Chapter 39 - The Duel

"Alright. That's all the rules. I believe you both understand cos I can't and won't repeat them. You begin the fight when I tell you to." The ref said and quickly ran out of the dome. Wilson thought back to the rules. There were actually just two. One, don't kill yourselves and two, don't injure yourselves beyond what current medical treatments and healing powers can fix. Bones can be broken and even some internal organs can be struck at to a certain extent. As long as they did not go overboard. The ref did not forget to mention that he/she (Wilson could not tell the gender. Neither by body shape nor by voice. Both could either belong to a male or female. And even more, the ref seemed like a shadow, all distorted and well, shadowy), was the deciding factor and he/she would stop the match when he/she deemed it fit.

"Aaaaaah!"

Todd yelled and made the first move. He jumped and disappeared, then appeared behind Wilson. He kicked the back of Wilson's knee before Wilson could react, bringing him down to one knee. He then grabbed Wilson by his rough long and uncut hair but Wilson was not going to take any chances. Wilson tried to grab Todd's hand but Todd was too fast. He quickly retrieved his hand, giving up on what he wanted to do for the mean time, and disappeared. Wilson knew as soon as Todd disappeared that Todd was no more behind him. Wilson quickly rolled forward and stood up. He closed his eyes so that he could focus on his hearing and tried to listen for any footsteps. He heard nothing.

*PIAK*

Todd turned visible for a second and slapped Wilson, then turned invisible again. Wilson quickly turned around and swung his fist but he hit nothing but air. Todd was gone. There was complete silence. Even the spectators knew that Wilson required total silence if he wanted to have the slightest chance at locating Todd.

*PIAK* *PIAK*

Two slaps came in again from behind. Wilson swung his fists and hit air again. Wilson was beginning to lose his patience. Those slaps stung and to make it worse, he knew, just like everyone else did that, this Todd was doing his utmost best to humiliate him. He did not know the reason why but he could not let this kind of humiliation continue.

"Hey, are you so scared that you have to be invisible before you can face me? Why don't you face me like a man, or what is the point of all that unnecessary talk earlier?"

Wilson got zero response. He spoke again while swinging swift, random punches around him in a bid to keep his opponent away from him. He really had to avoid Todd slapping him again. Three slaps is embarassing enough. Anymore and he would lose his cool and begin to act like someone insane. That would be even more humiliating.

"And yet, I am the one that is a coward? I am the pussy-ish one? Who do you think you are? You think you are so cool and powerful because of a superpower? All I need to do is grab you once and believe me, that will be the end." Wilson continued to taunt but Todd was not falling for it. Trying to make him expose his position by talking? Too amateurish. Wilson even had his eyes closed all this time. Any unusual movement would be caught immediately. Todd was not stupid. How was supposed to impress the girls if he fell for such an obvious plan? He would never be able to show his face in public ever again.

The silence went on for several minutes. Todd did not make a move and neither did Wilson. He was still as a statue, waiting and hoping for to give him the slightest sign of his presence. He swore to himself that he would follow it like a dog. The suspense was beginning to get to some people in the audience. Someone sighed. The people around him quickly shushed him. You should not distract the fighters like that. Not at this critical stage. But Todd had used that brief moment to make his move. He silently ran at Wilson and hit behind his knee, once again, bringing Wilson down to a knee. He tried to grab at Wilson's long, rough hair again but Wilson was not stupid when calm and the horned monkeys and his dream (or was it actually a vision?) had taught him a lot about keeping his cool to avoid making costly mistakes.

Wilson stretched his right hand towards his hair and luckily caught Todd's hand before he could avoid it. Wilson smiled with pride and pulled Todd over his shoulder by his hand. Todd hit the ground with a thud and turned visible. The crowd cheered for Wilson but Wilson could not care less about any outside distractions. He held onto Todd's right hand with his left and hit Todd's forehead with his right.

Surprisingly, Todd used his right hand to grasp Wilson's. He twisted and turned so quickly, he and Wilson suddenly exchanged positions. Wilson was now the one lying on his back and Todd on one knee. Todd stood up, his hands holding Wilson's hands and stomped down on his head.

Wilson shifted his head as far away from its position as he could. Todd's boot grazed the side of his head and blood trickled out. Wilson rolled backwards and kicked Todd's guts, making Todd grunt. Todd's grip loosened and Wilson, who was now standing with his back facing Todd, immediately changed hand positions and gripped Todd's wrist over his shoulders. Then, he flipped Todd over his right shoulder. Before Todd could even land, Wilson had gripped him in sleeper hold. He raised him above his head and slammed him down with all his strength.

*CRACK*

Wilson heard a bone crack and straight up remembered that was not against the rules. He did not bother stopping. He sat on top of Todd's waist, pinned his hands down with his knees and gave him a sweet smile. Payback time.

*PIAK* *PIAK* *PIAK* *PIAK*.....

Slap sounds resounded through the night until Todd stopped struggling and the ref ended the duel and called it a night.

Wilson stood up and looked at his opponent's bloated face. He happily smiled. He had intended to punch his face but the slaps were way more satisfying. As he happily smiled and the crowd slowly dispersed, an oldie suddenly appeared and looked at Todd. She signaled for someone to pick him up and said to Wilson.

"Okay, Wilson. You have strayed quite the distance away from where you should be. Come with me! You should sleep as much as you can. You will need it. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."

Without any further ado, she grabbed him and two seconds later, he was on a slightly comfy bed in a room all alone. The oldie was nowhere to be seen and Wilson was left wondering what the hell just happened.