"LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!!!"
Tanaka sat at the edge of his seat as he looked at the fighters. Ixris from the commoner tribe stood still, sizing his opponent up. Jacker stood in the center a tall, lean man with an athletic build similar to that of the Yera Shumba tribesmen.
"You really think a commoner tribesman like you can defeat me?"
He stretched his arms outwards to be examined and awed. Ixris remained unmoved, his leather sandals firmly planted on the arena's sand. Jacker grit his teeth. His head turned low while his eyes kept staring through his cheetah mask right at Ixris.
"You cocky bastard."
Jacker ran towards his victim, his katana held in a death grip between his hands. Jacker closed the distance and swung his katana. Ixris narrowly avoided it and just as quickly curled his arm into a hefty fist and delivered it to Jacker's torso.
"Ouf!" Tanaka flinched as if suffering from the aftershocks of the punch.
"Don't react," Harun said, his head stayed focused on the match. "It makes us look weak."
Tanaka raised an eyebrow. He leaned his head forward to take a look at his other brothers. All had the same uniform face. Unbothered. Unimpressed. Kesi's pupil turned to Tanaka's gazing direction. He let a hand out just enough for Tanaka to see and moved it back and forth, gesturing for Tanaka to sit back properly. Tanaka jumped back into his seat and tried to assume the expression of his fellow brothers. Jacker spat out a bit of blood, still reeling from the punch he'd just received.
"Hahaha. And here I thought this was gonna be a fair fight." He screamed out.
"You talk too much!" Ixris bellowed.
He pushed his giant frame forward toward the grinning Jacker, one foot kneeling in the sand as he wiped the blood from his lips. He barged and used his huge shoulder to pound Jacker into the floor. But Jacker synced with the pushing momentum and turned his crushing tumble into a back roll. He then stood barely two meters away from Ixris with his shoulder blades slanted over.
"Fair enough."
Within a blink, Jacker was behind Ixris. He swung his sword aimed directly for his opponent's head. Ixris, without looking back, ducked beneath the slashing arc.
"How did they do that?" Tanaka muttered.
Harun kept his head focused on the match but still answered Tanaka,
"Jacker's tribe has the cheetah totem, Ixris' has the fly totem."
"Using chipo, Jacker can become inhumanly fast and Ixris can see all angles his attacker may be coming from. I suspect he can also use the reaction time of the fly."
Tanaka turned to see his father. He held a fist next to his chin, his elbow resting on the throne's armrest. His eyes were narrowed, his lips curved into a slight frown as he rubbed his thumb against his curled index finger.
"Is he..."
"Focus on the match, Tanaka," Harun said.
The crowd burst into a riot of cheers. Tanaka's head snapped back. Jacker moved increasingly fast, leaving only afterimages of silver blurs where he was three or four moves ago. Ixris grit his teeth as he tried to swing his massive frame around, using his gauntlets to block each one of Jacker's strikes. Jacker jumped back a few paces. The entire crowd went silent as he confidently stood across from his opponent.
"That skill of yours sure does make you a nuisance."
Ixris did not respond. He lifted his legs to stand up straight, but they ended up with his left-back leg bent slightly inwards, his right-front leg bent forward as he let his hands out as his guard. His chest heaved, his shoulders moving periodically up and down. Suddenly the left half of his fly mask slid down slowly, revealing a thin line of freshly bloodied flesh stretching from his forehead to the bottom of his cheek.
Jacker smiled at the sight.
"Would you look at that. The Fly bleeds." He dropped his katana to the sandy floor, a gush of dust rising to his knees, but he was no longer there.
Ixris's eyes bulged as he had just seen the man vanish before his very eyes. Using his chipo, he saw Jacker's fist flying in from his side.
Thud.
Ixris threw up a mouthful of blood. Again he saw Jacker coming for his torso. He moved his gauntlets to cover himself. Jacker smiled and from that low position, he transitioned into an uppercut. Ixris was sent reeling back. Jacker then performed a leg sweep, causing the tumbling Ixris to lose his balance about to fall backwards. With lightning-fast speed, Jacker appeared on top of the falling Ixris. He arced his entire body for maximum momentum, his arm cocked back ready to deliver a blow.
"AS IF I WOULD EVER BE DEFEATED BY AN INSECT!"
He lowered his fist down onto Ixris's face. One punch to his forehead. One to his nose. One to his mouth. All delivered before Ixris had hit the dust. Jacker landed on his feet. Ixris lay flat on his back, blood scattered all over his face and mask as he tried his best to breathe properly.
"You fought well. For that, I will allow you to live with your shame."
Ixris lay there looking directly into the sunlight, the sounds of cheers and boos fading into the background. Jacker's fist appeared as a shadow, shielding Ixris from the light as it got closer and closer.
"AND YOUR WINNER BY INCAPACITATION—
THE NOBLE TRIBE'S—JACKERRRRRRR!!!!"
Jacker released a sigh and got up from his knelt position. Raising his hand up, he basked in the crowd's cheers and boos. King Gris pressed his hands on his armrest and slowly lifted himself from the seat. He raised a hand. The entire arena went silent. Jacker turned around and saw the king. He took a bow in acknowledgement.
"Congratulations on winning this bout. Your tribe will retain its rights as a noble tribe, its land, minerals, and resources, as well as its share from Bakea's tax."
Jacker smirked and turned to his defeated opponent. He gathered spit in his mouth and launched it aimed for Ixris's head. As soon as it left his mouth, it evaporated. Jacker jumped back, narrowly avoiding the searing power that nearly took his head off. He glanced at the arena's ground, eyes wide as he saw the huge slash-like gap in the floor that was almost a meter wide and even deeper at its thick center. A bead of sweat rolled off his forehead. He instinctively knelt with his head down as his eyes popped veins and his irises became smaller. The king, whose hand was still glowing and aimed where the gap appeared, paused for a while, the entire crowd standing there in silent awe.
"Congratulations on winning your duel. But Ixris is still my guest. And I shall not have my guest disrespected in my presence."
"Yes, King Tabhani. Apologies."
Tanaka's mouth was ajar as he stared at the monstrous disaster King Gris unleashed with one simple swing of the wrist.
So this is the power of my father. Tanaka thought. No, this is the power of King Gris Tabhani.