Badass Ch. 07

So, this is the 7th Chapter of Badass. I can't promise it will be good, but I hope you enjoy it. Thank you if you still maintain any interest in my shit.

Read on.

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Everybody who was still conscious in the room looked on with shock and awe having broken into a nervous sweat as Zdenek let out the wail. A wail so bone chilling, that it caused Steph to tremble. A wail so bad ass it caused Amy and the twins to grin, as beads of sweat fell from their respective jaws and chins. A wail so evil, that it struck fear into the hearts of the Hand, causing each member to be rooted to the spot they were standing in. Boris stood before Zdenek as well, putting up a brave front, but was also clearly disturbed and slightly intimidated, as powerful gusts of wind emanated from Zdenek, causing the curtains and clothing of everybody present to violently flutter and move about. After a few seconds, the room was filled with complete silence, as Zdenek stopped wailing, causing the wind to die down and everybody to actually take a breath.

As they all started breathing, they suddenly heard footsteps, causing them to focus back on the battle happening before them. Zdenek had started moving away from the wall, taking slow and deliberate steps, looking Boris in the eyes; Corruption Vision active and the flames pulsing and dancing out of his eyes. Zdenek stopped moving and just stood, tail twitching and moving about with the tip on fire, his large hands were open and he stood with his feet together. His gaze hadn't moved from Boris since he started walking, and he hadn't blinked either, he just stood there, looking at and into Boris' eyes, looking for the slightest bit of fear or intimidation on his part; and he found it. Boris had been staring right back into Zdenek's eyes, trying for all his worth to conceal the small bit of fear which he had been trying to ignore, but Zdenek's piercing gaze was too overwhelming, and before he knew it, he had taken a step back, even though Zdenek had already stopped moving. Boris' breathing started quickening, and he swallowed a ball of spit which felt like it had been stuck in his throat forever. A bead of sweat then rolled the side of his face, and the fear grew.

Boris kept blinking, and with each blink, Zdenek only seemed to get bigger and bigger, causing Boris to gulp again and the overwhelming force of pressure that he was feeling as almost unbearable, and Boris started breathing quicker and quicker, as he nervously took another step backwards, fists clenched and forehead wet with sweat. Zdenek just seemed to keep growing, and soon Boris couldn't see anything around or behind him; all he could see were those flaming white and purple eyes. Zdenek then started chuckling, his deep and evil sounding second voice had gotten so much more sinister and soon his chuckle turned into a full on maniacal laugh, causing Zdenek to finally break his staring contest with Boris. The terrible laughter filled the room, and even the Hand was freaked out by it, with Steph's trembling really escalating. The others finally noticed her shaking, and the twins each moved to console her. AMY and Erykah just stood there, watching Zdenek intently, with Erykah in particular not wanting to miss a second. Everybody blinked and then Zdenek was no longer in the spot was before. They looked around to find him right in front of Boris. Zdenek slowly raised his right hand up and brought it to Boris' cheek. He slowly and gently wiped his fingers upwards from Boris' cheek, up to his temple, and then brought that same hand down, presenting it to Boris and allowing him to see just how wet his fingers were. Zdenek chuckled again.

"So Boris..." Zdenek taunted as he rubbed his thumb across his fingers, "...is this sweat adorning your face because of a sudden spike in the temperature in this room, or is it because you're afraid?" Zdenek chuckled again and looked down towards Boris' pants. "If we were to remove those pants, would we find a trail of urine and shit to accompany that sweat on your brow, hmmm Boris? Are you suddenly so scared that you have lost control of your bladder? Where's your confidence? What happened to your defiance, huh?" Zdenek then started laughing again, before turning around and walking away from Boris. "Listen Boris, we came here to get you to join, but after seeing the look of fear on your face, I've changed my mind; Aegis doesn't need any pussy punk bitches who lose their nerve in the face of stronger opposition. I'm just going to swallow up this group of yours and force them to integrate with Aegis through fear. I tried being nice, but you threw that back in my face, so now I'm going to be...well...it doesn't matter, because you wont be around to see it." Zdenek turned his head, looking at Boris with a grin on his face. "Farewell... former Alpha of Tundra."

Zdenek then started laughing again, and the Hand stood there, completely shocked by what they were witnessing. They had never seen Zdenek act or talk this way, although they hadn't really seen Zdenek all that much as they had just met him. They didn't know what had come over him, but they didn't dare move or even say a word as they waited to see how this was going to end. Boris just stood there motionless, slightly shell-shocked due to the fact that he was feeling fear for the first time in his life. He swallowed the lump in his throat, before bringing his hands up, palm side up, and looking at them as they trembled slightly.

'W-What the fuck? My hands are trembling! A-Am I scared? Am I scared of this blue furred, black horned punk In front of me?' Boris then brought his right hand up and wiped it across his brow, before bringing it back down and inspecting it, seeing the sweat on his fingers. 'Sweat? I have sweat on my brow due to...being scared...? ME?! I'M SCARED BECAUSE OF THIS GUY?! SO WHAT IF HE'S STRONGER THAN ME' I WAS KICKING HIS ASS UNTIL NOW!! I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED!!'

Boris then suddenly let out a massive roar, clenching his fists and pushing his arms out to the side. He had thrown his head back, closed his eyes and flamed burst out from his body and started charging rapidly, and the entire room was illuminated with an orange light. He then opened his eyes and started screaming.

"ZDENEK!! JUST WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TALKING TO, HUH?! I AM BORIS; ALPHA OF TUNDRA! IF YOU THINK THAT I'LL JUST ROLL OVER AND LET YOU TAKE MY GROUP, YOU ARE SORELY MISTAKEN! I'LL KILL YOU BEFORE YOU GET THE CHANCE TO MISTREAT THEM!"

The intensity and heat of the flames increased as Boris screamed. Zdenek just smiled and then turned around to face him. He looked Boris in the eyes, and all trace of fear was gone, and in it's place only rage and determination. Zdenek then started charging his own flames, which were now richer and deeper, but clearer and purer. The colours of their respective flame clashed once again, and the entire room was just filled with orange and purple light.

"Very well Alpha," Zdenek said, standing at he ready. "Let's go."

Boris let out another yell, before launching himself at Zdenek. He cocked his arm back and flew towards Zdenek, and flames started swirling around his forearm. He then threw a straight right at Zdenek, who just tilted his head to the side and watched the fist fly past his face with a strong gust of wind which caused his mane to flutter about. Flames flew out from his fists and crashed into the wall behind them, and continued to do so each time that Boris tried in vain to punch Zdenek in the face. Zdenek wasn't even bringing his hands up to parry the blows, as he just kept evading and dodging. Boris then went for another straight, but suddenly stopped, and Zdenek looked downwards to see a left uppercut rising from below on a collision course with his chin. Zdenek started to move his head back, but the force with which Boris put behind the blow caused it to shoot up quicker than he expected.

Boris growled in effort as his fist came up, but just as he thought he had made contact, Zdenek moved his chin out of the way. Boris' fist boomed past Zdenek's face, but the wind that came with the blow caught Zdenek on the face, causing him to do a backflip, flipping over and landing deftly on his feet, as he opened his fists, causing his palms to face the ground and pulsed some flames out of them to provide thrust. To Boris though, this was a victory as he had actually caused Zdenek some damage, in his eyes at least. He pumped his fists together and looked at Zdenek who only had a look of disappointment and scorn on his face. He shook his head and sighed, as he relaxed his shoulders and loosened up. This only served to anger Boris even more.

"Y-You bastard; are you still looking down on me you motherfucker?!" Boris screamed, his rage only increasing and getting worse.

This only made Zdenek shake his head in even more disapproval, and sigh again. Just as Zdenek was about to spring from where he was and attack, he found himself restraining himself as Boris was already en route, and closing in with ferocious speed. As a flame charged straight right flew toward Zdenek, he just slightly shifted his head and watched as the giant fist flew past his head. He then leapt off his toes and closed the space between himself and Boris with the aim of striking him, until he saw Boris' left hand doing the same thing it did before. Zdenek opened his right hand, quickly pushing it towards Boris' fist and deftly parried the blow away, in doing so; twisting his own body and creating momentum which made him spin around. His left arm suddenly extended and with the continued motion of his spinning, came into contact with Boris' lower back upon the completion of his revolution.

"Corruption Blast..." this was said in what seemed like the faintest of voices, yet oddly enough, everybody heard it clear as day as suddenly, Zdenek's hand started glowing purple.

'S-Shit!' Boris thought to himself. 'If I take this Corruption Blast from this close with no protection, I'm fucked!'

Boris tried turning around to at least cause some of the damage to be spread across his back or something, but as he turned, he only saw the glow increase and the cold, emotionless look in Zdenek's eyes. It looked as though he didn't care what happened next, as though if this attack were to kill Boris, it wouldn't matter to him in the slightest. The glow only got brighter and brighter and Boris let out a yell of distress as he thought about what the after effects of this blast would be, when suddenly, to his and everybody else's astonishment, the glow suddenly stopped, Zdenek removed his hand and took a small leap back, landing softly on the floor and assuming his usual stance of having his feet together and his hands opened and lowered at his sides.

"W-What the... what just happened?" Amy said to nobody in particular. She looked at Erykah who also seemed to be wracking her brains as to what the cause of Zdenek doing that was.

"I really don't know Amy... He had orchestrated that situation so smoothly and it looked as though it was going to be a sure win... Anyway, let's just see what happens next..."

Amy nodded and looked back the pair who were fighting as Boris had turned around by now and looked at Zdenek.

"W-Why did you do that?" He asked in a tone of voice that just dripped with confusion.

Zdenek stood silently for a while, just looking as Boris and almost giving him time to figure it out himself, but after a while, he spoke.

"You still haven't noticed it?" he asked, his voices no longer smug.

"Noticed what?" Boris asked with a slight shake of his head, which caused Zdenek to sigh and start moving forward.

"Well, it's only been the first attempt I guess, so it can't be helped..."

"What can't be helped?!" Boris asked with more urgency in his voice.

However, he got no reply, only an attack, and his arms went up into the peek-a-boo style that they were so accustomed to being in. This caused Zdenek to smile as he darted across the space towards Boris and he suddenly disappeared from almost everybody's sight. Boris' eyes bulged slightly because of this sudden increase in speed, but he quickly composed himself and closed him eyes. Suddenly, he charged his flames and started bobbing and weaving, getting into a sort of rhythm and before long, everybody started noticing small flames flicking off the sides, going in the opposite direction of Boris' weaving. As he bobbed and weaved to the right, the flames would splinter off and flicker to the left. Suddenly, Zdenek reappeared right in front of Boris, throwing straights like crazy, and such a speed that his arms were almost invisible. The weird thing was, it was apparent to everybody in the room that Zdenek's arms were moving far quicker than Boris was weaving, yet for some reason, he just couldn't make solid contact with him, or even land a glancing blow. Suddenly, Boris dipped really low towards the right, and as he came up, thrust his right arm up in a short uppercut, flames swirling from his fist which made Zdenek jump back. As the arm punched up through the air, Zdenek suddenly snapped his fingers.

"Corruption Blast..."

Suddenly, a massive ball of corruption flames made its way towards Boris rapidly. Without even missing a beat, Boris' arm was back in front of him and he just pumped even more flames, completely focusing all the flames he could muster on his forearms. As the ball clashed with the flame barrier, the light show in the room suddenly became beautiful as deep purple clashed with bright orange, illuminating the room once more. The dual between the two sets of flames was intense, and suddenly, everybody heard Boris let out a roar as his flames pulsed even more, causing the Corruption Blast to suddenly start to crack down the middle, and eventually explode; the resulting flash of light making everything go white for a few seconds, and making everybody bar the two who were fighting to shield their eyes. Once the lighting in the room went back to normal, everybody focused back on the pair to see Boris hunched over slightly, breathing in heavily through his mouth and his arms appearing to have slight burns on them. Zdenek was just standing perfectly still as he watched Boris intently.

"So... have you noticed it yet?" Zdenek asked.

Boris, who was still trying to catch his breath, looked up at Zdenek as his arms dropped to his sides.

"If you're referring to the obvious gap between your strength and mine, then of course I've noticed it—"

"That's not what I'm referring to Boris!" Zdenek said, cutting Boris off.

Boris stood, looking slightly annoyed at the fact that he had absolutely no idea what Zdenek was talking about. Suddenly, a female voice was heard from the side, which caused both men to look to their left.

"Defense..." Erykah stated as she figured it out.

"What do you mean Erykah?" Boris asked, wondering if she even knew what she was talking about.

"Your defense is your greatest weapon Boris; that's what Zdenek has been trying to point out."

Boris' eyes suddenly widened as he finally realized just what it was Zdenek had been going on about.

"During this entire fight, you had the most success when you fought off the back foot; with an almost perfect guard that allowed no blows to come through, and your anticipation as well as countering abilities. You were completely dominating the fight before, and that's because you have amazing defensive capabilities."

Boris just stood there, looking dumbfounded as he listened, but gradually his expression changed to one of understanding.

"H-Hold on Rica, I wouldn't say he "dominated" the fight per se—"

"You're right Erykah, I was dominating... and that domination came to an end not only when Zdenek drew out more power, but when I lost my head due to his taunting, and my own lack of composure..."

"No, like I was saying before, he wasn't dominating—"

"Exactly, and that's why he was looking at you like that, because you broke away from what made you such a formidable opponent in the first place."

'These people aren't listening to me...' Zdenek thought to himself as he sighed. He looked over at Boris as he started to pump his flames once again, his hair and what was left of his coat fluttering gently.

"Boris..."

Boris looked over at Zdenek as his eyes widened slightly before focusing once again.

"Zdenek..." he replied, a serious and resolved look in his eyes.

"If you are able to draw out any more power, now would be the time..." Zdenek said; his voices now full of seriousness.

"Oh? And just why is that Zdenek?" Boris asked in an equally serious voice.

"Because I'm about to finish this, and would prefer it if you didn't die..." as Zdenek said this, the Corruption flames suddenly burst, and the entire room started to shake.

Erykah and the rest of them suddenly felt immense pressure on the bodies, and it was almost as if they were about to collapse or something. Boris just brought his arms up slowly, and pressed them together in his peek-a-boo style once more, and began charging his own flames.

"Thanks for the concern, but it isn't needed." Boris said from behind his guard. "You are at 40%, so I must remain true to my pride as an Alpha and do the same. Not only will I not die, but I shall win this fight, so don't hold back..."

Zdenek looked at Boris in silence, closing his eyes and nodded slowly.

"Very well Alpha..." Zdenek said respectfully, as his strength grew even more, as he ceased holding back; now well and truly fighting using the full 40%.

That feeling of pressure and weight on the bodies of everybody began to increase, as Zdenek seemed to be charging his power and then all of a sudden, it all stopped. The shaking, the pressure, the charging, it all came to a halt, as Zdenek slowly opened his eyes and looked at Boris.

"Corruption Combination Number One..." suddenly, Zdenek disappeared.

Moving at a speed that absolutely nobody could keep up with, Zdenek completely disappeared from sight. Boris, in response pumped his flames as much as he could, but he was severely weakened from having defended against that Corruption Blast from earlier. Just as he had pumped as much as he could, he suddenly felt both his forearms get slashed by two blades. The same thing then happened to his shins, and before he knew it, his arms had dropped, leaving his torso exposed. Then, the blades went to work on his torso, slashing away at his chest and stomach like crazy, with his clothes being ripped to shreds. Each time Boris blinked, more blood would pour out, and soon, what appeared to be a tidal wave of red was making its way towards the floor. Suddenly, there was just the briefest of lulls, and Boris could sense the deathblow coming, so with what little strength he had left, he charged his flames and distributed them across his tire body, completely enveloping himself in them. That turned out to be the best move he could have made as he suddenly get a stiff kick to his gut, causing him to double over and begin to puke. Next thing, he heard the distinctive voices.

"...Laceration!"

And with that, a heel crashed into the back of his skull, causing his face to shoot on towards the reinforced concrete floor. It took less than a second for his face to not only make contact with the floor, but also crash through it completely, and soon afterwards, his entire body followed suit. As he crashed through the ceiling of the first floor of Temperance, his body twisted as glass and wood and blood all fell with him. He was twisting through the air as he fell and crashed right into the dance floor that was in the middle of the club. As it turned out, he fell onto his back, and was then showered with blood, glass, and whatever else was falling with him. Zdenek just landed deftly on the floor next to the giant Boris sized hole in the floor and let out a sigh of exertion. He looked up and closed his eyes, as he started powering down. The process didn't happen as quickly as one might have thought, as everything that had grown out over his skin had to go back in. Everybody was too stunned to notice the copious amount of blood that was not only all over Zdenek's hands, but was also dripping from his claws. They all stood with their eyes wide open, and their mouths gaping. Zdenek looked over at them once he had opened his eyes and his horns had gone back into his forehead, and slowly started walking towards the group as the fur started to disappear, and then the tail. Since the blood was on the fur, it disappeared with it, and his hands and feet went back to their normal size. He finally stood in front of the group, which was still stunned as hell.