"Look, tadpole, as long as you're in the ring-" Marcus was interrupted as the mutant polar tiger grasped his throat and picked him up. 

"Why don't you step aside?" suggested the mutant tiger. 

"You son of a bitch!" shouted the mutant wolf. "It's your fault that my brothers are dead! I'll rip you to shreds!"

The mutant wolf roared and hurtled towards The Master, who was more than ready. Suddenly, the sound of a gun firing rang out and a bullet landed in between The Master and the mutant wolf. The mutant wolf backed up, snarling. The tiger mutant dropped Marcus.

Knife Teeth was standing with a revolver pointed at the wolf mutant. "If you want to fight," he said, "take the red knife and carve your name over the bed of the person you want to sort things out with."

The wolf, annoyed, quickly jogged away. A few moments later, he emerged up on the stage, grasped a knife and vanished. Knife Teeth followed him. A minute later, the wolf mutant returned to the tiger and polar bear mutant who nodded and walked away. 

Knife Teeth reemerged. "It is done. The two will fight at noon tomorrow. It will be a fight to the death. No weapons. Only fist and claw. You can not refuse, tadpole."

Knife Teeth and his guards opened a door behind them and went into a room soundlessly. A few people murmured. Marcus rubbed his neck. "Well, those are basically the rules. No weapons. Fight to the death. All that fun stuff. Say, do you have any-" Marcus was interrupted by a figure.

"Marcus," it was the Dark One, "let us be."

Marcus nodded vigorously, readjusted his baseball cap, and left.

The Dark One's skin was somewhere between pitch black and a dark, swirling purple. His eyes glowed mystifyingly. "I work with Knife Teeth. In case of death, I'll need your name, list of belongings, and other titles. Also, relatives, things like that."

He leaned towards The Master, "They'll ask for your real name. I suggest you not announce yourself as 'The Master.' Or else they'll default to tadpole. Also, you have a visitor, so please come with me."

The Dark One approached the gate, which opened, and gestured for The Master to follow him. The Master could see two armed guards and another figure near the fence.