Resolve

Within a week and a half, Tommy had made speedy recovery which was lower than a month and a half estimate made by doctors. The scene begins Tommy and M1ke releasing huge amounts of binding energy while the battle between them gets more intense by the second.

Tommy takes the first dash after they both unleash their binding energy regeneration state and it escalates to a literal heat-inducing hand-to-hand combat.

"GO BIG BRO!! GO MR. M1KE!!" Oli screams as he punches the air in excitement of seeing real hand-to-hand combat for the first time in his life.

With the enhancement from the binding energy, their punches are almost as fast as the speed of sound while their speed running in circles quite literally is as fast as sound. The high speed battle has Oli rubbing his eyes to see what's even going on. It's as if they're not even leaving the place they're standing from yet the impact of the fight can be physically felt in a long radius.

In the heat of the battle amongst the fast barrage of punches from M1ke and the combined handiwork and legwork from Tommy, he manages to land a strong double kick and a counter punch on M1ke which sends him back by about 20 meters.

"Excellent Counterattack Tommy! Here goes! Wind Blast!" M1ke says as he unleashes a near visible ball of wind, dust, grass and leaves from the ground which nearly instantly hits Tommy without giving him an opening to escape and pushes him towards a tree. The tree gets a bit of a dent when Tommy's back hits it but Tommy doesn't seem hurt and charges in again immediately.

M1ke immediately launches a punch while just standing in his place right when Tommy reaches him but Tommy dodges it in no time. M1ke launches another punch with his other fist but Tommy sends it to the side with a slash move and gets a free kick on M1ke's face who immediately moves back to avoid it and hits Tommy's chin with his knee which creates another gap between them.

Gaps are pretty dangerous in a hand-to-hand combat heavy fight. Whoever moves first could be in actual danger because counter attacks are extremely difficult in said situations. Tommy and M1ke are just walking in circles all sweaty while sharply staring into each other's eyes just waiting for the attack to come.

"COME ON!! FIGHT!! I WANNA SEE FISTS CLASH!!" Oli screams.

"Yeah come on Tommy, how about we show little Oli some real action? Show some moves already hehe." M1ke joins Oli's sentiment.

"Oh c'mon don't join him in that! You clearly know how dangerous gaps can be in close combat!" Tommy replies only to hear a "hehe" from M1ke.

Following M1ke's smirk, he finally initiates the first attack causing Tommy to take the defensive immediately and then dash under his legs and land a back blow but his second back blow gets stopped by M1ke's kick who follows it up with a knee towards Tommy's face but Tommy counters it with his own knee and another gap is made.

"I've got to say, your stances have improved. I didn't expect you'd come up with such counters even I've barely ever seen. But I'm afraid playtime is over Tommy." M1ke speaks up as he charges a gust of wind again in his palms using binding energy.

"Then let's wrap it up sensei." Tommy replies also charging a shockwave in his palm.

Taking no time, the two of them unleash their special binding energy abilities. The energy from the clash starts shaking the ground and trees. Grass and leaves flying everywhere, a giant flash of light coming from the center of the clash and the ground beneath M1ke and Tommy's feet starts shaking. The immense force even lifts Oli and leaves him hanging by a frail looking tree.

Upon taking a glance at Oli's situation, Tommy gets worried and says, "Uh.. Sensei… I think we need to end the clash somehow… I can't stop the energy from flowing…" to which M1ke replies, "Me neither! I think we should divert the energy upwards into the sky and let it burst there." to which Tommy replies back with, "Alright! Three… two… one… UP!!".

The energy and shockwaves fly high into the sky after M1ke and Tommy raise their palms up in the air and make them explode. The explosion cuts away leaves from every tree in a 100m radius of the fight.

"Sheesh, that's a lot." Tommy speaks up.

"Energy based combats can be like that." M1ke replies.

"Oli! Oli!!" Tommy calls out for Oli.

"Where'd the little boy go?" M1ke asks.

"I don't know sensei…" Tommy replies.

"We should hurry up and look for him, he couldn't be that far away. It's close to afternoon. Beasts might show up anytime. We've got to get him back safe." M1ke replies back.

"Alright!" Tommy replies again as both M1ke and Tommy jump up from tree to tree in search of Oli and calling his name out everywhere.

While M1ke and Tommy are calling out, they see a beast run at extremely high speeds right around the corner. Within a second, the beast changes direction towards Tommy to attack but Tommy ends up dodging it but just barely. The beast then starts launching a flurry of attacks towards Tommy which he also dodges but with each attack, the beast gets faster and faster and manages to tear a part of Tommy's vest.

After seeing Tommy have a difficulty putting up with the beast's attacks, M1ke runs in, grabs Tommy and starts jumping up from tree to tree to get to a safer area but the beast seemingly keeps following.

M1ke throws Tommy onto a high tree branch to hang and charges towards the beast. He then dashes in the air towards the beast while unleashing his invisible strings to grab hold of the beast but as he gets closer, he finds his strings being shredded and decides to get behind the beast instantaneously for a blow to the back but then immediately a human hand shows up through the skin of the beast and grabs M1ke's leg.

The hand then rolls M1ke in the air a bit and throws him towards the tree but M1ke gains composure while in the air and lands on his two feet before crashing onto the tree. From all the smoke, the beast starts walking near M1ke while appearing more and more human in shape from behind the smoke. As the smoke clears, it is ultimately revealed that it was a man wearing the skin of a beast like a cloak.

The man then takes his hood off and says, "Hello old friend. How long has it been? 14 years? Hahaha."

"Wait… It can't be…!!" M1ke exclaims.

"Oh but it is. I hope you haven't forgotten your old military mate have you…?" The mysterious man replies to M1ke.

"No way… How are you still alive Simon…? I clearly remember seeing you crushed under a boulder during the war… when you and your squad were sent on an expedition…" M1ke mumbles.

"And I was alive… I waited hours for someone to come and save me… Then I saw you… Our leader… devastated at the rest of my squad being dead… My eyes were still open… I was too weak to speak back there… But I even raised my arm as high as I could… Yet you left when you heard the medic say I am a lost cause… You couldn't even bother getting my body back to my family could you…?" Simon replies.

"I… I'm sorry… I made a huge mistake… But you're here! Alive and well!" M1ke replies back.

"Alive, yes… Well? Not in the slightest! After days of being starved in the forest while crushed under the boulder, I was picked up by a group of military men in the forest. I don't remember anything after that. When I woke up, I was in a tank with half my body being more machine than a man… With all my strength, I broke through the tank and hunted a beast down for warmth… I ran home… Everything had changed… My wife was married to another man… Happy… With more children than I last saw her with… Nobody recognizes me anymore… My name is just carved among thousands of dead soldiers like I am a needle in a haystack… How exactly do you think I am WELL M1KE?" Simon screams back at M1ke.

"Trust me… I really was going to save you but-" M1ke tries to reply but gets interrupted and gets a sad expression on his face.

"BUT WHAT M1KE? IN THE END YOU DIDN'T THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS. But worry not. I will make your death quick and easy. Then I will kill the military. I know what corruption has been rotting the military since I was a member myself… But I was hopeful that I will catch as much of it as I can… But now that even the best parts of it have left me behind… I have only this one option… To end all of you one by one… Even if it takes MY ENTIRE LIFE!" Simon explains his goals to M1ke.

"There has to be another-" M1ke tries to reply again but is yet again interrupted by Simon who simply replies "I already told you. This. Is. The. ONLY. WAY!!!"

"Then I will do what I must…" M1ke replies while getting into a fighting stance, granted with a visible frown on his face.

"It'll be sweet dreams for you soon M1ke." Simon replies back while preparing his fists.

Just then, Tommy comes dashing through the branch of the tree onto the ground and runs towards M1ke in mere milliseconds and punches him.

"TOMMY DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF THE-" M1ke screams at Tommy but gets interrupted by Tommy who then screams back, "HEY YOU LEFT ME ON THAT TREE BRANCH UP THERE! YOU KNOW HOW DIFFICULT IT WAS TO GET DOWN WITHOUT GETTING HURT??"

"Hahaha. I assume that's your student M1ke." Simon replies.

"And who the hell are you?" Tommy speaks to Simon in a rude voice.

"You are one rude child. But worry not. You won't need manners because I will kill you first and make M1ke watch in HORROR!" Simon replies back to Tommy as he charges towards him.

Tommy barely gets a moment to dodge like in their previous fight and falls to the ground with only his bare hands to cover himself and with neither no time to cover them with binding energy nor a proper stance to guard.

Simon then screams "GODHAMMER" while getting binding energy in his fists together into a visible wave of cyan light targeted towards Tommy while he can't defend himself.

Just then M1ke shows up in front of Tommy and tries to get hold of him to run but his leg gets cut off from the supposed move Simon just called Godhammer and falls to the ground.

"MR. M1KE NOOO!!! This is all my fault… Had I not interrupted… You would've taken them down by now…" Tommy starts crying.

"No. It's okay Tommy. I shouldn't have underestimated the opponent…" M1ke replies in a weak voice due to losing a lot of blood immediately from his leg being cut off.

"B-But… your leg…" Tommy continues crying.

"Losses will always happen in life Tommy… Right now… You need to run… That opponent is too strong for you Tommy… Run… Please!" M1ke exclaims while encouraging Tommy to run.

"Yeah kid. You better run. Although I have no intention of leaving you or anyone related to M1ke alive today. But while I am here, I think it is a better idea to get rid of M1ke first. You've annoyed me enough for one day." Simon speaks up after showing out of nowhere and grabs M1ke by his uncut leg and starts slamming him onto the ground and then onto the trees.

While Tommy runs, Simon continues throwing M1ke around and ultimately kicking him to the ground and then jumping into the air. Simon then starts hitting M1ke with an extremely fast flurry of punches which shatter the ground beneath M1ke several meters down. M1ke's starts coughing blood and seemingly faints.

"I bestow upon you the gift to be alive for some more time M1ke. I will come back to kill your student in front of you while he's still alive. Then I will kill you once and for all." Simon says to the fainted M1ke before leaving to look for Tommy.

While Tommy is jumping over trees, he finds Oli crying below and dashes towards him.

"OLI ARE YOU OKAY??" Tommy screams.

"YES BIG BRO!! I THOUGHT I GOT LOST!!" Oli replies to Tommy's concerns.

"ALRIGHT OLI WE HAVE TO HURRY, IT'S DANGEROUS OUT HERE!! A BAD GUY IS CHASING US AND MR. M1KE IS TRYING TO TAKE HIM DOWN!!" Tommy screams back to Oli.

"WHA-" Oli tries to speak but gets grabbed by Tommy and jumps around on trees. Oli, not being used to such high speeds and acceleration, starts feeling dizzy.

Right then, Simon shows up in front of the running Tommy and punches his face which makes him fall to the ground with Oli. Tommy runs holding the unconscious Oli towards a tree and tries waking him up but Simon follows him there as well.

"It's about time you stop running and accept your death like a man, little boy." Simon speaks to Tommy.

Simon starts attacking Tommy and Tommy has the same amount of difficulty as he did before while fighting Simon. Each punch got faster and faster resulting in cuts on his clothes becoming deeper cuts on his skin the more he dodged back. But this isn't the same Tommy as the start. He knows a balance of offense and defense. He retaliates with an offensive move but Simon punches right through it too, sending Tommy flying back onto a Tree and breaking the tree in half as well.

Tommy falls to the ground and finds it difficult to stand up. That's when he realizes his leg somehow broke while taking those fast punches. He gets up regardless and runs as fast as he can towards Simon only to get a neck chop from him and another boomerang slam onto a tree. Tommy then changes approaches to attacking him angularly from all sides.

Unfortunately, his barrage of attacks keep getting slower due to the requirement of jumping from tree to ground to boulders in an angular manner that he cannot fulfill with a broken leg. After his final jump in this style of attacking, he succumbs to the pain of the broken leg mid air and gets his face caught by Simon's palm and slammed to the ground this time which sends a straight shockwave onto the direction he is slammed in and causes the ground to get several meter long cracks in the same direction.

He then throws Tommy into a medium altitude in the air and starts punching him down. Realizing dodging is becoming more and more ineffective, Tommy takes a guard stance and starts charging binding energy into his crossed arms but within a few punches, even his guard breaks.

But during the guard break, he sees a punch that can be countered by a chop-hand position so he tries to send it aside using a chop slam to the side. While it seems to go well, somehow Simon slides his hand up immediately when Tommy's palm sends it aside and punches it downwards which causes Tommy's entire body to shake towards Simon who then elbows his back when Tommy bends and then hits Tommy's chin with a barrage of knee attacks which ultimately make him fall backwards.

He then steps on Tommy's face and tries crushing it, kicks Tommy around and then kicks Tommy into the air and slams him onto a tree. He then starts punching Tommy from the front and the impact of the punches are visible on Tommy's body as well as the tree. Right when the tree breaks, Simon steps back and watches Tommy cough blood out.

"Giving up already eh boy?" Simon asks sarcastically.

"I'm not done yet…" Tommy replies as he coughs the last of the blood and wipes his face and wonders how all his moves are failing.

"You must be wondering why all of your moves are failing right? You see! You fight just like M1ke when he was young. Filled with speed and immense strength in each move. But it's no shock since you are his student after all. However, my special technique is a counter to all kinds of hand to hand combat. It makes me nearly invincible!" Simon explains.

"Invincible!?! There is no way… There has to be some kind of counter to it… What does his technique even do…" Tommy says to himself in shock.

"Since you're going to die anyway kid and the fact there is no viable counter to this technique, I'll give you a simple explanation. Whatever planet I am on, I can adjust to its gravitational force and allow myself to either spin up fast by negating it. Or while in combat, since everything eventually moves down, my technique allows me to keep accelerating my punch despite landing. This drills into my opponents and allows me to break their guards. The fact my technique also has a multiplicative acceleration constant makes it even more devastating on top of the exponential enhancement constant. Allowing me to reach a state of lightspeed when punching. I think you should know what whenever a solid mass goes at lightspeed, like my punches, they have infinite weight to support them when built up." Simon completes his lengthy lecture.

"Infinite weight… No wonder he broke my guard and then punched through my strongest punches… There really is no way to beat him with a technique that enhances that fast…" Tommy thinks to himself.

"You must now be wondering that there's no way to counter a technique that enhances so fast. Especially when it breaks guards in no time. And you're right about that. But stand proud, you're strong to have stood this long against me. What is your name kid?" Simon asks.

"I-I'm Tommy…" Tommy replies.

"Has he gone insane… What is he talking about… Anyways… I have to think of a counter fast regardless or I can't protect Oli… I don't even know how M1ke is doing… And HOW IS HE GUESSING WHAT I AM ABOUT TO SAY…" Tommy wonders.

"Now you must be wondering if I've gone insane right? And how to counter my technique to save your younger brother right? And about how M1ke is doing? And how am I predicting what you're saying? To tell you the truth, I am just bluffing HAHAHA! And it just turns out right every time! But all your attempts at a counter will be futile…" Simon speaks up.

"Ugh… Damn bastard…" Tommy thinks to himself.

"Hey it's rude to call someone a bastard!" Simon speaks up again.

"I DIDN'T! YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE MIND READING TOO!!" Tommy screams to Simon.

"This has to be the most annoying opponent I've faced…" Tommy wonders to himself.

"Now you must be thinking that I'm annoyin-" Simon tries to speak up again but gets interrupted by Tommy screaming, "I GET IT! I GET IT! YOU JUST PREDICTED IT! I GET IT JUST CUT THE CRAP ALREADY."

"What a rude child! Fine then! I'll make this quick!" Simon exclaims as he dashes forward towards Tommy and they both get into a high speed fist fight.

Tommy seems to have gotten the hang of his technique. Right when Simon is about to launch a faster punch, he targets other non-accelerated parts of Simon's body when dodging the first blow which breaks Simon's rhythm.

"Odd… How am I missing… Oh wait…" Simon thinks to himself while realizing Tommy's antics but gets caught off guard with a face blow.

"Impressive… I don't recall anyone ever landing a hit on my face before… You're truly stronger than I had initially expected. I'll give you an honorable death Tommy." Simon speaks to Tommy before charging at him again.

"Ugh… I can't do this…" Tommy thinks to himself and gets caught off guard, however, upon noticing such a strange headstart upon punching Tommy, Simon stops and says, "What? Too scared? Don't disappoint me right when the fight is entering its climax Tommy."

Tommy feels heavy in his throat but then hears Oli, who is unconscious, mumble, "You can do this… brother…"

"No… I can't give up… Oli is relying on me… And I still have to save M1ke… I am sure he's alive… I can't disappoint them both like this… Wait… I know how I can win…" Tommy thinks to himself as if he has finally seen the moment of truth in his life.

Tommy puts his hand on his forehead and puts all the bangs covering his forehead and eyes to the back of his head to display a newfound emotion of pure confidence and rage and says to Simon, "I ain't scared. In fact, I have found a way to make you see your final day in life ya shithead!"

"What's with the sudden ego boost? Don't get too cocky landing a hit or two on me! I am still stronger than you HYAAAH." Simon says as he tries to redo the same stance he was able to counter Tommy in yet thinks to himself, "I genuinely have no idea what counter he is talking about… Surely he has to be bluffing…"

Right when Tommy is about to pull the same strategy off but Simon this time lets his main arm get hit while unleashing a powerful accelerated barrage of punches from one arm onto Tommy who is sent flying back but lands on his feet immediately and charges back at Simon.

Tommy's broken leg acts up but Tommy dashes again to use his old strategy again but this time after he takes care of the limp arm in the technique, he collects binding energy onto the area he predicts Simon is gonna hit him at to block it and immediately kicks that arm up. After repeating the cycle over and over, Simon has to rely on his legs which he can't efficiently use the technique through and ends up facing a setback when Tommy is finally able to launch him into the air for a bit.

Impressed by Tommy's skill, they get back into another relentless hand-to-hand combat.

"I'm impressed by you kid. Never in my life did I expect a kid of all people would face my full power. You should be honored to have pushed me at my limit!" Simon exclaims before conjoining his fists and collecting binding energy into them and unleashing his special move, "GODHAMMER!!"

Tommy has a short pause but immediately does the same by conjoining his fists and hitting up onto the Godhammer technique.

"Finally… I wasn't sure he'd get to it this soon but if my flailing predictions have got me this far… Then I can surely win too…" Tommy thinks to himself.

Much to Simon's surprise, the technique's acceleration doesn't stomp Tommy's volleyball uppercut even after several seconds have passed and he starts wondering, "What is this… I've never encountered someone who can actually hold my enhanced acceleration technique like this."

"Hehe… I used my Force: Push technique to slam it upward while I am clenching my fists as hard as I can and used my Force: Pull technique between my palms. I just need to hold on and as soon as the force reaches a singularity, I can destroy his Godhammer with my infinite pressure volleyball fist…" Tommy thinks to himself.

"Heh… I don't know how you're managing to do this kid but I gotta commend you for being my most unpredictable opponent yet… You really are someone who can do the impossible so I will make an offer to you… How about I spare you and we team up? We can do the right thing and eradicate all of the military along its evils… You seem like a good kid… I don't wanna waste potential like this… We can be so much more than this! And I would love to keep such a sparring partner around! I can train you to be even stronger… Stronger than even me someday!! So how about it kid? It's a one-time only deal!" Simon speaks up to Tommy, making him an offer.

"Sorry shit-for-brains, I don't cooperate with losers like you! You're the one who is going to lose! I told you that already!" Tommy replies back with a confident smirk and a newfound harshness to his tone of talking.

"GODDAMN BRAT! I WILL MAKE SURE TO MAKE YOUR DEATH MORE PAINFUL THEN!" Simon screams as his body starts glowing in cyan light while his muscle mass and height increases. His veins start popping up on the surface of his skin and his jaw becomes even more squared.

"IT IS TIME TO DIE!!" Simon screams with a voice you can only hear out of a monster.

While Tommy's hands remain up and intact, the ground underneath his feet starts shattering and soon enough, Tommy's entire body is slowly sinking to the ground even if he is able to keep his hands up and intact.

"Hah… I didn't think I'd have to resolve this the classic way… I still don't know how he held my technique up for so long but as long as I gather binding energy around off of my body and apply enhanced gravitation on it, I can transfer the acceleration from that onto my fists as well… The rest is up to my enhanced physical strength that I've gained by gathering energy all around my body to maximize area of impact…" Simon thinks to himself as he starts winning the bout.

"Ugh… I feel exhausted… I don't know how long I can carry on doing this…" Tommy thinks to himself as he shrieks from the exhaustion of holding Simon's technique up.

While Simon is just standing there smirking and applying more brute force, in Tommy's mind, all he could think right now was, "It won't even budge anymore… I can't just keep holding it up… I have to make it whiplash back at him… But how… I can't even free myself from this immensely increasing weight…"

"You must be wondering how you can't even withstand the immensely increasing weight right Tommy? Worry not, it won't budge at all in a matter of time… As soon as I reach infinity, your arms wouldn't even be stuck onto your body hahaha!" Simon exclaims to berate Tommy even further.

"Is it the end…" Tommy thinks to himself again while feeling a setback and continues, "Ugh… I feel weak… But this is the only way… I've got to hold on a little longer no matter how impossible it may seem right now…!!"

For a second, Tommy takes a look back and sees Oli lying unconscious behind him and his thoughts continue, "No… I can't give up… I've lost way too many people already… I can't lose the last of my family too… He's so young… If I don't defend him… who will?"

"Grrrr… Victory is only moments of time beyond me… looking at my face with a cold stare… mocking me when I am at my weakest… Taunting me like I am still a nobody… Just you wait… I will seize you… " Tommy's thoughts continue.

"No matter the odds… Whatever it takes… Even if I die… I can't just let my little brother down… Once I win this bout… I will finally break free of this curse of losing everyone around me…

I've trained so hard… I've got to use everything I've learned… I am strong… I have strength not even a wild feral beast can possess… I must prove to be above my opponent… Or it'll all be worthless…" Tommy's thoughts continue to rush through his head.

"Ugh… I feel so nauseated… I feel like I am losing sight of what is ahead of me… It hurts… Every muscle in my body feels like giving up… It's getting unbearable… It's like everything around me has started to spin like crazy…" Tommy's thoughts continue bursting up as Simon's fists start to outweigh his attack.

"Haha… Looks like I will be the victor after all!" Simon exclaims.

"Ugh… My vision… It's turning pitch black… But don't be scared Oli… Big bro will save you… If I have even a shred of pride, I can't turn back! I can't turn my eyes on the win… I WON'T LET THESE INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS WIN ANYMORE… Even if this crushing weight is going to black me out… I must hold on…!!" Tommy's eyes close yet his thoughts continue to clutter his brain, but he relinquishes anything holding him back or making him believe weak when he is strong.

"Trust me Tommy, you're a quick learner. Your reflexes and speed are amazing and so is your attack power! I admire your resolve. It is not weak Tommy. We can't save everyone… But to continue getting stronger to save what you've got left… It is something only strong people can do!

Go big bro!

Not bad, kid! It is the first time I've been hit by someone. I am surprised it is someone your age at that!

Wow… Getting used to my movements like that… I am impressed.

You can hold strong opponents that even I can't despite being a veteran. Why do you think you're weak despite that? You've got a big future ahead of you! You may seem like an airhead but when in battle, I doubt anyone could be as smart as you are!

Be strong for mommy!

When does one become strong? I don't know personally. It is simply a result of a choice in life that twists someone's life around." Various quotes like these that Tommy has heard from others start popping up in his head, making him realize his true self worth.

"A choice that turns my life around eh?" Tommy opens his eyes with a look he has never had on his face. A stoic look and a sharp stare at his goal, the enemy.

"Why did I ever think I was weak when… I am so… STRONG!!" Tommy's thoughts continue raging as his body starts radiating blue light.

It is just like Mr. M1ke said… Anyone can win a fight when the odds are easy… It is when you feel like the odds are completely against you, as if you have no chance of winning… The moment when it truly counts…!" Tommy thinks to himself as his hair starts moving in the air from the sheer amount of energy he is radiating.

Suddenly, Tommy's able to move his feet to the side a bit instead of having them sink further into the ground. The hold of Simon's move starts to budge.

"It moved!? But how!?!" Simon for the first time in his life has been shocked more than once in the same day which makes him grow angrier and emit red light from his body in all the rage and try to hold Tommy down even more but to no avail.

"Woah… It really moved… No time to waste… I've got to think out of the box… I don't know if it'll work but I've got to take all the chances I have!! I still feel like my head is spinning but I gotta maintain this force to keep moving his attack up!!" Tommy continues to think as he moves Simon's move even more.

"Ugh… Words cannot describe how much I can't take this anymore… It's so… agonizing… This pain my muscles are facing despite all my training… It's tormenting me… ugh…" The thoughts in Tommy's head continue.

Meanwhile, back where M1ke had fainted, he had finally managed to get up albeit severely injured…

"UGH!!I AM COMING TO SAVE YOU TOMMY!! STAY STRONG!! AS FOR YOU!! I AM COMING FOR YOU SIMON!! JUST YOU WAIT!! I'LL GET MY PAYBACK!!" M1ke screams with his body smeared in his own blood all over, while panting before viciously swinging through the forest using his invisible strings as he continues to scream in rage.

Back to the scene of the fight between Tommy and Simon. The time of who is about to win is truly upon us. Simon starts feeling heat between his and Tommy's clash.

"This surely can't be friction… right? What is even going on here…? Ugh… It is getting harder to push this kid down… there is surely no way I am going to lose to a kid today!?" Simon thinks to himself

"This is it… The moment of truth…" Tommy gives his final thoughts before ultimately screaming, "FORCE SPECIAL TECHNIQUE: INFINITE PRESSURE!!!" as his fists completely break through Simon's fists and ultimately his enhanced acceleration technique but just then, Tommy's palms are back into composure despite the tiresome ordeal as he continues to charge what seems like spinning white sparks of binding energy between his hands.

The sparks finally start turning into a blue orb of bright light as Tommy finally screams, "STELLAR FLASH!!" and releases the blast in its complete state and full glory.

Simon screams as he has nowhere to go after tiring himself out from his own technique and gets hit by Tommy's masterfully performed Stellar Flash. The Stellar Flash shreds through half the forest and slams Simon onto a mountain while making a huge crater.

"I DID IT!! I WON!!" Tommy screams as he falls to his knees and faints next to Oli.

M1ke who had just arrived saw what had just transpired and was amazed to see how far Tommy had come in such a short amount of time.

"You really are a kid full of surprises Tommy… To have mastered the Stellar Flash in a month… I am scared of what heights you can reach…" M1ke mumbles to the unconscious Tommy before leaving to check on Simon.

Scene shifts to where Simon is. Simon can barely stand and his entire body is covered in blood and brutal burns from the Stellar Flash.

"Ugh… I don't have enough strength to even walk let alone use my technique again for the next couple of weeks… The kid must be unconscious by now though… Now's my chance…" Simon says as he drags out a sharp weapon from his pocket.

"Nuh uh Simon. You've lost. Might as well admit it like a man before going to prison." M1ke says upon showing up.

"Heh. I've taken you down once already. And you're just as injured as I am. What can you possibly do to hurt me?" Simon talks back.

"I suggest you choose your words wisely before they end up being your last." M1ke replies to Simon.

"My last words? You're too cocky for a cripple man. Say something like that again and you'll see my true might!" Simon shouts back at M1ke.

"You shouldn't be the one getting cocky, you piece of shit. You've lost to a kid today. He may not have killed you but he has done far worse. He has humiliated you. Don't overstep your bounds. Catching me off guard by holding someone hostage was already way too low, that was when all your pride was worthless!" M1ke exclaims.

"STOP-" Simon screams but M1ke interrupts by saying, "As you are now, in your current birth, you should be honored that you're getting to see even less than a percent of MY true strength instead."

"THAT'S IT! I DON'T CARE IF IT KILLS ME! YOU'RE DYING A RABID DOG'S DEATH TODAY M1KE!! I WILL KILL YOU!!" Simon screams as he dashes towards M1ke with the last bit of binding energy he has while screaming "ENHANCED ACCELERATION: ULTIMATE!!".

Just then, M1ke dashes on his one leg while opening his emerald green eyes and punching through the enhanced acceleration technique's ultimate form with ease, a technique that was nigh near impossible to break.

"Disappear into the distorted abyss… Imaginary Power: Space Ripple..." M1ke says and suddenly everything goes pitch black for Simon.

Simon started experiencing insanity, feeling of being frightened, time not making any sense, strange visions and the loss and return of horrific sounds simultaneously. All this went on until he could see visions of outer space and stars. As he continued to spin, his body got held up by invisible strings and he started screaming. Right then, a black hole suddenly shows up and he finds himself being dragged into the event horizon.

As Simon screams, the hold of the strings get tighter and he sees a giant blue light in the form of M1ke with bright white eyes. The said embodiment of M1ke continues to say in the most horrifying voice imaginable, "You are worthless. You always were. You should've stayed dead and never come back. You should've killed yourself when you had the time. Now I shall devour you and take you to hell…".

The strings start making deep cuts, the landscape around Simon starts shattering as he screams and cries in pain, fear and agony of being engulfed and cut open.

Back to reality, Simon collapses onto the forest ground unconscious, with the arms he was so proud of being torn from his body while M1ke is just standing next to it.

"I guess that's over. You must be wondering what happened right about now. My powers have something to do with sound and waves-" M1ke explains but immediately continues, "Why am I telling you this…? You're unconscious and are probably never waking up for months from that shock let alone be able to fight ever again… But that's what you deserve for what you did…"

M1ke then contacts the military to arrest him. Within a few hours, the military arrives. M1ke shrieks in pain as the medics attach a prosthetic leg onto him.

"Stop being a crybaby! You should've been more careful! It could've been so much more fatal!!" Mari screams at M1ke while also crying.

After a bit of arguing, consoling Mari and sending her home, M1ke walks up to Tommy, pats him and says, "Great job out there kid. You're truly special. I am really proud of you, especially for your courage. You didn't run and mastered an extremely difficult technique in such a short time. I don't know if I have anything left to teach you now haha… Especially since I was the one who couldn't keep you safe…"

"No way sensei! I wouldn't have become this strong if it weren't for you!! I want you to keep training me more!! I've got to stay prepared at all times!!" Tommy exclaims back to M1ke.

"Oh… If that's how you feel, then I am relieved too haha. Alright, let's train tomorrow at the usual time!" M1ke replies back to Tommy's consolation and enthusiasm.

"Maybe next week. I wanna take a break. I feel really tired. Maybe a week of rest will make my bones feel lighter after that ordeal…" Tommy replies to M1ke again.

"Oh. Good for you. Next week then! Be on time!" M1ke exclaims.

"Sure thing!" Tommy exclaims as he leaves with Oli and they both talk about how exciting all this was with a huge smile on their face despite what they had seen.

"Heh, I think you've succeeded M1key!" Mari says as she grabs onto M1ke's shoulder.

"Succeeded?" M1ke wonders.

"Yeah! Look how full of confidence Tommy is! It wouldn't have been the case without you! I think it's time you take things a bit easy too! I'm so proud of you!" Mari exclaims.

"I guess so haha! After your exam tomorrow, how about I spend the week with you then?" M1ke replies back.

Mari blushes and hugs M1ke tightly saying "Yes please!" as they hear Tommy and Oli walk and Tommy say, "One day, I will be the king. When that happens, I will make sure I am strong and make a big team of strong people! Even if we can't save everyone, we will try our best to do so and maybe someday unite the military and end what has been filling it with bad guys!"

"I will join you too brother! I will become really strong! So we don't have a tough time like today! I won't be weak next time!" Oli replies to which Tommy also replies back, "Of course! You'll be my right hand guy! How about I train you later lil bro?"

"Really?!" Oli replies with sparkles in his eyes to which Tommy replies back again with, "Hell yeah! No time's better to learn than as soon as possible!" with a smile.

As Oli and Tommy walk home together, M1ke standing in the distance with Mari thinks to himself, "I'm sure you'll be a great leader Tommy. You have it in you…"

To be continued in Chapter - 9…

Characters:

Name: Simon Klein

Age: 54

Gender: Male

Description: Used to be a part of the military but had gone insane after feeling abandoned once the medics said there's no hope of saving him. He was recovered by the military and sold to an illegal group of experimenting scientists and suddenly woke up years later. Upon waking up, he vowed to destroy the military starting with M1ke having felt they had only done him bad for what good he sought for. His powers include negating effects of planetary gravity on his entire or just parts of his body as well as increasing them. This allows him to accelerate his punches to infinite speed without hurting himself using his special move "Enhanced Acceleration" which he can take to an ultimate range but may end up losing his own life losing. Much to his dismay, he never used it and the one time he was going to, M1ke unknowingly saved his life by breaking its ultimate range but also taking his ability to do anything at all for good.

Appearance: He has grey hair, a squared jaw, wears nothing besides the skin of a wild beast as a cloak and a pair of black pants and giant black boots. He carries claws of various wild beasts as weapons because of how sharp they are.

Trivia

Imaginary Power is the ultimate discipline that any binding energy user can strive for. It requires immense amounts binding energy as well as a high amount of knowledge for one's innate affinity towards a particular natural phenomenon. Unlike normal binding energy techniques, it cannot be used more than once a day due to the amount of toll it can take on the user's body from just one use.

Even a grand master of binding energy can only harness one Imaginary Power. What Imaginary Power does is self explanatory for the most part. It can summon an imaginary anomaly based on the user's own affinity. For example, if someone controls electricity, they can summon a thunderstorm out of nowhere. Why Thunderstorm? Because it is an extreme example of the presence of electricity.

In the case of M1ke who has an affinity for sound and wave based powers, he has gathered immense knowledge of a phenomenon known as the Doppler Shift that occurs in waves. The most extreme example of a Doppler Shift is presented by Black Holes. One side of it has slightly redder while the other is slightly bluer in terms of the light it affects.

M1ke can use his Imaginary Power to summon a temporary and imaginary Black Hole. The rest of the horrors are a self explanatory result of his experience in battle.