Slow and Speedy Win the Fight

99. End a Fight

Haresa

There was something strange about the air tonight. Maybe it was because I just got home from the dance but something didn't sit right with me. There was far too much energy in it. Like there was a live wire. I didn't think much of it and chalked it up to it being one of Dad's projects. That was until I heard the screaming.

"Come out, speedy. Fight me!"

"What the heck Sheldon, do you know how late it is?" I checked the time. It was five minutes till midnight.

Sheldon stood outside in full glory. His clothes were wrinkled and his hair was wild as he stood on the lawn with his hands balled into fists.

"I don't care. Just fight me."

"Sheldon, just come inside and get to bed."

"Not until you fight me."

I bristled. Why was he so insistent on fighting at this hour? Why was he insistent about fighting me?

There was something strange about his stance and his eyes were red. Did he do something he wasn't supposed to be doing before he got home?

"Sheldon, do you want to just talk things out—"

"Are you trying to worm out of a fight because you're scared that you'll lose again?" Sheldon scoffed. His chin was pointed upwards and I could tell he was trying to put up a front.

"Is this what you really want to do?"

"Ohhh, are you just trying to imply that you're better than me?" Sheldon raised his hands in the air and looked around in disbelief like there was an invisible crowd watching. "Look at this! The hero is always on the high ground. They're always going to spend every breathing second to save civilians and pedestrians and will never stoop to the level of a lesser—"

I moved away from the window and began to rummage through my room for my jacket.

"—morally corrupt—"

I threw my jacket on before going back to the window.

"—EVIL—"

I threw the window open.

"—VILLAIN."

My front lawn took a hit from my powers as I launched myself from my window and landed directly in front of Sheldon.

The scowl I was trying to hold back was now evident on my face and I flared my nostrils. "You want a fight? Then you're getting a fight!"

He leaned back, his chest facing upwards towards the sky and he let out a manic laugh. After a few seconds of his emotional release, he straightened his back to look me in the eye.

"I want you to give me your all. Like when we were kids and thought we had real stakes. Not performing for the cameras, not acting like we have a sponsor on the line, not being careful to hurt any civilians. It's just me and you, giving it our all."

I hesitated. "That's dangerous—"

He grinned. "Scared?"

"No—"

"Then stop talking."

I may be fast but his first move caught me off guard. He sent a rock flying in my direction and I didn't have enough time to process it before it benignly hit my cheek. My eyes scan his body and he's not wearing a single piece of tech. His clothes are dirty and wrinkled and I knew for a fact he didn't look like this when he left the dance earlier tonight.

Any and all anger I felt was now at a simmer. "How are you fighting me?"

"With my brain like I usually do." He rolled his sleeves up his arms. "Are you scared I'm going to win the fight again, hare?"

My hands had a tough time moving through my hair as I took a deep breath. "Fine. You want a fight? You're getting one."

In less than a second, my foot made contact. Instead of it being Sheldon's face, he had a partially formed forcefield on his arm. The momentum was enough to knock him to the ground and my eyes were narrowed in anger.

"Looks like someone didn't skip leg day." Sheldon proceeded to pick himself off the ground with a shaky laugh.

I take another step forward only to find one of my feet stuck to the ground. I looked down and saw one of his forcefields trapping my foot to the lawn.

His body shot upwards. He came at me with a fist and I shook my foot. The soil moved with every jiggle and after a few seconds of trying to be careful, I lost my patience and ripped out the ground. Dad was going to be pissed about this in the morning.

Sheldon's fist shot out toward me. I dodged. I countered by throwing another kick but I was thrown off balance from the forcefield on my other foot. He dodged my attack and it was my turn to have time on the ground.

He was about to attack and my hand shot out. I grabbed his ankle and yanked him. He fell flat on his back with a yell.

I thought he was going to lie there for some time. The fall was hard but it didn't faze him enough to stop fighting. He rolled onto his side immediately and tried to hit me again. My hand closed around his wrist and he attempted to hit me with his other arm. I caught it with my other hand and we ended up tumbling on the grass.

After wrestling for a few minutes, he somehow managed to straddle me with his wrists still locked in my grasp. Our faces were inches apart and he and I were both panting heavily. I could feel the grass begin to scratch the back of my neck and exhaustion roll over me in waves. My eyes scanned Sheldon and I didn't have a clear view of his face but I could see that his body was shaking with what I could only guess was anger.

"Are we done now?" I asked him in annoyance. "It's late and I'm tired and I know that Rudra was being a jerk but—"

A tear fell on my wrist. Slowly my arms were lowered as Sheldon's did and he unexpectedly sniffled.

My frustration quickly molded into concern and I sat up. "Sheldon? What happened?"

"I thought I was done fucking crying," Sheldon said. He seemed just as angry at himself as he was sad as he angrily wiped his face with a sleeve.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with crying." I tentatively rubbed a hand on his shoulder. "Better to get out all those feelings."

The moment I said that his head collapsed onto my shoulder and I steadied him by wrapping my arms around his body.

"I got you," I said. "You're not alone."

We stayed there for what felt like hours before we could even muster up the strength to go back into the house.