What I did not expect to happen is to feel a click in his spine, apparently sliding the disk back into place. With a little shocking delay, that gave the initiation opponent enough time to land a blow to my gut from a backward kick. Spitting up the lunch I had today, I was able to hold my ground, clenching my teeth and wobbling on my feet. Looking back up, I was able to see the man in a straightjacket that was visibly ripping at the rear back of his arm and throwing a punch that would kill me.
However, the eye was starting to affect his aim, which made me be able to duck his punch. After ducking, I rushed under his arm and landed a high kick right into his jaw, shaking his head. This time he stumbled back more than five steps, allowing me to wail on him with around twenty consecutive punches all around his chest and stomach.
Taking the punches, all the man before me could do was block some of them, but most of them slipped through his weakened defenses. Coughing up blood, his arms hung at his sides, body swaying. Leaning back, I twisted my body, ready to land a punch using all of my power.
However, while I was winding myself up for the punch, I did not notice that my opponent stopped wobbling. As I threw the punch, I did not notice the fist flying up right under my head, aimed at my chin. I did not notice that I was tricked by the beast of a man who was my opponent until I was falling to the ground, starting to lose consciousness.
'NO!' I screamed in my head. Putting out both hands before I fell on my face, which definitely would have knocked me out. Feeling my bones creak, I barely managed to get one of my knees under my body to get some leverage to stand again. Pushing myself to my feet with almost all of my strength left in me, I managed to get into a standing position, although hunched over.
Taking a few wobbly steps toward the man, I swung with all my might, striking him in the stomach. He did not even flinch. Putting all of my strength into these last few attacks, I knew that my consciousness was fading fast. Swinging for an uppercut, I glanced across his chin, slightly knocking his head back. That seemed to be the last straw for my opponent.
Grabbing my wrist, he brought his other hand behind me and snapped it into my neck. Blazing pain roared through my entire body right before my sight started fading. Wishing I could have done more, my last thoughts were filled with what would happen to me now.
*Mark POV*
I was disturbed by my thoughts by a slight crackle that sounded from my hip. Anthony seemed to have finished his bout with the new guy. Picking the radio up, I clicked the center button, connecting my radio to Anthony's.
"He is out. I also need medical attention. He managed to land a few powerful hits on me. He passed." Anthony said. My eyes widened in surprise, as well as Nicos, who was also gaping at the announcement. Well, it is no wonder that he should be surprised. Even now, Anthony is still a mystery to us. This monster of a man came right up to us during a mission, wishing to join us.
There were a few members of the team I was in who was cocky and mocked the newcomer, to which Anthony responded by ripping their heads off. And that is how he joined our gang, more by force than by acceptance. Apparently, his situation is that he wanted to be part of something, but every gang or organization was 'Too weak' for him, so he came up with the idea of being a test for new members of a gang.
This is a very good idea, as he would be the determiner of whether the strength of each new member facing him could be of help to expanding our dominion or being helpful during missions. Of course, this was very dangerous, as it would discourage many weaker people who wanted to join our gang, and the strong ones worthy or Anthony would be in a different guild, as they did not have this crazy initiation ceremony, and only wanted the strength to be in their gang.
"He managed to injure Anthony, the Executioner? Normally, Anthony would let people who even managed to make a scratch on him, but this new guy, even after months of isolation, managed to give him enough injuries for him to seek medical attention?! How powerful is this new guy, Boss?" Nico said.
"Even I could not say. All I can tell you is that this is a very interesting turn of events." I said, trying to hide the wonder I felt at having someone like this joining my gang. With more training, this boy would grow up to be the best fighter I have ever laid eyes on! One thing that I needed to make sure that would not happen is that he would not betray me upon me using him. With him, I can finally accomplish the goal that I was hoping to accomplish for years.
Clicking back on the button to reconnect with Anthony, I told him, "Roger, I am contacting the first aid team right now. But before that, the new member went into one of the members' rooms. We seem to have found a diamond in the rough with this one." I said, switching the channel to the medical station. "Daniel, Anthony needs medical attention. He is going into the barracks. You can meet him there." I said concisely.
Before I shut off the radio, I heard some shouts of surprise and questions. "Wait, does that mean that the new guy you locked up in the cell managed to injure Anthony? He has never needed, or even asked, for medical support before now. How serious are his wounds?" Daniel, the chief medical specialist, asked.
"The wounds that Anthony suffered should not be that bad, but just in case, be sure to bring anything that you would need to treat major injuries," I said. They seem to have even more questions, but I cannot be bothered. Walking towards the Barracks, Nico in tow. Nico, who was only 27, was still shell-shocked by the revelation that someone managed to injure Anthony enough that he had to ask for First Aid. As for Nico's background, He was just another one of the members that passed Anthony's test.