AN: I had the time and liked where the fight was going so I kept my writing momentum up and before I knew it I wrote out a full chapter in like an hour. So here it is now when I have it as opposed to tomorrow (I probably won't upload anything then) enjoy the chapter and all that folks!
- - - - - End of Author Note - - - - -
Staring up at the edge of the crater I saw the somewhat surprised expression of Phinks staring down at me as smoke wafted off his clenched fist. Goofily grinning up at him, I crooked my hand at him as I taunted him.
"I lived motherfucker!" flaring up my aura that felt energized and more flexible than ever before I eagerly watched on as he slid down the side of the crater as we started our third bout in this fight. Rushing forward I transformed my aura into a translucent heavy armor with sharp long clawed fingers as I met him inside the small crater.
*BAM* and thus begun our slugfest, I was able to fully take on blows as my power steadily increased as I tanked numerous hits as my own attacks slowly pushed him back. There were even a few close calls when my claws would have torn into him had the ground not shifted or buildings fell on my head to prevent them from connecting. For the most part, there was not much interference as Melody was keeping Kortopi from interfering if the faint sounds of her music I could hear during our fight were a clue.
After many fights in this past week my control over my Hatsu had increased manyfold, and with the scope of my power just increasing I had a lot more tricks and a lot more weight to throw around in this battle. Sure, my new transformation was only useful when I wasn't able to keep my relentless charge on Phinks and he could round up a few times but the qualitative increase in my base Hatsu was a huge boon.
*BOOOM* exploding the ground underneath both of our feet, I capitalized on his moment of surprise as he fell downward. Focusing more of my control on shaping the long clawed hands into an even sharper form I shot downward as I grabbed the base of his arm at the shoulder before crushing downward using the aid of several concurrent explosions pushing the claws deeper into the strong layer of Ryu that concentrated there to defend the attack.
*crack* *squelch* Yet that did nothing to stop the onslaught of minor explosions that chipped away at his aura allowing the sharp sickle-like fingers to tear and crush his arm before flinging it across the pit of destruction we had created. And at that moment I saw a look of utter confusion and disbelief as he stared at his missing arm before it morphed into a pure, baleful rage as he released an inhuman scream of rage. In the moments following his bold and brash yellow aura was discarded as it its color and qualities took on a more sinister red color as its silhouette began to resemble a raging inferno as if his own anger was fueling the fire before me.
Charging toward me with a completely different demeanor, it was as if I now fought a different person. Though the signature power increase of his winding fist was still there, however most concerning was that the rate at which his power now grew was much faster. If his previous rate of increase was linear it was now an exponential power creep that made almost any attack he sent my way deadly.
*BOOOOM!" unmoving from his attack, I was now once again covered in the new yet familiar form of my "stand" as all the power behind his attack was sapped into the ground we stood on as we both fell deeper into the now enormous pit of our own making.
And like that, a new rhythm was set for our fight, before was the slow and measured trading of powerful blows was now a frantic and fast race against the clock. I realized that he would either run out of aura or blood yet I could not stall him with my improved Hatsu as it was quite costly the longer I used it. So we were both trying our damned best to kill the other before we exhausted ourselves.
Falling down as we continued to excavate our tomb rubble and debris rained on us as we continued to dig deeper into the earth as I constantly received devastating blows and occasionally attempted to skewer him with a few concentrated attacks.
*crumble* latching onto the rocky wall with my claws I slowed my fall as I stared down at him. I realized that by now we were too far from the influence of Kortopi, there had been no buildings or cloned objects appearing before us, and Phinks would bleed out should I leave him down here. Despite that, I released my hold from the wall instead of climbing it as I slammed down from above. I made the mistake of assuming an enemy would die on their own once and I would not repeat it again.
*BOOM* *boom* *BOOOOM* our attacks were a practice in futility, as none of his would wound me and none of mine would reach him as he had an advantage in speed and experience. However, one thing I noticed was his sole reliance on his fists, which was the reason I took his arm off in the first place. Not even a kick was sent my way to destabilize me the whole fight, something I admittedly did not do but something I took advantage of.
*Voom* morphing my shin into a sharpened wedge I sent a swift low kick toward his legs whilst I simultaneously choreographed a punch toward his head.
*Bang* and my leg followed its trajectory as it cut into a large boulder that was nearby cleaving it in half, though I did not chop off Phinks legs alongside it. When I sent a kick for his legs he managed to jump upward last second but I did manage to nick the edge of his foot chopping off the toes of his left leg and resulting in another scream assaulting my ears.
Afterward was a downward spiral for him that I took good advantage of, with his footing messed up and missing one of his arms he was a much easier opponent to handle. Though I would not let that convince me to lower my guard, I had fumbled many easy wins both in this world and in my past one.
*BANG* Firing off another attack that was sure to give me tinnitus with how much I was using them I shot my arm forward as I managed to grasp Phink's neck in my clawed hands as I crushed his neck decapitating him in the process.
*huff* *huff* sitting down on a nearby rock I stared down at the bleeding corpse before I turned my gaze upward to the sky as I pondered how I was going to get out of here…