Kengan Alternative

Ch. 4: Airborne

Abijheet Sultana dove out of the sky in a vicious downward kick, which Florentino Avila only just jerked his head back in time to avoid, the foot slicing a neat cut into his forehead.

"The hell was that?" He bounced away, blinking the blood out of his eye as Sultana landed in a shower of sand, crouching briefly before springing towards Avila again. Left, then right, then straight into the air again, a spinning roundhouse aimed at his head. Florentino ducked it, and moved in for a tackle, but something felt wrong. Danger prickled on the back of his neck and he aborted the tackle, dropping and rolling sideways just as the roundhouse became a violent downwards stomp, powerful enough to crack the concrete floor.

"WHAT AN OPENING!" Roared Setsuko Morioka from the announcers table "Florentino is being pushed back by Sultana's remarkable airborne techniques!"

"Not looking good, huh?"

From above the crowds watching the fight, in the VIP seating, Agnes Dovraga leant over the railings, watching Avila reel back from another unpredictable kick. "Weird, seeing Avila get pushed back like that."

"Why, what's up?" somebody leant next to her, a scarred mountain of muscle in a tight fitting top "You sound like you've fought him before."

Agnes glances at the man next to her, Sansone Maciste, then back down to the fight. "Yeah, we've had a match before. He's a fantastic infighter, always takes the offensive, always aggressive. We were blow for blow, until he caught me with one of those elbows, then I don't remember what happened after that."

"Oh, so you lost?"

"I said I don't Remember!" Agnes bit back, jabbing Sansone in the ribs. "But the fact remains: Florentino's strong. How much stronger is this other guy?"

"Strength's nothing to do with it." somebody approached from behind them "Airborne attacks are a nightmare to defend against. And besides, Sultana's got a killers aura."

"Oh yeah? Replied Sansone. "How could you tell what a "killers aura" feels like?" He turned, and found himself looking into the black eyes of Kure Shisho.

"...Oh, you know, a thing or two." He replied with a smile, settling between Sansone and Agnes on the railing to watch the fight. Below them, Abijheet unleashed two consecutive somersaulting axe kicks. Florentino backstepped the first, and caught the second in his arms. With his leg locked, Abijheet swept in low, kicking the other leg up at Florentino, who finally saw a chance.

Brubaka Style: Cruel Iron Counter

He stomped his left foot forwards, twisting into a right elbow counter that impacted against Sultana's heel with a nasty crunch. The Indian fighter grunted, twisting out of the grab and rolling away, bouncing up to land on one foot. Blood dripped from the other one, and Sultana pressed his toes to the floor to test it.

"Broken." He thought, though the pain didn't show on his face. After all, he'd suffered worse. He watched Avila raise his forearms in a high guard, stepping forwards to rush him.

"An astonishing counter from Florentino!" Morioka screamed over the crowd "Let's see if he can keep that pressure up!"

"You sad, evil creature." Abijheet stepped back, on the defensive now as Florentino came after him in a flurry of fists and elbows. "Don't worry, I'll put you to rest before you can do any harm." He barely kept up with the strikes, one slipping in for every other that he blocked. He felt a rib crack, his cheek bruise, his nose bleed, cuts opening up on his hands and forearms from the inhumanly tough elbows. But as usual, none of it hurt. He'd been too well trained to let things like pain get in his way. So he was able to weather it, waiting for his opening.

And he didn't miss it. He watched, and as Avila drew back his left arm to throw out his right one, he struck between the open gap. He stamped his broken foot down, springing up his other leg in a rising knee, straight into Florentinos jawbone.

"A FLYING KNEE!" Morioka screamed again "He jumped off his injured foot to throw a devastating flying knee! What fantastic durability!"

Florentino flew back, hitting the sand hard. Time seemed sluggish, like he was underwater, as he fought the spinning in his head to force his body to stand.

"The Brubaka… is… unbeatable."

The thought came to him involuntarily, like somebody else beside him urging him to stand back up. A grunt of hard effort, and Avila found his feet beneath him, willing the ground to steady as he steadied his gaze at his opponent… who hadn't moved since landing the knee. Instead, Abijheet leant sideways, body slack, eyes staring at the ground.

"Why hasn't he moved!? He should've followed up that knee, He'd have won by now!" Sansone yelled, leaning further over the railings.

"Don't tell me you didn't see it, big guy?" Agnes joked, poking him again.

"I… yeah, I saw "it"! Of course, how could I have missed "it", you'd have to be blind to not see "it"!" He replied. A moment passed, and he looked aside to Shisho, hoping for a quiet explanation.

"...A roundhouse kick, right?" Shisho asked Agnes, as a way to enlighten Macista. "The moment Avila connected the knee, Avila threw his body back, reducing the damage and firing off a high roundhouse. You were right, he's got fantastic combat sense."

"...Right. But…" Sansone chimed in, brow furrowing in concern "If that kick was as good as you say, Sultana should be on the floor out cold. Then why…"

"...The hell are you still standing?" Avila thought, as Abijheet slowly straightened up, turning back to face him, seemingly non concussed and entirely unconcerned with the massive bruise over the side of his face.

A moment passed, as they both took stances, and the two rushed in again, ready to continue, Florentinos head ringing with one question.

"What ungodly training made this guy so durable?"