Black Market Merchant

Chapter 83: Power vs Speed
Queen launched herself off of the fence, using it like a springboard, down at Golem. Her sword aimed to skewer him. Golem raised both of his forearms up in anticipation to block the attack, but Queen was not aiming at his head or chest.

”Ss-thunk!”

The puncturing sound of Queens dull black blade could be heard to those on the closest rows, stabbing right into Golems left foot. It appeared to travel right through it and deep into the stage floor. She had noticed that in the fight from before that the armor here was thinnest and had planned in advance to wound him here.

”Grah!” Golem yelled and angrily swung down at Queens lowered head.

Queen rolled quickly to the side, narrowly avoiding the swing from Golems ridiculously massive fist. Rolling several times to gain some distance, Queen stopped in a crouching position and watched for Golems next move. She had let go of her sword to escape and was now apparently disarmed.

Golem grasped the sword hilt and pulled it out of the stage, sending a spurt of blood cascading onto his armored boot. Tossing the sword angrily behind him, Golem turned to face the now disarmed Queen. Every menacing step he then took towards her left a bloody footprint, yet he moved on seemingly unfazed.

Queen had calmly gotten up and readied herself by taking her Ap Kubi stance with her palms raised and open. Her normally passive soft face was now frozen with an angry rugged expression, which clearly stated that she was unafraid to face him unarmed.

The crowd was clearly enthralled seeing the unexpectedly energized fight, and Zane could feel their voices vibrancy pounding in his chest. It burrowed into his very core and before he knew it, he was cheering Queen on along with the rest.

”I seem to have underestimated Queen.” Mr. Cline called out hoarsely. The cheers made it hard to converse, so he had to lean closer to Zane to speak. Zane turned to look at Mr. Cline who then continued to speak. ”Seems my bet might be in trouble. However, it is far from over. See!”

Zane immediately turned back to see Golem had made his next move on Queen. His face was contorted with rage and his heavy body moved towards her like a train.

Golem had now moved in striking distance of Queen, thanks to his obvious reach advantage. He was approaching her like a bear ready to maul its next meal. Yet, Queen did not budge. She remained rooted and ready. Seeing this massive man charging at her was nothing compared to the horrors of war that she had endured. A slight confident smirk crossed her lips as Golems fist reared back to take aim at her face.

”I think now would be a good chance to step up my abilities.” Queen thought to herself. Then mumbling she said, ”Advanced Armaments: Stage One.”

To everyone watching the fight, they saw no change to Queen at that moment. What they didn’t see was the activation of something welling with energy, deep within Queens prosthetic’s cores. The greatest technological secret of the Cyborg Unit was being released! Subtlety.

Golem went to hit her with a right straight punch at that same moment as the activation. From his point of view, the punch was clearly going to hit her as she remained unmoved. When it struck her cleanly in the jaw, he felt nothing! Only air remained where her head used to be.

It was the crowd that saw what truly happened, yet they couldn’t believe it. Queen bent her left knee, dropping under the punch and into his right blind spot created by his own arm’s extension. The motion was so smooth and fast that it seemed only possible to a master of martial arts. Yet it was her prosthetic’s Armament that increased her speed nearly three times that of a normal human. Those that had looked away at that moment would remain forever lost by the actions that followed.

Queen struck him hard with a left open palm strike on his armored chest, while pushing upwards with her left leg as well to return to her standing Ap Kubi stance. The subtle power of her Advanced Armaments: Stage One added an unprecedented increase to Queens power and Golem was driven forcibly back a step. Queen followed up with a right open palm strike at his left shoulder once again pushing the huge, armored giant back by sheer power. Then again, she struck out with another palm strike on his right shoulder, which knocked him of balance and forced to keep retreating backwards. She repeated her barrage of palm strikes driving him backwards and into the chain linked fence. This attack style was likened to something sumo wrestlers would use to push their opponents out of the ring and it worked just as well here.

Just as he collided with the fence, she kicked him hard behind his right knee and sent him down on one knee onto the stage. Raising her clasped hands above her, Queen swung them down at his head, like she was swing a sledgehammer. The blow crashed hard onto the back of his armored helmet and broke the latch that kept it on his head. The helmet was sent skittering away, exposing his head.

Queen went to follow up with another punch to finish him off, just as her fist was about to bust his skull, Golem reacted with a burst of smokey speed. He appeared to have now be moving just as fast as Queen was! His smoking armored gloved hand grasped her wrist, effectively stopping her movements. Queen gave a look of surprise seeing this and tried to break free, but it was no use. She was captured by him!

Golem raised his head to show that his face was now undergoing a mortifying change! The blood vessels in his head bulged furiously and a mortifying smile was plastered on his face. Like every muscle was being pulled back violently by some unseen force, exposing his teeth and mouth into a murderous grin.

Sadie noticed the change and finally yelled out for the first time during the match. ”Queen, watch out! He’s using his Inducement!” The warning was a bit too late.

Golem swung Queen around to smash her headlong into the fence behind him. The chain link fence bulged and strained greatly under the impact, but somehow managed to stay together. Queen managed to raise her free arm to brace herself, but the counterattack was not over yet. Golem still had her by the other wrist.

Golem, still kneeling, then went to smack her body onto the stage, like an angry child tossing a toy to the floor. Queens back hit the floor hard, and she felt the wind nearly knocked from her lungs. She gasped and looked up to see the smoking metal fist of Golem bearing down on her.

Flicking her head aside, just in time, Golems fist broke through the surface of the stage. If she hadn’t moved her head would have been a pancake! Cracks spiderwebbed out from the sunken impact hole and Golem raised his fist again for a second strike. While dust and floor rubble scattered in every direction as he did.

Queen reacted immediately and sent a kick up to strike his side, knocking him off balance and canceling his punch. Then she rolled on her side and jumped up, while trying to yank free of his grasp, but to no avail. His grasp was just too tight.

Golem now stood up and used his reach advantage to try and grab her again. Queen nimbly juked back and forth avoiding his lunges at her. All the while she kept yanking at her arm to free herself. They looked like they were playing tug-of-war with Queens arm the whole time and the winner was going to have the advantage in this fight.

It seemed Queen was in trouble. Her unseen Armament activation had only just delayed the inevitable, or so it seemed.

The crowd was cheering, ”Golem, Golem, Golem!” The local favorite to win was once again showing that he was no pushover. The insane smile never faltered from his face as he kept grasping out for the Queen. Not only had his speed increased, but his power and reaction time as well.

Queen looked at the terrible position she was in and finally though of a solution. Letting out a defiant shout, ”Let’s try this then!” She started making her counter.

Rather than running away, Queen lunged forward straight for Golem. She latched onto Golems outstretched arm and wrapped her legs around it to mimic an armbar finisher move. The sudden odd position confused Golem for just a moment, as he was being suspended in mid-air and not doing any harm to him, but his hesitation was enough for her plan. With her free hand Queen grabbed his thumb and twisted into a painful angle, while also wringing her captured arm out from his grasp!

Golem tried to stop her odd counterattack by hitting her with a short uppercut right into her ribs before she had fully escaped his reach. The attack dealt some damage to Queens side, but the payoff was her freedom. Quickly jumping backwards and avoiding another barrage of attacks from Golem, Queen finally managed to get some distance between them on stage.

The two glared at each other warily, but only briefly enough to regain their breath. Thick gray smoke was now rising from the back of Golems massive gloves and his shoulders moved along with his labored breaths. Yet his face remained wild with that grin.

”Getting tired big guy?” Queen called out to him while she patted at her side. Thankfully, the pain was only flesh deep. If he had more distance to swing that punch would have likely broken her ribs. ”You have got to be slowing down soon, all that armor is sure to have drained your energy soon.”

Queen glanced to her left and saw the faint glimmer of her sword. It had folded up itself and was lying near Sadie’s side of the stage. Inwardly she knew that the time for close quarters combat was over. They were now evenly matched as both had now activated their abilities. All she could do now was get her sword and attack Golem as was planned beforehand.

As if to refute her words and say he was full of energy, Golem pounded his fist onto his chest with a heavy thump and advanced at her once again. His heavy body thumped across the stage as the awed crowd watched on. Smoke streamed out hotly from behind him as his gloves appeared to be powering up. The next round of fighting was going to start now, and it was surely going to be intense.

…

Hanna had forgotten all about looking around the crowd once the fight started. The sounds all around her was much more intense than compared to when she watched from the window. Her vision tunneled completely in on the fight before her. Watching Aunt Lisa battling one of her mortal enemy’s had drawn all her attention and it wasn’t until the two paused for that brief moment, did she dare look away.

Recalling why she was here, Hanna scanned fervently around at the crowd around her in the dimly lit Arena, all she could see was arms waving and clapping, people moving all about, and the rest was all just a blur. After living in the quiet, slow passed town, this sudden change in environment was overwhelming to her. Not her dreams could she have imagined so many people in one place!

A feeling of hopelessness started to creep into her heart. ”How am I ever going to find them!” Hanna whimpered in her thoughts.

She then heard Aunt Lisa yelling at Golem and was about to look back at the fight when a yellow tank top across the Arena caught her eye. Squinting carefully at it, her eyes widened with fear seeing its owner.

On the far side of the Arena, just above where Golems hallway was, she saw him. The man that shot her parents in violent cold blood, smiling free from worry. Martinez Sanchez, Boss of the Mad Dog gang.