Chapter 14
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The two faced off against one another. Their faces showed signs of anger and their muscles were tense.

Uncle Rod seemed serious and ready to start brawling at any point. He didn't seem to care that his opponent was only twelve years old, he wouldn't be disrespected in such a manner.

Keros was just as serious. He believed that the situation was handled poorly, and nothing uncle Rod had said so far had changed his mind. He wasn't just going to let the matter go. Someone was being humiliated for trying to do what was right and help him. If fighting uncle Rod would be his consequences for standing up for that person, then so be it.

The tension built rapidly

"You think that just because you're my godson that you can influence the way I run my team? Don't be mistaken brat, family or not I won't be disrespected by anyone. I've been a Captain for years and I know far more about being a leader than a punk who hasn't even grown hair yet." Uncle Rod said with ridicule on his face

"This has nothing to do with you being my godfather. It's about what I believe to be right! I won't accept you humiliating Aiyanna for trying to help me! Maybe its time for an old dog to learn some new things if you think humiliating your subordinates is okay!" Keros replied with a mocking sneer.

Uncle Rods' eye twitched. Did this punk just call him a dog? and what was with calling him old? He wasn't old at all! Damn, this brat needs to be taught some respect! Originally he had been trying to see how far Keros would go for something he believed. He felt satisfied and was about to explain the situation, but he decided to release his frustrations instead. He could explain after.

"Come teach me then, brat!" Uncle Rod said as he took action

He stepped in and struck out with his fist.

Keros had anticipated that they might fight, so he had prepared himself. Even so, he could barely get his guard up in time. The fist struck his arms with incredible force, sending him tumbling backward as pain shot through his arms. He stopped himself from tumbling and immediately looked at uncle Rod, noticing he wasn't advancing but instead wore a condescending grin. Keros had some time to organize his thoughts.

'He didn't use qi.' Keros thought. He had read a bit of the book his father had left for him. He learned that internal energy was called Qi, and there were a few methods to sense when it was used. The most simple method was to notice the differences when struck by an attack. Unfortunately, this crappy method was the only one he could use right now.

'Of course, he would hold back, since he isn't trying to kill me.' regardless though, Keros knew he held back more than his Qi. Uncle Rods' strike was incredibly powerful, but there was no way that he was even close to his bodily limit. Even though that was the case, Keros knew that he would suffer greatly if he didn't concede here.

Uncle Rod was giving him a chance to back out. As long as Keros didn't retaliate, this could be solved with words.

Keros wouldn't take that chance. It had already escalated to this point and he wasn't going to be a coward. This would be the consequence of standing up for what he cared about, and he would take it like a man.

Keros looked down at his arms. They were still aching. He released the straps to his commlink and slid it away since he didn't want it to get damaged in the fight. He took his dress jacket off and unbuttoned the cuffs of his dress shirt before rolling his sleeves up. He took his stance and stared at uncle Rod. He was ready.

'This brat... Fine, let's see what you've got." Uncle Rod thought to himself before advancing quickly, closing the gap and throwing another punch.

Keros was ready for it and had a small grasp of the speed. it wasn't smart to keep taking these hits, if he did he would never get a chance to retaliate. In that case, he would dodge!

Keros stepped forward with his left leg and bent his knee, tilting his body forward a bit, shifting his upper body down and forward to duck the punch. He felt the punch graze his hair, it had been close! Now was his chance though!

He pushed off with his right leg, twisted his torso, and brought his fist up into uncle Rod's exposed chest. When his fist impacted he felt like he had punched a brick wall. It had been a good tactic and was executed beautifully, but his opponent was just too durable.

Keros felt a surge of pain in his stomach and a rising urge to vomit. He had just been struck in the stomach by a knee from uncle Rod, but his troubles were just beginning. Before he had time to process the knee he felt the arm that he had just dodged wrap around him. With a slight spin, Keros was tossed out and slammed into a nearby wall.

Keros knew he had to recover quickly. He had allowed the pain from being kneed stun him and that gave his opponent another attack. He couldn't make that mistake again. He scrunched his face and endured the pain coming from his body as he pushed himself off the ground and to his feet. An attack was already headed in his direction, but at least this time he would see it coming. He threw up a hasty guard and blocked the right kick aiming at his ribs.

once again he was sent tumbling with a sharp pain in his arm. He shot up to his feet using the momentum. This allowed him to get up quickly, but he still had to take the time to stop stumbling. Again by the time, he readied himself another attack was headed his way. However, this time he had been faster! He was slowly getting better at blocking these strikes and recovering from them!

This continued for a while. Keros kept getting hit and tossed around. The team members in the room would have to quickly move out of the way to avoid getting mixed up in it. The furniture in the room was being knocked around as the two fought. they even broke a table and scattered the things on top of it around the room.

'Finally.' Keros thought. He had finally improved enough that he could fully recover after most strikes and prevent himself from getting hit for free. Unfortunately, he had paid quite the price to get to this point. His lip was busted, he had a cut on his arm from slamming into the table, and his left eye was slowly starting to swell.

'Now, maybe I can get in another hit.' he would be able to give uncle Rod another attack. However what would be effective? If he wanted to do some damage he would have to either hit somewhere vulnerable, or he needed to try something different. Ground game? Uncle Rod was too strong and would just overpower him to break free from a submission technique.

'What do I have that will work against a stronger opponent? WAIT'. That's right! he knew a judo technique that he could use. They wouldn't do much damage and didn't have a good follow up, but they would work since uncle Rod wasn't taking this fight very seriously. He might be able to at least put uncle rod on his back. He would improvise at that point.

Uncle Rod hadn't been using any techniques and relied purely on his stronger body to dominate the fight. He had to hold back so he didn't seriously injure Keros and he didn't think Keros could pose any threat to him.

When the next attack came, Keros executed his plan. He dodged the right punch that uncle Rod had thrown by moving in and to the right, grabbed the extended arm with his left hand pulling it close, and twisted his body. He wrapped his right arm around uncle Rods' head and twisted his lower body before extending his right leg and sweeping back at uncle Rod's legs while pulling him forward.

In one fluid motion, Keros used leverage to toss uncle Rod to the ground.

The spectators were shocked. They hadn't expected Keros to be able to get the better of the captain. Even if he wasn't being serious the captain was still ridiculously strong, and Keros hadn't even begun cultivation yet! The toss wouldn't do any damage to the captain, but it was impressive none the less.

Keros was a bit stunned himself. Truthfully he didn't expect his plan to work. All it would have taken was for uncle Rod to exert a bit more effort and he could have prevented it. He wouldn't miss this chance though, so he immediately went for an armbar. This was the best thing he could think of right now.

Uncle Rod was stunned too. He hadn't expected the kid to use a judo throw. It was a good idea! Though it wouldn't hurt him at all, it would give Keros a bit of breathing room and give him the upper hand for the moment. Now the kid was going for an armbar. If he kept holding back and messing around so much then the kid had a chance to win the fight here! He would have to let loose a bit, after all, he couldn't let the kid win. As long as the kid kept fighting, so would he.

Uncle Rod became a bit more serious. He displayed greater strength, and immediately twisted his body. Keros already had a firm grasp on his arm and his legs were locked in. Uncle Rod hadn't allowed him to pull his arm in though. Uncle Rod got his feet under him and stood up, lifting Keros with him.

Keros' face was twisted with effort. He was pulling as hard as he could to try and extend uncle Rod's arm even though he had already been lifted off the ground.

Uncle Rod lifted Keros a bit higher and slammed him down on a nearby table. The table immediately split, and they both fell through it, landing hard on the concrete floor.

Keros' grip loosened as he struggled to catch his breath. His back was hurting pretty bad right now. Luckily he had been slammed into the table, which lowered the overall damage he sustained. Had he been slammed into the concrete from that height, and with that much strength... He shuddered at the thought.

The spectators watched with wide eyes. That was pretty intense. It wasn't over yet though! In just a moment the captain shot to his feet and had already pulled Keros up by his shirt. Next, the two started trading blows. Keros wasn't being knocked away anymore because the captain had a grip on his shirt.

'Screw it!' Keros thought. He was going to just start throwing strikes and let his instincts take over!

It wasn't good for him to be locked down like this. He didn't have the time to plan things out as he had before. He was struggling to block because of the grasp uncle Rod had on him. His opponent was so much stronger than him and had suddenly become stronger. Uncle Rod had become more serious and was squashing any tactics Keros tried to use. His only option was to clear his mind and just focus on retaliating.

It wasn't long before Keros was at his limits. He was fatigued and his body was aching. He felt similar to when he had brawled Trent 9 months ago. However this time his opponent was still at peak condition, and none of Keros' strikes had an effect. If they kept up Keros would lose consciousness and this stubborn captain would have won so without any repercussion!

Keros swiftly lifted his leg and kneed, striking uncle Rod in the groin with all the strength he could muster.

'Not very honorable, but you know what? Neither is fighting a kid!' Keros thought. This was the last move he could think of and while he felt bad using it, he wasn't going to let uncle Rod get off without any pain. He had suffered too much to let that happen!

Uncle Rod grunted, his face turning a bit red very quickly. It hurt like crazy! Nurturing your body with external energy definitely increased the durability of one's body, but only so much could be done and certain places were still pretty vulnerable. While the knee wouldn't have any lasting damage, it did cause quite a bit of pain. It also served to infuriate uncle Rod. In anger uncle Rod retaliated harder than he should have.

His right arm swung out at incredible speed and his open hand struck Keros on the face. Uncle Rod had released Keros' shirt when he was kneed, so when the Slap hit him Keros went flying.

Keros' feet lifted off the ground and he flew a few feet away before they touched again. He fell to the ground and the momentum caused him to slide a few more feet.

His eyes were unclear and his thoughts erratic. The slap had been brutal for him and was far more painful than any of the punches before it. He tasted metallic. However, the largest blow from the strike was mental. He had only been slapped by an open hand one other time. The time he argued with his father. The scene replayed in his mind over and over again in only moments. He was flooded with the same emotions he felt at that time, and he even thought he could feel the slap from his father. He hated the memory of that day and the emotions he had felt. He wanted to forget it... Soon it stopped, but his thoughts remained erratic. He realized something.

'I. HATE. IT!' Keros thought. Being slapped felt humiliating, and reminded him of his only regret. He felt that it was a level of disrespect that cut into his soul. He could accept if his parents slapped him, if his sister did, or even if the woman he loved did. Because to him, it meant something different coming from someone you loved so much. However, he couldn't accept being slapped by anyone else. Never again would he allow it to happen, and if it did he would crush the person who did it.

-

Aiyanna left the building to dump out the dirty water, and filled it up with clean water and added soap. She took a moment to shake her hands. She had been cleaning since late last night and her hands had started to tense up from scrubbing with the toothbrush. Her wrists and knees ached a bit too from scrubbing the floor. She had already cleaned most of the common areas, and next, she would be cleaning the bathrooms. She would be cleaning for a good portion of the day before she finished.

She decided it would be a decent time to take a break and sat on a nearby bench. She had seen Keros talking to Captain Rodney, and she wasn't eager to go back in yet. She still felt embarrassed about last night and didn't want to draw his attention when she passed through the lounge area. Besides, it's not like she was excited to scrub toilets.

The door opened and she saw Catherine come out.

'why is she coming out here?' Aiyanna thought. Shew knew Catherine would be coming early today to see her parents ashes. She didn't think that Catherine would be done so soon.

"Catherine. how are you?" Aiyanna called out to her.

Catherine looked over, seeing the familiar face, she walked over and took a seat on the bench beside her. She had puffy red eyes from crying, and her cheeks were still wet.

"I'm sad. I don't want to believe it." Catherine said in a quiet voice.

"I'm sorry that they are gone. They were always nice to me and I thought highly of them. They were good people." Aiyanna said with a sigh. She reached over and gently rubbed Catherines' back to comfort her.

"They were great. I just wish I could have seen them one last time." Catherine said as she began crying again

Aiyanna didn't know what to say to truly comfort her over the loss of her parents. She hadn't experienced the same loss that Catherine had. Maybe she could help mend the relationship between Catherine and Keros though since she understood the situation now. That would certainly help them both, as well as herself.

"Do you blame Keros... For not getting to see them?" Aiyanna asked.

"Yea... It's not fair! He got to see them... He got the chance to say goodbye!" She said with a tinge of anger mixed with her cries.

"Catherine... Your parents were in really bad shape. It would have been hard for anyone to see them like that, much less their child... Maybe Keros wanted you to remember them at their best, instead of like that." Aiyanna spoke softly

"But I could have said goodbye! I didn't get to tell them that I loved them!" Catherine replied

"Well, you can do that now. right?" Aiyanna said

"It's not the same!" Catherine replied

"It's not the same, you're right, but that doesn't mean its worse. You might think that it's just a container, but I think it represents your parents... In the same way, as if you had seen them yesterday, but without the pain of seeing them in the shape they were in." Aiyanna did her best to explain her viewpoint.

Catherine was silent. She thought for a few minutes and nodded her head. She wasn't fully convinced, but speaking her thoughts out loud would be better than bottling it up.

"Well then, go back and tell them everything you feel!" Aiyanna smiled.

"I-It's hard to, and it was hard to think with the loud noises," Catherine said looking down in sadness.

"Loud noises? What do you mean?" Aiyanna asked. It had been quiet when she was there just a short time ago. Everyone was trying to stay quiet so they didn't disturb her.

"It started to get loud, there was a bit of yelling and then I heard some banging noises. It upset me so I came out here after it started." Catherine said

"Come on, we will find out what's going on and I'll stop it. If I can't I'll tell the captain!" Aiyanna declared.

She would be hesitant to meddle after last night, but this situation was different. Even Captain Rodney would be angry at whoever caused a ruckus today.

The two got up and made their way back to the building. When they entered they immediately heard scuffling and a bit of shouting. It was coming from the lounge. With a confused look, Aiyanna led the way toward the lounge, opened the door, and entered with Catherine right behind her. What they saw shocked them.

The room was pretty big since it served as the lounge for at least twenty people. Even so, the entire room was a mess. Furniture was scattered and knocked over, and some of it was even broken. Everything that had been on the tables now littered the floor, and there was even some blood. Standing near the center of the room was Captain Rodney and Keros. Keros was in the middle of kneeing Captain Rodney in the groin.

They watched with wide eyes. His knee struck and Captain Rodney grunted. The next thing they saw as a lightning-fast strike land on Keros' face before he went flying and ended up on the ground.

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