Reggie bounces up to Elio’s chest and begins swatting his face; “Elio! Wake up!” He shouts in a seemingly playful, though still serious manner. Elio’s body moves a bit, he grunts a little before putting his hands on his shades and moving them up. He opens his eyes; “Hmm?” Elio sluggishly answers. “What’s up, Reggie?” “It’s seven-forty!” Reggie answers in a quick, desperate manner. Elio’s body hops into a sitting position, his shades fall back over his eyes; “Wait huh?! Seriously?! Fuck, we only have twenty minutes till the exams are done?!” He yells, dumbfounded.
Gendross shifts his gaze to Elio; “Tests?” He asks with intrigue. “Wait, don’t tell me you’re taking the superhero recruitment test! Actually, that would explain why you and Reggie are here then.” “Yeah.” Elio answers bluntly, admitting the truth. “That’s why we’re here. We joined the trial at a bad time, like a really, really bad time. There were no more targets left during the final part, leaving both of us in a corner. Reggie saw this island, so I got the idea to try our luck and bring you into custody.” Elio explains briefly. A long pause dwells upon the room as Gendross dons a beyond confused stare; Elio, are… y… you’re retarded.”
“Hey, cut him some slack! No idiot would be able to find a way to get back up here like he did!” Reggie retorts defensively, pointing his paw at him. “Reggie, it’s fine.” Elio butts in, covering Reggie’s face with his palm. “He’s entirely right and justified for calling me that. It’s dumb that I even tried to see if we could capture him! When he threw me earlier, that hurt like a bitch and I could tell he was holding back IMMENSELY. That was enough for me to decide for us to cut our losses and get out of there.” “Wait, you knew I was holding back?” “Of course!” Elio answers as he snaps his finger. “How so?” Gendross asks.
Elio gets off the couch and stands up; “Cause if that was your full power, I’d consider you weak.” He answers as Reggie perches onto his shoulder. “That and I wouldn’t have been terrified if it were the case.” Reggie adds on. “I see. So if that was my full strength, you would’ve stayed and fought. Now I’m curious, if it hurt that much, why would you consider it weak, Elio? That’s what’s interesting to me right now.” Gendross answers. Elio pounds his fists; “Getting hurt and being damaged are two different things. All fighters know that! My body can hurt, but that doesn’t mean my body’s broken. I drop kicked you earlier, that hurt your face, but it didn’t actually do shit to you.” “Ok, maybe you’re not as dumb as I thought you were. Anyway, I want to ask you something.” Gendross responds. Elio pets Reggie; “What’s up?” “How are you feeling right now?” Elio stretches, Reggie jumps off his shoulder as he does so; “I’m feeling great after that nap! I feel as though I could take on the world! Why do you ask?”
Gendross crosses his arms while pointing a finger at him; “Well, I was thinking, given your reason for being here, on top of the fact that you stopped this whole vessel from crashing down, plus the fact the crew and I will need to stay here until we can repair the damages, I think it’s only fair if I propose a deal.” He explains. “And that is…?” “You and Reggie fight me on the combat deck. If either of you can manage to injure me, I’ll surrender and let you two take me into custody, letting you guys pass. ONLY if you injure me, but if you fail, then you fail. How does that sound?” He asks the two.
Elio and Reggie look at each other, nodding in unison; “Yeah, we’ll take up that deal!” Elio answers while holding his arm up, Gendross grins and shakes his hand gently to avoid crushing it. “Good! Well, it’s seven-forty five right now. So let’s head over to the combat deck. How much time do you want to fight for?” He asks as he breaks the handshake. “Realistically, there’s not enough time to fight and get the devil birds to get us back to Gull’s Bay before eight. Give us twenty-five minutes to fight!” He answers.
Gendross walks out of his quarters, beckoning for them to follow; “Then let’s get to work!” He replies with enthusiasm. Elio follows behind; “Way ahead of you!” He returns the enthusiasm. They go into an elevator, Reggie presses his paw on Elio’s cheek; “Hey, Elio. Elio.” He whispers quietly, getting Elio’s attention. “Yo, what’s up, Reggie? Need somethin’?” Elio asks. Reggie lowers his whisper even further; “SO, I thought of a plan that might-” “Save it for when we’re fighting him. I’m sorry for cutting you off, but Gendross can hear your whisper.” Elio interrupts him.
“He’s right.” Gendross chimes in bluntly. Reggie turns his neck to Gendross so quickly that he loses balance and falls off Elio’s shoulder. “Elio, how were you able to tell that he could hear me? I was dead silent! Gendross doesn’t have ears either!” Reggie asks in surprise. “Well, that may be true, but us Jovians have the ability to detect mid-level to even miniscule frequencies that are close by. You could be as silent as a mouse, I’ll still hear you because…” Gendross taps the side of his head;” …us Jovians have an organ known as the Statocyst, which is made up of small bones, similar to those found in the ears of primates, allowing us to detect sounds.”
“Oh, I see. Statocyst, that makes sense.” Reggie takes in the information as Elio smiles, holding up his index finger, chiming in with exuberance; “Which, fun fact: it was discovered first in Jovians on Calisto when scientists practiced a hearing test on other Jovians using different frequencies. So being silent and stealthy isn’t exactly the approach when dealing with Jovians, given they’re crustaceans.” “Well, if you don’t win this fight, you could always try to get a zoology degree. I can see why you were able to reach your way back here from the devil birds.” Gendross responds.
May 31st, 2018. 7:50 PM.
Elio and Reggie stand on their side of the deck, Elio presses his fists together, taking a deep breath and exhaling steam from his mouth. “Ok Gendross, we’re ready!” Elio shouts across the battlefield, getting into his fighting stance. Gendross gets into a fighting stance as well; “Alright! Time starts… NOW!” He shouts. The timer begins counting down, as Elio hears ‘now,’ he darts toward Gendross, speeding his way down the battlefield, he increases his speed and converts into a short hop. Barely reaching a few inches off the ground, he flies gracefully as his hop lets him glide all the way across the pond’s surface. He reaches the other side, just inches away from his opponent, Gendross goes for a swift punch, as though he were expecting Elio to land there, but his advantage in speed allows for him to dodge. Elio Jumps toward his face and bends his knee completely, extending and throwing out a high kick, nailing Gendross in the chin.
Gendross reels his head back in response, Elio lands on his feet, jumping up in an attempt to get behind him from above, but Gendross jumps up immediately after him, using his size advantage, he reaches up and grabs Elio by the torso. “Not bad! I’m definitely gonna have fun with this fight!” Gendross shouts in excitement, he spreads his legs apart as he moves his arm, swooping Elio under him, he lets go, just to grab him with his other hand as though Elio were a basketball. He then reaches over his head and chucks him to the floor, Elio hits the ground backfirst, bouncing upon impact and landing in the pond. He stops rolling and ends up on his stomach, he coughs up some water; “Damn! We just st-” He gets interrupted as Gendross moves toward him to hit him with a lunging attack, Elio dodges out of the way by rolling to the right and pressing his hands on the ground, pivoting his body off the ground. He bends his arms and jumps up using his hands, leaping over Gendross and landing to the right of him, Gendross goes for a sweep kick, but misses as Elio performs a side flip, quickly ducking under a palm strike aimed for his face. “We just fucking started!” Elio yells as he springs forward, bashing his skull against Gendross’ stomach.
Gendross exhales from the sudden attack; “Woah! It’s like an angry buffalo just crashed into me! Who trained this kid? More importantly, what kind of training did he do?!” He asks in a trance, Elio jumps back a bit, shaking his head; “Seriously, we just started! You don’t have to dunk on me right away! You have NOTHING at stake if you lose!” He continues to yell. Gendross just brushes his abdomen; “I’m impressed, Elio! Even if it’s a soft-shell, you didn’t snap your neck or even get a concussion when bashing your head against it! Though…” He gets back into his fighting stance; “...I noticed that you’re not using any of that heat you’ve been using all day. Don’t tell me there’s a limit and you’ve used it all up already!” He says in hopes of riling up Elio. It fails as Elio just jumps and tucks in, performing a quick backflip and landing in his fighting stance; “You think I’d be stupid enough to waste all that energy? Earlier when I tried using that on you, I noticed that you weren’t burned at all, I was confused at first, then I realized it’s that suit you’re wearing. It’s heat-resistant, so I can’t burn you at all! That’s why I’m just sticking to my fists!” He retorts. Gendross rushes toward him.
Gendross thrusts his arm for a backhanded strike; “It’s a shame you and Reggie didn’t want to be Sky Pirates! Both of your tenacity are commendable!” He roars with excitement. Elio collides his right foot with the attack, he then pivots to the right on his other heel to land an elbow strike. Gendross blocks with his left palm, but without a second of delay, Elio pivots to the left on his heel again, throwing out three fast, heavy punches in succession. “Thanks! Glad to see our efforts have- wait…” He pauses mid-sentence, confused, almost forgetting that he’s fighting. Gendross takes advantage of the situation, slamming his palm on Elio’s head, knocking him down instantly, Elio hits the floor and bounces up, Gendross then performs a short hop and spin kicks Elio, sending him hurling through the air.
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Elio begins flying, about to crash into one of the many rock spikes coming out of the ground; “Hold on…” He asks in realization; “...Where’s Reggie?” Elio backflips, landing on his feet and sliding backwards, coming to a halt. He leans back, doing a limbo as Gendross suddenly jumps toward him in an attempt to drop kick him into the rock, only to miss. “Where the hell did the little bastard run off to?!” Elio shouts to himself as he runs around the rock and jumps to throw a fast spin kick toward Gendross’ neck once he gets up. He tanks the hit and throws his arm to the side, smacking Elio to the ground, he recovers by rolling and dashing towards Gendross again. Elio readies a punch to his abdomen, Gendross prepares by creating an X-shape with his arms to block, but Elio baits him into doing so by halting all of his momentum through doing a quick hop with a spin, throwing off Gendross. Elio then gets low to the ground, spear kicking slightly upwards, jabbing the talus between Gendross’ leg and toes. Out of instinct, Gendross’s body forces itself to reach toward his foot to hold where it was struck, unintentionally bringing his face lower to Elio’s level.
Elio takes advantage of the moment by landing a heavy elbow strike to Gendross’ face, quickly converting into a backhand strike with the same arm, he pivots one-hundred and eighty degrees, performing a horse kick to the face, pivoting again, landing another backhand strike, following up with a flurry of rapid punches, he then quickly builds up charge for his next attack, jumping up and performing a flashkick, knocking him into the air, ending off his combo by hopping and spinning, landing a thrust kick. He sends Gendross a distance, knocking him into the pond, while he falls down, Elio rushes over to a tree, jumping onto a branch and taking a breather; “Ok, so what’s my plan? Reggie dipped, I can’t burn Gendross because of his suit, and more importantly, I’m only hurting, but not damaging him. This isn’t going too well for me…” He looks over at one of the timers on the walls of the deck; “It doesn’t help that I’ve already lost a fifth of the time I have to damage him. Shit…” Elio ponders, unsure of how to approach the battle.
Elio glances at the pond, watching him step out of the water as he begins searching for where Elio is. “Wait a minute, that actually could work. There’s so much stuff in this arena, if I’m fast enough, I could make something sharp from these branches, then use my speed to cut the fabric, that way I can burn him. I’ll try that, my options are waned cause of Reggie…” Elio grabs a piece of a sturdy branch and snaps it off, he hops down the tree, making his presence known. He bolts around, dragging the branch along the hard, rough surface, sanding off the bark, smoothing it out while occasionally rotating the branch to make a sharp wooden blade from it. Gendross watches Elio carefully; “That’s strange, he’s running with only his left arm in motion. He couldn’t have hurt his right, it was fine just a moment ago… hold on…” His gaze shifts to one of the trees, he notices sap leaking. “So that’s his game plan!” He figures out as he takes a more defensive position. Elio stops in front of him, having finished making the wooden blade; “Alright, it’s all or nothing with this one!” Elio raises his voice as he takes a fighting stance, holding the blade with two hands over his left shoulder with the blade curving downward.
“Kendo? No, no if I’m correct with Earth’s cultures, Kendo involves you standing straight while holding the sword with two hands directly in front of you. I’m weary, I don’t know if this is a real stance. Is he proficient in swordplay, or is this a facade to get me to fall into another trap?” Gendross analyzes. Elio jumps forward and somersaults before pivoting to the right with his foot, jumping up with a spin in order to slash at Gendross, he blocks the slash using his palm, a small sliver of his blood comes out, staining the blade with a bit of blue. “Wait, I’m bleeding?!” He thinks as he holds his palm in front of his face, quickly looking back at Elio and dodging another slashing attempt. He rolls to the side and notices the pond’s ripples; “That’s why it’s so sharp! He must’ve dragged the blade along the water after he finished sanding it, that way it could make the blade rougher! So that’s how he cut me! But if I attack the blade…”
Gendross thrusts his arm downwards at the wooden sword, making contact and snapping it into pieces instantly; “...it’ll break because of the water weakening its overall density!” He grins. “Ahh shit!” Elio yells in response to his sword breaking. His body loosens up, as if he’s lost, unsure of what to do since his last resort plan was ruined right then and there. Gendross reaches up and grabs a hefty branch, effortlessly snapping it off, he then slams Elio on his side as if he were a baseball, making him fly a great distance. He slides on his side; “Damn…” Elio coughs. “What the hell do I do now?” He gets up slowly. Elio’s eyes focus on the pond; “Time… I just need time to think!” He darts to the pond, he jumps into the center of it.
“Elio, what are you doing? You have sixteen minutes left on the clock. I wouldn’t be relaxing if I were you.” He raises his voice. Elio ignores him as he floats backfirst in the water, taking a deep breath; “That last one really hurt my side, I just need to soothe the muscles real quick…” Elio starts heating up his body, slowly bowling the water in the pond; “At least he’s not wearing that fabric over his face, so I can stay in here for a bit to rest up.” Gendross notices the steam; “It’s just one shifty plan after another! He’s gonna try and create a humid atmosphere in order to steam the entire deck!” Gendross takes the branch he’s holding onto and snaps a piece off. “I can’t get in the water, so I’ll just use what I have to attack him to kill time on the counter!” He chucks the wood chunk, aiming flawlessly and nailing Elio on the forehead. He immediately starts treating water, no longer floating on his back; “Damn! Now he’s throwing things!” He takes off his visor and looks at it; “Oh good, they didn’t get hit. I’m glad about that…” He puts them back on. “Good thing that wood’s buoyant, gives me an advantage!”
Elio inhales through his nostrils and fires a gust of wind from his palms, shooting him to the bottom of the pond, now sitting eight feet under the surface. He continues generating and releasing heat into the water as his arms cross; “Hmmm… Reggie, where did you go? I could really use your help right about now!” He wonders, annoyed, not even realizing his irritation is making him boil the water faster. He opens his eyes, looking up and seeing how more pieces have been thrown into the water. Elio leans his head back down; “God, this feels amazing!” Elio has a light chuckle, some bubbles come from his mouth; “Huh, I wonder how many slices of pizza I’ve eaten in my lifetime? Does my stomach think all potatoes are mashed? Would pregnancy technically be a form of bodybuilding? I need to stop rotting my brain with these dumb questions! Besides, my side’s feeling much better now!”
Elio gets up and springs out of the water gracefully, performing slow backflip twists with his legs straight and arms spread out, spinning as though he were a helicopter. He lands on the ground by the steaming pond, taking a bow before quickly getting back in his fighting stance; “Let’s keep going!” Elio shouts with an insane grin, approaching Gendross at a much faster speed. He throws an incredibly fast punch, Gendross blocks as his eyes widen in shock; “Wait, there’s so much more power! I get that he’s faster now, but…” Gendross experiments by throwing a punch, Elio blocks it just by punching his fist. They begin exchanging blows, their fists colliding and hurting both of their knuckles, they jump back to create space. Elio rolls his wrist a bit, letting it pop, Gendross stares dead at him; “So his plan wasn’t to turn the deck into a steam bath, he wanted to heat himself up to have his body’s volume increase, making his strikes more powerful alongside the speed increase!” Gendross realizes. Elio hops onto one foot, side stepping at blinding speed, moving toward Gendross, he gets on guard, crossing his arms to block the incoming attack, but Elio steps to the left diagonally, landing on his left foot and immediately side stepping toward Gendross’ side, using his right arm to perform an elbow jab. Gendross weaves out of the way and reacts by trying to slam his arm down at him, Elio quickly responds by holding his palm up to the ceiling, firing a gust of wind and shooting himself to the ground, avoiding the strike. Elio lands on his back and quickly springs up and kicks Gendross in the chest after leaving his upper body exposed, Elio bounces off from his own kick, backflipping several times.
Gendross is stunned from how Elio moves around, Elio takes notice of his surprise through his heat detection and holds his arms out, propelling himself with another gust of wind, changing his backflip into a frontflip dive. He hits the ground and rolls upon landing, proceeding to jump out of his roll and performing a helicopter kick, striking Gendross in the head. He lands behind him, quickly horse kicking Gendross in the calf, Gendross turns to spin kick Elio, but Elio jumps back, rolling over Gendross’ shoulder as he turns around. He lands behind him again, thrust kicking Gendross in the back, he then does a spinning short hop before landing and sliding under Gendross’ legs. He gets up and jumps, high-kicking him in the face once more, then he converts into an axe kick with the same foot, ending his string of attacks by flipping with the momentum of his attack to land another axe kick with the opposite foot.
Elio lands on his feet, taking a deep breath; “Surely you felt that one!” He shouts with an edge to his voice. Gendross rubs his chin; “Yeah, it actually hurt a lot! A masochist would’ve told you to stop, if they’d even survive that kind of beating! Keep it going, maybe you’ll give me a concussion if you try hitting harder!” He answers with excitement. Elio returns it; “So then, you gonna turn up the head?” He asks confidently. Gendross takes a step forward, Elio reacts by using his speed to get around him for an attack, but Gendross reacts much quicker, grabbing Elio’s torso and slamming him on the ground, Elio gasps from the impact. “That answer your question?” Gendross smugly asks, he then drags him along the floor, turning around and throwing him. Elio tumbles for a bit, trying to get up, but is stopped as Gendross grabs him by the legs, holding him upside down as Elio coughs up some dirt. “Damn… caught in his web. I thought I was close, but that was far from the truth, and now I’m out of options. Shit, what to do-” Elio’s thoughts are interrupted as he hears the sounds of clothes being torn; “Huh?” He asks in surprise and confusion. He tilts his head and notices a large, fuzzy green tail, his eyes follow and he sees Reggie, standing on his hind legs in the Nightmare Form. His middle right arm held up, as he tears through the fabric. “Reggie?!” Elio asks in shock at his sudden appearance.