--- [Lucas’s perspective]
He puts the flag down, and gets up from his seat.
With his hands behind his back, he nonchalantly strolls towards us.
There’s a smile on his face, and not a worry on his mind.
“Soo… I guess it’s time to fight then!” – Ace
With his hands still behind his back, he leans forward; inviting us to attack.
This very well might be a trap…
If his specialty has something to do with getting hit, then attacking him is exactly what he wants.
At the same time, neither of us can beat him without physically attacking.
I’ll take him up on his offer.
I smash my fist into his face, and he recoils in pain.
“Ow, ow, ow!” – Ace
…
What.
“That really hurt… Remind me not to do that again, ok?” – Ace
This guy…
There was no plan, he just wanted to test our strength…
Imagine if my specialty activated there…
The fight might have been over already!
This level of confidence isn’t something you get without the ability to back it up.
His specialty must be incredible…
“I let you hit me once, now it’s my turn!” – Ace
He lousily swings his fist at me; anybody could have dodged that, let alone me…
“Hey! No fair! I let you hit me!” – Ace
He swings again and again and again, but none of his attacks connect.
No special movements were needed to get away, I simply just took a few steps back.
His form and speed are both so bad…
It’s like he isn’t even trying to hit me.
He took my attack head-on earlier, he should be better than this.
Is he just toying around, or is this somehow part of his ability?
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Hmm… This isn’t working. What to do, what to dooo…” – Ace
He holds his chin and looks up to the side; like he is making a stereotypical ‘thinking face’…
“Hmm… Ah, I got it! If I can’t hit you directly, then I’ll just have to counter-attack you when you try to hit me!” – Ace
He looks genuinely proud of himself, as if broke the code to a complex mystery.
“Alright, go ahead, attack me again!” – Ace
I look over at Isaac, he seems just as confused as I am.
Is this all an act, or…?
I anxiously take a step forward, slowly inching my way towards him.
“GuAH!” – Lucas
Suddenly, it’s like I’m assaulted from every angle.
I’m knocked around and my nose is broken.
What the hell just happened?!
“Ahahaha!!” – Ace
He literally falls to the floor, laughing hysterically with tears in his eyes.
“Enough.” – Isaac
He confidently strides in his direction.
As he gets close to him, Ace flicks the air.
Isaac looks a little confused at first, but he doesn’t let his antics stop him.
He takes another step forward, before suddenly hunching over in pain.
Ace burst out in laughter yet again.
Isaac takes a few steps back while trying to recover from whatever hit him.
“It’s like he flicked me in the nuts just now…” – Isaac
“Uahahaa!” – Ace
He composes himself, wipes away the tears, and gets back on his feet.
“That’s because I did, silly!” – Ace
He blows us a kiss, and signals us to get closer.
Isaac looks over at me, he’s not ready to approach him yet, so he wants me to do it instead.
I brace myself for impact, and make my way over to him.
As I walk towards him, he takes a few steps back, but continues to wave at me to get closer.
!!
“Wah-” – Lucas
What was that?
I just felt something on my cheek…
“I can send attacks into the future; they don’t have to connect with you to hit. Well, technically it’s not strictly limited to attacks. Like that kiss just now!” – Ace
He gives me a wink before continuing to explain.
“So, do you get it? You won’t beat me, that’s just… Not happening. Hand over the flag, and you boys won’t get hurt.” – Ace
With a smug look on his face, he holds his hand out, waiting for us to give him the flag.
Isaac scoffs.
“Not happening.” – Isaac
He looks a little disappointed.
“Aww… What a shame.” – Ace
I guess the fight is finally starting…
For real this time.
At least now we know what his ability is.
He told us in an attempt to get us to give up; that was a big mistake.
His carefree attitude will be his downfall.
I look at Isaac, and he looks at me.
We’re ready…!
I rush directly towards our opponent, meanwhile, Isaac circles around him.
Even he will struggle to defend against us both when we attack from opposite sides!
Before we can reach him, he throws a barrage of attacks in every direction.
Obviously, none of them hit us, but that’s not the point.
He’s sending all his attacks into the future, making it hard to reach him.
All of his attacks just now were punches at head and chest level.
I take advantage of that, and tackle him by the legs instead, avoiding all his future attacks.
“Uah!” – Ace
He falls to the ground, and tries to wiggle his way out of my hold.
“Quickly, grab him! I can’t hold him for long!” – Lucas
It’s not that he’s too strong for me to hold, the problem is my ‘perfect muscle control’.
My body naturally moves away when someone tries to touch me, or when I touch them.
To not do that, I have to suppress my reflexes.
Doing so hurts.
A lot…
Hitting someone is fine, it’s just a very brief moment of contact, but holding someone…
That’s an entirely different story.
It’s like all my nerves are on fire, screaming at me to let him go.
I try to suppress it, but without realizing it, I find myself no longer holding him…
Shit.
Before Isaac can reach him, he throws a ton of consecutive punches in his direction, forcing him to stop.
At the same time, he attempts to kick me further away, but I suck my stomach in, just barely avoiding his attack.
Both me and Isaac take a step back, and Ace stands back up.
“Whew… That was close…” – Ace
Isaac gives me a frustrated look.
“What the hell dude? Why did you let go?” – Isaac
“I… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…” – Lucas