Chapter 5: The King’s Gambit
At that moment, an idea came to Jalen, and a devilish smile appeared. To create a big enough distraction, there needed to be absolute chaos.
'Maybe a huge demolition job would do the trick.'
Jalen proceeded to fly into the air with his hand stretched out to the sky. Dozens of soldiers looked up at him, ready to take aim, but none could bring themselves to shoot. Green energy started pulsing out of Jalen's hand.
"Give me some music."
Four speakers appeared with green energy swirling around them. The sound that was released felt nostalgic and almost medieval.
"Alright, time to spit some heat!" Jalen cracked his knuckles and took a deep breath. "Wait, do I even know how to rap? Eh, whatever."
The beat dropped, and Jalen awkwardly bobbed his head for a second, trying to catch the rhythm. "Uh, yeah, mystery, mystery, mystery—I, uh, hit that girl, then it's history—wait, no, that doesn't—uh—" He winced as he lost the flow, but quickly shook it off and tried again. "Opps runnin' in my vicinity—wait, what rhymes with that? Uh—uh—oh! Gun 'em down like a mob boss in the '70s! Yeah!"
He started feeling himself now, gaining confidence, even throwing in a little dance midair. "Yeah, ya girl really vibin' wit' me! Give her backshots, now she—wait, wait, wait, that's too much—uh, never mind, we movin' on!"
As he rapped, thunderclouds began to form all around the city.
"AHEM... Detonation Rain."
As rain began to fall, there were sounds of explosions going off. The young man had set the rain droplets to explode upon impact. As the downpour increased, more and more soldiers began to flood the streets, hoping to stop the madness. But their efforts were in vain. The huge casinos that once stood tall began to crumble to dust, and the pigs that were certain of their safety began to pour out into the streets. Soon enough, the bodies began to pile up, and their pleas and screams for mercy reached Jalen. Very coldly, he looked down upon them.
"You expect mercy from me?"
All at once, the rain droplets fell into suspended animation.
"You? Who makes a profit off the backs of the underprivileged."
Jalen raised his hand to the sky and opened it. All the raindrops began to accumulate above him, swirling into a sphere. Slowly Jalen closed his hand into a fist, and the gigantic sphere of water began to glow, while the blue coloration turned black. Not only did the color change but the composition of the sphere did as well, becoming a hard metal. Jalen then proceeded to crack the sphere, revealing millions of needles.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but mercy is the last thing you'll receive from me. All of you will be forced to reap what you have sown, and hope that you don't manage to survive this. Now rot to your damnation."
With the snap of his fingers, the needles began to rain down on pig and soldier alike; no one was safe from the onslaught. It seemed that the harder they tried, the more the pain intensified.
"Man, I hope Lucio is almost finished because this is boring."
Jalen hovered in the air, surveying the destruction he had caused. The bodies littering the streets, the ruined casinos, the distant screams—it should have made him feel something. Guilt? Satisfaction? He wasn't sure. All he knew was that it still wasn't enough. His job was to distract, but now he was just waiting.
The rain had stopped. The music had faded. The silence left behind was almost unsettling.
Jalen exhaled and cracked his knuckles. "Alright, enough of this."
With a flick of his wrist, the last remnants of green energy dispersed, and he slowly descended. His boots hit the cracked pavement, and without another word, he strode toward the casino doors.
"LUCIO, YOU'RE TAKING TOO LONG, AND I AM BORRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDDD! CONSIDER THIS DISTRACTION DONE; I'M READY TO FIGHT!"
The massive doors loomed before him, still intact despite the chaos outside. That was fine—he preferred breaking things anyway.
He pushed them open and stepped inside.
BUZZ "Jalen, wa- wait BUZZ our coms will be c- BUZZ"
Jalen sighed. 'Finally, I can take this out of my ear'.
Quickly the doors slammed shut behind Jalen as a voice called out to him.
"How dare you think you can just walk in after the mess you have caused. TAKE THIS!"
Jumping from a slot machine to attack Jalen was a young boy with a knife. Without much hassle, Jalen simply side-stepped out of the way. He then proceeded to pick the kid up and throw him back into the slot machine.
'Weird kid wish I didn't have to do that but my hands are rated E for everyone. No one is getting spared.'
"Alright now with no more distractions, Mr. King come out, and let's have a nice fig-"
Before Jalen could finish his sentence, he was punched in the face and sent flying into a blackjack table. Laying in the middle of the broken table he watched as a blurry figure walked over to him. Looming over him stood the King, but unlike his holographic counterpart, he seemed unhinged, less verbal, and more violent. Most notable would be his robe which covered his entire body. He proceeded to grab Jalen by his head and throw him into the ceiling onto the second floor. Still recovering from the shock of the first punch, Jalen stood up, holding his jaw.
"That hurt man, dam-"
CRASH
With flawless execution, Jalen received another punch that sent him flying into the wall.
"I have no desire to exchange words with you, boy. You killed my wife and uprooted the kingdom I have given my whole life to preserve. The only thing you'll receive from me is death."
Casting his robe aside, the King revealed his true form to Jalen. He was tall with monstrous muscles that exposed numerous veins; his figure resembled that of a heavy-weight boxer who was at his peak, and his hands began to emit a black glow.
Jalen's heart pounded, but not with fear—with excitement. 'Finally, a real fight.'
In an instant, Jalen rushed the King and landed a right hook directly to the ribs, but to his surprise, nothing happened. Shrugging it off as if it were just poor form, Jalen began to throw a series of jabs, kicks, elbows, and even knees. As his onslaught continued, Jalen noticed that nothing was working. In fact, the King had not even moved one bit.
'I need to put more weight behind my punches if I wanna get anywhere with this guy... If what I read about my powers is correct it should just be whatever I imagine, but how can I apply that to my punches?'
Jumping back, Jalen launched himself at the King, coating his fists in a vibrant green energy. This time, when he landed a punch to the King's jaw, the energy rippled out like a shockwave. He followed up with two more punches to the chest, and for a moment, nothing happened.
"Was that supposed to hurt me, boy?"
"Nope! Just testing a theory... Double Impact."
A second later, a delayed burst of force exploded from each impact point, sending the King stumbling to his knees for the first time. Jalen grinned—this was his new move, and it worked. 'Alright, now we're talking!'
"How does it feel to finally be brought to the ground?"
Just then the king punched him away.
Jalen crashed through another set of tables, his body skidding across the marble floor before coming to a stop against a roulette wheel. His vision blurred, his breathing ragged—but the fire in his chest only grew stronger.
The King stood above him, his shadow casting an overwhelming presence. "Is this all you've got?" His voice was calm, but his eyes burned with fury.
Jalen wiped the blood from his lip, chuckling to himself. "Damn... you got me good that time. But guess what?" He forced himself to his feet, cracking his knuckles. "I can take a beating... and I hit back twice as hard."
His fists ignited with green energy, flickering like wild flames. The air around them crackled with power.
The King smirked. "I highly doubt that."
Jalen lunged and was met with a kick to his right arm that sent shockwaves through his body. The King's attacks were heavy, his form was almost perfect, and most importantly, he could sense that Jalen hadn't fully grasped his powers yet.
Going on the offensive, the King threw one of his blackjack tables at Jalen, causing him to jump into the air. The King then met him with a thunderous punch that sent Jalen crashing back into the ground. As his body made contact with the marble floor, he felt a rush of pain engulf him. Knowing he had to keep fighting, Jalen jumped back onto his feet and took a defensive stand while the King began to throw a flurry of punches and kicks, each growing faster and stronger in rapid secession.
With a Swift uppercut, Jalen was sent flying into the ceiling and through the floors of the casino landing on the roof. 'This pain...' Quickly jumping to his feet he walked over to the hole he was thrown out.Looking toward the hole, Jalen stood tall and walked over, staring down at the King. His body ached, begging him to stop, but despite the pain, Jalen grinned, took a few steps back, and dived back into the fight. "HEY BASTARD!!" His green energy began to crackle and burn a crimson-red "THAT ONE HURT!" Slamming into the ground Jalen locked eyes with the King.The King cracked his neck, flexing his fingers as his black energy pulsed violently. "You're still standing?"Jalen rolled his shoulders. "Damn right, I am."
Their eyes locked—two titans, neither willing to fall first.
And then, they charged with a thunderous crash, shaking the very foundations of the casino.