Passive Aggressive

"Esquimo, I'm telling you, it was the craziest thing! Like I am sitting there next to her, not even able to recall her name, and every muscle in my body wants to wrap her up and never let her go. We had this attraction that was so undeniable but not lusty. It was just… real," Cordayl explains to his friend.

"Man, I know I'm not an ugly guy, but I must have been pretty cool to have pulled a girl like that," Cordayl says, seeing her silhouette in the colorful clouds.

"Yes, she was a pretty young lady," Esquimo admits as they continue their walk.

"That's an understatement," Cordayl tells him as they continue to walk. After a few minutes of silence, Cordayl asks, "Have you ever been in love, Esquimo?"

"Of course, lad. I was married for 56 years." Esquimo answers.

"Was?" Cordayl says, confused.

"She passed away a few years ago," Esquimo responds.

"Ohh, I'm sorry, Esquimo, I didn't mean to-. "

"It's fine, laddie," Esquimo tells him. "When I wasn't away at battle, we spent every moment we could together." Esquimo sighs. "That was a beautiful woman," Esquimo reminisces about his beloved.

Cordayl sighs, "I love women."

"Me too." Esquimo agrees. The two take a deep sigh together and walk with their heads in the sky.

Then, out of nowhere, Yanna catches up to them. Cordayl is surprised, but he is able to gain his head in the moments she takes to catch her breath. Once she regains her wind, she asks Cordayl where he is going.

"We were actually about to head out of town," Cordayl tells her.

"Ohh." She says, sadness taking over her face.

"Yeah, I wish I could stay longer, but we were just passing by," Cordayl explains.

"I understand. Well, I wanted to apologize for Champ's behavior earlier. It was completely embarrassing for me, and I am sorry to have put you in that situation. He's a nice guy. He just thinks with his muscles too often," Yanna tells him.

"It's cool. I'm just glad you have someone to make you happy," Cordayl says, flashing a half-hearted smile.

Cordayl and Yanna lock eyes, and then Yanna jumps into Cordayl and hugs him hard. "Don't forget about me again," Yanna says as the two dislodge.

"Never again," Cordayl tells her, smiling for real.

Turning around to leave, Yanna gasps as she sees Champ is there with his boxing buddies.

"You know, I thought it was suspicious how quickly you ran out of the gym after I finished sparring. I just had a feeling I would find you with this nobody again. Proving that he isn't a 'nobody.' Huh?" Champ says.

"Champ, I only came to say good-"

"SHUT UP!" Champ silences her with a backhand. "I'm sick of your lies and disrespect. Stand aside while I deal with this fool."

Cordayl, seeing Yanna get slapped in front of him, is instantly angered. Esquimo feels the air around him change and tells him, "Do what you have to do, laddie. Just remember, these are just a few dumb jocks. No need to overdo it."

"Duly noted," Cordayl says, walking towards the boxers approaching him.

Yanna runs between them, trying to stop them, but when Cordayl tells her to stand over by Esquimo, she doesn't question it and watches with fearful interest.

"I knew I should have dropped yo ass earlier today. But oh, well, better late than never. You ready, nobody?" Champ says, putting his hands up and bouncing on his toes.

"Sorry, Chump. If I beat you first, your friends will get scared. You'll have to wait, " Cordayl dismisses him.

"That's Champ! And I make the rules!" Champ says, taking a quick step and throwing a jab. The punch is fast to everyone but Cordayl, who steps through the jab and lands an open-palm strike on Champ's chest. The blow sends Champ tumbling yards away from the group.

Everyone but Esquimo is shocked at what they have just seen.

"Ohh shit! I think I hit him too hard." Cordayl says to himself.

"Don't worry, he has too much pride for a first hit KO." The voice tells him. Champ groggily stands to his feet, yelling at his friends to get Cordayl.

The boxers follow the order and dive in to destroy Cordayl. Cordayl easily bobs and weaves all the punches and combos. Although he wants to, he is conscious of not punching the boxers, only hitting them with open palms or tripping them and pushing them away.

Champ finds himself back into the scuffle, but as soon as he attacks, Cordayl tosses him out of the fight, truly wanting to save him for last.

After the crew of boxers tire out from hitting the hard pavement so many times, Champ is the only one still standing. Seeing this, Cordayl puts his hands up and motions for Champ to approach him.

Seeing the gesture, Champ's eyes grow in disbelief at the disrespect. He focuses his anger, and Champ's ill intent is so raw that his aura swirls around him. Everyone watches silently as Cordayl and Champ square up about a foot away.

Champ goes on the offensive, unleashing combos that are mere blurs to everyone else in attendance. While the outsiders think Cordayl is just getting bombarded with punches, he is dodging all of the hits Champ is throwing at him, waiting for the right time to strike.

"Timing is everything." Cordayl hears his father's words through his head.

When Champ throws a jab that leaves him exposed, Cordayl dives in to strike at the opening. It was bait, though, as Champ has an uppercut en route to meet Cordayl's chin.

Cordayl, seeing the smart move by Champ, lets instinct take over as he elegantly spins out of the swing's trajectory and lands a backhanded punch to Champ's ribs, sending him skidding to the side 20 feet away.

When Champ finally stops sliding on the concrete, the vibrations running through him leave his legs wobbly. He tries to take a step, but the moment he does, his whole side erupts in pain, and he drops to a knee.

Once the pain subsides, Champ opens his eyes to see Cordayl's feet in his upper peripheral. Then Cordayl picks him up by the throat, choking him while his legs dangle above the ground.

Champ is doing everything he can to get Cordayl to release him, throwing kicks and knees into Cordayl's torso. But this only makes Cordayl squeeze his neck tighter.

Champ looks down on Cordayl with hatred, only to see the look being mirrored by Cordayl. Still holding him in the air, Cordayl says to him, "Champ, my ass. No champion of men would ever strike a woman." And after that, Cordayl slaps him.

"Chumps hit women," Cordayl states, slapping him again and again, harder and harder each time.

Cordayl finally stops slapping him, and even though Champ's face is starting to swell, he still finds the strength to spit in Cordayl's face.

The nasty mix of blood and saliva that hits Cordayl on the forehead forces a flashback.

Early in his life, Cordayl is at a foreign market beside his father when the merchant spits in his father's face, refusing to do business with people like him.

Cordayl growls in anger, ready to help his father to teach this ignorant fool a lesson.

That's when everyone who was chilling in the store directed their hostility towards the two outsiders.

Cordayl's father wipes his face and grabs Cordayl, and they leave the store.

His father walks out of the store cool as ice, but Cordayl can feel the anger fuming off of his father. After a silent minute, Cordayl's father tells him to fill their bottles at the fountain while he collects a piece of jewelry he dropped at the shop.

Cordayl nods his head and runs to fill up the bottles.

Cordayl's father, Cordon, returns to the shop, interrupting the store owner's jovial conversation with his fellow townsmen.

The store owner mocks Cordon, asking if he wants to fight about the prior disrespect. Once the store owner says this, everyone in the room stands up to back up the owner, showing they have an advantage in numbers.

Cordon unleashes his aura and darkens the store, replying, "No, I want to kill about it," Then he swoops through the room.

While filling the bottles, Cordayl sees his father calmly walk into the store, where he was disrespected. Cordayl quickly fills the bottles and rushes to the store to back up his father.

Bursting into the store, Cordayl sees a store full of unmoving bodies. Cordayl isn't frightened, though. It's nothing new to him. He just wishes he could have got in on the action.

Cordayl's father asks Cordayl to pour water on his bloody hands. Once his hands are clean, he casually chugs the rest.

Thanking his son, they walk out of the store and back to the fountain so that Cordon can refill his bottle. While at the fountain, Cordayl's father tells him, "Know there is no shame in walking away from a fight, my son. But if someone decides to spit on you, a sign of pure disrespect, they have accepted whatever wraith may fall upon them. Understood?" Cordon ask.

"Yes, sir," Cordayl answers.

His father splashes him with water, catching the young Cordayl off guard. Cordayl tries to retaliate and splash water on his father, but his father reverses gravity, causing all the liquid and Cordayl to float into the sky. Cordon grabs his son and releases his gravity control, causing everything to fall back to the earth.

With Cordayl on his shoulders, the two leave town to return home.

Returning to the present, still mildly dazed at the disrespect shown to him, Champ seizes the moment to break free of Cordayl's grip and deliver a killer strike to Cordayl's nose.

The powerful punch knocks Cordayl's hood clean off his head, revealing his long, dark locks.

"The Diablo," Champ and all his boys whisper before Cordayl returns the favor and smashes Champ's face with a closed fist.

Champ's face seems to wrap around Cordayl's fist as the blow knocks Champ off his feet, pushing his head toward the concrete.

Cordayl, angered for real now, continuously beats upon Champ, with everyone just watching in horror.

Yanna turns to Esquimo, begging him to step in and stop him, but Esquimo responds, "You should never spit on someone."

Yanna looks at him in shock and sprints over to stop Cordayl.

She grabs his shoulders, screaming for him to stop, as he has made his point, but Cordayl ignores her and continues to punch Champ over and over again.

The only thing that gets Cordayl to stop is when Yanna throws herself over Champ's unconscious body, forcing Cordayl to pull his punch an inch above her back.

Tears running down her face, Yanna looks up at Cordayl. A fear she has never felt enters her body as Cordayl's black aura hides every feature except his eyes.

Seeing the look in his eyes after seeing him utterly destroy Champ, she can't help but accept that Cordayl could be the monster the media claimed he was.

Cordayl, quickly calming down, says, "Choose a better man." He throws his hoodie up and rejoins Esquimo.

Champ's boys run over to grab and take him to the medical center. But Yanna stands there watching Cordayl walk out of the city.

"I did choose a good man. He just keeps walking out of my life."