The next day - after a good night sleep and a tasty breakfast at the restaurant at Horr's hotel - in the afternoon, Vox and Charlie helped Wilson and Jim shop for clothes, shoes and accessories like smartwatch, phones (Wilson had hidden the phone Old Rogers gave him. He took it as a special phone that was supposed to kept away from all eyes.) and helped them move from the bar to settle down in a well furnished, private apartment owned and rented out to them personally by Horr, owner of Horr's Hotel and Residences."I have paid the rent for the first three months and there is enough food and supplies to last you both two months. Originally, it should have been just Jim, in which case, it would last him about half a year, but I'm glad I stocked in excess."Anyway, you guys should get yourselves a job or something cos this is as far as I am willing to go for you guys, even you Jim. The rent and feeding arrangements after three months is left to you both. If you have any questions or req
Wilson woke up late the next day. It was almost noon. He jogged to the gym only three buildings away.Even at this time, there were some people still training with the weights and punching bags or were inside one of the rings, sparring with their trainer or sparring partners. The slight smell of sweat filled the air but did not make the gym feel stuffy.Wilson entered the gym and everyone stopped to look at the fresh face that entered."Oh? A new customer?" A black man of average height and bulging muscles said and jogged to meet Wilson who stood rooted to the ground at the entrance."Hello, hello! You look like you could use some help. I am Smith. The owner of Black Rose Gym. The only gym filled with love that is built from grit and sweat and sometimes blood. Everyone here is a subscribed member but since, you have only come here today for the first time, I will give you a free week to see for yourself just how great this gym is." Smith introduced."Come with me
Wilson raised his hands to block all five punches and jumped backwards, but Colt was not going to give any respite. He lifted his right foot and kicked Wilson's chest. The force from the kick forced Wilson backwards against the ropes and he tumbled over the top rope out of the ring.He fell face first and remained there while the referee began the count.One... Two.... Three...Wilson slowly stood up on his feet.....Four.... Five....Wilson pulled off his loose shirt to reveal a slim muscular build riddled with scars from claw marks and what looked like cuts from bladed weapons.The gym members, who currently were the only audience and watched from a distance around the ring, whispered among themselves in awe."Damn, look at his body.""He is so young and he has already gone through so much.""That's a monkey claw. I recognize it from my brother. He has a scar just like that.""It must been a big monkey.""Is he a hunter?"As the referee counted nine, Wilson entered the ring and flex
Wilson grunted."Wilson? Are you awake? How do you feel? I heard you got knocked out in a fair match? For real? I thought you were going to need more time to think things through just like Jim, but seems like you have already made up your mind, haven't you?" Charlie instantly loaded Wilson with questions as soon as the latter groaned. He did not even wait to see if Wilson was truly awake before offloading all the questions in his mind.As it turned out, Wilson had only grunted in his sleep and as a result, Charlie looked around him to ensure he was the only one in the room to have witnessed such a brief, yet embarrassing moment. He was the only one, so he sighed in relief.Wilson was currently in a small private ward in the hospital on the same street as the gym: it was the hospital the scrawny old referee had called.**********The ambulance was unusually early as the hospital had a special guest that afternoon and they wanted to leave a good impression on him. He was someone from th
Later that evening, after an early supper, Wilson decided to check out the underground wrestling platform at Barnes and Horr street. He was led by Vox into the huge parking lot that bordered both Barnes Bar and Horr's Hotel. They silently walked to the underground level, Vox and Jim walked in front and Wilson followed behind, thinking deeply about the fight he had with Colt.Upon getting there, they walked in a straight line between cars until they got to a wall. Vox walked forward with a solemn look and tapped at the wall randomly as if pushing invisible buttons. He then took a step back and five seconds later, a whooshing sound was heard before the wall turned into pixels and disappeared, leaving a staircase that sloped downwards for all to see."Stay close. Make sure there is no lesser than a two step difference between you and the person before you!" Vox ordered, his face still solemn, as he led the way down the staircase. Jim followed two steps behind and Wilson hesitated a littl
Horr smiled as he looked at a shirtless Wilson who was silently sitting at a table in the corner, awaiting his turn while intensely looking at his gloves."Who would have thought that behind all that clothing, there was such a sculpt. Even I am jealous." He marveled."Yeah. The kid is ripped alright." Bar chipped in."There will definitely be ladies flocking about him if he wins tonight." Vox said with a bothered look."He might lose...." Jim whispered but Horr heard him loud and clear."Oh? What did I just hear? Is that the sound of a jealous 'unripped' man?" Horr spoke out loud in mockery of Jim.Jim was usually not one to keep quiet and be on the receiving end of any form of mockery. He always had something to say; A word or two to defend himself but he did not even bother this time."Nope! I am just worried that he will not be able to fight well due to his internal injuries." Jim explained with a sigh."Internal injuries?" Bar queried. "And he is moving around already?""If he was
Wilson had daydreamed of the day he would be celebrated onto a wrestling platform by hundreds of people. There were barely over fifty people in the crowd but he knew there were lots of eyes viewing him at home.He could sense the eyes looking intently at him. Majorly due to his lean, muscular physique coupled with his handsome face and long hair that he had tied to a ponytail to avoid it getting into his eyes.With his scars gone, he looked less badass and more like a pretty face but he did not think himself that way."And his opponent..." Horr said excitedly, his voice echoing slightly.The wheel spun for approximately thirty seconds. It slowed to a stop."...Big Harry!" He yelled excitedly.On the wheel was a face and a little profile on Wilson's opponent.††††[Name: Big "Stone hands" Harry.Age: 33 yearsHeight: 7 feet tall.Ability: Earth Reinforcement.]††††Big Harry was a huge guy; one of the muscleheads, that had won the p
Wilson, while thinking and wracking his brain about how he got to the point where his hands had gotten broken and his opponent was already sitting on him, walked out of the underground wrestling platform and straight back to the hospital with Jim and Vox trailing behind him, barely holding in their laughter.Big Harry wailed in pain as the medics carried him out and tried to soothe him. He spat out curses in-between his loud expression of pain and despair, not knowing that his heavy punch to Wilson's head was what had successfully woken him up from his conscious-unconscious state.Later on, when Dr Hippo discovered that one could get rid of his ability's side effect that way, he began carrying earth-reinforced bats around in his storage bracelet and would frequently give instructions like:"Okay, I'm done! When he wakes up, just whack his head with this bat at the first sign of his eyes losing focus. That will do the trick!"Most people did not understand why but they, out of respect
Colt woke up and sat up."What.... I'm awake, ain't I?" He asked himself. He was sure he was awake. Were his eyes still closed? Or why was everywhere still black? He tried to open his eyes for several minutes. "My eyes!" He jumped to his feet. Or at least tried. As soon as he moved , he hit his head hard against something. He raised his hand to touch. It felt like concrete."Div? Platoon! China? Hey! What the f*ck are you trying to pull?" He yelled. His voice echoed back to him. He touched his eyes. They were open. Why was everywhere still dark?He panicked."Hello! Anyone? Where am I? Dad? China, I bet that is you. Come on, we can talk about this. The bomb thing was just a joke. I wouldn't actually try to blow up my friend." He tried to persuade. He crawled forward as he spoke."Chan!" He changed tactics and yelled. "I'm talking to you. Answer me. Chan! Chan!"**************Wilson woke up, feeling groggy. Like most other times, it took him some ti
Wilson weaved through the thin blades of ice, like a veteran surfer through the water waves. He stretched his hand like before to grab the furious twin by the head just like he did with his brother. He had developed a liking for grabbing his opponents by the face. His fingers were only centimeters away from securing a firm grip when suddenly he felt a change in the air pressure, or was it temperature, behind him. It was hard to explain if he tried. All he knew was someone was now there. He abruptly pulled his hand back, ducked his head and awkwardly rolled to the side as quickly as he could, barely escaping a fatal knife stab to his jugular."Tsk!" It was Colt who clicked his tongue and retreated. He left Wilson and went straight for Fawn who was by now, utterly exhausted from fighting two people at once. She was bleeding from her arms and thighs and various other cuts to her torso. Her clothes were in tatters. Wilson glanced at Dash and was surprised to see him holding out bett
"Sh*t! Zek is dead!" A voice spoke from within the smoke. It sounded muffled as if something was blocking the free passage of sound."F*ck! They discovered us. Rush in and kill them. The girl is mine." A female voice ordered from within the smoke. The third sentence made Fawn chuckle. That was Diva alright.Few seconds later, the swirling smoke of poison rippled."F*ck! Wind dude already joined them.""Just jump through, you idiot." The lady ordered again.Wilson did not wait for them to approach though. The team was still outnumbered, so in a bid to try and even the playing field before it could devolve into total chaos, he stepped forward and grabbed an idiot and forcefully pulled him in before the victim could react. Jim instantly three wind blades at him while Dash dashed towards him and stabbed him as quickly and in as many vital points as possible. The victim was dead before he could even make an impact."Minus two!" Wilson called out."Remainder se
China yelled in frustration as he once again ran straight towards Jim. He had tried to send his near invisible poison towards Jim and the team over and over again but this dastardly Jim, who looked like a mock version of a businessman and never stopped talking, somehow managed to stop the spread of the poison. And what's more, he could not catch up to him either because he was way too fast for him, constantly waiting for him to close half the distance between them before boosting himself with his wind ability and running to the farthest corner again.As China neared Jim once more, Jim leaned slightly forward. His suit jacket fluttered a little. A sure sign of him harnessing his ability once again.China felt the slight sting at the back of his neck increase till his head started buzzing. A warning sign from Colt. As soon as he saw Jim blur out of sight, he immediately sprayed out his poison out of every pore of his body. A thick cloud of smoke instantly filled a meter radius
Noise abound at the Boneyard Arena in Bones Street in Tiger City, as the crowd of spectators cheered. Several teams had already duelled it out since morning and it was not only at this arena but in every other properly accounted for arena in Bones Street, Brawl Street, the seven Major Streets and even Horr's underground wrestling platforms.Never before had the officials of Tiger City paid attention to the wrestling competitions but now that they were planning to join in, they were more than willing to make their first intra city competition as memorable as possible. The competition hadn't even started properly, as that will only begin after the top 64 had been selected and broadcasted to the entire city. Even then, the preliminaries was already bumbling. Every body - individuals, gangs, organisations and even military schools - who dreamt of fame, recognition, money or just wanted to improve their skills, gathered a team of five at minimum and registered to take part in it. Qua
"Wilson! Wilson! Wilson, can you hear me?" Danny called. Wilson turned his head to look at him.Everyone thought he had a good reason for pulling attention towards him. They should have known better."You stink! Can you tone it down?"Dash and Gene Chang immediately scurried away from his side. This idiot seemed to like playing with death. It was best to stay away to avoid collateral damage. But Wilson did not attack. Instead, thin red smoke-like fumes, that Charlie, the instructor and Gene Chang had noticed emanating from him, reduced."Wilson." Charlie called. "Can you control it? You simply have to continue your thought process but slowly push it towards the direction you want it to go."Wilson nodded. For about a minute, nothing happened. Dash opened his mouth and spoke in a whisper, not wanting to break Wilson's thought process."He's taking longer than expected.""Yeah! It's not unexpected. High quality means high requirements." The instructor said.
Wilson was short of words for a long time after his mother completed the story. He quietly hugged her. Everything she had done, no matter how selfish, she had done to protect him and cure him from the curse."Thank you mom. You are the best mom I could ever ask for."Silvia smiled and sniffled. Charlie glanced at them from his lying position on the grass and sighed. They were still not done. Come on. They were only separated for about a year or so. What was there to catch up on for so long.'They are hugging again.' He grumbled under his breath. 'I should download some offline games in case of another time. Uh! I'm so bored. Finish up, man.'He dared not say it out loud though. He was not stupid. A woman who had access to spatial magi-tech and could exonerate his father's name from the long list of deceased traitors was definitely not simple. She even had connections in Tiger City itself. He wasn't stupid enough to test her patience after a long awaited reunion
Before Wolfe died, he had an illicit affair with his childhood sweetheart, Charlotte. While Wolfe was legally married and in love, it was all for the public's eyes. After all, he was a public figure and he cared a lot about how people viewed him. Maybe a little too much. If he hadn't, he probably would have married Charlotte instead.Charlotte was heavily pregnant when Wolfe jumped into the those outer worlders' ship. The knowledge made Wolfe's real wife, Monica feel betrayed. The invasion and resistance continued for a while and after some time, Monica and Charlotte met in a makeshift underground bunker while escaping for their lives. They got into a stupid fight with each other and insulted and cursed at each other. But Monica was quickly overwhelmed, she burst into tears and in a fit of rage and frustration, grabbed the bare soil beneath her and glared at Charlotte."Wolfe deceived me. He used me to boost his career. And while I suffered every night, he spent them in bed
"Some couple centuries or back, before the first invasion, your great great grandfather, I think it's two greats, was a well known modified fighter. He had the strength and grit. He was very popular for his sportsmanship and showmanship. When the aliens first struck earth, he was in the middle of the biggest fight of his career against a fellow fighter named Boxer. Boxer is the ancestor of the royal family. Grandpa Wolfe was the first person to deal a fatal blow to the alien ship. Of course, that's not what the history books say. Apparently, to further bolster their image in the eyes of the citizens of the kingdom, the historical records were altered, but the royal family and certain important families know the truth. That's why Tiger City was given its independence in the first place. As a tribute to our ancestor and to maintain a good relationship with us."Wilson blinked. He understood most of that. As usual, his observant mom noticed."We will go into details about that