As time passed by with the rising and setting of the sun, the sounds of metal being pounded echoed in the lab suggesting the forging of weapons by a master craftsman. The suffocating heat within the lab was intense due to the forge producing heat hot enough to melt steel. However, that didn’t stop Ethan from doing his work as sparks and embers flew off the steel as the hammer was struck against it. The process of smelting the steel and purification took hours to complete one phase. Amidst the phase there were waiting periods, Ethan used those periods to oversee the Rebels’ training once Jack finished making the shoes. 

The Rebels were gathered in Ethan’s simulation room having fun with all the different scenarios in its database, “This place is cooool, like everything is so realistic, it’s almost as good as that immersion thingy of his,” Kunoichi said.

“Yes, this place is pretty impressive. It’s as if the room is shifting and morphing with every scenario,” the Colonel said. 

“You did say this Cyber guy was from another world right?” Flash asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“Then with the technology he has, couldn’t he wipe out the entire Mavis Empire by himself?”

“…I don’t know about that, he seems very skilled but the whole empire, nah,” Ninja said.

“Yeah, I can’t really picture him being able to do that… What do you think Colonel?”

The Colonel took a moment to think about it, “I’ve never fought him so I can’t make an analysis based off that, but if I were to take a guess based off what he has done so far, I’d believe he could.”

“HUHHHH???”

In unison, the rebels were surprised beyond comprehension, “No, no, I refuse to believe that he could do that, Colonel,” Ninja stated in denial. 

“What would even make you believe that Colonel?” Kunoichi asked.

“Well, the way he carries himself, he gives off this confident aura that makes me believe that he could actually do it himself. Not only that, he has the body to back it up. He’s not bulky but he has a toned lean body; With a build like that, not only does he have enough strength to do good damage and lift heavy objects but he also can sustain a good amount of speed. Basically, he has the best balance of speed and strength.”

Ninja was fascinated, “So would you say he’s better than us at figh-”

“Yes.”

“Damn, she’s that certain. He’s even better than you?” Kunoichi asked.

“Now that I don’t know, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was,” the Colonel said modestly.

“There’s no way he is better than the Colonel,” Ninja said.

“You are never on his side, so your opinion is biased,” Kunoichi objected.

“Well so are you,” Ninja retorted.

“Fair point, then that leaves you two. What do you guys think?” Kunoichi asked.

“I’ve never seen him fight so I’m gonna have to go with the Colonel in being better than Cyber,” Flash answered.

“Ok, lack of evidence so go with the default answer. No problem. What about you Chemic?”

“Oh eh, what he said,” Chemic answered.

Kunoichi and Ninja had a blank expression on their face, “Seriously?”

Chemic chuckled awkwardly, “Fine, if we lack the evidence then we will create the evidence,” Kunoichi said with a devious tone & smile.

“Oh, how do you propose we do that?” Ninja asked matching her devious tone.

“We’ll have them fight as if it’s a training or sparing match and then the winner will end this debate once and for all.”

“Brilliant idea, I’d love to see the Colonel mop the floor with him.”

“Of course you would, or we could see the Colonel get her butt handed to her for once.”

“Oh my, now I don’t know which one I want to see more.”

Why I ought a hand these morons’ butts to them right now, thought the Colonel then the elevator door opened, “Okay I’m here bearing gifts.”

A glee in Kunoichi & Ninja’s eyes lit up when they saw Ethan, “Ethan! Quick question?”

“Oh boy…”

“Yeah?”

“If you were to fight the Colonel, would you win?” Kunoichi asked.

Ethan stood there and pondered the question while scanning, The Colonel is about my height if not a couple of centimetres shorter than me, and she seems to have a similar physique to mine. From what Kunoichi has told me, no one in the rebels or the crusaders has beaten her which leads me to think that she’s the best warrior this world has to offer. “Well I haven’t seen her fight so I wouldn’t know,” Ethan answered.

“You don’t know huh? Then why don’t you two have a friendly brawl to find that out?” Kunoichi said with an innocent smile hiding her devious intentions. 

“I don’t know if that is necessary, I mean we both know we’re good fighters. So we don’t-“

“What? Are you scared she’ll beat you, that you’ll be beaten by a girl?” Ninja said as he tried to edge Ethan into the fight.

Ethan cringed, “Aren’t you one to talk, Kunoichi here tells me that you’ve been beaten by the Colonel multiple times so what does that make you?” Ethan answered looking all smug. 

“Wha, Kunoichi?” Kunoichi avoided eye contact with Ninja as she pretended to ignore him, “Even so, at least I tried unlike you who won’t even consider it.”

Ethan sighed then looked to the Colonel, “Do you want to do this Colonel?”

“…My curiosity wants to find out but my instincts are telling me not to… but since this is just a friendly brawl, I’ll let my curiosity win.”

“YESS!!!” said the chaotic duo as they high-fived each other.

Ethan untied his jacket from his waist and took off his shoes then put them to the side. This confused everyone, “Why are you taking off your shoes?” the Colonel asked.

“Because it wouldn’t be fair if I kept them on. My mobility will be doubled if I use them in this fight.”

“Ooh he’s giving her a handicap, well isn’t he cocky, don’t you think Colonel?” Ninja asked.

“He’s not giving me a handicap, he just making this fair, it’s not like I have special shoes that make me faster,” the Colonel replied as she took off her military coat and put it to the side. 

“If that’s the case, then let's get ready to brawl!” Ninja said excitedly.

“Alright fighters bring it in,” Kunoichi said.

When the fighters were close, “Here are the rules, no dirty fighting, first fighter to land 5 solid attacks on the opponents or submission wins the match. You got that?”

Both fighters nodded their heads, “Good, let's get this battle started,” Kunoichi said as she signaled the beginning of the battle. 

Neither Ethan nor the Colonel rushed for an attack as they stared each other down in fighting stances. Since the Colonel wasn’t going to make the first move, Ethan struck first by throwing a quick jab that the Colonel easily dodged. She has decent speed so let's turn it up a bit, but first I got to figure out her fighting style.

A controlled flurry of jabs and hooks was thrown at the Colonel but she blocked and diverted the attacks away from her, creating openings for her to counter as she landed a punch on Ethan’s abdomen and cheek. “Yeah get him Colonel, show him no mercy,” Ninja said vigorously. Ugh…So far she's able to keep up with my normal speed and she waits for me to attack first then counters which is smart, but that’s not always the case. 

“That is 2 hits for the Colonel, she needs 5 more for her to take the victory. Will she finish the job or will Ethan clutch this?” Kunoichi said in her commentator's voice.

Ethan swiftly closed in on the Colonel and launched a right roundhouse kick at her but she blocked and countered with a leg sweep on the left leg sending Ethan falling to his back. However, Ethan instantly recovered and quickly tried to leg sweep her but she jumped over it. Ethan anticipated this as he swiftly countered with a backkick from the ground, the kick landed a solid hit on the Colonel pushing her way back. I guess my resilience caught her off. Let’s use that tour advantage.

“And that was a solid kick from Ethan making the score 3-1, Ethan needs 6 more to win while the Colonel needs 4 to win. Who will win the title of the strongest warrior?”

One solid kick was nothing to the Colonel as she stood strong in her fighting stance. She watched Ethan closely as he began to jump on the spot like a boxer would, Judging from his attack earlier, his attacks are surprisingly heavy but he’s light on his feet and is acrobatic like Ninja. What's worse, is his ability to counter even while being hit. I’ll need to be ca-” Ethan rushed the Colonel faster than she anticipated which shocked her; using his speed to his advantage, he threw a combo of jabs, hooks, and uppercuts at the Colonel. She adapted to Ethan’s speed in time to block and divert the attacks; she managed to counter again but Ethan blocked and dodged the counter-attacks. This left the Colonel open for Ethan to counter as he elbowed her in the face causing the audience to react.

“Ouch, that must’ve hurt a lot,” Flash muttered as his face cringed.

“Another hit landed by Ethan making it 3-2 an-, oh wait Ethan is going in again.”

Ethan swiftly launched a triple roundhouse kick at the Colonel who blocked the mid and high kick but was taken by surprise with Ethan’s swift switch from right to left; as he landed a left roundhouse kick to finish the technique, gaining a surprised reaction from the audience. The Colonel was dazed after getting a kick to the head, she was stumbling back when Ethan swiftly closed in and wrapped his arm around her neck with his shoulder under her arm then lifted her a little while leg sweeping her from the back causing her to fall backward and crash on to her back. Silence filled the room after the echoes of a fall died out, the audience was speechless as they had never seen the Colonel get taken down like this. Ethan released his hold on the Colonel and got up, then reached out his hand to Colonel, “You alright Colonel?” The Colonel took a deep breath and chuckled, “I’ve felt worse.” She grabbed Ethan’s hand and was pulled up to her feet.

“What a comeback from Ethan, from 3-1 to 3-4, he is one hit away from winning this sparring match. Will the Colonel take it back or will Ethan finish the job?”

Ethan gave the Colonel a few moments to reinvigorate herself as she slapped her cheeks. The Colonel attacked first with a few jabs but Ethan smoothly dodged them all. Counter-attacking with kicks, he launched several kicks at the Colonel switching from right to left and vice versa to confuse the Colonel. However, she managed to block and dodge the kicks as she felt a breeze with every kick. She immediately attacked after Ethan’s kicking spree with a quick right jab and then left hook but Ethan dodged then blocked the left hook with his right arm and countered with a knee attack as he sprung off the ground and raised his knee to the Colonel’s face; the Colonel quickly tried to block with her left arm but the force from Ethan’s attack sent her rolling back. Refusing to give in, she instantly rolled back onto her feet only to find Ethan already launching another attack. With an axe kick descending on her, she tried blocking but the attack was slower than usual allowing her to block it. With his right leg being held up by the Colonel, Ethan sprung his foot up launching it at the Colonel’s face. She dodged at the last moment releasing Ethan as he used his arms to spring himself away from the Colonel. She gave him no time to rest as she rushed him while he was landing on his feet, Ethan slightly grinned as he threw a right jab at the Colonel. Momentum carried her as she ducked under the jab and smoothly moved behind Ethan and wrapped her left arm around his neck to put him in a headlock then wrapped her legs around his abdomen. Normally, both of them would fall to the floor but Ethan stayed on his feet even though his oxygen supply was cut off. 

“OOOOOOH, the Colonel has Ethan in a submission hold, it's game over,” Ninja said with excitement as he couldn’t stand still along with Flash & Jack. “You still got this Ethan, don’t give up!” Kunoichi cheered. 

Although the Colonel had the tightest hold on Ethan, he was still standing firm but he was doing nothing which surprised everyone. “Why isn’t he fighting back?” Zac asked. Nobody knew so nobody answered. Even the Colonel was concerned as thoughts ran through her mind, I have him right??? He seems unaffected and he’s still standing with no oxygen while carrying my weight. I don’t know what’s going on. He isn’t even trying to get out of this hold? So what’s up??

After 2 minutes had passed, people were starting to get worried, “Colonel this is enough, he may have passed out while standing so release him,” Kunoichi demanded. The Colonel stood on her feet and released her hold on Ethan. He instantly gasped for air which surprised everyone, “He’s still conscious.” Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, especially the Colonel. 

“What was that about Ethan, you were just standing there while the Colonel was putting you to sleep?” Kunoichi asked.

Ethan chuckled, “Well, I didn’t want to give in and tap out, but I also didn’t want to take away the Colonel’s victory so I thought I’d wait until a certain someone would interrupt.

“Wait, you knew that I would interrupt?” 

“Not really, from the way you cheered me on, I assumed you’d intervene if my situation looked grim so I just stood there and waited as I held my breath.”

“So if you wanted, you could’ve escaped the Colonel’s submission?” Flash asked curiously.

“Yes, but I didn’t because I would’ve injured her and I didn’t want to take away her victory since she earned it,” Ethan said modestly.

“Stop lying to yourself, the Colonel had you hook line & sinker so stop making excuses and accept your defeat,” Ninja said all smugly.

Kunoichi punched Ninja on the arm, “Cut it out, Ninja. He already did...Anyway, are you two alright, no injuries or concussions?”

“I might have a concussion, those hits were quite... heavy. But I should be fine,” the Colonel said as she laid down on the floor to calm herself down.

Ethan made his way to his stuff and put on his shoes then tied the sleeves of his jacket around his waist, “I’ll be right back, just need to drink some water. When I get back, we’ll start the training session.”