Confrontations: A Wolf Pretending To Be A Sheep, Part 14 - Fist To Fist

"I Have To Know!," Aaron growled, griping The Ractor much like a surgeon using a scalpel and pressed it against the terrified Man's foreskin, causing a small but definite drop of blood to form.

Seeing what Aaron was about to do and where he had The Ractor, The Man tried to scream, beg, even plead but no sound escaped his lips.

"I'll give you one more chance to tell me what you know.," Aaron stated calmly without a trace of emotion and with a lightning fast flourish, Aaron made a deep horizontal cut across the Man's thigh before swiftly turning the blade and removing a thin, nearly transparent slice from his thigh then another and another, raking the blade back and forth. It would have been intensely painful to begin with but with The Ractor it was even more so.

Twenty minutes had passed since Aaron had first began his gruesome work and he was in the process of using the modified Dermal Regenerator to once again repair the damage his aggressive questioning had wrought.

"Passed Out Again.," Aaron thought, pressing his thumb against one of the few unbroken ribs he had, snapping it in two with relative ease and causing the Man to regain consciousness with a start. The Man had passed out numerous times due to the pain, understandable really, and each time Aaron would bring him around not with smelling salts but with expertly applied pressure to one of his ribs, breaking them in the most efficient and painful way possible without exerting the considerable **** usually necessary.

As the Man's frightened eyes snapped open and his body twisted, Aaron smiled down at him. The devices Aaron used to paralyze him were very effective but could be overcome to a degree if the pain was intense enough which is why he could move if only slightly. The Man's entire body rigid like a tree branch about to snap in twain.

"Who. Is. SHE?," Aaron asked, holding up The Ractor which caused the Man to recoil or at least as much as he could., "Who hired you and what. does. She want?"

When he received no answer, Aaron's already dark expression darkened even further and a faint spark could be seen in his eyes.

Aaron froze. Something was wrong, Aaron could feel the air moving and it felt like The World was shifting around him faster than he could keep up.

"What's Going On?!," Aaron thought, Suddenly feeling a strange buzzing in the air around him. It was almost electrical then Aaron's entire body tensed as he looked down into the eyes of the Man he was torturing and saw the reflection of a descending shadow holding something glinting like metal in its hands.

As time seemed to slow, Aaron heard a ghostly voice whisper in his ear., "**** Is Coming Young One... MOVE!," Before throwing himself to the side, barely avoiding a large combat knife aimed at his heart from behind.

Aaron rolled to his feet and faced his new enemy who was crouched beside the Man Aaron had been 'Interrogating' their blade stopping mere millimeters from the Man's heart.

"This should be IMPOSSIBLE!," Aaron shouted., "How did you avoid being detected by my satellites? HOW?!"

Aaron had been surprised by an almost inconceivable occurrence, His satellites which he thought were all-seeing were proven to still be **** and that in turn meant he was ****. Once on the roof was already too much but now they had been deceived again. Aaron scowled leveling his guns at his new foe, having pulled the pair of matte black Chinese G31s from his waistband. Whatever Cloaking Technology his new adversary was using was impossibly advanced because even now... Even as they stood up and faced Aaron, sheathing their blade in a scabbard behind their back he couldn't detect them even when scanning the area they were standing with his satellites. Their form seemed to flicker in and out like some sort of ghostly apparition appearing and disappearing into and out of a shimmering black fog that clung around portions of their body.

It was like nothing Aaron had ever seen or heard about for that matter and he had seen some crazy technology during his short time working for Omen but this was on a whole 'nother level. His opponent this time was dressed in all black from head to toe, the material what whatever it was seemed to be form fitting but at the same time it didn't give one any sense of the wearer's gender or build. Every part of the body was covered and a hood of some sort was draped over the head. Aaron stared intently, trying to pierce the swirling veil of Darkness that the hood cast over the wear's face. Even with his keen vision, Aaron could see nothing beyond The Darkness.

"What do you want and why are you here? This Man and his Men attacked me first.," Aaron offered coldly.

"A̸͈̍͆̏̄g̵̲̳̻̜̣̤̮̳̑͜l̵̢͕̼̆̉̈́́͊͗͋̉͘͠a̷̙̻͘ See To Kassim's Wounds and Get Him Ready To Move. I'll Deal With The Brat.," The Mysterious Assailant said in a piercing, almost metallic voice that was obviously machine generated. Aaron winced and drew in a sharp breath, A warm trickle of blood falling from his left ear. Even after the mysterious, masked individual stopped talking their words continued to reverberate inside Aaron's skull in a series of painful and disjointed voices.

The one The Assassin was talking to appeared on one knee near the Man now known as Kassim, touching their fingers to his neck.

"Pulse Is Strong But Sensors Say He Is In Bad Shape.," The Mysterious Assassin's cohort said in almost the exact same metallic screech.

Aaron gritted his teeth and tucked his guns back in his waistband., "I have no quarrel with you. Leave and I will allow you to walk out of here in one piece."

The Assassin merely held up a finger, moving it from side to side disapprovingly.

Aaron knew what was coming, a low growl growing quickly within his throat as he bared his teeth. The veins in his temples and around his eyes bulging and squirming under his skin while his pupils shrank to pin prick-sized slits and his heart rate accelerated to twice its normal rate then three times, five times and finally ten times its normal rate.

The Assassin rushed toward him like a bullet train but Aaron disappeared at the moment of impact. The Assassin gasped just as Aaron appeared from behind with a spinning knuckle aimed at the base of their skull. The Assassin just manged to duck, delivering an upward fist strike to his chest but sensing the attack Aaron caught the fist with his other hand, twisting his assailant's arm. Without missing a beat, The Assassin flipped, delivering a normally fatal heel strike to Aaron's temple as they landed on their feet.

Aaron was dazed but he didn't let go, instead his grip tightened but The Assassin didn't waste a moment, having landed on their feet they immediately followed up with a palm strike aimed at Aaron's chin. Aaron's reaction was instantaneous, tilting his head back to avoid the no doubt skull-rattling attack. Aaron growled, looking into the darkness that served as his assailant's face, blood dripping from a long, wide gash on his chin. Aaron had managed to avoid the attack but the **** of it still cut him even without physical contact.

Aaron twisted his body while pulling his assailant toward him with the intent to drive his elbow into their face but his assailant seemed to know what he was up to and blocked it with their palm.

Aaron twisted his assailant's arm as he jumped into the air, planting both feet on their chest, kicking them away from him while he flipped through the air and landed gracefully and silently on his feet. Aaron spread his arms, bowing with respect but never taking his shining eyes off of his target.

"You're Quite Good!," The Mysterious Assassin complimented., "Who Trained You?"

The pain from whatever technology his opponent was using to disguise their voice was like a nail being driven into his ear canal but Aaron didn't show any outward sign of pain or even discomfort.

"Self-Taught.," Aaron commented blankly, facing his opponent, seemingly without any fear at all.

"Really?!," The Metallic Voice sounded quite curious. Even the other Assassin who was busily tending to Kassim looked up at Aaron's declaration.

"Amazing!," The Assassin declared, dashing at Aaron even faster than before. Aaron was just able to avoid a furious onslaught of punches, palm strikes and finger jabs followed by a series of spinning kicks which transitioned into a flurry of rapid-fire kicks aimed at his head and chest. Whoever this Assassin was they were certainly not ordinary... The level of training they displayed and the sheer precision of their technique was not something commonly available anywhere in The World, Aaron was sure of that. Now Aaron didn't fancy himself an expert nor did he think he was a pushover but whoever this person was they were giving him all he could handle.

Aaron was just managing to sweep their blows aside, It was too dangerous to block them. His right hand was still numb from blocking the fist attack meant for his chest earlier. He could still use it but there was no feeling whatsoever in his hand below the wrist. Whatever kind of attack it had been, It was obvious to Aaron that it wasn't ordinary. Not by a long shot.

Aaron delivered a spinning back knuckle with his left hand which was blocked but in the very next instant, Aaron connected with a rising knee to his assailant's ribs. He was rewarded with the sound of bone breaking as he spun his body, extending his leg and rag-dolling his opponent several yards. The attack looked savage and indeed it was but his opponent recovered almost instantly from being thrown across the street, pushing off from the building with both feet and flying at Aaron like a Sword aimed at his heart.

Aaron dropped to his back at the last second and in a move that would make any B-Boy envious, he spun in place as his opponent soared over him, pushing himself up into a handstand before using his leg like a descending axe to slam his opponent into the ground with tremendous ****. Aaron rolled backward and onto his feet with a huff.

"Damn It My Attack Was Blocked!...," Aaron thought as his vision blurred and a thin stream of blood escaped the corner of his mouth but he could still see well enough to tell that his opponent was laying on their back having turned in mid-air, crossing their arms to disperse as much of the attack as possible.

"There's No Way They Didn't Suffer Some Internal Damage From That Hit... No Way!," Aaron roared in his mind as he watched his assailant get up with very little trouble, leaving behind the scarred asphalt which bore deep cracks from the sheer **** of the impact, causing a peculiar spider-web pattern to form along the interconnecting series of cracks in the ground.

Aaron felt like his opponent was toying with him, mocking him and he didn't like it one bit but it didn't take a Genius to figure out that his opponent was skilled enough to hold him off until he collapsed from overexertion at which point he would be easy to deal with once he could no longer fight back.

Aaron felt a pain in the back of his skull and a rushing tingle spreading over the inside of his skull, When it reached his eyes they rolled back. His opponent flinched momentarily seeing the abrupt change in Aaron's movements.

Aaron was still as a statue and his opponent seemed unsure of what to do for several seconds, a lifetime in a fight where life and **** are decided by the outcome. Suddenly Aaron's body language changed as he lifted his foot out in front of him and acted as if he were bouncing a hacky sack or an invisible ball on top of it. The Mysterious Stranger watched for a second then hurled themselves forward toward Aaron who looked up with a toothy smile as he flipped forward bringing his leg down with bone-shattering ****. The stranger threw up their arms to block, instantly stopping them in their tracks. The ground underneath the stranger cracked from the **** and a nearly imperceptible groan of pain escaped from behind The Darkness they had instead of a face.

Aaron's eyes glowed faintly but they appeared vacant as if they belonged to a Man long dead but otherwise unaware of his dreadful condition. Without pause, Aaron twisted his body, spinning to deliver a vicious kick to his Assailant's head which they blocked with a forearm. Aaron immediately followed up by dropping his leg and shifting his weight, attempting an attack from the opposite side only to be **** back by a two-handed thrust aimed at his chest. The attack didn't connect as Aaron stopped his attack and deftly stepped back effortlessly jogging backward until he was out of striking distance.

Obviously growing annoyed with the level of resistance Aaron was able to put up against their attacks, Aaron's Assailant reached down to their side to The Darkness gathered around their thigh, their hand disappearing momentarily only to reappear seconds later holding a gun which was quickly pointed at Aaron.

However, Before they could pull the trigger, Aaron reached behind him and removed the clip containing the last of the ammo for his Blake-Kenner from his waistband and tossed it toward his opponent who shot it without thinking causing the remaining ammunition to explode, peppering the area in deadly shrapnel. Aaron thrust his hands out and risked overloading his already damaged Light Shield by using it to project a wall of solidified light in front of him to block the molten fragments. Aaron gritted his teeth as the heat from overworked Shield seared his flesh and bone.

Aaron's little surprise saved his life, preventing most of the shrapnel from reaching him and the fragments that did only amounted to some rough looking cuts and scraps but were otherwise non-fatal or not really all that deep. The biggest problem was the heat and the concussive ****. The heat burned Aaron's arms and the **** of the blast fractured the bones of his left forearm and his right upper arm but he didn't drop the shield.

The blast was over in an instant though to those involved it seemed like minutes had passed. As the shield flickered and faded from sight, Aaron was glad he had this trump card to play or things wouldn't have turned out as well as they had. Aaron staggered forward now that the **** pushing against the shield was gone and coughed up blood. He was relived but as the smoke cleared, Aaron's eyes widened and he saw that his opponent was unharmed.

Aaron drew his remaining guns from his waistband and fired while rushing his opponent who returned fire also while rushing toward Aaron. The gap was closing rapidly with every second and the margin for error was shrinking, The slightest mistake now meant either **** or grave injury. The display of Agility and Speed from both sides was nothing short of God-like. Soon every shot was point blank but Aaron and his opponent still managed to avoid being shot. No matter where the shot was aimed be it the head, the neck, the chest, a limb... It was always just a fraction of a second to slow. The problem was that while his opponent seemed tireless, Aaron was tiring fast. He had to slow down if only for a few seconds or he would collapse for sure and that would be the end so he decided on a **** gambit.

While avoiding a shot to the face, Aaron thrust his gun forward which his opponent avoided just as he knew they would. His feint was avoided by his opponent by tilting their head to the side and with a flick of his wrist Aaron sent his gun high into the air before bring his hand down with incredible speed, burying his index and middle finger into a crucial cluster of nerves in his opponent's shoulder just above the collar bone. Immediately his opponent's arm fell limp at their side and their gun fell from their hand and clattered on the ground.

In that split second, Aaron's Assailant unsheathed their knife and slashed at Aaron's face. Aaron was able to step back enough to avoid losing an eye but not fast enough to avoid being cut on the cheek. The cut was deep and bleed profusely but aside from a stinging sensation Aaron barely noticed it. Instead he was focused on not getting killed.

"Just give up. I didn't want this fight. Hell, I didn't even start this fight.," Aaron stated breathlessly, trying to calm his breathing., "It Was Him and His PEOPLE THAT STARTED THIS!," Aaron roared, pointing at Kassim who was still being tended to., "It Was Self-Defense!"

"You Call What You Did To Him Self-Defense!," Came the metallic screech of The Assassin.

"He Threatened Me and What's More He May Be A Threat To Those I Cherish Above All Else. What I Did May Be Regrettable But It Was Necessary... I Suspect You Would Have Done The Same... or Worse.," Aaron stated with Cold Resolve.

Aaron felt a prickling on the back of his neck and he had the sense that The Assassin was smiling from behind The Darkness of their face. Aaron raised his hand into the air and caught his gun, not taking his eyes off of his opponent.

"Amusing.," Screeched the metallic voice. Aaron quirked an eyebrow but before he could say or do anything, The Assassin leveled their knife at Aaron's throat.

"Haven't you heard what they say about knives and gunfights?," Aaron asked with a chuckle, trying not to appear as worn out as he felt.

There was a loud pop and Aaron used one of his guns to bat away the projectile... It was the blade of the knife The Assassin was holding.

Aaron chuckled at such a ridiculous ploy but there was something he didn't count on. In the hand that held the knife there was a Gun instead of a handle without a blade and before Aaron could overcome his surprise three rounds were already heading his way. He'd snapped out of his shock a fraction of a second too late.

"Shit, Can't Avoid The Hit... Only One Chance!.," That was Aaron's last thought just before the three slugs slammed into his chest and he went flying backward, A stream of blood trailing from his mouth as he did before slamming into a brick wall and then falling to the unforgiving concrete with a sickening thud.