A Fight?

The place was open 24/7 always housing some professionals non-stop lifting throughout the day. The two pushed past only with a few waves to dissuade their attempts at conversation . The woman at reception winked at Kage resulting in a scoff from him. Motion sensors turned on the blaring lights nearly blinding Sophie in their abruptness.

"I'll be right back. I just need to get a few things from the storage room." Kage ducked ahead into the next room scavenging through the torn mats, sewn together gloves, and lonely weights rusted with age. Not long after he entered did, he hear the grunts of someone boxing. They were familiar. Swiveling to the noise he saw Daniel in the ring, alone, fighting an imaginary enemy. Already he had begun shadow boxing without Kage's instruction.

Kage left the equipment room walking toward him. Daniel had not obeyed his order, but this was expected. He'd finally gotten an addiction for the ring.

Daniel did not know of Kage's presence. He saw only the mere image of HIS Kage fighting one on one with him. In the weeks of fighting, he had discovered the weaknesses to Kage's style but had been unable to counteract. Too slow and too conventional were his problems. Experience was a simple construct Daniel understood but could not have. Therefore, he decided to substitute experience with raw adrenaline. By harnessing as well as forming an almost addictive quality to obtaining this shot of adrenaline when entering the ring he could surpass that experience. Daniel knew that by doing so it could subsequently improve his chances to create his aura earlier than normal. Once he got that aura, he hoped that Kage would have a hard time even touching him.

This was of course in theory, a theory he had not wanted for Kage to learn.

"Impressive." Daniel snapped to the voice. Kage stood shirtless and clad in gloves. "You did this yourself. I commend you…" He noticed the girl sitting down with an almost awestruck stare stuck to Kage. Daniel found Sophie to be disgustingly weird. His own self-consciousness made him cover his own chest with each mitted hand. A valid attempt that proved lackluster.

Laughing, Kage explained, "Don't worry about Sophie. We were talking and she followed me inside. Why don't we do this thing, Daniel?" He cracked both hands, within that crack Daniel could hear the swoosh of air. No warning, no buzzer, and no time to react. Daniel took the punch and rolled off of it. It was as powerful as a rhinoceros crushing a twig beneath its mighty foot.

Endurance coupled with resolve was how he withstood that unprompted punch. Immediately, Kage had closed the distance maneuvering to trip Daniel with his feet cutting inside of his bobbing stance. Daniel's single foot was twice the size of Kage's but with a concise kick to the tendon any man could be sent tumbling. However, he had been prepared for this trick.

Shuffling backward, Daniel bounced off the ropes torpedoing toward Kage's center mass. Where Kage aimed consistently for his opponent's liver and kidneys, Daniel had to persuade these attacks then connect one to Kage's chin. To any higher ranked Evolved Kage could be seen as a mere child but to Daniel his chest was the outer armor to a tank. A punch would simply ricochet off harming the abuser more so than the victim.

'BOOM!' An uppercut caved deep into Daniel's block lifting his right arm away for less than a second. An advantage was given again to Kage as his left fist came back to hit Daniel square across the cheek. Blood splattered on the mat below, but it was nothing serious, just enough to rouse him from the hibernation his mind had been wrestled in.

Shadow boxing allowed someone to fight against the image their mind created of the real thing. Going up against that behemoth was much different. This was a mountaineer climbing Mount St. Helen during its untimely eruption. The beating continued as the glint in Kage's pupils grew larger. He knew of Daniel's strategy. Before, he had been much more aggressive to land a hit on him but here he was conserving energy to find a window of opportunity. This was a bet Kage was willing to take. His strength and technique against the stamina and speed of Daniel.

'How appropriate.'

'Boing!' Daniel's ears perked up; he heard the bounce of the ropes from behind. He had just been forced to the edge once again. No sign of a window of opportunity appeared as Kage's hits accumulated. Then, he saw the predisposition of Kage's third technique. The only one Daniel had trained himself for in the last week.

An arm shot out to deliver two consecutive blows in order to force Daniel onto that mat. Kage's own move that he had nearly perfected. The man of course knew of its risk in usage, but it felt satisfying whenever it landed. Therefore, he threw out logic to feed his ego. Especially with this captivated audience he knew that it would be great.

The first punch rattled Daniel's rib cage; the fist twisted the skin molding its impression there for the upcoming second strike. When the second came Kage found surprise in what he hit.

An elbow replaced the target. His punch had in fact hurt himself instead of the enemy. Daniel's eyes became clear, eyeing the opportunity of a lifetime. With a terrible roar his right arm shot up past Kage's guard piercing the boy's jaw. Blood exploded up out of his mouth across the upper half of his face. Drenched in this fluid his eyes went hazy, but instinct persisted. Before Kage fell to the mat he delivered a solid jab to Daniel's face, dazing him as well.

Kage's fall was long and without applause. His mind went haywire.

Sharp bolts pierced through his strategized thoughts. Black sludge ate into his veins while the heavy breathing from Daniel filled his ears. Kage had been knocked down. Here he knelt before his opponent like a lamb to the slaughter. Humiliation upon humiliation was all he could believe. This time he had grown much stronger but even so, he struggled with someone this fresh to the ring.

A cold sweat broke out across his body. The fall had grown stale.

'Boring, it was all so boring. Like grain fed in the slop to a beast.'

He hated it.

The blood flowing in a steady waterfall from his nostrils. Whiplash shot the fluid across his face. The mat was cold but soft with an inviting flair. Giving up was valid and he knew that Daniel would soon eclipse him. In a month he had become a foe of consideration, so what was the point in struggling?

'My eyes are so heavy, and my skin is clammy. What's the point if I'm just going to get hit again? If I am to never proceed? Staying here wouldn't be so bad…'

"GET UP AND TEAR HIM APART!" the words screamed from a ravenous beast aching for repayment of equal kind.

His eyes shot open to Sophie's face blistered by protruding veins. Pupils beadily pointed. Her frustration was his. Someone to cheer him on, he couldn't remember any time of this occurring. Not even Lisa had stood behind him.

Pulled by the strings of her words Kage kicked off from the floor immediately forcing Daniel back into the corner. This was where he belonged. Away from the spotlight into the palm of Kage's hand.

His body already weakened from the blow before knocking Kage down further exacerbated his issue in untangling from Kage's newly found aggressiveness.

Like a beast roused early by a pesky predator, Kage had gone into overdrive pulling no more punches. Daniel saw the saliva flying from between his teeth. Now, Daniel knew he would not be allowed another hit on his opponent. When he struck right Kage snatched it with his arm-twisting Daniel to his exposed left. This wasn't boxing but a brawl between a raging flame that met dry grass.

Despite this tumultuous beating, no one called it to an end. Daniel felt the resolve to hang in there until the conclusion. Although blood unceasingly spewed, neither cared for their condition. He could just catch a glimpse of Kage's mitts and knees later recognizing the effect on his body.

In the span of a minute and thirty seconds, Kage had delivered 62 blows to Daniel's liver, face, chin, rib cage, and kidneys. During this time, Sophie gazed in admiration for him. How he threw each punch, blocking each oncoming attack. To her this was the pinnacle to life. Unrestrained devastation to salvage what remained in one's heart. This much blood echoed by excessive grunts of pain aching with exhilaration, filled her mind with a keen euphoria. Best of all, it was Kage who gave her this emotion.

Kage found himself strangely calm. Time moved in a stabilized format where he found equilibrium between his movements and those of Daniel's. He had not become faster, instead acquiring insight into the fighter. The moves were simple just as he had taught Daniel, layered behind a thick shell of deception. In this state he acknowledged Daniel's effort. A week is what he had to prepare for this impromptu fight, even then he had created a strategy for his first knockout. That's why when Daniel had begun to move, Kage couldn't discern the motive or reasoning in the change. A reprieve is all he needed for it to become clear. Daniel needed this, he needed to grow and become a hero. HIS hero, he would be Kage's hero.

This was another lesson for his goal to spread into reality. Pain was the greatest teacher that guided him down the path they both desired. Kage could almost laugh at their common simple-mindedness. To save and protect.

The 63rd hit to the jaw threw Daniel on his back.

'Thud!' His body hit the mat just as he blacked out. Kage stood strong and was rushed by Sophie the second Daniel collapsed onto the mat. A towel was strewn over his shoulders while a medical kit opened with a harsh snap. Her hands gripping a second towel dripping with disinfectant brushed over his face smudging out the black and blue marks. He could feel the small of her palms inflict enough pressure to make his skin sting at the touch.

Caught in his own world, he only remembered Daniel when he heard a pained grunt from below. Daniel's eyes were hazily slurred by concussion. The inside of his brain boomed and banged as if some large, burly man was beating him with a mallet. He imagined this man to be wearing the clichéd circus tunic accompanied with a twirled mustache shortly above his mouth.

Daniel saw the twisted grin on Sophie's face. She huddled behind Kage's figure to hide herself from his gaze. However, the smile and her attitude did not disturb Daniel, instead it caused him to laugh. "You two are really good for each other."

Sophie blushed, forcing the two of them to quickly separate, standing a meter apart in fear of the apocalyptic complements from Daniel. Meanwhile, Kage was unperturbed. Coughing away the awkwardness, Kage held his hand out carrying Daniel to the washroom with the medical kit bouncing at his waist. Whoops and hollers punctuating their haggard walk while the room roared to life with dozens of muscle-bound men and women screaming in delight of the show.