Chapter 18: Pummeling!
Practically near soaring in the air, Troy was very close to hitting Pummel. He could see the river enclosed on the left and right sides of the boxing ring, since the river is in the middle and the boxing ring was a few feet higher than the middle of the river. Pummel was smirking though. Just as Troy extended his leg out to deal a front kick to Pummel, The Pummel front rolled and then for a split second he was behind Troy.
"Huh?" Troy said, confused as he jerked around, and he was met with a powerful punch to the face.
"HA!" Pummel shouted.
Troy was winded backwards, and skidded across the solid smooth platform of the boxing ring. He then stumbled back up. Troy could feel his face aching already. Seriously!
Troy quickly ducked a hook punch from Pummel, and then quickly blocked two fast jabs to the neck with his hands. Pummel tried to land two fast hook punches again with the side of his fists. Troy quickly ducked again and then pushed Pummel's hand away.
"Gah!" The Pummel shouted.
Troy landed three swift jabs to the face, and then finished his combo off with a jump and a side kick at the last minute.
"Oof!" Pummel shouted.
Troy quickly retreated back a few steps and waiting for Pummel to rub off some of the pain in his athletic looking face.
"All right! That was just the crust of my power!" Pummel cackled.
The Pummel quickly ran forward, attempting to head-butt Troy down to the ground.
"Whoa!" Troy shouted as he quickly leap-frog jumped over the Pummel. Because of the force Troy put into his weight, that sended the Pummel tumbling and crashing onto the platform floor. That brought the audience a bit an unfortunate scene. The Pummel stared at Troy as he got back up. He shook out the pain from his knuckles, and then cracked them together. Troy gulped.
Pummel quickly landed an uppercut on Troy, and then tried to land a spin kick on Troy after that. Luckily, Troy jumped out of the way. He then ducked again after the Pummel tried to jump and land another spin kick the opposite way he just went. Troy quickly lashed out at the Pummel putting all of his strength behind his force.
"That's no good!" The Pummel laughed as he quickly pushed Troy's fist away. He then jumped high in the air to the right, and then kicks Troy with his left leg, then circled around and kicked Troy again with his other right leg.
"AH!" Troy shouted as he got back down to the ground, nearly hitting those boxing rings.
"Ouch! Wow that sure has to hurt!" Rae said sadly.
"So what? It's pretty obvious Troy is going to lose! He's useless like that other teen!" jeered Gota.
"Probably. But why do I get this feeling that Troy could somehow win?" Jayle muttered.
"Face reality!" ranted Gota.
"Whatever." Jayle finished.
Troy quickly jumped back up, however that took quite a lot of his fighting energy. Also, he barely does that sometimes and usually fails. The Pummel quickly thrust punched Troy in the face, nearly breaking his jawbone.
"GAOOF!" Troy gasped.
Troy could now feel the boxing rings press up again against his back. He decided to do the slingshot trick again, even though he failed a few moments ago.
"YAH!" Troy shouted, hopefully increasing his energy.
The Pummel was determined to punch down Troy, but when he did, Troy, while he was in the air, pushed away the Pummel's fist with his right hand, and then punched Pummel in the face with his left hand.
"Ung!" The Pummel screeched.
Troy landed gracefully and perfectly down on the ground. He then quickly did a wing pose and did a few fighting stances.
"That's not going to fool me!" The Pummel shouted with laughter.
"Of course it won't!" shouted Amondo.
The Pummel jumped and tried to land another thrust punch, and Troy quickly rolled forward, jumped high in the air, and back-kicked the Pummel straight at well, the back of course!
"Yeah Troy! Kick him to oblivion!" shouted Tala in encouragement. Troy turned around and smiled at his cell mates, but they were almost now his new friends. Well, he can't be so sure about Gota though.
The entire stadium shouted remarks at Troy, but Troy ignored them just fine.
"ALL RIGHT! You think I will pay the price for this fight?!" The Pummel screamed.
"Yes! I stand," Troy shouted, and then straightened up firmly and bravely. "For all those prisoners you fought and beaten up!"
"Wow." Rae said in awe.
That made The Pummel even more outraged than ever before! He quickly charged at Troy, and Troy quickly landed a tornado kick swift to the face! This time, The Pummel was ready for it, and absorbed every single one of that. All that happened was that his face was slapped back a bit, but that was it.
"Hmm?!" Troy shouted. Troy quickly jumped into the air and prepared to land a head-butt on The Pummel's stomach. The Pummel was again, ready for it, and he clenched both of his hands into a ball of a giant fist. Then he quickly whacked Troy down, causing Troy to fall down chest first. "AHOOF!" Troy shouted.
"Ow! That was pretty brutal." Jayle said. She could almost already feel the pain Troy was in.
Troy quickly took a deep breath and backed away slowly. The Pummel laughed more harder than last time.
"Well, well, well! That was a fun POW!" laughed The Pummel.
"Yep." agreed Troy in a shaky voice. He then quickly maneuvered backwards and leg sweeped The Pummel, right just below his knee-cap.
"Gah!" The Pummel shouted.
The Pummel quickly rolled backwards, and then blocked a side-kick from Troy right when he was facing him. Troy then attempted to land a hook punch straight The Pummel's face, but The Pummel ducked again, and then countered upwards when a swift jab of a uppercut to Troy's chest again!
"YAOUCH!" Troy shouted as he fell backwards. The Pummel quickly stepped back one foot and smiled.
"Enjoying this pain?" he taunted him.
"No- Ack!" Troy said with pain all around him.
"Well you don't need to worry about that, there's more!" The Pummel bellowed.
"And just how long is this gonna happen?!" Troy shouted, however that brought a sharp pain again in his torso.
"Not very long, it will take just-" The Pummel began when Troy quickly ran forward, jumped high in the air, circled around a three sixty, and produced a tornado kick straight in The Pummel's left side of the head.
"Ung! I should've known! That old conversation...whatever trick!" he shouted with anger, as he quickly shook off the pain.
"You were very cocky for that one!" Troy laughed, but only for a split second though. He knew stories of those who were cocky, but those who laughed probably suffered more serious and severe consequences.
"We'll see about that!" The Pummel screamed, and then thundered towards Troy. Troy quickly twisted around again, to perform a side-kick, only this time The Pummel knew that tactic. So instead, The Pummel quickly dropped down and slided under Troy, and at once was now carrying him.
"WHAT?! AHHHHHHHHH!" Troy screamed.
Troy now remembered the other teenager a few minutes ago. The Pummel was about to knock him out the same way he knocked out the other teenager!
"Going once!" The Pummel roared, and tossed Troy up. Troy twisted around like a barrel, trying to get free.
"He's going to lose, that's for sure." Gota laughed.
"And why are you laughing?!" Rae shouted to her.
"Well, what if's? He's one of the dumbest people I've ever met!" Gota countered back.
"He's not dumb, he's just curious that's all!" Tala jumped right into the conversation.
"ARE YOU GOING TO WATCH TROY GET KNOCKED OUT TO SEE FOR YOURSELF OR WHAT?!" Amondo shouted at them.
"Okay, okay!" All three of them said glumly back.
Troy was trying hard to break free from The Pummel as The Pummel caught him, very firm.
"Going twice!" The Pummel shouted, and tossed Troy in the air again. Once again, Troy twisted around, trying to break free, but no luck.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?! YOU'RE GOING TO HURT HIM MORE THAN THE OTHER TEEN!" screamed Jayle.
"That's my point, haw!" The Pummel laughed as he caught Troy again. Troy knew this was his last chance to make a breakthrough, or else the next catch was going to be on the boxing ring platform floor!
"Come on, Come on!" Troy thought frantically. Clearly there was no escape, was there?
"And...going for a triple!" The Pummel laughed, and then threw Troy up again. Just then, at the last second, Troy could hear a voice pounding his his mind, it was his father's.
"Use concentration as a shield to harden up! You'll be formidable against the toughest of blows, with the help of your connection with Maien.."
"Your right!" Troy thought, and then quickly closed his eyes, and concentrated as hard as he could on the Medallion. In his mind, it sparkled in a dark room, but it was bathed underneath a wave of sunlight. It somehow brought a special force that surged through his muscles. Heck, he could even faintly feel himself smirk a bit.
Troy quickly rolled back up and back into his fighting stance. The Pummel was facing the crowd, acting like he had done away with another teen. However, it was not what he had expected, he could see the crowd shouting at him to turn around.
"What's all this?!" He demanded the crowd.
"Turn around and see for yourself!" Amondo exclaimed to him, more of an alarmed tone.
All four of the cell mates were staring, shocked and speechless. The Pummel casually turned around, but could see an unpleasant scene.
"WHAT?!" The Pummel screamed in disbelief.
"Are you just going to stand there and let your reputation down or are you going to continue our little uh… brawl? Heh Heh!" Troy said.
"Well now looks like we have someone who pushed me past my limits!" The Pummel screamed and then took out a green and red striped headband from his shorts, which were, green and red striped too.
"What's that? You're lucky little headband?" Troy mocked him, forgetting about his situation with cockiness.
"You're right about that sentence about halfway. One, it is lucky, and second, it IS NOT LITTLE!" The Pummel screamed with fury.
"Oh, okay then!" Troy laughed. "Then can I say, your lucky mini headband?"
"YOU ARE SO ANNOYING!" The Pummel shouted, and as he put on his power, it was like green electricity powered him all around. Troy took a step backwards with a slight fear in him. "Now it's time to play the game just as I wanted it!" he shouted again. Troy gulped.
"Sure, we'll s-s-see about t-that!" Troy sputtered, his voice coming out shaking.
The Pummel jumped high into the air, and as he landed again, a huge green shockwave thundered across the floor in a circle shape, so it practically covered the entire boxing ring. Troy's first impulse already was to jump.
"I'm not done yet!" The Pummel laughed and then clenched his fists together, displaying them in front of him for Troy to see. Green energy balls appeared in them, and before Troy had any time to react, The Pummel quickly hurled them at Troy!
"Whoa!" Troy shouted, as he quickly ducked and rolled backwards even more. Again, he felt more of the boxing ring pressing up against his back.
The Pummel then cupped his hands together below his torso, and then aimed for Troy. Within an instant, a red beam shot out and pinned Troy against the rings for a few seconds, right in the stomach!
"OOF!" Troy screamed.
"Hey! He's not allowed to do that against him!" Jayle yelled.
"Yeah! Troy doesn't even have a headband or something on his own!" Rae added as well.
"Well you see here, The Pummel is allowed to do anything to his opponents. Anything!" Amondo snickered. Tala breathed out one breath furiously and purposely loudly.
Once the beam stopped, Troy slumped down to the ground. His vision was now circling and swirling around him. It kept getting blurry every second.
"Get up for some more action of this headband!" The Pummel laughed.
Just when Troy was just about to blackout, he could already remember the recent things he had been through. What else? He had cooked lunch a few days ago, played Royal Forest Flags, He had cooked dessert that day…
"Wait a second…" Troy thought slowly.
One of the things he learned from his adventures was that if you imagine a completely different scenario with your imagination, it would most likely get you out of a tough situation! "Of course!" Troy shouted. Just as he shouted, his vision all of a sudden got back to normal.
"Looks like you want some power of this headband! I mean, feel it that is! Okay then!" The Pummel shouted.
Troy thought back a few days ago. What did he do that involved fighting? The Pummel ran towards Troy with a fist ready to punch.
"Hey! I just played Royal Forest Flags!" Troy exclaimed, as he quickly ducked down and slided under The Pummel, tripping him down.
"UNG!" he shouted.
Troy quickly closed his eyes for just a few seconds, concentrated, and opened them again. He could see a Blue Flag behind him, and The Pummel wearing a red jersey. All four of his cell mates wore blue jerseys too, except Gota, who for some reason who a blue and red striped jersey. Troy quickly showed a quick fight stance, and then motioned The Pummel with his hands to continue.
"You want to take this flag? Come and get through me first!" Troy shouted boldly.
"What are you even talking about?" his opponent said with a confused tone. "THERE IS NO FLAG BEHIND YOU!"
"No, there is!" Troy shouted, and leaped up backwards and successfully landed on the boxing ring.
"What is he even talking about?!" Tala shouted with confusion in her also.
"If you are talking to me, I have no answer to that!" Amondo replied back.
Troy moved up and down in the boxing rings, like a little trampoline, to balance his weight out on it.
"FINE! I don't know what nonsense you're talking about, but the fight is going to end right here!" The Pummel roared, and then shot eight energy balls as fast as he could at Troy. Troy knew what was he going to do. Troy knew that the distance from each of the energy balls was slightly long, so all Troy had to do was straighten up standing as thin as he could possibly be, not literally! "Hmph!" he shouted.
The Pummel then quickly raised up his right fist in the air in front of him, and at once a green boulder like object appeared and covered the fist.
"Now that looks very intimidating!" Troy exclaimed, but knew that it wasn't really. He knew again what his next move was going to be.
The Pummel ran towards Troy and then was about to jump and uppercut him straight with the boulder like fist, when at the last moment, Troy jumped off the rings with his left foot, and spiral front flip over him.
"You gotta be kidding me!" The Pummel screamed in frustration as he missed, and the boulder smashed straight into pieces as the duration for it ended all ready.
The Pummel quickly turned around, only to be met in the face by a tornado kick to the face. The kick was so hard, that The Pummel fell over in that direction, stunned for a few seconds.
"All right! That plan was played out good!" Troy said with satisfaction, and then quickly moved in a zigzag pattern towards him.
"You really think that puny run will finish me off?! I don't think so!" The Pummel shouted as he got back up.
"It won't finish you off!" Troy shouted. When he was a few feet away, Troy quickly rolled to the opposite side as The Pummel tried to land a haymaker down to the ground. Troy then jumped up and smashed The Pummel's back down to the ground.
"OOG!" he screamed in pain.
The Pummel stumbled back down and got up again quickly, however it brought extra pain to him. He rushed forward and quickly swung a hook punch at Troy, and his opponent ducked down, and as The Pummel brought his other fist up to Troy's neck, Troy pushed it away, and then quickly jumped in the air to land six rapid punches to the face. The Pummel stumbled backwards a bit.
"YARG!" The Pummel screamed, and then raised his leg in the air to perform a tornado kick. Troy ducked again and already guessed The Pummel would spin around again to perform another tornado kick right after the first one. He was right. He quickly ducked again, and just as The Pummel lunged back down on Troy, Troy lunged himself upwards, and in a split second, he was a few centimeters away from The Pummel's underside of the left arm. Troy quickly jolted himself upwards again, and when The Pummel moved forward, Troy brought his right foot up to hit The Pummel straight in the face using all of the surface on the underside of his right foot, just like a back-kick.
"Yeah!" Troy shouted at himself.
Almost all the goblins in the stadium were nearly about to explode out of the bleachers, they were practically screaming at The Pummel to fight harder, while Troy's cellmates cheered, but for some reason Gota was doing much of that encouragement.
"I'm going to squash you down like a pancake!" The Pummel screamed at the top of his lungs, and then sprinted towards Troy with all of his speed.
"Get ready…" Troy said to himself.
"And I can just already see it happen!" The Pummel shouted.
"GO!" Troy shouted to himself as he quickly ducked down to the ground, or rather, LUNGED himself to the ground, and then quickly hauled The Pummel over him. He could even feel The Pummel released from him with such force, though that was very heavy!
"AAAGAH!" The Pummel screamed in terror as he was sent into a front-flip wipeout, and then hit his back against the rings, by just some sheer chance! That added extra bounce momentum to his wipeout, and he was sent flying into the river with a giant splash. He then lay there with no movement for a few seconds. Rae, Tala, and Jayle screamed with joy.
"Whew!" Troy said with relief in him as he wiped some sweat away from his hair.
All of a sudden, The Pummel moved, and got up rather quicker than ever before!
"Huh!" Troy said with disbelief.
"You'll pay for this brawl!" The Pummel shouted as he pointed his right index finger at Troy, and then sprinted towards the boxing ring just a single foot before collapsing down again with no movement.
"I think you're the one supposed to be paying!" Troy exclaimed casually before leaving the boxing ring.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! HOW?!" Amondo screamed in disbelief. Jayle, Tala, and Rae snickered.
"I don't blame ya." Gota mumbled angrily.
"That was probably just luck!" Amondo shouted to the crowd, and a lot of goblins were super raged. They started throwing their goblets full of elixir drink at Troy, and Troy quickly retreated to the gate before he got hit. He couldn't wait to see the look on Amondo's face once he came up to the observation platform deck!