Chapter 18

FRED OLIVEIRA VS BEATRICE ROSSI.

"Too bad for Kris. His luck got him Salim," Francis spoke with a serious tone.

"She is conflicted. On one hand she is relieved for Fred; on the other she is worried for Kris."

"Aren't you underestimating Beatrice a bit?" Francis spoke out. This caught Sus attention.

"Beatrice is quiet, but it doesn't make her weak. As I am now, I know it would be very difficult for me to win against her. She's a dangerous beauty."

"She has confidence in Fred. He is strong, and he always pulls through when it's needed," Su gave a thumb's up at Francis. The two watched as Beatrice and Fred took the center stage.

"Ready!"

Fred gulped. He was happy that he wasn't meeting Kris or Salim in the first round. But he couldn't quite figure out this deep sensation of fear he felt from looking at Beatrice. Both she and Fred released their green cloaks from their stomachs as it covered their entire body.

"Begin!"

They both dashed at each other and struck their right fists. Green energy boomed from the collision as they pushed past each other. They stopped and turned before dashing a second time. Beatrice struck with a right fist which Fred blocked with his arm. As she pulled back, he drove in with a fist to her guts but she deflected it with her left hand. She struck back with same left hand at his face but he leaned back to dodge it. She followed with a fist to his face but he tilted his head rightwards to avoid it. He tried an uppercut to her chin but she tilted backwards to dodge it. He stepped forward and struck twice, (a right, then a left) but she leaned back to dodge each as they came. He stepped forward and thrusted a heavy punch at her, but she ducked, and then rose sharply with a right elbow to his chest. His eyes opened a bit as his mouth folded in an 'ouuu' reaction. She followed up by lifting her right fist to hit his face then continued with a heavy left punch to his chin. His head swayed from the punch. He stepped backwards to regain himself but she rushed him with several swings from both directions before kneeing him in the guts which made him cough out. She held both her hands overhead to strike him down with an axe-like swing but he placed a blast on her guts. Her eyes opened as it exploded thereby launching her into the air. As she fell, she created a light blast to flip herself over and she landed dragging on her feet in squat position. She used her hands to stop herself from moving further back.

"Tchh," She hissed. He shot an energy sphere at her direction which split into three. She replied with hers and the collision made a smoke screen. Fred cut through it quickly and aimed a fist at her chin. She ducked and jabbed his kidney. He groaned and pulled back with an elbow strike. She dodged it and struck his face. She tried blasting him with an energy sphere but he deflected it and struck with his left fist which she caught with hers. Then she tried hitting him with a right fist which he caught with his. He attempted to squeeze but she dragged him closer and gave him a head butt to his nose.

His head flailed backwards as his mouth opened. She followed the head butt with a knee to his guts which made him lose his grip on her right hand. With both hands, she held his left hand then spun him around before tossing him a few meters away. He bounced twice on the ground before rolling to his side. As he staggered to his feet she closed in with incredible speed and a charged fist. She dug it deep into his guts. Green energy blew out from behind him. His cloak at that area shattered and he coughed out blood with his eyes rolling back.

"kkkkaaaaahgggg," he squeaked.

"Ouuuuu!!" "Damn!!" "Shit!!" The crowd went with their reactions.

Beatrice prepared for a finishing blow when Fred held her left shoulder. His hands glowed and a blast occurred. She screamed out. As she stepped back, Fred jumped and swung a back kick at her face which sent her spinning in the air till she landed on her side. He formed his cloak, after which he charged an energy sphere and launched it at her. She blasted the ground to lift herself in the air. As she turned to look at him, she saw a large energy blast closing in. She grinned and forced a blast to her side sending her to the ground. Fred sent another energy blast that separated into five and headed towards her at different speeds. She saw them, then spread her fingers such that as soon as the touched the ground she used them to push herself out of the way of two blasts. As she landed, the remaining three closed in. She kicked the first to the left then punched the second to the ground. She caught the third which pushed her back a bit before it exploded in her hands. Her hands were vibrating as she fell to a knee.

"Alright then. I'll be getting serious from now on," Beatrice spoke out as her expression changed to a deep glare.

"Here it comes - what makes Beatrice so dangerous in my opinion." Francis from the stands muttered out before he smiled.

Beatrice closed her eyes and created a large energy sphere. She pushed her hands into it and the sphere began to break apart and morph into multiple energy diamonds. Four migrated to each of her hands while the majority formed a circle slightly above her head. A thin green energy filled the circle. The remaining which were ten separated into five each and lined up at her waist region whilst remaining suspended.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. This is my full on attack form," Beatrice said as her energy rose and became intimidating.

"Isn't that going a bit too serious?" Fred replied as a cold sweat ran down his head.  

The energy from the circle spiked and shot out a large beam at Fred. He jumped to the side to dodge it and landed on his arm. He looked at the beam and saw how it dug deep into the ground. The beam began to shift slowly towards him as the circle changed its position. He sprung to his feet and began running away from it. Suddenly the beam did a quick 360 degree turn and he was caught in it. The energy in the circle dissipated and began to reform slowly. Fred was lying in the ground as smoke began to rise from his body. He groaned as he felt pain coursing through it. He coughed out as he stood slowly from the ground.

Beatrice closed in. She struck with the diamond-like claws. Fred leapt backwards but it released a claw wave of green energy which shaved off his cloak while slicing into his skin. Blood splattered out as his eyes were full of disbelief. She struck a second time but he lifted his hands in defense and the claw waves dug deep in to them while blood rose upwards. He created energy blasts from his feet to send him upwards. Four diamonds (two from each side) from her waist region shot at him. They stabbed into his back and pinned him to the wall before they exploded. A large smoke screen which dissipated slowly covered Beatrice view.

"Armed Canon!" Fred yelled as he launched a straight beam of energy at Beatrice. The circle above her absorbed the beam entirely as all the diamonds that formed it glowed brightly. After a few seconds, it shot back the energy beam at Fred. He leapt out of the way and landed on his chin as it blasted into the wall. Fred rose to his feet staggering. He clenched his fists as blood dripped from it. He took a stance and dashed at Beatrice. She struck at his direction but he jumped avoiding the claws. He blasted the air behind him to propel himself closer. He swung at her but she took a big step backwards to avoid it. He got closer and drove a quick jab at her. She retaliated and their fists collided. Her diamonds dug deep into his hands. He screamed out as blood began dripping from it. She dragged her hand backwards and kicked him away. As he bounced on the ground, she sent claw waves at him from both hands. Fred sent multiple blasts at it which exploded to stop the progression. He dashed at her yelling to give him a boost. He punched with his left fist, but she used her left leg to bring down his hands. His eyes opened wide as she used it to lift herself and kick him in the face with the right. He spun in the air and before he landed, she jumped and kicked his body away with both legs. She sent two of the diamonds (one from each side) from her waist side while she was landing. They Jammed into Fred and took him to the air. She sent claw waves at him and as it sliced the diamonds, it exploded. She stepped twice before lifting herself into the air, spun then kicked a falling Fred into the ground. The energy in the circle spiked and shot the beam which hit him in the ground and exploded. Beatrice landed with her left hand touching the ground. Loud cheers filled the hall! The dust cleared slowly to reveal a weakened Fred, laying bleeding on the ground.

"I guess that's that," Francis smirked.

"Come on Fred, Get up!" Su spoke out.

Beatrice began to charge energy in the circle above her, ready to fire at Fred since the ref hadn't called off the fight.

Fred groaned as he struggled slowly to his knees.

"You should submit. You are not good enough to continue this battle. Don't make me hurt you anymore," Beatrice warned.

"Not good enough huh? I've heard that line so much so that it became what I believed in at a point. Someone like me should always stay on the sideline to watch those who are meant to shine, shine. I am okay with that but then this competition had to give me an opportunity to take the center stage. It's frustrating but I have resolved to put in my very best till the end. I am weak but you see the thing about me is that, more than anything, once I make up my mind to do something, I find it hard to back down until the very end." He rose slowly as he coughed out blood. His camo shirt was torn and he was bleeding from his mouth, arms and chest. He pulled apart the camo shirt and began to charge his energy as he formed his cloak.

"That mentality will get you killed." Her energy sphere spiked and was ready to fire.

"Now to put in my maximum effort," Fred smiled as he thought to himself.

"MAXIMUM ARMS CANON!" He roared as placed his hands together and charged an energy beam.

Both fired their beams at each other and they collided. They kept pushing at each other with neither gaining a definite advantage. Soon Beatrice's beam began to weaken as Fred kept pushing his at hers. He yelled and summoned more power before pushing the entire beam into her circle. Her circle began absorbing it as the diamonds glowed.

Beatrice gave a sigh of relief when suddenly they started cracking. They cracked until they exploded. Beatrice eyes opened in shock.

"They absorb the energy? More like store it to be returned. It means it must definitely have a limit. After I launched the first arm canon I noticed light cracks at the edges. It meant its limits weren't far off." Fred smiled as he walked forward.

"Tchh... Don't talk like you've figured me out yet!" Beatrice dashed towards him and prepared a claw strike

"Unfortunately I have," Fred ascertained with a straight face. He could feel the weakness in his body, but he stood firm. He placed his hands in front of his face, palms facing each other. He formed a sphere which began pulling energy into itself. He spun it and yelled out, "Scatter grenade!" The sphere launched and was rotating before it separated into multiple small spheres.

Beatrice stopped her advance and struck multiple times to counter the scattered grenades. As her claw strikes hit them, they dispersed into tiny crystals. After they dispersed, she began searching for Fred till she saw him running around charging another sphere. She shot the remaining diamonds, at her waist, at him. He launched the sphere but one diamond hit it and dispersed it into tiny crystals while the second closed in and jabbed into his left hand. His eyes widened as it exploded. Fred fell to his knees as he bit his lips squeezing his left hand in pain. It was bleeding while completely burnt.

Beatrice closed in and attempted a claw strike to deliver the finishing blow. Fred lifted his head and stared at her. He closed up the distance between them quickly as he clenched both fists. He stopped her claw strike swing midway with his burnt hand while he punched her in the face with the other launching her away. She bounced on the floor, and then dug her claws into the ground to stop her from moving further. She looked at Fred who had his hands above his head forming a gigantic sphere. His hands were bleeding. His eyes were fierce with determination and his cloak was being absorbed by the sphere as it spun. Fred swung his hands forward and the large sphere began falling towards Beatrice. She gritted her teeth as she rose to her feet.

"MAXIMUM SCATTER GRENADE!" Fred yelled as it burst into thousands of small spheres. Beatrice eyes widened as the entire arena in front of her were covered by these energy spheres. She took in a deep breath as she charged energy into her diamond claws. They glowed, and then she struck continuously at every direction as the spheres closed in. She struck and struck as she yelled out to call up energy. Soon all the spheres were dispersed to tiny crystals which fell to the stage and dimmed off.

Beatrice was panting. Soon she could hear Fred running towards her. She was feeling a bit weak but she lifted her left hand to send a claw strike at him. As he saw her lift her hand, he dashed closer and used his right hand to stop it. He gritted his teeth then punched her in the guts. This didn't do any damage but he opened his palms. There was a blast there which exploded and launched her to the wall. The blast was heavy, she lost concentration and her cloak temporarily vanished just before she hit the wall, her left shoulder dislocated on impact.

"You need complete heavy swings to release those claw strikes. If they are stopped before completion then they are harmless. That's why you, who is good at close combat kept keeping your distance," Fred spoke as he walked closer to her.

"Even if you knew that, you still sent me a considerable distance away." Beatrice responded as she walked away from the wall.

"That's because of the second weakness," Fred replied as he charged up an energy blast and shot at Beatrice. She struck at it with her right claws but once it collided with the blast and exploded, Fred was in front of her. She tried punching him with her right hand but he jammed an energy sphere into her claws.

"Your claw strikes can't go beyond an obstacle," He whispered before kicking her back to the wall. She coughed out as she hit the wall. The energy sphere detonated and destroyed the claws on her right. As Fred tried to step forward, the ground around him exploded upwards. Beatrice smiled.

"Why are you smiling?" Do you really think that I wouldn't notice that you dropped the diamond on your left to the ground?" Fred spoke out with confidence but his body was visibly shaking.

Beatrice smiled turned serious. She stood up to look at him and saw that he focused his cloak on his legs in order to tank the blast. She could also see that he was at his limits.

"Tchh..." Her left shoulder stung but she held it tightly. She burst out her energy and crouched.

Fred raised his cloak from his feet to cover his body as he concentrated on Beatrice.

In a blink, she was in front of him. His breath seized. She put all her strength into her right hand and punched his face. He lifted his left hand to catch the fist but it hit his face first. Wild green energy burst from behind him. But he wasn't blown away. He had implanted his energy from his feet firmly into the ground to hold him in place while he augmented the cloak at his face to the max in order to reduce the damage. His face was swollen while blood drained from his mouth and nose. Beatrice was exhausted and in total disbelief. She put in everything she had left but he withstood it. He dug his right palm into her guts lifting her a bit before creating a blast which spun her into the air.

He placed his hands downwards and created a blast to propel him up to her level. He lifted his hands overhead and tried an axe swing at her but she turned to deflect it as it forced her to the ground. She bounced on her back and coughed out blood. She was losing consciousness when she noticed that the entire stage began to glow green.

"Grand Finale!" Fred called out and all the crystals from his scattered grenades that had dimmed in color began to glow brightly. An explosion was imminent. The ref was hesitant as he ran into the stage. From the energy he felt, he knew that despite his armor, he would most definitely be taking off stage with a stretcher.

At this point, everything seemed to move in slow motion. Beatrice eyes filled with despair. It turned slowly to look at the stage as it began to explode. Fred struggled to keep himself in the air by creating constant energy thrusters from his hands and feet but was still falling into the explosion that was beginning to happen. The crowd was in shock at what was about to happen with most covering their eyes due to the brightness and heat of the stage. Beatrice could feel the heat from the explosion touching her cloak and it beginning to shatter. She had started losing hope in surviving. Fred could feel the wave of the explosion hit him. As he began to close his eyes, he was calling up more energy to prevent his fall.

"This isn't what I thought would happen," kept ringing in his mind.

Time for them literally stretched to infinity.