Heracles swung his blade at Jake. As he did, his arm muscles rippled, and his hand gripped the weapon tightly in his massive hand. Jake was mesmerized by what he was seeing, so much so he wasn’t moving. As a matter of fact, he wasn’t doing anything - not dodging or blocking he wasn’t sure he was even breathing. No, he was just standing there. It wasn’t until Jake heard the voice of Zack scream, ‘DODGE, DUMBASS!’ that he finally decided to move. Jake jumped to his side as Heracles’ sword crashed into the ring. The dodge happened at the last minute. Jake was frazzled. He felt unprepared, but he quickly understood that the battle had started, and he knew it was time to fight.
Jake grabbed his katana with both hands and rushed forward, with Heracles kneeling down because of his first attack. Jake wanted to land his own blow before the mighty man snapped back. So, with all his strength, Jake swung at Heracles’ temple. He aimed to at least stagger the man, but what happened was what Jake feared - nothing. Nothing happened at all. Jake’s attack did land spot on Heracles, but it did absolutely nothing to his opponent. The sheathed katana connected with Heracles’ temple, but that’s all it did. There was no damage to the man. All Heracles did was stare at Jake as the boy stared back, terrified. ‘Oh shit,’ escaped Jake’s lips as Heracles grabbed his blade and then slashed at Jake. His attack did damage as blood started to spray from Jake’s stomach. ‘SHIT!’ Zack screeched. ‘DID HE CUT HIM IN HALF?’ ‘No, he didn’t,’ responded Biscuit.
It seemed Jake took a step back, so the attack wasn’t nearly as fatal. Biscuit’s keen beastmen eyes noticed something Jake did that the now injured young man didn’t know he had done himself. Jake felt a hot burning sensation coming from his stomach as he watched Heracles pounce forward and swing his sword to the side. ‘Block,’ he told himself. ‘I have to block.’ Before Heracles’ blade could strike him a second time, Jake blocked the incoming strike with his sheathed katana. The force of the strike sent tremors all throughout Jake’s body. He felt as if he was going to crumble to dust. The power coming from the man’s strike sent Jake flying. Jake bounced on the ground as if Heracles was using him as a skipping stone. The boy soon stopped, and then he swiftly lifted his head, not wanting to be caught off guard. But when he did, he saw that Heracles was already standing right in front of him.
All the applicants that were watching the match were shocked. ‘Holy shit, he’s fast,’ Zack said under his breath. Heracles swung his blade down, and Jake didn’t have time to think about what he was going to do. He just had to do it. He had to block. Jake lifted his katana to block the blow. The force of the strike was even greater than the last, so much so that it forced Jake’s body down. His legs cracked the ring underneath his feet, and Jake’s arms fell to his side limp as wet pasta. The boy’s eyes went wide in shock and horror. ‘My arms,’ he said. ‘Did… did he break them?’
Jake wasn’t sure because both his arms felt numb, but the young man wouldn’t have time to think or even worry about his arms because he immediately felt a blow strike his stomach. Heracles used his large foot to kick Jake in the stomach. The power from the kick was so strong that it lifted Jake’s feet off the ground, but not only that, it made the poor boy vomit. Unfazed by what he was seeing, Heracles reached out his massive hand and grabbed Jake’s head, similar to the way Nebula grabbed an assistant’s head after the second phase.
Seeing this, Zack felt the familiarity. He thought he would do to Jake what Nebula did to the assistant. ‘NO!’ Zack shouted, but he soon realized that Heracles wasn’t going to squeeze Jake’s head. No, Zack and all the others watched as Heracles lifted Jake up high till, he reached his own height. Then they watched as the muscular man mercilessly spiked Jake back down to earth headfirst. Jake’s face collided hard with the ground. His face cracked the ring as specks of blood were everywhere. ‘He’s gonna kill him,’ Zack thought as he watched Jake being brutalized.
Not finished with his attack, Heracles reached out and grabbed one of Jake’s legs. Then he threw the limp boy across to the other side of the ring with not a hint of emotion. Heracles started marching towards the downed Jake. Watching this, along with everyone else in attendance, was the referee T.K. He watched, captivated by the fight. No, captivated by the beating Jake was receiving. But unlike the rest, T.K. had power. He had some authority. As he watched, T.K. took a single step forward as he was in thought. ‘There’s no way in hell this kid can be this guy. He couldn’t do it in a thousand years. I need…… To end this now, I have to intervene. I’ll call the match and declare…” The referee lost his train of thought as T.K. was thinking. He was shocked into place; his body tensed up. He couldn’t move a muscle because he locked eyes with Heracles as the man was walking towards the downed Jake. He shot a look at T.K. as if he could read his mind and knew what he intended to do. The look he gave T.K. was cold and distant. It scared the man so much that he trembled a little. T.K. did nothing; all he could do as Heracles approached Jake was say a soft “I’m sorry, kid” under his breath. With only a few steps, Heracles was standing over his downed opponent as he stared down at him. He spoke to Jake like one would if they were a parent dealing with an unruly child.
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“So, tell me, Jake, are you ready to concede defeat?”
Jake didn’t answer him; he just lay limp on the ground. Heracles exhaled through his nose as he reached a hand towards him.
“I guess I need to make you understand a little more.”
Heracles’s massive hand was only inches away from Jake’s body until the unexpected happened. Moving faster than he had ever moved before, Jake shot to his knees as he swung his sheathed sword as hard as he could. His sword hitting Heracles in the leg, the massive man was surprised by Jake’s sudden movements, but he was unfazed by his attack. It didn’t hurt. He continued reaching out for Jake as he shouted, “What could that do?” But he was stunned when he felt a sensation coming from the leg that Jake had hit. It felt like a pop or more like something had exploded, and this explosion threw off Heracles’ balance.
“What did he just do?” Zack asked, but none could give him an answer. But they all knew that Jake did something, and it worked. Heracles, unsuspecting and unwillingly, fell to his knees. Using his hand, he was reaching out to Jake with to help him stay upright. This left the giant open, and Jake took advantage of it. He leaped forward as he screeched. His eyes were bulging and bloodshot. His face was covered in blood; his body was taut with fear, but still, he forced himself to press on.
“I have to win, I have to win,” these words are ones he repeated over and over again as he swung his katana, the same way a pro athlete would swing a baseball bat. He repeated those words to himself. The strike cracked Heracles across the face. Jake swung the blade again and again, now landing multiple strong strikes on Heracles. Zack and the others were getting excited.
“That’s the way you do it!” Zack screeched, with a smile forming on his face. “He’s not out of this fight yet!” exclaimed Biscuit.
“Can he win?” Gabby asked excitedly. The blonde-haired applicant named Kendrick was drawn in by Jake’s pure determination. He thought this fight would be easily decided, but the boy was proving him wrong. Jake landed another swing on Heracles’s face. Then he pulled his sword back. He focused hard, pushing his body beyond its limit. And when he did, in an instant, faster than before, a stream of black darkness came from the katana as it began spinning throughout the scabbard.
Seeing this shocked Heracles, and he was the only one besides Jake that could see what was happening. “A magic sword,” he thought. “This kid has one of those.” Seeing what he was seeing, now it all made sense to Heracles. It was because of the magic sword and its powers. It was because of it that he lost his balance. Things started to become clearer, but that didn’t mean Jake stopped his attack.
Jake thrust his katana forward; the sheathed blade collided with his opponent’s face. The stream of darkness had been spinning at a faster and faster speed until it reached its apex. Then it popped, just like it did back in the second phase of the exam. Unlike the Sun and Moon brothers, Heracles was a different person entirely. He was built different; he was stronger, faster, more durable than any average human. But at this moment, his physical or genetic makeup didn’t matter. The moment the spinning stream of darkness popped, he felt it, and it hurt. No matter how high his durability would be, Heracles would feel it all the same. Jake’s attack rattled Heracles’ brain; his eyes rolled back into his head as he was forced backwards. He kept going until he landed on his back, hitting the ground beneath with a huge thud. The sound of Heracles hitting the ring seemed to echo throughout the auditorium, but it didn’t just echo there, but also in the hearts and minds of all those watching. Nearly every person’s mouth was on the floor as they watched the unexpected. They watched as Jake stood over a downed Heracles. He was breathing hard; he was exhausted, but he remained on his two feet.
Watching this, Zack verbally asked a question that everyone, including Jake, wanted to ask: “Is… Is it over?”