Round five opened to the noise of the crowd, not the bell.

The pair met equally, and performed as such, too. Where William lacked in his defense, he made up for on his hits. Knocking Gavin around the ring like a rag doll, Byrne relied on brief moments of respite to duck beneath the swings and offer up glancing blows to the body of Bowden.

The two reduced themselves down to exhausted and humbled soldiers. The referee split them up multiple times, each taking any opportunity to clinch. 

The crowd roared on, expecting either one of them to drop at any moment as each attempt to hit found purchase. 

Neither fell. The bell rang.

"My friends... my friends" Jack steps before the ring and attempts to quieten the crowd.

"This match is over, each fighter has taken the advantage in two rounds a piece, and this one has no clear winner. We'll be back with a result once a decision has been made by our judges."

Flexx was impatient, the fight had pushed a load of adrenaline into the crowd. 

"MAN!! did you see that!!!? Wooooo.  I wonder who gets it. a good fight there i tell ya."

Flexx says as he takes a drag of his blunt and passes it over to TwoB. Flexx thought about it and wondered how he could get in the mix. He could look into that later. They kicked back and waited as the crowed continued to get rowdy, you would think they wanted more, and probably did.

"A good event that was there, huh TwoB.?

Flexx looks over and ask as TwoB passes him the blunt back. When you come to Philly you never know whats about to be the main event, and this was an example of that indeed. 

Marie had arrived just as the fight had started, but had chose to remain towards the back.  She had never been a fan of this sort of sport, but she had been invited by Don Jack Mezzo personally and it was out of respect for him that she came.  She knew both fighters, and knew what each of them meant to Isabella.  What she did not know was if the two fighters were taking the fight personal or if they were going to be professionals.  Either spoke volumes of their characters and would no doubt influence her decisions in future relationships with them.

Through out the fight Marie found herself constantly glancing over in Isabella's direction.  Had the shoes been reversed she might have chosen not to come to the fight at all -- a form of silent protest to the idiotically of men.  However, if one thing was clear, Isabella and Marie were two completely different women.

As she waited for the results of the fight to be posted she whispered to Rand.  He nodded and whispered something back in response. 

Isabella tried to remain emotionless through the fight and failed at several key points.  Gavin's cockiness annoyed her to no end tonight where normally it was received warmly and with great affection.  Only once did she crack a slight grin, and that was in reply to Gavin's wink during the opening of round two, which she was sure was meant to reassure her that although Will's punches were solid stone, he was doing okay.  The barest hint of a smile that peeked out in reply to this wink, but was quickly buried under stoicism again as she watched William and Gavin re-engaged.  

The more Gavin toyed with William, the more it grated on her.  It occurred to her that Gavin's fighting style and how he played poker was eerily similar and equally infuriating.  She had great empathy for William as she watched the two run about the ring in round two and three feeling as Gavin strut about the place as though he were the lead rooster in a house full of hens.  His swagger was a kind of bragging and it disgusted her.  If he'd acted this way in a social situation she might have slapped him.  She grits her teeth and wrung her hands together to prevent an unwanted display of her own.  Twice she considered opening her bottle of wine of Jack Mezzo early - listening to the crowd eat up Gavin's behavior only made it worse on her nerves.  She found herself wanting to cheer with the crowd, to urge Will to wipe the smirk off Gavin's smug face.

But when the moment finally came, it wasn't anything Isabella could cheer for.  William didn't wipe Gavin's arrogance from him - he brutally beat it out of him.  His signature blows were earth shattering and while the first few got her nodding and smiling, that faded fast.  Hit three, four, and five caused her to sit on the edge of her seat and cover her mouth in concern.  She anxiously stared at Gavin's wounds, praying to not see any of them split open, watching his breathing, praying it would not become labored.  Every headshot made her want to throw up, but everybody blow made her nearly cry out.  Gavin couldn't take much more, she knew it, she saw it in his eyes.  He was hurting!  She wanted it to stop and before she lost all willpower to stay seated, mercifully the bell rang.

By the fifth round, Isabella's mouth was constantly covered by her hands, a futile attempt to hide from the world what she was going through.  Emotionally she was in the ring with both men and she needed this to be done as much as they did.  She tensed up.  She felt a traitor to the man she'd entered into a relationship with as she prayed that William would be decided the winner.  Gavin could use the dose of humility and William the win in some aspect of his life over her arrogant boyfriend.  But she said nothing as she slowly pulling herself back into her stoney-faced, glassy-eyed position, waiting for Jack to return and announce the technical winner.

Following a brief interlude, Jack emerges from a nearby office, closely followed by the two fighters. They both have recovered from the cardiac stress brought on by the fight, however it is clear they need to wrap things up here to get cleaned up. Jack takes centre stage and calls for the attention of the gathered crowd. The makeshift ring is spattered and tired, however it draws the necessary attention for the announcement. 

Taking the wrists of both men, Mezzo looks to the crowd. 

"Godmother, Godfather, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for attending, tonight has brought us some clear indication on how the professional fights will be received and how our system works. I thank you for your support with this. 

"In this event, we ended the rounds at a stalemate. The decisions in place to support this circumstance were then employed to resolve and identify a winner."

His grip tightened on the wrists of the two men. 

"During this test however, those methods failed and have been considered inaccurate and unjustified in resolving a victor. The options to find a winner have then been assessed with the support of both fighters. I am pleased to announce that a new system has been developed in the event a draw needs to be judged, however..."

The crowd begins jeer, growing louder as Jack talks.

"... however to ensure fairness in the strategy used by both fighters, we cannot use it in this instance and so the fight has be concluded as a draw and..."

The crowd complains, drowning Jack out. Jack bellows, fiercely simmering the grievances of the gamblers and supporters.

"...And so on the blessing of both fighters a rematch will be arranged."

Isabella sighed.  Her head falling.  She would have to endure this again!  By the look of the crowd, it would be a fight that brought in big money for Purgatory.  She should have been happy.  She should have been excited - but instead, all she kept thinking about was the two men and their cuts and bruises.  Their egos.  Their pride.

She closed her eyes, ignoring the jeers of the crowd and the recounting of the blows by excited fight watchers all around the room.  She wanted to remember nothing from this match.  She stood up.  Her eyes meeting Gavin's for a moment.  Watching this abuse of two people she cared about had left her raw.  She needed air.  She forced a smile, trying to tell him she was okay, but she knew that they were both aware that it was a lie.

Smoothing out her dress she put on her mask, a smile meant for other Dons and Godfathers, and prepared herself for a very long night full of lies and half-truths - dodging questions she hoped no one would ask.

Gavin stood up and stretched from his stool in the corner and crossed the ring to Will's corner. One of the new associates working there tensed up, wondering if Gavin was going to start throwing punches, but Gavin simply slapped Will on the shoulder.

"Nice fight, Will. Thought I had you set up there at the end, but looks like you managed a comeback of your own."

He grinned, though it was slightly subdued due to being punched in the face so intensely. 

"Why don't we go have a drink, test the limits of our sobriety? There's some things I need to talk to you about."

Will took time to sit in his corner and pant the breath back into his lungs. When Gavin had become a whirlwind he'd returned the favor and in the end the two were spent against one another without a clear winner, neither able to push that last little bit forward. He hadn't realized that he had enough of a reserve to come back the way Gavin had against him last time, and even at the last he worried that he'd not make it, yet here there were.

The young man near him may have flinched, but William was sure that Gavin's swagger was covering the fact that he couldn't throw another solid punch right now if his life depended on it. Maybe if Isabella's did, but then they wouldn't be swinging at each other. He rose to meet Gavin with a grin.

"Nice to know I can still surprise you from time to time. Not quite as good a comeback as yours, but there's always next time. For now let's grab that drink. I'll just tell Roger I needed some recovery time after the bout and he can deal with things for a bit. I've been meaning to talk to you too. You got a place in mind?"

Gavin suggested the East Cat and William nodded his assent. Throwing on a black t-shirt, Gavin made his way to Bella. He could tell she was bothered, but this wasn’t the time or place. 

“Will and I are grabbing a drink at the East Cat. Need to talk about a few things. You can drop by in an hour or two, if you’d like. Or we can meet up later. Looking forward to it.”

He winked reassuringly, then headed slightly unsteadily toward the exit.

“No off books fighting!”  She called to him, only mostly in jest.  “I intend to make a mint if you boys are going to do this insanity again!”   At least she would have her money to console her if the boys insisted on bashing each other‘s goals and again.  She gave him another smile, less forced this time since it seemed that he and William were at least talking still.

Isabella had plans to stay here and socialize with the important people could come from all over the country to watch the fight and only after she was done but she bother seeking out the race street boys.   There would be plenty of time for drinking with them later.  She wasn’t going to keep godmother Marie waiting much longer to say hello.

 Making her way over to Marie she gave the woman a smile, “It’s nice to see you here godmother. I hope you had a pleasant flight? I want to thank you for your generous assistance during my debacle in Jamaica. It’s my understanding from Gavin that your contributions were invaluable to his cause of liberating me from the unjust inprisonment I endured.   Seems I am in your debt.”

For a moment Marie furrowed her brows, but in an instance her confused face turned into a smile.  "Nonsense.  You do not owe me a thing.  That is what families do for each other.  I am just glad to see you back here in the States and well.  I will be staying in Philly for a few days.  Are you going to be around or are you headed back to Detroit?"

“I have some business to attend to hear before I can head back. As part owner of purgatory I need to speak with Will about the future of our business arrangements as well as speak with Tara  Byrne about a second  business I would like to open in Philadelphia perhaps On Race  Street pier.”

” if you’re going to be in town over night maybe we can have lunch together tomorrow?”

Marie smiled.  "That would be lovely.  Now if you will excuse me I should really make my way over to greet my host and pay my respects to Godfather Spaceman."  Marie leaned in to kiss Isabella on both cheeks and fared her well before moving towards Don Mezzo.  She couldn't help dusting herself off'.  It really was such a dirty business, but judging from the reaction of the crowd during the fight she had no doubt that it would be profitable.  Perhaps she would seek out a fighter from Chicago to bring to Philly in the future.   

Once reaching ring-side the godmother patiently waited for Don Mezzo to finish some business he had at hand.  When he becomes available she smiled and said, "Congratulations Mr. Mezzo on a brilliant idea that you have here.  I can appreciate all the hard work and effort you have obviously put into this.  Thank you for the invitation."

Isabella took the opportunity to depart from Marie's company and slip out the door, knowing that her business with Jack could wait for another time.  She wasn't running from the conversation - no, not at all.  It could wait, that's all.  Besides, she really needed to see Tara before she had a chance to confer with either Will or Gavin any more than she probably already had.

As the two fighters amble off in the direction of the East Cat, Jack finds himself gazing into the ring, then out across the pier over the Delaware river. There was some contemplation running through his head, that much was clear, however the man was quick to return to reality as the figure approach him.

He turned, offering a slight smile and a respectful nod.

"Godmother Lucania, I will always ensure individuals such as yourself are aware and kept updated with our activities. After all, this is all possible because of the era of peace we're in."

He indicated toward the departing Luciano daughter as she slipped out behind them.

"It's been an ongoing project, driven by like minded people. Such as young Isabella there. Following this rematch, we'll be ready to throw together all kinds of ideas to build on this. Tournaments, gambling rings. If we can find a fighter from each of the cities, we can hold a royal rumble of sorts."

He looks back out over the pier once more, the gulls cry and the river laps against the foundations of the structure.

"I appreciate your attendance here though, you really are the Godmother of everything we've been able to produce these last few months." 

There's a pause, before he refocuses once more. 

"Please let me know if there's anything I can do for you while you're in the city."

"I will, thank you.  Have a good day Don Mezzo."  She nodded in farewell and wander off to see if Godfather Spaceman was still around.