"Hey... Is it just me, or is he getting faster?" Kurt asked with a frown as they watched Peter's onslaught. His limp yet powerful arms were slicing through the air at superhuman speeds, and while Osho was dodging them for now, the close calls were increasing, and his singlet had gotten grazed a few times, ripping it in several places.
'Just how loose are his joints?' Ellie thought with a frown. She imagined swinging her arms around like that, and she was certain she'd dislocate a few things on the second swing. Yet Peter was doing it without a care, and with such speed it was simply absurd.
"Come on! You can't dodge forever!" Peter yelled with a grin as he gave a particularly strong swing. Osho dodged, but not fully, resulting in a small cut on his cheek.
'Almost lost my eye.' He thought as he leaned in and tensed his muscles before throwing a punch.
At the same time, Peter swung his arm, and the two collided, creating a sound resembling that of a grenade going off, as the strength behind both their strikes was on another level.
The power seemed somewhat equal as both their arms were blown back. However, they weren't unscathed.
Peter laughed while Osho smiled a little. There was a bruise on the side of Peter's arm when Osho's fist had hit, while some skin had been shaved off from Osho's knuckles where he'd been hit by Peter.
"Hey, they're pretty even!" Sam exclaimed while lightly clapping, and the others shared the sentiment. However, Ellie was frowning a little.
'In all the times Osho and I have sparred, he's never shown such prowess. If he'd punched me like that at any point in time, dodging would have been my only option. Yet this kid matched it so easily despite being smaller.' Her lips curled as they started moving again.
'Just what kind of monsters are they?'
Peter suddenly performed a long yet powerful overhead swing that was too fast for Osho to dodge. He crouched and crossed his arms over his head, the impact reverberating through his body as more skin on his arms got flayed.
"Damn. He put his entire body into that one." Kurt cursed as he bit his fingernails.
"What kind of fight even is this? It makes me question their humanity..." Irene mumbled as Peter didn't let up.
Instead of letting Osho recover, he continued raining down hits on him in his crouched position, constantly striking his guard which made more and more blood to spray.
'I can keep going, Isaac! Come on. Show me more!' Peter thought with a wild look on his face.
'Don't just let me kill you. Come on. Get serious!' His arms swung faster and faster.
'Though, killing you wouldn't be so bad, since that would be one less person in the way. But I really want to see you struggle. Come on. Show me what made you so bold to walk away from the cult, to–' He paused and smiled to the point where it was creepy.
'Or maybe I should just cripple him. He'd make a nice pet. He is my sibling after all, keeping him around would be nice.' He thought as he swung again, and felt his arm halt.
'Huh?' His smile froze as he looked forward.
"Hey, I get you're excited and all, but... can you do something else?" Osho asked, sounding genuinely bored. The sides of his arms Peter had been assaulting relentlessly were lacking a disturbing amount of skin and oozing a lot of blood.
And yet, he was currently gripping Peter's arm in his hand.
Peter's breath hitched as he locked eyes with Osho, and there was a disturbing amount of detachment in them, like...
"I'm pretty over this." Osho continued.
Like he was beyond this entire situation.
Suddenly, he twisted Peter's arm, and his leg whipped out as it caught Oeter in the side of the head, throwing his entire body off balance.
"That makes no sense!"
The four spectators all exclaimed with shock as, while he was off balance, Osho tackled Peter to the floor.
"But Osho was barely hanging on just now... How did he turn things around so fast?" Ellie mumbled with disbelief.
"I... I saw it. Or heard it rather." Kurt gulped, earning him a few looks.
"Similar to a whip, when Peter swings his arms, the momentum builds until it reaches its maximum speed. When he did it, there was a distinct sound of his arms cutting through the air." He started, reminding the others that of their group, he probably had the best hearing of all of them.
"But Osho... He caught his arm before it could speed up. Just before the point of top speed." Kurt rubbed his nose. "His attacks are sharp, quick, and insanely heavy. Catching them at their top speed isn't happening, even more so due to his muscles. So Osho essentially sniped it before it could accelerate properly." He explained.
"Is that why it looked like he caught him faster?" Sam asked with surprise, and Kurt nodded.
"Your hearing never fails to impress me." Irene shook her head.
Meanwhile, Osho was still on top of Peter, holding his arms tightly as he stared down at his 'sibling' who looked genuinely stunned for the first time.
"Peter. You really enjoy using the Flare Style, which isn't bad, but. You can do a bit better, don't you think?" Osho asked with a raised brow. His tone wasn't mocking or disdainful. Instead, it was like he was chastising a younger one.
"You... You..." Peter stuttered. He didn't understand. What happened? How did Osho turn the tables and overwhelm him so fast?
"Or do you forget what 'Father' said?" Osho raised his brow, and Peter's eyes widened.
'F-Father?' His thoughts as a blurry memory appeared in his mind. He couldn't have been older than 5 then, and many things were still unclear. But he remembered the words from that moment as clear as day.
'The 9 of you are gathered... and your paths are clear.' Peter's eyes trembled. He couldn't remember a word he spoke to the others, but he could perfectly remember what was said to him.
'Peter, the 9th Star. The Rising Star. Your path is one of greatness. To reach for things you shouldn't be able to and to take them for yourself. You shall always be...' Peter's eyes widened.
Peter suddenly kicked himself from under Osho and created some distance. Quickly climbing to his feet, he stared at Osho and gritted his teeth. He stared in his eyes, and there it was. That same detachment from before.
'What's happening? I don't understand.' Peter panted as he put a hand to his head.
'Beyond. Beyond... Dammit!' He winced, it felt like his skull was getting crushed. Whether from Osho's kick or something else, he couldn't tell.
"There, better?" Osho also stood as he rolled his shoulders.
"You..." Peter clenched his jaw and rushed forward. He swung his arm, faster than he had this entire fight, and it seemed to reach Osho's face before he could even react.
However, as soon as it made contact, his body suddenly rotated, the momentum from the blow sliding off him as he spun and swung his arm out. It smashed into the back of Peter's head violently, making him stumble again.
'Whoa! That timing was perfect! He didn't even get grazed!' Ellie thought with surprise and elation. She panicked at that last attack, but-
"Huh, I thought I timed that perfectly. Guess I'm a bit rusty." Osho muttered as blood dripped from his nose, but he didn't seem like he cared too much.
"Regardless, you have more to show me, don't you, Peter?" Osho asked while tilting his head.
"Heh... Hehehe." A series of childlike, yet unnerving chuckles left Peter who was still leaning downwards slightly, his face not visible.
"I've been... going way too easy on you, Isaac." He spoke, his voice sounding slightly hoarse.
"Seems like... I've gotta try harder. If I don't actually try to kill you, then I'll lose." All of a sudden, he clenched his fists and brought his arms close to his body.
The others wondered what he was doing when they saw veins bulge on his arms almost unnaturally, and then, a series of sickening cracking sounds left them before they suddenly went limp, and when they did, Irene covered her mouth and almost averted her gaze.
Peter's already long arms had stretched even longer, to the point where it was obviously unnatural.
"D-Did he dislocate his arms on purpose?!" Kurt exclaimed with visible terror.
'That's... no, he's still clenching his fists. Maybe he can just stretch his joints to an unnatural degree. But... that's unnerving.' Ellie frowned. Fresh chapters posted on NoveI~Fire.net
"Flare Style: Corona." Peter stared at Osho, his smile returning, but looking far more fierce.
"This is my own perfected take on the Flare Style. I'm definitely gonna kill you this time, Isaac." Peter declared, and Osho tilted his head, then...
The faintest bit of interest appeared in his eyes.
Osho slowly leaned forward and entered a stance.
"Sounds good. You're pretty fun."