"Begin!" The second those words left the lips of the announcer, the two caped beta testers swung at each other, their fists connecting with each other's cheeks, causing a shockwave that nearly toppled Team New York and Team LA over. The announcer wasn't so lucky, rolling backward uncontrollably until he hit the wall behind him and fell unconscious.
"Holy shit!" Tempo hadn't seen Infinite work in person. The amount of power behind just a single punch was unlike anything he'd ever seen. Just the pressure from the punch was enough to cause him to shift his weight and block his face with his arm as if he were in a hurricane.
"That's my boy!" the Blur cheered Infinite on. This sort of thing never got old for him.
"I'm glad at least one of them is on our team." Lady luck whispered. Flora, who was standing right beside her, nodded. "Yeah, definitely."
Despite their punches being of such incredible strength, neither of the two capped beta testers moved an inch from the other's attack; they both floated in the same place, and their fists dug into the other's cheek as their heads were forcibly turned to the side.
"That's a pretty good punch, kid. How about this." Infinite turned his head while both men were struggling to maintain power over the other. Once Infinite's eyes were facing Kapow, they were then seen glowing brightly; as if his irises had become miniature suns. 'Heat vision!' Kapow was quick to react to this by flying backward with incredible speed; he was so fast it almost looked like he teleported. He then put both of his hands together, and his fingertips started to glow in the same way Infinite's eyes were. The crowd was at the edge of their seats, feeling anticipation building inside of them for the oncoming clash of attacks.
Simultaneously, Infinite released silver beams of energy from his eyes, and Kapow released bolts of lightning from his fingertips. Their energies clashed and combined at the center of the stage, creating a light show in front of the audience and causing the earth to rumble. However, there was an obvious winner between the two energies as Kapow's lightning was clearly overpowering Infinite's lasers.
"What's wrong, old man? Can't handle a little bit of electricity!?" Kapow smiled crazily as he began firing even more electricity, so much so that Infinite could no longer take it. New York's hero was flung backward, barrelling past his team like a bullet before crashing into the wall of the stadium as if he were shot from a canon. However, in an instant, Infinite shot from inside the wall and immediately began applying pressure on Kapow.
"This is insane..." Tempo was in disbelief. He knew that Infinite was stronger than him, he even saw it in his memories. However, seeing right in front of him was a sight to behold. He started feeling butterflies in his stomach as he thought about fighting him. 'How would I even begin to formulate a strategy against a guy like him? Either of them?'
This tournament was a humbling experience for the time manipulator. Despite having what he thought was the most powerful ability, the ability to stop time, it paled in comparison to literal infinite strength. If he was the one fighting Kapow, his attacks would be as weak as a ten-year-old attacking a grown man.
Ironic.
"I need to become stronger."
The two caped duelists started exchanging punches in the air, each attack connecting sounded as if two lightning strikes were clashing with each other, destroying nature and crashing down mountains. unbeknownst to everyone else, the two hadn't even gone all out yet. They were still testing the other's strength.
When it came to who was taking the most damage, it was a close call for those viewing the fight. However, Infinite found himself struggling for the first time after becoming a beta tester. 'This kid is strong. I need to kick it up another gear.' Meanwhile, Infinite received a punch to the gut, his body curling around it before he was then punched in the face and sent flying back down toward the stage. Kapow followed him, reeling back his fist before putting everything into a flying punch that was barely dodged by Infinite.
Kapow found his fist stuck inside the ground, giving Infinite the chance to spartan kick the grown-up child in the shoulder, sending him soaring like a shooting star across the arena. As Kapow was rolling across the ground, Infinite fired those silver lasers from his eyes, which immediately caused an explosion the moment he made contact with his enemy. The crowd erupted, thinking the battle was over; but Infinite wouldn't be so ignorant.
Despite the attack appearing so powerful, Kapow emerged from the wreckage with hands charged with electricity before hurling bolts of lightning down at Infinite. Infinite dodged and weaved each attack with ease as he flew toward the man-child, pulling back his fist and punching him right on the symbol on his chest.
Kapow flew so far, that he found himself flying uncontrollably into the clouds. Infinite was following him closely, punching him once more and sending him even higher into an uncontrollable spiral.
The entire crowd gazed toward the clouds; the two fighters merely appeared as little dots in the sky due to their height. The announcer was still unconscious, so it was still up in the air if this sort of thing was allowed. They looked to still be within the boundaries of the stage, except they were thousands of feet in the air.
Meanwhile, the caped fighters were exchanging blows in mid-air like flying boxers. Infinite was letting himself a little looser now that they were in the air, away from any civilians. "I see… So you were holding back, Infinite. It's the civilians you care about!" Kapow smiled as he teased New York's number-one hero. "How pathetic. You have all this power yet you use it to protect little weaklings!" Kapow threw a punch capable of knocking dents into planets, though Infinite barely dodged it in time. The clouds parted around them due to the pressure and Infinite pulled his fist back yet again.
"They aren't weaklings! They're people like you and me!" Infinite launched an earthsplitting punch, though it barely scratched Kapow's neck. "What about your mom and dad? Are they weaklings too?"
"Fuck yeah, they are! They can't even ground me anymore! They're afraid of their own son! They think I'm a monster!" Kapow looked over Infinite's shoulder spotting a plane in the distance. He had to hide his smile from the hero, but he had an idea.
"Listen, kid–"
"That's not my name!" Kapow swung a right hook at Infinite, though it was caught in the palm of New York's number one hero. Infinite wanted to be a role model for this kid, a big brother to put him on the right path. It hurt seeing someone so similar to him going down the wrong path.
"I'm sorry, okay. Listen, Kabang–"
Hearing his name once again uttered incorrectly, Kapow gritted his teeth and began charging electricity in his fist. "That's not my name either!" The child released such powerful energy from his fist, that even the ground that was thousands of feet below them was shaking. Infinite was sent back, shooting past the plane that Kapow had spotted earlier. As Infinite regained control of his own momentum, he noticed Kapow was charging more energy than ever before, and it wasn't aimed at Infinite; it was aimed at the plane. "Kid no!" Infinite took off like a jet, leaving a slipstream behind him.
The displaced air around Infinite was so powerful, that the entire plane shook. Those inside began to panic, thinking the plane was about to crash, but their worries were washed away when someone yelled. "It's Infinite! He's saving us from a bad guy!" The entire plane cheered him on, and thanks to his enhanced hearing, the cheers got through to him, motivating him even more.
The literal moment before the bolt could hit the plane, Infinite stepped in front of it. The plane curved around Infinite as he was suspended in the air, his body convulsing as Kapow's electricity continued to electrocute every inch of his body. Infinite had the ability to absorb energy, but even this was too much for him to handle.
When Kapow gave everything he had to give, the attack ceased. Infinite began falling down toward the Earth, his body as he was barely clinging to consciousness. The people on the plane watched as their savior disappeared beneath the clouds, many of them shouting at the hero to get back up; however, this time, they would go unheard. Kapow laughed before bursting downward to follow Infinite, leaving a slipstream behind him.
"You idiot! You really threw this all away for some weaklings!" Kapow reeled his fist back once more before delivering a full-powered punch to Infinite's chest, caving it in and destroying the symbol on his costume. Infinite's body tripled in velocity as he flew back down toward the arena.
Meanwhile, the announcer had finally woken up thanks to one of the nurses who also happened to be a beta tester. Since his injuries were so minor, he was back up in no time. Just when he was back on his feet, Infinite's body crashed into the stage, creating a crater at the center of it whilst blasting the rest of it away.
"Woah! What all happened while I was knocked out!? Man... I missed it!?" the announcer was saddened to see that the fight was pretty much over.
Meanwhile, Infinite's teammates were in shock. They'd never heard of Infinite losing a fight to anyone, let alone a child. It would seem his acts of heroism came back to bite him.
All Kapow needed to do now was throw Infinite's body out of the ring and start the ten count. He picked the hero up by the throat and smiled in his face. "What a disappointment. I didn't even get to try that fight. Now, before I kill you, I want you to say my name. Say it!" Kapow still hadn't let go of all the times he was misnamed. Before the fight would end, his name was going to be uttered one way or another.
Infinite coughed, blood spilled from his lips as he smiled. With that smile still growing, Infinite whispered to the man-child. "Kabang."
Kapow grew even more frustrated, slamming the caped hero into the ground once more, repeating this process every time the hero refused to say his name. "Say it!"
"Kaboom."
"Say it!"
"Kaboing."
"Say my name the right way!"
Kabloowy was so loud, the entire stadium could hear his screams. Team New York feared for the life of their teammate, their strongest fighter, but Tempo smiled beneath his mask. The Blur could hear his slight chuckle and looked at him. "What's so funny? Infinite is getting his ass kicked! He's gonna die! I need to–" The Blur thought about stepping in to save his best friend, sacrificing the tournament, but Tempo's arm blocked him.
"Wait. I think Infinite is planning something."
"Yes, I believe Tempo is correct." said Professor Anarchy. "Fixer and I were just discussing this."
"He gets his powers if he says his name, right?" said Fixer, rubbing the nonexistent hairs on his chin. "So if he says his name again, then–"
"His powers disappear." Tempo finished the sentence for him before all nine of the members of Team New York redirected their attention back to the onslaught at center stage. Thanks to his superhearing, Infinite could hear his friends coming up with the same conclusion he did. 'Exactly.'
"Shazam." Infinite said weakly, compelling Ker-plot to slam him into the ground one more time. "My name is not Kaboom, it's not Kaboing, or Kablam, or Shazam! My name is Kapow!" Lightning shot from the sky the instant he said his name and he was restored back to being a little human boy. His eyes grew double in size, and before he could say his name again and restore himself back to his strongest self, Infinite punched him in the face, knocking the ten– or eleven–year–old out cold. Of course, he held back a lot.
"Sorry kid." Infinite rose to his feet and looked down at the boy. "I need to be better." Despite the child being autonomous, Infinite still blamed himself for his actions. He thought that if he were perhaps a better role model, things could have been different. "I have to."
"And the winner is Infinite! New York is now up 3 to 1! All they need is three more wins to clinch their spot in the next phase!"
Infinite was clearly in pain as he made his way back to his teammates. Blur and Tempo rushed out to help him, wrapping his arms around their shoulders. "You guys know I heal really fast, right? You don't have to help me."
"We know. We're teammates, man." said the Blur.
Infinite exhaled with a smile. "Right."
Just as the announcer said, the score was three to one. Since there were only ten rounds, all either team needed to do was reach six points and the phase would be over. However, it would seem that New York's most powerful fighters were being used early on in this phase of the tournament. Though the others were nothing to scoff at, especially the Blur, their best hands had pretty much been dealt.
"Will the next contestants please make their way to the stage!"