"Mr. Baldur, I'm going to town..." said Max as he adjusted the strap of his backpack over his shoulder. "I need to buy some tools to try to fix my old ship and some devices from my planet.
"Hmm... that doesn't sound like a bad idea," replied Baldur, raising an eyebrow with interest. It would be interesting to see some of the technology from your world... Do you need money to buy what you need?"
"Huh?" said Max, pausing for a moment at the door to turn and look at him, almost offended. "Don't treat me like a child, sir... I have my savings."
Baldur smiled slightly as he nodded, sitting at the entrance to the house.
"All right... but take care of yourself," he said calmly. "And look both ways when you cross the street. I don't want you ending up breaking other people's cars..."
"What do you take me for?" Max snorted as he resumed walking, raising a hand in farewell, almost amused....
Max walked down the sidewalk with a small cloth bag over his shoulder. Inside, a few simple tools jingled: a pair of wrenches and screwdrivers that had cost him a small fortune.
"If I had known the tools were so expensive, I would have taken Baldur's money..." he grumbled to himself, the vein in his forehead throbbing with anger. "Just a few wrenches and screwdrivers... Damn it!"
Suddenly, a loud noise stopped him in his tracks in the middle of the street. He looked around, confused, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. Before he could react, a screech of tires echoed behind him, followed by a brutal impact.
The vehicle rammed him head-on... but to the surprise of both of them, it was the front of the car that ended up wrecked, while Max remained standing, almost unscathed.
"Oh no! Are you okay?" the driver shouted desperately as he rushed out of the car, but when he saw that Max was still there, without a scratch, he immediately fell silent.
Max looked down at the car, sighed, and let out a slight curse.
"Damn it... Mr. Baldur is going to scold me for this..." he muttered as he frowned and raised his head to look at the terrified driver.
"Let's do something," said Max, approaching the man and raising a finger to emphasize the offer. I won't say anything... if you don't say anything.
The driver nodded quickly, almost on the verge of tears.
"Deal..." he replied in a whisper.
Max snorted, readjusted the tool bag on his shoulder, and continued on his way, as if nothing had happened.
After taking a few steps, a new crash tore through the air, causing Max to stop dead in his tracks.
"What the hell is going on now?" he growled to himself as he raised his head, alert.
All around him, the calm of the street turned to chaos. Several people were running in terror in the opposite direction to where Max was going. Without thinking, he managed to stop a woman who was rushing by, almost tripping over him.
"What's going on?" he asked firmly.
"They... they're killing each other!" she gasped, terrified. A huge man... and an old man with a machete...! They're destroying everything!"
Max let go of the woman, who continued to flee with the rest of the crowd. He frowned as he listened to her and, without thinking, clenched his fists.
"An old man with a machete...?" he muttered, confused.
Without thinking twice, Max threw his bag onto the roof of a house and began running toward the chaos, dodging the terrified people fleeing in all directions.
As he approached, he could hear the deep, nervous voice of the huge man stumbling backward.
"Damn old man! Stop chasing me!" he roared, his voice breaking slightly.
The old man, machete in hand and a sharp smile on his face, didn't budge an inch.
"Don't run away, beast..." he snapped, waving the blade in an almost playful motion. I want to see what the big gorilla is capable of... the supposed killer of dojos.
"It's Big Gorgo! Not Big Gorilla!" replied the giant, taking another step back, almost tripping over a lamppost. "You racist old man!"
The old man let out a slight chuckle as he raised his weapon and the streetlight reflected off its blade.
"Call yourself whatever you want... to me, you're nothing but a scared brute."
"If you didn't have that machete... you'd be nothing but ashes in an urn!" Gorgo bellowed, grabbing a trash can and throwing it at the old man.
With almost supernatural speed, Kawaki shattered the container into a thousand pieces with a perfect cut. Plastic and debris flew everywhere, but the old man didn't even blink.
Just then, Max arrived at the street where the confrontation was taking place. When he saw the armed old man, he recognized him instantly.
"Old man Kawaki...?" he muttered, approaching the veteran and taking up a guard position. "Greetings, Mr. Kawaki. What's the situation here?"
"Oh... Baldur's pupil," replied the old man, raising an eyebrow and lifting his machete slightly in greeting. How have you been, Max?"
Gorgo wrinkled his nose when he saw Max standing next to the old man.
"Baldur's protégé?" he repeated disdainfully, leaning in to get a better look at him. "This brat isn't even fifteen years old and... he's standing in front of me? Wait a minute..." He narrowed his eyes as he remembered.
He put his hand to his chin, thoughtful, as Do'cientos' last words echoed in his memory:
"My men are having problems with an old man and his lands... Can you believe that a fifteen-year-old boy beat them all effortlessly?
"That's... impressive," Gorgo replied at the time.
"Not for us..." Do'cientos replied coldly. I'll leave you now. I have to take care of this matter."
Gorgo raised his head abruptly, his eyes widening as he put the pieces together.
"Now I remember!" he exclaimed, raising an accusing finger. "This is the brat Do'cientos mentioned!"
He nervously licked his lips, sensing Kawaki's gaze and Max's calm stance, and backed away slightly.
"I should kill him..." he growled to himself, lowering his voice. "No... I can't. The old man is his friend, and he won't let me touch him so easily..."
Gorgo tensed his muscles as he studied them both, calculating every move before launching into the next assault.
"Mr. Kawaki," Max said calmly, stepping forward, "I'm surprised you've kept a man of this magnitude at bay... but now, allow me to take care of it."
The request surprised both Kawaki and Gorgo...
"Is he underestimating me?" Kawaki thought, raising an eyebrow.
"BINGO," Gorgo smiled to himself, licking his lips at the thought of facing the boy.
Kawaki paused for a second as he studied the boy in front of him.
"As far as I remember," he said, almost to himself, "Baldur didn't reopen the Water School... but it's also true that this boy was training on his own..." He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully before nodding slightly. "Fine. I'll let you face him. But if the situation gets out of hand, I'll intervene immediately.
Kawaki took a step back, raising his machete to his shoulder and staring at Gorgo.
"Let's see what you're hiding, Max's pupil."
"Hahaha... come on, brat," Gorgo taunted, raising his fists, "show me what you can do!"
But before he could finish his sentence, Max's knee slammed into his jaw. Gorgo's huge body stumbled backward in surprise, only to receive another blow that knocked him to the ground.
Without wasting any time, Max raised his leg and stomped down with all his might, splintering the asphalt as he hit it. Gorgo managed to roll to the side to dodge the impact, feeling the shockwave ripple through the street.
He jumped to his feet, dazed, and when he looked up, he saw a crooked smile and a bright, almost amused look on Max's face.
"I saw your face on the news," Max said calmly, almost savoring each word. I've been looking forward to facing someone interesting...
He leaned forward, raising his fists, a slight aura of determination surrounding him.
"So you kill people with punches?" he added, almost in a threatening whisper. "Perfect... Let me return the favor."
"Is this brat... crazy?" Gorgo muttered, terrified, staggering after receiving the last blow. "Where the hell did he come from?!"
He ran his hand over his jaw, incredulous. If he were fully capable of feeling pain, he would have fallen to the ground screaming.
"His punches... are like getting hit in the face with a metal pipe..."
Before he could react, Max dug his fingers into the cracked asphalt, tore off a large chunk of the street, and threw it at Gorgo. The impact hit him squarely, slamming him to the ground and burying him in a cloud of dust and debris.
Gorgo raised his head, his vision blurred, his head about to explode.
"Now I understand..." he thought, as every muscle in his body cried out for a break, "why grown men couldn't handle a fifteen-year-old brat... the brat is NOT normal."
He tried to stand up, stumbling, and when he succeeded, he didn't think about fighting again. He started running away, dragging half his weight down the street.
Kawaki, motionless, followed Max's every move with a mixture of amazement and admiration. The old warrior could only accept the reality before him:
That boy, only fifteen years old, was much stronger than he was.
"Don't run away..." Max ordered, catching up to him in the blink of an eye.
Gorgo clenched his teeth as a burning heat coursed through every fiber of his body.
"His strength surpasses mine... but only for now," he muttered to himself, feeling the internal burning begin to transform his muscles. "I must buy time for the serum to take effect... I can feel myself losing fat and gaining muscle."
The burning sensation suddenly subsided, and an almost maniacal smile lit up Gorgo's face. He sensed Max behind him, about to deliver a blow that could break his spine.
"Now!" he roared, raising his fist and striking with all his might.
The impact shook the ground, instantly cracking it and raising a cloud of dust around them both.
Gorgo let out a victorious laugh... but it died when he saw that his fist had not reached Max's spine. The boy stopped him in his tracks with his forearm, without a scratch, and to top it all off, his other fist was millimeters away from smashing his face.
Gorgo crashed into the wall of a building, raising a cloud of debris as he landed. Ignoring the pain, he let out a roar and, as he got up, punched a parked car, sending it flying through the air toward Max.
The boy didn't hesitate: he planted his feet and punched the car back, as if he were batting a ball. Gorgo, elated, let out a wild laugh as he caught it and hit it again to send it back to Max.
"I've become so strong that I can move cars with my fists..." he analyzed with an almost deranged smile.
But before he could strike the vehicle a third time, Max let out an irritated snort.
"How annoying..." he muttered as he extended his palm. A flash of Ki shot out of it, hitting the car in midair, blowing it to smithereens and sending Gorgo flying several meters backward.
The giant landed on his back, crawling across the asphalt in amazement as Max calmly lowered his hand and stared at him, as if he were about to end the encounter.
"The brat... he's not only strong... he has supernatural powers..." Gorgo muttered as he crawled across the asphalt. His bruised body showed burns, cuts, and blood mixed with dust and sweat.
<< The burning sensation ran through his body again, as if he were burning from the inside. The serum worked tirelessly, trying to repair the damage and strengthen him once more. However, Gorgo had already understood: there was a huge gap between him and Max. >>
"I must escape..." he whispered, managing to stand up, unsteady, ready to run as fast as he could.
But then a figure stood in front of him.
"Where do you think you're going?" asked Kawaki, his gaze fixed and his machete raised in defense.
Kawaki's mistake was obvious: trying to stop an opponent who, through brute force, could match the pressure of a chemical explosion.
Gorgo, blinded by desperation, threw a punch directly at the old man. The machete blocked the blow, but the power was devastating. The blade split in two, and Kawaki was thrown like a doll, crashing into a parked car, which creaked under the weight of the impact.
Max stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Kawaki's condition, wounded and weak, coughing with difficulty. His fury grew even more, ready to finish off Gorgo, but the old man's coughing made him stop. Kawaki had suffered too much damage.
He stood at a crossroads, torn between two paths:
On one side, Gorgo fled desperately, disappearing into the shadows of the empty streets, while police sirens began to sound in the distance.
On the other, Kawaki lay in agony, clinging to life amid the silence and urgency.
"Shit!" Max shouted angrily.
Without hesitation, he ran to Kawaki, quickly picked him up, and took a powerful leap, as if flying, across the streets to get to the hospital as quickly as possible.
<< Had it not been for the interruption of the machete-edged blow, old Kawaki would have died in his second encounter with Gorgo. >>
Meanwhile, Gorgo managed to escape and take refuge in an abandoned building. Although he felt no pain from his wounds, he knew he had to wait and recover before returning to the streets.
He picked up his phone to call Do'cientos, but the device was smashed, shattered in the fight.
He had only one option left: rest and heal in silence.