On Top of the Food Chain

The crowd’s deafening roar reverberated through the fighting ring as the dome cage descended, enclosing Kazuki and the girl nicknamed Harley. Kazuki’s heart pounded in his chest, his nerves on edge. 

Harley, the girl with long golden brown hair and an imposing sledgehammer, took her stance with a calm, almost casual air. Her olive skin gleamed under the harsh lights, and her disappointed gaze pierced through Kazuki, fueling the tension in the air.

Kazuki clenched his fists, trying to focus and take his stance. The dome cage locked into place with a metallic clatter, signaling the start of the fight. The announcer’s voice boomed across the arena, “Let the battle begin!”

Unlike the previous fight, this time Kazuki would take control instead of his instinct to just wait for the impact to happen, this time he would try to evade the hits as much as possible.

Harley started running towards him.

Kazuki gulped as he cursed under his breath. 

Without hesitation, Harley swung her sledgehammer, the heavy weapon slicing through the air with a terrifying force. Kazuki barely dodged, the hammer smashing into the ground where he had just stood, sending tremors through the floor. He moved quickly, trying to circle around her, looking for an opening.

Harley didn’t give him a chance. She spun around, bringing the sledgehammer down in a wide arc. Kazuki ducked and rolled to the side, feeling the rush of air as the hammer whizzed past his head. The impact shook the cage, and the crowd’s cheers grew louder.

As Harley raised the sledgehammer again, Kazuki surged forward, aiming to get inside her guard. He strengthened his fist with Aura and landed a quick jab to her ribs, but it was like hitting a wall. Harley barely flinched, her expression remaining cool and focused.

In one swift motion, she backhanded Kazuki with the handle of the hammer, sending him a few meters back. The force of the blow made him see stars, and Kazuki found himself crashing against the dome structure. Harley’s disappointed look deepened as if she expected more from him.

“Come on,” she taunted, her voice dripping with condescension. “Is this all you’ve got?”

“Hitting my torso like that? It’s not gonna do much,” she continued, tapping her stomach with a gloved hand. “I’ve been swinging that sledgehammer for years. My core’s solid, balanced. I’ve trained my body to take hits like that. You could keep punching all day, and it’d barely faze me.”

Kazuki frowned, processing her words. Harley pushed herself to her feet, dusting off her clothes as she continued, “You want to do some real damage? You’ve got to target my weak points. Go for my calves—take out my balance. Or hit my face.”

She adjusted her stance, still smiling as she added, “Come on, now! I came here for bloodthirsty fights, not this crap.”

Kazuki’s mind raced. He knew she wasn’t lying. Her confidence was too genuine, too well-earned from years of training. He glanced at her legs, then back to her face, calculating his next move. If he wanted to win, he needed to adapt quickly, to strike where it would count.

Kazuki didn’t say anything. He only looked at the beautiful fighter. This time his gaze wasn’t that of the initial lust, instead it was of an animalistic ego. A faint crimson glow in his eyes.

Soon the sound of the sledgehammer smashing into the ground echoed through the dome as Kazuki barely rolled out of the way in time. Dust and debris scattered around him, and he felt the shockwave of the impact vibrate through his body. His breathing was ragged, and sweat dripped down his face. He pushed himself up on one knee, his vision swimming slightly from the repeated blows he’d endured.

Harley stood a few paces away, her posture relaxed yet menacing, the sledgehammer resting on the ground, while she was supporting herself on it. Her eyes locked onto Kazuki, a mixture of disappointment and confidence glinting within them. 

She was barely winded, her strength and endurance clearly outmatched his. Every time he tried to find an opening, she either blocked his attack or countered with a brutal swing of her hammer, leaving him no chance to retaliate.

Kazuki’s entire body ached. Bruises were forming beneath his clothes, his muscles screamed in protest with every movement, and yet, by some miracle, none of his bones seemed to be broken. But he knew he couldn’t take much more of this. He needed a plan, something to turn the tide in his favor.

As he lay there, trying to catch his breath, his mind raced. Harley was like a looming ghost, her shadow stretching over him as she prepared for another strike. The crowd’s chants had faded into the background, drowned out by the thumping of his heartbeat in his ears.

And then, as if a switch had been flipped, something clicked in his mind—a pattern he hadn’t noticed before.

There was a certain "flow" to Harley’s swings, a rhythm that she followed instinctively. Her attacks were somewhat predictable. A vertical strike to attack, a horizontal strike to deflect or clear the area. It repeated over and over, a sequence she likely wasn’t even aware of herself. 

Kazuki slowly pushed himself up, his body screaming in protest with every movement.

"You sure you want more of this?" Harley taunted, twirling the hammer lazily. "You’re looking pretty beat up, Bank Robber."

Harley adjusted her stance, preparing for another strike, and Kazuki braced himself, waiting for the right moment. The moment she moved, he did too, sprinting toward her. The clash began anew, but this time, Kazuki was ready. He ducked and weaved, narrowly avoiding her hammer as it came crashing down. The vertical strike. He sidestepped her horizontal swipe, using his speed to stay just out of her reach.

But then, the moment he’d been waiting for arrived. Harley crouched low, preparing a horizontal strike, her body leaning into the motion. As she swung the hammer, Kazuki jumped, landing squarely on the massive weapon’s head. Harley’s eyes widened in surprise, and she instinctively pulled upward, trying to throw him off.

Kazuki was launched into the air, but he didn’t panic. In the midst of his ascent, a sinister dagger appeared in his hand. His eyes glowed a menacing red, the sclera turning black, and in that moment, he hurled the dagger straight at Harley.

Harley, unfazed, swung her hammer and deflected the dagger with a powerful strike, sending it clattering to the side. But in the brief moment of distraction, she noticed Kazuki descending from above, hurtling toward her with his fist primed to strike. There wasn’t enough time for her to bring her hammer up to defend herself, so she braced for impact.

Kazuki crashed into Harley with the force of a freight train, his Aura-enhanced fist slamming into her face with a sickening thud. The blow sent her reeling, and Kazuki landed on top of her, his vision blurred by the surge of something that consumed him. He couldn’t stop, couldn’t think—only the primal urge to destroy remained.

When Kazuki finally came to, his breath was ragged, his body trembling. He stood over Harley, who lay motionless beneath him. The sledgehammer was in his hands, its handle slick with blood. Kazuki’s gaze dropped to her face, or what was left of it. The once-pristine features were now a gruesome, battered mess, crushed beyond recognition.

Horror washed over him as he realized what he had done. The sledgehammer slipped from his hands, clattering to the ground with a hollow sound. He staggered back, his mind struggling to comprehend the violence he had unleashed. The cheers of the crowd echoed around him, but they sounded distant, almost unreal.

Feeling the weight of his situation. He screamed. He screamed like a…

“Bank Robber!”

“Bank Robber!”

“Bank Robber!”

The crowd still cheered on.