Thursday Showdown

"You boys can only have a supervised battle in the school's arena. You can't just get in a fight anywhere you want or you'll be in big trouble," Mr. Tran said.

"Fine, Mr. Tran would you please help us set up the fight?" Ryan asked.

"I will set it up, and it will be standard rules. Alter egos, so make sure you dress in your costume. You will be able to use any of your weapons and tricks. The most important thing is for you to win.

No low blows and you are not allowed to kill one another. This is a friendly battle between classmates. You must always uplift the Seven Heroic Virtues even in your personal battles.

Agreed?" Mr. Tran asked.

"Agreed," both boys said.

"Good, my expectation is that until your battle which is nearly two weeks from now, the two of you will stop picking at each other. At the very least ignore each other," Mr. Tran said.

"Of course, Mr. Tran, sorry for the trouble," Ryan said.

"I have no intention to talk with him, but I can't help it if he gets offended when I'm talking to my friends. Just now, I don't think he was actually part of the conversation," Kyle laughed. Ryan became angrier.

"Kyle, you know you were provoking him. Of course, Ryan, I'll need to report this conversation to the Principal. If you are responsible for injuring Kyle, let's just say you'll be in big trouble," Mr. Tran finished.

"Kyle, quickly put your hand on Ryan," Gramps said suddenly.

"Hey," Kyle said as he grabbed Ryan's shoulder just as he was turning away.

"I'm sorry, for earlier, I shouldn't have said anything about your father. I crossed the line there, we have our personal problems but there's no reason to bring family into it. Please forgive me," Kyle said as he extended his hand to Ryan.

"Very good, Kyle, Ryan, your classmate is apologizing sincerely, what should you do?" Mr. Tran was trying to encourage civility between the two. Everyone knew what triggered Ryan.

It was good, from his perspective that Kyle was trying to apologize. Ryan wasn't as impressed. Every time he got into a tight spot he liked to push his button on this point.

"Sure, no problem, I accept your apology," Ryan said with a stiff smile.

The way Kyle interacted with the four students he hurt versus how he interacted with Ryan showed everyone one thing.

Kyle was someone who would own up to his mistakes, but if you wronged him he would sink his teeth into you and not let go.

They all knew Ryan was putting on a show for Mr. Tran so they didn't take his apology seriously.

The boys shook the hands of each other but Kyle didn't let go.

"Is that enough?" he asked.

"Just a couple of more seconds," Gramps said.

"Hey, can you let go of my hand?" Ryan asked.

"What are you afraid of? I'm just trying to show you how sincere I am," Kyle said.

"Okay, you can let go now," Gramps said. Kyle; let go immediately and sat down at his desk. Ryan wasn't sure if he should be upset or exasperated. He gave a huff and returned to his seat.

"Hey, Gramps, what was all of that about?"

"I don't want to say anything, but I might have a special reward for you if you can win against Ryan," he said mysteriously.

"What are my chances?" he asked.

"It'll be hard if you don't plan out things carefully. Just having Lemonjello's abilities are going to make him a tough opponent.

If I were you, I'd be worried," Gramps was laughing as the sound slowly faded away.

Kyle knew Gramps was right, the quantity and the quality of Ryan's powers would make him an almost unstoppable opponent.

He thought when he came back taking care of Ryan would be as easy as flipping his hand over. He was a little disappointed, but at the same time, he always wanted to compete with Ryan fairly.

If he could be a fully prepared and super-powered Ryan then the accomplishment of beating him would be unbelievably valuable. Just thinking about it made him excited.

A glowing flame burned in his eyes as he began to make plans for the battle.

*********

The nearly two weeks of time seemed to pass in almost an instant, like reading from one line to the next in a book.

At the end of the school day on Thursday; the entire school turned out to watch the fight between Kyle and Ryan.

Over the last several days; the principal did some investigating and determined there wasn't enough evidence to accuse Ryan of stealing the powers of others.

However, there was enough evidence so that everyone, including the principal, knew what Ryan was doing. Ryan was finally exposed to the two-faced bully that he was.

He was no longer allowed to come to school without wearing special gloves that would block his ability to steal others' powers.

No one looked at Ryan the same. Even the teachers would accidentally reveal their feelings about this boy from time to time. He felt like an outcast now. They finally understood what he did to other students.

Instead of causing him to repent for his past actions; it caused a burning hatred for Kyle to grow. Every time he thought about Kyle and what he did to him; his anger would run out of control.

The two boys faced off against one another in the battle arena.

"I'm going to destroy you! I'll crush you like a bug, G-Hawk!" Ryan spat. He was wearing his Red Ace costume. It was pretty straight forward.

It was an utterly red costume with white trim, a black letter 'A' inside a white spade on his chest. A small domino mask sat on his face.

Kyle's G-Hawk costume was also red, but it was dark red. It had a blue cape, blue gloves, and boots, a cape clasp with a letter 'H' in the center, plus a letter "G' on each shoulder. He wore a red mask.

"I would be really impressed if you could crush me, Red Ace," Kyle said.

"I guess we'll just have to see who crushes who," Ryan said.

Coach Calligan dressed as a referee in a white and black shirt and black pants stepped into the battle ring.

"Today, we have Red Ace and G-Hawk in a grudge match. The rules are simple, the winner is the one who knocks out his opponent, causes him to concede the fight, or forces him out of the arena.

No hitting below the belt, eye-gouging, or other malicious attacks. You must not kill your opponent. This is a fight between classmates, not mortal enemies. If you understand the rules please tell me," Coach said.

Both boys nodded and grunted their understanding.

"Good, then, FIGHT!"

*****************************************************

It's a new week and we already have 4 power stones! Only 96 power stones to go for a bonus chapter!

Today's power stone heroes are: Timestronaut, Dark_Raine

Thank you all for your support! This book wouldn't be possible without you.

--Straythought