His foot hit my chest like a truck, sending me flying across the room. I slowly brought myself to my feet, legs shaking as I pulled myself up. My opponent laughed, all two hundred pounds of his muscular frame moving as he did so. He turned to me, a thin, grimy, pirate, who he had dug out of the darkened streets of Ryamura, and began to taunt me.
"Jarik, you're a fool to think you could keep this up. Why are you still fighting when you know you can't win?"
I tightly gripped a column that lined the pathway I stood on, relying on it for .
"Because..."
I fell into a fit of coughing, blood emerging with the air.
"Because? Because what? You've no weapon, no friends, and no hope for a future here."
I straightened again, gasping for air.
"Because... Because I still have a will to live."
The ursa laughed again, this time seeming even more like a deep bellow of mockery.
"What, you? Didn't you show up here because you had lost that? I assure you this, Jarik. Nobody will be singing your praises tomorrow. I'll make sure of that."
Just then, I felt my gift swell inside of me. Power flooded my senses, and the newspapers around my feet crumbled to ashes. My broken ribs healed, and the shakiness in my breath vanished. I screamed in rage, as heat built up around me. My hands caught fire, and I rushed my opponent, grasping his left arm and throwing him to the ground. I was nearly overwhelmed by the power, throwing a flurry of punches at his face and neck. To my surprise, he dodged them all, before leaping to his feet, and catching on fire.
"You couldn't seriously believe that you're the only gifted Ryamura, could you?"
I dropped back into a fighting stance, flame spreading across my body, sparks flying off of my hands.
"I'd have thought you'd have stopped asking questions by now. Guess I've been wrong only once."
He then charged at me, deciding to take advantage of his size and the short distance between us. I teleported out of the way, launching a punch at his back as I reemerged. He spun around and grabbed my fist, readying an attack of his own. I delivered a firm blow to the side of his face as I brought one leg up to kick off of his chest, and pulled my hand free of his grip. He threw a collection of light blows at me, with the occasional kick mixed in. I dodged them, my image blurring with the immense speed. I shouted, struggling to contain my newfound strength. My hulking opponent backed away, mouth agape.
"Jarik, you're going to get this entire city killed! You can't handle your own gift!"
My vision was blurred, energy filled the air around me. I felt like I could do anything. I COULD do anything!
"You underestimate me, bear."
He sighed.
"You're right. I probably do. At least I can say the same about you!"
The ground started shaking. Spires of twisted metal started appearing behind me. I dodged them, and ran at him. As I got closer, he began charging up an energy beam. I began charging up my own variant of this attack, a fiery sphere suspended between my hands. He launched the beam at me, and I absorbed it into the sphere. The orb grew larger, and more intense. I sneered at the bear.
"It's game over, pal."
The last thing I saw before releasing the orb was the fear in his eyes.
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So I've been working on Blazing Skies a lot lately. My issue is just that I'm not quite sure where to continue off of last chapter, but I'm completely sure that I can make it work. This is just to let you guys know that I haven't abandoned the project, and really care about this story. It's going to be great, though. Just trust me.
-Hoodie
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