Chapter 70 - The Other Half

Zachary: H… Has the match been decided?! Let's see the referee's call!

The referee slowly walked over to Mike, Mike turning his attention before feeling something wrap around his leg. Thong coiled his hand around Mike's ankle, using his left forearm to push himself up. Blood dripped from his face as he slowly got back up.

Zenzo: Looks like Thong refuses to go down! His drive to win is insane!

Two large men stood at one of the audience entrances, both having their arms crossed. One stretched out their arm as they looked in confusion.

Pedro: Isn't that the kid that we fought at Rinsel's place?

Pablo: Oh yeah, it is! Who knew that this guard job was going to have us see him again.

Kusari: You two fought that kid? I'm surprised he's here if that's the case.

Pablo: Well…

Pedro: He kinda knocked us out.

Kusari: That weak guy? Hahahaha!

Ronald: That's kind of pathetic, kekekeke.

Mike gritted his teeth, pain filling his eyes as he reached down and pulled Thong up by his hair.

Mike: Just stay down!

Thong: I… I can't… My family…

Mike: Just trust me, okay? I'll win this!

Mike let go of Thong's hair, Thong falling to the ground before meeting a kick to the face that sent him flying back, blood trailing off of Mike's foot. Thong fell on his back, his vision blurry as he stared at the ceiling.

Minh: So this is all you can muster.

Thong's thoughts: I don't want to hurt Mike… But I need to win…

Minh: Don't you see how contradictory you are! You're an idiot!

Thong's thoughts: I can do it…

Minh: You're a failure to our training. You wasted grandpa's time, so I'll clean up your mess.

The audience stared as Thong lay sprawled out on the ground, Mike turned away as he slowly walked to his entrance. Zachary let out a sigh before raising a mic to his mouth.

Zachary: IT SEEMS WE HAVE A WINNER! AND THAT WINNER IS-

Minh: Who said this was over?

The referee waved his arms, Zachary looking in surprise as a voice came from Thong's body.

Minh: This is only over when I say it is!

Thong's body jumped to its feet, his eyes now a shining red, Mike turning around in shock. Daymond leaned back in his seat, looking at the monitor closely.

Daymond: So my assumption was correct. Me and Thong are more similar than one would assume.

Thong stretched out his arms, a smile forming under his bloody mask as he looked at Mike.

Minh: What's wrong, fucker? Thought this match was over from a bit of spilled blood?

Mike: What the hell? You should be down for the count right now!

Minh: And I'm not. So I'll gladly beat your ass right now.

Minh charged forward, Mike getting a closer look at his eyes, noticing how different they were from Thong's usual yellow. Mike threw out a straight right, Minh stretching out his right arm, Mike's punch sliding off of it as Minh moved to his left. His hand moved like blurs, punching Mike several times on the side before landing a strike to the side of the head.

Zachary: What's this?!

Zenzo: Thong has finally gone on the offensive, and in a frightening way too!

Mike's thoughts: He wasn't like this just a few moments ago. What the hell is going on?

Mike slammed both feet on the ground, spinning before throwing out another punch. Minh stepped to the side of the punch, Mike's right foot shooting off the ground and aiming for his stomach. Minh sidestepped the kick, wrapping his right leg around Mike's planted foot before punching him directly in the face. Mike fell to the ground, Minh following up with a kick to the stomach which sent Mike rolling down the ring.

Minh: You're pretty easy to deal with, you know?

Minh stumbled a bit, holding onto his side as he stared at the ground.

Minh's thoughts: That shorty left this body in horrible condition. I pushed it way too quickly.

Remy: What the hell? How is Mike losing?

Gonzalez: Thong has surprised all of us. He seems like a totally different person right now.

Minh regained control over his breathing, planting both feet firmly on the ground as he looked over to Mike, who brought himself back to his feet.

Mike: You got lucky, you hear that! So don't get cocky, Thong!

Minh: Thong? Oh, that shorty. Yeah, that bitch really couldn't do anything right. So call me by the right name, Minh!

Mike: Minh? What are you playing me for, Thong?!

Minh: You just don't get it, do you?

Minh charged in, Mike raising his hands as he waited for the distance to close. When they were close to each other, Mike threw out a knife hand, aiming it at Minh's collarbone. Minh spun around the strike, elbowing Mike on the side of the head before landing a few punches with his free hand. Mike stumbled before regaining his balance, only to take another punch to the face.

Minh: To think he was losing to you before. What a joke!

Mike: Fuck you!

Mike grabbed onto the sides of both of Minh's arms before slamming a knee into his stomach. Minh let out a hack before Mike pulled back one fist and threw out a four knuckle punch to Minh's throat. Minh stumbled back, putting a hand over his throat as he met Mike with angry eyes.

Mike: You're different from Thong. His defense was good enough to prevent that. You're just a striker, nothing more.

Minh reached up to his mask, spitting out blood with Mike's eyes opening wide. For the first time since they met, Mike had never gotten a good look at Thong's mouth. The lower half of his face was littered with scars that ranged in various directions.

Minh: You know, that rich bastard gave me the same look when I strangled him. Is my face that scary?

Despite his hoarse voice, Minh had total confidence in his words. He widened his stance before charging in at Mike. Mike tried to regain his composure, but he moved far too late. Minh's hands moved like a machine as they unleashed a flurry of blows up and down Mike's body. Mike fell back to the ground, steam coming off of Minh's fists.

Minh: Now that's a chain blast.

Li and Hugo stared at the monitor with concerned looks on their faces.

Li: Was he always like that?

Hugo: Not a single time in our training did he act like that. Well, he used that move on me in our first fight, but nothing like that!

Li: Something's wrong with Thong.

Hugo: C'mon, Thong. I know I wanted you to kick that guy's ass, but not like this!