Black Market Merchant

Chapter 198: Duel of the Bosses
It was Undertaker that attacked first. His nylon whip struck out at Martinez’s head like an angry viper. Its carbon fiber covering whizzed through the air before making a sharp “ping” noise as it ricocheted off Martinez’s weapon.

Martinez halted his headlong charge and deflected the attack the moment he spotted Undertaker’s wrist rearing back. He then sneered while readjusting his weapon, “Was that your best just then?”

Unfazed, Undertaker started circling step by step around his warry foe while spinning the whip once again. His naturally proud face showed no sign of any other emotion. “Just a test shot. It would be pathetic if you were hit by that. After all, that was just to loosen my muscles. I haven’t had a proper fight in ages.”

“Pfft, you talk to much.” Grumbled Martinez as he lunged forward to throw a horizontal blow at Undertaker.

Undertaker merely took a step back and the Macuahuitl passed within a hairsbreadth from his bare chest. Not letting this opening pass by, Undertaker followed up by swinging his Khepesh at Martinez’s outstretched exposed arm. The counter strike struck home and the Khepesh’s dull edge pinned Martinez’s arm to the pavement.

There was a collective murmur of surprise that erupted from the spectating gangsters on both sides. However, they were all forced back into silence as Martinez suddenly reared back and tossed off the Khepesh with brutish strength. Undertaker was not expecting to have himself, and his weapon thrown off with such ferocity that he took a precautious leap back.

“That was a mistake, Undertaker. You should have taken my arm then.” Martinez growled. “You won’t get another chance like that.”

Undertaker raised a white eyebrow skeptically. “This will end quickly, that is for sure.”

Martinez came charging at Undertaker with blinding speed, so fast in fact that it seemed inhumanly possible! He closed the distance between them in half a second, catching Undertaker off guard. Undertaker flinched awkwardly as he raised his Khepesh in front of himself to defend. There was a heavy metal on metal ping that reverberated all throughout the nearby buildings, while some of those watching flinched at the harsh noise.

Undertaker was literally lifted off his feet upon taking the full front of Martinez’s attack! He was sent tumbling head over heels across the parking lot; however, he never lost his composure. Undertaker, still grasping his nylon whip, punched down at the pavement to stabilize his rotations and then performed a one-handed handspring! Flipping nimbly, he landed with a solid thud on both feet and with both weapons raised at the ready.

Martinez had chased after Undertaker full well knowing that his attack hadn’t caused any real damage. When Undertaker flipped and landed, Martinez was already in full swing to cleave him in two. This time Undertaker was forced to hold his Khepesh on his side to absorb the blow.

The metal-on-metal ping seemed to follow Undertaker as he was once again sent spinning, this time cartwheeling sideways, across the parking lot. Martinez’s brutish strength and speed was nothing but extraordinary. Yet, not enough to finish off Undertaker so soon.

Undertaker may had been sent careening away in a crazy fashion, but he was also launched towards a light pole situated in the parking lot. Striking out with his whip, Undertaker lashed around the pole and swung around it like Tarzan swinging on a vine. He the sailed back in full control at Martinez to counterattack. While still airborne Undertaker swatted at Martinez with his whip twice, forcing Martinez to stand his ground and parry the blows. Undertaker landed soundly and started to immediately run at Martinez.

The two locked weapons and grappled for strength to force the other back. In this fraction of a second, Undertaker still held his proud smile, unfazed by the battle’s events. Martinez could see this and though annoyed, he knew that unlike most opponents he had faced so far to conquer the town, Undertaker was likely the strongest. It was hard to conceive, because Undertaker’s stature was shorter and slimmer, and his muscle mass too seemed to be less than Martinez’s own.

“Y-you are putting on quite the show.” Martinez commented as he tightened his grip. His Macuahuitl was then slowly pressed lower towards Undertaker’s neck and the faux obsidian blades wavered dangerously close to cutting him. “Though it’s clear that I am indeed the stronger of us.”

Unbeguiled, Undertaker snorted and pressed back hard with his Khepesh to return the two to the equal deadlock from before. “I haven’t even been trying. You seem to be though. I honestly think you overestimate yourself.”

“What?” Martinez laughed.

Then Undertaker dropped his Khepesh between them, dragging the Macuahuitl down with it. The two odd weapons smashed into the pavement and scattered concrete fragments in all directions. Before Martinez could retaliate, Undertaker pressed forward to ram his shoulder into Martinez’s chest.

Being hit in such a manner caused Martinez to lose his grip and become disarmed. Though the same was for Undertaker; by ramming Martinez, he too let go of his Khepesh. Not wanting to let Martinez time to recover, Undertaker followed up by throwing an uppercut at Martinez’s chin.

Martinez reacted just in time and leaned his head back, narrowly avoiding the strike. Martinez then started back peddling as Undertaker chased after him, throwing swift short-ranged jabs with every step. Undertaker still had his coiled nylon whip in hand, and this too acted as another tool to hit with. Martinez avoided every strike and soon found an opening to deflect a right hook with his own forearm.

In doing so, Martinez forced Undertaker to become too far forwards and allowed Martinez to counter. With a heavy grunt Martinez kicked up at Undertakers middle with his left foot. The kick landed heavily on the rib cage and Undertaker skittered a few steps away from the blow. Yet Martinez couldn’t follow up with another attack, because upon being hit, Undertaker unfurled his nylon whip and lashed out with it.

The whip wrapped around Martinez’s left hand and with a sharp tug, Undertaker yanked Martinez off balance and closer to himself. Undertaker used that same pull to spin once and throw a back handed fist at Martinez’s head. The edges of his knuckles struck just above Martinez’s brow to open a cut along his left eyebrow.

Not to be outdone Martinez threw his own uppercut at Undertaker and it landed dead center on his sternum. Undertaker slid back and grabbed at the nylon whip halfway between the two fighters and hoisted it above his shoulder to give a mighty tug. This action was similar to that of a Judo one arm shoulder throw and with the whip still around Martinez’s wrist, it tossed him into the air!

Martinez had a look of surprise as he sailed overhead of Undertaker and was then smashed back first onto the pavement. There was a heavy gasp of breath that was knocked from Martinez as his body seemed to bounce up from the blow. Undertaker seized this chance and went to perform a drop kick aimed at Martinez’s face.

Though slightly disorientated and breathless, Martinez saw this coming and tossed his head to one side just in time. Seeing he missed Undertaker tried stomping on him next. Martinez merely just repeated the previous action, and each time narrowly avoided a direct stomp. This afforded Martinez enough time to catch some of his breath.

Undertaker made another stomp at Martinez’s head, but this time Martinez didn’t just dodge, he grabbed Undertaker’s ankle. Lifting his lower body from a prone position, Martinez kicked vertically with both feet at Undertaker’s chin to reach what looked like a vertical handstand! The bizarrely unexpected attack cause Undertaker to reel back sharply, this caused the strain he had placed on the whip to loosen.

Feeling this change, Martinez swept downwards with both legs in an arcing “C” fashion to collied with Undertaker’s own shins. Undertaker was knocked over and sent clattering to the ground. In that moment Martinez freed himself from the whip and stood back up to fight. Undertaker sensed his disadvantage and rolled twice on the pavement before popping back up onto two feet. The two were now back on near even fighting level, save for Undertaker’s whip.

“Now that’s what I am talking about!” Xander shouted from the safety of the nearby doorway. “Things are getting good now.” He was trying his upmost to follow along with the flow of the boss’s Match Fight, but his special guard nudged his arm.

“Xander, there is something strange coming from the walkie-talkie.”

“Eh? What is it?” Xander replied agitatedly.

“I’m not sure.” The special guard answered. He was holding the walkie-talkie close to his ear and seemed to be struggling to hear. “It’s coming from Ernest’s channel. He keeps cutting in and out but most of what is coming through is just static.”

“What is strange about that?” Xander sighed turning his attention back to the boss fight. “He is probably sitting on it, or he’s caught up in a fight and its just picking it up.”

“I don’t think so.” The special guard muttered. “I thought I heard him call for help, and something about a, well, a monster?”

“Ha, that punk asking for help?” Xander laughed. “That will be the day. You can just ignore it.”

“I’ll keep listening just in case.” The special guard replied holding the walkie-talkie closer to his ear.

“Suit yourself. This fight here is more important than whatever is going on over there anyway.” Xander answered dismissively.

In the meantime, Martinez had managed to work his way around Undertaker and reclaim his Macuahuitl, though not without taking several lashings from the whip in the process. Between the two it looked like Martinez had taken the most damage and he was bleeding a fair amount still from the brow and a nasty whip mark on his right thigh. The two bosses’, however, now were back to where they had started.

“Ah, that was a wonderful way to warm up. Wouldn’t you agree?” Undertaker sighed as he rolled his shoulders. He then spread his arms wide, proudly displaying the anatomically correct skeleton tattoos that covered his body. “How about we kick this up a notch and get serious?”

“That’s all fine with me.” Martinez answered as he adjusted his stance to hoist the Macuahuitl alongside himself like a sheathed sword. “I think using my own Inducement would do me some good. It’s been a while since someone forced me to use it.”

“Oh? Getting desperate, are you?” Undertaker laughed. “I wasn’t planning on using any such ability on you. You haven’t even made me struggle in this fight. So, there is no need for me to use my abilities.”

“What are you saying?” Martinez answered glaringly.

Undertaker ran his whip holding hand through his snow-white hair and sighed heavily. “What I am saying is that even if you use your petty Inducement, it won’t change the outcome. All I need to beat you are my weapons here. See?”

Undertaker then gave his whip and sharp crack and pressed a hidden button on the whip’s handle. The whip’s carbon fiber portions suddenly spread open revealing an ominous blue glow from within and with it came the dangerous sounds of electricity crackling! He then swung the electrified whip at the ground a few times and where the whip struck it left behind burn marks!

“Are you kidding me?” Martinez seethed through gritted teeth. “Like a little shock will stop me.”

Then Martinez activated his inducement and took a step forward. Unlike the Triplets, Golem or any other Match Fighter the Mad Dogs employed, Martinez’s Inducement didn’t have a buildup or outwardly noticeable changes. His was a top tier Inducement that was legally implanted by the Moab City government. Though he had never told this fact to anyone from the gang, it was his secret.

The two bosses raised their weapons and prepared to strike as soon as an opening appeared. This was likely going to be a deciding factor of the fight’s outcome. The tension in the air was heavy.

“Xander!”

“What!?” Xander replied half startled, half surprised. With an agitated look he glared at the special guard next to him on the couch.

There was a look of disbelief in the special guards’ eyes as he replied. “I just heard Ernest say that they are being attacked by Twisted!”

“You are joking, right?” Xander scoffed. “Give me that walkie-talkie.”

Snatching the device from the special guard, he raised the staticky walkie-talkie up to his ear. He could barely hear anything remotely like words. Then he heard it, Ernest’s voice suddenly became clear and what Xander heard made him get goosebumps.

“The Twisted have appeared behind us! There are too many to count! Is there anyone out there? Respond, we are being overrun!”