Because now it was simple. Now it was real. And now... it could lose.
The thing in front of steadied itself, but the shift was obvious. That relaxed posture from before was gone. It was replaced by sothing tighter and more focused, like it had finally realized this was no longer going its way.
Its smile returned, but it did not sit right anymore. Even without anything dramatic changing, I could tell that whatever control it had earlier was slipping little by little.
"You changed," it said. The amusent in its voice was thinner now.
"Yeah," I replied while rolling my shoulder like I was just getting ward up instead of barely keeping myself together. "Turns out that happens when I am about to win... shocking, I know."
That was a lie. Not even a subtle one. Inside my head, things were still a ss. My thoughts were not fully steady. My reactions still felt just a bit off, like soone had slightly delayed everything I did. But confidence was free. I was operating on a limited budget, so I used what I had.
It moved again. Faster this ti. No hesitation.
I reacted just in ti by stepping forward instead of back. I had already learned the hard way that giving this thing space was basically asking to lose slowly and politely. Our movents collided again. Not clean or elegant, but direct enough to matter. I forced myself to stay present in that mont. I could feel it clearly now. The mont I slowed down even a little, that laughter would start creeping back in like an unpaid bill.
"See, this is already better," I said while slipping to the side and barely avoiding another touch. "You were getting boring earlier. I almost fell asleep mid-fight."
It did not reply. That alone made grin a little. Silence here ant effort. Effort ant I was finally being taken seriously.
It adjusted again. It tried to pull things back into that strange rhythm where everything slowed down just enough for to lose focus. I did not give it the chance. I kept moving. I kept pushing. I kept things ssy enough that it could not settle into control again. At one point its hand ca close to my shoulder. I felt that sa pull at the edge of my thoughts. Sothing trying to drag back into that soft, careless state where nothing really mattered.
"Yeah... no. We are not doing that again," I muttered while pulling away. I imdiately stepped back in with a shove that was honestly not impressive. It still worked well enough to break the mont.
It staggered slightly. Not from strength, but from disruption. I took that as a win. At this point I was not aiming to look cool. I was aiming to stay alive.
"You know," I continued while circling just enough to keep pressure on it. My breathing was getting heavier now. "For sothing that sses with minds, you are surprisingly bad at dealing with soone who already has a few issues up there. Like, you picked the wrong target, man."
For a brief second, sothing like confusion showed on its face. I could not help the small grin that slipped out.
"Yeah, that was not a joke... I am serious," I added.
That seed to annoy it. The next movent was sharper. More aggressive. A lot less controlled. Exactly what I had been waiting for.
I t it head-on again. I did not let it reset the pace. I pushed forward with everything I had left. I did not care if it looked clean or smart. Right now effectiveness was the only thing that mattered.
The laughter tried to return again. It kept breaking apart before it could fully form. It felt like a song that had lost its rhythm. Every ti it faltered, I pressed harder. I did not give it even a second to recover. I was not in control. Not really. But I was also not losing anymore. Honestly, that was a huge improvent.
"You really should have finished earlier," I said. My voice was rough but still steady enough to carry my usual nonsense. "This whole slow and dramatic approach thing... yeah, not your best decision."
This ti it reacted imdiately. Not calmly. Its movents lost that smooth, effortless feel. They beca sharper, faster, and just a little reckless.
Perfect.
Because the mont it stopped controlling the fight... it started playing mine.
"Yeah... this is where you ssed up," I said while stepping in again. I ignored how tired my body felt. I ignored how my head still was not fully clear. I could feel it now. That thin line where either I ended this right now... or I dropped before I got another chance.
So I did not hesitate.
I closed the distance completely. I put everything I had left into one final push. No holding back. No overthinking. Just moving with the simple goal of ending this before anything else could interfere.
The impact landed. Not perfectly. Not beautifully. But solid enough.
This ti... there was no recovery.
The laughter did not just break. It collapsed completely. It felt like sothing had finally run out of strength to keep going. The pressure in my head disappeared all at once. What remained was silence. Heavy, strange, and almost unreal after everything.
The figure in front of wavered. Its form was unstable now. Its expression was no longer calm or amused. It looked uncertain. Smaller.
I took a step back. I let out a long breath. My thoughts cleared fully. Sharp. Steady. Honestly, that alone felt like the biggest victory here.
"Yeah..." I said while running a hand through my hair. A tired laugh slipped out. "You really should not pick fights with soone who is already barely functioning... we do not have much to lose."
It tried to hold itself together. It failed.
Whatever was keeping it stable was already gone. Its form cracked. It flickered. Then it slowly fell apart. Piece by piece. Until there was nothing left standing in front of .
I stayed there for a mont. Just to be sure. After everything that had happened, I was not trusting anything easily. When nothing ca back and the silence stayed exactly as it was, I finally let my shoulders relax a little.
Then I glanced around. Clicked my tongue. Let out a quiet sigh.
"Alright... next ti," I muttered to myself. "Can we just get sothing normal. Like a monster that tries to bite my head off or sothing. That would honestly be much easier to deal with."
I paused for a second. Then shook my head slightly.
"Yeah... definitely easier."
Reviews
All reviews (0)