Halford held his hand under his nose, watching blood stream out of it. It was the worst hit he had so far, and he was fairly certain it was broken. Above him was a giant of a man who wanted nothing more than his death, and he more than happy to get rid of him. It was merely a matter of stalling. The fire would engulf the building, and he'd burn alive. And then he could simply warp away. Mateo went in for a second punch, and he put a barrier between the two, letting it bounce off him.
Mateo saw the smug look on his face, slightly blurry from his perspective, and threw another punch. Halford sighed, snapped a finger, and the barrier quickly covered his whole body, quickly expanding and throwing him off the edge.
Now, is that the ending? Halford thought to himself. This was the way to mess with these teenagers. Don't go in for the kill right away. Push them first, see if they'll persevere. That's the plan, according to the boss. Now to see if Mateo is a potential ally. To him, at least, he was up there.
Mateo clung to the windowsill, gauntlets still summoned. He wasn't entirely sure if the increased grip strength was helping or screwing him over by wrecking the windowsill. Regardless, he was able to pull himself up and quickly smash a window before tumbling into the room. The room was getting hotter, so the fire was spreading quicker than he thought. Shame science was never his strong suit as a subject, maybe he could have seen this coming otherwise. His best hope of both surviving and killing Halford was to hope someone called the fire brigade. Regardless, he went upstairs, formulating a plan.
He approached the top of the building again. Halford witnessed the fury on his face, silently chuckling to himself. Mateo tried staying calm, or at least looking calm. He slowly walked up to Halford, until there was only a little distance between the two. Halford was probably wondering what was going on, until Mateo broke into a sprint. Halford tried creating a barrier to cover him, but Mateo outran it's activation.
He was right. Halford's barriers were quick, but they weren't instant. They seem to take around half a second to form, so if he could get up close in that timeframe, Halford was defenseless for that brief half second.
So Halford grabbed him by his arms and put them to his sides, and in one swift motion turned him upside down. In a second swift motion his head was slammed into the ground. Upon impact, a crater was made. Whether this was the power of the gauntlets, the weakness of the old building, or the fire destroying the structure, or even a combination of the three, he couldn't say. But Halford was on the ground, giving off uneven breaths that sounded almost like the sounds of strangulation. Which honestly, might be the best way to end the fight. So as he went in for it, Halford flashed a smile at him. The most recognizable thing through the blood was a damn smile. Mateo rushed in to grab him, but it wasn't fast enough. He had something prepared. The barrier he was preparing expanded, causing Mateo to slip and end up on his back as the top floor crumbled.
Both fell through the destroyed floor into the next floor. Mateo thankfully landed in a bed, while Halford hit the hard wooden ground. He clutched his head at the annoyance before him, trying to hide the fact he was soothing the pain as he got back on his feet. The smell of burning debris was hitting his nostrils. Burning he could escape from, even if he'd need a lengthy recovery afterwards. He dodged Mateo's incoming punch. As much as he hated to admit it, he wasn't entirely certain he'd survive another hit. He created a barrier and pushed it towards the wall. The aim now is merely trapping this man until he burned to death. Something of an anticlimax, but whatever, if this is how it ended then so be it.
Mateo punched through the barrier, to no avail. However, he noticed that the floor didn't have anything covering it. Halford clearly wasn't expecting it, so he quickly punched the ground below him. The entire floor managed to crumble, so maybe Halford would just warp away. But as the floor collapsed above him, his body fell too. So he grabbed him in midair, slammed him to the ground, and landed another punch directly to his face. Halford was able to create a small barrier in his hand, which he threw out and expanded in Mateo's face, causing him to fall over.
Halford's breathing was erratic. He didn't care, the only witness was not surviving to tell anyone.
"Do you know who I am?" He yelled at Mateo approached, setting forth another barrier to stop him. "I'm the god you worship! I'm who you go to church to praise! I am proof of your creator, and this is how you repay me?!"
"Maybe you are the real God." Mateo said calmly through the barrier. "Maybe this is sacrilege to say to you, but your existence is secondary to what the idea of you represents. The idea that we can all try to better ourselves each day in attempt to please you. All the help and charity I did in your name, it's not something I regret."
"So what, you're saying your creator doesn't matter?!" Halford screamed. "You don't care about being condemned to hell?"
"I'm just saying I won't regret killing you."
Halford tried making another barrier, but Mateo was able to run past it, letting the wall form behind him. He grabbed Halford by the chest, pulling him in and holding him tight. He tried making a barrier, but Mateo held his arms, so he couldn't do anything.
Finally, the smells started hitting him. The burning wood, the sweat dripping off Mateo. It was all hitting him. Is this the last thing he'd smell in this timeline?! It couldn't be! He tried breaking out, flailing his body in one last attempt to escape, but Mateo kept holding him tighter. Once again, the floor was crumbling beneath them. After an agonizing minute, the floor opened up below them, and Mateo was able to aim Halford straight below him. He'd hit the floor, with fire already beginning to rise up. But whatever, Halford thought. He'd kill himself, and he'd crawl out, surviving this encounter.