- Capability

As Gus's name was called out, murmurs spread around the room like a raging fire, threatening to burn down his chance at a new start without the burden of his father.

"Braye?"

"Isn't that like Andrew Braye? The scientist?"

"I thought he didn't have relatives?"

"Is he one of the Evolved?"

Gus ignored the murmurs as he climbed into the ring, and went into the opposite corner to the crowd. His opponent, Timber Allen, was from the squad on the third floor. He was huge, even bigger than Joel, who Gus considered to be one of the muscle guys of his squad.

"The rules are simple," Cain began. "Fight each other, using everything you've got. Cybernetics are allowed in these fights today. I want to see what you're capable of. Good luck!"

"Fight!"

*Reactive Mission: Fight!*

*Defeat your opponent.*

Gus shifted his weight onto the balls of his feet, and gently bounced as his opponent advanced towards him. He brought his right hand up in front of his face and formed it into a fist, while leaving his left hand to hang tightly by his hip.

His opponent opted to ignore any sense of form as he approached, instead quickly walking towards him as casually as though he was simply walking down a street. As he grew closer, Gus ran his eyes all over his body in an attempt to find any sign of cybernetics. Finding nothing, Gus began forming a plan designed to close the fight in an instant.

When he was within an arm's reach, Gus moved. Springing off with his left foot, he quickly moved to the right and shifted his weight back towards Timber with a punch that was aimed at his side.

Gus's fist connected with it's target, and he quickly moved to follow up with a left punch across Timber's face. Out of nowhere, before his blow could land, Gus was slammed into the floor thanks to a fist, driven across from his left by Timber. He slammed into the ground with tremendous force, bouncing off the surface of the ring into a well timed kick into his stomach.

Gus slammed into the rope that formed the border of the ring and was thrown back towards the centre. A forearm slammed into his chest as he moved and put him back onto the floor, the wind stripped from his lungs.

Gus lay on the floor of the ring as his opponent turned away from him and went to the Officer. Staring up at the ceiling, he desperately wheezed for air. As he lay there, he heard the whispers of the others.

"Holy... that was brutal."

"He's definitely not an Evolved."

"Do you think he changed his name to sound like the scientist?"

Hearing their mocking words, Gus was taken back to years ago, when he would be mocked by almost all of the other children for being a failure.

'No, it's different now,' he told himself. 'I have a power now, a unique power. I can fight now.'

Slowly, he rolled himself over onto his front and, while still gasping, forced himself up onto his knees. Spotting this, Timber threw out a leg in his direction, aiming to connect with the side of his face. Gus threw himself back to avoid the attack, narrowly missing the tip of Timber's foot.

Landing on his back, Gus was instantly forced to move. Planting his kicked foot to the ground, Timber spun round and drove his foot down towards Gus. Gus rolled left onto his front, narrowly missing the follow up attack once more. Pushing himself to his feet, Gus stepped into Timber and drove his right fist into his stomach. Alert to the counter punch coming, Gus pushed himself back to avoid the fist that came from above him.

He instantly surged forward, aiming for the exposed right side of Timber's body. Gus drove another fist into his side that caught Timber off guard. He ducked under the backhanded swipe that Timber released in his direction and drove a flurry of strikes into Timber's stomach.

Gus moved back to avoid a punch coming down from his right, but was caught by a powerful kick to the stomach. He was thrown back against the ropes once again, and coughed up blood as he hit them. Before he had time to register it, he was the victim of the forearm attack once again.

Learning from the last time, Timber dropped on top of Gus and drove a fist into his mouth. Despite his entire body aching from pain, Gus's face exploded into pain of a whole new level as his jaw cracked under the force of the blow.

Timber stood and turned away from Gus once more, again going to the Officer to protest that the fight was finished. Gus felt blood run down the sides of his mouth and trickle down onto the floor beneath him. As he gasped for air, he could feel his lungs explode with pain, as though he had ingested a ball of spikes that was now rolling around, dragging itself through the surface of the lungs.

As Gus struggled to get up, a system message popped into view.

*Hint: Avoid your opponent's attacks.*

"Think you're funny?" he painfully muttered, dropping more blood onto the floor below him as his mouth moved.

Pushing himself up once more, he looked at his opponent, desperate to find an answer. A great amount of sweat dripped off his body, mixing with the blood on the surface of the ring underfoot.

'It's been years since I felt like this. It's like my attacks have done nothing to him... maybe hitting his body isn't such a good idea.'

Thanks to the murmurs starting around the ring, Timber noticed that Gus was getting up once again. He walked over once again, prepared to finish the fight. Gus quickly rushed at Timber and tackled him, taking him by surprise.

Gus drove him towards the ring, taking him by surprise. As he pushed Timber back, Timber drove his elbows down onto Gus's back in an effort to free himself.

'It's pathetic that I'm used to having my breath taken away this soon.'

Forcing him against the ropes, Gus released Timber and drove a fist up into his neck. The blow caught Timber off guard, stripping him of his air for a moment. Taking advantage of the moment, Gus leapt onto Timber and used his entire body weight to drag him down onto the ground. Once on the floor, the fight was won.

Gus climbed on top of Timber and drove his fists into almost anywhere that it made sense to. He smashed a fist into Timber's nose, then drove the next into his stomach. He continued his barrage until he was violently pulled off Timber by Cain.

"Enough, you've won," Cain whispered in his ear. He helped Gus up and held his hand to the ceiling.

"And the winner is... Gus Braye!"

Those in Gus's squad erupted into congratulatory noise, loudly clapping, cheering and whistling as they celebrated his victory. Everyone else remained silent, stunned at the outcome of the fight that Gus should have lost. As he looked around, Gus's vision spun and faded from clarity. Soon enough, he felt his legs lose their strength as he fell forward.

Just before he lost consciousness, a series of messages appeared in front of his eyes.

*Enemy Defeated.*

*Reward: 50 EXP.*

*Reactive Mission: Fight! Complete.*

*Reward: 500 EXP.*