“That it has,” Pete replied tightening his watch in anticipation.
Aeneas leaped to his feet knocking the debris off his shirt. Pete watched him like a hawk.
WHOOSH! CLANG! Dover attacked but we all watched in awe as Aeneas caught him by the neck with little effort.
“Enough of you tin can,” he replied lifting him into the air.
BAM! CRASH! CRASH! He tossed him like a service volley and nailed him with spinning heel kick that sent him skidding into multiple fences.
CLANG! Pete shot a hammer shot toward Aeneas who flicked it away like an annoying fly.
“You’re going to have to do better than that,” he replied.
His arrogance had me at odds. I had no idea if he was grandstanding or if he had somehow gained an advantage.
“Oh, yeah,” Pete replied pulling out his pod container.
He tossed it on the ground as it slowly morphed into another bot. But this one was big. He looked like a robot samarai.
“Meet Slash,” Pete gloated with a content smile. “Let see if you can handle all of us.”
Aeneas’s face seemed to showcase a worried look as he geared up.
“So, another one, he definitely doesn’t look like a speed bot,” he replied trying to hide his worry behind bravado.
“Well, you’ll just have to find out won’t you,” Pete added confidently.
His words seemed to spark something within Aeneas.
“You can pull out a million of this bots,” he replied unnerved. “I’ll crack them and sooner or later it’ll just be me and you.”
Pete chuckled out loud.
“Who do you think you’re laughing at kid?” Aeneas shot fuming.
“You…you’re statement that once my bots are gone than it’ll just be me and you,” Pete continued. “You don’t realize that the least of your worries should be these bots. As a matter of fact…”
Slowly the bots morphed and flew back to Petes hand like they were magnetically linked to his palm.
“Pete, what are you doing?” Uriah added. “Don’t let him talk you out of a clear advantage.”
Pete shook his head.
“No, just like him you think I can’t take this guy,” he replied.
“What are you talking about,” Uriah shot back. “Bots or no bots it’s still you. You built the bots.”
Pete stood looking forward in a stared down. It was another proud Pete moment. Pete was an exceptional talent but his affinity for pushing the envelope at the most inopportune time was really starting to get on my nerves.
“Pete this isn’t some stupid video game,” I fired. “This is important, you have the guy on the rope just finish it.”
“No,” he replied like a stubborn two year old.
Uriah and I leaned back in frustration. His plan was working perfectly and he was gambling it all for no reason. He was my best friend but I wanted to tear him apart. It was his pride, it’s his weakness and Aeneas unknowingly exploited.
“Pete, I’m begging you,” I pleaded. “Just forget this and stick to the plan.”
“I trusted you,” Pete replied. “Why can’t you just trust me?”
I shook my head at the terrible comparison. It wasn’t remotely close. He was trusting me to perform my best against impossible odds. He was asking me to trust a concentrated effort to handicap himself.
“That’s not the same thing and you know it,” Uriah replied before I could respond. “Kid, you said it yourself, he has an advantage what are you trying to prove.”
“Enough with the self-talk,” Aeneas replied cutting into our conversation. “I can’t say I agree with the stupidity of this but I’m not complaining. As a matter of fact I’m ecstatic.”
UGH! Before Pete could blink Aeneas had him around the neck.
“Not this time,” Pete replied.
BUGH! Aeneas retreated flipping back as Pete exploded in mass. He almost tripled in size. I couldn’t believe my eyes. He was bigger than I had ever seen him. His body was like a sculpted professional wrestler. He looked unworldly. His hair grew and hung over his face like a punk rocker. I was trying to see his face but he was bent over and it was too dark to see anything.
“It took me awhile to analyze it but that toxin was a nerve relaxer. I’m a Law Virt I control chemicals. It wasn’t hard to break it down and immunize myself,” Pete replied. “Now, you’ll see what I can really do.”
“It takes more than that, boy,” Aeneas replied leaping back into action.
BREEENK! PAP! PAP! PAP! BAM! He landed a punch flush then quickly followed them with accurate rabbit punches. He might as well have tickled Pete as he recoiled and backhand smacked him like he was fly.
“HUH,” Aeneas let out landing hard across the field.
“Now you’re mine,” he replied spewing out a black fog that covered the entire field.
THUD! THUD! We could here Pete bounding from spot to spot inching closer as Aeneas wondered around aimlessly struggling to gain distance.
“Where are you?” Aeneas replied.
POW! Pete nearly took his face off with a punch that sent him flying into a nearby wall.
“GAWW!” Pete let out quickly following up.
POW! POW! WHIRRR! BAM! Pete landed another punch then a square kick that landed flush on Aeneas’s chin as he flew high in the air. Pete leaped high in the air and smashed him toward the surface.
His reflexes were off the charts. His strikes where more vicious and precise and adding the fog Aeneas was a sitting duck.
“I’m going to tear you limb from limb,” Pete warned shooting toward him.
THUD! THUD! THUD! Pete bounded from spot to spot once again hiding in the fog. Aeneas leaped high above the fog in an attempt to even the odds.
“Going somewhere?” Pete poked.
SMASH! He almost broke Aeneas in half with the blow.
“GAWAH!” he winced gasping in pain.
Aeneas landed hard on the ground below grimacing as he fought to his feet. Pete landed feet away from him. Aeneas crawled crab style on his butt in an attempt to get away.
THUD! He grimaced as he bumped into Pete. He had used his time and space technique to travel across the field.
“Well played,” Aeneas replied.
“It’s me; of course it is,” Pete replied.
He had shrunk back to his normal size. Or at least I thought so but before Aeneas could blink the mammoth version of Pete came into view.
“He was bluffing the entire time,” Uriah responded shaking his head. “That’s another bot.”
I turned to Uriah confused.
“That big one is just a robot,” I replied.
“No, the small one is,” Uriah replied. “And it was the perfect setup. Now, it’s checkmate.”
WHAM! The robot Pete cocked back with a hammer that was as big as a house. It hung over Aeneas like a dark cloud and there was no escape.
“Subatomic Art, Gravity Mass, Element Delta,” Pete replied with a smirk.
“No,” Aeneas let out just at the hammer fell.
The ground shook from the impact of the blow. A crater the size of a mansion was all that remained as Pete’s hammer returned to size. Slowly the mammoth size version of Pete morphed back.
“Wait, what happened,” I asked obliviously.
Pete walked over to Aeneas who was motionlessly laying on his back. He reached for his belt and unfastened it pulling off a pouch. He rummaged through it and pulled out a long gold case.
“Awesome, you got it, you actually got it,” I replied ecstatic.
Pete slowly opened the box as a light emanated from it like it was a captured star.
“Mission accomplished,” Pete replied flipping it like a coin. “Piece of cake.”
I gave sigh of relief as Pete smiled from ear to ear.
“What happened back there,” I replied surprised.
“He knew he wouldn’t ever be able to pin him down so he bluffed. He baited him into believing he was stupid enough to give up his advantage but the whole while he was setting him up for the kill shot. Not too bad,” Uriah replied congratulating him.
“How?” I replied.
“He was too fast for me to pin down no matter how many bots I used. I only used the bots to give my body time to become immune to the toxin. Once I achieved that my plan was to obstruct his view with my fog and take advantage. He was so confident in his speed and reflex that he always let his opponent dictate his actions, much like you Tim. So, I backed him into a corner and pounced,” Pete cut in.
“Well, you got the arrow, now what?” I replied.
“Well, now…”
BOOM! I almost swallowed my tongue as two light bodies collided with such explosion that it sent Pete flying.
“Pete!” I exclaimed.
He flipped three times before landing hard against a wall. From the moment he was hit by the light he was out. He lay unconscious as the two light bodies dimmed. I couldn’t believe my eyes as the two individuals came into view. I leaned into get a closer view. I was blown away.
“Isn’t that…,” Uriah added. “Is that really…”
“Sai?” I replied unable to believe what I was seeing.