"I have never met such a shameless guy!" Sabrina said in anger.
"And stupid too!" Jerry supported.
"Kid when am through with you, you'll regret ever being so insolent!" Matthew said through gritted teeth.
"Oh yeah?" Tisane glared threateningly. "Well come on then! Am not scared of you"
"You should be!" Matthew roared as he dashed forward.
_[Stay focused Tisane, he's strong!]_ the voice warned.
_"Yeah I get that"_ Tisane replied before he realized something.
_"Hey did you just call me by my name?"_
_[Yeah]_
_"But I don't know yours"_ Tisane said.
_[So?]_
_"That's not fair!"_
Matthew arrived before Tisane instantly as he threw his fist forward.
Tisane saw the fist coming as he prepared to intercept it until.....
~Swish~
_"What?!"_ Tisane saw Matthew's fist vanish instantly as it came from an unexpected angle straight to his left rib cage.
~Pow~
The unexpected punch was quite unnerving as it threw Tisane off balance.
Matthew followed up with three more punches all of which landed on Tisane's unguarded areas.
~Pow~
~Pow~
~Pow~
Tisane couldn't hold on to his stamina as the last punch sent him to the floor as he rolled few steps away.
As he tried to stand up, he felt a liquid taste in his mouth, only to deep his finger into his mouth and pull it out covered in red liquid.
Blood.
_[I did tell you he was strong]_ the voice said.
Matthew saw Tisane struggling to stand and smiled in mockery.
"I guess you're one of those humans our masters told us about. Ordinary humans such as yourself are naturally weak. But you're are still able to push yourself through excruciating body training in order to make up for that weakness"
"It's applaudable because it makes you a bit formidable opponents. But it's also pointless because no matter how much you push yourself, you can never hold a candle to our strength and power!"
Tisane glared at Matthew who stood proudly and was looking down on him, like a noble looks down on peasants.
_"So he thinks he has beaten me?"_ Tisane thought as he gritted his teeth.
_[Yeah. Don't blame him. He's confident in his strength. Which is more than I can say for you]_ the voice said.
_"What are you trying to say?"_
_[If you had already tapped into your true power you would have left this guys rolling in the floor and screaming in pain by now]_
_"Damn you!"_ Tisane cursed. _"You keep saying all this things, but you never tell me how to use my power!"_
_[It is not something I can just tell you boy!]_ The voice shot back. _[You have to attain it on your own. The highest I can give you is pointers]_
_"Then what are you waiting for?! Give me those po---"_
_[Watch out! He's coming]_ the voice alerted immediately.
Tisane raised up his head in time to see Matthew arrive before him with a kick.
Tisane raised up his arm to parry the attack.
~Bam~
But Tisane underestimated the force of that kick as his defense was shattered and the full force of the attack sent him crashing against the wall.
_"What's going on?!"_ Tisane felt that something was wrong, but he was not sure what.
_"Hey why can't I stop his attacks?"_ Tisane tried to seek the help of the strange voice but received no answer.
_"Hey thought guy!"_
_"Voice in my head answer me!!"_
Matthew came again as he spun in the air and vanished.
_"What?!"_ Tisane looked left, right, up and down as he began to panic.
~Whoosh~
Matthew appeared beside him and threw an air splitting punch. As the punch came towards Tisane, the force of it created a scraping sound on the wall which was quite offensive to the ears as it disrupted Tisane's focus.
Before Tisane could shake off the annoying sound, it was too late.
~Pow~
The punch connected with his face as blood jetted out of his mouth.
Tisane was sent flying as he crashed to the floor again in pain and with a bleeding face.
"Nice one senior Matthew!" Melissa praised.
"Hmph it's to be expected. That fool had it coming" Sabrina said with an air of arrogance.
"I could have dealt with him too. No big deal" Jerry rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"I admire your courage kid even though it is misplaced. If you were a mutant, you would have made a nice sparring partner but well...'
Matthew regarded Tisane whom was still writhing on the floor in pain as he shook his head.
".... you're just an ordinary human"
Matthew turned away as he threw the handcuffs in his hand to Jerry.
"Cuff him Jerry so we can be done with this"
"Okey dokey" Jerry said as he caught the handcuffs and walked towards Tisane.
Meanwhile, Tisane was shaking while on his knees. It was not out of fear but pain and anger.
"_No!!"_ He was gritting his teeth so hard that they began to make cracking sounds.
He felt it. The pain and sorrow of defeat.
The dissatisfaction that comes from being subdued.
The irritation that comes with being hindered.
Being hindered from achieving what he wants!
_[Do you feel it now?]_ the voice finally spoke.
_[You cannot afford to be weak]_
_[You cannot afford to lose]_
_[You have the power in you. All you have to do is use it!]_
_"But how...please"_ Tisane begged.
He heard a sigh as the voice spoke again.
_[Do you remember the elevator tunnel?]_
_[When you came to the last floor?]_
_"Yes"_ Tisane nodded.
_[How did you open the elevator door?]_
_"With my eyes"_ Tisane answered instantly.
[.....]
_[Think again kid. How did you really open the elevator door?]_
Tisane thought back to what he did at the ele---
No wait!
It was not about what he did, but what he felt and how he felt it.
Tisane's eyes widened as he came to a realization.
Yes that's it!
It was all about the feeling and not the doing!
If he had the power in him, all he had to do was...
Feel it!!
Yes feel it!!
Just like you can't lift up a cup without feeling it first.
Or you can't control your arm without feeling it first.
That is what he had been missing all along!
Even in this fight....
He had been going about it the wrong way. He had been flexing his muscles when he was supposed to be feeling and directing his power.
Then he also remembered the image he saw after his brawl with Jerry.
Those punches.....that glowing ball.
He didn't fully understand the brilliance of the image, but he basically knew that he was able to weave his way through those rain of punches not because he was fast enough but because he felt the power behind those punches and was able to interact with that power and follow it's rhythm.
And as if to confirm his speculation, he heard a faint laugh from within.
_[Hehe.....well kid. It's good to see that you've finally caught on]_ the voice chuckled.
_"Yes!! Haha"_ Tisane felt so elated that he wanted to dance.
_[But now is not the time to celebrate]_ the voice reprimanded him.
_[You still have opponents to face]_
_"Don't worry"_ Tisane thought as a smile crept up his face.
_"They are in for a huge surprise!"_
At this point, Tisane took in a deep breath of relief as every joint in his body began to make popping sounds while a cooling sensation spread all over his body.
He has never felt so alive!
Meanwhile...Jerry walked up to Tisane and grabbed him by the wrist harshly.
"Come on loser" he said.
"Time to go to jail"
As he tried to pull Tisane up so he could humiliate him some more, he felt like he was trying to pull an object that weighed a ton.
_"What is going on?"_ He frowned deeply as he applied more force only to be greeted by two things:
Tisane's smiling face.
And a fist so fast that he barely saw it coming.
~Bam~
Jerry was sent flying instantly. And before he knew what just happened, he crashed into Melissa whom was too shocked to move out of the way.
What just happened?!
Matthew and Sabrina had question marks floating above their heads as they became utterly confused.
They both looked at Jerry whom was on the ground holding his face, obviously not ready to stand back up and Melissa whom was cursing and trying to wriggle her way out from under Jerry's huge body.
"Hey freaks!" Tisane called out as Matthew and Sabrina rested their shocked eyes on him.
Watching him bring his two arms forward, with his palms that were folded into fists. Their eyes became wider as they faces contorted in rage when his middle fingers each came out of the folded fists.
_"How dare he?!"_
_"Such impudence!"_
Tisane whom was smiling felt his body brimming in such power that he thought he was floating.
He couldn't even feel his own weight.
_"Thanks, voice in my head"_ Tisane thought in gratitude.
_[That is not my na----]_ the voice began to protest but then sighed in resignation.
_[You're welcome kid]_