Grim’s face scrunched up in instant, hard rage, and he charged. It wasn’t graceful or particularly fast, but neither was a driverless car sliding down an incline. He punched down at Kio, who ducked out of the way. He had hoped for an opening, but Grim knew how to use his size and reach. He had the longer stride, and far more padding on his bones. Kio’s only advantage was agility, and he put it to work. He floated, ducked and wove, but there was no easy way past those long arms, and Grim kept swinging them just the right way.

Kio feinted to the left, then went to the right. It bought him an instant, and he swung a fist into Grim’s side, hoping the impact would reach the kidney.

Grim turned and swung sideways, forcing Kio to duck. The giant then kicked out, and struck him right in the chest. Kio went flying and hit the ground hard, uncontrolled. Grim came in another one of his thumping jogs, and Kio rolled out of the way of a stomp that echoed off the nearby walls. Kio rose high enough to send an uppercut at Grim’s groin, but only hit the giant’s intercepting palm.

The hand closed around his fist, wrist, and some of upper arm, before it yanked him high up in the air. Kio kicked, but Grim just retaliated with his other hand, and Kio went flying again.

He landed with a loud gasp and couldn’t help but spend a second groaning. His ribcage was actually still in one piece. As much as he liked to break people, Grim liked taking his time with it.

The giant chuckled, and approached more slowly this time.

“How are you feeling, Kio? More polite?”

Kio answered with another punch as he rose, but this time Grim intercepted with a punch of his own. Their fists met with a clack, and Kio’s whole arm went numb from the shock. But it wasn’t broken. The bastard was still holding back.

Grim gave him a lazy backhand. Kio started with a sideways stumble, then started falling into a roll, but a hand against the ground allowed him to stay on his feet. For the moment. A couple of the onlookers chuckled, and Grim kept on coming.

“Well?” the giant said, smiling. “More polite?”

Kio spat blood out of his mouth.

“No.”

It was right there for him; the corrupted power. He didn’t feel it as clearly as he had at his peak, but it was there all the same. Calling to him, pleading, demanding to be used. Demanding to be channelled. To be fed.

Kio let it back in.

It was like the worst junk food imaginable; horrible, toxic and sickening, but oh, so glorious and satisfying. It filled his veins, and he was no longer just a man. He had more than flesh on his side.

Kio stood up straight and swung his fist. Grim swung back, but now it was his arm that got blown back by the impact.

“Ack!” the giant yelped, and Kio caught a fleeting look of shock on his face.

He yelled as he stepped closer and drove a punch into Grim’s lower ribs. He got another sound of pain as his reward, and another as he punched the other side. Grim struck back, but Kio was way too fast. What was this clumsy monster compared to a Warden?

He dodged another blow, and sent his fist straight into the same ribs he’d already bruised. Grim had gone from surprise and back to anger, and now he was the one yelling with his own blows.

Kio dodged, and dodged, and then rammed the man. He might have been smaller, but the force he applied made up the difference and he threw Grim back. He went for a punch all the way up into the man’s jaw, but Grim recovered more quickly than he’d expected. The giant caught him up against his chest, wrapped his arms around Kio, and squeezed.

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All the air left him, his bones bent, and his muscles screamed. His arms were trapped, but Grim was wearing ordinary street clothes, and Kio sank his teeth into the man’s chest. His jaw muscles weren’t exempt from the power boost, and Grim’s scream rose in power and intensity as Kio bit deeper and deeper.

The breaking point arrived, and Grim shoved Kio away. There was no rolling or stumbling this time. He caught his footing easily and went back on the offensive. Grim swung, but Kio moved like quicksilver and got behind him. This time his blow did reach the kidney.

Grim sent his elbow back, and it clipped Kio’s forehead a bit. Grim turned and swung yet again. Rage was making his blows more careless, and Kio ducked under it, then sent a punch into the man’s jaw.

Punching upwards like that took some of the power out of it, but Grim was still staggered. Kio gave him a gut punch, then seized his leg and yanked on it, felling Grim onto his back with a loud boom.

Kio tried to shift his grip to the foot, to twist and break the ankle, but Grim kicked out. Kio regained his footing a few metres away, and was about to charge when Grim brought the gun out.

Plasma struck the ground close to Kio’s feet. A crater formed as the concrete was instantly turned to smoke and dust. Kio looked at the gun. The chassis had the appearance of being home-printed. It wasn’t sleek or fancy, but clearly the inner workings and ammo were from somewhere else.

“That’s enough of that,” Grim said through a sneer. “What did I tell you? The Purists left things behind when they were all rounded up. The police didn’t find all of their stashes. There are going to be some new rules on the streets. Made by me.”

“Oh, really?” Kio said.

He took a quick look at the rest of the Rock Dogs. A couple more had stood up, but looked unsteady.

“How about an alternative?” he said, turning back to Grim. “How about I make the rules?”

“You??”

“ME!” Kio yelled. “How about I take your spot in the Ten-Ten? How about spooky Kio takes charge? Let’s see any of you call me names then! Because I just pummelled your ass, Grim! I pummelled all of you!”

He swept a finger across the gathered Dogs.

“How about I take charge, because I’ll break anyone who argues, and you can’t stop me!”

Grim sat up and aimed the gun a bit better.

“Oh, I can stop you Kio.”

“Can you?”

“You think I’m bluffing, spot?”

Kio gave him a feral grin. He’d been shot before, during his one full-blown engagement with the Warden. When the power had coursed through him like molten metal. The hideous heat of the plasma had only hurt a little. Mostly it had just made him stronger. That was what the power did, and he was only just beginning to explore it. Maybe he had enough of it back to repeat the feat, right here by the place of power.

“Go ahead,” Kio said. “Then I’ll crush your skull against the street, and the boys here are going to drive me to the Ten-Ten, or I’ll do the same to them!”

“You’re dead, Kio.”

“Do it,” Kio told him. “Do it!”

He thumped his chest with both fists.

“DO IT!”

Grim’s eyes narrowed, and Kio saw the decision to fire come. But the moment stretched on, and his finger didn’t squeeze the trigger. The man looked a bit surprised.

Crush him, since he’s lost his nerve. Break his arms while the others watch. Make your damn mark on the streets.

But somehow… Kio couldn’t attack either. The thought was there, but somehow the drive to carry it out eluded him.

What is wrong with you?!

The inner voice lacked some of its usual venom. Overall, Kio just felt a creeping sense of calm, though it wasn’t absolute. He wanted to kill Grim, but he also, somehow, didn’t. For a moment he wondered if he’d been drugged somehow. Then he made a connection: This felt familiar.

Footsteps approached, and Kio turned his head. The new arrival was wearing that robe of soft blue, as well as an aura of impeccable calm.

“That’s enough of that,” Aman Kendrel said, in a voice that matched everything else about him, yet carried a certain authority. “Please, stop fighting.”