Rise Of A Hero

Chapter 29

Ash's POV:

Red just charged at me, and the second his fist connected with my chest, sending me a few steps back, finding it difficult to breathe, but that moment was more than enough for him to smash his knee to my abdomen, and his fist to my chest once more, forcing me towards the other side of the arena, and I hit my head on the wall rather hard.

Three hits...three...simple...hits. That was all it took for Red to drive me into a state of concussion, and I could make out a blurred form of the powerful brute walking towards me slowly.

"Not much on the fists, son?", he asked me, but I was too dizzy to give him an answer. I braced myself for more hits, and possibly death, but he didn't raise a finger on me. He just chuckled at my downed form.

"Irrespective of  whether I kill you, or leave you, I am going to die, or I'm going to jail. I'm going with the former option - I'm going to kill you, and it wouldn't take more than three days for your mother to come and slit my neck", he told me sitting cross legged in front of me, and slowly, my vision improved.

"Want some water?", he asked me, but I couldn't comprehend whether he was genuinely asking me, or if he was sarcastic.

I was skeptical of the man who was trying to kill me 30 seconds back, but was now behaving like my best friend.

"No, thanks", I told him and got up back on my feet, and he whistled slowly.

"I'm impressed, son. I thought you'd give up after those three hits", he told me and charged at me once more. But this time, I sidestepped his fist. Unfortunately, I didn't see that he was simultaneously able to move his right foot to the side, and tripped me.

A second later, he jumped and dropkicked me on my back sending me skidding down on my knees.

"I've been doing this ever since I was eight. You don't stand a chance against me, young man", he taunted before charging once more and was about to jump on my back, in an attempt to rip my spine into two parts, but I rolled out of the way, a millisecond before impact, and sighed in relief, which was a tad bit early of a celebration, as the very next second, he pummeled me by his fists once again.

I was bleeding heavily, I wasn't able to feel my right leg, my knees were literally Jello, and to make matters worse, I still had the double vision problem.

"I thought you'd give me a better challenge. You haven't inherited anything except for my looks", he scoffed and I stood up yet again.

"Standing up again and again, doesn't make you a hero, young man. A wise person is one who accepts defeat with honour. You are not worthy of my time", he scoffed and walked away, while I was standing hopelessly at the other side, yelling out in disappointment and anger at myself.

"Lysandre would be a better alternative, don't you think?", he asked me with a smirk, and suddenly, the orange haired devil came out breathing in deeply.

"The first breath when you step out of prison. It's....a new feeling, Ketchum", he told me, and Red just walked back shaking his head.

"Always the same old behaviour, Monferno face", he mocked Lysandre and began to walk out of the room chuckling to himself, while Lysandre just smirked.

"You're a disappointment, Ash. You're a mistake", he spat before walking out with a huff.

"Get yourself armed, kid. It's been a while since I've had a good challenge, and if you've taken down your sister single handedly, you'd be a good challenge", he told me throwing out a Pyroar.

"Not your usual battle, kid. I'm gonna cut down on the chase. I'm just the distraction. Red is somewhere else preparing his escape, and he'll come back when he's got the resources to stand up on his own legs once again. Don't bother trying to inform your friends. There is a jammer here, and obviously, you have no sorts of external communication", he told me a sickly sweet smile and I sighed in defeat.