If Kay-Oh takes Clyde's muscle mass for himself, we'll never stand a chance at stopping him. Clyde hardly has any enhancements for his strength, just the nanobots that every agent has. The strength is all due to his great effort and stupendous genes. That kind of natural muscle power will put Kay-Oh on top of the world.
He approaches Clyde who still isn't moving, his hand out to grip his throat the same way he did mine. Clyde puts a weak hand out in front of him to protest, but that's all he can do. Kay-Oh crouches down and tries to grab him, but Clyde grabs his wrist first.
"Your will is strong, but your body has quit. Give up now, Clyde, while you still have dignity."
Clyde can't even push him back an inch. He just holds on lazily like he's hoping for mercy. Kay-Oh smiles as if he's letting a child win at a fake fight. He slowly inches towards his throat, and Clyde grunts through his teeth.
"I've heard of your exploits before, you were quite talked about at The Key. I admit that you never stood a chance because of my incredible ability, but I still respect you as a martial artist. It would be an honor to consume the muscle mass of Clyde Barker."
"Are you prepared to take in all of me?" Clyde asks, his voice strained.
"What?"
Suddenly, Clyde's hand gripping Kay-Oh's wrist emits small blue sparks. It turns into a cloud of electricity that shoots through Clyde's palm and into Kay-Oh's arm. It travels through the limb and reaches his heart; Kay-Oh screams while his whole body is contracted. He lets go, and Kay-Oh stumbles back a few steps before falling flat on his back, his arm now twisted with melting flesh.
Clyde struggles to get up. He looks at his hand, burning with hot flames, and flexes his fingers. He shakes it quickly to put out the fire. "Nanobots are part of this body, you might as well get used to their programs while you're at it."
Kay-Oh convulses for a few seconds before jamming a thumb in his neck and stopping his seizure. He springs up with furious energy and a stare capable of terrifying blind people. "The shock, it almost killed me. You almost killed me. I almost lost!"
Clyde puts a few fingers in a rip of his shirt and finishes tearing off the rest. Both fighters match outfits now, and Clyde's hulking muscle still manages to be bigger than Kay-Oh's stolen muscle. "Now for Round 2. Are you ready?"
Kay-Oh resumes his fighting stance. "This ends here and now! Alternative Punch has felt trauma. For that, it'll get its revenge."
Kay-Oh sprints for Clyde, his body splitting in two now. Two Kay-Ohs? He looks glitched, his body fades in and out at a fast rate; it's like he's creating an afterimage of himself in two different positions. How could that have happened? I thought his only power was to trick eyes into seeing something else. Did his power somehow mutate after feeling immense trauma? Even I can see it, you don't have to be a fighter to see two of them.
Clyde shoves his elbow into the car window behind him, shattering the glass into several sprinkles. The ones that pop forward cover the space in front of him and Kay-Oh's attack is revealed. But this time, there isn't an attack that doesn't phase the sprinkles. Both attacks are real!
A straight punch aiming for Clyde's nose, and another aiming for his gut! Clyde uses his right forearm to swipe in an upward motion for a smooth deflection, but the gut punch lands, causing him to lose all of his breath. Two attacks instead of one now, this only gets more unfair the longer it goes on. One of the images even swipes away some of the glass that threatened to cut it.
Kay-Oh keeps the combo short. Two more punches from two Kay-Ohs scrape Clyde's face before their bodies join back to one and deliver an open-palmed strike to Clyde's ribs to get him to start rolling down the street.
When Clyde stops rolling, he makes the mistake of standing right back up. Kay-Oh launches into a sprint so fast, the street beneath his foot crumbles into a small pothole. His shoulder collides with Clyde, and they both get taken on a journey as Kay-Oh's extra body continuously hit Clyde as he struggles to free himself from the mad dash.
He finally slips out of the path, his body covered in new scratches and his fur pounded down from hard punches. He throws up his lunch. "Super speed too?"
Kay-Oh skids to a stop. "No. All the leg muscles provide a strong springboard for a running start. What about you? Any new tricks to make this interesting again?"
Clyde wipes his mouth and points at him. "My nanobots have been copying your style, and now I have a ghost attack of my own. Get him!"
"What!?" Kay-Oh whips around everywhere looking for the slightest disturbance of wind. He keeps his arms up ready to block, but nothing ever comes. "Where is it!? How could your technology possibly copy the relic's power?"
"It can't. I was just joking. Really, I just wanted to stall. Maybe get a few more sweet breaths in before you kill me. I'm not winning this fight, it's obvious to me. There are only so many ways to reveal where your attacks are coming from, but I'm all tapped out. I have no idea what I should do next, so you might as well charge me again with that…what did you call it? Alternative Punch?"
Kay-Oh seems very hesitant, keeping his guard up and slowly advancing toward Clyde. "Even if this is a trick, there's no element or force on this planet that can stop Alternative Punch. It truly is the power of a God."
Clyde lets him get closer, he doesn't even back-peddle. "We normal folk are very limited. No strange powers, no strong bodies. Hell, Ispio tech is the only reason my body wasn't mangled back there with your unnatural striking power. You've already beaten Troy. I know he's little, but he has some of the best training that anyone can teach. Beating him already showed me that this wasn't going to be an easy fight."
"Clyde, for someone of a normal body, the respect I have for you is insurmountable. I won't make you suffer from a caloric deficit, I'll end you the way a warrior should be. Death in battle!"
Kay-Oh sprints again, but he doesn't create an afterimage. No, he only has one body right now, and it's a horrifying right punch aiming for Clyde's right side. It connects, Clyde lets it connect. The Steel Pill doesn't help him at all. A chunk of his side is ripped off, and the bottom of his last rib is showing sticking out, slightly broken, and dangling from the rest of the ribcage.
I know he tries to scream, but he can't. His mouth is probably wide open, but no sound comes out. Kay-Oh looks into his eyes, and he smiles. "Farewell, Clyde. I'll wear your strength like a badge of honor."
My chest! I think my heart stopped again. This feels faster than before, my organs are really on their last stand. The nanobots detect my suffering and shock me to life once again. I feel sick, I don't think I can take another resuscitation without croaking. Clyde, if you're somehow still standing, you're going to need to do something quickly.
Clyde's hand slowly comes up, his fingers clutching a handle he pulled from his belt. On top of it is a shiny red button, and when he presses it, a loud explosion happening above them shakes the trees.
Kay-Oh flinches and looks upward. "What!?"
Water rains down on both of them as Clyde managed to blow up the water tower that Kay-Oh pushed them to. Even in Clyde's unlimited pain, he drops the detonator and resumes his fighting stance.
"I just needed you to get closer!" he says while winding back a punch.
Kay-Oh instinctively takes a defensive stance, his Alternative Punch creating another him extending only from the hip with no extra legs. The water from the tower splashes both Kay-Ohs, but something incredible happens to one of them. It instinctively starts to strike out of the falling water! It perceives the threat like an animal without eyes, solely relying on sensors and instinct to defend its host. Kay-Oh doesn't know how to use his new mutation just yet.
I watch Kay-Oh's face change to pure worry as he watches his other self defend against the wrong thing. He tries to prepare himself for Clyde's incoming wind-up, only to realize that without being able to mask his attack, he stands no chance against Clyde's years of combat training.
The brutality is unblockable, Kay-Oh does his best to try to get out of range, but all of Clyde's stunners keep him disorientated and unable to respond at all. Clyde's rage never lets him pull back, and he never seems to breathe in between his attacks either. Clyde's mind is capable of ignoring things like pain and the need for breathing.
He keeps going and going, Kay-Oh is already on the ground. His Alternative Punch has receded, and it's just him now. Clyde doesn't stop, even when Kay-Oh does. His face turns into dislocated bone structure and his flesh is similar to pudding.
A drop of blood falls from Clyde's visible rib, and he stops. He breathes in deeply and hovers his hands over his missing side. I see him cough up some blood and muffle his many screams.
He grabs Kay-Oh by the throat and lifts his head off the ground. "A good fight."
Kay-Oh, through mangled teeth and pools of blood, smiles, and shudders. "Good fight."
The barrel of Conviction is pressed against his forehead. With the relic satisfied with the fight, it allows the bullet to pass through the skull. Kay-Oh bleeds severely, and soon enough, my muscle mass and energy come flowing back to me. Clyde's camera stays running, but when it falls to the ground and doesn't get up, I know I must go looking for him.
My body shakes violently before I can use it again, I scare the cops watching me. I have to give them credit, they didn't abandon me when all the other residents left back to their homes.
"Special Agent Hearth?" one says.
"I'm okay. I have to go look for my partner. Come with me, I'm sure you'll want to deal with the body." They seem confused, but they didn't watch the slaughter I did.
The other officer speaks. "Hold it, the radio says all officers incapacitated are starting to move again. I've got no clue what happened, but I think it's over."
I find both Clyde and Kay-Oh totally soaked in water and blood laying in the middle of the street. Clyde's missing side is gorier in person, I really can see his ribcage. The nanobots are insanely advanced to keep us going after some damage like that.
"Clyde," I say while patting his bare back, "you're still breathing, right? You don't have to wake up right now, you should rest. The pilot is still on his way, the doctors aboard should help you out until we get to Nivan's clinic. He'll synthesize new skin for you, and get you a new gallbladder and kidney. Looks like you're missing those."
"Agent Hearth, you should give him some room. Your partner isn't looking so hot."
The cop means well, but he just doesn't understand the technology our bodies are using right now. I give him some space, but my eyes wander over to Kay-Oh's body. There's not a chance there's any life in him anymore, but he died with a smile on his face. I don't know what he got out of fighting Clyde, but it looks like it was his end goal. I've never seen someone so happy to be defeated before.
The jet picks us up at an agreed landing zone. Once they saw the state Clyde was in, they totally ignored me to work on him. Ironic, since Clyde called them to help me out instead. I take a seat and try to ignore the image of Clyde's missing side and exposed ribcage by starting my report.
Hmm, I wonder. I put my fingers together and…
Snap!
Nope, nothing.
Animatrix Victim: Kay-Oh
Curse: Alternative Punch
Type: Martial Artist
Status: Deceased