Joao was sent flying and sliding on the rough carpet, Joao struggled to keep his face up and away from the possibility of scratching it.
"STAY OUT OF MY WAY! He is mine." Some of the fallen guys were quite relieved to see Tumi step in for them, but before they could shout in happiness he screamed at them.
His breathing was heavy and fast so he stood still to calm himself for a second. "You, I will kill you. You don't belong here, you're not one us and such you must learn your place. You should be honored to have me as your teacher."
Tumi clenched his fist tightly and jogged forward, on the ground Joao nervously awaited his opponent's first move. He clenched onto his iron rod tightly and pulled it to his lower abdomen.
Although Tumi saw this, he just interpreted it as a desperate attempt and charged on. But this didn't mean that he bore no suspicion to the weird movement, once in range of his capabilities Tumi jumped.
'I should've known.' Joao as he rolled out of the way.
On his landing, Tumi was unable to stand quick enough to keep the advantage he had over Joao.
The left side of Joao's lips was leaking blood and his chest felt like it was closing in on itself. He could see one and a half men in front of him, bearing their fists out and ready for combat. Joao held on to his head as if it was going to fall off, but he kept his eyes on his target. He was recovering very quickly but he didn't want to be rash and decided to play the role of a snake.
Tumi threw a jab and Joao evaded by leaning over to the other side and Tumi followed up with an uppercut. 'Try and dodge this.' He grinned.
Joao leaned back and the giant punched missed him barely. He stumbled backward and finally regained his normal vision. Just in time to see another oncoming barrage of fire fists.
After rounds of dodging Joao finally saw a tiny opening and slipped in to club his ribs. All of Tumi's punches weakened on impact, he staggered away from the rod and Joao retreated.
'Why isn't he going in for more hits?' Copper wondered.
"You won't get another chance like that, you wasted your only opportunity," Tumi screamed as he used this chance to back away. He then realigned himself with Joao and jumped in with a kick.
Joao took a step back and hit Tumi's ankle with the iron rod. Again, his strike wasn't filled with that much might so Tumi shrugged it off by forcefully bringing his foot down.
Joao jumped in for another attack and Tumi tried to kick again but his foot suddenly felt like it was glued to the rug. Joao swung the weapon to Tumi's hip so he blocked it with his hand.
"Ouch," he squealed a bit.
Joao forced the hand aside with the iron rod and swung it back, Tumi mustered up some strength and managed to move back. It ended up a futile effort as Joao aimed for his knee which stuck out as Tumi leaned back.
"Bloody hell," Tumi grunted.
"You put all your strength in your punches. That strength results from you pressing down on the ground with your feet. Now that I took out your anchor, this fight as good as mine." Joao said with a smile beaming across his face.
Tumi frowned for a bit until his squished lips became a smile and let out roaring laughter. "Do you really think that is all it is going to take to defeat me? Then you underestimate me a bit too much." Now foaming at the mouth, Tumi pressed his foot firmly into the ground. He tried his best to avoid the swelling that came from Joao's light but efficient attacks.
Just before Joao could open up and comment on Tumi's situation, Tumi charged forward. Joao whispered to himself, 'fool.' And gripped on to his iron rod even tighter.
As previously observed, Tumi supported himself with the uninjured leg and thrust the swelling one high into the air towards Joao's face.
"USELESS!" Joao screamed as he ducked under and propelled himself forward. With Tumi's anchoring leg hopelessly stood in front of the tiny noodle that was Joao, he parried.
THWACK!
The hit connected with the knee so loudly Monke turned to look again, Po grinned as a pile of bodies were stacked behind him. Copper, Copper also drew amusement from the scene in front of him.
It wasn't over, as soon as the hit landed, Tumi grinned. His knee bent and his previously suspended leg came crashing down on Joao. 'I knew he would attack my knee, my goal here was to land on that rod and restrict his movement so that I can hit him without any resistance. I noticed that no matter how many times he got knocked down it didn't fall off so this means that he attached it to the glove somehow. You fell for it fool, I HAVE YOU!"
Gar!
He grunted and lied flat just in front of Tumi's knee and underneath the weight of his leg. He coughed, but this was an attempt to restore breathing air into his lungs as he could only inhale the dust off the rug at this very moment.
"I... I-told-you-n-ot-to... Under-estimate me."Tumi said amidst the huge intervals in his breathing. 'Shit, I missed my target and my knee hurts like hell."
"I don't see how this is a win, you can't move either," Joao grunted.
"HA! That's where you're wrong. I can definitely punch you." Tumi tried to swing but missed Joao, in fact, he never had a chance of hitting him because he wasn't as flexible.
He swung a few more times, "I can do it. I can do it, I can do it! I CAN DO IT! GODDAMNIT!" He screamed as he continued his bombardment.
"What now?" Copper asked.
"Pack up and leave, but don't forget the money on your tab," Joao said as he placed his hands on the carpet and tried to boost himself up. He soon collapsed again under the weight of Tumi's leg being pressed on him with all his might.
"Repeat yourself," Copper said as he cracked his knuckles.
"I said don't forget our money," Joao repeated himself slow and much clearer now.
Copper took off and as he anchored a few centimeters away from Joao's head, he raised his leg and swung it with full force forward.
"Bunch of idiots." Monke sighed as he stood up.
"WHY DID YOU THAT FOR BRONZE?"Copper screamed out in agony as his leg collided with Tumi's. He raised it up to his abdomen and massaged it with his hands rapidly.
"My name is TUMI!" Tumi screamed as he faced Monke directly in his eyes. One thought was going through his brain and it was. 'He will kill us all.'
Monke leaned against the side of the frame opposite his previous seating to face the action much better. With Tumi's leg having been lifted for his defense for a few seconds, Joao managed to escape and stand up.
He glared at Tumi and tightened his right hand on his iron rod. All eyes were on him, Copper placed his foot down and also stared at him.
Joao could hear the beating of his heart getting louder, faster, and nearer to his throat than needed. He looked his killer in his eyes and he looked back with a snarl on his face.
"What are you waiting for?" Tumi growled. "Isn't this the part where you deal the deciding blow and finish the fight, secure your capo half a million, and finally get promoted?" Tumi laughed. "You're just another weakling I knew it. I SHOULDN'T HAVE LOST TO YOU!"
Joao roared and swung the iron rod, but before it landed Tumi flew back. A kick was retracted and Joao followed it back all the way to the owner's grin.
"Did you ruin my leg only to complain?" Copper growled at Tumi. The guys who were once lying around hoping to avoid clashing stood up again and fled to Po's position, where the guys he had knocked down had stood up and were now just watching in wait.
"Today's mess is on you. If you haven't been so, so... SO YOU! We wouldn't be here at all." Copper took out some brass knuckles and wore them on his right hand, he grinned as he glared down into Joao's eyes. "This is how you finish off an enemy.
He opened up his legs and launched his fist with a grunt. Joao ducked and repositioned his iron rod and aimed for Copper's ribs. He missed, fear numbed him and he lost sight of Copper.
"Useless," Po screamed with laughter from behind. This snapped Joao out of his frozen state, that and the sound of Tumi screaming. Without thinking, Joao bolted forward and attacked the backside of Copper's left knee.
Monke and Po looked at each other and sighed.
As Copper was knocked out of balance, he shifted his body to Joao's side and threw a punch. Joao grinned and managed to avoid the brass knuckles in time. But that wasn't enough, his previously snake-like position was all but a mystery as Copper stood up perfectly and grinned.
Joao immediately tried to back away in reverse but he tripped over a leftover thug. As he fell to his bums Copper followed leaping high into the air on top of him.
"You're not one of us." Copper winded up his fist and he brought it crashing at its ultimate speed.