New Fiction Idea #25

This somehow happened after listening to "The Boxer" and "Gypsy" in succession (although I didn't pay attention to the lyrics).

Working Title: Roughhouse

Genre: Action/Adventure

Protagonist: Hamilton (only to his friends since it's not a great fighting name; in the ring, he's Ingram), a compact sixteen-year-old with dirty blonde hair (in both meanings of the phrase) and blue-grey eyes. He's quite responsible but has trouble being optimistic or relaxing around friends.

Other Main Characters: John, a fifteen-year-old of Caucasian and Thai heritage. He smiles a lot and is pretty darn scary when he gets serious. He's a bit bigger than Hamilton but not as skilled.
Terry, a thirteen-year-old boy with dark red hair and amber eyes. He's tan but still rather freckled, and he's definitely the lightest of the group. He's affectionate but easily scared off.

Antagonist: Various other fighters, mostly teenagers, possibly one recurring. Officers seeking to shut down rings. Upper-class people who can't fathom why the boys don't have parents or real jobs.

Setting: Dystopia with plenty of dirty cities and plenty of people, but not enough jobs. Orphanages are overcrowded and only hold up to age twelve. There is a gaping hole where the middle class would otherwise be. Fighting rings are relatively popular but frowned upon.

Plot: Each without a blood family, Hamilton and John struggle to survive and support their makeshift family of three. Battles are brutal enough, but the government has started to crack down on the fighting rings, so Hamilton & co. are forced to drift from town to town to keep up the only job (that they consider moral enough) they can get.

Point of View: Third person, limited to Hamilton.

I feel like this would be a good opportunity to work on developing characters' fighting styles, which I've yet to do even in my Hunger Games fan fictions. This is still too vague to actually work on, but it could happen.