Clay would wrestle with a cousin of his sometimes, but he couldn't remember the first time he'd ever gotten into a proper fight. The earliest one he could remember was when he was 9, and that couldn’t even really be considered a fight. It was just the first time he had a physical altercation with someone he hadn’t really known.

  His mom let him take karate classes after school. It was the sort of thing a kid gets involved in just because they think it's cool and will turn them into a ki-wielding anime character overnight. He only did it for a little under a year before he got bored of it, reaching his peak as a fighter in yellow belt territory.

  None of the techniques and movements they'd taught him stuck. He only recalled a few occasions where something interesting happened, and only one of them actually had to do with fighting.

  It was all because he hadn't been the youngest and most annoying one there. Some kid kept batting his hands and feet against Clay's body while he was sitting on the padded floor and having a snack. He was pretending to do exaggerated karate moves that didn't hurt much but definitely made it harder to eat.

  As a fellow kid, Clay got it into his head that it was sort of like he was this kid's senior in terms of karate prowess, even though their belts were the same shade of white.

  He put his own hands up to block some of the strikes without even looking. It was the stylish sort of kung-fu mastery that he'd thought he could learn from a dojo in the same plaza as a pizza joint.

  At one point he must have pushed back on the kid a little too hard. He accidentally made him fall back and hit his head on something, which of course made the boy cry.

  When the instructor came back into the room, all he and anyone else could see was that a taller, older kid had made a younger student cry.

  "Clay! You're sparring tomorrow!" was all the instructor said before walking away.

  Kids at his age and level didn't usually get to spar, but it was something that Clay had actively avoided. He wanted to learn all the cool spinny moves, then he'd show all these shmucks how it's done.

  And the spar went about as well as one would expect. He'd been paired up with a slightly older boy who had a physicality that Clay couldn't do much against with his skinny body.

  Put less politely, the other boy was too fat for his punches to do anything.

  To this day, Clay wondered if the instructor specifically told his sparring partner to go as hard as possible or if he got it into his head that he was some kind of bully hunter after coming under the same misunderstanding. He really hadn't let the fact it was Clay's first spar hold him back.

  Clay remembered getting kicked in the side over and over again. Then he started crying. After that, not much.

  Looking back, the intended lesson was probably, 'How does it feel to get beat up by someone bigger than you? (Bet you're not gonna do that again)'

  However, the two lessons he took away were things that definitely affected his decision-making as a kid in a way he could only put into words when he looked back from an adult's perspective.

  One, martial arts were useless. Despite the work he thought he'd put in, he couldn't even hold his own against his very first sparring partner. That definitely contributed to his growing boredom with the idea of wasting his time after school doing something that hadn't actually been making him cooler.

  Two, even though he wasn't in the wrong and hadn't been given time to explain, he had to get beat up and cry to appease an adult who thought Clay was a bad kid acting out. How could he not resent the fact that he was expected to seek the approval of an adult who was proven to be unreliable?

  It was the first time Clay had the thought that an authority figure hated him.

  Maybe that karate instructor had been right. Maybe in some way, Ed was right about him as well.

  At the end of the day, he knew he was a coward.

  Which is why he'd never take on anyone in a fight without an unfair advantage. Like a secret Hammer or an OP Skill.

  Clay charged his opponent while he was recovering.

  There wasn't any time to waste now. After two minutes, his body would go back to being useless.

  He'd dealt serious damage with that last blow. Nosebleeds aren't fatal, but they make it a lot harder for one to fight properly. Not only is it painful, but the added difficulty in breathing meant less oxygen was being pushed where it needed to go. Clay stole the advantage with one punch.

  His knowledge of fighting came mostly from reading manga. The amount of times he'd been in a fight himself could be counted on one hand, and none of them were as serious as this. However, he knew how to make a fist. He knew that most of the power from a strike came from the legs and hips.

  Clay felt the power in his punch while he was still throwing it.

  It hit nothing.

  Now that the element of surprise was lost, Ed wasn't going to stand there and let Clay hit him. He moved in at the same time and slammed his knuckles into Clay's jaw.

  A cross-counter.

  Clay stumbled to the side from the force of the blow. Ed immediately tried to rush him down, but Clay brought his foot up to throw a quick kick at him. Ed couldn't move in. Instead, he showed the difference in their skill by landing a much more effective kick on Clay's calf that made it throb in pain.

  Clay was at least able to put a bit of distance between them.

  Shit!

  Even if he was stronger now, he still didn't actually know anything about fighting. From the way things were going, Clay guessed that he and Ed were about even in strength now. He couldn't just overpower him.

  There was also speed to consider. In comparison to Clay's punches, Ed's moved at lightspeed. If he'd managed to clock Clay on the chin, it would have dealt serious damage.

  Clay tucked his chin in towards his chest.

  "All talk, just like I thought." Ed exhaled again to expel the blood from his nose. "You actually had me scared for a second there after you--"

  He didn't have time for mid-combat dialogue.

  Clay pushed into his space again and tried to grab one of Ed's sleeves. If he could restrain one of his arms, he could at least make his punches more predictable.

  Wham!

  The predictable one had been Clay. The second he latched onto the sleeve of his jacket, Ed slipped his arm out and threw a jab into Clay's eye that made him walk backwards. He did his best to keep from shouting.

  Ed didn't give him another chance to rest. He continued raining down blow after blow on Clay's face and body that put him into a constant retreat. Sometimes Clay was able to ward them off with his arms, but that usually gave Ed the chance to kick his side. His Health was definitely all gone.

  This is so lame. I threw out a one-liner like I was about to beat his ass and everything.

  Before he knew it, Clay was backed up close enough to the edge of the roof that his back hit the waist-high wall. He was about to maneuver away from it when Ed slammed the side of his arm against Clay's guard and pinned his arms in that position.

  Ed started to engage him again as he bent Clay backward over the wall. If he was allowed to continue applying pressure like this, he could make him topple over and fall to his death.

  "I saw you smirking when you sicced that Hammer on us! I bet you were giggling like a little fucking kid about how smart you were after you killed my friends!" Ed wasn't restraining himself at all, shouting so fiercely that he sent saliva splattering onto Clay's arms and face. "Are you laughing now!?"

  Clay thought briefly on how he'd felt about those men dying, especially Ronny.

  He realized he hadn't dwelled on it. All he could recall was that he wouldn't have minded Ronny being taken apart by the Hammer.

  Oh, yeah.

  If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

  Clay had been smiling about it, right? His face had hurt from smiling so much.

  With his arm outside of its sleeve, there was nothing protecting Ed's skin when Clay opened his guard enough to move in and bite his arm as hard as he could.

  "Aghh! You little monster!" Ed started battering the top of Clay's head with his fist, but Clay didn't let go easily.

  He shook his head side to side with all the force he could. Blood filled his mouth as the skin tore.

  Eventually, one blow too many made him loosen his jaw. Rather than continue trying to push him off the roof, Ed immediately backed off. The pain must have been a shock to his senses.

  My head feels fuzzy…I want to throw up. I don't feel like I'm going to throw up, but I want to…

  Clay stared at Ed, who was examining his bleeding bite wound.

  I didn't know I was such a vindictive guy.

  The arm he’d bitten was bleeding pretty bad. Clay didn't feel anything in particular about it.

  Ed seemed to be in such distress. If killing Clay had been his goal, then a bite shouldn't have been enough to stop him. Was it possible Clay's desire to live was greater than Ed's desire to kill him?

  Clay let out a little laugh.

  I can't throw up, so I'm going to laugh instead.

  "You think that's funny, huh?" Ed scoffed, clenching his fist. "Look at you and then look at me. I can still move this arm just fine, so you took all that damage for nothing."

  Clay, with his chin tucked to his chest again, whispered.

  "What? Did I hit you hard enough to burst your eardrums? Speak up!" Ed was advancing on him again.

  "I was just speaking to what you said before." Clay took a step forward to get away from the roof's edge. "You're right, I was laughing my ass off. Your friends died because I'm smarter than you and I thought that was sort of funny.”

  Ed stopped.

  I suck.

  "I know for sure you guys thought you were a troupe of total badasses before that. How is that not funny? After all that trash talk, I killed Ronny and all of your friends like it was nothing."

  My personality is seriously rotten.

  "I saw how a Hammer dismantles Crowders."

  You pissed me off, so I'm just saying all of this to hurt you. I think you might kill me, so I'm going to hurt you.

  "I wasn't there. Did he do the same thing to this Ronny guy?" Clay's face was hurting again, but it was a good thing. "Please tell me he did."

  I want to throw up.

  "Wouldn't you know it, I also found out where your base is. That's where Alan is right now, finishing off whatever's left of your group."

  Ed was at a loss for words. Clay didn't know if he was breathing so hard because of his bloody nose, the exertion, or if he was seething over Clay's provocations.

  Clay smirked.

  It was the perfect target for Ed to try and smash his fist into as he surged forward.

  It hit nothing.

  Clay's hand snaked up and stopped him by the wrist before it could land. His cocky smile remained. "That one was a little slower…"

  "You're not even human! I'll kill you! Let me go so I can put you out of your misery, you disgusting freak!" Ed tried to pull his arm away to no avail. Clay had him. He wasn't going to let him go now.

  In truth, that last punch had only been marginally slower than his previous ones. Clay guessed where he was going to strike him and moved preemptively to stop him. It was why he turned his smirking face into such a big target.

  Clay couldn't match his techniques or his speed, so he'd pressure him mentally and limit his actions. He'd win if he could keep guessing him.

  There was a sudden movement in Ed's shoulder. Clay put his other hand up near his face to catch the other wrist.

  Bad guess. He'd punched the side of Clay's abdomen instead.

  "Let go! Let me go! I'm going to rip you apart! I'll break every bone in your body!" Ed was able to land a series of blows along Clay's body after an equal amount of bad guesses. "Let go!"

  Clay wouldn't let go. As long as he didn't let go, he wouldn't lose.

  I probably just got lucky the first time. I have to–

  Ed finally punched him in the face, but Clay didn't have his hand in place to catch him that time.

  His head bent back from the punch.

  Then forced itself forward again to crush Ed's wounded nose with his forehead. He let out a blood-curdling scream from the pain. In the midst of that pain, he threw a blind punch.

  Straight into Clay's open hand. Caught again.

  "I win…" Clay whispered.

  "Fuck you! You didn't win anything! I'm st--"

  "NOW!"

  There was a pressure climbing up Clay's back and onto his shoulder.

  Kissy leapt forward onto Ed's face. With both of his hands locked down by Clay, there was nothing he could do to stop the rat from hitting its mark and doing everything rats do. Scratching, biting, tearing. His face was already in bad shape, so Clay guessed the pain had to be unbearable.

  "Annnghhh! Let go! Letgo! Letgo! Let me go! I'll--" After that it was just yelling that only vaguely sounded like words. Ed did his best to kick as well, but that wouldn't work either.

  By the time Clay did finally let go and Ed was able to start reaching towards his face to remove Kissy, he was already left vulnerable enough that Clay could kick him straight in the crotch without worry.

  "---!"

  His hands didn't know where to go after that. Moving to shield his groin from further blows allowed Kissy to move onto his shoulder, which gave Clay free rein to hit him with a full-weight punch straight into his face.

  Ed fell onto his back. Clay mounted him.

  I win.

  Clay kept punching him over and over again. There was blood in Ed's eyes that kept him from seeing each punch coming. Whenever he interrupted a punch by luck, Clay would just bat his hand away and punch him again.

  I win.

  Even when his teeth cut one of Clay's knuckles open.

  I win.

  Even when the sounds he made started to sound like pleading.

  I win.

  Even when his own face hurt.

  I win.

  Even when it was obvious he was going to kill him.

  I wi--

  One of his punches missed and hit the ground next to Ed's face instead. He couldn't even vocalize his pain.

  The time on [Id Boost] ran out. It probably ran out a few seconds after he started laying into Ed.

  Panting, Clay looked down to check the other man's condition.

  He was breathing, but his face was a bloody mess. His nose was split open and there were holes past his lips where teeth used to be.

  Clay crawled off of Ed and towards the door. He didn't want to look anymore.

  With the strength in his body sapped completely, it was a wonder he could even get over to the wall next to the doorway and lean back against it.

  He couldn’t move anymore after that thanks to accumulated damage and being returned to a state without extra energy. That was it. There wouldn't be any further turnarounds or sudden bursts of movement.

  All he could do was watch as Ed started lifting himself up as well. He crawled to the closest wall and used it to get back to his feet, allowing him to peer over it and see something that made his head hang.

  He spoke too quietly for Clay to make out the entire sentence.

  "…out…time…"

  Had Alan returned?

  Ed stepped over to where the roof overlooked the front of the building.

  "You…stole my…voice…"

  Clay couldn't even widen his eyes. He could only watch.

  "You're like him…You have…"

  Clay didn't catch the last word.

  "You…I won't let myself….be…"

  Clay couldn't understand the rest of what he said.

  Unceremoniously, Ed tipped over the wall and fell down from the roof. He could only watch.

  Rather than be captured, Ed decided to fall someplace else.

  Whatever world he was falling into was too far away from Clay now; he couldn't even hear the impact.

  He didn’t have anything but contempt for Ed, but the camaraderie he'd felt for his friends had been real. In Clay's world, Ed would have just continued to be a bitter teacher who wasted away the weekends doing fun things with his pals. Circumstances outside his control took that life away from him.

  Could Clay say he was a good person because he felt a little bad about driving him to his death?

  Kissy ran up onto his leg. She was staring at him. He heard movement on the stairs. He should keep his eyes open long enough to explain the situation.

  He couldn't even watch anymore.

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Sounds of voices and the sensation of floating.

  His body was heavy and weightless at the same time. He'd felt this sensation once before, but he couldn't remember when.

  Clay saw something in the haze between consciousness that reminded him of home. He saw the glow of a computer screen.

  That's sad…

  As if he wasn't already aware he'd been a terminally online loser.

  ># #### ### ###.

  That's right, there'd been text on his computer that shouldn't have been there. He'd been sitting in the dark of his room when someone messaged him on an application he never downloaded.

  >DESKNET (1 unread message!)

  He had a virus in the past that pretended to be Microsoft support with an automated chat and everything, so that's what he expected. However, the layout of this application was strangely sophisticated. It was like a crossover between Discord and Skype.

  He even had a username already.

  >CoolCidClay

  What? Let me do what?

  Are you a real guy?

  Did you download this shit onto my computer??

  >###

  #### #### ##### ## ### ## ####

  I wanted to talk to you

  Someone hacked into his computer and downloaded an app just to talk to him?

  Ha…

  That's scary as hell, but he was so beyond those concerns in his current state that he just thought it was funny someone would go to the trouble. His past self hadn't been amused.

  >CoolCidClay

  Ok

  No reason to get aggressive with a guy that had access to his computer and all that entailed. He'd just let him say what he wanted and do a factory reset.

  >###

  I just thought since ### ###### ## ######## ## ####### ####### ###### # ##### #### # #######

  Clay, are you ###### # #### ####?

  Clay swallowed. Who was this guy? How did he know all that?

  >CoolCidClay

  I guess

  >###

  Cool cool. ### ### ######### ###### #####?

  ######### ## ###### ## ###### #### ########

  >CoolCidClay

  Are you going to ask for money or something?

  How did you even get onto my computer? I'm usually pretty safe about this stuff now

  >###

  My affection points with Clay are ### ### ## #### ### #### ###### ## #### #########!

  # ####### ##### #### ### ######### about it would #### you ##

  >CoolCidClay

  I don't know how you could have expected me to act like that.

  Are you some bored Indian dude looking for a laugh?

  Well I'll be the first to admit that this would be sorta funny if it was happening to anyone except me

  Good thing I always keep my webcam covered up

  >###

  Don’t worry # ### ##### ### ### ####!

  >CoolCidClay

  Yeah okay cool

  -1 affection point from me, pal

  Clay couldn't remember everything the other person had been saying, but his responses let him feel the general vibe of the conversation.

  >###

  Haha #####! ### ## ##### #### ### ## #### ## ###### ##### ###! Hee hee! ^^

  >CoolCidClay

  Someone with your username shouldn't message like that. It's creepy as hell

  Which I guess is what you're going for

  Clay had already been creeped out a few messages ago but decided to try and play it cool while he put things in motion for his factory reset.

  >###

  Don't.

  His fingers froze. He hadn't even been looking at his screen when the message was sent, but he stopped anyway.

  >###

  ## ##! ## ###### ###### ######. Me getting sick of foreplay.

  #### ####### #### ########## ## ## ######

  Then there was nothing.

  After that, it was a series of sights and sounds that he couldn't bring into focus.

  When Clay's vision cleared, he found that his body was already running.