What was the first rule of street fighting? The last time I checked, there was no rule. Street fighting was a pure violent act without boundaries. Anyone could fight with anything at their disposal. A bottle, a twig. A random walking stick being held by a granny crossing the street.
And right now, a baseball bat.
Forget the bat, the look on Stone's face was enough to kill, which actually did make me petrified. He had this bitter look on his face, like someone who'd lost thousands of dollars to a gambling site and was about to take out the frustration on me.
He kept patting the bat on his hard hands, probably waiting for me to make the first move. I would've attempted to make a move if this all weren't so confusing.
First, there was Amelia. A literal hologram that interacted directly with me. Then, a tournament that looked super realistic. I had spent half my life reading system tropes and studying their UI. They were always so coordinated. Even the challenges were properly planned and programmed to perfection.
My conclusion? The person— if anyone—who made this system was a total genius. What made it better than others was the imperfection.
I mean, where else would you see a system that has a programmed thug with a ripped tank top?
"Alright, that's enough pondering," I muttered, shaking off my thoughts. "Now, how do I beat this guy?"
Baseball bat in hand. Stiff jawline. Dark eyes that seemed to have seen more than pain itself. If I were to judge simply from his appearance, Stone would probably wipe me out with a blow.
But then, maybe the answer wasn't about actually fighting him. Maybe the system wanted me to decode something. Something that could actually make me win without having to exchange blows.
Communication.
That's it. I could talk him out of this. Maybe distract him, emotionally? Mentally? Humans had the habit of swaying over mere words, I had a feeling this would work.
"Hey, stone." I started, unsure of what to say. "Look, you don't have to do this okay? I understand that you're hurt, angry, maybe even depressed. But hurting others won't help you get better, it's only going to increase your wrath."
I approached him slowly, timing each step carefully. He'd stopped patting his bat, but the look in his eyes was still pure resentment.
"So.. what I'm trying to say basically is. You don't have to do this." By now, I was a foot or two away, stretching my arms out to him. "Just drop the bat, and we can talk about this, okay?"
My hands reached for the bat, but he just growled, his grip tightening around it. It was at that moment that I realised that all my charity talk was for nothing. But I realised too late.
The moment he raised the bat, I clenched my teeth, preparing for the impact. WHACK! He swung, and that was the last thing I registered. Everything happened in a flash. First, a bat was heading directly at my head, and immediately, everything reversed.
And there I was in the same spot I had been when the domain replacement happened. Red sky. Flickering street lights. An approaching man with a bat. Everything was just as it'd been three minutes ago.
Did I go back in time?
[Lives Left: 2/3]
Wait, that hit took me out? Apparently, the system wasn't trying to encode some winning clue for me. It really wanted me to fight this guy. That was an impossible feat.
I would definitely max out all my lives before I can land a hit on this guy.
What if I find his weak point? That was right, every man had a weak point. If I could just find his, I would only need to hit him once and then, he'd be open to my attack.
My eyes scanned around his body. Neck, shoulder joints, lower torso. Places I knew a hit could actually impact pain. But he was bulked up everywhere. If this guy was truly a stone like his name describes, then trying to land a hit would be fruitless.
Except...
That's it. His groin. It was a girl thing to kick the groin of a guy, but it always worked. And at that moment, it could be useful for my survival.
Just in time, Stone came at me, holding his bat up in the air. I barely managed to sidestep, dodging the attack by a split second. He growled, definitely displeased that his hit didn't land.
When he turned towards me, his face looked angrier, more determined. Fuck. He swatted at me again with all the weight in his arms, but I just moved backwards. Then again, and again. With every missed hit, he only looked more frustrated.
His groin. I have to hit his groin. That was the only way I was getting out of this alive, especially when exhaustion began to creep its way into my body.
After his next swat, I brought up my right leg with the quickest speed I could manage. The aim was to kick the baseball bat out of his hands, that way, he'd be slightly defenceless.
It was a solid plan, except that my leg got caught in his left arm. He smirked, a really evil one. Then with his other hand, BAM! He smashed the bat against my calf.
Ah, fuck!
My entire leg pulsated with pain, warm and stinging. Next thing, I came up to the ground, losing my stance. A cripple being crippled. Ironic. And there I thought being powerless was already the ultimate joke in my life.
Through the dense flickering street lights, I could make out my opponent's face, staring at me in its usual grim manner. Satisfaction etched his lips, and his pose— brutally egoistic— told me that he was timing out the seconds between me and inescapable death.
He's going to kill me, isn't he?
WHACK!
*****
[Lives Left: 1/3]
"Aw, man."
Another reverse. Dang it. Hitting a guy in his groin was actually harder than I thought. Also, I had just one life left. That didn't mean bad news, did it? Hopefully, the system would return me to reality, with a 'CHALLENGE FAILED' panel thrown right in my face.
That was easier news to handle, apparently.
"What do you think you're doing?" Amelia's bickering voice came first before she popped up like an unwanted notification. "You have just one life left."
"Thanks for clearing that up for me." I laced that part with sarcasm, raising a finger in the air. "Just to confirm, this doesn't mean anything risky, does it?"
"And what's your definition of risky?" She lowered her eyes and folded her arms.
"You know, something like exhausting my life here also makes me dead in real life sorta thing." I laughed, rather nervously. "But I'm sure that's not the case, right?"
Right?...please?
Amelia remained silent. The kind of silence you'd give to someone who just cracked a bitter code.
"Fuck. No." I paced about, ruffling my hair in sheer frustration. "No no no, why didn't you tell me this?!"
"I thought you knew. Didn't you read the terms and conditions of your application?" She asked.
"Terms and conditions? You fucking applied for me!"
Before either of us could speak another word, Stone came at me, swinging his bat in his usual swanky manner. It was easier to dodge now, and I didn't quite feel as much exhaustion as I did earlier.
But his energy was only more vicious with every missed swing. Veins pulped out his bald head, adrenaline following every grunt that left his lips. He was going to kill me. Again. For the third time.
And this time—breaking news— I would also die in real life too.
"You don't happen to have any clue on how I can beat this guy, do you?" I said, ducking another of Stone's restless swatting.
"Just rush him," Amelia said as if it was actually supposed to be easy. "Beat him until he's lifeless."
"I'm talking about a method that doesn't necessarily involve me risking my last life line," I added another sarcasm.
Amelia was quiet for a while. For a moment there, I thought she'd ditched me again in my moment of trouble, which apparently, was a habit of hers. But then, she replied after a barrage of seconds. And I couldn't have been more glad.
"Number his physical coordinates." She said. "You don't have to wait until he's open. You just have to find the exact spot where he's already open."
His physical coordinates huh? There was his head, C-1. But I'd probably get swiped before I could hit his face. His torso. C-2. That was a cool vulnerable spot, but also within the reach of his arms. C-3.
Then there was C-4. His dick. I needed a distraction and close distance if I was actually going to make my hit there. However, close distance wasn't something I was going to risk if he was still going to hold on to that bat.
C-5. His legs.
That's it! His legs.
How did I not notice those two wimpy spaghetti-s beneath his torso? They were just there like weak foundations, thin and open to an attack. And that was just all I needed to beat this guy.
SWOOSH! When I dodged his next attack, I didn't immediately come up. I crouched down, stretching one of my legs out, replicating the Spiderman pose. And in an almost perfect arch, I kicked, swiping the thug off his feet.
As the stone fell, the baseball bat left his hands, and for some accursed reason, it rolled up to me. I picked it up, sliding my hands up the wood, studying the weapon that almost killed me for real.
I smiled. Some dark happiness I couldn't quite understand. But I loved it. Seeing Stone rendered immobile on the ground in front of me— it felt nostalgic. And relieving.
I looked at him, watching the anger in his eyes dissolve into helplessness.
"We could've talked this over."
WHACK!
.
.
.
Extra'
Name: Stone (System Bias)
Ability: None
Rank: D (Low Tier)
Fortitude: 3.0