บท 13: Perilous Recruitment? (III)
I felt myself black out, but it was only for a moment… My head took another hit when my back hit against the wall. My eyes were wide open and my vision was blurry, but I could feel something moving inside my mouth… I opened my mouth and spat out a couple of teeth before another fist slammed into my gut, knocking the wind out of my lungs. Jesus fucking Christ… Is he trying to snap me in half?
"I am sorry for doing this, but I cannot let you join someone else" Rikiya apologized and from his voice, he seemed genuine, but you know what? Fuck him and fuck his reasons! I am going to beat him to death!
However, instead of saying anything I simply glared at him and took a deep breath… His eyes grew wide and immediately jumped back. Flames spewed out of my mouth, covering the whole room. Did I care about collateral anymore? Fuck no! I was way too angry to care about stuff like that. I decided that if he really cared about the hotel then he wouldn't have started this fight in the first place.
He knew about my powers… I was sure about that since he knew that I was about to breathe out fire. I have never done that in front of Mai or Ren. There were only two people who were somewhat aware of my powers. One of them was the head matron and the other was Dr. Akunji. It is highly unlikely for someone like the head matron to join the Meta Liberation Army, but weirder things have happened.
However, my money was on Dr. Akunji…
"You poked the dragon, now you have to taste the flames" I called out loudly as I took off my blazer and ripped off my shirt. My nose and mouth were already healed or it would have been hard for me to speak so clearly.
Rikiya burst out of the flames, completely unharmed and threw another punch, but this time I easily blocked his punch with my arm, much to his surprise… I wasn't as big as him yet, but he no longer had the size advantage over me. While my powers were better than Lung's, just like him, I still needed time to ramp up, no matter how much anger I was feeding upon.
He used his other hand to throw another punch, but this time, I simply caught his fist… He was still stronger than me as I felt a couple of bones in my hand break, but I wasn't worried since it was only going to take a moment for me to heal. I already had scales all over my body and now I was matching his size. "Now, taste my scales" I said with a grin on my face and headbutted him.
Rikiya stumbled back with a dumbfounded look on his face… "You have been hiding your true self" Rikiya stated and it wasn't a question, it was a statement. Was I really doing that? Hmm… Maybe. After all, I was always indifferent and aloof, but now I was the one who was doing the talking… I realized that I had taunted Rikiya two times, which was so unlike me.
Was I being influenced by my powers? Or was I finally showing off my real personality? To be honest, I wasn't sure, but did it really matter at this moment? After all, I was facing a strong opponent…
He might have stumbled back when I headbutted him, but he didn't even look fazed at all… I had no idea about his Quirk, but it must be nothing to scoff at, after all, he is the leader of MLA. The sprinklers finally triggered and the fire in the room started to get doused, but both of us knew that the fight was far from over. The two of us stared at each other without saying anything else, and then we finally moved.
The two of us rushed at each other like angry bulls and clasped each other's hands as we finally clashed in the middle… The two of us started to do our best to push each other back… I continued to grow bigger and stronger as our struggle continued, but much to my shock, I was the one who started to get pushed back… I am certain that he wasn't this strong just a moment ago.
Is his power something like mine? I couldn't help but wonder… After all, both of us seemed to be getting stronger as the fight continued…
"Arghhh!" Rikiya screamed as his muscles bulged and he ripped through his clothes, baring his chest. Thankfully, his pants were still on. He might be stronger than me right now, but brute power was not the only power I had. I dug my heels on the concrete floor, stopping him from pushing me back. I took a deep breath, making his eyes go wide, but before he could do anything, flames spewed out of my mouth.
I started to feel gleeful at the prospect of beating my enemy, but then all of a sudden, his grip on my hands tightened, making my eyes go wide. "Stress Output Burden!" Rikiya exclaimed and his foot was buried in my stomach… He let go of me at the same time and I slid back, destroying the concrete floor before coming to an abrupt stop. I stared at the flames before spitting out a mouthful of blood.
I could feel that my internal organs were turned into mush and I couldn't believe that he still had so much power… I think my guess was right, his power was just like mine… He could grow stronger with time. Rikiya walked out of the flames, looking worse for wear as there were burns covering his body.
However, there was a difference between him and me… His wounds were not healing…
"You already know about my Quirk, isn't it fair that you tell me about yours" I called out, making him freeze for a moment. I was certain that he wasn't going to answer, but surprisingly, he started to answer. Is this a Villain thing where they had to monologue… I decided to heal myself while he was monologuing as I had realized something about my powers thanks to this scuffle.
I have realized that I couldn't ramp up while healing, my body needed to be at an optimal state before I could start ramping up again…
"My Quirk is called Stress. I can store up my fear, anger, and frustration and convert it into raw power" Rikiya explained and I nodded my head in understanding. I see… So, I wasn't wrong even though our Quirks worked in different ways. I wasn't sure if I was going to win since I had never pushed myself this far, but loss was not an option here.
"Reo-kun, join me. I am only using 40% of my power, do you think you can really face me at my fullest? There is no way you can win" Rikiya offered condescendingly. "I promise I will treat you well" He added after a moment. "You have a strong Quirk and you are young, I won't hold this fight against you" Rikiya continued to try to convince me.
"Cut your bullshit!" I snapped at the man. "If you really cared about us then you wouldn't have attacked me at my refusal. It is just an excuse you are using to bring me under your control" I screamed back at him, making him frantically shake his head.
"No. No. You are wrong. I am not trying to do that and I genuinely care about you, but I cannot let someone like you join the enemy" Rikiya immediately tried to defend himself, but I was having none of it. Who was he trying to fool?
"Stop lying!" I screamed as I started to grow even bigger. He was the one who snapped at me for lying to him, but now he was lying to my face? How dare he? My mind started to get clouded with anger, but I was beyond caring at this point. I simply wanted to bash his head into the ground for pulling this hypocritical bullshit on me. Without wasting any time, I rushed at him with my fist pulled back.
Rikiya gave him a pained look as he pulled back his own fist… Both of our fists collided, creating a small shockwave, blasting away all the flames. Soon, the two of us started to exchange fists and I stopped caring about defense as I would heal, which was a mistake I would soon realize. All of a sudden, Rikiya burst into speed and his fist landed at the side of my head, snapping my neck.
I knew my neck was broken, but once again, I simply pushed forward… Now, I was nothing more than a beast. I had grown so big now that I had broken through the roof, but I paid it no mind as I simply wanted to punch Rikiya into the ground and keep punching him until he was just a sack of mangled flesh and bones. I wanted to roast him and eat him in one go. I just wanted him dead.
I wanted him dead so bad…
"You might be big and powerful, but you are nothing more than a mindless beast" Rikiya said in a cold tone, looking down at me as he punched my knee to bring me down. However, I no longer cared what he said… I simply wanted to kill him. I tried to take a bite at him, but he easily sidestepped and punched me even harder, rattling my brain inside my skull.
I could feel my brain moving around inside my skull and it was not a good feeling… It simply angered me even more and flames spewed out of my whole body, trying to roast the impudent bastard, but I received another punch in my midriff and this time it brought me down to my knees… He looked me straight in the eyes even though I was several times bigger than him. I took a deep breath, but he grabbed my snout.
"Take a nap and cool down" Rikiya muttered and I started to struggle to get free. I felt his fingers dig into my scales. "Stress Output Burden!" He pulled back his fist and punched me as hard as could and I blanked out for a second…
The next time I woke up, I found myself lying in a pile of rubbles… What the fuck happened? I felt like someone was using a jackhammer on top of my head and then all the memories started to return to me… I clenched my claws in anger. How dare he? How dare he look down at me? I could see his form, looking down at me from the roof of the hotel, but I quickly shook my head.
No! I can't lose my mind again… I can't give in to my anger… No, I was better. I realized that he was right. I was big and strong, but I was nothing more than a mindless beast… When I realized that I had Lung's powers, I thought that I would be unmatched, but now here I was, lying on the ground defeated while I was being looked down on by my enemy.
In Worm, people were afraid of him escalating and causing collateral damage… They knew that going after him wasn't worth it, but a sacred and squishy girl managed to beat him. Taylor was a vicious bitch, there was no denying that, but she was able to beat Lung… And she used insects to achieve that. Even elephants could be brought down by ants and that was what happened to me.
What was the use of being big if I couldn't even hit my target… Rikiya could easily slip through my defense and hit me where it hurt… He was small and agile and since I was a lot bigger than him, I was just a bigger target for him…
I clenched my fist as I slowly climbed out of the rubble… No… I needed to control my form. I must control my form. This is my power, I owned it unlike Lung, I should be able to mold it however I wanted to… "Looks like you haven't learned" I heard Rikiya speak as he jumped from the roof with his fist pulled back.
"Stress Output Burden!" Rikiya screamed as I tried to defend myself, but his punch easily pulverized and I was flung back several meters. "My last punch was 60% of my full power… Take your victory in that" Rikiya spoke softly as he started to approach me. I could barely keep my eyes open and I only needed one look to know that my arms were a mangled mess.
Is this my limit? Am I really going to lose here? That was the last thought I had before I blacked out again…
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