The music fills my ears. My head was calm while my body was a little numb and maybe even tired. No matter how many times I thought about it, I thought, "I can't win. No, I can't even hold him for a second." Every time, he has started a fight with a different punch or kick, and well, that's not really the problem. The problem is that he is 6'1" tall and still moves so fast that I can't imagine a world where I can avoid his hits, plus I don't want to take hits from him. The bloody guy does not stop till the other guy is knocked out... but again, what was I expecting?
That's the Punisher; he is as freaky as he was in the show. Ugh... should I quit? I want to get stronger, not get knocked out, and also again, if this watch on my wrist has a fail-safe, I am done for because the fail-safe would 100% get activated.... Well, that's another thing I have to work on. I need to learn more about this Omnitrix; it's my gift, after all, and I have barely used it, and the reason for that is I am a little scared that someone might catch me. Thoughts like…
'What if the Omnitrix lets out an energy signal whenever I use it?' or 'What if me using the watch somehow changes things...?' hunts me every second... I was not really scared to say I just did not know what happened; you could say it was the fear of the unknown...
I stand up and grab a towel, which I got from the guard, and I rip the towel again and again till I have small strips of cloth, and I start to wrap the strips of cloth on my hand, and then I hear it—the knock on the door by the guard, who says, "It's time, L. Don't die, ok, young lad?"—and I nod to the guard, and then I walk to the ring slowly. My mind, if it was not thinking fast before, it was now overthinking...
*The lights turn off, and the speaker speaks: "ARE YOU READY!!!! FOR THE LAST FIGHT OF THE NIGHT! ON THE LEFT WE HAVE I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS, WE HAVE THE YOUNG BUT QUICK, FILLED WITH YOUTH, OUR LOVED SKINNY TRACKSUIT!!!" and I don't even hear what the speaker says; my mind was thinking about something else while the lights were on me... That's when I see him…
"AND ON THE RIGHT WE HAVE THE MONSTER, THE UNKILLABLE, STANDING AT A WHOPPING 6'1, BUT THE FIGHTERS SAY HE HITS LIKE HE IS 7'1! THE COLD KILLER!!!!"
And for some reason I smile and think, 'So they give him the nickname "The Cold Killer"? That makes sense; he won't use a name like Punisher in a place like this...." And I enter the ring, and I look at him, and I put my hands up fast without even thinking. Before even the fight started, I was already blocking like I was going to get beat up, and Frank, looking at this young kid in front of him, spoke, his voice annoyed and husky like he smoked, "What is a kid like you doing here?"
I don't speak, but I understand what he means. Frank was a little stunned to find a young kid like me here. Others can't tell, but I am pretty sure Frank can tell my age. Not only that, but I am pretty sure Frank thinks I am not a bad kid because before I did not break Viper's foot, but I can't speak. I have to get in his mind; that's the only way I could ever win... Yeah, I was fighting with the goal to win. Crazy, I know, but well, if I don't set my goals high, I will never reach the sky. Plus, I really do want to know how good I am against 'The Punisher.'
"START!" And the second the speaker announced "start," I rushed at him without a thought. I threw fast punches and jabs at Frank, and he blocked all of them. He even dodged a few, but I could see his eyes. He was not angry, not scared, and not shocked. No, no, Frank. Castle right now was confused on why this kid was fighting in a place like this. Normally Frank would not care, but this kid was different; he fought like he had been trained, but he was so young...
Not only that, but his body looked so skinny. How could a kid like him know how to throw a punch? or throw someone Frank was even more confused when he saw Leo, who let go of Viper's foot. In Frank's mind, that was stupid; Leo was dumb, but that also made Frank develop a mental image of Leo as a young, stupid kid....
But the kid had guts. Frank also noticed how Leo taunted Viper and how Leo ended that fight with a spin-back kick, and that was again unexpected. Frank did not expect a young kid named "Skinny Tracksuit" to land a spin-back kick, and the crazy part was, from Frank's view, Leo's stance and spin were pretty good for a kid, at least... To sum it up, Frank was confused. How did a young kid fight like he has fought before, but at the same time, his body was way too weak? And not only that, but even now when Leo throws fast jabs on Frank again, Frank is confused. Why does this kid not speak? He seems like a good kid...
And while on the other hand, when Frank was thinking, Leo kept giving everything he had—jabs and fast punches to the gut and to the chin—but all of that was for nothing; Frank just easily blocked or dodged everything... Frank right now was like a hard punching bag who moves... and I bite my lip, and I change my flow fast. I start to throw more kicks at Frank—low kicks aimed at his calf—and Frank was a little stunned because he saw this kid throw a calf kick, which was again pretty good...
Frank again just side-steps, and now Frank was starting to get a little annoyed. Frank tries to grab Leo, and Leo just falls down and does a leg swipe on the ground just like how Viper did, and Frank right now seemed more annoyed than anything!
Frank casually steps back, and then while Leo was trying to change his stance, Frank kicks Leo's back. It was not a hard kick, but that kick made Leo pretty much fall out of the ring, but Leo caught the ropes, and while panting, Leo pulls himself up, and Leo turns around to see Frank, who was already moving back to the ring? Was Frank giving up? It made sense; Frank was here to gather info or do something. He was not here to fight a kid like me....
And for the first time ever since I entered the ring, I speak: "Hey! Don't you dare give up. Come and face me. I won't win the money like this. Stop holding back!" And I keep breathing fast as I put my hands up, and I shake my head a little, and Frank stops, and he looks back, and for a second Frank is stunned. Frank's thoughts were, 'How did he notice I was holding back? No, normally a fighter could tell if another fighter is holding back, but he is just a kid? and also money? So he is doing this for money?'
And for some reason Frank smiled, and he started to take fast steps to Leo, and on the other hand, Leo was thinking, "Oh fuck, did I taunt him too much? I only wanted to keep fighting, not get knocked out!' And I jump out of the way, and Frank throws a slow but strong punch where I was, and again I felt it: Frank was not punching with all of his strength; he was holding back...
But I don't care; I do a donkey roll on the ground to move away from Frank fast, and I get on my feet, and just as I was on my feet, I see a boot coming to my left side fast, and all I could do was try to grab the boot, and Frank had thrown a roundhouse kick! And I barely caught it, or well, I did catch it, but still, it fucking hurt! For the first time I was really out of breath and panting all the times I was panting before I was acting, but this time I was really out of breath....
I try to hold Frank's leg with both of my hands, and Frank does not punch me; he just looks at me and speaks, "You caught that?" and his face was the face of a guy who did not expect this, and I smile again, and I chuckle, and I speak, "What, you thought I'd go down from this?? Ahaha," and I pull Frank down with his leg, and Frank thought I was trying to grab his foot like how I did before with Viper, but no, not this time. I just donkey roll till I am at the edge of the ring once again. I pull myself up, and Frank speaks in a cold voice, "Stupid kid, you'll get knocked out at this rate."
I smile and shake my head because just then the rings ring! It was the end of round one!!!! And I smile. I had learned before the fight how long I had to hold on till the round ended, and Frank once again had a stunned look on his face, and he did not expect this turn of events, and I drag my body, and I hold the left side of my lower abdomen, and I sit on the end of the ring, and I pull my tracksuit up a little.
I notice how I was bruised. Even though I caught the kick, I still got bruised? I am thankful the Omnitrix did not activate well. The failsafe in the Ben 10 world was supposed to kick in when Ben was in life-and-death situations, so it makes sense, but I am pretty sure if I keep fighting, if there is a failsafe, it will activate....
And while Leo was in his mind, Leo did not even hear the cheers and the crowd going crazy, and the speaker said, "O HOW!? WHO?! WHAT? IS THIS A SKINNY TRACKSUIT?! HE ACTUALLY FOUGHT THROUGH A ROUND WITH THE COLD KILLER!!!" And the crowd was mostly cheering for Leo because, well, Leo right now was the embodiment of the underdog in everyone's eyes, while on the other hand, Frank did not care about anything at this point; he was still clueless about this young kid in front of him, but it looked like Frank had made up his mind; he would end the fight in the next round...
The guard walks up to me, and he gives me a bottle of water, and the guard speaks, "Hey, L, you did crazy well! You actually lasted a round against him!" And I grab the water bottle, and the guard keeps speaking: "Hey, L, just give up. That cold killer guy is different. You can come next time; I am sure you will win!" And I open the water bottle, and I throw the water on my head, and I drink a little bit of the water and then spit it out, and I look at the guard, and I speak, "Hey boss man, I won't be quiet, ok? So either you can watch me get beat up or help me...." and the guard looks conflicted....
And then the speaker says, "I CAN'T BELIEVE ANY OF THIS ROUND TWO!!!" OF THE NIGHT COLD KILLER VS THE SKINNY TRACKSUIT! GO! GO! GO! FIGHT!" And as soon as the fight starts, I smile at Frank, and I speak: "Hey, dickhead, come at me. Don't hold back. I win..." And I pretty much jump to him, and Frank was a little caught off guard, not by Leo's jump but by Leo's words. Frank did not expect Leo to just call him a dickhead like that. And Frank smiled; it was a cold smile, and then Frank threw a fast punch at Leo's stomach, and Leo did not even have time to block or anything; he got hit hard and fell to the ground, and Leo felt dizzy...
I think, 'Ahh fuck, got me good.' I spit out blood from my mouth, and I cough, and I shake my head, and just then I started to smile as I hear it. I think back to what I told the guard to do...
flashback
"Could you change the music, boss? to 'Nickelback—Burn It to the Ground'?" and the guard was conflicted, but I spoke again: "Boss man, I fight better with music..." and the guard smiles and says, "Sure, kid..."
End flashback.
And I smile as I hear the stupid music in my ears. It's a little old school but still better than nothing. I chuckle a little, and then I get on my knees, and I shake my head to the beat, and I get on my feet. I feel lightheaded. One more hit, and I knew I was a goner... but still, I smile, and Frank Castle, on the other hand, was like, actually shocked. Frank thought that punch would knock the kid before him out... and then before Frank could notice,
I was already close to him. I danced a little to the left and right. I did the shuffle, and in a matter of seconds, I was close to Frank, and I put my right hand up like I was going to throw a punch, and Frank casually put his hand up, but no punch came. That was a feint... and I threw a hook punch from my left hand right on Frank's chin, and Frank dodged with ease, but that was all I wanted right now. Frank's footing was loose; he was mostly confused because of the music and everything else, and I also knew! His moral code was conflicted too; he did not want to hurt me....
I have a second of opportunity!