The Lost Sentinel

9 Tan's first fight (2)

 On Mount Gi: 

Tan P.O.V

The screens above show an up close view of me and the Thebes. On a smaller screen are our stats, which show nothing at the moment.

I look at myself…

I look scared. I take a deep breath shaking my body, it has suddenly gone stiff.

Don’t die…don’t die …I say to myself picking up on my breathing as if I’m about to run.

“5…6…7…8…9…10…”

The “Go” sign goes off with a booming sound that runs through me. An uproar of cheers goes off in the arena.

My heart hammers as the Thebes waste no time. He runs to the middle to the fight. I close my fist around the coin, and I feel it warming up.

‘…every safe has a cracking point… as weakness.’

I close my eyes as Mak’s words run through my mind as I try to figure out how I am going to survive this fight.

And pop them open as the Thebes slams into me. I grunt in pain going down. My body hits the floor, and pain radiates through me.

What happened?

He was on the other side a few seconds ago. And then I remember. He has super speed as one of his abilities. And he used it on me. I try to push to my feet, but he holds me down with the bulk of his weight. 

He rains fists on me fast. He hits me in the stomach taking the breath out of me. Dizziness washes over me and I feel like I’m going to pass out.

Don’t die…

I bring up my right hand to cover my face as his fists move up my body as he hits me into the ground. His arms and fists grow larger and furry. And the power of his hits intensifies – and I feel pain like no other as my ribs break, and my lung collapses. I cough as I fight to breathe – blood hits the ground next to me.

I’m going to die, there if no doubt about that in my mind.

The Thebes grabs me by the throat and throws me across the arena. I hit a wall hard, and then slide to the floor. My head hits the ground, and darkness fogs my brain.

The sound in the arena increases. But I can dimly hear a voice commentating on the fight.

“Looks like Fighter: GH42067 is done for, before the fight even begins. Fighter: XC42309 is half transformed into his animal form. His cultivation of that ability has already began. We can’t wait to see him fully transformed,” the commentator says to more applause.

I turn over and look up at the screens. Their light is so bright. I blink a thousand time so I can see. I don’t even know why I care to see when it’s clear I am going to die.

 On the stats screen – the Thebe’s half transformation is displayed. He looks like a gorilla with a weird blue face.

My lips pull in a smile at the image. I want to laugh, but I am in too much pain.

On my screen there is nothing… I am going to go out a loser who didn’t even strike one blow to his opponent.

Anger rises in me, because I am no loser. I survived the streets.

The Thebes closes its meaty fingers around my ankle and pulls me to the centre of the arena. He pulls me to my feet, and smiles in my face as he squeezes the life out of me. 

 The coin grows warms in my hand, reminding me that I am still holding it. And that I am not alone. Mak is there with me. Anger fills meat the thought of what happened to him.

“One of you killed my friend,” I mumble in its face even though it’s hard to speak.

It tilts its head as if I’m not making any sense.

The pressure around my neck increases.

I need this thing off of me, I scream in my mind as I fling my hand at it. I watch in surprise, while I drop to the ground, as the Thebes is thrown off me to hit the ground hard a few paces away from me. 

He recovers easily, jumping to his feet and points his finger at me.

Oh no…

I know what’s coming next…I roll away before the light beam can hit me. I cringe as it hits the ground with a hissing sound that burns the floor.

I know how that feels, I grunt as I stumble to my feet as quickly as I can. I stagger holding on to my broken ribs. Everything hurts.  But I know I can’t die.

I don’t want to die.

There is only one way out of this, and that is to fight. I look down at my right hand the black lines glow with a green colour again. The glow forms a round sphere around my fist. Power surges inside me, making me feel a bit strong.

I can do this. I am master Gin’s reincarnate…that must mean something. He had the power to wield metal.

What does that mean?

 I open my fist around the coin, and I stare at it through the sphere. I try to imagine something that will help me win this fight, since I know I won’t be able to take the Thebes in hand to hand combat. He is strong, and he is half transformed into his animal form.

Hanika’s flaming sword comes to mind. But what appears is a thin string that doesn’t have any structural integrity – it’s like a shoe string.

What the…?

I lift my hand not sure is did that. Did I just will the coin into a something resembling a sword?

I can’t believe it….

Before I can get used to my shock. The Thebes charges me again. And this time I don’t allow him anywhere near me. I flick the string…it flies through the air in a green glow that blasts the Thebes with a forces that leaves what looks like a thousand cuts to his body.

I wield my metal string cutting him everywhere.  But he is ferocious coming at me with everything. He shoots me with his light beam but I spin the string in front of my body cutting the light into tiny beads of harmless light that rain all around us. 

He stumbles and falls as his cuts become severe. I don’t give him a chance to recover. I go at him with everything I can.

But I can see the green light fading from me wrist. The sphere around my fist is becoming smaller.

Oh no…

 The power is fading…

No…this can’t be happening, not when I have the upper hand in the fight.

Hanika didn’t say anything about this…. or I would have reserved my power, and not attach him carelessly.

I need to finish this fight. I have to strike a lethal blow. I aim for his neck. The string goes around his neck tight, and I hold on using the last of my power to squeeze the string tight around his neck. His eyes go wide, and then he falls to his knees pulling at the string.

I hold on gritting my teeth as my power fades until there is nothing left.

I sway on my feet, feeling dizzy and powerless. The string shrinks until it’s a coin in my palm. And I collapse hitting the ground in a painful thud.

Everything goes black as my head hit the ground.