"It's just another fight, he's just another super powered person, and I can take him. No one believed in me when this started and I proved them all wrong. I will do it again."
The Berserker yelled, "Talking to yourself. If that's a prayer, better make it a good one. Might be your last! HAHAHAHA!"
Jordan tightened the bands on his hands and pushed all doubt in his mind as far away as he could. He looked over at the man twice his size, all muscle, and grinning like a hyena ready to feed.
The voice of Robert Layton boomed over the sound system. "This is the final fight, The Berserker versus The Mustang. Remember the rules! No killing! When you hear the bell, begin!" For the first time, Jordan could hear the hesitation in the voice of the announcer.
The bell rang. The Berserker yelled and then raced right at Jordan. Jordan knew he would do this, this is exactly how he and Hanuman Hammer fought. Jordan would be more calculated. He waited until The Berserker got to him, and then he executed a perfect dodge, duck, and then twist to the side. Each movement avoided strike after strike. With a hard flip around of his body, he nailed The Berserker in the side with a hard punch and then Jordan tumbled away. He executed a backward roll and jumped up across the mat from his opponent.
A primal scream exited Berserkers mouth and he turned and raced again, swinging blindly. Jordan dodged left and right, left and right, and then down. He saw the pattern and used it. When Berserker went to jump on the lowered Jordan, Jordan came up with a springing of his whole body and hit The Berserker right in the chin. The man flew back and slammed hard against the mat.
Jordan jumped back up and regained his defensive posture. Coach Thrasher taught him to never let his guard down until the match was over. It seemed he had done the impossible, The Berserker wasn't moving and Robert had grabbed a rope to come inspect. Then The Berserker screamed and slapped his hands against the floor. He pushed himself up and was on his knees. There was a trickle of blood coming from the side of his mouth and a look of revenge in his eyes.
"Nice shot, boy. No one has hit me yet this week hard enough to draw blood. It will be your last victory." He launched himself up from the grounded position, executing the impossible. He flew up and then came down in a flying body slam.
Jordan spun as he dodged, this was an impressive attack, but easily avoided. It wasn't an attack, it was a distraction. The Berserker hit the ground, but his hand was out and grabbed Jordan's leg. He knew Jordan would dodge and used this to get a grip. From the ground, The Berserker used Jordan's leg to throw him over his own body and slam him hard into the mat. The Berserker rolled over and was on his hands and knees over Jordan, pinning his legs to Jordans so he couldn't move. The Berserker went for a double fist slam, Jordan caught the arms with his hands. The Berserker head butted Jordan so hard that Jordan saw flashing lights and a screaming whistle in his ears.
The next thing Jordan knew, he was being thrown again, his arms used this time by The Berserker. The smaller fighter hit the mat twice and then was thrown into the ropes, bounced off, and punched in the chest by a fist.
He lay on the mat, looking up at the lights just as the shadow of the monster loomed over him. Blood and sweat dripped from The Berserker as he reached down to grab Jordan one more time.
"STOP!" The voice of the Avatar rattled the room.
The Berserker looked up, barely controlling his rage.
With a great leap, The Avatar landed on the mat and pushed The Berserker away from Jordan. He then said, "This match is over. The winner is clear."
The Berserker smiled, "I won."
"Yes, you won the match. Now, clean your body and return here for the ceremony. You too!" He pointed at Jordan, who was still recovering as he lay on the mat. With that, he stomped away.
The Berserker spit at Jordan and then smiled, "I almost lost, I was ready to kill you." He walked away.
EB and Nova were right next to Jordan quickly. EB said, "Speak to me. Are you hurt?"
Jordan said, "What do you think?"
Nova checked Jordan over, "Broken bones, but I think you fared better than Hanuman."
"Here!" EB produced a solid white chocolate egg. "Eat this, it'll help."
Jordan, who had had some of EB's helpful magical eggs over the week, took the egg and slowly started to eat it. His body gradually healed, the bones mending in an instant. It was painful, but soon he would be in a far better state than he is now.
Nova said, "This is... bad."
"I'm sorry, I failed to..."
Nova stopped him, "Son, you did nothing wrong. I'm proud of you for your courage. In fact, I'm going to offer to let you join BADGE. You proved me wrong, you have it in you to be a real hero."
"Thank you, sir."
"You feeling better?" EB asked.
Jordan sat up. "Sore, but a lot better. Thanks. I... I'm going to the lockers to clean up. I guess I get to watch the winner get the power of the oracle."
"We will all be paying close attention." Nova helped Jordan to his feet.
Jordan walked off while EB and Nova joined Chase, Gar, and Justin at the side of the arena. They were already considering what BADGE would do about a villainous Oracle.
Jordan walked through the halls of the A.W.W. HQ arena. While he was happy that Nova said he wasn't to blame, he had hoped he would do better. He was so close to victory, now he leaves a failure while someone evil gets to be champion.
He walked by a stairwell that led up to the boxed seats. The growling sound of The Berserkers voice echoed down. Jordan would have ignored this, but he heard something that caught his attention.
"The world is ours now, I don't want your sponsorship, I want you dead."
Jordan frowned, "Ours? Wait, dead.... someone is in trouble." He realized The Berserker was about to kill and he had to stop him.
Racing up the stairs he found the door of the executive box seating open. Inside the opulent room filled with wine, food, and comfortable chairs, he saw disarray. Seats thrown about, a table over turned, and Theodor Zeus on the floor, bloody and holding his arms over his head.
The Berserker had a strange aura around him, a shadowy mist. He held his sword in one hand while he moved closer to his prey.
"Why are you doing this? I gave you freedom? I made you a champion?" Zeus begged.
The Berserker spoke with two voices now, "You were a means to an end. We are the Malevolence, all we need is one oracle, one heart of the morphons, and this universe is ours. You know too much, you've seen too much, you will be a sacrifice to our glory." He lifted his sword.
Jordan flew across the room, he grabbed a smaller chair as he ran. He twisted around and threw it, slamming into the side of The Berserker just before he went for the killing blow. Skidding to a stop in front of Theodor Zeus, Jordan held his arms up in defense.
"What the hell are you doing?"
When The Berserker looked at him again, his eyes were completely black. They suddenly shifted back to normal, though his wicked smile remained unchanged. He snatched Jordan up with a grip of his massive hand around Jordan's throat. Lifting him from the ground he said, "I will not be challenged, by you, by this fat greedy man, or by anyone. Now that I have been declared victor, I can kill whoever I want. Rules.... are rules." He repeated the Avatar's statement as he squeezed.
Jordan gripped the hand around his neck as he couldn't breathe. Then he felt a warmth filling him. His hands grew larger, and his fingers seemed to have claws. He felt bigger somehow.
Nova and his command staff waited for the ceremony to begin when they all heard the commotion above them. Before any could speak, the glass of the boxed seat area exploded out as the figure of The Berserker was thrown from the window, across the arena and straight down onto the mat with a hard crash. They looked up and saw Jordan... but it was no longer just Jordan.
0 Comments