4.21

“Can the next two fighters please approach the ring?” said the announcer.

“I don’t know,” said Silas.

“I’ll go,” said Hunter. “Just remember, if I lose, it comes down to one of you two.” Hunter took a deep breath and stepped up onto the slate. Tatsuta also approached the slate.

“This should be interesting,” said Tatsuta.

“Yeah. Good luck.”

“Ready? Go!” Hunter opened his two flasks of dust and had the dust swirl around him. He didn’t move, as he wanted to see what Tatsuta was going to do.

Tatsuta bowed and Hunter bowed back.

Tatsuta’s body changed. It looked as though he was sweating profusely, but then the change suddenly clicked in. His body turned into water.

His Gi was gone, and he only vaguely looked humanoid in shape. The water looked as though it was constantly rising, like a reverse waterfall. He had no legs, but water formed into the shape of two arms and a head.

“Its an honour to be facing you in the ring, Hunter. Make sure you fight me with everything you have.” His voice had taken on a bubbly consistency.

“I will.” A heavy rock dropped in Hunter’s gut. Painful doubt took hold of him as he looked at Tatsuta.

“I sense doubt. Push it aside and focus on the fight at hand. Otherwise you won’t be giving it your all, and that’s not fair on me. Are you ready?”

“Yeah.” Still unsure of what to do, Hunter waited for Tatsuta to come to him. He readied himself, raising his arms in a defensive position. The dust swirled around him like an aura.

“Good. Let’s go.” Tatsuta rushed at Hunter. One of his arms extended high above his body. Hunter braced for the impact, calling some of the dust to fly up and compact together, like a shield.

Pain exploded in his gut and Hunter almost buckled as he looked down and saw that Tatsuta had attacked him with his other arm.

“Always be on the lookout for the unexpected. Your opponents will always try to trick you if it means they get an advantage.” Tatsuta rushed forward and extended his arm. The torrent of water hit Hunter’s face. The burning sting startled Hunter and he stumbled backward a few steps.

“How am I supposed to attack your body. You’re intangible.”

“Not quite. But if you focus, you will find a way.” A powerful geyser blasted up from underneath Hunter. It lifted him up like a ragdoll. The geyser carried him up about fifteen feet and suddenly died off. Hunter fell back down to the slate with a crack.

“You have to give me a moment to think,” Hunter snapped.

“No I don’t. You need to be able to think faster,” Tatsuta retorted.

Hunter pulled himself up and tried to gather his dust once again. The dust was slower to respond, it felt sluggish. Heavier. Hunter pulled as hard as he could and was relieved when he felt the dust give and fly around his body again.

“Its because its gotten wet,” Hunter said to himself. “Its gotten heavier, almost muddy. This should be interesting.”

“He doesn’t seem to be doing too well, does he?” said Silas. They had been given a stretcher bed for Jimena and she now lay on the ground.

“No. Its gonna be a tough fight. That old man’s powers effectively shut down Hunter’s own powers,” said Freja.

Hunter formed his three javelins, though he was unsure if this was going to help. He looked at Tatsuta and charged in for an attack.

He brought his fist in. He directed one javelin to come in from behind Tatsuta, one to come in from the side and the other from the front.

Hunter’s fist connected with the water. It was like hitting cement. The javelins all flew into Tatsuta and were absorbed into his body, giving Tatsuta a muddy appearance.

Hunter leapt back only to be pummelled once again by water. It burst into his chest and sent him flying back. He hit the slate and rolled back a few feet. He lay still and the announcer started the count.

“Get up Hunter. I won’t accept this victory,” called Tatsuta.

“Yeah, all right. Don’t see the point though.” With a grunt, Hunter pulled himself back up. The announcer stopped the count at eight.

“Well folks, this fight seems to be a little one-sided. But it’s still fun to watch, ain’t it?” Hunter noticed the announcer’s voice didn’t sing with the usual flair it had. The crowd cheered, but it too didn’t reach the volume it normally did.

“I’m at a complete loss Tatsuta. My powers are useless against you and hitting you doesn’t seem to be the best thing to do.”

“You need to learn to adapt. To push yourself to the limits. If you don’t, you won’t make it far as a hero.”

“How do you know I’m a hero?”

“I can sense the fighting spirit within you. And, that costume you wear. It’s the kind of thing only a hero would wear.” Tatsuta gave a low chuckle.

“Huh.” Hunter took a few steps toward Tatsuta and willed with all his might for the dust to come back to him. Hunter watched as the dust slowly began to leave Tatsuta’s body and fly toward him.

“Good. Push yourself. This fight isn’t over yet.”

Hunter formed all of the dust together into a single, great club. He brought it down on Tatsuta. Tatsuta’s body splashed apart. Hunter had a brief surge of confidence that was immediately shattered as he watched Tatsuta’s body come back together.

“Should’ve guessed it wasn’t that simple.” Hunter called the dust back to him and waited for Tatsuta.

Tatsuta rushed him once again. Hunter took in Tatsuta as a whole, he wasn’t about to be distracted again. Tatsuta closed the gap and shot an arm forth. Hunter brought the dust up in front of him and created a square barrier. The water crashed against it and collapsed to the ground.

“Gotta get creative,” said Hunter. He expanded the dust, making a loose cube that rushed in to encase Tatsuta. “Maybe I can trap him.”

The cube came together and shut Tatsuta within. Hunter could feel Tatsuta pressing against the cube and he strained to keep it together. He compressed the cube even more and then started to float it toward the edge of the ring.

“He’s gonna do it,” cheered Silas.

“Well, this looks like it could be an interesting victory. It appears Hunter has turned the tides of the fight and he’ll be the victor.”

Hunter watched the cube intently and knew that wasn’t going to be the case. He could see the water trickling out of the cube.

He pushed faster but the cube lost its shape and collapsed in with the water. Tatsuta was free.

“Well done. You did your best.” Tatsuta’s whole body blast forth and slammed into Hunter. The water carried him across the slate and threw him into the wall that was in front of the audience. Hunter fell forward onto the ground.

“And we have victory by ring out. The win goes to Loose Change, Tatsuta!”