"I will give it to you, kid. This power of yours is interesting. But it's not enough to kill me, the undefeated underworld boxing ring champion." Riyaal said in a strained tone.
Theo's hand was blown upwards by a strong gust of wind, causing him to stagger backward before regaining his footing. Riyaal was kneeling, his face swollen from the immense impact that crushed his head into the ground. His arms were bloody from punching Theo's hand. The men around him were a bloody mess from being crushed by the impact.
Kindred smiled real wide, relieved that Riyaal was still alive. "Riyaal, I am glad you are still okay, old friend."
"Of course, I am. The child caught me off guard, is all. I will deal with him swiftly," Riyaal said, flexing his muscular arms and amassing a large amount of green aura around them.
"Hold on! That is no longer necessary. We have already lost. We are no match for them." Kindred gestured over at Dante, who was still glaring at him impatiently. Riyaal looked around him, counting his fallen men who could not withstand the force of the impact.
"Don't lump me in with these losers. I was just caught off guard, is all. I will make short work of this kid. I won't be satisfied until I kill his friends and anyone he has ever cared about after the humiliation he has shown me." Riyaal said, gritting his bloody teeth.
Theo's hand had recovered from the blows it had sustained from Riyaal's desperate barrage of attacks. "I see you are ready for another round! Only this time, I won't be holding anything back," Theo said, shaking his enlarged hand.
Riyaal laughed and said, "I was just warming up, kid. Don't you know that the best fighters are also the best entertainers? The only way to truly entertain is to create the illusion that the other fighter has a chance."
A green aura continued to build around his arms, and Thalia grabbed her throat, feeling as if Riyaal was sucking the oxygen out of the tunnel.
"You see, these brass knuckles I'm wearing are no ordinary fighting accessory. They are my prized possessions and personal relics. I call them the Twin Busters, but their true name is Miele."
The wind wrapped around his arms, forming two small but violent-looking cyclones. It appeared as though a thin veil of raging wind covered his skin. The cyclones were sucking in everything around them—dirt, rocks, and debris—only to crush them within their rotation.
"Alright, kid, don't blame me for what's about to happen next. You were just unfortunate enough to cross my path in this lifetime," Riyaal said as he thrust both of his arms out in front of him.
"ALMIGHTY VACUUM!" Riyaal yelled out. The wind intensified around his arms. The twisters around his arms began sucking up the air around them, causing even the men on the ground to gravitate toward Riyaal. As they flew toward him, he ruthlessly pulled them in like a vortex and punched the bodies of his fallen comrades, sending them shooting at Theo like human missiles.
The only downside to Theo's new partial transformation was that it didn't allow him to make quick, decisive moves. As a result, he barely dodged the bodies being flung at him. Thalia quickly adjusted her skirt to avoid giving everyone a show. Looking back, she saw Tyler clutching his bow; he must have thrust it into the ground to keep himself from being pulled in.
Thalia found it challenging to navigate the cramped tunnel cut off from the sky above. However, she could still summon the wind to help steady her balance and prevent her from being pulled into the growing vacuum. Dante stood in the same spot where he had thrust his blade into the ground earlier, his irritation more evident than before. The others had retreated far enough that they seemed mostly unaffected by Riyaal's power.
Theo began to lose his footing as the vacuum intensified. He involuntarily took a step back, fighting to maintain his balance. The only thing keeping him anchored was his enormous arm, which acted like a weight behind him, preventing him from being sucked in.
"I can do this all day, kid. Miele's true power lies in its permanence. I can keep the vacuum going as long as I keep supplying it with my aura. The longer you hold out, the harder it will be for you to breathe." Riyaal laughed, though it was laced with pain. His muscular frame was still battered and bruised from Theo's last blow.
Theo glanced back at Thalia, who was clearly trying to find a way to use her powers without endangering everyone in the confined space. He flashed her a goofy smile, which unsettled Thalia because she knew that when he made that silly face, he was preparing to do something reckless.
"My four minutes are almost up. Let's finish this, Riyaal!" Theo shouted, lifting his massive gray arm from the ground; it left a hand-shaped imprint in the cement. He was lifted off the ground by Riyaal's wind vacuum.
"I am glad you have finally accepted your fate. As a reward for your bravery, I will kill you first." Riyaal said with a smile.
Theo was now tumbling through the air, drawn in by the powerful vacuum.
"THEO!" Thalia screamed, reaching for her storm fan. She was fully prepared to launch an all-out attack, consequences, and fallout be damned.
However, Theo flashed a cocky smile. "I never said the game was over, now did I?" While mid-air, Theo swung his enlarged arm with all his might, enhanced by the momentum of the vacuum.
"BACKHAND!" Theo shouted, pulling his arm back before releasing it toward Riyaal, who this time looked ready for the impact, lifting his arms to brace himself for the blow.
Riyaal quickly reversed the flow of the wind, causing it to rotate counterclockwise. The sudden shift in rotation created a loud popping sound as the two cyclones pushed everything away from them instead of pulling it in. Riyaal summoned every ounce of his strength and channeled it into a collision with Theo's backhand. The tunnel began to shake as Theo's hand struck the wind. Ultimately, the combination of centrifugal force and Theo's natural strength prevailed. The impact of the slap sent Riyaal flying, knocking him into Kindred. They were both sent flying toward the steel-reinforced double doors, completely ripping one of them from its hinges.
"I see our training hasn't been a total waste!" Dante exclaimed as he pulled his blade from the ground and sheathed it. Thalia collapsed, her nerves completely frayed, although she was faring better than Tyler, who was lying flat on his back.
"Hurry and wrap those bandages back around your arm. You don't have much time left," Dante urged, glancing past the now-open steel doors.
Theo had landed upside down, hitting his head hard enough to leave a hand-sized dent in the tunnel wall. He managed a smile but then groaned in pain.
"Yes, Captain!" he replied weakly.
Dante began walking toward the doors. "All of you, stop lying around. We have a mission to complete."