There was not a sound that came from the two Versatiles as they stood facing each other. Murder was written on both faces. There was no human being in sight but only the path of destruction that had been carved by them both. The wind had even calmed down as if in fear of the two powerful forces standing inside it.
The Finch blinked and just as she did, Brendan made his move…
He ran towards her using his heightened speed. As soon as he stopped in front of her he began throwing punches and kicks.
The Finch had no difficulty in blocking these blows, yet her expression was anxiety.
He landed a punch on her jaw and she shook her head for a brief moment but quickly recovered and the fight continued.
Fortunately for Brendan, the basic boxing moves he had been taught by Howard were coming in handy now. He had never been taught how to use his legs but he was doing the best he could, assisted by his unique speed. He would dodge one of her punches then retaliate with double. When she tried to kick him, he punched her legs aside and continued.
She now realized that this was not getting her anywhere.
He knew that she knew her disadvantage but he could not even begin to guess what was going on in her wicked mind.
The routine continued but this time, the exchange was fair.
She was now landing heavy punches on his forehead and nose. Each blow sent a stinging shockwave through the bridge of his nose. At these blows, his fixed gaze on the Finch would break for a split-second, giving her time to land a kick in his ribs.
He would stop to rub the pain but this put him at a disadvantage.
She gave him one more kick in his chest with the heel of her right foot and he staggered a few feet back.
He began soothing it with his hand.
She stood with her arms folded, 'Don't tell me you're giving up already?' she sounded disappointed.
He released his hand from his chest and straightened his body to face her, then said, 'Yielding is not even my last option.' He rushed towards her again and as soon as he was an arm's length from her, she began throwing her fists at him but this time he was prepared. At every two punches he blocked, he retaliated with five. She tried kicking his ribs but her blows went unnoticed.
The punches he threw at her landed at specific points: her cheekbones, her jaw and her right eye. He had discovered the fragility and sensitivity of the cheekbone in his fight with Thomas. He gave her one more punch; an unpredictable uppercut which made her stagger several feet back.
'You're getting weak, old hag,' he taunted her, 'perhaps you should consider yielding,' he added, shrugging in disappointment.
Her left hand was soothing her jaw. She gave him a smirk, 'It's funny how proud you are even when the odds are against you,' she said, releasing her hand from her jaw and standing up straight. She chuckled, 'Our fight hasn't even begun to begin. By the way, did you know that Girols are the most intelligent of the Supreme Races?' she asked him.
'Tell me something I don't know then we can continue our fight,' his tone was impatience.
'Apart from intelligence, Girols are also skilled in the art of hand-to-hand combat.'
'So am I..,' he raised his fists, 'now let's get back to business.'
'One Girol from Quino..,' she ignored his rude interruption, '…Maglereto; with a team of a few other Girols, abducted three human beings from this planet.'
Brendan dropped his arms, now beginning to pay attention to her story.
'The purpose of the abduction was to use the humans in an experiment but since Maglereto was in charge of the whole operation, he targeted a karate master, a judo master and a kung fu master.'
'For sparring matches?' he asked.
'No,' she shook her head, 'he forced them to teach him all their skills or else he would kill them. After they had taught him he killed them eventually. He began combining all these arts and modifying them to create his own form of martial arts. Arts based on three principles: power, discipline and speed. He called this form of martial arts, "Gwanjundo".'
'What a lousy name.'
'When he died..,' she ignored the interruption, '…he wrote down the moves of the arts he had created on some scrolls. The language was written in Girolian and too bad for them, the Versatile can understand, read and speak any language.'
'Wait a minute,' he scratched his head confused, 'are you telling me that I can speak Girolian?'