In this chapter, we learn that Sugun has been shot by a drug addict and that his trainer has gone brain dead. Sugun's friend, Shumira, has also been shot and is also dying. Shumira tells her sister that she is quitting the fight because she is too selfish to live without Sugun. She tells him that he is not a "motor baller" because he gives his life for the sake of the circuit. She also tells him he is an outsider because he is using both arms in the fight. He tells her that he feels the "taste of death" in his throat and that the crowd wants to see him brought low and die just like anyone else. He says that someone once said that everyone should be killed, but he says he is a champion because he fights for his own sake. He also tells her he gave her a quilizer so that she would not be out for so long. He asks her to marry him, but she refuses.