Marvel: Quest System

(a/n I think i might have gotten a little violent in this chapter, but I'm not sure. I didn't write any gore though. just a warning if you don't like bones breaking and stuff)

After making small talk for a few minutes after Pete's fight, it seemed like it was my turn to fight. Pete sounded a lot more confident than usual though. Maybe defeating his long-time bully finally got some weight off of his shoulders?

Anyway, the guy I was fighting was apparently named SERPENT, while I was named GRIZZLY. The scouter, Joe, Jack, whatever his name was, probably changed my name from the usual BEAR since it sounded a little goofy in this situation.

After Pete wished me luck on my fight, I started out of the waiting room, into the tunnel, and into the arena. Damn, even on a second glance, it looks empty as hell. Now that I'm going to fight here, potentially to my death, I'm a little nervous.

I walked up to the octagon in the middle and tried to jump over, but as I wasn't as agile as Peter, I had to grip the ledge halfway up the jump and heave my way over. I landed heavily in the ring with a thud. Damn, that was aura right there. I wonder if I look like I'm in a boss cutscene right now. Just to ensure I look cool- I mean intimidate my opponent, I flick my nose like Bruce Lee.

(a/n Oh right I forgot to mention this beforehand, but around this point of the story, MC looks close to Toji from JJK)

I get my first good look at the opponent across from me, and sigh. "Why do all these guys gotta be so edgy man..." I think to myself. 

My opponent seemed to be wearing the same type of clothes that Flash was wearing, probably since they're backed by the same organization I'm guessing. Some key differences was that it wasn't as heavy as Flash, without the goofy knee, elbow, and shoulder pads that he was wearing. Now that I think of it, those are probably just what Flash used to wear to his football games. Other than that, He seemed to be wearing a turtleneck under his vest, for reasons that I couldn't guess even if I tried.

His face was sharp, looking as if Pitbull (You know, like, Mr 305? Mr Worldwide?) was on tren. Oh yeah, and like Pitbull, he was bald. I guess he's just more aerodynamic. Hey, that would make a good quip!

"Ding Ding Ding!!!"

The bell rang, without even giving me the chance to introduce myself to my opponent. He immediately lunged at me, throwing a strange strike at me. I've never fought whatever this fighting style is. It certainly isn't anything MMA. Maybe it's some secret Chinese style?

He made his hands into a Y shape, With his pointer and middle finger together, and his ring and pinkie together. It looked a lot like the Dragon Claw that Sabo from One Piece used, but it was more... Slippery? Wait, Instead of claws, it should be fangs instead. Since he's a serpent and all.

Me being, you know, the "bear", I tried to trade hit for hit, getting ready to strike the second he got close to hitting me.

He closed the distance, slashing his fangs across my face. I use that interval to throw a strong uppercut.

A second passed. Two slash marks appeared on my cheek and started leaking blood. He just stood there, unaffected by my uppercut. No. That can't be true. It probably didn't hit him at all. I look more closely, and there, my right arm is misdirected, a few inches to the side of his cranium.

It looked like while attacking with the fangs on his right arm, he was using the fangs on his left, as some sort of hook to misdirect oncoming attacks. A strong fighting style with both defence and offence. No wonder this guy gets called the serpent.

Luckily, his attacks aren't that strong, and doesn't really have enough power to knock me out. I can't keep trading blows with this guy because that would just tire me out and accumulate damage to myself.

The answer came to me as fast as lightning. How could I be this stupid? The flaw in his technique was obvious:

He only has two fangs. When he's attacking, he can only block one strike. When he's defending, he can block two at once. This technique could have been unbeatable in the prior boxing rings he went to, but not here. Here, the fighting isn't just limited to our fists.

Looks like he met his match. The first fight he came to, he had to fight me, who uses muay Thai. My whole body is a weapon. My head, my fists, my elbows, my knees, my calves, my feet. If I catch him off guard, he can't win.

However, he could always dodge out of the way. First, I need to lure him into a corner. Good thing I'm used to that. 

I open my guard, trying to look as big and imposing as possible, to cut off as many escape routes as possible. I slowly approach the serpent while throwing strong lefts and rights, pressuring him into a corner.

Soon, he got backed up into the corner of the octagon. And to his surprise, he couldn't fully slip away one of my jabs, which instead of hitting his jaw, nicked his neck. However, knuckles caught onto the fabric of his turtleneck and tore a bit of fabric off. 

This was enough to see what was under it though. My blood went cold. The reason why the serpent was wearing a turtleneck to a fight, was because there was a tattoo underneath. Not just any tattoo, but one of a skull with many tentacles coming out of it. 

Hydra.

That explains it. Both the Serpent and Flash are both fighters from Hydra. That explains Flash's sudden growth in power. Flash and the serpent were probably sent here to scout out any new recruits or threats while testing their strengths. This was bad. 

If I win here, they might report me to the main command, to kidnap me and mindwash me into an agent. It could be even worse for Peter since he has family they could use against him as blackmail. I couldn't live to see myself and my new friend getting turned into glorified magic nazis.

I made my choice. This guy needs to go down.

Looks like I spent a little too long thinking about the implications of hydra, as the serpent had enough time to slash my abdomen multiple times, leaving cuts in my clothes, as the newly formed cuts started to sting and burn.

I couldn't waste any more time. I throw out my usual straight right, knowing that he's going to use his fangs to parry the attack. 

He sneered at me with a taunting expression, "Is this all you know how to do?" Written all over his face.

I bash my knee into his unassuming liver.

A shocked look passes through his face, as he coughs out a mouthful of blood.

Before he could further react, I caved his face in with a devastating headbutt. I could feel his nose cracking and teeth cracking under the crippling force.

This isn't enough. Hydra can't know about me. Not yet. I'm not strong enough yet.

I reel back my head, and it looks like the Serpent is still holding on. I grab him by the sides of his face and pull down his face to meet face to face with my rising knee. I hear another crack.

Still holding on, I throw him over my head, and into the middle of the ring. As he falls to the ground, the breath is knocked out of him, making him unable to move.

I have myself on top of the walls of the cage like I did when entering the ring. I look down on his prone form. He looks like he's already about to die, blood pouring from most of his holes.

I remember that this is real life now, not just a movie. The blood on my skin suddenly feels so cold. I shouldn't be doing this. I start trembling. I look down at him one more time, this time with remorse. 

Our eyes connect. He glares at me with hatred. He Spits a blob of blood in my direction. "Hail Hydra." He whispers under his breath.

I steel myself back up. I have to do this. If I don't, I don't know what will happen to me and Peter. He is under brainwashing anyway. I'm doing him a favour.

But am I?

My fists clench so hard that my nails dig into my palms. This isn't a comic book. There's no guarantee this guy wakes up in a hospital with amnesia, suddenly deciding to turn his life around. If I do this, it's permanent. I become the guy who does this.

I look at Serpent. Bloodied, beaten, and still glaring at me like he'd tear me apart if he had the chance.

I should feel justified. He's Hydra. He'd do worse to me if the roles were reversed. But my stomach twisted at the thought that this was just another assignment for him. A scouting mission. A trial run.

What if it was me lying there? Would he hesitate? Does that even matter?

I shut my eyes tight. There's no room for doubt. Not here. Not when the alternative is letting Hydra come for me and Peter.

I take a deep breath.

I jump.

I squint my eyes shut.

I jump. Bend my knee, making it face downwards. An instant later, A soft crunch and multiple loud cracks come from under my knee. I dropped a falling knee with all my body weight right onto his torso. I could feel multiple ribs cracking. The crushing was probably his lungs collapsing. 

His body jerks once. A wet gurgle comes out of his throat.

He won't live for much longer. Look, down, and luckily he's fully knocked out. I turn around and exit the ring. 

Usually, I would be cheering, but this victory doesn't feel so good. It feels... Hollow.

(a/n Sorry for the late upload guys. Its like 3 in the morning where I'm at rn. I'm sorry to say I probably won't be uploading until Sunday this week. It's the finals and stuff right before spring break. I have 2 goddamn essays, 1 short story, 1 lab, and 2 projects due by Saturday.Like I should not be spending this much time on this book, but whatever. Sorry guys, I'll be back on Sunday! At least i'll probably post every day during spring break)

(a/n2 sorry for the second note guys, but this is important. I was wondering why my fic wasn't going in the collection ranking or power ranking , when it should probably be at like top100 for collection and top 150 for power right now, but apparently its because I don't have enough reviews? Drop a review please! it'll help me out a lot. )