Demons Battle

Indifference

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“Uhhh!” Gabriel gasps sharply in pain, over the punch made on his abdomen by the young man and because he was defenseless, then joined by the fact that he wasn't expecting an attack like that, the pain was even more excruciating to bear with for the first few seconds of it's impact.

 

Gabriel was already on the course of falling to his knees when the young man immediately followed his attacks with an upper cut, the perfect follow up attack for someone in the process of descending, pushing Gabriel away into the air for a few seconds.

*BAH*

Gabriel felt even more pain as his body hit the ground upon landing.

‘What th- what the hell? Where did that even come from?' Gabriel, with hands held against his stomach and teeth gritted, while he tried to catch his breath thought in a rage.

 'That bastard!'

 He should have warned me that he was gonna do something like this but I guess that it's my own fault because I totally forgot how insane he was when he comes to fighting.’ Gabriel quickly flicked his eyes elsewhere and fixed them on a particular target.

‘...And this guy, he’s not giving me any chance to recover here. My body is starting to feel heavy just from two attacks?’ Gabriel thought as he glared at his attacker who was gradually walking towards him.

“Hey, what's with that type of look you have on your face? You said you wanted to get into Demons Battle didn't you? Do you think that Demons Battle is a place for fun time play fighting? The situation you’re in isn’t even in anyway a close comparison to that of an actual Demons Battle fight and you're already looking like you're in the process of losing. Like I said, defeat the Powered Human in front of you!!!” Machia shrieked towards Gabriel in excitement.

‘Wait a minute, this is just what I needed. I knew I made the right decision in coming here today. This guy might be crazy but he’s the kind of crazy— no person I need to train me if I’m gonna have my tactics of fighting powered humans.'

' His ways may be unorthodox but that's exactly what I need if I'm going to really pull of the impossible and challenge a Powered Human in an actual Demons battle fight and hope to win’

 Gabriel thought as he decided to see his situation from a different perspective. To him now, the powered human in front of him was a stepping stone he just had to climb and a very high stepping stone at that.

‘Come on, get up. There’s no way you'll succeed if you keep remaining like this’ Gabriel gave himself enough willpower to stand up. He went from lying on his back and shrivelled on himself to turning to resting on his knees. From one knee after the other he got up, punching the ground as a tactic to give himself a morale boost while still on one knee before finally he got back up to his feet. 

His opponent was already three feet away from him when Gabriel quick feetedly charged at him, throwing a punch on arrival. Unfortunately, his brazen punch got caught easily by this young powered human opponent of his with the sad part being that even without using powers, the disparity in both their combat abilities was too clear for anyone to see.

“Hey Gabriel, what in the freaking world are you doing?! A careless charged attack? Really? Common, you’re better than this! Maybe you’re not getting the situation, if you don’t beat the opponent in front of you he’s going to half kill you.”

'Half kill me? What does that even mea—' Gabriel's train of thought was interrupted when Machia shouted even more but fortunately they were words explaining what Gabriel had actually needed answers to. The meaning of being half killed.

“In other words he’ll break half the bones in your body!"

"Besides we have a healer so you 'll be all good at the end” Machia shouted at Gabriel from where he was standing.

Although having been relieved of the question, Gabriel was still shocked when he heard Machia Ontario's explanation. Machia was really crazy. He was shocked Machia went to such a length. It’s like the man to the side of him forgot he was a regular human. He had expected machia to go a bit easier on him because he was a regular human but this guy was actually rolling the big guns. Getting a healer? 

A healer was a special set of Powered Humans. Their abilities were to heal any sort of injuries in a short period of time. Their healing abilities were so off the charts that patients didn’t see any scars when they get healed by these healers, it was as if they never had the injury in the first place.

They were always available in Demons Battle because it was a sport where fighters went all out, thereby resulting in different types injuries from severe ones to life threatening malignant ones. When Gabriel heard about the healer he got shocked but in a good way. He was amazed that he may well be getting to see one in person.

‘This man, to him, it looks like he’s acknowledging me as a powered human’ Gabriel thought to himself with a grin perplexed by mixed feelings.

“Thanks Machia, that just mean I get to go all out” Gabriel said with a grin. The young man he had as an opponent was still holding his fist and preventing him from pulling away and was then about to throw a punch with his other fist when Gabriel immediately dashed at him with his whole body as the only measure he could take. 

Since he couldn't well pull away, because he was being prevented, then Gabriel would have to push forward instead. He added so much force in his whole body causing the young man to lose his balance and in that split second Gabriel gave an elbow attack.

The young man almost lost his balance when Gabriel again wanted to followed his attack with yet another punch as he purposely gave up his own balance and body to gravity, thereby adding more force into his punch.

“Take this!” 

Gabriel screamed when his fist was already close to the young man's face but his punch didn’t reach him. No it’s not that it didn’t reach him per say, but more in the lines that his punched passed right through him in actuality. He felt his punch connect but at the same time the same punch and certain areas of his hand also passing through the young man as he continued to fall to the ground.

‘What? He passed through me-.’ Gabriel thought, although wrongly but before he could complete his train of thought the young man gave him a kick to propel himself back to balance. Gabriel was immediately sent flying upwards in the air as he landed to the ground a good distance away as a result of the kick.

“Ahhh”

Gabriel screamed as his body made impact with the ground for a second time.

‘What was tha— Phasing?... Sigh... Of course it is! What else could it have been. So that’s his ability huh? How am I supposed to beat this guy with an ability like that as a regular human myself?'

 'Now it’s obvious that undefined attacks won’t work on him... I have to be systematic on how I attack and my body... it's getting weaker and weaker, but I can't just remain like this. If I'm unable to take care of this guy right here and right now, how can I ever think of taking care of Killer Joe!' Gabriel thought as he gave himself enough willpower to finally get up on his feet yet again and then he dusted the dirt he had earned on his clothes and parts of his body. Meanwhile

'As usual, he's running towards me again. He's fighting with no restraint...He’s fighting me like I’m on this same level as he is.' Gabriel thought as he prepared for the Young Man who was dashing towards him relentlessly.

The young man got close and started attacking with a series of punches aimed at Gabriel. However, the rate at which they were coming at him was something that Gabriel was able to dodge most, although sustaining a few damage, while he on the hand he got close to attack too but most of his attacks were either easily maneuvered around or were being phased through by the young man.

And anytime Gabriel was on the offensive, his defense would be wide open for the young man to attack. The young man took advantage of this fact by attacking after Gabriel had attacked because he just phases through Gabriel attacks to land one of his own with Gabriel defense being open in that split second.  

Gabriel was on the losing end here and his injuries could attest to that fact. He had a bleeding lip with swollen bruises and scratches on the right side of the face. 

Gabriel did the necessary by attacking and blocking the young man’s own attacks too but every time he did, the more damage his body suffered. It was clear his attack wasn't reaching the young man at all.

While the fight was going on, Machia was still watching attentively.

'Kid, sorry I have to test your resolve like this, but it’s for your own good. This test has two outcomes; it's to show you how the world of Demons Battle really looks like and the second is to see your resolve.'

'A lot of people say they wanna be this and that but it's their actions that actually disclose if they are really determined and aren't just saying mere words. So kid, show me how determined you are. Your attacks can't reach your opponent. What will you do?'

‘Should I just say this test is orchestrated to destroy your determination even before seeing them through and make you give up....OR make  you stronger but that's if you pass of course.'

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Back to the fight, Gabriel got hit even more by the young man’s attack.

'I can't hit him. He knows when I throw my attacks so he just phases through them and even in the rare chances where my punches manage to hit him, my attacks are not strong enough... I need to find an opening. Think Gabriel think!'

 

Gabriel was trying to think of ways he could outpower his oponnent while the young man kept attacking. The young man wasn’t giving him any chance to think.

Another punch went directly to Gabriel abdomen. But this punch came with a little realization from Gabriel's end.

'Wait...this guy. I don't know if this would work but I'll just have to try.' 

The young man attacked more but it was feeling like Gabriel couldn't block his attack anymore. The young man punched even harder even when he saw his opponent was getting weaker. His goal now was to give his finishing blow. He added so much power to his fist and then struck the abdomen of Gabriel.

*BAM*

The sound of a solid hit was heard from the fight, but the sound was not just due to his punch and the young man had realized this in very a painful manner

‘This Bastard!’ The young man screamed in his thoughts in pain as he fell to ground. He was gasping for air.

Machia was still attentively watching the scene with a facial expressions of utmost focus.

‘I see. He used Tom’s own tactic against him. Tom usually gave his attacks when  Gabriel was on the offensive and when Gabriel was on the offensive he left his defense open’ Machia thought

‘Gabriel finally realized that it was the same for his opponent too. Tom had to stop using his phasing abilities to land a hit on Gabriel he himself also left his defensive open upon offensive’

‘He allowed Tom’s blow to hit him as he held Tom in with his arms in order to land a punch directly to his throat. He knew his punch was lacking destructive force so he used Tom's forward charging force to his advantage.  Tom's charging force was enough to make the hit to his throat efficient.’

‘A hit directly to the throat. What a dangerous kid. He knew the throat was one of the weak spots in the human’s body and the fact that Tom is a powered human doesn't make a difference to the fact. The basic biology of powered human and regular human still remains the same.’

‘A destructive punch to the throat. That can block the breathing of anyone and live them gasping for air if they are lucky to not have had their windpipe destroyed.... He landed this destructive punch at the expense of receiving Tom’s punch to his solar-plexus’

‘Damn, to suffer from such a pain to land a decisive attack...This kid really is something else, I'll have to admit' 

Machia concluded the analytic replay of the fight in his thought as he gave a wide grin.

 Gabriel fell to his knees trying to catch his breath too because of the blow he received to his solar plexus.

‘Damn, it’s so painful. Even if I prepared myself to receive his attacks it still feels this painful’

Gabriel was on the ground while the world spun in his eyes. He laid on the ground as he saw Tom with his damaged throat sill trying to catch his breath like he was. The hit he received to his solar plexus had left his gasping for air too. But the difference in how they both did it showed that Tom was having more difficulty in doing so.

‘I hope he’s gonna be okay...’ Gabriel thought as he felt his consciousness beginning to fade away until he lost consciousness.

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*BLINK*

Gabriel opened his eyes, unfortunately, he woke up with a headache. He opened his eyes to see the young man he had just brawled with sitting besides him in a room.

They were actually inside a room in the big building. The room was filled with some first aid equipments and some pictures of past generation of fighters in the Demons Battle. There was also a shelf that contained awards and medals.

“You’re finally up! You slept for quite a while. I know it’s comfy bed right?” 

Tom got Gabriel attention with his statement few seconds after he regained his consciousness.

“Hey, hope you’re okay now? Sorry I went a little overboard, the boss instructed me to fight you without holding anything back” Tom apologized

“Okay yeah, I kind of figured that that would be the case. Come to think of it, I’m the one who's supposed to be asking you if you’re okay. I gave you a serious hit on your neck there”

“Yeah you sure did, but thanks to our healer I’m back at a hundred percent again. Besides, even if there were no healers at all, I would still be okay. Just that it would have taken me a few hours to heal.”

“Yeah the healer. That was the reason I landed the attack in the first place. I knew that they would be there to help fix whatever damage I might have caused”

“Hahaha.. it was also the reason I was able to go all out on you in the first place too” Tom laughed

From the way Tom was speaking to him, Gabriel could tell Tom was an easy going guy. He actually thought that Tom was kind of a cold and introverted person due to the fact he didn’t say a word throughout their fight.

Gabriel examined his body as he noticed he was unable to find any traces of bruises or broken bones from his fight.

‘Indeed the power of a healer is really amazing’ He thought to himself, admiring the works of the healer on his own body because all his injuries were completely gone. It was like he didn’t sustain any injuries to begin with.

“My Boy!”

The voice of Machia was heard from outside the room as Gabriel glanced towards the doorway. Exactly at that moment, Machia walked into the room with his usual optimistic smile.

“Well there’s our winner! Honestly, I didn’t think you could do it but you did!”

"You didn't think I could win? Yet you placed me against such odds" Gabriel frowned but not in a serious manner.

“Well you know how these things are..." Machia chuckled "Gabriel Lee! Time for your Reward!”

"Reward?" Gabriel mumbled.

"From this day hence forth you’re my student! Get ready because I’m gonna murder you and resurrect back again you until you get your Gene Enhancement.”

"!!" Gabriel was left dumbfounded by the comment with eyes left with nothing else to do other than glare at the huge and energetic man speaking to him. Machia was an excentrick one.

“By the Time I’m through with you, you’ll be a fucking killer!!”