Narrated by Alex
The crowd was even bigger than yesterday's. People filled every single seat, and a good amount of them were standing too. Everyone cheered, some for me, and some for Brad. But every person seemed to root for one of us.
We walked to the ring. It was slightly higher and bigger than the one we had back at the Green House. There was only one set of steps, facing us. I climbed on to the ring. I felt a thrill, and looked around the stadium.
LED boards lined the arena walls, and also were in some places among the crowd, displaying advertisements, and the match card for the day. The crowd was as colorful and lively as always, and the flags of each city were hoisted at the top of the stadium.
The excitement began growing inside me. The thought of displaying my skills in front of such a huge audience thrilled me to a great extent.
I looked at Brad, who was pretty nervous. His track pants vibrated, and he looked shaken up. He took a few breaths, and looked slightly less nervous.
Jimmy jumped outside the ring, and stood by the edge. He turned to me,"Are you ready?"
"Anytime," I smirked.
He turned to Brad, who gulped, and nodded.
"Begin!"
No sooner had he said that, than I began the attack. I went forward for the offense, and hit a punch to Brad's cheek. Hopefully, I hadn't broken his jaw.
"What a strike!" Jimmy said, as Brad fell,"A power-packed punch to begin the match! Can Alex capitalise on that strike? Let's see!"
I certainly did. Brad got up, but I gave him no time to recover, as I went left and right on him. He could have probably dodged my attacks, but his nervousness had gotten the better of him, and he couldn't react fast enough.
"With swift punches and kicks, Alex has gained the upper hand in this match! Can he keep it that way?" Jimmy said, as I dropped Brad down for the second time.
He got up, and wiped a smear of blood off his lips. He smiled confidently, and simply nodded.
"Oh! A taunt! Brad wants Alex to continue!" The crowd cheered for both of us, and annoyance took over me.
I lunged at him, and threw lefts and rights at him. However, he began focusing on the fight, slowly, but steadily. He began blocking most of my hits, and dodged the rest of them too.
Soon enough, he was fast enough to keep up with me, and effortlessly dodged every single strike that reached him.
"What's this?! Brad is now dodging all offense from Alex, that too, without much problem! Could this be the turning point of the match?" Jimmy announced from outside the ring.
This was now getting sort of embarrassing. Such a small guy having no problem in evading my punches? No way!
In a desperate attempt to hit him, I recklessly swung my arm, and he caught it. He smiled,"My patience has paid off! I'll qualify!"
He threw me over him, and I went flying to the edge. The impact would send me rolling out of the ring. If I didn't think of something fast, I'd be eliminated - the last thing I wanted.
I crashed down, and didn't stop.
Four rolls, and I'd be out.
Roll one. An idea struck me.
Roll two. I was definitely unsure that I'd pull it off.
Roll three. One more roll, and I'd be out! Panic took over my brain.
Roll four. Didn't happen!
I stopped myself at the absolute edge of the ring. My legs were neither on the floor of the ring, nor on the ground, but in the air. They nearly fell over, but I steadied myself. I'd just pulled off a Benji move!
The crowd was silent. Even Jimmy looked dumbfounded.
"Wh-what?! Am-amazing! I was so sure that Alex would be eliminated! In fact, all of us were! But, this was an awesome save! A handstand, right at the last moment! What a close call! Alex is still in the game! The match is still on!"
As the crowd roared, impressed, I came back to my feet, and looked at Brad. The guy blinked back at me, speechless.
I smirked,"Good throw, but I have the experience."
He shook his head, and lunged at me, beginning his offense. He was nimble, and easily got around me, hitting me with punches hard enough to make me flinch. This guy actually had strength, despite his outward appearance.
He knocked me down, and I rolled to the edge of the ring. He nearly licked me out, but I rolled away, and got back up.
"You've got some strength, huh?" I said, taking my stance again.
Brad looked at his fist, and chuckled,"It's just my bones doing their work."
He lunged at me again, but I deflected his punches, and began to keep up with him. Ever time he tried to punch me, I deflected his strike, and landed one of my own.
However, even he began to see through my tactics. As I went for my counter attack, he caught my left arm with hist left, and his right fist connected with my left.
OWWWW!!!!
A spike of agony burnt up my fingers, as I screamed in pain. He released me, and I collapsed to the ground, clutching my hand. My fingers hurt to move, and the agony prevented me to see what was going around me.
I felt a kick to my abdomen, and I was sent to the brink of elimination, just a few centimetres away from the edge.
"A new situation arises! Brad has flipped the tables with a single punch! He might win this!" Jimmy announced.
Suddenly, my agony subsided, and adrenaline took over my body. I didn't feel any pain, and was now aware of my surroundings. A purple aura blazed in front of me. My aura.
Brad was shocked again. That was my window. I didn't care about anything in the world, and instinctively lunged at him, and hit him with all of my power. He doubled over, too shocked to do anything.
I looked at my fist. It was time. Time to test it out. I'd been developing a special move, ever since I saw John's Enforcer. And it was ready.
I let all the energy inside me move towards my right hand. Brad slowly recovered though, and I had to buy some time, as my move wasn't ready.
I'd gathered quite a bit of energy by the time Brad got up, but it wasn't enough. He looked at me, eyes filled with determination.
"I will defeat you," he said,"you're annoying me now."
He willed his energy out, light lime in color. He pointed his arms towards me, and fired multiple energy blasts. I dodged all of them, but he kept on firing.
One blast was too fast for me. I blocked it, and it exploded jn front of me, forming a lot of smoke and dust.
I saw Brad's fist tear through the dust, and hit me head-on.
I nearly blacked out there, but one thing kept me up. A purple flame blazing around my right fist.
The move was ready.
I willed all of that energy to the tip of my index finger. All of the flame compressed itself into one point. A dot. A glowing purple dot, minuscule in size, resting on the very tip of my index.
I slowly got up, careful not to damage that small point filled with all of my energy.
Brad lunged at me again, but this time, I'd dodged. He went past me, and landed on the edge. As soon as he turned, I lunged at him.
"You're good. But I'm better."
These were the words I said, before tapping my finger to his chest.
Boom!
All of my energy exploded, sending him flying out of the ring, and crashing into the wall of the arena.
And as the dust in the ring cleared, I emerged victorious.
"The match is over! Alex wins!"