Everyone beca incredibly excited after I announced Fergus asked and I was promptly escorted to the man in question.
Fergus was waiting for in an opening behind the club building and imdiately apologised to . "Sorry kid, I told one of the group that I was sparring you after the session. It kind of spiralled. You don’t mind an audience right?"
I shook my head. "No, not at all." I replied as Fergus approached , giving a look over. "Everything ok?" I asked.
The man was rubbing his beard in thought. " Yeah, everything is fine. I still can’t get a read on your strength though. Before the fight can we hit each other a couple of tis? You hit first with a force you think I can take and I’ll give you the info you need and hit you also? A bit unorthodox, but it’s sort of my whole gimmick."
"A slugfest? Sure, I don’t mind. Where do you want to be hit?" I replied politely, like we were not talking about casual violence. "Bam Bam! One punch either side of the jaw I think is fair? Hurry up and do it, I forgot how tall you were when you were prone, I’m shitting a brick here."
I proceeded to take off my jacket, chuck it to the side, and gave my arms a quick warmup. I then didn’t create a theatrical about it, I got into position and delivered a hasty one two on Fergus and he fell to the ground, not due to being unconscious, but the force in which I struck him.
The crowd, which had made so distance, went ballistic at the sight. All sorts of noises were heard from them as they acted like a bunch of hooligans.
"Are you alright?" I asked, ignoring the surprising pain in my knuckles.
"No, Apollo. I am not ok. I just got run over by two trucks in the disguise of fists. Fucking oww." I allowed the man to speak so more profanities to himself while I waited patiently. A few minutes later he spoke to .
"Not bad. During our little fight, you can go double the strength you hit with just then and I’ll live. Now, it’s my turn." His first strike with his left hand was weak. I registered the attack, but it didn’t hurt.
*WHAPOW!*
I expected the sa with the right, but my head nearly separating from my neck and the absolute bewildernt at the good morning blow took heavily by surprise. Taking a mont to recover, eyes wide in surprise, I slowly turned back to face him and felt sothing pouring from my nose.
Wiping it with my thumb I looked down and saw blood. I then turned my attention to Fergus who was looking up at with a shocked look on his face. "Shit the bed! This arm is war gear and you just took it like a champ! Alrighty then. Now we both know the other isn’t fragile and can take punishnt. Here are the rules. Support Psionics are alright. But nothing offensive. If that were the case, you would be run through with bullet holes within seconds. Sounds good?"
With a violent exhale, I removed the rest of the blood from my nose before giving Fergus a prompt nod. "Best of luck champ. You’ll need it." Fergus said cockily and before I could quip back, total confusion flooded my brain.
The man disappeared.
And while I would not usually find that strange, teleportation and invisibility are a thing I am familiar with, this was sothing else. My brain couldn’t fathom what I was seeing. It was like the man was breaking reality without Psionics. The man’s presence just disappeared from where he was. There was no sound, no visual cue just-
*WHAPOW!*
My brain helt was shaken violently from the side. I threw out a violent punch in reaction in the direction the punch ca from, but struck nothing. I imdiately beca alert, scanning my surroundings cautiously. I was in the open, exposed on all sides, I couldn’t narrow the direction of attacks to make it easier to determine where the next blow would co-
*WHAPOW!*
A clean blow struck right in the face and I kicked out with everything I had, a mistake on my part as my legs were the most dangerous part of my body. Still though, I hit absolutely nothing.
The invisible bombardnt happened a couple more tis and my frustration was growing. What was even worse was the peanut gallery telling ’He is right there!’ and ’Defend yourself! and ’what are you doing, you ring piece!’
I ignored them and the large gash that had opened up on my forehead. The man was incredibly illusive. I had even had my Gyrokinesis around at full kilt and my eyes imbued with Psionics in an attempt to find him, but the sly man kept getting through and striking hard like a mallet to a gong.
After another strike, I didn’t lash out in an attempt to hit him again like the previous tis, sothing changed. As the blow struck , sothing else also touched my face. Sothing with a slightly salty sll.
’Sll!’
There was still a chance. Closing my eyes and deafening my ears. I waited. I was struck again, but I ignored the pain. I was struck once more and again I ignored it. This ti I slt it again. Sweat.
Doing whatever he was doing was clearly taxing. He was sweating buckets. My sense of sll was not that advanced, but was significantly above normal humans, this could work. Taking a deep, deep inhale I smiled and reached out my hand.
Sothing powerful was caught by my hand and attached to the powerful object there he was. Face full of shock. He tried to pull away, but I smiled maliciously, wiping the blood from my face, which only made it sar.
"My turn."
...
Fergus’ eyes went wide. He was using his technique to wear the man down so they could have a more even fist fight. But the young man just tanked and tanked and tanked. He couldn’t believe what he had witnessed. Even more, he couldn’t believe what he was seeing now.
His arm. Caught in a vice and he was now unable to pull back from. Apollo’s face was bloody all over and him saring the blood with his hand had a fear factor to it. What made it even worse?
"My turn."
That bloody red hand was now coming to him and he couldn’t react.
*WHAPOWWWWW!*
The blow sent him hurdling backwards tens of feet. Fergus got up imdiately to check he was alive. Only then did he allow himself to feel pain.
’OWWW!!!!!’ HE thought, but couldn’t ponder on it more as the blood covered Apollo was charging towards him. He activated his technique and Apollo stopped, closing his eyes and getting into a defensive stance.
Fergus hesitated. ’He can’t have? Could he have? It has to be a fluke... Augh, my face is going to kill if I am wrong... But I have to be sure.’ His ego spurned him on. A love tap wouldn’t have him pull out of the spar when it had been one sided so far... Just a love tap. Nothing more...
Fergus approached. Faster and with even more technique than before towards Apollo. The man’s eyes were closed and Fergus had the odd feeling that the man had sohow gone deaf as well. But that only made him more cautious if anything.
He then struck out once more and his fist collided with Apollo right in the kidney. The man simply grunted at the takedown shock, like it was nothing. However Fergus gained so confidence back, not all of it, but so. ’It could have just been a fluke. He couldn’t help think, wiping the sweat from his brow and flicking it away. He didn’t however wipe the blood that began to trickle from his nose and as he went in for his next attack Apollo opened his eyes with a smile and while looking directly through him smiled and said. "There you are!"
Fergus almost shat himself at that sight. Apollo’s look reminded him of the Drakoshi that took his eye. He tried to pull away, but Apollo grabbed him by the neck, picked him up into the air and choke slamd him onto the ground, leaving an indent at the point of impact.
Fergus coughed up blood imdiately, but didn’t have ti to bleed as a foot was aid for his face. He rolled to the side, fighting dirty. He booted Apollo in the side of the knee and got to his feet.
He raised his fists up ready for a full on fist fight. He found it within him. The thing he wanted from the spar. The thing he was looking for for quite so ti and he too began to smile, casually spitting out a loose tooth from the previous punch to indicate to his student to ’co get so.’
Just as he saw the look of recognition on Apollo’s face and as he was about to charge in to engage in a good ol’ fashioned fist fight, he felt a hand on his shoulder that sapped him of his strength entirely and promptly made him collapse onto the floor and begin snoring contently.
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