I put my mother down and stood up. My body screamed to the universe—my mind had forced me beyond my limits. Why was this happening to me. i couldn't understand.
Randy was a walking horror, consumed by raw rage and madness. Lost in his pride, he had but one goal: to destroy my life. It was unbelievable that the meager serum he had sipped from that cup had granted him such terrifying strength.
“You ruined my life, Cipher.” He bellowed “Now I’m going to end yours!”
I cared little when it was only me suffering by his hands—until he dared to touch my family.
He charged forward, and I managed to block his first attack with my arms. The blow was aimed at my face, and it would have crushed my skull had I not instinctively skidded back. That’s when I saw my sister, frozen in disbelief.
“Wait!” I stopped him, “I’m going to fight you—but not here, not in front of my sister.”
I had wanted to end things then and there, but protecting my sister came first. Unexpectedly, Randy backed down. I figured he wished to face me in a fair duel, free from distractions. We moved to a nearby field outside the farm.
He just killed my mother and yet he showed no remorse for his actions. Before I could even begin, he attacked first, launching into a relentless assault. His speed was astonishing—at least five times mine. Although my body lagged behind, my senses were quicker; his strikes were slow to the mind but too fast to evade completely, focused on my head, their force nearly destined to shatter my skull. I was forced to retreat at least five feet with each blow to buy time, anticipating and deflecting his attacks.
By the fourth hit, fractures crept along the bones in my arms. His speed was matched by the sheer destructiveness of his power.
After absorbing the serum, my body had transformed into something superhuman—I had believed I was on the road to becoming the world’s strongest hero. Yet here I was, battered by Randy, who had taken only a smear of the serum.
My mind raced for a solution as my body neared its breaking point, unable to sustain this state for more than ten minutes.
Using my hyper-cognition, I studied his movements: a straight punch, an uppercut, followed by a low sweep kick. Though his cycles varied, they always began and ended in the same predictable pattern. Within thirty seconds, I detected a rhythm.
I began to predict and slightly alter the direction of his strikes, but in that fight, it ultimately came down to speed and power as the leading factor. We clashed in a furious flurry of blows—each strike from Randy threatening to shatter my bones and anything nearby. I remained mostly on the defensive as time raced against me. To win, I would have to do more than merely anticipate his attacks. But my opponent was no ordinary foe.
Randy was a skilled fighter. Growing up among hoodlums and carving out his own violent dominion on the west side of the city had honed his instincts. His adaptation to his new-found power confirmed his brutal expertise. Eventually, my arms’ bones shattered completely, and five of my ribs fractured. Soon, my body reverted to its normal state, the blue energy dissipating from me. At that point, I could only move my head and legs.
Seizing an opportunity, Randy unleashed a low sweep that broke my left leg, leaving me on my knees, bleeding profusely. He then resumed his assault on my face, shouting as he punched relentlessly:
“You made a fool out of me! You destroyed my life! You’re nothing but a pest—pest, pest, pest!”
They say the brain does not feel pain, but I could feel my skull crushing and twisting as searing agony radiated through my body. The bastard had killed my mother, and I hadn’t even landed a single blow.
Stepping back, Randy prepared what he called his final attack.
“Pathetic!” he snarled. Looking down on me as he did many other times, “After I’m done here, I’m going after your sister. Maybe she’ll put up more of a challenge than you did,”
That declaration—threatening my sister on top of murdering my mother—drove me back to a razor’s edge of resolve. I realized then that the true purpose of this fight was not merely to defeat him in combat, but to eradicate the beast hell-bent on annihilating my entire family, my purpose for living. There was only one way to end him with the remaining strength at my disposal.
Before I could react further, Randy landed another brutal punch. Darkness enveloped me as I felt myself being swallowed by shadow. And then, suddenly, a misty memory of my father flooded my mind. I couldn’t see his face clearly, but his voice lifted me from that abyss into light. Blue electric energy burst around me once more—I called it the “The Solid-State.” The power within me felt stable and palpable.
Whatever was happening, it was making me stronger for a limited time.
“You think I’m afraid of glowing eyes? It’s over for you!” Randy countered as he surged toward me, unleashed at his greatest speed and power. He struck me again—a punch with one goal, to crash my skull.
For a moment he waited, confident that his attack had been fatal. But I was still on my feet. Our gazes met, and in his eyes, I caught a glimpse of trembling.
The fractures in my head and arms began to mend. I felt energy coalescing around my vital organs. In the second round, my body pushed even further past its limits. Yet this state drew on enormous energy, and I had no more than a minute left before it would fade. I had to create an opening for my final attack. Summoning every ounce of remaining force, I directed my body’s momentum to channel the power of my punch.
Despite its diminished effect, that opening gave me a chance. I replayed the fight in my mind, adjusting and predicting every move Randy made. And then I stopped for a moment, having read all of Randy’s moves..
“Why?” I asked him. I was suddenly curious about something. “What have I done to make you torment me for years—to go so far as to target my family?”
“Humph! Why did I do it, you ask?” He stalked closer. “To put you in your place! I warned you not to act up!”
“Put me in my place? That’s it? That’s your justification for torturing me for years—for killing my mother? There has to be more—a reason that makes sense for your endless insanity to ruin my life.”
“You don’t understand, do you?” he spat, getting closer to me. “In this world, the strong rule over the weak. You fancied yourself a king, smart and above everyone. I wanted to bring you down. It’s as simple as that.”
“So you killed my mother because I was weak? I see,”
An opening had appeared. Concentrating all my remaining energy in my right arm, I moved at my greatest speed. With my fingertips acting as projectiles, I pierced through his eyes—his only weak spot. It was the one way to stop him.
In retaliation, Randy grabbed me by the ribs and crushed them. I felt my lungs collapsing inside me. But I was not done; I summoned every last scrap of strength and forced my fingers even further into his eyes. Randy finally crumpled, his hands still embedded in my chest, and he died on the spot.
Exhausted beyond measure, I sank to the ground under the cold light of the moon. As I gazed upward, a voice echoed in my ears: “Enemy defeated. Well done.” Then, everything faded, and I lost consciousness.