Demons Battle

Determined Episode 2.

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“A way... to get into Demons Battle?”

Gabriel asked again in disbelief, with his eyes now widened. He was amazed right now and his sudden emotions of amazement and disbelief was clearly written all over his face as he questioned the Doctor’s statement.

“Yes...Gabriel”

“But I don’t understand. What do you mean by a way to get into Demons Battle?”

Without wasting a second Gabriel struck the question he needed to ask. A way to get into Demons Battle?

Right now all he wanted was for the Doctor to enlighten him on his last statement. To him that statement sounded interesting. It was a statement that had his sense of curiosity wrapped around it and he wanted to know more about it.

Besides His reaction of disbelief and curiosity was no surprise.

‘A way a regular human like him can get into Demons Battle?’

It was something that has never been heard of before. ‘Demons Battle’ the sport itself was like another world that was been inhabited by only powered humans so the Doctor’s statement had to be questioned.

“Okay let me explain.” The doctor said as he gestured with his index finger before continuing on. “Yes It is true that regular humans like you are forbidden from participating in Demons Battle because as you know that would mean death for a regular human. The gap in strength between a regular human and a powered human is way too high so regular humans in Demons Battle is a big no.”

“...”

“You see the thing is. Demons Battle have millions of regular human fans who wished they had the power needed to participate in the sport and these millions of people are always disappointed every single year when they don’t manifest any abilities after age 15. Just like you Gabriel.”

“...”

“And I’m sure you know Demons Battle is the world’s richest sport which technically makes it a business right?”

“Yes...”.  Gabriel eyes were now narrowed to the slit while waiting to hear the point the Doctor was trying to get at.

“You see the thing is....” The Doctor now Paused and stared at Gabriel for a few seconds before he continued speaking “The government wants to transform those disappointed regular human fans into fighters.”

“What do you mean by transforming regular human fans into fighters?”.

At this moment, it was John who spoke out. He had been standing behind the chair that  Gabriel was sitting on and He too was just as  curious and surprised as Gabriel.

“By transforming regular humans into fighters you should be able to understand what I’m talking about. I’m talking about making a regular human’s capabilities on par with that of a powered human.”

Making a regular human on par with a powered humans in terms capabilities?

‘Does this guy even know what he’s saying?’

Gabriel immediately asked with his attentive eyes still fixed at the Doctor. “And how does the government intend to achieve such a feat? I mean it’s not as if they can mysteriously grant regular human powers.”

Everything the Doctor was saying was sounding unbelievable. Granting a regular human powers? It was something that has never been heard of before. Scientists all over the world are still unable find the true cause of why a person mysteriously shows superhuman abilities. Now this so-called people are suddenly talking about granting a regular human powers. How?

The few knowledge the world now have about powered humans at the moment actually took more than 7 decades before it was identified in other words it took that long before people could trace a pattern on how powered humans were born everyday.

There were too many identified scientific behaviors on how their powers came about. It was a confusion in the world of science because every single time a powered human DNA was studied it was a different result. If they identified a specific scientific DNA pattern 10 minutes ago, that particular identified DNA pattern became different on every next test. They were just not able to Identify the behavior of powered humans DNA because the DNA of a powered human keeps changing at a very fast rate making it hard for them to study it. The DNA of powered humans were never constant.

It took decades for people to notice how powered humans were born.  Only one powered human child was born in a home even if both parents were powered humans. The result was always one powered human child no matter the kind of couple and no matter how many kids they had. Only 1 powered human child was born while the rest children would just be regular humans. And the fact that a lack of manifestation of powers after the age of 15 made one a regular human.

These were all the physical behaviors of powered humans that took more than 7 decades before people could even notice them but as for the scientific behavior or even theories about powered humans, scientists are still unable to get clear answers. All the world knew scientifically was that the DNA of a powered human was changing at a higher vibration that was out of this world.

Even studying the cause and behavior of supernatural abilities was a problem in the world of science before even speaking of granting powers to regular humans. Making regular humans on par with the powered humans. It was like a fairy tale story that just sounded too good to be true for Gabriel.

The Doctor Mark now answering Gabriel’s question opened his mouth “Yes you’re half-right. They can’t and also they can”.

There was now a flustered look in Gabriel’s face. What is this guy now even saying?

“What do you mean by they can’t and they can? I don’t understand if you’re trying to say they can give regular humans powers now?”.

At this moment Doctor Mark just chucked with a grin on his face. “Hmm. It looks like I’m confusing you. My bad. What I’m saying is they can give regular humans abilities but it’s not as perfect as the real deal.”

“Which means they can give a regular human powers then. But how did they achieve such a feat?”

“Hahaha ha..of course they achieved it through me. That’s my job.”

“Well then Doctor. How did you do it?”

“Through ‘GENETIC ENHANCEMENT’”

“GENETIC ENHANCEMENT?”

“Yes GENETIC ENHANCEMENT or you can call it GENE MODIFICATION if you wish.  It is a process of manually adding a new DNA to an organism. In Other words the goal is to add one or more new traits that are not already found in that organism.”

“...”

“In a simpler term, it is taking the DNA of a powered human and adding that DNA to the body of a regular human but the thing is, a regular human’s body can’t keep up with the DNA of a powered human”

The Doctor kept enlightening them on the subject as he spoke about the topic like someone speaking with passion. The way he talked about the subject, it really seemed like it was his specialty.

“Okay. So if the regular human’s body can’t take the DNA of the powered human’s how do they end up getting powers?”

Doctor Mark chuckled once more. “Calm down little man. I’m not yet done explaining. You don’t need to be in a rush I’m coming to that part.”

However Gabriel’s expression was not giving back any smile to the Doctor, Gabriel’s look was rather stern. It was then his look prompted  the Doctor to continue with his explanation.

“Well you see Gabriel that’s where ‘BIONICS’ comes in”

“Bionics?”

“You see through the help of Bionics we were able to make the system of a regular human accept the DNA of a powered human”

“Oh I see. Through Bionics you were able to replicate a system in a regular human’s body that accepted the powered human DNA”

“Yes you’re right. I can see you are smart.” The Doctor smiled and continued with what he was saying. “You see Gabriel..the thing is because of that reason it is the Bionics in regular human’s body that actually have the ability but since the Bionics is actually being used by the regular human, it is almost as if the regular human possesses the ability himself”

“Wait so it’s like giving a stronger arm through the help of Bionics Engineering and without that stronger arm means no power for the regular human. Is that what you’re saying?” John said with one of his hands now on his chin.

“Haha ha...Yes you boys now  get it. I’m amazed. You boys are quick at catching up.”

“Well you forget my Dad was a Doctor and like you he was also into these stuff too. He always spoke about terms like these when me and John went hiking with him.”

“Yes your Dad was also a Scientist too. In fact he was working with me on this Project before he got murdered”

On hearing this truth Gabriel got reminded about his family. It was quite visible with his sudden Depressed look on his face.

“He always spoke about you during work. According to him, you were the inspiration that made him join this experiment. His regular human son who wanted powers so badly”.

‘Dad?’

There was now a saddened look on his face when he heard this fact about his Father. He can still vividly remember how inspiring his father was to him.

“According to him he said if there was going to be hope for people like you in the future then he should help offer the best Solution to those regular humans”

‘Sounds like what Dad would say’

“But you see Gabriel the thing is. Your Dad never wanted you to get the Genetic Enhancement. According to him it was not yet perfect. It was something that had never been used in Demons Battle before”

“What do you mean he never wanted me to have it? That’s not enough reason for him to keep me in the dark”

“The thing is testing the Genetic Enhancement project in the lab and testing it in the sport itself are two different scenarios. Even if it’s successful in the lab it’s not a guarantee that the project would be a success in the sport. So he thought it would be dangerous for you to even attempt getting the Gene Enhancement. To him this kind of Experiment needed a decade before it can be perfect.”

That also sounded like what his Dad would say. It definitely proved the fact that this guy actually knew his father.

The Doctor kept on speaking “You see we’re still testing it out but the thing is...using the abilities with the help of the bionics system can take a toll on a regular human. In other words the abilities from the bionics can stress both the mind and the body of a regular human”

Right now the Doctor was trying to say that their own methods of granting regular humans power was still not perfect which he understood quite well. However...

“Dr Mark. If my Dad did not want me to get this Gene Enhancement why are you telling me about it?”

The Doctor Chuckled while he staring at Gabriel before opening his mouth.

“Isn’t that obvious? It’s because I want you to take the Gene Enhancement.”

“Okay what I’m actually asking is...What’s in it for you if I take the Gene Enhancement?”

“Hahaha...well let’s just say you’re the kind of guy I need for this experiment to be more of a success”

“And why do you think I’m special?”

“Huh special?...Hahaha” The Doctor laughed like he just heard a funny joke and then continued speaking as he pointed towards Gabriel. “I don’t think you’re special. I’m just telling you because you have the determination to use it. Besides I heard about your claims of Killer Joe being the murderer so I’m definitely sure you want to get into the sport really badly to take out a predator. And you’re going to need my help with that”

Gabriel clenched his fists in anger upon hearing the name ‘Killer Joe’ and he wanted to do just more than clenching his fists right now. Blinded with his desire for revenge he spoke out asking the question that mattered to him now.

“Okay then tell me Doctor. How do I get this Gene Enhancement?”

While Gabriel was asking, John saw his friend’s desperation. Gabriel was so desperate to the extent he was ready to go on any path that showed him a little guarantee of him entering Demons battle. John felt his friend desire for revenge and got even more worried about him. He had this ominous feeling. From his own point of view it was like him watching Gabriel make a deal with the devil.

However the Doctor answered him rather calmly “Ease up boy. You’re not ready yet”

“What do you mean by I’m not ready?”

“What’s your Agility Grade Point?”

The Agility Grade Point. It was a way to tell the strength of a person.  It was a term used to grade the capabilities of both regular humans and powered humans.

It was a grading value that ranged from 1% to 100%.  The highest Agility Grade point a regular human can attain is 30%. As for the powered humans their agility grade point can go up to a 100% but getting to that 100% was never an easy feat. It took a whole lot of training for both a regular human and a powered human to increase their Agility Grade Point by even a 1%.

It was hell for a regular human who wanted to increase their Agility Grade Point to their highest level which was 30%. Killer Joe himself was not yet at his 100% with his Agility Grade point.

It was a grading system used in the Demons Battle and other sports to show how capable an athlete is. The higher the Agility Grade Point  the more capable and dependable that fighter is, in other words a person with an Agility Grade Point of 40% is way more stronger than a person with an Agility Grade Point of 30%.

“I think I’m at most 5%”

“Well that’s good but that won’t do.”

Gabriel was now in stupefaction. He didn’t waste any time to retort back.

“What do you mean by that?”

“For your body to even accept the Gene Enhancement process your Agility Grade Point needs to be at least 15%.”

“What? 15%? How do you even intend he gets his Agility Grade Point to that level?” John spoke out as he scowled at the Doctor.

It turns out John was not really comfortable with the Doctor. He was not at all liking anything the doctor has been saying for a while now.

However Doctor Mark just nonchalantly replied like he didn’t actually care about John’s tantrum. “Well that’s not a problem. You’re going to enroll in a Dojo to get it up.  You see the reason I’m hear telling you all this is because a year from now the government will allow humans with Gene Enhancement access into the Demons Battle. Let’s just say I’m giving you a spoiler alert.”

“Hmm” Gabriel chuckled before he started speaking. “Thanks Doctor. Well you’re my god sent angel. In short you’re the miracle I have been waiting for since this past few days. You don’t need to worry because by that time I’ll be capable for the Gene Enhancement.”

Now John was now looking at Gabriel with a slightly startled look. His expression seemed to be asking why was Gabriel suddenly talking like this? He gets the fact that Gabriel lost his family to killer Joe but to go this far by making deal with this stranger and just now laughing while he does it. He had to ask now is Gabriel still sane?

“Well that’s the spirit. All that’s left is for you is to locate a good Dojo and increase your Agility Grade Point then”

A Dojo. It was a place that offered professional training to powered humans looking forward to become a Demons Battle Fighter. It was a place where powered humans honed their skills for the sake of one goal, which is to become ‘Demons Battle Stage Zero champion’.

There were many Dojos. Each Dojo brought out their best students to compete over the title of the ‘stage zero champion’ in Demons Battle every year. It was a place where these powered humans learned martial arts. It was not just a place  for powered humans alone to hone their skills. Regular humans also learnt martial arts in a Dojo but they were separated from training with the powered humans.

The training of powered humans was a program on its own in the Dojo while the regular humans also had their own program.  It was the program of martial arts for powered humans that brought a Dojo to the lame light in other words a Dojo was like a school for a Powered human seeking a profession as a fighter.

For Gabriel, a Dojo was his best bet if he was really going to increase his Agility Grade Point but the real question is...

“Will you be able to increase your Agility Grade Points to 15% in a year?”

Gabriel paused for a fews seconds with a painful look of nostalgia in his eyes before he answered.

“You see Doctor. It’s not a matter of if I can anymore. The thing is..I have to.”