35. Max
MAX
“Okay, Cas,” Wynn said, raising his fists again. “Two minutes.”
“Begin,” Obi said.
Wynn once again showed off his agility. That man was a blur of pale skin and hair as he went after Cas with the same careful intensity he’d shown Leona.
While Leona knew how to exploit Wynn’s weaknesses and catch him off guard, Cas was—and always had been—a fan of brute force.
He met Wynn with vicious punches and kicks.
The time ticked down, exhausting both of them, until a lucky right hook knocked Wynn backward.
Wynn caught himself just in time, then landed a kick in Cas’s chest right as the timer went off. No clear winner.
Next up was Ciel. That fight was less than ten seconds, which surprised everyone. Ciel had an incredible feint, but then he did a backwards roundhouse kick that flattened Cas.
Ryuji and Cas were another story. He did not, in fact, flash Ryuji, but the two of them were so evenly matched in style and strength that it reminded me a lot of when Cas and I used to train together.
My father and Luciano would make us spar until neither of us could stand, exchanging blow after blow, and that was exactly what happened here.
By the time the timer ran out, both of them had bloody noses and cut lips.
Obi was up next, and again, they were equally strong.
With Leona, Obi had tried to match her agility, but the match-up was completely different with Cas—which just spoke to Obi’s ability to adapt.
Obi took out Cas with a kick to his good knee.
Cas cursed him out, but clasped Obi’s hand so he could help him stand again.
The last fight was against Leona. She brought her agility, but he could read every single move she tried to make.
He blocked her left and right until she got angry enough to lash out.
That was when he made his move. He kicked her off-balance and then pinned her before she got up.
The timer went out shortly after, ending the fight.
When they all stood again, clapping Cas on the back and “officially” welcoming him to the Shadows, I stood alone. On the outside, looking in.
Not for much longer.
“All right,” Ciel said. “Cas, join the lineup.”
“Still want to do this, Max?” Ryuji asked. “Those were actual fights, but those were a formality. This is the real deal. The challenge is about to begin.”
I steeled myself and nodded. The real deal. I couldn’t afford to fuck this up.
“Yes, I’m ready.”
Wynn was first. I inhaled and exhaled slowly, trying to get my bearings. I’d seen them all fight twice now. I’d watched how they worked. I could do this.
Wynn and I squared off. I raised my hands in front of my face, peeking over the tops of my knuckles as his eyes laser-focused on the sway of my body from side to side. Wynn was quick. I just had to be faster.
I didn’t even hear Obi signalling us to begin. I only saw Wynn move, and I barely twisted my body in time to the side to avoid his fist. Time slowed down as it sailed past my face. My muscles were already protesting, but I had to lock in. This was only the start.
I went hard back at him, bouncing on the balls of my feet to keep my body loose.
Everything else faded away except his shots at me and my shots at him.
He landed the first one in my stomach, and the pain rippled through my nerve endings.
I landed a punch on his ribs. He grabbed my shoulders and yanked me down to meet the force of his knee digging into my stomach again.
I sank to the ground, dragging him with me, while we grappled in the grass.
He got three more punches in my stomach before I elbowed his jaw and forced him off.
With a sliver of space between us, I sucked in a painful breath.
Fuck, they were going hard now.
Wynn backed off, and I stood, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. At some point, I’d bitten the inside of my cheek, and it stung.
“Timer’s not done,” I said, which earned me a smirk from Wynn before he came at me again.
This time, I got a lucky grab to his forearm and shoulder, and I flipped him to the ground, which was an awesome move, but it pulled at my ribs in a horrifying way. When my knee dug into Wynn’s chest, the timer finally went off.
I barely had a second to recover before Ciel was swinging at my head. I backed up, trying to keep my balance. Just like in his previous fights, Ciel had incredible control over his body. His position as their hacker was deceiving; he was just as strong as the rest of them.
The intensity of his strikes wore at my energy, and my blocks became sluggish. When I tripped over a rock in the grass, Ciel landed a punch to my bad side, and I fell to one of my knees.
“Get up.”
I pushed to my feet, ignoring the pain tearing through my body.
No fucking way was I giving up. No fucking way was I losing.
I rushed him, catching a lucky jab into his cheek that he just barely blocked, but it was enough to knock him back.
I followed again, landing another to his shoulder, and then another to his stomach.
Finally, he fell to his knees, and the timer went off.
I reached out a hand to help him to his feet, but he shook his head. “Look up!”
My body reacted immediately, only possible from years of training. I reared back, just in time to miss Ryuji’s punch aimed at the back of my head.
“Fuck,” I hissed as I tried to catch my breath. These fights were fucking intense, and there was no recovery. No second to breathe. My entire chest wracked with pain, and my limbs felt like fifty-pound weights.
But I couldn’t give up.
Ryu danced closer with an incredible amount of energy.
He had a feral grin on his face as he made countless jabs at my ribs—almost like he were targeting my injuries specifically.
I should have fucking guessed he would. But I’d seen him fight Cas and Leona already, and I had a good sense of his abilities.
He’d fight quickly and hard. He didn’t have many weaknesses, besides getting distracted, so I had to stay focused.
I got a few lucky jabs close to him, but he kept dodging and pivoting away. I couldn’t let him just run out the timer though, so I kept on the offensive.
I knew I’d made a mistake when I put all my weight behind a punch and overextended.
My balance flew out the window, and Ryuji grabbed my shoulders and firmly kneed me in the side.
He had the decency to focus on my good side, but it still practically leveled me.
I collapsed onto the grass, my fingers clutching at the dirt while my vision spotted.
I couldn’t get up. My breath was locked in my chest. My entire torso felt frozen in pain.
But I had to stand.
Wheezing, I forced my feet under my legs. Through sheer willpower alone, I locked my knees. Somehow, my body made it upright again.
“Ready to give up?” he taunted.
Adrenaline coursed through my veins, dulling the pain. “No fucking way.”
“If you let me see your dick piercing, I’ll let you win.”
“Fuck off,” I replied. “You’re not seeing it.”
“Fine. You asked for this,” he said, coming at me again. Just like his perpetual asshole behavior, Ryuji’s fighting style was relentless. I blocked three more blows, but I couldn’t catch my breath, and the fourth had me stumbling again.
When Obi called time, I knew I had lost.
I waited for them to pause the challenge, but then Cas came after me. I blinked, reeling back as he lunged for my face. Then he darted backward and started circling me, giving me a few precious moments to catch my breath.
After a few seconds of recovery, I went on the offensive.
We fell into familiar sparring patterns, and it brought up memories of training I’d long ago buried.
The two of us learning how to punch without breaking our wrists.
Countless bruises and black eyes. Slamming against the mat match after match after match.
It was all the same.
Fighting Cas was like fighting a clone of myself. We were trained together. We faced pain together. We fought together for years and years. His punches were the same as mine. Mine were the same as his.
It was a stalemate, but neither time nor energy was on my side. Cas read my next attack too well, and I was too fucking sluggish, and he punched me across the cheek. When my back hit the grass, the taste of blood filled my mouth.
It would have been a good fight, a great fight, if it wasn’t another signal that I’d failed their test.
I looked up, expecting to see Obi, but I saw Leona instead.
“Get up,” she said. “I’m next.”
Shakily, I got to my feet. No matter how many times they knocked me down, I’d still get up. I was fighting for this, goddamn it, and I would not stop. If I could survive a fucking knife to the ribs, I could survive this.
“Punch me, anima mia,” I said. “I deserve it.”
“Don’t have to tell me twice.” Her jabs were precise, quick, and strong. I could only block a couple of them. The rest landed in my already wrecked abdomen.
I danced around her, trying to dodge until the time ran out. After about thirty seconds, she shouted in anger.
“Why aren’t you trying to punch me?” she snarled. “You’re just blocking!”
“I don’t want to hit you,” I grunted as I blocked another one of her punches. They rattled the bones in my arms, but I would not hurt her.
“Pussy!” she shouted. Her next kick was so strong that it actually knocked some of the breath out of me. “Coward! Fight me!”
“No.”
She feigned to the right, and when I fell for the trap, her left jab clocked me right across the jaw. My teeth gnashed together.
“Fuck.” I reeled backward, hand on my jaw. “That fucking hurt.”
“You deserve it for holding yourself back,” she said. “Now, come on! Fight me for real.”
I let out a breath and steeled myself, but a second later, the timer went off. I didn’t even have a moment to wonder whether refusing to fight her would disqualify me from beating their challenge before Obi was on me.
He was the strongest of all of them. His punches were like hammers. His kicks were like a fucking freight train. Every blow he sent my way had me reeling, and I was already out of breath, out of energy, and on my last legs.
Fear shot through my core. What if I lose?
“Give up, Volpe,” Obi said, just as he jabbed at me again. My forearms screamed in pain as I blocked the punch.
“No.”
“You’re going to lose,” he added, kicking. I just barely braced myself before the blow landed against my side.
“I know,” I said through gritted teeth. “You’re toying with me. Just end it.”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he sent two more punches flying my way, but after the second, I timed mine perfectly and knocked against his jaw. It was a lucky hit, and it might have knocked out a lesser man, but Obi barely seemed phased.
When his next kick knocked me to the grass, it sent a wave of pain up my spine. Fuck, my ass would be bruised.
I had to get up. I had to move. But my arms refused. My lungs were burning. My legs were jelly. My lip was split. Nothing worked. Nothing answered my silent pleas to get up.
My body had decided it had had enough.
Obi stood over me, pulled his arm back, and then his fist came flying at my face.
Everything went black.