When the referee rang his whistle, Dino and Cody looked at each other without moving for a few seconds.
Dino looked on with vigilance. He had a budding rivalry with his blue haired opponent since more than a year, and he could be said to understand Cody better than others. The previous three battles Cody had participated in and put a bit of fear in Dino's heart, not just because of Cody's surprising strength growth, but rather the unhinged craziness that Cody seemed to ooze out.
Meanwhile, Cody raised his hands up and looked at Dino with a grin. With his hand up in the air, he clenched his fist in a victory pose, and his body began to heat up, letting out vapors and his muscles began to swell and his veins began bulging. A blue light flashed within Cody's eyes as he casually walked towards Dino.
Dino did not hesitate or delay and immediately snapped his fingers. Immediately, the energy on Cody's body disappeared and his swelling body turned back to normal. Yet Cody's crazy grin widened even further.
"Dino has suppressed Cody's ability. Why is Cody laughing?" Someone asked.
However, the next moment answered the audience's confusion. Cody gave out a grunt and an energy rippled out of his body, his body began rapidly bulking up again and his strength increased dramatically.
"What the f#$% happened? Dino's ability stopped working?"
Leor, who was in the audience frowned. "Something's wrong. Look at Dino, the vein on his forehead is pulsing, which means his ability is active." He said in visible confusion.
"Bastard, you've been quite willful in the past. It's time for you to understand what your real place is." Cody growled, his eyes filled with expectant schadenfreude.
"How is this possible?" Dino asked with a stunned expression. "I am still suppressing your ability!"
Cody grinned, but didn't reply. He simply walked towards Dino with a powerful gait. His height increased and his muscles expanded. Then his body suddenly disappeared from its place.
"After image! So fast?" Cran's eyes glowed.
The next moment, Cody had arrived beside Dino whose pupils had turned into slits from shock. Immediately, Dino resorted to his desperate move, transfering Cody's ability onto himself and bulking up dramatically as well. Seeing that, Cody yelled out. "I was waiting for that!"
A right hook from Cody towards Dino's ear was blocked by a muscular arm that jut out in a defensive maneuver from Dino, protecting his face. A terrifying crack sounded out as both Dino and Cody retreated.
Dino's arm was broken. He looked at Cody in shock, whose ability had still not disappeared. "How the hell are you doing this?" He grit his teeth and asked through the searing pain.
"You don't need to know!" Cody laughed as he burst towards Dino again, this time sending a powerful forward kick towards Dino's chest. With one hand broken, Dino could only use his remaining right hand to try to block to kick, but one hand couldn't stop Cody's advance.
Another couple of cracks sounded out as Dino was exploded away to the boundary of the arena, while Cody stood proudly in the center like a Lord looking down at a simpleton. Dino's hands were both broken now, as well as his ribcage had shattered inwards. At the corner of the Arena, Dino lay crumpled, vomiting out blue black blood from his mouth, as the ability he had supposedly temporarily usurped from Cody deflated, and his body sustained even more severe sustained damage.
"Stop! Battle ends!" The referee screamed as he saw Cody rushing like a bullet once again to punch Dino's face. However, Cody didn't seem to hear the fatty referee'a call. Suddenly, the referee's body began burning and smoke began appearing, the blubbery fat on his body began to burn visibly and he blinked like a rocket, appearing between Dino's heavily injured body and blocked Cody's punch.
"Stop! I said the battle has ended!" The referee glared in anger.
"Holy crap! Did you see the fatty just moved like a laser!" Someone in the audience yelled.
"I heard he burns his fat to increase his speed and strength dramatically. The more fat he burns the stronger he gets, but then he becomes thin again." Another observer supplied some commentary on the matter.
Cody looked at the referee, who seemed to become thinner, with rage, but eventually controlled himself and retreated and deactivated his ability.
The referee looked at Cody with vigilance, his thinning body making an awkward appearance in the fat and oversized clothes he was wearing. He immediately motioned for the first aid emergency.
"Dino has been terribly injured, plus he also suffered backlash from using his ability."
"How did Cody nullify Dino's countering ability?" Lear looked at the other members of the student council.
Cran, the usual analyst shook his head, signaling his inability to understand as well.
Janice, who had had her eyes closed until this moment opened her eyes and spoke. "Cody did not nullify Dino's ability."
"Then? How was he able to still use his ability?" Lear asked.
Janice looked at Cody, her eyes filled with complexity. "The vibration signature from when he first used his strengthening ability was wildly different from the vibration signature of the ability he used after Dino nullified his strengthening ability."
Cran's eyes raised in shock. "You can't possibly be saying...?"
Trix looked at the others and laughed. "How interesting. This blue haired brat has awakened a second ability of the strengthening type?"
"No wonder..." Lear replied. Shock on his face for the first time in a long time. "Dino nullified one ability, but Cody actually awakened a second one. But there's something wrong with his mental state. "
---
In the infirmary, the thinned ex-fatty referee, and the Nurse looked at each other. Dino lay on the bed, his vitals extremely bleak.
"We need to transfer him to the hospital, Paul." Nurse Esther said with a serious look in her aging eye. "This was done by the Cody brat?"
Paul, the fatty referee, nodded. "There's something wrong with him. I'm planning to talk to the principal about the matter. He is attacking others with the intent to injure them on purpose."
The Nurse frowned. "He has been bullying the poor abilityless brat in third grade. I'm worried for that boy."
"Adrian? I'll let the principal know about the matter." The referee nodded as he turned to leave the infirmary. "The ambulance is arriving soon to tale Dino to the hospital." He said as his shadow disappeared from the infirmary.