Chapter 3: Face meet floor

  All of the other matches had ended. On either side of the gravel pit stood me and Gregory. His face was split across the middle with a smile of pure unadulterated happiness, probably for the opportunity to finally make me bleed. I hate to disappoint him, but today would not be the day. I will be the one putting him in his place. I will show him what it truly means to fear. I will show him what it truly means to survive.

  Everyone had surrounded our circle and waited patiently for the match to begin. Even the instructor Crang has his eyes fixed on the gravel pit as both combatants stared each other down.

   I did not flinch when Gregory looked me in the eyes. I did not move, I did not blink. I merely looked straight back into his and after a moment, gave him a small nod. It was not cockiness, nor respect that made me do this. I simply wanted him to know that I did not fear him for a single moment. It would take much more than what he had in order to make me submit. Though I knew I would have to show him physically before I would ever understand inside his thick skull what it meant to be superior.

  As I felt the energy in the room change into something more deadly. I shifted into a lower stance ever so slightly by bending my knees but kept my eyes trained on Gregory’s body. I waited for Crang to begin the match. Anticipation ran through my veins. I do not relish fighting, nor did I enjoy bringing pain to others. Yet the idea of finally putting Gregory where he belongs was one that I could not help but relish. Especially as I thought about how he himself would be thinking the same idea right about now.

  “Begin” yelled Crang waiting no longer to watch the show as it began. As soon as his voice rang out I jumped with all the strength inside my legs feeling the muscles contract and extend to produce the speed I wanted. Although I was not a boulder of muscle like my opponent. I had been hardened by the rigors of life in the ‘Compound’, leaving my body a dense collection of fine twitch muscles that gave me reflexes and movement that few could match.

  I could see the surprise in Gregory's eyes before the bottom of my leading foot smashed into the inside of his knee. I had hoped it would snap quickly and cleanly ending this farce, but alas his stature was solid as a rock and took the power of my kicks well. Even though his leg was thrown out from under him sending him leaning to the left, off-balance on one leg.

  I didn't let up and followed with another low kick to the back of his one-planted leg twisting my torso and putting more bodyweight into the rotation to fully destabilize the behemoth. Oh, the mighty will fall today. There was a satisfying shake beneath my feet as his body landed hard on the gravel. His head hit like a whip on the floor after his upper back and I knew he must be unconscious from all his weight landing so forcefully.

  Letting out the breath I had been holding into a long exhale I began to walk towards the edge of the pit. Then I felt something grasp my ankle with tremendous force and I knew immediately there was a mistake in my calculations. There was no possible way he could stay conscious after that if he was still a normal man. Then it hit me.

  ‘Fuck’, I thought as the realized why he was so giddy looking before, and why Crang had set up this match today. ‘Fucking plotting little shits’. Today really wasn't my day.

  I felt my body being raised into the air as Gregory lifted me with one arm and swung me towards the edge of the ring. I covered my head to help save myself from the worst of the damage.

  Nonetheless, the pain lacing through my back and shoulder was debilitating to say the least, as the invisible field surrounding the pit flashed to life for a second as my body rag-dolled into its unforgiving embrace. I held back the groan I wanted to let out with the sheer force of will. Now was not the time to show weakness. I went through a multitude of scenarios trying to find a solution to my present predicament.

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  It only took a fraction of a second for me to process, but I knew what I had to do, and it was not going to be pretty. Gregory had obviously been given a ‘BUFF’ by Crang or some other Instructor who hated seeing me not in pain. So his physical toughness was beyond my abilities to overcome with normal combat techniques.

  During my moment of introspection, Gregory had been slowly walking toward me with cocky slowness that would soon be his downfall. If he had rushed immediately after the throw he may have had a chance, but now he would receive no mercy.

  From the crowd's point of view surrounding the pit, it looked as though a grown man was walking up to a small child to reprimand him for his bad behavior. A few whispered among themselves thinking the battle was over.

  Gregory bent down when he got to my prone body and I allowed him to grab me by the collar of my uniform and lift me to meet his gaze. I kept my eyes downcast for a moment and my body limp to insinuate my defeat. Then as he presented me to the crowd with a roar and triumphant smile, thus I took action.

  With a swift double palm to the inside of his elbow, I automatically retracted his arm allowing the full force of my headbutt to meet his nose in a thunderous greeting. It hurt like hell, but the crunch of his weaker nose cartilage showed that it had been effective, but that was not enough.

  As he staggered and began to let me go I swung both my arms wide and clapped either side of his head with flat hands with as much power as I could muster blowing out his eardrums.

  He yelled in pain and anger trying to collect himself as quickly as possible by swinging his arms wildly to force me away. Instead, I allowed my elbow to meet his arm at the joint and felt as it dislodged it from its rightful position in a sickening wet plop. He gasped as he realized his left arm was now useless. The pain took a second to travel through his nerve endings to remind him that his body was not meant to be this way.

I wish I could have stopped there, but I knew that I would not be able to knock him unconscious with his inhuman constitution at the moment.

  So as he bent over his dislocated elbow I dipped down grabbing a handful of gravel and brought my arms low in a tight uppercut form allowing the gravel to be flung at high speeds into his lowered face smashing into his eyes.

“I’m going to fucking kill you!” He screamed with rage he could no longer hold back trying to wipe away the small rock fragments from his eyes. I felt pity for what came next, but it was the only way.

  I only lifted my hand to my lips in a small ‘shush’ motion which I doubt he even saw with the gravel in his eyes. Charging with the gracefulness of a blind pig he launched like a rocket at me without knowing exactly where I stood. It was not a smart decision on his end.

   With my momentum alone it was tough to cause real damage, but with his added on, it was a one-way ticket to suffering.

   I waited for the last possible moment to slip past his arms and raise my knee to meet his bleeding face. His previously broken nose now could barely be considered a facial feature as it was rearranged once again.

  After meeting his rush I allowed his body to tumble to the ground, he was taking in heavy breaths through his mouth alone. Placing my knee against his back I grabbed his head with both hands and slammed it to the ground.

  While this was barbaric, and for many over the line, I had no choice. My survival depended on the actions I took here and now.

  I was getting to around the 6th smash, grunting with exertion with each swift movement before finally the field around our arena flashed red and blinked out of existence with a loud gong noise. That was what I had been hoping for. It looked as though Gregory had lost the two handfuls of blood that was the requirement for the loser besides falling unconscious, He was in fact still very conscious, which was more unfortunate for himself than me. It would have made it far easier and less painful for him otherwise.

There was dead silence around the entire pit. Even Crang looked taken aback by the brutal display he just witnessed. This was not the way a 17-year-old child should act under any circumstances.

  As he watched Sasha rise from the poor boys back taking deep calming breaths and rotating his wrists with the look of mild inconvenience on his face, he felt a small shudder run through his body.

  This would be a problem. The Superintendent had told him to give Gregory a ‘BUFF’ and set a match between the two in order to bring him back to reality. Keeping the achievement of being the new assistant from going to his brain. Yet, none of this had gone to plan. This child was too dangerous to remain unchecked in these ways. Further action was going to need to take place.