Narrated by John
I had no idea that I'd advanced so much in a matter of two months.......
I felt light and quick, but also filled with strength. I was sure that my punches could be as strong as Alex's. I just felt like that.
I hadn't realised that my name had been called, and marvelled at my newfound strength, when Mr. Benji said,"It's time. You ready, John?"
I snapped back to reality, and took a breath,"Yeah. I am."
I made my way to the building, where another boy with super short hair and grim eyes waited. He had pale skin, and wore a plain grey t-shirt and track pants, and sport shoes. He was as tall as I was, and the way he looked at me, made me uncomfortable. He looked like he was offended by my very existence. So he was Ethan Becker....
"Hope we have a good match." I told him as we went. He just glared at me through his grim eyes.
We entered a room, where there was a ring similar to the one at the Green House. A man wearing a suit stood near it. He smiled at us, and said,"Welcome! You both will compete against each other to qualify for the Bender Fair team representing Stronghold City! I will be refereeing your match! I suppose you know the general tournament rules?"
I nodded, but Ethan shook his head.
The man said,"No problem! I'll explain them to you. To defeat your opponent, you can either send them out of the ring, knock them out, or make them give up. Energy use is allowed, and no hits to the vital parts, or else you get disqualified. Is that clear?"
Ethan nodded.
I entered the ring, and Ethan entered from the opposite side. The referee looked at me, and I nodded. Ethan did the same.
"Begin!"
Ethan stepped forward, and began hitting his offense. His attacks were hard, and had a ferocity to them, and he probably didn't care if he killed me. However, it wasn't hard for me, and I dodged his attacks with a speed I never thought I could gain. But if his fist connected, it'd be pretty painful.
And it did. He hit my left cheek, and I dropped to the ground. My jaw felt like it had permanently moved to the right.
He kicked my belly, and sent me rolling across the ring. I slowly got up, but Ethan wasted no time, and smashed me back to the ground. My jaw hurt, but it wasn't anything I couldn't manage.
He went for another punch, but I caught his fist. He looked at me, and raised his other hand, but I caught that too. I hit him with a dropkick, and he hit the floor of the ring.
Before he could get up, I mounted him, and delivered a good amount of punches to his face. He pushed me off, but not before I left him with a bruised and bleeding nose.
He got up, and wiped the blood coming out of his nose. He took a boxing stance, but before he could start, I lunged at him. It was a mistake.
He wanted this to happen, and as I reached him, he spread his arms. He clasped his arms around my waist, and sent me flying with a belly to belly suplex.
I was sure to fall out. I had to use quick thinking. Suddenly, an idea struck me. As I was close to touching the floor, I brought some energy to my palms, and formed a small fireball. I blasted it towards the floor, and used the force of the blast to propel myself up in the air and towards the ring.
I landed in the ring, and Ethan looked at me in disbelief. He shook his head, and his eyes now had a different emotion in them. Rage....
He lunged at me, and swung his arm faster than I could react. His fist connected with my left shoulder, and I collapsed down in agony. It hurt to move, and I was sure that my shoulder had been dislocated.
Great, I thought to myself, only one usable arm now.
I grunted in pain as I manged to get up, but Ethan meant business. I screamed as he hit my left shoulder again, and tears were beginning to form in my eyes.
The referee looked at me with concern, but I shook my head. I could still win this match. Even though Ethan had battered me down, I still had a god chance of winning this.
Because I hadn't hit him with a single attack using my full strength. I'd been looking for openings, and noticed that the guy slowly lost his focus, the more he attacked. I could find the perfect opening then, and flip the tables with one hit.
I got up again, and Ethan looked to damage my arm even more, but I started dodging. My should hurt every time it moved though, so I was forced to block a few hits too. However, my plan was working. Ethan was definitely giving me a hard time, but his strikes were now reckless. He wasn't planning or looking, he just wanted to hit me.
He went for a wild swing, and I dodged it. As I expected, he left a huge opening.
I swung my left arm, but he blocked the hit. My shoulder hurt a lot, but I willed through the pain, and swung my right arm with everything I'd got.
Thwack!
I'd hit him straight across his face, and my punch was hard enough to send him out of the ring.
"The match is over! The winner is John Will!" The referee announced, as I clutched my left shoulder in agony, and made my way outside.
Mr. Benji was waiting for me outside, and when he saw me favouring my shoulder, he rushed to me.
"What happened?" He asked with concern.
I smiled, and flashed him a thumbs up.
He took a while to process this, then laughed with happiness, and held his palm up. I gave him a high five.
He inspected my shoulder, and said,"Shoulder's dislocated. Don't worry, it'll be back to normal soon."
I nodded, and looked around,"Where are the others?"
"Oh, they've gone for their qualifying matches."
Then, Chris came to Mr. Benji, and glared at him,"So, your boy managed to defeat Ethan?"
Mr. Benji smirked at him,"Yep, he did. Now, do you accept that I actually had 'something'?"
Chris snickered,"No. You got lucky, boy, that's it. But the same luck won't strike twice. You'll meet my other student at the tournament. He's training in Mira City, and is much, much better than Ethan."
Mr. Benji said,"We'll see about that."
"We will, surely."
He left, and I turned to see Alex appear from the right building.