The day had come, this time without interruptions.
Jack entered from the north. Jack had replaced his usual outfit by forgoing the hoodie and just wearing a plain black t-shirt, though he wrapped the torn bit of hood around his right arm as a reminder of his dad.
Jude entered from the south. Jude had a fixed gaze on Jack. He wouldn’t let his opponent out of his sight for a single second, especially given the nature of his power as they had now discovered.
Their whole team and come to watch them beat the crap out of each other. It was the semi-finals, one of these two would be in the final. And as the team with two people this far in the tournament they were guaranteed a good seeding in the league match ups at the start of the next year. In fact the stadium was pretty much full. There were only two matches so it promised to be a quick day, yet there were a vastly increased amount of spectators than before.
In terms of the outside world, this was the third most viewed day of the whole tournament. The first day and the final day are always the most watched days. After the first there’s a significant amount drop off and then viewers trickle away day by day, then there’s a swell where those who are invested will come back for the final. However, the initial swell came on this day; not even half the viewers of the final but a significant uptick in unique watchers. The video of this match, with and without the commentators went viral the day after. The media certainly loved peddling it as a fight against two best friends. Dynamic entertaining, and showing off the beauty of both martial arts and Alterations.
But all that was not information available to Jack or Jude at the time. All they had were each other in front of them. And their agreement. Jack was the one who acted on it first. “Hey, Ref. Can you let us know when two minutes is up?”
“Yes, I will shout out when that happens.” The referee said.
“Cheers.”
On the walk over to the arena that day:
“Hey Jack I’ve got an idea.” Jude said. He was wandering along the streets with their group.
“Sure, what is it buddy?”
“Well we both know who will win if we fought with our Alterations.” They both shot a glance at each other that said ‘it’s me’. “Well since most fights only last about four or five minutes do you wanna stop using Alterations after two to make it more interesting?”
“Fuck it, why not.” Jack replied.
Back in the arena:
Jack did a little warm up before the referee sounded off. He jumped up and down, in the balls of his feet, swaying slight as he did. He shook him shoulders loose as he did so. In comparison Jude’s body looked stiff. His shoulders stuck out, his movement almost robotic.
Though the one thing Jude did, which riled up Jack was his stance. Jude stood there, hips slightly forward, back bent, and his hands in his pockets. He had copied the way he had seen Rin standing, as if trying to give off the same confident aura.
The moment the fight began Jack used his anger and his two minute time limit to make full use of his alteration. Within a second he was behind Jude gearing up a kick; he did not have the energy to fully commit to his attack and get to the other side of the arena. He was actually in the air when he realised what we happening, his Alteration automatically kicked in causing him to look down and see that a spike made of earth was spiralling out of the ground like a drill and coming straight for him. In his slowed down state he was able to push himself off of Jude’s back like a springboard, thus diminishing the power of the attack. Jude didn’t even move he stayed still as the spiked pillar arose behind him.
Jude cocked his head slightly to see Jack land on the ground. He smirked. “Come on man, that was predictable.” He took his hands out his pockets and brought both arms tight into his core. Jack disappeared.
He reappeared with his foot touching Jude. But for Jude he had been dragged into Jack’s world of slowed time. The pain and discomfort of a kick to his right arm was bad but thanks to choosing his earth powers he was granted the enhanced muscle strength to deal with it. It also allowed for a stronger retaliation; a swift left handed punch to Jack’s gut. Slightly dampened by Jude’s turning from the force of the kick.
The audience saw Jack disappear. Then Jude turned holding his upper arm whilst Jack stumbled back holding his stomach. Jack hacked up some spit. “How’d you know you’d speed up too?”
“I took a gamble.” Jude said with a smile on his face, wincing slightly from pain.
“Why do you always let yourself get hit?” Jack asked. They were sat in their shared accommodation, on the really comfy sofas.
“I’m trying to learn how people fight. If I get hit, it means I need to learn more.” Jude replied, a bruise was on his right cheek and he was holding an ice pack to his shoulder.
“How come you don’t know how people fight? Never get into a fight in school?” Rin asked flopping down on a third sofa.
“I wouldn’t call them fights. I got my ass kicked.” Jude said.
“So you remember how people fight, right?” Jack asked.
“Not really. I kinda focused on balling up and hoping I didn’t get injured. Never really paid attention to what they did.” Jude said bitterly before falling back into the soft cushions behind him. “That’s why I’ve got a ways to go before I can fight like the rest of you.”
“Pfft. You’re more stupider than me.” Jack said cracking open a can of cola.
“More stupid or stupider, not more stupider Jack.” Rin corrected him. The boys laughed.
Jude was smirking at Jack. “Guess I’ve bridged the gap.”
Both men were injured and it was only their first encounter with each other. This fight would be decided by whoever got hit less.
It would be decided by the stronger of the two ideologies when it came to fighting: strategy or impulse. Jack didn’t think he just did. Jude didn’t do without thinking. Jude did have a plan, there was plan A and plan B; plan A meant defeating Jack before the two minutes were up and plan B was about winning in the Alterationless second half.
Plan A: Predict Jack’s movements. Try and use pillars where you can to cut off his routes of attack. When he gets in close for an attack counter with a strong one of your own. Learn what hits he prefers at that range and if possible avoid them.
Plan B: If we hit two minutes switch to water. It will keep your head clear. Without his Alteration he’ll likely try and overpower you. You must stay focused and get a hit in every time he gets close enough.
Jack disappeared from site. A spiked ring appeared at Jude’s feet. He was looking round, “where did he go?” Jude thought. When he suddenly felt a foot plant into his chin and then his stomach.
Jack had run into the spike trap, jumping off of one of the thin pillars into the ring. He dropped down below Jude and sent a kick upwards, catching him off guard. Then a quick follow up one to the stomach. However, it gave away his location and thus allowed for Jude to home in with his spikes sending at least one into Jack’s calf. He was able to dodge the rest.
He pulled back and used his new armband to tie around the hole and stop the bleeding. He stood up to face his opponent who was wiping blood from his mouth and looking unsteady on his feet.
“That’s two minutes fellas.” The referee said.
Both men walked to the centre upon hearing the information. All the spikes in the arena crumbled away into piles of rocks. Jude held his hand up and Jack gave him a high five. They held it and turned it into a handshake, their shoulders dropping down to centre their arms.
They broke the handshake and each took a step back.
Jude took his robe/jacket off and threw it out of the ring. It was only fair. Thus leaving both in t-shirts.
Jude had agreed this play in advanced hoping to use the time frame as a good way to use his final element; water. He was not going to use to attack but just like his other elements water came with some passive abilities. When he changed from earth to water the tension in his muscles disappeared, his shoulders relaxed and his posture wasn’t so rigid anymore. On the inside he felt a wave of calm wash over him.
Water allows for not only smoother movement, owing to becoming as free flowing as water is, and a sense of calm. This is Jude’s best element for hand to hand with a somewhat equal opponent. Easier dodging and not allowing oneself to be blinded by anything are always benefits. It was by no means a slouch in terms of combat capability but Jude just had not used it as much as the other three yet, perhaps this bought with Jack could inspire a new love of the element.
The two men squared up against each other. Jack once again bouncing up and down. He kept on the balls of his feet up and down, up and down. His arms were relaxed but held ready to fight. Jude was a lot more orthodox he kept a boxing stance, one foot forward the other facing to the side, both arms held up ready and close enough together to be used as a guard.
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“No no. Your arms need to be more up” Nerissa said. They were in the training gym they used at Norfield. Jude was practicing this guard with Nerissa trying to teach him but it was not going as well as she expected.
“Like this?” Jude asked. His arms had not changed position.
“Course not mate. You didn’t change.” Jack said. Jack, Rin, and Amelia were sat off to the side watching.
“I don’t get how you all can understand each other. You all just know how to do this.” Jude said. Nerissa approached from behind him and moved his arms into position.
“There. Now focus your vision on your opponent, keep your arms there. Do the punches we went through earlier and then come back to this guard.” She said.
A punch, a reverse punch, and a right hook. Jude tried them. He missed his mark the first two times but the hook connected. Though there was nothing to stop Jack using his powers he was suppressing them and as someone who had the additional reaction time they had provided since he was a child it became hard to fight without them.
Jude however had only just learned to fight within the past few months. His technique was shaky and his power was laughable. The hook hit Jack and definitely stung on the man’s cheek but there would be no damage received from it.
Jack fired back with a jab to the face. Jude was able to step back in time to avoid a majority of the power behind it however, he got a book on his nose. Both men had understood their weaknesses at this point. Jack had the additional consequence of his powers also gave him extra speed behind each hit, this when they were gone he was easier to avoid.
Jude had adaptability, planning, and technique.
Jack had experience, power, and toughness.
Whichever one could overcome their weaknesses would win this fight.
Jack had grown up a brawler. He got into a lot of fights at school, his overenthusiastic personality as well as his poor communication skills rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. But because of that background he learnt a lot of punching and grappling techniques. Whereas, Jude had learnt to fight recently and was using it as a way to improve himself so he knew a myriad of techniques but he had not gotten used to them all yet.
Thus, what had happened was when they met fists once again Jack grabbed hold of Jude’s shirt to drag him about. However, this made Jude realise as long as Jack had hold he could hit him. Thus a kick to the shoulder was the initial counter. Yet, Jude received a strong jab to the face as his reward. Keeping the momentum going he pulled himself and Jack backwards and rolled on the floor.
After a quick and confusing tussle Jude had Jack pinned on the ground. A few sluggish but strong punches were wailed of Jack. However, Jude was slowing down. The punch to the face had knocked the wind out of him and instead of giving himself time to recover he assessed the best solution was to keep fighting. He took just a bit too long to wind a punch up and Jack was able to grab Jude by the collar, pull himself up and smash their heads together.
Jude arched backwards writhing in pain. Calm down
Calm down
Calm down.
Focus.
He was trying to realign himself, not before a foot pushed him off and rolled him backwards a bit.
His head hurt. His movement was rocky for a bit but Jack let him catch his breath as the other young man stood up and wiped the blood from his mouth.
The two fighters looked at each other and cracked a smile. “Quite fun a good fist fight, right buddy?” Jack said. Jude nodded.
One more moment to take in a breath and come up with a plan.
Jack will come in first. Then I’ll go for a straight jab. If he ducks go for a knee to the face. If he dodges keep on him. If he can’t dodge it then throw a left hook.
Jack did run in first, only after Jude took his rudimentary stance. Jude threw his straight right jab. Hit Jack. Not by AA superior technique but because the idiot allowed himself to be hit so he could get in close enough to punch Jude.
The difference in wingspan was negligible. Jude was a few inches taller but Jack overcome the slight reach disadvantages by smashing his face into the fist.
Jude took an uppercut to the chin. It actually lifted him slightly because he wasn’t planted for a counterattack. However if Jack could use an attack to his advantage so could Jude; during the mild lift he got he flung his leg up into a kick.
Jack avoided the attack by moving his head out of the way. As his leg fell Jude hooked it around Jack’s arm. He slammed his friend down to the ground.
Jack’s chest slammed into the ground. Calloused hands hit the ground next and with every ounce of upper body and core strength Jack could muster he pushed himself up into a handstand and wrapped his leg round Jude’s neck.
Smashing headfirst into the ground below wasn’t something Jude wanted today so he braced his arms against the impact. Jack was also on the floor. Both men were exhausted. Neither has fought for all this long before and not only was Jack actively suppressing his Alteration to make this fair he was learning to fight without it. Jude was struggling somewhat because the calmness water gave him was serene and every decision was clear and thought out but it also meant he was acutely aware of his pain and he couldn’t overcome that with the numbness of anger.
They both stumbled their way up. Jude’s arms were stinging him and he knew punching with them would only make them worse. So he was down to kicks only.
Everyone in the stadium and watching live were loving this. The most even fight so far. Not only was the first fight a fantastic way to level the playing field it also worked as a great marketing stunt as it meant they were getting more views than anyone else so far. Whilst not Jude’s primary idea, it certainly was a factor in his mind. If he was eventually going to have the best guild he would need people to know his name and of course he was going to rope Jack along into his crazy schemes so if his right-hand man was well known too it wouldn’t hurt.
“Who do you think will win?” Damian asked, transfixed on the match.
“Hard to say. I think they’ve only got one clash left in them though so we’ll know soon enough.” Rin replied.
“Jacky boy is definitely going to win.” AJ said.
“Jude will win if he uses what I taught him.” Nerissa said with a weird sense of her own pride.
Adrenaline, pain, and a desire for victory were the perfect cocktail for two very inexperienced men to achieve their flow states. Aware of every single one of their muscles. Their visions blurry apart from their opponent. Sounds of the stadium completely disappeared. Before there would be a cheer, a boo, or a chant after each big hit they still happened but had no effect on the contestants.
Their first encounter was Jude trying to use a push kick and Jack meeting it head on with a punch. The two men were pushed back by the force but every time they were separated they came back in again.
Jack drew in and dished out three powerful punches, each seemingly strong enough to produce wind. Jude realised there was no way to avoid them and if he took them head on they’re impede his ability to win. In that moment he knew what to be done; using an equally swift movement in his legs Jude parried each punch by moving Jack’s arm away. Not too much power as that would leave him open to another attack.
Once he had blocked the last one Jude went for a spinning back kick. Twisting and turning his whole body around and flinging his leg out at his opponent. Though Jack was soon to counter by catching the leg by the shin.
With a might swing and a lot of effort Jack went to slam Jude into the ground of the arena as he had before. It’s hard enough to react in real time when you’re shaken, never mind when you’re spinning. Unfortunately for Jack, Jude still had enough pluck and grit to shove his arms out and catch himself on the ground. His biceps and shoulder blades creaked as he stopped his descent in a single moment.
With a final mighty effort Jude used the shredded tips of his fights to fling himself up and produce a strong roundhouse kick. Disappointingly, it missed it’s target. Thankfully, it produced a higher wind pressure than the punches did and asserted an early assessment Jude had made. Amazingly, Jude had managed to get enough air off of his handspring and the momentum of the roundhouse that he landed on his feet.
The two challengers took a minute to asses each other. “I’m sure you’ve noticed it too. The wind has kicked up because of our fight. I’m not using my power but if one of is going to be able to make the most out of this it’s me.” Jude said before he leapt into his next and final attack. Everyone watching knew that these next seconds would produce the winner.
Spinning, twisting and eventually doing some form of air roll whipped up the wind around Jude, focused it on an anchor point and send it out. His foot smashed into the floor and the blades of air sprung forth.
These two complete amateurs had managed to become so intense with their fight that they were achieving the peak of martial arts if only once. And yet, it was Jack who wowed the world and Jude.
Years later he couldn’t explain why he did what he did. He ran, forwards into it. He just knew he had to. He was a mere metre away from Jude when the foot slammed down. Instinctively he curled his arms round form his side’s, spinning round by pivoting on a single foot, up to his chest and the placed a hand on Jude’s chest. The air almost acted like a willing follower of the worthiest. It has been Jude, a man who could, at times, completely bend the wind to his will, and yet it chose the clear winner.
Jack’s redirection sent both the user and the recipient backwards from the force. Jude taking the brunt of the impact went further, he rolled and skidded once he landed. His right arm and head fell out of the ring in fact. However, there was a small gap between the ring and the bubble so he did not exit it. Though, for leaving the ring he was still lose. Jude hadn’t been teleported because his injuries were not fatal, but he could no longer move.
“Jude Zairos is incapacitated and unable to continue the fight.” The referee said to the ring. The commentators echoed it. Yet there was no cheer, no eruption from the crowd as Jack walked over. He was struggling himself. But he came over and stood over Jude, casting an imposing shadow.
“How you doing buddy?” Jack asked.
“Oh you know, dandy apart from the shatter bones and the inability to walk myself.” Jude said. Jack held out a hand. Jude looked perturbed. “I just wanna know how you knew doing what you did would work. I had thought that out and cause I used air before I knew how it swirled. So, how?”
“Dunno. I just started moving.” Jack said with a smile and a little chuckle to himself.
“Guess there’s no beating idiots.” Jude said, his face washed with a look of content. He grabbed Jack’s hand and was lifted off his feet.
As they took each other’s hand the arena burst into cheers. “Jack Lumber is the winner and progressing to the final.”
Jude’s arm was over Jack’s shoulder as the gracious victor helped him out of the bubble. Since they hadn’t been ejected all their broken bones, torn muscles, and scratches were healed instead of reverted. It meant three things: their muscles had grown from the extremity of this fight, they both gained a couple new scars, and Jude was barely wearing anything when they left.
Unbeknownst to him, as he was dealing with the pain, Jude’s shirt and been torn by the intense wind. The entire back of the shirt had disappeared. One of the sides, gone. And a hole where Jack had planted his palm. When they left the bubble and all his ailments healed and his clothes didn’t, the breeze was obvious and chilling. Immediately he took his arm from around Jack and ran to grab his discarded jacket and then joined his friend once more.
The two were praised for their fight and most surprising was although they were absolutely wailing on the other their friendship appeared to be stronger than ever. It was as if that clash taught them something about the other and they appreciated the prowess and abilities of their friend.
It was Rin who had the most interesting thing to say. “If that’s how you fight your friend, I’d hate to be your enemy.” Whilst true they had gone hard in the fight it was because they were friends they did it. There was a mutual understanding that these two could be as harsh as they wanted because the other wouldn’t want the fight to end quickly. Hence why no one used a move that could kill, since it would ruin the fight.
Jude was right though, these two became overnight stars and if the Guild Association wanted to see them before the match they had moved up their priority list.