Battle of Red Canyon VI

 

POV Elemental

Thitus's fist grazed his forehead, throwing up a splash of blood, and Elemental took the opportunity to hurl a punch at his face, but found that it slammed into a hand instead of a nose.

"You're both slow and unskilled," Thitus scoffed, and slammed his foot into his ribs from below, lifting him into the air before letting collapse back down. "Why did you even come here if you're that weak!?"

Winded, Elemental gasped for breath as he splat a clot of blood onto the floor. But the enemy gave him no time to think. A heavy kick hit him across the jaw, followed by a devastating axe kick straight to the crown of the head. Elemental's head hit the floor and the whites of his eyes showed, blood pooling his face as Thitus cracked his knuckles.

"The most obvious rule in a fight. Even when your opponent is down… hit them again to make sure their dead."

 

Maybe it was because of the shock of suddenly losing to an overwhelming opponent. Or maybe it was the strike to his head. Or the gloating voice of his enemy as he lifted a foot above his head, ready to crush him. But a forgotten memory started to resurface in Elemental's clouded mind, pushed to the furthest depths of his mind as he fought and slaughtered as Pharo Force's 003. A dark alleyway, city lights in the distance. Rain hammering down in the night. Blood mixing with the rainwater along the ground. Flashing lights. The cheering of a crowd. A woman's soft voice. Then the harsh voice of a man.

"You…"

A forgotten sensation in his muscles pulsed. Yes, that was right. As the foot came rushing down towards him, his eyes opened slowly.

"…are the CHAMPION."

Elemental shoved himself along the ground, gritting his teeth as blood spurted from between his lips, narrowly dodging Thitus's stomp which sank into the metal, crumpling it like paper.

"Wha-"

Before even the bio-engineered monster could react, Elemental flipped upwards off the ground and shot upwards with a devastating kick to the jaw, catching Thitus off guard.

"Ugh - you - what?" the general wiped the blood dripping down his chin as he regained his balance. "What is that… what is that stance?"

"Orthodox," Elemental replied simply.

"You're a right-handed fighter so what other stance would you have? Left foot forward and right foot back."

Thitus came at him again, drawing a fist backwards, but Elemental shifted his foot, watching his shoulder. The fist thundered towards him like a missile, but he sidestepped it easily and landed a straight punch with his left hand, straight to the face.

"The most simple attacks you should know. If you know these, then most monkeys who've never stepped foot into our world won't stand a chance."

"What is this weird footwork!?" Thitus demanded, hurling more punches.

"A straight punch with the lead hand, known as the 'jab'. Use it to lead into a more powerful attack."

"…monkey," Elemental muttered.

He flowed past Thitus's primitive punches, and drew back his right hand, aiming straight for the chest.

"I CAN READ YOU!!" Thitus roared, raising his hand to block.

He was cut off as Elemental's fist slammed into his face again, sending drops of his pressurized blood flying.

 

"A stronger strike than the jab, the 'cross'. A straight punch with the lead hand."

While Thitus was disoriented, Elemental drew back his fist again, and gathering the strength in his body, hurled a circular punch whistling through the air and crushed it into the side of Thitus's face, knocking a read splodge on his eye socket.

Wh… what the fuck is happening? Earlier… his punches barely even hurt!! Now… why does it feel like… I'm fighting someone totally different??

Before he knew it, Elemental had closed in on him and he felt a prickling sensation on his jaw.

"Wha-"

It hit him like a truck.

"Now, how to deal some real damage. A heavy punch aimed at the side of the head or body, the 'hook' It can be devastating if you land it correctly. And finally, the 'uppercut'. And upward swinging punch aimed for the chin. It can seriously throw your opponents if not KO them on the spot."

Elemental looked at Thitus stagging backwards, blood running down one side of his face and chin. Aside from that, there was no real damage. If he wanted to beat this monster… he would have to do much, much more.

…I got too full of myself. I got too used to the amazing technology of this world… and the benefits that came with the elixirs and serums I took… winning every battle too easily. When faced with a true monster… I was defeated so easily. I… forgot how to fight.

 

It was Thitus's turn to spit blood to the metal ground. He hadn't expected his opponent to turn the tables on him using some unknown fighting style. Up till now, he had only used brute force and the overwhelming strength of his advancements to crush his opponents behind a wall of power. But fighting someone who knew how to break that wall apart… was new to him.

…it's fine. After all… it seems like… he only knows how to punch…

He went for it again, this time going low at the last moment to sweep Elemental's legs from under him.

"You really are a brain dead pig."

Thitus found that his arms had grabbed nothing, and as he came back up from his attempted tackle, he turned just in time to see a foot streak the air like a bullet.

"Of course… no opponent will let you just punch. So, you need to learn some kicks too. This one is both simple and effective - a semi-circular kick made by rotating the hips. Of course, you could add some style too. I call it the 'flying roundhouse kick'!"

Elemental's instep thudded into Thitus's temple like a power drill. He felt like he had just been hit by a multi-ton hammer.

"A perfect fighting style that brings you a perfect combination of punches and kicks. And overwhelming attacking strength that can destroy people in seconds. Strengthening your muscles to near perfection. You told me you wanted revenge or whatever, but in the end you came here to learn how to fight, didn't you? So, kid, welcome to the amazing world of kickboxing."

Elemental smiled as memories obscured by clouds that was Pharo Force broke through back into the light.

Master… watch me. In this new life… I found where I should be. This time, I will stand alongside everyone!

His lips broke into a smile as he followed through into his next attack.

Side kick. Jab. Cross. Hook. Front kick. Block. Knee strike. Head kick.

Thitus didn't even have time to react or regain his balance. Every time he was hit down, Elemental bashed him back upright. His blood refused to stop flying, as he was beat up and down the control room like a ragdoll. 003 was finding his old rhythm again. The rhythm of a champion.

Jab, straight right, left hook. Jab, jab, straight right to the body. Left foot jab, jab, straight right hand, left roundhouse.

 

When he had come into this fight, Elemental knew that the longer this went on, the more of a disadvantage he was at. Thitus had the physical advantage in every way and his skill had been enough to close the gap for a short while. But slowly, he was losing his sting as the exhaustion of fighting through a whole fortress started to pile up. And it wasn't long before one of his punches missed its mark. Seizing the opportunity, through a haze of blood and rage, Thitus's fist broke through Elemental's wall and collided with his ribcage. He felt two of them snap on the spot, and blood rolled out of his mouth.

"You - must've - had - lots - of - fun!?!?!" Thitus roared, blood flying everywhere.

Elemental gritted his teeth and tried to regain his footing but a flurry of hits descended on him, striking his back, front, lungs, stomach, face, temple - anywhere Thitus could find an opening in.

We're both at the end of our tether! He may be a monster, but after taking a hundred hits to his vitals he won't be able to keep this up for long.

He was right. The next hit was slow. It was weak too. Agronus Dren Thitus runs out of steam.

"Bullseye," Elemental muttered under his breath, blood streaming down his face, but his eyes still bright with forgotten vigour.

 

He's weakened enough. The castle's foundations are crumbling. Now… I just need to give it that last little push… and topple its spire once and for all.

He threw his hands upwards, colliding with Thitus's arms and throwing them up with his own, exposing his body.

So let's get started.

He drew back his fist one more time. His vision was blurring. He couldn't hear anything but the ringing in his ears. He was dizzy from blood loss, and his ribs ground against each other every time he moved, threatening to pierce his chest. He was sure there were fractures everywhere. But he couldn’t fall. Not yet. His put all his strength into his arm and crushed it into the right side of Thitus's ribcage.

Liver shot.

"AAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!"
His first scream of pain boomed throughout the room, bouncing off the walls as blood fell like a waterfall from his lips and his eyes bugged out of his head.

"Kuh- heuk- agh-"

Elemental gritted his teeth.

Not yet! It's not enough! I'll have to borrow some other hits, I'm sorry, master!

He spun on his heel, drawing back one leg. Even Thitus, through the curtain of pain, saw what was coming, and his eyes widened.

"Wai-"

Taekwondo's… beautiful spinning back kick.

His foot slammed into Thitus's ribs, and he felt the reinforced bones collapse underneath it. The indomitable castle that was Agronus Dren Thitus was collapsing.

"I'm - not - done - yet!!"

He folded his arm and lifted it across his face as Thitus staggered, collapsing onto one knee. Elemental threw his arm forward and slammed his elbow in his temple, feeling bone against bone.

Muay Thai's… elbow.

He hit him again. And again. He spun around and drove his elbow into his cheek bone, using the force of his spin to drive it even harder. He hit him again. One more time. Eventually, blood now running onto the floor from both sides of Thitus's head, head slumped onto both his knees and fell forwards onto his face, red splodges splattering to the ground. Elemental himself, all adrenaline now depleted, felt his knees give away as his breath rattled in his broken ribcage. His arms fell to his sides, losing all strength, and he toppled backwards, banging to the floor. He tried to force himself to his feet and get to the reactor core, but he couldn’t move at all.

No… I gotta… core…

Then his eyes closed and he blacked out.

 

POV Airo (10 minutes before 003 defeats Thitus)

"Hellooo? 003?" Airo demanded into his comms, which had just gone dead. "Damn, he's so cold, especially towards me. Wouldn't you agree?"

He shook the limp body of the solider on the end of his spear.

"Damn, you too?"

He tossed him aside and headed down the corridor, towards his target, which was sealed by a thick steel door.

I could pester Kremi… but I'd much rather do it myself.

He whirled his spear between his fingers, a seven-foot-long supercharged shard of reinforced steel with enough chrona running inside it to power a small vehicle, and hurled it with all his strength down towards the door. It hit the steel and a brilliant, booming blue flash exploded down the corridor, before subsiding to reveal the spear spinning through the air and impaling itself in the wall. The door was relatively unscathed, albeit still smouldering a little.

Mmm. It's pretty sturdy. Seems like throwing won’t work.

He strode up to the door, ripped his spear out of the wall, and thrust it straight into the steel with all his strength. Its tip drove right in like a screwdriver into cheese, and he tightened his grip. One blast. Two blasts. On the third blast his spear loosened and he was left with a gaping, melted hole in the steel, its edges still molten hot, about the size of two fists. Instantly, he unhooked two bombs from his belt and tossed the first one in, followed by a second. Then he ripped a shard of metal out of the wall and welded it to the door using his spear. It didn’t take long for the coughing and shouting to begin as the people inside choked on the gas from the gas bomb.

"Any time now."

A series of explosions went off behind the door, and suddenly there was silence, except for the sizzling of metal as smoke leaked from beyond the door.

…was a gas bomb then a cluster bomb too much? Sword would scold me for sure.

He prised the door off its hinges and poked his head inside, holding his breath from the burning smell. Everything, including the machinery, was totally destroyed in a smoking, burning mess.

"Heh," he grinned to himself, before reopening his comms. "Hello everyone, 002 here. Anti-air defences disabled. Do what you will with that info. Remember the storms though! No ships."

There were a few mumbles of acknowledgment from his teammates, but Kremi's voice cut through everyone.

"That's great and all, 002, but I thought I should tell you this!"
"Hm?"

"It's about 003. His vitals are…"