⁕ Duel of fates (part 2)

Sniper's presence emitted an aura of doom inside the jungle. Animals, small or large, immediately felt the overwhelming sense of doom that loomed over their home. Even tigers, the kings of the jungles, had their fur standing on their body like a frightened house cat upon feeling Sniper's presence. 

A white aura shined through Sniper's clear crystals as he landed softly atop of a massive tree. All the way at the riverside, sat Mike who stared at him with a burning hatred in his eyes. After pushing himself off the ground, Mike's crystals also began to shine with a fiery blue light. 

[Mike] - "SNIPER! "

Yelled Mike with an earth-shattering voice. 

Slowly, Mike began to walk toward his opponent. Suddenly, thousands of tree roots jumped up to impale him. However, Mike remained unfazed as any root that approached him was immediately reduced to vapour. With determined steps, Mike gradually increased his pace while his eyes were only focused on his target. 

Soon, the trees began to come to life as they smashed their massive tronc against Mike with increasing ferocity. Meanwhile, with a few twitches of his fingers, Sniper summoned massive bolts of lightning from the sky that struck Mike repetitively. Despite all these attacks, Mike kept his pace and remained unchallenged by his surrounding hellscape. 

This was the true side of Mike that remained oppressed by Sniper. He was no longer the insecure and helpless boy who only knew how to obey orders. When he finally became his own master, when he finally decided to fight for what he believed in, Mike finally found the passion that was long lost inside his heart. 

[Mike] - "All these amateur-level attacks... Just who the hell do you think I am? "

Yelled Mike as he raised his fist in the air. 

With a single strike, Mike not only reduced the hostile nature in a kilometre radius to an empty desert but also cleared the visible sky of all cloud presence. However, Sniper still remained unimpressed by Mike's effort as he summoned an earth giant the size of around 9 Burj Khalifa stacked on top of each other. 

The massive creature squeezed Mike between his ginormous palms but a massive explosion abruptly blew off the giant's torso and head. Like a bolt of lightning, Mike arrived in front of Sniper and punched him with all of his power. However, to Mike's surprise, Sniper wasn't even scratched by his attack. 

[Sniper] - "The hubris of a mortal is often his downfall in the face of a God. "

Said Sniper in a monotone voice. 

With a single punch, Sniper sent Mike crashing into the ground with such force that much of the debris ended up in space. Before Mike could recover from this blow, Sniper suddenly appeared in front of him and landed a right hook below his chin. In an instant, Mike crashed into the moon and left the asteroid with half a broken side. After jumping back into space, Mike turned around and realized how damaged was the moon. 

"Shit... I have to be more careful. Can't cause the end of the world because of this bloody bastard. "

Thought Mike as contemplated what to do. 

With a gripping motion, Mike replaced all the broken pieces back on the moon. Although not perfect, the moon was at least still a perfect sphere capable of serving its purpose. With this done, Mike dashed back onto Earth like an asteroid before landing directly on Sniper. With a powerful punch, Mike finally managed to deliver a critical blow against Sniper. This time, Sniper crashed into the ground with a missing leg and a flattened abdomen. 

[Mike] - "How does it feel, old man? Did this finally cure your arteritis? "

Said Mike in an exhausted tone. 

[Sniper] - "How naive of you to believe I would leave myself vulnerable. "

With a single snap of his finger, Sniper's body immediately rewound to his previously uninjured state. Meanwhile, Mike suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest. When he looked, he was shocked to find a huge hole on the left side of his chest. Sniper's hit was precise and deadly; while Mike was focused on his attack, Sniper used this opportunity to divert part of his defensive power into a rapid and deadly strike. The result, Sniper allowed himself to receive recoverable damage in exchange for inflicting a lethal injury to his opponent. 

[Sniper] - "You are already dead, Mike. Without a heart, you can only have another 20 seconds before you lose consciousness. "

Said Sniper in a grim tone. 

[Mike] - "Heh! That's not an issue for me. You have been heartless your whole life and still lived until now. So what's different for me? "

Said Mike with a defiant grin on his face. 

Using his reflection on Sniper's armour, Mike reconnected his major blood vessels before stimulating his blood flow using his ability. Despite the immense pain, Mike simply shut his teeth together and endured the pain without a grimace. 

[Sniper] - "Impressive. Perhaps I truly underestimated your mastery of the crystals. However, how would you replace your head if it was blown into a mist? "

Said Sniper in a cold voice. 

In a flash, Sniper's palm cleaved toward Mike's face. The speed of the attack left Mike with no time to react as he immediately diverted his power toward his head's defence. Unfortunately for Mike, this proved to be a faint by Sniper as he focused his power into his other hand. With a swift strike, Sniper stabbed his other hand through Mike's abdomen and out through his back. 

[Sniper] - "You can never win, Mike. It's like when an ant picks a fight with a human, the odds of the ant achieving victory are below the realms of possibility. "

Said Sniper as he stared pitifully at Mike. 

With a loud splash, Sniper withdrew his hand alongside a massive puddle of blood. In a thud, Mike fell to the ground as his severed spine meant he could no longer control his legs. 

[Sniper] - "You have proved yourself worthy of my mercy, Mike. Submit and I shall spare your life and the lives of all those dear to you. I suggest you accept my gracious offer as in exchange for your freedom, you can guarantee the freedom of those you care. "

Said Sniper as Mike's blood slowly dripped off his hand. 

[Mike] - "I will never submit... As long as you are alive, all others will share the same fate as me. I fight to liberate the people who are suffering under your tyranny, not to live like an ant with my loved ones inside a cage of your design. That's the principle of the cyberknights. My crystals are not tools for you to enforce your rule, they are tools of freedom and justice. "

Said Mike, still with a defiant grin despite the unbearable pain. 

[Sniper] - "So you would condemn both Doctor Ethan and your little lab rat to die with you. As expected from a mortal coward. When you are drowning, you have to drag some people down with you. "

[Mike] - "Her name is Kadyn, you bloody bastard. And who the fuck told you I was drowning? "

Said Mike with a confident grin. 

Mike slowly crawled to his feet while using his ability to support his legs. 

[Mike] - "The fact that you had to take damage to inflict a critical hit against me already revealed your weakness. You are afraid to admit it but your power level is around equal to mine. That means we are fighting on equal ground, Sniper. "

Said Mike with a devious grin.

Suddenly, Mike's defensive shield reacted to a powerful strike against his head. Thanks to the semi-automatic nature of his ability when it comes to defence, Mike was able to defeat the attack without receiving severe injuries. 

[Mike] - "You are scared, Sniper. That sneak attack tells me all. "

Said Mike as a line of blood streamed down from his head. 

A small amount of frustration finally managed to hit Sniper's nerves as a small change finally occurred in his cold stoic expression. To think that Mike was his equal gradually began to annoy Sniper since to him, no one on this earth could match his power. 

With a killer aura around him, Sniper walked up to Mike and launched a punch in his direction. When Mike blocked his attack, his other fist came from the other side but was also intercepted by his opponent. With both their hands locked, Mike abruptly head-bumped Sniper and caused him to crash into the ground. 

"I'm a God. He couldn't be stronger than me! He is nothing but a mortal brat! "

Thought Sniper in total disbelief. 

With a single jump, Sniper stood upright and met Mike with a hand chop. Being now more experienced and cautious, Mike met Sniper with a spontaneous defence attack which punched a fist-sized hole in Sniper's helmet. 

[Sniper] - "Ugh! "

Grunted Sniper in frustration. 

The two men's confrontation soon turned into a duel fought in hand-to-hand combat. Aside from the occasional flesh wound, both fighters seemed to be equal in skill. As Sniper intercepted a strike from Mike, he abruptly summoned a stone spike from the ground which impaled Mike through the shoulder. 

Despite the amount of injuries on his body, Mike pushed through the pain by reminding himself of his promise to Kadyn. 

"I'm not lying to you. I will come back for you, I will protect you. "

Thought Mike as he fought the pain that was threatening to blur his consciousness. 

Since Sniper was expecting Mike to also sneak an attack behind him, he concentrated part of his focus toward his backside defence. However, Mike has already something prepared for his opponent. As he punched forward, a shower of tiny hypersonic metal particles shot out from his armour at Sniper. In an instant, Sniper's body was turned into a piece of Swiss cheese by Mike's projectiles. 

With this level of injury, Sniper would need a period of respite before he could continue the fight. With a wave of his hand, Sniper created a veil of dirt in front of him before disappearing underground. Mike quickly scouted his surroundings for any surprise attack but due to his disabled legs, he was unable to feel it when Sniper's fist smashed through the ground below him. Although Mike tried to block the attack, his delayed reaction allowed a small dose of Sniper's ability to reach his chest. 

[Mike] - *gasp*

Mike could only recoil to avoid Sniper's subsequent strikes. However, he suddenly realized that he couldn't breathe as Sniper's ability had collapsed his lungs. Just as Mike was about to heal the damage, Sniper jumped at him with an intense barrage of punches. Left with no room for recovery, Mike could only defend himself while his vision slowly darkened due to a lack of oxygen. 

[Sniper] - "Time to end this. "

Said Sniper as he collected dry ice from the air and coated his hands in the substance. 

Mike immediately realized that Sniper was trying to inject him with dry ice. If Sniper managed to land a single strike, it would be over for Mike as not only would dry ice freeze his blood and organs but the saturation of CO2 in his body would also bring about his demise. On top of that, Mike could repair superficial damage to his body but he isn't experienced enough with his ability to filter out specific molecules from his blood. 

Most urgently, Mike needed to reinflate his collapsed lungs or else he won't last long. He tried to create a veil of sand in front of himself but Sniper simply pulled him through the cover. There is no way to escape as Sniper used his ability to mark him and pull him back if he tried to flee. To add insult to injury, Sniper launched Mike into the air and proceeded to continue his attack while leaving Mike with no surrounding assets to aid his escape. 

The sheer speed and ferocity of Sniper's strikes left Mike no time for anything but defence. At this point, Mike was already slipping into darkness but at the last second, an idea flashed inside his mind. By colliding his fists together, Mike created a massive shockwave that acted as a defensive measure against Sniper. Meanwhile, the pressure wave coming in his own direction was used by Mike to reinflate his lungs. 

[Mike] - "Now it's my turn, mother fucker! "

Whispered Mike after breathing a sigh of relief.

Now refilled with oxygen, Mike collided his fist with Sniper's before creating an invisible coil-like structure around his opponent's arm. Unbeknownst to Sniper, when he blocked Mike's punch, a massive wave of pressure travelled around his arm before reaching his body. The enormous power of the compressed gas easily smashed Sniper's body to shred. Now, as long as Mike pressed his attack, Sniper won't have the opportunity to rewind his body. 

However, Sniper made a gamble. As Mike's fist approached him, he focused his ability on his blood which splashed near his opponent's neck. In an instant, Sniper froze his blood into an icicle which pierced through Mike's neck. Fortunately for Sniper, his gamble worked as the sudden perforation caused Mike to barely miss his attack. Using this brief moment, Sniper repaired his body before slamming Mike into the ground. 

When the dust settled, Sniper stood over Mike's barely functional body. Although Mike didn't lose consciousness, he was simply too tired to keep going. The pain combined with the amount of mental exhaustion caused by his ability which was keeping his body alive proved to be too much for him to handle. 

[Sniper] - "In the end, the gap between our mastery proved to be too large. While I can repair any damage inflicted on my body, you can only waste away in your injuries. You put up a valiant effort but in the end, you can only dream about overthrowing a God. "

Said Sniper as he cast his shadow over Mike's face. 

[Mike] - "Heh! Maybe that's the case but I just need one hit to splatter your brain over all seven continents. "

Said Mike in laboured breaths.

[Sniper] - "Pointless defiance won't grant you a victory. "

Said Sniper in a cold voice.

[Mike] - "It's not pointless... I promised her I will win and return to her side. I have a reason to keep going but you don't. Think about it, you bloody wanker, you don't even have a reason to fight me. "

Said Mike as the defiant grin reappeared on his face. 

Mike's defiant attitude finally caused Sniper to snap. With anger boiling inside his veins, Sniper raised his foot and pressed it against Mike's head. 

[Sniper] - "Gods do not need a purpose. You could've chosen to ascend your human self by showing your loyalty to me but you decided to stand with the weak and pitiful. You soiled your bloodline by sleeping with a creature created against nature's law and rejected the divine plan I devised for the greater good of humanity. You are a disgrace, Mike. "

Said Sniper in disgust as he made sure to smear the mud under his boot on Mike's face. 

[Mike] - "I agree, I'm a disgusting lowly human being. I have flaws and biases and I have committed sins. But at the end of the day, I'm happy with the way I am. It's due to our imperfect nature that we have a reason to fight. We seek to fill the imperfection in our lives. People like you who convince themselves that they have reached perfection could only stagnate in the void while repeating the same meaningless task until they reach insanity. "

Said Mike in a sincere tone.

[Sniper] - "Then stay mortal, human. "

Said Sniper as he raised his fist in the air. 

Meanwhile, Mike reminisced about his past. He thought of all the times he spent with Kadyn and couldn't help but smile when he remembered her joyful smile. Her happiness shined like the stars that illuminated the night sky. He remembered the time he took her to the moon. They both sat and admired the Earth in their spacesuits created by his ability using clouds. 

[Kadyn] - "It's so beautiful! "

Said Kadyn as she admired the big blue sphere above her. 

[Mike] - "Indeed. I knew it was a good idea to take you here. "

Said Mike with a smirk. 

[Kadyn] - "Aw, now you just sparked my interest in interstellar exploration. "

[Mike] - "Speaking of which, how about we go further next time? "

[Kadyn] - "Sure! Take me to dance on Saturn's ring. "

Said Kadyn without hesitation.

At first, Mike was a bit shocked by this proposition but upon seeing Kadyn's enthusiasm, he knew she made him an offer he could not refuse. 

[Mike] - "When I master my ability, I will take you there. "

[Kadyn] - "Huh? I was just kidding, you can't be serious! "

Said Kadyn with a look of shock. 

[Mike] - "Why let a dream be dream? "

Upon hearing Mike's words, Kadyn simply laid her head against Mike's shoulder and went back to admiring the Earth with him. None of the two said a word but they both knew it was an unspoken promise. 

"Saturn... that is quite the distance. "

Thought Mike as he closed his eyes.

To be continued...

*EXTRA

- Profile: Sniper

- Complete name: Charles M. Mundy

- Ability: [Virtual insanity]: "One of the rarest abilities obtainable for a crystal user with only 3 known cases. Sniper's ability can manipulate molecules and energy in any way he desires as long as it follows the rules of physics and chemistry.

Unlike Mike, Sniper trained his ability to accomplish certain tasks with much more precision and ease. When in combat, Sniper can also improvise but he prefers to rely more on a set of specific abilities he already acquired beforehand. However, the rule remains that the more complex the task, the more mental efficiency and focus are required.

When Sniper's mind or ability is idle, a passive molecular shield is maintained sub-consciously which protects Sniper from unexpected harm. Since every user's power core has a limited energy output per second, in a fight, users like Sniper have to balance the energy spent on defence and attack. "

- ABILITY STATS:

Power - S

Speed of the ability - S

Speed granted by the ability - A

Range - A

Durability of the ability - S

Durability granted by the ability - S

Precision - S

Potential - S