Chapter 46 Free For All Part 7

Both Jake and the sun brother ran at one another like rapped bulls. When they were both in each other's range, the first to strike was the sun brother. He sliced his sword through the air, aiming to dig his sword in Jake's face, but Jake dodged it at the last second, the sword barely nicking his right ear.

Jake didn't hesitate to think; he immediately thrust his katana forward with darkness swirling on it. The sun brother blocked with his free arm. He had to hold back a scream as the weapon hitting him hurt more than he thought it would. As he blocked with one arm, he swung his sword with the other.

Jake's mind flashed back to when he fought Judas. He needed to get some distance, so he placed his foot on the sun brother's chest, then pushed for everything he had. The push knocked both combatants back, the brother's attack missing its mark.

The sun brother held his head down for only a second as he placed a hand on his chest, as he clenched his teeth. "You little bastard," he said, spitting out raindrops of saliva as he did. His anger filled him up; the pain from his arm and the numbing in his chest disappeared as the rage boiled inside of him. "I'll kill you," he said, shooting his head back up.

But what he saw wasn't what he expected. The sun brother still thought Jake was the scared little rabbit he was moments before. Scarred little rabbits aren't brave; they're not bold. He expected the boy to still be standing where he was after he kicked him to get some distance, but he wasn't.

Jake immediately jumped in again to attack, and as the sun brother wasted a precious second looking down, Jake had already closed in. The brother's eyes went wide as he took in all he was seeing. Jake held his sword with two hands, then he swung the sealed sword as hard as he could, as if he was swinging a baseball bat. This attack cracked the sun brother across the head.

The moment the attack was over, he heard ringing in his ears, his vision was blurry, his legs felt like noodles. He stumbled for a second, completely forgetting where he was. As he swayed, his vision sharpened for a moment, and he caught a look of Jake swinging his sheathed blade again, but this time from the opposite side. "Oh shi—" the sun brother didn't have time to even finish his thought, let alone do anything.

Jake cracked him over the head again, on the other side of his head. The sun brother saw a white light this time after being hit. Even after two successful strikes, Jake wasn't about to let up. He rushed forward, planning to end this. As he did, the sun brother realized something. He was holding something in his hand, something he was gripping tightly. It took him a while to remember he had a sword; he had a sword, and he needed to use it.

As Jake closed in, the sun brother swung his sword. It happened so quickly, Jake barely had time to pull back and avoid the attack. After the sun brother's first counterattack, he crashed, falling to the ground, his legs finally giving out. But still, as he laid on the ground, the brother would lift his sword up, slashing in different directions.

Jake looked at him curiously, looking at the man furiously attacking the air. Then it hit him. "He's making sure I can't attack". The sun brother hadn't recovered from the two blows he received to the head, but he knew if he did nothing, he wouldn't see the next attack coming. So, he settled on slashing in any and every direction, making sure to keep Jake at a distance while he recovered.

The counterattack he used wasn't planned; it was an attack of desperation. While swinging his sword every which way, the sun brother felt a small bit of panic in his heart. He felt helpless; it had been a long time since he felt this way. In his current position, he couldn't stop his mind from digging up an old memory he thought was long since buried.

"What's wrong, little rabbit? What's wrong?" the voice of that man made the sun brother's heart quake. "Don't worry, I'll keep you warm." The sun brother tensed up, verbally screaming "No!" as he plunged his sword into his right hand. The sporadic slashing, the out-of-nowhere screaming, the self-injury, all surprised and confused Jake, but the man was laughing, laughing as blood fell from his hand.

He then looked up, back at Jake, vision clear as day. Jake was confused; he didn't know what he just did, but he knew he did that to recenter himself, to give his brain a new, more painful injury to focus on than the two head injuries. "Smart," the sun brother continued chuckling as he made his way to his feet, his legs feeling back under his control. "Sorry about that," he said to Jake, "I bet seeing me the way you did probably made me look totally uncool." He smirked at Jake, the first time giving the young man a genuine smile. But Jake didn't respond he stayed ready for anything that could happen, after he felt pleased, the man pulled the blade out, blood spilling everywhere. "The sun brother took a battle stance. Now," he said, getting ready. "Where were we?"

Jake took his own stance, never speaking a word. But he spoke through his body language and his eyes. Without ever speaking a single word, he told the sun brother he intended to end this fight now. The brother understood what was being said wordlessly and took it to heart.

"But you won't win, kid," he thought. "I will. Me and my brother will. So, let's do this. Let's end this shit now."

The two opponents stared at each other for a while. Still, at the same time, they both charged at each other. As they ran, both screamed, letting out battle cries. Unlike the first time they charged at each other, Jake was the first to make his move. He raised his sheathed blade up, then slammed it down with every ounce of strength he had left.

The sun brother quickly blocked with his rental weapon. As he did his best to hold Jake's attack off with one hand, the two struggled, clashing with one another. But as they did, the sun brother finally noticed something was off. This close to Jake's sword, he saw something: a black substance swirling around the sealed sword's scabbard.

As the two clashed, the substance started to swirl faster and faster. "What the hell is that?" he thought, as the darkness swirled until it reached its breaking point. And when it did, like the two times before, it exploded. The explosion was quick and sudden, and when it popped, it completely destroyed the sun brother's weapon.

He was flabbergasted. "What the actual hell? How did he?" The sun brother's thoughts became jumbled and muddled as he was left defenseless. And wasting no time was Jake. He pulled back his arm, then thrusted his sheathed katana forward. It hit the man directly in the gut. When the attack landed, the man screeched in pain.

But Jake wasn't finished yet. He pulled the sword off the man, then swung the sword up. He cracked the sun brother one more time, this time in the chin. This strike lifted the man off the ground for a bit. As he was falling down, he felt his mind slipping away. As it did, he tried to deny what was happening.

"Now," he thought, "did I just… lose? Did we just… lose?" As he fell, almost hitting the ground, his thoughts were filled with those of his brother. "Deno, Deno, I'm sorry. I failed you. I failed."

The man hit the crowd with a loud thud, he bounced only once, then landed again, left unconscious. The only one left standing was Jake. After his fight, he was left huffing and puffing. He gasped for all the air he could get, but he stayed standing, the katana still in his hand. He was the victor. Jake defeated the sun and moon brothers.