Chapter 31: You're Not Who I know
Henry throws a left hook, but Jace deflects it with his right arm and points his left arm at Henry’s stomach. He swaps to Burst and sends out an explosion to push Henry away. When Henry stands up, he smiles once more and spawns two Aura Tails. He runs towards Jace and spins around, turning the tails into an obstacle. Jace hops over the first one and slides under the second one until he catches up with Henry. In retaliation, Henry summons an Aura Stinger and goes straight for Jace’s head. He quickly sees the oncoming stab and tilts his neck just enough to dodge it before resting his cheek on the side of the stinger as he continues to approach Henry. He sends out another Burst punch to Henry’s shoulder, sending him sideways near the audience. They gasp in horror as their beloved champion is actually getting beat up for once. Henry staggers back up as Jace aims his arm at Henry. He swaps to Freeze and begins to shoot small icicles towards him, but Henry grows two more Aura Tails to counter the ranged attack. After blocking the icicles, Henry begins a mad dash towards Jace. As he approaches, Jace doesn’t move. He doesn’t react. Nothing. Is he frozen in fear? Nope. Right before Henry can stab Jace with his tails, Jace wraps his arms around Henry’s waist and goes for a suplex. Henry crashes onto the hard rock as dirt and dust settles around the two. He spits up some blood and laughs.
Henry: “You’re really not holding back, are you?”
Jace: “It won't be enough to kill you.”
Henry: “Some of these attacks are getting kinda close, buddy. Put too much effort into one of these blows and it might be curtains for me.”
Jace tries to speak, but no words escape his mouth. He’s been acting on impulse this entire time like normal. He isn’t taking the time to figure out his attacks due to relying on reaction time. Before he can think on that more, Henry roars as he summons another two Aura Tails. They surround him like a venus fly trap, just waiting for their next victim.
Henry: “I think it’s about time we take this up a notch.”
Jace: “You’re really using all six tails against me? You’re planning to kill me.”
Henry: “Oh, I’m not finished yet!”
Henry snaps his fingers and suddenly a steel cage entraps the two. The audience gasps with suspense. This truly is a fight to the death.
Jace: “I wasn’t planning on running anyways.”
Henry: “Good, good, but I’m not using this cage as a way to trap you in.”
Jace: “What?”
With a jolt, the entire cage explodes with electricity. Every bar is coated top to bottom with a thick layer of electricity. Henry laughs as he approaches Jace.
Henry: “This fight’s going to get so bloody, the audience will be shocked!”
The audience roars in excitement, anticipation…and at Henry’s bad pun.
Henry rushes towards Jace before stopping dead in his tracks to let his Aura Tails zip right by him towards Jace. As the tails approach, Jace quickly thinks of ideas. Every angle will be covered if he gets surrounded by the tails. Henry moves the tails inwards, impaling Jace’s body directly…or so he thought.
Jace: “Down here!”
Henry glances down and gasps. Jace perfectly threw off his black jacket just in time for the tails to stab it and not him. Jace grits his teeth as he goes for an uppercut to Henry’s jaw. Henry smiles and falls into the attack with his head, causing the punch to end prematurely as the two are sent back a few feet. Jace grabs his jacket and slings it over his body. As he fixes himself up, he looks up and notices a generator.
Jace: “Dammit. How am I gonna reach that?”
Before Jace can think further, Henry once again sends his tails towards Jace. He dodges the first one before grabbing the second tail and yanking it towards himself.
Henry: “Ow! Who the hell said you could rip my tails off!?”
Jace: “Oh, boo-hoo!"
Jace jumps atop the tails and stretches it out to resemble a thick tightrope before kicking off of it towards the generator. Henry grits his teeth as he pulls the two tails back before shooting the other four towards Jace.
Henry: “It’s hopeless! You’re not dodging these!”
Right before Jace is able to touch the generator, he’s stopped by the four tails. Two pierce his shoulder-blades and two pierce his lungs. Henry laughs as he guides the tails back to him and looks at Jace’s injured body. He tries to yell out in pain, but the tails through his lungs make it impossible.
Henry: “I don’t think you understand what’s going on here. This is a fight to the death. If I was any faster, I would’ve had your head!”
Henry throws Jace’s lifeless body to the other side of the arena.
Henry: “Heal your wounds. I know you have the power to. The power to cheat death.”
As promised, the holes in Jace’s body begin to shine as a chrome liquid fills them in before shifting to be the color of his skin. He lets out a long and raspy gasp as he desperately tries to refill the air in his lungs. He stumbles around before eventually standing up. His posture remains slumped over as he continues to recover.
Henry: “If I kept my tails in you for just a little longer, I could’ve had you dead.”
Jace: “You don’t want to kill me either, do you?”
Henry: “Lies! I’m merely dragging this battle out for my lovely audience!”
The audience cheers in response. Jace groans and rolls his eyes.
Jace: “You’re no better than Ben Jr.”
Henry: “In some regards, yes, but at least I let my people live the life they’ve always wanted!”
Jace: “These aren’t ‘your people’, they’re just as human as the rest of us. You are not above these people. You are alongside them.”
Henry: “Silence! I will not hear this trash from you!”
Henry roars as he fires out his six tails at Jace. He takes a step back and shifts into a battle position with his left arm facing Henry. Before the tails hit, Jace’s arm begins to crackle with electricity.
