A Malicious Test (Scene 2)

--- Joshua ---

Given how he was technically taking a recruitment test for a sketchy criminal organization, he decided that proving that he could in fact do some damage was the best way of earning a decent place within said organization.

Which is why as soon as the Malice Merchant told him to start he rushed the unknown Deviant who had been working for the criminal organization for an unknown amount of time.

(In hindsight that might not have been a good idea.) He groaned, picking himself off the ground where Zylah had kicked him twenty feet away.

“Not opening strong.” The young woman told him playfully, a hint of amusement to her voice.

“Yeah, fuck you too…” He cursed quietly, as he felt the bruise in his side slowly healing.

“I heard that.”

“Of course you did.” He grumbled, trying to think about the best way to approach this mess given how he’d never actually been in a fight. (If we exclude all of the bullies anyway.)

(Alright, so given how the merchant said physical enhancements are real common, I’m not going to be overpowering or outpacing her anytime soon.) He thought to himself as Zylah tilted her head.

“Not going to try and rush me again?” She asked curiously.

(So that leaves my tags and my fields… which she probably knows about from watching my interview, shit!) He cursed himself before telling her that, “I don’t need the fact that you’re stronger than me beaten into my skull.”

“Shame, because it’s rather fun watching you fly through the air.” The Shadow Dancer taunted with a smile beneath her masquerade mask.

(Alright, that just means I need to be unpredictable… Which my field should be good for, if it works the way I think it does.) “What can I say, I live to entertain.” He admitted, feeling the odd compulsion to throw in a dramatic bow while he was at it.

Zylah smirked before disappearing in a blur and reappearing in another hovering in the air next to him.

(The fuck!)

Another kick -this time to his head- sent him tumbling across the ground once more, while leaving him mildly dazed.

(Shit… Teleportation?) He blinked before shaking his head clear as his healing factor took care of what was probably a concussion. (No, I caught a bit of blur both when she disappeared and when she reappeared, so she’s probably just that fast. Wonderful.)

Picking himself up once more he stumbled a step before righting himself as he glared at the young woman grinning at him. (So if she’s a speedster in some way the first priority is figuring out how to track her. My tags, maybe?)

Zylah disappeared in another blow before he felt something on one of his shoulders. “You know this isn’t very fun if you’re going to just stand there staring at me.”

The next thing he knew he was once more flying through the air, notably a good ten twenty feet in the air. (Oh, shit!)

He hit the concrete with a painful crunch, one that quickly gave an encore as whatever he broke on impact broke itself back into place. “Fu-uck!”

“You giving up already?” Zylah asked in a mocking tone.

“Fuck you!” He spat both the words and a bit of blood, before yet again forcing himself onto his feet.

“Well, no one can say you can’t take a beating.” The Shadow Dancer laughed.

“Got to love that healing factor.” He agreed wholeheartedly.

“I wonder how much damage it can heal before I finally overwhelm it?” Zylah asked, a hint of sadism coloring her question.

“I’d really rather not find out.” He admitted with a nervous laugh.

(Really need that tag if I want to be able to keep up with her.) He told himself, already coating his hand in the black substance as he had an idea. (Alright, power, don’t fail me now.)

Zylah blurred in front of him one leg raised and he pushed on his rube goldberg field while filling it with the intent of ‘Tag Zylah’.

Something in him twisted as he tried to use both his tag and his field at the same time, a knife of agony tearing through his skull at the exact moment he stumbled away from Zylah’s latest kick before blindly swinging his arm out in a way that somehow managed to land a hit on the Shadow Dancer even as he crashed into the ground.

(Alright… that was a bad idea.) He grimaced as the pain remained with a dull ache. (But at the very least I tagged her, though I wonder why it didn’t hurt me this time.)

“Did you… did you just slap my ass?!”

His eyes shot to the fuming female and he realized, (ah, it was playing the long game this time.)

With a face of rage Zylah blurred out of existence before -as his tag helpfully informed him- appearing behind him the… leg he tagged raised at an angle ready to strike.

He threw himself forward just in time to hear an audible crunching sound from behind him, one that -when he looked- revealed Zylah’s heeled foot had gone through the concrete flooring.

“Okay… so you were pulling your punches.” He swallowed, a sudden dryness filling his mouth.

“Don’t worry, I won’t be anymore.” Zylah happily informed him, once more blurring into existence a short distance away.

“Uh-oh.” He leapt out of the way once more before scrambling towards one of the nearby warehouse walls, hoping that by putting a wall to his back he’d be able to keep the Shadow Dancer from coming at him from all angles.

Another dodge sent him crashing into the wall, painfully hitting his shoulder as he avoided another ferocious kick.

(Okay, okay, just need one or two good hits and I’m sure I’ll have put up a decent showing.) He told himself, feeling his heart beating in his chest as he panicked ever so slightly at the idea of trying to hit the superpowered Deviant currently trying to cave his skull in with her heels. (Wait, she’s fighting in heels?!)

The answer to that thought was a resounding yes, as demonstrated by said heel piercing two inches into the wall less than that from his eye.

He pushed off the wall hopping back a few paces to try and give himself a bit of distance as he once more began to pull on his power, hoping he can manage at least one solid blow.

“Alright power, please don’t fuck me over this time.” He whispered, as he pushed his field to let him ‘land a critical hit’. “I’m trusting you little buddy.”

Rushing towards Zylah, the Shadow Dancer easily weaved away from each punch he threw at her while stepping around him before finally tripping him in a way that sent him crashing face first into the wall. A blow that left him dazed as he turned around and struck out before hitting something soft.

(Wait, soft?)

As the minor head trauma left him, horror found him as he found his fist pointed towards Zylah’s chest, the chest Zylah was currently clutching with an affronted look.

(Little buddy, you fucked me. Why, why did you fuck me?)

“Did you just punch my tit?!” The rightfully pissed female hissed.

His eyes darted between Zylah’s face, his fist, Zylah’s chest, Zylah’s murderous face, the audience staring at him in mild disbelief, and finally Zylah’s ‘I’m going to shank a bitch’ face, before he found himself blurting out, “Gender equality?”

There was some kind of choking laugh from the direction of his audience as Zylah merely glared at him before growing a smile he did not like.

“You know what?” He felt an intense pain as he was lifted six inches off the ground. “Gender equality.”

He fell to the ground with a whimper, his hands between his legs as he laid there in agony.

Eventually though Zylah kicked him over and put her heel to his throat.

“You ready to call this farce of a fight now?” The young woman asked without a hint of her previous amicability.