March 3, 2023
Marcellus Louis had the best punch in the entire city of Lyon. He was only nineteen but He was already a champion of the streets of Lyon. And these underground tournaments weren't to be taken lightly. The one that was held three days ago had Jimmy wells. He had not made it to official matches but the rumor was that he stalemated Rocky the great, the three-time world champion. But Marcellus beat even that guy. He was a fighting prodigy. And fighting, He loved from his soul. He believed that a man was only as worth as his punch.
But He was not satisfied with the underground matches. He wanted to fight the big boys. Jimmy was a fine catch but still, He was old and past his prime. So He would have to go fight in the official matches, he even wanted to go on a world tour and meet the men who lived according to their fists, The fight-maniacs of all kinds and styles.
But he couldn't leave yet, not without paying off his debt to Dorian. It was a huge sum of money but he'd already paid most of it from the prize he earned with his fists. He needed just a few more wins to pay off all of his debts.
So he was headed for his next match. for some reason, the prize money was huge this time. He did not know why but the betting was off the charts that day. His opponent was called vincent. A name he had never heard before.
As he entered the building, One of Dorian's men greeted him. "Mars, Papa wants to see you." He pointed towards the door at the end of the passage on the left.
Dorian was Lyon's biggest Mafia and one of the richest. By biggest, he was also literally the biggest. He was quite a fighter when he was young. This was the reason why many strong fellas were so loyal to him.
Dorain passionately took a puff from his cigar and greeted Marcellus as he entered the door,
"Mars, my boy."
Dorian had two ladies by his side, they looked at Mars and smiled.
"Quite a dashing fella, isn't he?", Dorian demanded their agreement, which they offered with a smile.
Mars was already popular among women in Dorian's gang. While the men of Lyon were a fan of his fists, The ladies favored him for his looks. Despite being born to a poor woman on the street, he had an exquisite appearance, as if he was royalty from the fairy tales.
He was a perfect six feet, A lean body with appropriate cuts. All his hard training had built him to be the shape of the perfect athlete. Even though he was lean he hit like a truck, which is why he fought in all weight classes and eventually won them all and at such a young age. What made him stand out was his unique blue-colored pupil.
That with his Golden hair definitely gave him a dreamy look. Any female fan who came to meet him would make a special request not to hurt his face in the fights which he did actually adhere to although unintentionally.
"Did You want to say something Papa?", Marcellus asked politely.
Although he had ties with the mafia he was not actually one of them, all he did was fight in the ring with Dorian's name. he had respect for Dorian. Dorian gave him the money he needed for his mother's surgery. It was a huge sum and it was not free but nobody would lend money to a 14 years old boy on the street with a dying mother. His mother would have died right there on the street but thanks to the money her life was preserved for two more years, it had been five years since then and Marcellus still had every ounce of gratitude towards Dorian for that.
It was also the same debt that Marcellus was earnestly trying to settle. It was the money that he extended his mother's life with so he wanted to pay all of it.
"Don't fight today's match," Dorian commanded.
"What's the reason, Papa?" Marcellus worried because he was growing impatient and wanted to earn money as fast as possible. And these matches were the only way to earn decent amounts.
"Don't question papa, idiot." A tall and bulky man from the corner shouted.
"If he tells you to do something, you do it. if he tells you not to, you don't. you don't ask why," The angry man added.
On Dorian's signal, the two frightened girls left the room.
Marcellus gave the man a challenging look. he did not like Albert. He did not like any of Dorian's men to be exact. Mars overlooked Dorian being a criminal because of what he did even though he was the leader. however, he could not bring himself to get friendlier with other guys. It was the same for Dorian's men. it did not bode well with them, that Dorian picked a random kid from the street and treated him specially. they envied him. and Albert hated Marcellus the most. Albert considered Dorian as his own father. To him, Marcellus was like a stepchild who came to take away what should have been solely his.
He proved to be the best fighter in the group just when he turned 17, taking away Albert's throne as the best. Nobody could touch Marcellus, for two main reasons. First, Dorian wanted him untouched, and second, he was strong enough to defend his own life.
"calm down". Dorian ordered looking at Albert and turned toward Marcellus. Albert rolled his eyes and went on to look at his smartphone.
"Mars, If you fight today you might lose." Dorian went on.
"That vincent guy, something is fishy. I think he is one of Pietro's men. They want to create trouble here, it seems"
Marcellus did not even think before he calmly said," The only trouble my opponent can bring into the ring is the virtue of a better fighter than me, and I don't even see that as trouble."
"How cringe" Albert laughed.
Dorian stared shrewdly at Marcellus as if looking to find reassurance through his eyes.
"I don't want you crippled my boy."
"Pietro is scum, and he never fails to prove a bigger scum every time he comes at us and He is quite thorough, He has no morals." Dorian took another long puff and began reminiscing about his bouts with his annoying rival.
"Mars", A man entered the room with a mic on his hand.
"Yours is up next." he signaled Mars to get ready for his match.
Mars headed out of the room and before he closed the door he looked at Dorian and gave him a reassuring nod. Seeing that Dorian sighed with half relief.
As Marcellus entered the arena he looked around to see hundreds of people waving at him. The arena was an enclosed cage that had bars that were 4 inches thick in radius. The arena had a diameter of 12 meters which was slightly bigger than normal rings. This was because This arena even held matches with weapons sometimes.
"You all know the man who just entered the arena.", The caster shouted waving at the crowd, and the crowd roared.
A continued chant of the word "Mars", engulfed the underground hall. Lyon loved Mars. The Ladies were screaming. These were not your regular ladies, A normal person would never in their lifetime find out that a place like this existed. You had to have ties with the mafia or be from a very wealthy family. Even the fighters needed a strong connection to get into the arena. Marcellus entered the arena as Dorian's family representative. Any group that a fighter represented got commissions from the betting pool when the fighter would win the fight. Marcellus was paying debts by winning these matches.
"Now let's welcome the next fighter for today." The caster paused and the crowd shouted in anticipation.
"Pietro family has sent a fighter for the first time in 3 years." the caster declared as he looked at his tablet.
Dorian who was sitting above on the lounge called one of his men and whispered in his ears. "So that guy is from Pietro family after all. keep an eye on everything he does in the ring. I would not expect an ingrate from the Pietro family to fight fairly."
The man nodded and went on to pass the order to other members of the gang.
"Vincent, let's welcome the guy for the first time in the arena." The caster shouted and the crowd cheered but it was mixed with boos and yeah's. The female audience wanted Marcellus to win, the men wanted a bloody battle.
A rather frail-looking man entered the arena. This was a weight-independent arena but most of the fighters to compete were normally big men. Marcellus was actually one of the smallest fighters in terms of build but the guy that just entered was even smaller.
The crowd booed as they saw the man, they wanted a fighter that would stalemate Marcellus and they were definitely expecting a much stronger-looking fighter.
Marcellus looked at him from head to toe. He did not really have the body of a fighter. His standing stance did not reflect a fighting experience. however, there was a strange strong hint of confidence in his eyes. And he had a rather annoying look on his face. The type of face Marcellus considered 'punchable'. Marcellus decided not to judge him by his cover. The referee told them to stand in their positions. the crowd slowly picked up the cheering volume.
"Start", Referee signaled and moved aside.
Marcellus took his stance but vincent just stood there casually.
"I feel sorry for you kid," Vincent said without moving from his place.
"Your eyes don't look sorry." Marcellus took a deep breath and charged at him.
He closed in and did a feint with his left fist to check Vincent's reaction. There was none. Marcellus was getting confused, did this man really come to fight?
Marcellus backed off to his corner loosened up and played with his curl that snaked close to his right eye. He often did that when was thinking. He decided to hit him and see what happens.
Then he rapidly charged again at Vicent who still stood at the same place with a smirk. Marcellus swung his right fist back and did not hold back any of the strength. As he swung his fist towards vincent's face he was looking to see what vincent was going to do. Will he come up with a counter? Block? or just duck? what will it be?
Bam!!
It was a clean hit, Marcellus had a very strong right. He had knocked a 100 kg man 3 meters away with that punch before. Nobody could survive a clean hit from that fist.
Not this time though. The audience gasped and went silent for a moment.
Marcellus Himself was surprised. vincent had taken a clean hit on his face, yet he hadn't moved an inch back from where he stood before. His head had slightly tilted towards the direction of the punch and that smirk still hadn't left his face.
Marcellus moved back, his right fist was hurting. It felt like hitting a metal.
vincent rubbed his cheeks.
"So this is Lyon's best punch?" He teased Marcellus.
Up in the Lounge, Dorian felt a chill up his spine. "It can't be. this guy. Is he what I think he is?", He clenched his fist looking at one of his men.
Marcellus noticed a small amount of smoke emanating out of Vincent's body. It was a red smoke. at first, it was barely visible but slowly it got thicker.
Vincent smiled, "This was the best punch of a normal human in Lyon."
As he formed a punch and charged at Marcellus, He shouted, "but I'm not your normal human, unlucky for you Kid."
His form was full of exploitable openings, He did not have the most optimized form to bring out the most of one's power into the punch. Marcellus could tell that Vincent was definitely an amateur at fighting but he could also tell that He could not get hit by the punch that was coming at him. He had no time to think so he prepared to face the punch, He tilted his body a bit sideways to block with his left hand using his right as a support, He positioned his legs to brace the momentum of the punch. It was the most perfect and beautiful form to look at.
But things did not go well, The audience watched in terror as Marcellus flew from center to the edge of the ring and crashed into the bars. That was six meters and judging by the momentum he would have flown another 10 meters if there was no cage to hold him.
His left arm had been completely shattered, It even got to his face after completely breaking his arm. And the impact broke several of his ribs. A normal person with no guards up would have instantly died. Marcellus dropped to the ground coughing up blood. His left eye had completely been closed up and blood was blocking his view. he couldn't even breathe properly as the broken ribs penetrated his organs.
"This is cheating, An awakened can't be fighting in this ring." One of the women from the audience shouted,
"Quick, bring a stretcher, Mars is going to die." another one of his fans followed up.
One by one the audience started complaining and went uncontrollable.
Meanwhile, Dorian was getting up to take matters into his own hand but a shadow grew closer to him from behind.
"Stay down kid, I did not really come here to fight you for real," Vincent stated as he noticed Marcellus still trying to get up. The referee had already fled the ring.
Marcellus gave up trying to get up for a while. "What are you here for?"
"Pietro wants all this territory for himself, So we came to get rid of the man with the biggest territory." vincent said and looked towards where Dorian was watching the match from. Marcellus felt scared and turned his head towards the lounge as he could barely see through the glasses. Dorian was talking to three people he hadn't seen before. Actually, he knew the one in the middle, it was Pietro. Mars struggled, he was desperate to get up. Dorian was in danger.
"I thought I told you to stay down," vincent placed his feet on Marcellus's head and pushed it down. He noticed the men from different gangs and the tournament guards circling around the ring, but he also noticed that they were unsure about actually attacking him. they were scared because he was an awakened.
Pietro wanted to clean up Dorian and all his best men. The underground fighting place was definitely the best place to do that if you wanted to avoid the police. The big betting amount was bait for Dorian since he only sent his fighters when the prize was big.
"How did you find awakened people Pietro? I thought there were none left in France." Dorian asked as he felt threatened by their arrival. All of his men had already succumbed. The two men by Pietro's side were also awakened. They took out seventeen of Dorian's men in a matter of seconds.
"Dorian my old friend. You are not keeping up with the times. have you gone senile?" Pietro was a short man with an ugly mustache.
"The world has already gotten used to these new breeds of people. How can you still call yourself a Mafia without any awakened men in your forces? One of them is equal to hundreds of men."
Pietro looked at the ring.
"That guy Vincent is the weakest of the three, and he took out your strongest with a single punch. He can still kill all the men down there, even guns don't hurt him."
Suddenly Albert burst into the room and shouted, "Papa are you all right?"
As Marcellus was watching all this he felt relieved.
"Get papa away from there Albert." He could not talk but he prayed.
Albert walked towards Dorian but one of Pietro's guys got in the way.
"Move, You fucker." Albert placed a gun at the man's temple.
"try your luck. Shoot." The man challenged Albert.
"Have it your way."
Albert pulled the trigger, a large gunshot sound rang across the entire hall. That caused chaos among the audience and they started evacuating.
The gunshot did not even leave a scar on the man's head. Albert's eyes widened in shock. "I had heard awakened were crazy strong but are they really unkillable?" Albert cursed in his mind.
Dorian went weak on his knees and fell on the sofa as the man who was just shot point-blank lifted Albert by his throat. He threw Albert through the glass. His body landed just above the cage where Marcellus was fighting. His blood dripped from the bars and to the ring where Marcellus lied.
"Albert". Marcellus screamed on top of his pain. He hated him but not enough to be okay watching him die especially when Dorian needed to be saved.
Marcellus tried getting up again, he coughed up more blood, writhed in pain but did not stop struggling. Vincent and everyone from the lounge was watching. Vincent got curious, he wanted to see if the guy would actually stand. Vincent was also praising Marcellus for not losing consciousness despite being hurt so badly. He had received more injury than Albert yet he was still trying to stand while Albert was out flat.
A true fighter's disposition.
As He tried getting up, he felt intense pain, His left hand was not usable anymore.
He looked up towards Pietro and shouted.
"Don't touch Papa And you better send those two to help little Vincent here because he won't beat me alone." He bluffed. They were there to kill Dorian. He had to stall as long as He could. but stall for what? They still had reinforcements but they would still be no match for these three superhumans.
He had to do something himself.
"I only know how to fight, so that's what I will do," He told himself.
"Why do you want to die so young?" vincent asked as he was assured that Marcellus was really going to fight.
"It's already a miracle that you survived that hit earlier." He added.
"He is annoying, Kill him". Pietro commanded.
"I did not want to kill anyone but you heard him." vincent moved towards Marcellus who was barely standing.
Marcellus was taking heavy breaths, He was focusing. "what do I do? He hits better than me and tanks better than me. These guys can take in bullets without a scratch. what matters most is raw strength here. this is looking hopeless."
Vincent charged towards him and threw a punch. Marcellus knew he could not take any of those so he evaded. He left trails of blood whenever he moved.
"I need strength." he dodged another punch as he thought to himself.
His vision was blurred because of blood in his eyes and also because of blood that had left his body more than it should have. He was nearing his last ounce of energy reserve just by moving around. his thoughts were hazy but he was set on one goal.
Strength.
It is said that the brain lets out an enormous amount of strength when it feels the body is in danger. The adrenaline. As he kept moving around, One of Pietro's men felt uneasiness. He was a follower of a God who was good with premonitions. he had some ability to sense future danger as well. However, he did not think it was that big of a deal, he did not know what it meant because he had not truly learned to use that ability.
The light bulbs began flickering all around the hall. Everyone who was present felt uneasy as if they were having trouble breathing.
Vincent still hadn't landed a single blow. He had not learned to control his newly acquired physical boost so he had so far only relied on his raw strength and sturdiness. Marcellus had cut down all the other information on his brain. He was only focusing on vincent's eyes. He would dodge as soon as Vincent attacked, elegantly using the muscle memory that was engrained because of countless fights training, and simulations.
Slowly a pure black smoke started coming out of his body. It was similar to vincent's red smoke but it had such an ominous color. The three awakened knew what this meant. it had happened to them too.
"Vincent, finish him off quick." one of the guys shouted leaving Dorian and Pietro confused.
Strength.
Strength.
strength.
Marcellus kept repeating in his head. he did not know what was happening around him, He did not see anything else. He was in what they called the athlete's zone. Vincent was starting to panic, He knew he had to finish him off, The black aura had gotten so thick that it had engulfed Marcellus's body. Some of the fragments of aura had even reached the lounge where Dorian and the others were. Vincent swung a wide right towards Marcellus. Marcellus could see that in slow motion. He ducked low.
As he clenched his whole body, He began to gather strength. He even forgot that he was in pain.
"strength" this time it wasn't in his mind, he shouted out loud. To vincent, it sounded like a roar as he was caught up in the momentum of his own swing. Marcellus arched back his right arm as his useless left hung at another side.
Vincent could not control his body and Marcellus was coming.
"Puuuuuuunnnnchhhhhhh," Marcellus screamed and suddenly all the black aura gathered at his fist, making it shiny black, the bulbs violently burst the wires short-circuited. as he swung his intense uppercut at Vincent a shockwave originated from his feet and bent the iron rod of the cage. when the punch finally connected another burst of shockwave shattered all the glasses and made cracks on the wall. Since vincent had a very hard body himself, the impact of the punch made him burst open the top of the cage, he crashed through the ceiling and kept flying off till the fourth floor of the building making hole on every floor. It was so powerful that he destroyed the thick concrete floors. On the fourth floor, he hit the highest point and then fell straight down right next to Marcellus's side. The people at the lounge were dusting off themselves. Vincent had already stopped breathing, his bones and organs had been crushed.
His blood had splattered over various parts of the building and had already dried up. Pietro and the two guys looked at Vincent's body in horror. Marcellus was still standing. But he had used all his energy, He looked at Dorian, he had a shocked looked on his face, and everyone else. Marcellus couldn't move anymore. He had no idea about what he did, he was not really fully conscious to think about those things. He looked above.
Two more enemies.
He looked at them, He had the eyes of a killer. The two guys did not know that Marcellus was at his last reserves. even Marcellus did not know that. He moved a step towards them. They moved a step back. it was instinctive. They somehow knew that this newly awakened was a league above them.
"Mr. Pietro, we should leave.", one of the guys informed.
"what are you saying? He is almost unconscious, finish him." Pietro went aggressive with his tone in hopes that they would agree.
"Mr. Pietero we no longer have the advantage of having awakened people in our group. That guy is stronger," the guy with the power of premonition stated, and that was exactly what his senses were telling him.
Dorian ran towards Marcellus. Nobody stopped him.
"Nobody Move". A number of armed soldiers entered the hall. It was the UN task force. They had caught on to the destruction of the building and even the new intense energy. Marcellus saw Dorian run towards him, Albert's body was on the ground because of the shock. The black aura still surrounded him, thinner and steady.
Dorian got to him as Marcellus fell. The task force personnel surrounded them. As his consciousness began to fade Marcellus felt a strong sensation as if his soul was being pulled towards a certain direction.