The Matters of Power

Chapter 68- The Fate of Marcus Fernandino [END]

I don't know if I'm hallucinating or not, but I can sense my friends talking near me, carrying me over their shoulders and taking me towards the elevator that I always saw Mr. Corvanez come from. I can't even be sure if it's actually them or a figment of my imagination because of the stuff the old man injects me with, but my mind is slowly processing reality and I'll know for sure whether or not I'm hallucinating. I look ahead and see the elevator being opened, and I see Pot standing inside and with a menacing look on his face even with his sunglasses on. I'm not sure why, but my fight-or-flight instincts kicked in and my consciousness has never been clearer. "I should have known that something fishy was up." Pot takes a step off from the elevator and stares us down. "I didn't think much about it, I thought it was either your way of coping with not having your father being around so much or you were trying to be useful in some way to the company. Fat load of good that did, I see that the entrance was opened and who do I find when I get here? All of you! And dragging along Marcus of all people!" I hear a shattering sound coming from behind us, so I take a glance behind me, and I'm surprised to see Mr. Corvanez and Guadaro fighting each other in an intense fistfight! "Portleo, step aside. I know you are involved in dad's business in all this, but we're taking Marcus out of this place." 

He immediately shakes his head, "No can do. Even though you are his daughter, I answer to him, not you, and I'm not about to get on his bad side by letting the guy he's been training leave here." "Screw that!" Fernando loses his temper, "Why should you care about that at all? You're just going to keep Marcus here just because your boss told you to even though it's wrong? You're scum! The worst bully I've ever met!" Something must have triggered Pot, because he slaps him so hard he drops to the ground and so quickly that we barely have time to react. "A bully? Kid, you're talking out of your ass right now. You think morals mean anything in this world? You go with that mindset and you're gonna get eaten alive by the sharks out there, where strength only matters and the strong prosper. You think I got here on morals?!" He looks ready to pop a blood vessel in his forehead, but he composes himself and looks at us with murderous intent. "Y'all made a mistake coming here. Fight all you want, I'll make sure you regret every second you spent. Also," he looks at Julieta, "don't think you're gonna get off this scot-free. I'm sure master is gonna punish you after all this is over." After he says that, he suddenly lunges towards Quarter and collides with him.

"Sonofa-" He's caught off-guard but manages to stand firm and even pushes Pot back. "Marcus! Get up, hurry! We need your help here!" I come back to reality and quickly get up just as Carl gets ready to fight Pot with us. "Fernando, stay back! Keep close to Julieta and Payton!" "Like hell I will, I'm helping you too-" "No!!" I shout with such volume that it even surprises me. "You can't face him, you'll get beaten to a pulp-" I just manage to block a kick to the face as I warn Fernando. "Hey, Marcus! Pay attention, I want to have some fun!" Portleo, this psycho, he's gonna go all out on the three of us so we need to be on our A-game! We're up against someone that I know can handle the three of us by himself, and we still have to be careful not to get hit in the crossfire between Mr. Corvanez and Quadaro. So much of it goes by in a blur, we do our best to inflict as much damage as possible to Pot using our teamwork: combined strikes in various parts, assisting each other when one is being targeted, and even managing to get a few strong hits to his head that surely causes damage. Even after all that, he still manages to keep going as if it were just a scratch and his attacks keep getting faster and stronger. Pot targets me with a barrage of kicks and I can only block them as they bash my arms and shoulders, but luckily Carl makes a save and grabs a hold of one of his legs, giving me enough time to recover and counter with a powerful dropkick. Yet he didn't stagger not one bit, and kicks Carl away and tries to punch my face while I'm still on the ground, but I avoid a brutal surgery by rolling aside and see that the floor tile was cracked in pieces.