Return of the Woodcutter

(No! Show it to me!) Aito thought when the previous scene blurred into a stadium full of spectators. (Oh… great. My favorite part and the beginning of the end.)

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the morning matches of 'Human Weapon' Canada's Finals taking place in Montreal Stadium! I am Alan Meyer and this is Charles Mitch!" Alan said, staring at the camera with a charming smile.

"Good morning, everyone!" Charles said, giving the viewers a thumbs up.

"Together, we will be your humble hosts for this year's most anticipated event in Canada!"

"Taking place in Montreal Stadium!" Charles said with a satisfied look on his face.

Alan then sent him an eye signal, indicating they had already stated the location, before easily correcting his colleague's mistake, using his years of experience as a professional sports commentator, by downright ignoring Charles's commentary.

"The opening match will oppose one male and one female combatant! In the blue corner, Layehs Uyr! A black belt in Judo and Karate who reigned supreme over the Ontario region! Her devastating kicks and punch ended more than one fighter's career! She is also known for her peculiar habit to cover up her face. So we don't actually know what she looks like!"

"And in the red corner," Charles said, having regained his composure. "We have a dark horse, Aito Walker! This young man rose to fame after his victory in Quebec's regional, using his self-created martial art! It proved to be effective when he took down his every opponent in less than five seconds!"

"Talking about the wolf, here we are seeing its tail," Alan said, his eyes following on a screen the tanned skin man with a tattoo on his right forearm.

***

(And here comes the bastard and his tail.)

Aito entered what the referee called a "ring" but it resembled a desert. A huge square platform topped with tons of white sands stood at the center of the stadium.

(Ah… yeah. Even now, I still remember the scorching hot feeling. What kind of madman designed that so-called ring which actually looked more like an arena?)

When he had stepped onto the surface back then, Aito had quickly noticed an increase in temperature. Apparently, hot metallic plates underneath the ring heated the sand to make it not only appear like a desert but also feel like one. Moreover, hundreds of spotlights aimed at the stage rose the temperature even higher.

Sweat began running down his past self's broad chest as he removed his winter clothes to stand half-naked in his corner.

Instead of eyeing his opponent, he first gazed upon the black braids circling his entire forearm: a tattoo that had been made in Tahiti for his eighteenth birthday.

(Father's gift…. Stop staring at it like that! You are not worthy of it!)

Braids, in Polynesian culture, meant the bonds between people. In this case, it was the bonds between Aito and his family. By taking a look at it before each match, he had wanted to remind himself of his goal, THE goal. But later on, unable to bear the weight of its meaning, Aito had it erased through a laser operation.

The past Aito closed his fist and whispered an inaudible prayer before finally gazing at the opponent.

In the blue corner stood a woman in light black sports wares. Her long black hair stuck out from under the plain grey mask covering her face. It only left two small holes with enough space for her icy blue eyes to meet her opponent's glare.

(Sports bra, and leggings. Developed abdominal muscles. Powerful leg muscles. Beautiful, but dangerous. I'm sure she was hiding a pretty face under that mask. Her body was already lovely enough for men to gawk at her, but why was she hiding that face?)

Aito warmed up; lightly punching and kicking empty air. Layehs rolled her wrists while eyeing the countdown on a huge monitor before the start of the match.

[00:10]

He grabbed a handful of sand to chase off the sweat building up in his palms and hid a fistful in his pocket.

[00:05]

She tied her long hair in a ponytail, then lifted her guard up.

[00:00]

"Fight!" the referee said, standing aside.

(Kick my past's ass!)

Layehs dashed towards Aito, her feet digging into the sand as if it was natural. Guard up, he advanced with caution, fully aware of the drawbacks an unstable ground provided his footing.

(I still don't understand how she managed to move that fast.)

Aito stopped before reaching Layeh's range and hid behind his guard to analyze her moves. He widened his eyes when a kick fast approached his manhood. He deflected the vicious blow with a swing of the knee and his feet still in midair responded with a middle kick.

Layehs effortlessly dodged and aimed for his leg, trying to sweep her opponent out of balance. Aito slightly jumped to avoid it and counterattacked with yet another kick from a midair stance.

BAM!

It landed on her guard but didn't seem to have dealt any actual damage.

(Ha! She's obviously an experienced fighter! Look at her reading your every move!)

He plunged his hand into his pocket, grabbed the sand hidden in there, and faked a troubled expression. Layehs took advantage of that 'opening' to narrow the distance.

From her toes, the momentum producing the incoming blow increased in power at a rapid pace to reach its peak when it connected with Aito's jaw.

But he twisted it at the last second, almost nullifying the damage by accompanying the punch.

(Cheap trick…)

Then, in a fluid motion, he took advantage of her open guard to cloud her vision with the sand hidden in his pocket.

Blinded, groaning, she closed her eyes and retreated backward to remove the sand out of Aito's range of action. Thinking that Aito would aim for her head, Layehs kept her guard up. But instead, he grabbed her sports bra and removed it.

(I can't believe I did that. Still, now that I have the time to look at it… Layehs was a really beautiful woman.)

Aito threw the tattered bra on the sand, stretched his opened palm, and repeatedly closed it in a provocative gesture.

(Oh… you so don't know what you just did. She isn't like other women.)

Instead of covering herself as anybody else would do, Layehs kept her guard up. But a cold killing intent mixed with rage emanated from her entire being, a rage she seemed to be in perfect control of. Even as a bystander, the present-day Aito could feel it.

She dashed towards him. Surprised, he paused before strengthening his own guard. Layehs grabbed his left arm with one hand, twisted it, and viciously struck a specific place next to his armpits with her knuckle.

A powerful electrical discharge traveled from the point of impact into Aito's entire body. Stunned for but a moment, he couldn't avoid the blow targeting his chin from the side.

His brain moved out of its orbit due to the shock of the impact and crashed against his skull. Aito's vision blurred, progressively fading to black. Before his body touched the hot sand, he peered one last time into two frozen blue eyes. Two eyes belonging to a predator looking down on her prey.

(Ha! That never gets old!) The present-day Aito thought. That scene had become his favorite because he could see his past self being punished for what he would do.

But ultimately, it couldn't change what would appear in the next scenes. The parts of his dream he dreaded the most. The memories he could never endure.

The part of his past which had changed his life forever.

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