I've been doing the audio edit for my audiobook, and I just finished the edit for this scene where two characters fight. I just wanted to share it because I liked it.
Word count: about 1500
POV: Third Person from Semy's perception.
Kevin took a spot and turned ready to fight. Semy took a spot counter to him and thought about everything he had heard about Kevin. Which was nothing. Apparently, he could fight well enough being his team’s flanker. Which meant he most likely had a more mobile fighting style than Adrian’s direct attacks. Which made Semy think that this was a mistake. Maybe he could still tag out with Carl.
Unfortunately, Ashley yelled out “Brawl!” and the fight was on.
Semy focused power across his whole body. Including his brain to increase the rate he saw the world. Like this, a few seconds was like a minute. Which was how Semy was able to see exactly how Kevin’s powers worked. Sparks of electricity shot around his body and gathered in his hand to fire out at Semy. It was a direct hit. The bolt entered into Semy’s chest. Which wasn’t as bad as one would think. People think that electricity can kill, and it can, but so can a lot of stuff. A stab to the chest can kill, but it has to get through the ribs to damage the lungs and heart. For electricity, it has to pass through the muscles and fat and jump over. Which wasn’t so easy when muscles would rather conduct the electricity through itself which was how nerves were able to power entire tendons. Additionally, fat was more insulating which kept the shock from passing into the muscles. So instead of doing any real damage to Semy, the lightning bolt just hurt like hell.
“Sweet Fucking Mercy.” Semy grasped his chest. He couldn’t dodge lightning. His dad’s fastest speed was near three hundred miles an hour, but lightning was over mach three hundred. Which is why when Semy stepped to the side just before another bolt fired past him he wasn’t dodging the actual attack, but rather Kevin’s set up for the attack. The bolt hit the school across the field. Kevin seemed to need to physically aim his power, which made sense. Like anything else, power was a part of the body. You had to position your limbs to use their strength on the world. So it was for the extra power that demihumans often wielded. Even those who did stuff with their mind. They could summon and mold the energy without moving, but it was like lifting without bending your limbs. Not as strong, and Kevin wasn’t holding back.
He was already lifting his other hand to send another bolt at Semy which showed the critical weakness to exploit. Kevin’s attacks were lightning-fast, but he himself was still limited to mundane human speeds. Semy was not. Kicking into third gear he reversed course and got to the other side of Kevin and took a swing. A low power left jab. The kind that normally would just push the target rather than hurt them, but at Semy’s increased stage it knocked Kevin away as he blocked the attack just before the hit. Semy started to shift down and try a grapple or maybe a throw to knock Kevin around, but Kevin had already gathered another attack and fired it. Another direct hit, but this time Semy focused power into his body’s pain damper and then focused on blocking the pain from his mind. Blocking pain wasn’t a mutant power. It was a skill learned through tutelage and experience.
Semy charged through the attack into a leaping punch. Kevin simply doubled up his power and fired a massive blast into Semy which broke the pain blocker and made him stumble. It was at this time Semy really realized that Kevin was in fact an amazing fighter. You don’t jump into a big attack right after blocking a sucker punch without at least a few notches in your belt. That’s when Semy decided to not hold back anymore.
His power was an active process. He had trained himself to not need to think about it to maintain it, but it wasn’t that simple. More power took more energy. So using full power would burn away all the energy he stored as fat. So it was he trained to maintain specific rates of power. Which he called gears. The lowest was first gear, and was rated at about peak mundane performance in all ways. On par with every gold medal Olympian. Every gear after that was a multiple of that rate with the increased strain that came with it. Semy could push it to fourth gear with little problem thanks to the teachings of his father who had developed the system over his years of brawling.
Semy pushed forward and landed a hit into Kevin’s ribs knocking the air out of him and dealt another jab into his face and still before his body could move away Semy grabbed an ankle and overhead whipped Kevin into the ground. A One Two Slam that was the move to end the fight in many cases. Not this one though. Kevin bounced from the slam and before he landed he counter-attacked by wildly sending out power around him. It seemed somewhat aimed at Semy as multiple sparks landed on him launching him away under the reflexive power of his increased strength. Recovering mid flight Semy regained his sense, rebuilt the pain blockers, and repositioned his body to land on his feet. He set his sights on Kevin and realized he had made a critical mistake.
Like a moronic novice who had never been in a real proper fight before. Semy had thought he figured out Kevin’s deal. That he was a ranged fighter that used lightning bolts and electric charges to attack from a distance. This however was only one of his styles of which he had more. A fact proven by how he managed to cross the field in only a second to deliver a punch with so much speed and power it caused a sonic boom straight into Semy’s face. The force rippled through Semy’s head and rattled his brain. Something he knew because he was still using his super thinking and could feel the upset inside his skull. Not a concussion, but close enough to need medical attention. In addition to the ribs Semy felt break in his chest as Kevin sent another booming punch into the center of his chest.
Apparently, Kevin could also imbue himself with power to increase his speed. If this also increased his reaction speed was unknown as Semy grabbed Kevin’s forearm. Before he could start sending off sparks Semy slammed an uppercut into Kevin’s chest followed by a second and third and then a jab to the face and a hammer blow on the shoulder. Semy waled on him switching between punches until Kevin caught his fist. He took a deep breath in and yelled unleashing a massive wave of electricity. The majority flying up through Semy’s arms and rest still finding the rest of him. The pain was blinding. Semy couldn’t see or hear anything past the voltage coursing through him. Still, he held on and summoned enough sense to whip his forearm around and get his hand around some part of hopefully Kevin. He pushed his arms apart until they were wide enough for a bear hug and the leaned back as much as he could before swinging forward into a headbutt.
The shocking shocks stopped and Semy was able to regain his senses. He saw he had managed a direct blow from the mark in the direct center of Kevin’s forehead. It was bruised and bleeding and Kevin was still recovering allowing Semy to snap his hands around to get better grips on Kevin’s forearms. Semy’s arms were longer than Kevin’s, and his raw strength was leagues ahead even at base level. Kevin couldn’t break the grip with physical strength.
“Go ahead and send more.” Semy said, “I’ll just pound your skull with mine until one of us breaks.”
Kevin didn’t respond. He just gritted his teeth as a booming sound came from the sky overhead. The calm cloudy sky had turned darker and with flashes of light shooting through them. Semy felt a drop of water hit him as rain started. Semy looked up to the sky. The forecast had said the rain was going to come after sundown. How long had they been fighting? It was still bright. The sun must still be up. Was the forecast just that wrong? Regardless, the fight was over. With the rain coming down no one was going to train and thus the facade fighting over the spot was pointless.
End Of Scene
Afterword: I think I had a flaw in this of having Semy explaining things a bit too much, but it is in his character. He's an incredibly smart fighter who analyzes his situation to maximize his advantages. So I'm keeping it, also, there's more, but the after scene in a tagless rehost.
Read As I Post Here:
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/69526/world-of-demi-humans-freshmen-orientation
Or enjoy In Audiobook Format Here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnMvygV92dxvK0teeiCEXeKzc5dExD10j