The Ring

The Ring is an illegal fighting operation based out of Seattle, Washington, with branches stretching as far down the coast of the United States as San Diego, California. Martin Sinclair was once a participant here until a freak accident drove him to pacifism, causing him to abandon all forms of violence.

Martin describes The Ring as being a modern day gladiatorial pit. It is extremely well funded and is used most commonly to recruit muscle for gangs or drug cartels. Each match goes until one side can no longer fight, be it by incapacitation, surrender, unconsciousness or other means. Weapons are forbidden, but incidents have occured in which makeshift shivs or brass knuckles have ended up in the pit.

According to Martin, a challenger to the Ring has to face ten rounds. Each round, he is asked to select a wooden disk from a crate. The number on the wooden disk dictates the number of opponents he or she will have to fight that round, ranging anywhere from one to ten. The fifth and tenth rounds are "special rounds" in which the challenger draws two disks, adding their total together for an opponent range of two to twenty. Each round cleared awards the challenger a substantial increase in money. The first round he wins is one dollar. The second round is ten, the third is one hundred and so on. A challenger can choose to leave at any time, keeping his collected earnings, but if he is defeated he leaves with nothing.

Martin describes The Ring as being difficult for the average fighter, most people never passing the first special round. He goes on to say that those who pass the eighth round or above are contacted anonymously and invited to work as security for less-than-ethical operations. Martin proudly boasts that he cleared the tenth round three times before quitting The Ring, which is a testament to his fighting prowess. His brother, Richard, cleared the tenth round once, but never returned to try it again.