The Lightning Flash

Chapter 32: Kirito vs. POH

Bzzzzt!  Bzzzzzzzt!  Bzzzzzzzzzzzzt!

The sound of photon energy weapons slashing into each other could be heard throughout the desolate wasteland that was part of the map for the third round of the Bullet of Bullets as a sandstorm approached, ever so slightly as well. In the midst of this wasteland, bright flashes of green and red could be seen, almost like some kind of Christmas spectacle.  This wasn't just a typical fight between two players, hoping to win the Bullet of Bullet of tournament.  It was a fight with so much more meaning behind it.  A fight where emotions ran high.  A fight that was so ferocious, that it could have been mistaken as a battle to the death. 

*

*

*

My green photon saber clashed with POH's red photon machete and I could feel the heat coming off of the weapon that was mere inches from the bottom of my chin.  The red light from the weapon shone on my face while the green light from mine shone on his. 

"You're just as tough as I was hoping for, Black Swordsman," praised, POH, smiling. 

"That praise doesn't mean shit coming from you," I insulted, causing POH to scowl, angrily. 
Using his advantage in both height and strength, he pushed me back with a force that I wasn't expecting and I summersaulted backwards onto the sandy ground below me.  In the corner of my eyes, I could see the sandstorm getting closer and closer to us.  I figured it would be right on top of us within 5 minutes.  I couldn't help but wonder if POH had a plan for dealing with the sandstorm or if he just didn't give a shit if it killed him, as long as I was killed, along with him? Before I could think any further about it, a knee strike met my jaw and sent me flying backwards, again, this time, landing on my back.  I felt a numb sensation from where the blow landed but I ignored it because POH had jumped into the air and was thrusting his red photon machete, downward, with murderous intent.  I rolled to the right and the red photon machete dug deep into the sandy terrain, instead of my stomach which was its intended target.  POH ripped the photon machete out of the ground and did something I didn't expect.  He threw his weapon, directly, at me and it spun like some kind of frisbee, ready to decapitate me.  Luckily, I blocked the weapon with my own and, at most, it just pushed me back a few inches but this was just a distraction.  While I was focused on the red photon machete, POH had snuck to the right of me with his usual sinister smile returned to his face.  He socked me in the mouth with his right hand, causing me to stumble in the opposite direction and allowing his photon machete to slice the right side of my chest.  I, foolishly, checked my health to see how much I had left and saw that it was still at 80% but POH made me pay for taking my eyes off of him.

Whack!  Crack!  Bam! 

Three consecutive strikes landed on me.  The first was a brutal uppercut.  The second was an elbow to the jaw and the third was a nasty punch right to my stomach, dropping me to my knees.  POH grabbed me by the black tailcoat I was wearing and punched me three more times in the face with his left fist, before finishing me off with a nasty head butt.  Still, though, he didn't release his grip on my black tailcoat, almost like he planned on never letting go until my HP had dropped to zero.  I refused to just let that happen, though.  I kneed POH in the gut, causing him to, slightly, release his grip on my black tailcoat and then followed this up with a vertical slash of my green photon saber which managed to make contact with the right side of his face, drawing blood and taking a large chunk of his HP with it.  POH hopped backwards, creating distance between the two of us.  Most normal people would have been bothered or angered by the fact that their face had been cut but, of course, POH was the furthest thing from normal.  As creepy as it sounded, it looked like the bastard was enjoying the fact that I had drawn blood.  With his tongue, he licked the blood that was covering his face on the right side and his smile grew even wider.