Showoff Part 2

Following the old rule of first-come, first, serve, I tried aiming for first blood, unleashing a jarringly jittered set of jabs. However between his prior prowess and new stance on evasive maneuvers, Eternus managed to brush, deflect or block almost all of them along the way spouting off some choice words.

"Those hits are about as bad as that sorry ass haircut and your lame ass jokes. You think your enemy is going to play patty cake just because you're tired," he said objectively.

Knowing his intent, I then talked to myself, taking notes and improving mid-fight.

"He's just trying to get inside your head Amai, don't listen to him; sharpen up and keep going," I said as I picked up my slack.

From there, my hits started to become slower but more methodical as I tried to pressure Eternus for the other Cons to close in. Ricochet came in first, running like a freight train even in his tired state straight towards the both of us in a bear hug motion! Noticing this change faster than me, Eternus adapted accordingly.

With unparalleled dynamism, Eternus managed to capture my hand, leaving myself wide open for a crushing dropkick! The next thing I know, I did everything I could to stuff down a flood of vomit as I observed Eternus from the sidelines. Using the momentum of the kick, Eternus rolled back and executed a subtle motion, unfurling a vicious headbutt while clutching his um "pearly whites."

Despite not sharing the same experience, even I still winced heavily as Ricochet's standard baritone turns into one of the most heavenly falsettos I've ever heard! Mercilessly Eternus closed in on the opportunity using Ricochet's now open jaw to initiate a deadly fish hook!

Without mercy, the man jammed his right middle and ring finger straight into his mouth, gaining complete control over his opponent to throw him directly to a fast-approaching Fury! Along the way, Ricochet decided to throw a classic line.

"Can't you give a guy a little warning! You're damaging some prized goods here!"

"Maybe I will when you learn to guard your blindspots, jackass!" he fired back as Fury managed to hop over her fallen friend to continue the fight!

A couple of months ago, I would've probably come up with a rather punny way of saying Fury would ever actually be able to trade hands with Eternus, but here we are. Hundreds of hours of hard work reared up as the two engaged in a frenzy of fisticuffs! Each blow was as even as you could get as if they somehow choreographed it.

After half a minute of that back and forth passed, I managed to recover decently enough to jump back in. I made my dynamic entry with a flying kick, attempting to tip the scales! However, my injuries managed to throw my aim off, forcing the two to break apart. I tried to course-correct hard, but that ended up being incredibly punishing.

My attempted stride instantly got countered by Eternus' own, backfisting me in the face and sweeping me off my feet in his unique way. Once again, my sweat proved damning, trapping me to see Fury and him fight like I wasn't even there. Though in my short-lived captivity, I managed to hear a couple of words I never thought that I would listen to.

"Good job, Fury, your classes are holding strong, but just remember," he said as he managed to pull off an insanely quick rear-naked choke, "Enemies don't need to hurt you to beat you."

With his human shield, we all collectively hesitated, all except Port, who ruthlessly decided to charge with a devil may care attitude on full blast. Realizing she wasn't bothering to stop, Eternus adapted, lightly shoving a heavily coughing Fury that barely caught herself as Port closed in! Unfortunately, her aura didn't match her moves, as, like a wild animal, she relied entirely on swooping swipes. This easily got taken advantage of as before she knew it, Port got met with a crushing judo throw that sent her tumbling!

Even then, though, Port still held on, unleashing a hidden switchblade and throwing it dead on at Eternus. Yet he remained unfazed, instead grabbing the projectile dead on and throwing it back to Port. Instinctively she went to grab for it, but by the time she could, Eternus delivered a swift chop to the temple, momentarily incapacitating her as he rubbed salt in the wound.

"Rules are rules Port, I said no weapons," he said coldly.

"And you said by any means necessary," she fired back as she struggled yet failed to get up.

At that moment, though, Eternus closed in, knocking her to the floor and stepping right on her chest. His grey eyes growing grimmer by the second.

"And if you keep running that mouth, I'll happily run these hands again, don't test me," he said dominantly.

At that moment, I noticed that against all odds, there was a tiny glimmer of hope. Because through his observant eyes, Frag managed to track every move we made, waiting for this moment! So to aid the last man standing in the best way possible, I stood up once again, sticking to my guns but unable to move as Eternus turned his violent attention towards me.

The minute he did, Frag placed every bet he could get into one all-out blitzkrieg! His punch carried the weight of an actual frag grenade as the man tried to hit his blindspot! The blow almost managed to carry through, but Eternus was again too fast, dodging the blast at the very last moment in a Nerve-like fashion. He then unleashed a split second elbow to the chest; however, before Frag could fall, Eternus caught him in the last minute with some last choice words.

"Adamant try, but that constitution needs some work," he said to a pained Frag who only responded with a half-formed thumbs up.

At that moment, Eternus surveyed our defeated selves, letting out a slight sigh of disappointment as he changed course.

"Okay, I guess that's all the training we can do for now; if we only got two days, let's spend it resting and reviewing. I want to be ready for anything."

With that, we all gave our respective "okay's" as Eternus retreated to his room, all of us following his footsteps when our bodies finally listened to us. However, despite all The Cons being fast asleep in due time. I managed to stay up, exercising through all of my wounds and looking over the plan a dozen times over. Every time I nearly drifted off to sleep or got exhausted, I once again got reminded of why I was going so hard for so long in the first place.

Because that damn gauntlet thrown by Damage brought me back to a time I wish to push past, so no matter how much it hurts or how long it takes, I'm going to keep moving forward till we're all strong enough to obtain the ultimate prize without a single price to pay.