There was a short silence as the two stood before each other.
The only sound that could be heard was the bellowing of smoke and the humming of Blaze's portal.
Long turned to Bolt, who was watching the scene with her while still holding his daughter in his arms. Once Blaze flinched, her concentration went back to the scene.
However, once she turned, no one was there. Before she could even question why, she felt a shockwave coming from high up in the air. That's when she saw them.
High above her.
Fist to fist in a clash so powerful it sent shockwaves flying miles away. It only lasted a second though, as Zack needed to quintuple his weight to match Blaze's attack power. Once their fists separated, Blaze pulled his free arm back to create his flames. Zack predicted this and shrunk to the size of an ant, right out of Blaze's line of sight.
Making sure to keep his weight the same, he kicked the air and flew right at Blaze's chest, surprising him and sending him crashing to the ground.
"So this is it?" Bolt said, watching the battle unfold.
Long looked at him, confused. "What are you..."
"Have you ever heard of an awakening?" Bolt asked her with a smirk. She still stared at him in confusion. "When mumans are exposed to moments of great physical and mental turmoil, their bodies adapt to that situation accordingly. Whether it's a long drawn out battle or a natural disaster, mumans gain many adaptations to beat the odds and come out on top."
"So that's what we're seeing with this muman?" Long asked.
"Judging by his reactions, these are new abilities he's learning to use in conjunction with his old ones. If Blaze keeps this up, that guy has a chance of surpassing him."
Long snorted.
"Something the matter, girl?" Bolt asked.
"I assure you, old man, Blaze won't give him that chance," she said, smiling and focusing on the fight.
"That remains to be seen. Right now, this boy might make or break it for Blaze and his involvement in my plans."
"What the hell does that mean?!"
"As I said, that remains to be seen."
Still mid-air, Zack grew back to his normal size and kicked the air behind him again, launching himself right at Blaze. Blaze laughed and spawned flames around his arms. He then sent a plethora of them flying at Zack with top speed.
Zack was able to react to them though, kicking the air to launch himself away from any fireballs that got too close.
Once he dodged them all, he focused his attention back on Blaze, launching himself towards him. Blaze, surprised his barrage didn't work, decided to pull out the big guns.
He created a small blue flame, the same one that took down Amazo, and fired it at him.
Zack was just a second away from being hit, but luckily he shrunk the left side of his body fast enough to avoid it completely.
Blaze was too busy gasping at Zack's feat to notice him appear a few inches away, charging another punch. He quickly got his composure back and sent the blue flames towards Zack.
Zack was quick to notice and changed tactics immediately by kicking the air right in front of Blaze's face, sending him flying away from it and the impact of that fireball.
Zack landed only a few meters away once the fireball hit Blaze in the face, causing a giant blue explosion. Long screamed for her brother and took a step, but Bolt stopped her with a look.
"How dare you look at me like that!" she shouted. "I'm going to kill that fucker and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"
"Really?" Bolt said, smirking. "Is that what your brother would want?"
"You don't know my brother! Stop pretending you do, you old sack of shit!"
"That's enough, Long!"
She turned to the sound of Blaze's voice.
There he stood, emerging from the smoke of his own flames. He was covered in scuff marks, but it was clear they didn't do any real damage to him.
"I'm fine. No need to insult the man who gave me this power," he said with a smile.
"But that attack, it..."
"Did little to no damage. Do you take me for such a weakling that I'd be affected by my own attack?" Blaze asked.
Long kept her mouth shut there. With no further response, she took a step back and looked away from them all.
"Now, where were we?" Blaze asked, turning to Zack.
"I was in the middle of kicking your ass," Zack said plainly, preparing another battle stance.
Blaze chuckled.
"Nice one. You've earned it. I no longer see you as inferior," Blaze responded, preparing a battle stance of his own. "Bolt said something about mumans being the ultimate test for humanity. I see it now. Human innovation vs muman genetics, whether it's magic or science, I've obtained the means to pass this test, and I will not fail."
Zack dropped his stance, and everyone could see why.
"Test? Test?! You actually believe that crap? Humans, mumans, it doesn't matter! We're all people! We're all living things! Not tests for some madman to pass!"
"You say that now, but..."
"Shut up!
"Make me."
Zack screamed and launched himself at Blaze faster than he did before, arriving just a few inches from him in less than a moment.
Blaze prepared both fists with his blue flames and struck Zack where his face was, but Zack was quick enough to shrink again and dodge his attack. He propelled himself far from Blaze and launched backward at the same speed as before, keeping his weight the same.
Blaze predicted this though, and caught him in his flame-covered hands. Before Zack could even think of growing back, Blaze ignited those flames.
While he could take the damage, Zack couldn't.
At least, that's what he thought.
He opened his palm to see a small silhouette in the smoke. He brought his hand towards it to clear the smoke, only to be sent flying by a devastating blow from Zack.
Luckily, he composed himself before he could hit any debris.
Zack grew back to his regular size, and Blaze finally realized what had happened. Just like the fool that tried to grab and incinerate him, his body subconsciously made him immune to damage for a short time.
How was that possible?
So not only could he change his size and weight, but also his density as well. While he didn't know the specifics of how it worked, he knew an ability like that would cause too much trouble.
Just as Blaze cleared his thoughts, Zack was a few inches from him, charging up a weighted punch. Blaze raised his arms to block while covering them in blue flame, but it was ineffective.
Zack's punches landed and he was sent flying.
Once he hit some debris, he got his bearings and adjusted his body to land properly, only to see Zack in front of him again, charging another punch.
And once he kept flying further, he saw Zack fly to his location in seconds and hit him.
Then again.
And again.
And again.
Blaze fired another blue ball of flame, but it did nothing as Zack's body subconsciously adjusted his durability so he'd tank it. However, damaging Zack wasn't the intention.
It was to use the flames as a propulsion system to get away from him.
Blaze hit another pile of debris with a loud thud and prepared another blast. This one was more powerful than the last. Zack stopped flying, and once he was on the ground, he prepared a battle stance.
Focusing all his energy into this one ball of flame, Blaze turned it black.
Using magic to create black flames affected the user's stamina and endurance greatly, but it increased their attack power tenfold. Wyvern didn't care about the downsides as long as he had power.
Blaze did.
But that was before he knew he had this armor.
Not anymore.
He fired a beam of black flame at Zack with a speed never seen before from him. The Zack from a few days ago would've fallen victim to this attack without even realizing.
But this wasn't him.
Zack shrunk to the size of an egg and jumped off the floor, keeping his weight intact. Once he reached six meters high, he kicked the air towards Blaze's location. Blaze, quick to notice, shot the beam at him, but Zack kicked the air again and got propelled away from it.
Blaze then changed the direction of the blast again, but Zack dodged it easily.
Frustrated that he couldn't get a single hit in, Blaze let out a scream of agony and expanded the size of the beam, encompassing all the areas in front of him.
As he kept firing the beam, he felt a small voice in his ear telling him something. He wanted to turn and tell them it came later.
But then Blaze recognized the voice.
It squeaked like a mouse.
Immediately he turned his head to the side he felt a powerful uppercut collide with his jaw and send him flying again.
It was Zack.
Blaze couldn't even compose himself before Zack caught up to him and punched him back to the ground.
He couldn't get up to realize Zack was on him again once he hit the ground.
And he couldn't even notice the final blow Zack sent flying at his chest.
A blow so powerful, it obliterated his armor on impact.
Blaze knew that hit would've killed him if it weren't for that armor.
Now he doesn't have it anymore.
It was gone.
Reduced to nothing by the power of Zack's weighted fist.
He didn't even have any strength in him to fight after using those black flames. He had nothing now. No armor, no power, no men...
Nothing.
It was over. Zack had won.
To be continued...