The crowd was wild, cheering every blow. I chanced a quick glance at my friends. The arguments had stopped, and everyone stood transfixed on my battle. I continued to defend against Maukarr, without returning a blow. I could have but I thought I should test him out a bit first. He kept coming forward, throwing kicks and punches, all of which I deflected. He began to speed up, his frustration becoming apparent as his form began to deteriorate. This was actually going to be easier than I first thought.
Finally, I decided to make a move because of the heat. Without Havok, I was going to tire fast. I slipped past a right hand from him and fired off a lightning-fast jab of my own, catching him cleanly on the jaw. I could see the speed and force of my blow had completely shocked him as his head rocked back. I followed up with a right hook, which sent him sprawling backwards onto the dusty floor. I was annoyed with myself a little for not respecting my own abilities enough. I should never have been so nervous; I was a bloody good fighter. With all the strength and agility I’d built up, with my new physiology, I was kind of a big deal.
Maukarr got up quickly, rage now tempered with respect as he brought his guard up a little higher. Moving towards me again, there was a wariness to his movement this time. Not giving him a chance to press for an advantage, I threw a weak jab at his head. He blocked it easily with his guard, but it was never intended to do any harm. Next, I faked a straight right to his midriff. He reacted to the bluff quickly, dropping his guard to cover up low, and leaving his head wide open. I whipped out a full strength, lightning-fast left hook, connecting sweetly with the side of his head. It was a near perfectly executed blow, the only problem being that I caught one of the horns on his head, which was much harder than expected. While he went stumbling off to the side, I gave my hand a little shake out, ‘cause fuck me that hurt.
Bringing my full attention back to Maukarr, it was a relief to see he was seriously rocked from the blow. While he did recover more quickly than I’d have liked, I could tell the fight was now won as he changed his tactics for a third time, probably realizing that I was quicker, more skilled and far stronger than expected. He now focused on using his sheer size and brutality to overwhelm me.
He threw a left, missing but pressing relentlessly forward with it and managing to score a glancing blow on me with his giant right hand. He seemed to be renewed from that small success. Unfortunately for him, it was part of yet another small play from me. I fell back from the blow, but it was intentional. As I moved backwards, I jumped and pushed a straight kick right through his guard, crushing his nose to smithereens. He fell to the ground, clutching his face. I would argue the fight was over at that stage; I had completely outclassed him. However, the cheating motherfucker began glowing as he unsteadily got to his feet.
I looked over to find Moulagg and the others shouting again. Dolegg smirked. But, not as wide as Ember as she tapped her temple at me. I nodded back over to her. She was right, I'd beat him like a drum in the physical matchup, now I'd strum his fucking nervous center like a damn guitar. Looking back at him I saw for the first time what happens when a Torax goes supernova. It was a fucking terrifying sight. A heavy covering of flames coated his entire body. I could only see a vague shadow of the alien inside.
He started walking towards me, raising an arm, then the bastard shot a damn fireball at me. I rolled out of the way and backwards to give myself some time.
I’d spent too long goggling at his transformation and put myself on the back foot. I jumped as far back as I could, while simultaneously going into my Mindscape. Once there, I levitated my body ten-feet away from him. I quickly went into Maukaurr’s Mindscape, directly in his nerve center, and I dove on his nerve bundles, instantly paralyzing him – and hoping he wasn’t burning me alive outside. With that done, I relieved his internal organs and his mouth. Afterwards, I morphed into my own Interface Room to see my handiwork.
He was frozen to the spot. I raised the piece of shit off the ground for dramatic effect, before I went back into his mind, “You went too far with the fire, you fucker,” I said. I saw the shock on his face, and smiled.
“Were you supposed to kill me?” I asked, while looking at his mental display. I saw him imagining killing me in multiple ways and Dolegg coming to see him. There were no words, but one thing was certain, he had intended to kill me. “You’re fucked now, mate.”
Leaving his Mindscape, I came back to my Normal State in the sand circle. It appeared that hardly any time had passed, so I was satisfied with my work. It had felt like a good minute or two that I was busy. I was still levitating, so I had to think about moving back down to the ground. Amazingly, unexpectedly, I dropped. I had sensed I’d done well, but that was for the audience to decide. I think I’d gotten away with it. The now-extinguished, giant Torax hung suspended in the air, unable to move or react. I
