“Now even I’m confused,” Adrian said, before turning to Sandhu. “What’s going on here? Who the hell are you?”
“Yeah… that’s a good question,” I added, also looking in his direction. “C’mon man.”
I’ve known the guy for years. Yet, I couldn’t begin to understand what he was planning here.
Sandhu took a while to respond. And even then… it was less than satisfying.
“It’s complicated,” he finally spoke up. “By the way, aren’t you guys missing the show?”
I wasn’t gonna force the guy to talk. Over the years, I’ve learned that doing so only leads to disingenuous answers.
Besides, he was right. Jack was already rushing towards Wu.
“C’mon Wu!!!!! Show me your kung fu shit! I’ll beat you down with good old American Boxing!!!”
“He really thinks Americans invented boxing, huh?” Adrian muttered.
Instead, Wu opted to blast him back with his hand-shotgun. Jack was sent flying into a support beam, demolishing it in the process. While he’d taken no ostensible damage, there were now holes littered across the American Flag printed on his chest plate.
That sure got him pretty rattled.
“Oh, you fucked up buddy.” He said, a deranged smirk drawn across his face.
For the first time ever, Wu decided to speak.
“What did you think was going to happen?”
In an instant, they charged at each other. Given their respective power and speed, their combined movements were hardly comprehensible. But if I had to approximate the exchange… it went something like this:
Jack Lands a Cross to Wu’s helmet, cracking it slightly.
Wu attempts to stab Jack with a large blade. It breaks on his arm.
Jack presses forward, throwing a flurry of Jabs at Wu’s head. Most of them are blocked.
Wu counters with a kick to the ribs. It hurts Jack.
Wu uses his railgun-eyes, burning the side of Jack’s cheek.
And then the gauntlet is unleashed.
Wu lands a brutal combination with steel-studded knuckles. Wu shoves a grenade into Jack’s face. Wu pounds away at Jack’s ribs with a spiked bat. Wu stabs Jack through the shoulder with an elbow blade. Wu snaps one of Jack’s fingers off. Wu headbutts him. Wu picks him up and executes a hard takedown, destroying the walkway they’re standing on and causing them to fall to a lower floor.
And then, Wu begins strangling Jack.
“He’s got the advantage with his weapons,” I said. “There’s no way Jack’s turning it around.”
Adrian scoffed. “The US didn’t funnel billions into this guy for nothing. He’s got a few tricks up his sleeve.”
And oh boy, did he ever.
“AGGHHHH!!!” Jack was frenetic as he struggled to break out of Wu’s iron grasp.
“F…UCK Y… OU!” He screamed, before his right fist began glowing red. He let go of Wu’s wrists, ramming his knuckles right into his throat instead.
The first significant strike.
I could see Wu’s armor splinter as he was launched backwards, forced to release his grip. Still exasperated from the struggle, Jack pulled himself up, his fist smoldering like hell. At the same time, Wu was gasping for air himself.
“How’s… that,” he said, holding his fist up while grinning like a man utterly unhinged. Suddenly, his left fist also began glowing, the only difference being that it was blue.
“It’s about to get fucking gnarly,” Jack said. “The Stars and Stripes Style is immeasurable.”
What followed was an exchange of blurs. I could hear explosive bouts of clanking metal. White smoke and flickering sparks intercut with flashes of red and blue from Jack’s fists. Two individuals at the pinnacle of power striking each other with everything that they had.
After around an entire minute of hectic, but incomprehensible fighting, both men had sustained significant damage.
Wu’s suit was covered in cracks and dents, with his right forearm and left thigh now exposed. There was also blood leaking through his fractured helmet.
On the other hand, hardly an inch of Jack’s body was unscathed. He was cut and swollen all over, with one of his eyes stabbed out and his right shoulder grated down to the bone.
They stared each other down during their few seconds of fleeting recuperation.
And then they were right back at each other’s throats.
Wu attempted to blast Jack in the face with his palm cannon, but the American managed to weave underneath the shot, throwing both fists into Wu’s chest, causing his suit to shatter completely at that particular spot.
His vitals were now exposed. Jack knew what kind of opportunity he’d just created, indicative by the wicked grin on his face. In a matter of milliseconds, Jack pulled back one of his fists and struck Wu directly.
Without his armor protecting him, that blow must’ve liquidized his insides. In any case, that’s what I got from his reaction. In an instant, he collapsed in pain, before being tossed over the rails, onto an even lower floor. As he clutched his sides in excruciation on the ground, Jack leapt down and stomped on his helmet, finally shattering that as well.
He’d accomplished something that even the most sophisticated of weaponry would’ve had trouble doing.
In a desperation move, Wu pulled out his shotgun and began spraying it upwards, forcing Jack to retreat. Feeling pain that must’ve eclipsed the boundaries of unbearable, he pulled himself up, finally revealing his cut-to-hell visage through his broken helmet.
“You’re… just a regular person underneath that suit, hey?” Jack said, panting. “How comical.”
“You were too… before the experiment.” Wu responded.
Jack scoffed. “Is that what you think? That I’m just like you? A regular fucking guy?”
“Yes,” Wu responded. “We weren’t born special.”
Jack shook his head. “Why does that matter? Look… I’ll give you one thing. You’re strong. Hell, you even gave me a bit of a hard time. But your attitude is fucking bullshit.”
Wu had trouble responding to that.
“Sure, we weren’t born special,” Jack continued. “But we’ve changed ourselves. Clawed our way up to the top,” he paused for a moment. “No… you’re not just a regular guy underneath that suit after all. And I wasn’t just another fuck in the crowd before the experiment. They just don’t choose any random asshole, you know? These are things that we’ve accomplished ourselves. Things that nobody else could do. Why don’t you fucking understand that?”
Another pause followed.
The silence was broken when Wu reached over his shoulder, pulling out a terribly large red-orange sword.
The Singularity Blade.
“Jack Barnes…” he began. “You seem unintelligent on the surface, but you’ve almost said something profound just now.”
Jack smirked at the pseudo-compliment.
“You’re strong as well,” Wu continued. “I’ll show you my respect by cutting you down with my ultimate weapon.”
“I’m touched,” Jack responded. “I guess I’ll have to show you the same courtesy,” he closed his eye for a moment, before opening it back up, revealing nothing but white underneath his lids. The red and blue radiating off his fists began extending up to his forearms, before quickly enveloping each side of his body entirely.
“You should be honored. I’m about to crush you with the full force of my American spirit.”
Two tremendously strong men, both now at the pinnacle of their own power stood across from each other in full acknowledgment of each other’s prowess. An Earth-shaking clash was about to ensue.
Wu went first, swinging the blade and releasing an obscure serpentine entity from its tip. It rushed forward with torrid speed, latching its claws onto Jack’s arms and attempting to bite his head off.
Jack responded by drilling his fist down the creature’s throat. It bit down, puncturing his arm but shattering its own teeth in the process.
Jack and the creature fought brutally and relentlessly, with the latter seemingly growing in size as the battle endured.
However… Wu himself was standing still.
“What’s he doing? Why isn’t he going after him?” I thought out loud.
“He can’t,” Adrian responded. “Look closely at him.”
It took me a second, but I understood. The punch that Wu had taken to the chest had essentially put him out of commission. In fact, at that moment, he was struggling to even stand up.
He was relying on the singularity creature to get the job done.
After some minutes, the beast had grown to an ungodly size, resembling some kind of colossal, ghoul-like dragon.
It bit down on Jack’s arm once again, taking it clean off this time. Jack shrieked in endurance-fueled pain, headbutting one of the dragon’s eyes out in response.
It roared in pain as it whirled backwards, utterly annihilating its surroundings. It even took out a few cameras. Jack took the opportunity to reel in the frenetic beast, jumping up on its head and bashing away
Despite having half of its face caved in, the dragon still managed to fling him into a wall, ramming what remained of its head into his torso moments later. A wave of blood busted from Jack’s mouth before his lips curled back into a sadistic, unrelenting grin.
He punched the creature’s remaining eyes out before getting on top of it and rendering the rest of its head into a ghostly mush with nothing but his remaining fist.
Just like that, the battle was over.
As the dragon died, the blade shattered with it.
Jack leapt down, back in front of Wu. He half-chuckled, half-groaned as he limped towards him.
“Lost an arm… lost an eye… you really put me through the gauntlet, hey?”
Wu’s expression was stone for a while.
But… it eventually tuned into a grin. No malice behind it. He was simply acknowledging the interminable fighting spirit that Jack had put on display.
“Well… looks like my fate’s been sealed.” He said.
Jack reciprocated the grin, breathing heavy through his teeth. “Gotta say… you weren’t a pushover. But in the end… America always wins.”
He finished Wu off with a quick strike to the head. As the mechanical menace dropped, Jack’s body stopped glowing and he began staggering away, his movements strained and delirious.
In any case… he didn’t make it too far. He dropped about ten paces from Wu.
"That was... fun." He muttered, slowly drifting off into the darkness.
Even in death, his grin didn’t waver.
“Fucking hell,” Adrian said. “Did they both have to die? Well, let’s see if one of these other weirdos can make it out alive.”
I’d been so invested that I nearly forgot about the other fight that was going on. I turned my head, watching as Kentay effortlessly strangled Senju.
“I killed your master with three strikes, and you’re even weaker than him. Your effort is an insult.”
“I’m…. going…. fucking… kill…”
Kentay struck the side of Senju’s jaw and slammed his neck onto the ground, interrupting his sentence. I guess we’ll never know what he was about to say. A real mystery there.
But despite the overwhelming power gap, Senju kept rushing back at him, only to get abruptly beat down every single time.
“FUUCK!!” He shouted in frustration, after taking another punch to the chest.
“Stop evading justice,” Kentay said. “Your time’s done.”
But then an unexpected figure arrived on the scene.
Hugo rushed into the frame, directing his own rush of blows at Kentay. However, he reacted to them in the same way a regular man would’ve reacted to a mosquito bite.
Hugo was subsequently knocked back, without much explicit effort on Kentay’s part.
His scars were glowing like hell as he pulled himself back up, his eyes pursed with piercing fury.
Why’s he’s so pissed off? I thought to myself.
Kael arrived moments later, yelling after Hugo.
“What the hell are you doing??? I know you’re crazy, but what the fuck!” He shouted.
“He’s the one that killed my mentor,” Hugo said, his voice shaking. “The last good man on this Earth, destroyed by the same evils he attempted to help. But… he was foolish. There can only be response to the sin in this world.”
“THIS FUCKING ASSHOLE KILLED MY MASTER AS WELL!” Senju said, turning to Hugo. “LET’S BURY HIM!”
Hugo sighed, clearly not excited at his prospective ally.
“Man,” Kael said, staring up at Kentay. “This isn’t fun anymore.”
All three of them tried attacking at once.
No luck.
Kentay tanked each blow, before striking each of them down in rapid succession. He grabbed Kael by the neck, before tossing him at Senju, sending them both crashing into the wall.
“Shit!” Kael yelled as he struggled to pull himself up. “Yo Priest! What level of detachment are you at?”
Hugo exhaled. “99%”
“Damn.” Kael muttered, looking up at the steadily but menacingly approaching Kentay. “So we’re fucked.”
“Not necessarily. I’m about 10 times stronger at 100% than I am at 99.”
“I’m not sure the math checks out there.” Hugo said, before taking another strike to the stomach.
“No matter,” Hugo said. “One of the biggest evils stands before us. Every measure must be taken.”
“You’re gonna… fucking… die!” Kael uttered, being kept on his toes by repeated blows from Kentay.
Hugo’s eyes flickered a deep red. Almost like a literal fire was behind them.
“We’re going to die regardless.”
Kentay turned away from Kael and turned to Hugo. He squinted.
“Now I remember you…”
Hugo threw a cross so hard that it seemed to split the air molecules in its path.
Despite managing to block it, Kentay was still blasted backwards. Skidding to a stop, he held his arm up, which had been badly mangled from the blow.
He sneered at Hugo, his eyes growing crazier with every second that passed.
“Evil… must be eliminated.”
“You’re in no position to make that call.” Hugo responded.
They bolted at each other. The two traded blows, with Hugo slowly but surely overwhelming Kentay. Kael could only watch in awe.
Senju on the other hand…
“YEAH!!! KICK HIS FUCKING ASS!!!!”
But the more damage that Kentay took, the more wild he seemed to get.
Hugo landed a one-two to his jaw and temple, drawing blood from his head, before finishing the combination by drilling a knee into his liver, nearly causing Kentay to buckle on the spot.
“Why did you kill him?!!” Hugo spat at Kentay in between strikes. “He was the last chance at salvation that this disgusting world had!!”
Now bruised, bloody and battered, Kentay dropped to one knee. Hugo stepped in for the finishing blow.
Or… what I thought was going to be the finishing blow. Kentay managed to catch the strike, surprising just about everybody watching.
His forehead veins bulged as he looked up at Hugo, his face twisted in an inconceivable expression of demented wrath.
“I killed him… because he stood in the way of Justice.”
In a split-second, Hugo was knocked backwards, having his chest completely caved in.
“What?” he wheezed out as he bent over, trying to funnel air into his lungs. “He’s… stronger. Be… caref-“
Kentay picked him up and Judo slammed over the rail before he could get the sentence out. I never cringed as hard as I did while watching his spine get instantaneously bent into the worst possible shape.
“Hugo!!” Kael yelled, charging at Kentay.
A valiant, but fruitless effort. He was picked up and brutally rag-dolled into the walls and floors. Kentay finished the ruthless display by slamming his back into the wall. Kael crumpled like a pancake, with every bone in his body just about broken. Recovering from that was going to be a tall order.
“Fu…ck…” he spurted out, unable to make another move.
Suddenly, Senju was back on his own, heavily injured and looking far less confident than he was before.
“We can’t let him win.” Sandhu said, his expression a combination of frightened and resolute.
“Oh, you’re not watching the kid anymore? What a surprise.” Adrian said.
I shook my head. “I mean… what the hell are we supposed to do?”
Instead of answering my question, he just brushed by me, before abruptly sprinting out the door.
“What the hell man??” I called after him. No use. He was already gone.
I fumbled around in place for a moment. On one hand, I really didn’t want to go out there. But on the other… he was my friend. And I as much I wanted answers... I also wanted to make sure he didn't do something he wasn't going to have the chance to regret.
After a few moments of frenetic contemplation, I found myself chasing after him.
“Where fuck are you guys going?” I could hear Adrian calling out from behind me.
At that point, he was the least of my concerns.
Chills ran down my spine as I traversed across the blood-stained halls decorated by the mangled corpses of my former guards. It was a sight that I’d experienced in my nightmares before. I’m sure just about every guard had. Seeing it in real life was… jarring, to say the least.
It sure had been one hell of a day. But the inevitable dusk finally seemed to be closing in.
---
Credits
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