Hello there. Here is chapter 32. I hope you didn't have to wait much. I am already working on the next chapter, yay!
Well, like always: Please, leave your reviews, they help me improve.
Enjoy.
In a room, Kia was massaging his own face while complaining with despair "Damn, it! Why the hell did i have to choose Yajū?! I should have kept looking for a better fighter!"
Denji patted his shoulder as he tried to calm him "Calm down, Kia. It's not that bad yet."
Kia let his hands down and snapped with disbelief "Not, that bad?!... My fighter lost. Why i have to be so incompetent?"
Gou sat on the sofa and said with a firm voice "Kia! Your brother is right. We still have more chances of winning. My fighter's match is about to begin. And Denji's already won his."
Kia calmed down after hearing these and remebered with relief "Uh, right. Forgot that Denji's fighter is registered in another company. Wait! Now that i think about it, why is Shibo registered under the Toshio Square again?"
Gou crossed his arms and said with a more relaxed voice "The president is not 'directly' participating in the tournament. To put it simply: He allowed Seto to register Shibo as his fighter."
Denji looked surprised "So that is why Seto said his fighter had the highest chances of winning. By the way father, how did you choose this 'Nathan' as your affiliated fighter? I thought you were going to ask Satoru to enter the tournament."
Gou gazed at the ceiling in silence and after while, he spoke "A while ago, i organized a battle royal to see if i could find a better fighter. And, well..."
(Some time ago)
"Hey, what is a geezer doing here?"
In a big room somewhere, many people were staring at Alphonse's figure. All of them were asking themselves the same question, with varied levels of aggresion.
The old man stood in the center of the room while one of the men walked up to him with a grin "Why don't you go home before you get hurt, gramps?"
Alphonse raised an eyebrow and said with a fake smile "Only my grandson has the right to call me 'gramps', brat. It seems you need a spanking."
...
Gou couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing. All the people he brought were down. All of them either dead or unconscious, some looked unharmed, 'looked' being a keyword. And in the center stood Alphonse. He had his hands in his pant's pockets and didn't even seem like he moved at all.
The old man turned toward him and said "Well, i take it that now you are my employer, right?"
(Back to the present)
"Well, it's time to begin with the fourth match of this round!" Miyuki's words once again made the crowd cheer and yell.
The 3d image of a bloody claw appeared above one tunnel and lasers were focused on it's entrance. "Standing at 5'9, weighting 122 lbs and representing Global Oil Co. This mysterious man surprised us with his remarkable speed and his ability to shred his opponent with his bare hands! Here is 'The Ripper Blade', Abyss!"
Smoke filled the tunnel's entrance and said man walked out. He was wearing the same cloth to cover his features. Miyuki shivered under his gaze while the crowd cheered, overcoming the fear some had experienced in his previous match.
Miyuki gulped and gestured to the other tunnel. "A-and let's welcome his opponent." The 3d image of a fist pointing upward appeared above the tunnel as the laser focused on the entrance. "From Chile, standing at 6'8, weighting 286 lbs and representing Toshio Square. This man has shocked us with his might, even at his advanced age, it's the 'Straight Fist' Nathan Tradway!"
Smoke filled the entrance to the tunnel and Alphonse came out, walking calmly with his hands in his pockets. But this time he didn't wave to the crowd. He had a neutral expression.
"Your grandfather?" In the stands, Kenta, Taaru, Asuka, Alia and Kenji(?) were once again reunited in the stands. Without turning to Taaru, Kenji(?) answered "Yeah, that's the reason i said it was 'personal' before."
Kenta felt a bit of empathy and turned to him before asking "So, there's bad blood between you, huh?" Kenji(?) didn't move his gaze from the area, but still replied with calmness "Nah, quite the opposite. It really annoys me though. When i was younger he never stopped to annoy me, they were just some 'pranks', but it was enough for me to develop a sort of... distaste for him."
Asuka couldn't hold her anxiety anymore "But, is he strong?" Alia turned to her with a deadpan look "Mein gott, you are more dense than osmium, didn't ya watch the oldman's match? The real question is: 'How strong is he?'"
The four of them turned to look at the young man for an answer "The last time i fought him, a few years ago, i couldn't land a single solid blow on him. Even though he is a kitten when compared to my mom."
Taaru was taken aback by the statement and Alia grinned with excitement. Asuka and Kenta, on the other hand, were sweating with disbelief "A kitten? Seriously? What is with him and his family of monsters?!"
Kenji(?) was more concerned with determining the result of the match and the reason for Abyss to enter the tournament "If his previous 'fight' was anything to go by, then gramps has not gotten any stronger since last time, but he is not weaker by any means though. Why that Abyss guy is in this tournament? From what i saw, he must be an assassin and he is the 'Give up or die' kind of guy, not the kind of assassin that fights in a competitive scene... Whatever, let's see who wins."
Back in the area, the 3d images disappeared and the lasers went out while the smoke cleared. Lloyd, the referee, approached both of them and stood silently. His gaze fell upon them, looking them both from head to toe as if analyzing them. "Mmm... This fight is already decided."
The referee raised his hand above his head, but neither Alphonse nor Abyss got into a stance, they just stood there in silence. Lloyd knew well what was happening, so instead of waiting for them, he was going to let the match begin already.
After all, fighters like them are always ready.
"BEGIN!"
(On the day of the first 8 fights of the 1st round)
"Well, everything seems to be going as planned." Gou said sitting in a chair of the box he was in as he watched the matches from his seat. A glass of wine was resting comfortably in his hand and his three sons were sitting with him.
"Three of our fighters have moved on and one will face Taaru in the next round." Kia said smiling looking over the bracket.
"And we still have more set up in the second part." Seto said smiling looking at the next set of matches. He was seemingly getting ready for an unknow plan with the door slowly opening. "Oh, and here's one of our aids right now." He said smiling looking at the doors and the figure walked in, closing it behind them.
"You called me, right?" It was the CEO of Global Oil Co. Seto smiled and stood up. He motioned for his family to set their attention on him. "I made a deal with him to make his fighter enter the tournament to save us a slot."
The man kept a deadpan look as he thought with annoyance "My fighter? You hired that damn assassin. I am only a decoy, if you hadn't threatened me, wouldn't be here."
(Back to the present)
Abyss zoomed past Alphonse and swung his arm in an horizontal arc. The older man ducked under it and stood still on the same spot, his hands never left his pockets. Abyss thrusted his hand toward the oldman as if it was a spear. Alphonse sidestepped and gave Abyss a hard push with his leg, pushing him away.
Razor Hand. An assassination style consisting of conditioning and use of hands as if they were blades. Practitioners of this discipline develop their hands and arms to be as fast and strong as they can, while also increasing their overall mobility, agility, reflexes, speed and precision. This conditioning gives them hands that can cut, rip and pierce flesh in an instant.
Abyss was a master of this 'tool', as he called it.
He rushed toward Alphonse and jumped. Abyss used a diagonal descending chop, but the older man swayed to the side and made him trip.
Alphonse then kicked him, launching him away. Abyss crashed down a few meters away before standing up with a pained grunt. He clutched his stomach, a sharp pain was making difficult to breathe and fully regain his footing.
"Who the hell is this man?! That kick felt like it ruptured my organs and snaped my spine. And he still hasn't taken his hands out of his pockets. To think that i would have to 'work seriously' this soon..."
In the stands, Kenta couldn't hold his disbelief "What the-?! Did that guy really cut his previous opponent in seconds?! But that oldman is just toying around with him like he was nothing!"
The three fighters in the group turned to him with deadpan looks in their faces and said "Welcome to our world." Asuka looked calmer and remarked with a relaxed tone "Well, you get used to one-sided beatdowns like that."
Kenji(?) looked at her with curiosity for her statement "Are you speaking from experience?" Her face turned red and she spoke with embarrassement "W-well, i used to be a member of a karate school, but i quit after many years trying to improve... No matter what i did, i never won a single fight. How did you know?"
The young man looked away, as if trying to avoid her gaze "I... know someone that was like that. They had the same look and talked in the same way you just did." After that, his hands clenched with enough force for his nails to pierce them, letting some blood come out as his hands trembled slightly, something that didn't go unnoticed by Taaru.
"Someone like him... never won a fight before this tournament?"
Back in the area, Abyss finally regained his footing and controlled his breathing. The assassin got into an open-palm stance with both hands in front of him as if they were knives. That's when he noticed something...
The oldman never moved from his spot.
He was inside a circle in the floor of the area, possibly drawn by his own movements. "Let's see if you are still so cocky after this."
Abyss rushed toward his opponent at blinding speed and delivered a flurry of chops and thrusts. This time however, Alphonse used one of his hands to redirect the attacks, alternating between dodging and redirecting, but no attack went past his defense.
And he was still in the same circle.
Abyss strafed around the oldman while trying to cut or pierce him, until he used a feint and tried to stab his eye. But Alphonse ducked under it, he spun around and sweeped the younger man's feet, making him fall face first onto the ground.
With a growl of frustration, Abyss quickly jumped from his downed position and landed on his feet after a somersault. "Now is my chance, his back is wide open!"
Abyss launched himself at full speed, he will finish this. "A double descending chop to incapacitate his arms and then i will stab his spine." Abyss threw his hands down with all his strength.
...
But the blow never connected.
Alphonse had caught both of his hands before he knew. Wide-eyed, Abyss tried to free himself, but the oldman wasn't budging and inch. In opposition to him, Alphonse had an expression of boredom and dissapointment on his face.
And with a sigh, he said "For a professional, you really are a 'one-trick pony'. I was even almost starting to hope that weapons were allowed so you could use a knife, a poison or something, but you don't have anything on you, even though you could hide something with you cloth..."
"That's it! I can use my cloth to-"
"Not that i complain though."
CRASH!
It was so fast people in the crowd couldn't see it, but the fighters of the tournament did. Alphonse used his grip on the hands of the assassin to perform a shoulder throw and slam him onto the ground. Abyss was unconscious and Alphonse was still inside the circle.
Lloyd pointed his hand toward Alphonse and yelled with a smile "The winner by knockout, Nathan Tradway!"
The crowd yelled and cheered while EMTs were carrying Abyss to the med bay. In the med bay's rooms and watching the match on a tv, Mergit was grunting victoriously while Bret watched silently with a look of repentance.
Lloyd Ramirez, better known as 'The man that came closest to defeat Shibo', in the kengan matches that is. He used to be a top tier fighter. He was not only someone that achieved many physical feats on different areas, but he was probably one of the most complete fighters to live.
He knew how to punch, how to kick, how to elbow and knee. If it was a strike, he most likely knew it. He used takedowns, throws, submissions and knew how to defend himself. He was very skilled with weapons, from bladed and blunt to polearms and firearms.
But his greatest ability was the use of non-conventional methods and 'preparations'. He always gathered as much info. of his opponents as he could and looked for ways to cheat as much as he could. This was so he knew how to defend himself from cheaters and to have a way of defending himself against 'too risky' opponents, but most of the time he fought fair and square.
But one day, he went against Shibo. On the advice of a friend of his, he made a cocktail of poisons and some other preparations so he could survive this encounter...
Even then, he lost. Was he crippled? Was he mentally scarred? Did he get any lasting injuries?
No, no and no. It was a good fight, but something in the back of his mind didn't allow him to consider it as a 'good experience'. He trained non-stop to one day defeat him, but some time after the match, he began to hear terrible things. Young fighters fought Shibo...
And all of them ended crippled, dead, with many lasting injuries and mentally scarred to the point their lives were ruined after it. Some of them were his friends, others were acquaintances and former rivals, but all of those losses weighed on him.
He understood that Shibo was a wall that he might never be able to climb and that many more will fall to him while he tried to solve this as a fighter. So he never stopped training, but he retired from the kengan matches amd became a referee. That way none would have to die at the hands of Shibo again.
Now though, he was more focused on Alphonse. In all his life, he gained years of experience and skill. He knew a powerful fighter when he saw one and since the moment he laid his eyes on Alphonse, he knew he was strong and that Abyss stood no chance.
Alphonse walked into the tunnel while letting a sigh and chuckling "In the end that Razor Hand of his was nothing more than a cheap version of one of 'our' techniques. Lucky me, huh? I get to warm up before the big guys get to fight me. On the other hand, this is perfect, i will be at my best to do my 'job'. Seth better gets out of his match with minimum injuries, that girl is one tough bone."
Nathan Tradway, whose real name is Alphonse, is a member of the Atron family. A group of people with thousand upon thousands of years of history. Through selective breeding, their hunger for knowledge and power, they have achieved feats that almost none has done before them.
In their quest for perfection and bring out all the potential of humans, they have incorporated the genes of the smartest, strongest and most skilled of people, granting them bodies that won't be wrong to describe as 'the next step on evolution'.
With their dedication to science and fighting, they have learned every martial art, fighting system and technique they could, even to the point of travelling around the world to acquire more, and further refined all of them into an ever improving fighting system they call 'Tennoken'. Assassination, self-defense, weapons, strikes, grappling, there is virtually no area that has already been covered by this discipline. All with the goal of one day sharing their final product with the rest of the world, but until that day, they will hide their real identities from the public.
They are scattered all around the world, oftenly in clusters located on wards or hidden villages, living like any other citizen. Highly valuing ethics, family values and good living, they can be found doing jobs for the wellbeing of society, from something as safe as a charity organization to something as risky as being members of an anti-terrorist group.
Alphonse wasn't different.
Kenji(?) sighed, it seems Taaru will really have it tough in the semi-finals, no matter who he fights. He and Asuka stood up from their seats while the others wished them good luck as they headed to the changing rooms.
TBC