Raten vs Jarett (part 1)

On a small wooden platform stood a tall lad. He was inarguably the tallest one there. His brown hair was darker on its ends and was a bit messy.

Standing with him was a young boy with short black hair. He was their announcer.

Walking up to the platform was Raten with his eyes fixed on Jarett.

"Who is this kid?"

"See how he's staring him down? He looks pretty confident."

"Confidence my arse, everyone who went up against Jarett was the same. He would be shattered in less than a minute."

"He'd better not be an overconfident weakling."

The murmurs from the crowd increased as everyone openly aired their thoughts.

"We have a challenger!" The announcer said.

"I haven't seen you around before, do you know whom you're going up against?" Jarett said, looking down at Raten with his hazel brown eyes. His tone had a hint of pride.

"Aren't you just another human?" Raten said with a raised brow. His response seemed to have amused Jarett as a grin grew in his face.

"Since there's a newcomer in our midst, I'll go over the rules again!" The announcer started.

"You can use whatever weapon you have in your arsenal. No fatal attacks. Usage of Qi or mana, for aspiring knights and wizards respectfully is restricted. The match should be clean and fair. The only way to win is if your opponent taps out, passes out or gets knocked off the platform." Raten listed out the rules.

"I know the rules." He said.

"Alright then. Let the fight begin!" The announcer shouted and jumped off the wooden platform.

The fighters took a stance and glared at each other.

"Let's see if you are as strong as you are confident." Jarett said.

"Time to see how far I've come with father's gruesome training." Raten thought to himself.

With their eyes locked on each other, they readied their fists and ran forward. Raten and Jarett met in the centre of the platform.

Jarett threw his left fist at Raten. He bent forward and delivered a blow to Jarett's midsection.

Jarett was sent back. He crouched in pain and looked up in disbelief.

"The strength in this single punch.. it, it rivals mine?" Jarett coughed. He was stunned for a second.

The crowd watched in surprise. No one, not even Chandrel had made Jarett flinch in pain like that before.

Jarett didn't stay down long though, he got up quick and went on the attack again.

"I'll go all out!" He threw a fist. Raten dodged again, this time by the skin of his teeth.

"He's fast." Raten thought. Jarett's fist changed direction and hit Raten directly on the side of his face.

His body was thrown to the side. He was left with a little deafness in his left ear.

"That strength.. I see. This is why you're the beast." Raten staggered to his feet and leapt forward. Jarett caught him by his shirt.

*Slam!!

Raten's body was slammed onto the platform so hard, it shook and caused a crack.

"Is the newcomer still alive?" The crowd hissed with concern.

Jarett paused for a while thinking he might have gone too far.

To his surprise, Raten got back up slowly as he popped his dislocated shoulder back in place. What was even more unsettling was the smile that grew on his face.

"Okay, that's creepy."

"What are you waiting for Jarett?! Pummel him!"

Seeing his opponent was fine, Jarett dashed forward with his fist ready and began punching from all sides.

Jarett must have been imagining things or the hit to the wood gave Raten some sort of wake up call. His footwork was smooth and he avoided every punch effortlessly.

"If you're going to hit me, go faster." Raten said as he delivered a punch to Jarrett's torso.

Jarett stumbled back.

Raten followed with a flying kick to Jarrett's head which was caught by a single hand.

Jarett held onto his ankle and flipped him. Raten landed on his hands and flipped back on his feet. He dashed forward and tackled Jarett who stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. He kicked back the hand that had wrapped around a leg and kneed his opponent to the face.

Raten's face flung back with an explosion of blood from his nose.

Jarett followed with a flurry of punches.

"How about this speed? Is it enough?" Jarett said as he continued hammering away with as much force as he could garner.

Raten lifted his arms over his head to block the hits. But they were so hard he felt his bones would break. The cheers from the crowd were getting louder.

"Go Jarett! Beat that newcomer back to the hole he crawled out from!"

Lecter watched in worry. Kiyan seemed to be enjoying it.

Jarett moved his fist for another punch but he missed. Rather, Raten dodged it and punched him hard on the face.

Jarrett's face swung violently to the side but was hit right back to the face the other side by another fist colliding with his face.

Raten kicked him in the calf and then punched again.

Jarett caught his fist but got a feel of Raten's hard kick to his temple.

Jarett stumbled back. He could barely keep his balance and he was feeling the effect of the calf kick.

Raten was upon him again but got hit with a clothesline that flipped him. He fell hard onto the platform. Jarett hovered over him and punched down. Raten moved his head avoiding a face disfiguring hit.

Sure enough, the platform cracked from one hit.

"What the–? Isn't he using mana or Qi at this point?" Lecter said, watching on. 

"He's doing no such thing." Kiyan replied, watching with more excitement.

"How can he hit that hard?!

Raten blocked some of Jarrett's hits with his forearm, but it did more harm to his arm. He took a hit and hit back.

Placing a knee between himself and Jarett, Raten gripped him by his shirt and flung him over his head and off his body.

Both of them rose to their feet immediately and circled each other.

The audience of young ones cheered louder for the bruised and bleeding fighters to carry on.

The two of them seemed to be enjoying themselves more than anything while bits of their life essence escaped their bruised bodies.

"Huff.. huff.." they panted with smiles on their faces.

Jarett came at Raten again with an even greater speed than he initially did.

Raten stood in place.

A fist came and was quickly avoided. From all directions Jarett swung his fist fast and hard. But, as fast as he moved them, Raten avoided them. He moved his body slightly to the side, crouched, moved back evading each attack.

The dodges kept going on until Jarett used his feet. He drew his leg back and landed a kick to Raten's torso. Raten quickly put his arms in front of him to block the hit, but his body was pushed back greatly. He still kept his grip on the feet of Jarett.

A wicked smile formed on his face.

He pushed the leg to the side and delivered a kick of his own to the jaw of his opponent.

Jarett's head was pushed back. He felt his bones give in on impact. Blood splat out of his mouth.

Raten quickly went on the attack and delivered punches of his own. His arms hurt from the hits he blocked. He was going to pay them back.

Before Jarett could move, Raten was upon him with flurries of fist to his face and mid section followed by kicks.

Jarett was sent back with each hit. He was getting hit everywhere.

"Woah he's fast!" Someone said in awe.

"He really has Jarett fazed?!" Another said with widened eyes.

The cheers from the audience, the fighters could barely hear. Their hastened breathing was all they could hear coming out in pants.

The smell of iron entered their nostrils as blood flowed from their heads, broken noses and burst lips. The taste of iron that had formed in their mouths, the blood that leaked from their open skin.

Jarett moved back, avoiding a kick from Raten. He responded with one of his heavy punches. This one packed with more strength than the last.

Raten was sent tumbling back.

Jarett wiped the blood off his nose and hurriedly pulled Raten by the hair, flinging his body a bit high up in the air.

He did a tumbling kick throwing Raten off to the side and almost off the platform. Not giving him time to recover, he picked him up by the head and smashed his face into his knee, shattering the bones in Raten's nose completely and also a few others. Blinding him a bit.

He was about to repeat it but Raten stopped his head mid collision and instead delivered a punch to Jarrett's torso.

He got up and delivered a roundhouse kick to Jarrett's face. Jarett could swear if he looked in the mirror he wouldn't be able to recognize himself.

"What is this madness?!" Lecter shouted. What he called madness, the young audience seemed to be enjoying a whole lot.

"Why are they hurting each other this much? Isn't this going overboard?!"

"Wooo!"

"Jarett, get up!"

"Nice hit white hair!"

The audience kept cheering for the fighters to carry on.

"He's stronger than I thought," Kiyan said watching the fight. Lecter couldn't tell if he was talking about Jarett or his brother.

Raten stood in the center of the platform with blood dripping from his forehead down to his jaw. His nose profusely bled as well. His eyes were bloodshot.

His fists were bloody. The colour crimson began to stain the wooden platform from the two 'performers' as the audience liked to see them as.

Jarett was still laid flat and unmoving. Blood filled his mouth from the hit he received from Raten.

"Get up! We're not done!" Raten loomed over him.