章 105: Face Off in the Desert
Sunday 6th September, 17:50.
Bialya,
Bialyan Desert.
"Aqualad, be careful." Barbara warned as she approached cautiously, ensuring there was plenty of distance between her and the two superpowered individuals. "He's far stronger than he was at Cadmus."
Nodding his head, Aqualad shifted his body forward, preparing himself as he heard a low rumbling growl from within the sand that was slowly subsiding. "Stay behind me and provide support." Batgirl nodded her head, taking a few more steps backwards in order to put herself in the best position to help. If she got any closer then she ran the risk of getting caught up in the midst of the fight forcing Aqualad to protect her which in turn would put him at a disadvantage.
Keeping her distance and observing the way Esau fought would be the best way in which she could help in this fight.
It would be Aqualad's job to bear the brunt of Esau's strength and do most of the fighting.
It would be her job to find an exploitable weakness.
As the sand finally settled, it revealed Esau crouched down to look around before his gaze locked in on Aqualad. When it did he snarled viciously, body lowering even further as his clawed hands dug into the ground. Aqualad tensed up, both of them studying one another closely though while one was calm and analytical, the other was filled with animalistic rage.
His friend radiating such malice and desire to kill did not dissuade Aqualad who took another step forward to test the ground of Esau's limits. However, this proved to be the very thing that triggered a reaction as Esau pushed off the ground, rocketing toward Aqualad with a roar. His clawed hands were outstretched preparing to tear him apart, yet Aqualad did not falter nor panic.
Instead, he calmly altered one of his swords into a mace and stepped to one side while swinging his arm around, smashing the mace into the side of Esau's face. The strike packed enough force behind it to send Esau straight into the ground only for him to catch himself on his hands and spin, legs lashing out though Aqualad managed to raise his guard in time. Despite this though he was pushed back slightly, but not nearly enough to prevent his front kick from connecting.
It lacked power only halting Esau for a second.
Yet that second was enough for Kaldur who managed to dodge the thrust of Esau's right hand which had no doubt been intended to pierce through his throat. He could feel the wind from the blow, Kaldur then ducked under the spinning elbow but was forced to cross his arms and block the follow-up roundhouse kick that knocked him back once again.
He had been better prepared for Esau's strength this time though, more than capable of defending himself against the next barrage of blows that came his way as Esau pressed the advantage with a vicious, neverending assault. It was similar to Esau's usual style of attacking, intent on overwhelming opponents with a constant barrage of combinations that were intent on wearing down an opponent's body till they could no longer defend. Often utilising momentum from previous moves to chain with others so that each strike seemed to accumulate more speed and force behind it.
However, there was a difference.
As the claws swung at him, coming dangerously close to cutting into him, Kaldur summoned his Water swords once more, parrying one of the clawed hands upward. He then parried the other to one side while shifting the first sword into a mace that he swung down upon Esau's head. Though he remained standing, Esau was stalled long enough to allow Kaldur to land a spinning back-kick to his open chest that knocked Esau back quite a distance though he managed to remain on his feet.
He was unsteady though.
Kaldur used this to his advantage, rushing in and fusing the water into one large hammer that he swung up and smashed into the underside of Esau's chin. It connected with such force that broken broke and teeth were flung into the air just as Esau was, careening high up into an arch before landing a few meters away.
Though the style was similar to Esau's usual one, there were a few key differences.
That was something Batgirl and Aqualad could both tell immediately after the opening salvo.
This style was similar but different.
It was also heavily flawed.
Incomplete and missing a few key elements that left the style broken and easily exploitable.
Three in particular.
The first was discipline.
Kaldur had trained extensively in the Atlantean military academy to become one of the best warriors in Atlantis and so great were his skills that he had been recognised by his King and given the great honour of joining him on the surface world as a hero, bearing the mantle of Aqualad. But training in Atlantis had not only been about training his body and acquiring the skills to fight any foe that crossed his path.
It had also been about training his mind.
Esau was fighting purely on instinct with no intelligent thought or ability to analyse his opponent and adjust strategies to overcome the disparity in strength. He was attacking wildly relying upon his speed and strength to try and overwhelm Aqualad often leaving himself exposed and to any lesser opponent this may have been just fine.
However, Kaldur was not an average foe.
His training under the tutelage of Aquaman and Black Canary as well as constant sparring sessions with Superboy and Esau had led to the development of his skills skyrocketing to even greater heights than ever before. He was able to keep a calm and level head, think about the way his opponent thought and figure out what was working and what wasn't, adjusting accordingly.
Esau was not.
On top of that came the second biggest flaw of this style.
The disparity in strength and speed.
Despite the increase Esau had gained, achieving a level of power that he had not showcased before, he was still not on the level of an Atlantean. While Esau's power had increased, it was not enough and it had come at the cost of intelligent thought leading to a deterioration of skill, robbing him of one of his greatest assets, experience.
That was what had always set Esau apart from other young heroes.
He may not have been in the business as long as them, but his experience was arguably far greater than theirs due to the circumstances of his career.
Without that though, Kaldur knew precisely why Esau had always avoided using his powers.
As he was right now, he was far weaker than he was without them.
Rushing forward before Esau had a chance to recover, Kaldur did not let up on the advantage he had gained even as Esau rapidly healed and rose to his feet. Yet Kaldur was on him, swords in hand that struck out at Esau in fast and powerful strikes using superior swordsmanship to allow him to keep Esau constantly on the back foot.
When Esau tried to come around with a swipe of his hand, Kaldur ducked underneath and slammed his shoulder into the blonde's chest knocking him back. Jumping after him, Kaldur brought both swords down upon his shoulders, simultaneous pops echoing out as Kaldur dislocated both of them and then came around with numerous swings as the Atlantean pushed forward.
Despite all the injuries he dealt to Esau being rapidly healed, Kaldur did not lose hope.
He continuously pushed forward, arms a constant blur of motion as he continued to send Esau stumbling backwards and never gave him an inch of breathing room to recover as he constantly closed the distance with long strides. Yet Kaldur never lost sight of what was going and even though he did not understand why it was happening when a tail rapidly sprouted from the base of Esau's back and swung around at him, Kaldur seamlessly shifted his footing over the uneven ground and parried the tail.
At the same time, he was already in motion to land a blow upon Esau.
It was a truly masterful display of skill that showcased why Kaldur was one of the main powerhouses of their team and widely accepted as a future member of the Justice League.
Yet he was the one forced to put distance between them when Esau launched a counterattack.
Though knocked back by the follow-up strike, he had managed to catch himself with the newly sprouted tail digging it into the ground and using that to launch himself further back. It was a distance big enough that Kaldur could not close it in time which meant that he was in the perfect position to recover and attack.
That was precisely what he did as Esau rocketed forward with such speed it made Kaldur's eyes widen in shock.
It wasn't much at the moment.
But Esau was faster than before.
When the blow struck his cross-guard, a grunt escaped his lips and Kaldur realised that speed was not the only thing different.
Esau was stronger as well.
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