you get this all set up?”

“Don’t have time to explain right now. Go talk to Lily. I have the check on the fighters.”