A Black Saviour.

Stranger, I think I should join them, Jacq thought in his mind.

[Don't.]

Jacq whispered a "why?" But he wasn't expecting an answer. He was engrossed in the insane combat between these two – Cassie and Olatunde.

His sharp senses made him capture every movement they made, no matter how fast. The speed of the fight would have made everything look like a blur if observed by a normal human eye.

After a short while, the two foes stopped to dialogue a little. From where Jacq hid, he could understand that Olatunde was proposing peace in exchange for something. That something though, he had no idea. Cassie showed a defiant reaction with an angry face, and in no time, Olatunde pounced on her again ready for another battle.

Ugh, she's stubborn as always. But, Olatunde... How did he come about this power? He claimed this is his first time in this country.

[Are you asking me or you're thinking to yourself?]

"Both," Jacq whispered. "I mean, the orb is the only object responsible for..." He broke off his whispering. He just sighted Olatunde looming above a subdued Cassie, ready for a final blow to finish the job. Olatunde had stopped to make his request again, and in that little time, Jacq powered up instantly and took off in a blind rage.

He covered the large expanse of grassy land in a second before launching a fatal attack at Olatunde. His fist was all covered in blue flames that blew wildly with his super speed. He directed the punch towards Olatunde's head from the right hand side.

Reflexively, the black boy raised his hand in a V-shape to block the blow. It was a weak block because he flew some meters wide off where be stood before hitting a tree with a mighty force.

"Stand down," Jacq warned.

Olatunde rose stubbornly, massaging his aching back. "Interesting," he revealed a white set of teeth with a wicked grin. "Another hurdle to cross. Let's do this then."

Olatunde rolled his sleeves, revealing thick pair of arms as black as coal. He poised again in readiness for another action. His black face lit up by the blue glow in his eyes. "Come at me," he cried out.

Jacq made no move to fight him. Instead, he walked over to where Cassie laid weakly on the ground. He raised her head and rested her back behind the nearby tree. Cassie looked up threateningly at Jacq but said nothing. Jacq said nothing also. The friction was still there, after all.

Ugh. She hates me...

This realization evoked a feeling of anger deep in his belly, so, he turned towards Olatunde and made a short run as he powered up.

Let me begin my training with you, fucking bastard.

[Be careful, Jacq], Stranger warned.

Right...

Jacq grasped what to do before he even thought of it. He knew it will end poorly if he faced the boy head on. He realized that Olatunde was beast in close combat, judging from the fight with Cassie earlier. So,...

... I'm taking no chances!

"Run, boy!!" Jacq yelled.

Instantly, Jacq took off at his fastest speed yet, going round the open space of the bush. He formed a circle around Olatunde, leaving a trail of blue lines behind him as he ran. Jacq knew the black boy can never keep up with his speed. Ahaa...

His reflexes though...

He remembered that Olatunde managed to raise his hand to block that punch earlier, even when he had no idea Jacq was coming. He had reacted at the last minute.

Admirable...

Jacq continued running round him without stopping. Olatunde turned round too, following the blur of movements and waiting patiently for a proper attack. Suddenly, Jacq hit him from behind with a powerful kick at his bum that sent him staggering forward. He couldn't block the blow... It was too fast.

Next, Jacq punched him full in the face before taking off again, using his super speed as an advantage. He kicked his belly, punched his mouth, kicked his backside, hit his chest, and sent him falling face first on the grass by kicking him behind the knees. All these he did while running. Olatunde wil always stretch out his arm to catch him when he got close but Jacq was too careful to get caught.

After suffering a series of hits, Olatunde reeled down on the floor and spat out a glob of bloodied saliva. He rose up again in anger to taunt Jacq's 'cowardly' moves.

"There's no honour in hitting me from the back. Face me man to man. Let me teach you how it's done," he growled angrily.

Jacq stopped running and faced the already weak Olatunde. He smiled wickedly at him and refused to let his taunt get to him.

"What do you want from Cassie?" Jacq asked.

"I will tell you. But let me kill you first," he replied in a cool threat.

Stranger, any cheat code? Help me finish this blockhead.

[Cheating is not allowed. Haha.]

So be it...

Jacq ran blindly at Olatunde in a rush of fury. It was a mistake. Olatunde rushed forward in a head-on collision with Jacq, followed by a flurry of punches and kicks.

Jacq's inexperience in close combat cost him a load of punches to the face. It led to another round of furious battle as Jacq exerted all his effort into out-punching Olatunde.

He lost all sense of style and techniques. His blows became uncalculated, raining down on the black boy at inhuman speed. Yet, it was having no effect. For every ten punches Jacq threw, Olatunde retaliates with a fatal one. This went on and on until Jacq became sore from receiving too many punches to the face.

Jacq stepped back a few paces, ready for another round. The sudden realization that he cannot beat Olatunde in a melee hurts his pride.

What's the use of a system when I will only get humiliated?

Suddenly, the blue holographic screen popped up in his face. Jacq jumped a little at the unexpected display.

[MELEE MODE ACTIVATED. MELEE MODE LOADING, PLEASE WAIT.]

[MELEE MODE INITIALIZATION COMPLETE]

[Let's try again, Jacq], Stranger said in a soft voice.

Unsure of what to do precisely, Jacq walked slowly up to Olatunde with his knuckles white and hard. He moved sideways to his left never taking his eyes off his opponent. He can feel himself gaining control of this situation.

Let's go again, Stranger.

[Go.]

Jacq rushed across Olatunde at a super speed and immediately doubled back to his former position. Without leaving him a space to breath, he crashed hard into the black figure of muscles. Olatunde braced himslef to dodge the attack, but once again, Jacq's speed beat him to it.

Jacq sent him sprawling on the floor in pains. The fight seemed to have ended but Olatunde is not ready for defeat. He rose from the ground in an acrobatic style before poising himself like a kungfu warrior.

Another dance... Hehe, Jacq thought to himself. He was determined to finish this once and for all.

The blue flame-like energy around Jacq's fists fanned more wildly. His blue eyes grew more luminous and he could feel all his body tinging with multiple sensations. He was at his peak.

A violent fight started in the middle of the grassy clearing. Dusts filled the air as the fighters' feets shuffled on the ground, uprooting every grass they stepped on. From the watchers' view, it was only a ball of blue spinning violently in a cloud of brown dust. A few minutes went by and the blue movements came to a stop. A black haired boy completely covered in blue flames was standing over a defeated black boy lying weakly on the ground.

Jacq grinned wickedly down at Olatunde. "I have a cheat code, boy. You wanna know? Don't worry, you won't. It's a Stranger."

Olatunde whimpered in pains. His muscled arms lay weakly by his side, useless from the multiple fist-to-fist showdown with Jacq. "Let me go," he muttered slowly in a subdued voice.

"Not until you tell me what you are looking for, boy. Why did you leave Nigeria? How did you get mutated? Tell me!" Jacq shouted.

Olatunde sat up slowly and rested his back behind a tree. His breath was ragged and his words came out slurry. "I am looking for the orb..."

"What?!"

"... I am looking for the orb," Olatunde repeated. "I need it to save my people. You cannot understand. My country is in more danger than yours will ever be. We were dispatched out to every continents to search for the almighty orb... And I managed to sense a strange energy from that girl when she entered the school environment this morning, an energy similar to what I have lived with my whole life. I fought hard against myself not to power up when she was around. She provokes me, that one..." He paused.

"I asked politely... I came in peace. I did not want any violence. I did not want to fight her, but she seems to be in a bad mood... She would not listen to any explanation. She just wanted to hurt me. She should know otherwise by now..." He swallowed hard, finding it hard to speak any further.

Jacq just looked down at him, expressionless. His face showed nothing but he felt sorry for the boy's current situation. He had received such a beating for his people. He had been punished so he could save his country.

Good God... Foolish me.

Jacq powered down and bent to apologize to his African classmate. Olatunde shook it off as nothing and a even gave a weak smile as a show of forgiveness. Jacq felt both sorry and pity for the poor boy.

He even waved it away as a slight. Good God.

Jacq rose up and offered a hand to Olatunde. He took it in a firm grasp and stood up as well. The two of them picked up their things from the floor in silence, ready to go back to their various homes. Then, Jacq remembered the question he had asked earlier. He hasn't answered me.

"How did you get to have that power?" Jacq asked.

Olatunde smirked before answering. "You think it's only for your country? When the orb was created, America made a pact with some other countries concerning the orb. Some top secret contract, maybe. So, it was allowed to have at least a hundred soldiers with the orb's power in the country. I was a kid when it was done, but my father was a top profile army staff and he hates how weak I was when I was little. He registered me for the mutation instead of my cousin who was also in the army. It didn't go well with my family members, but what was done cannot be reversed. So, everyone found a way to live with it."

Jacq was intrigued by this story. Like a drama series from Netflix.

"So, who sent you out to look for the orb?" Jacq queried again.

"My father," was the reply. "He is now the commander."

Jacq shook his head in fake understanding. The sudden realization of not being the only country with super humans is doing queer things to his thinking.

Jacq brushed his thoughts off and braced up his bag ready to jump tall fence. Suddenly, he noticed a fast movement from the other side of the wall. In a whiff, the person was gone.

We are being watched, good god.

Jacq realized that the speed at which the person took off want a normal human speed. So, that gave him a little comfort that their secret is not yet out. Just another mutant monitoring us. A spy. Ugh, I hate spies.

"Let's go," Jacq said to Olatunde. "It's getting late."

"Yeah," Olatunde replied.

Jacq was about to jump the fence when he sensed another movement apart from Olatunde's.

Cassie... How did I forget her?

"You still have me to answer to, Jacq! Remember?!" Cassie yelled out at Jacq.

Fucking hell...