Chapter 39: The snap

Helio Romswell Jintel, had snapped. This wasn't something as simple as just mere rage. This was more. He was sane, and not sane at the same time. He laughed and didn't laugh at the same time. He wasn't the same person he was a moment ago, and yet, he was the same.

'What's going on? How can he move?' Blaze took a step back. Cold sweats dripped from his forehead as he looked at Helio. 'What's up with this guy?'

Blaze had used a fair amount of calculated Electricity. His saber had an embedded chip that allowed him to do that. Of course, this was illegal but that sure didn't stop him.

Helio had a very amused look on his face as he slowly moved forward like he was breaking through strings or something. He had a rather peculiar look on his face. It was somewhere between a grin and true madness. "I will kill you." That's all he was capable of saying.

Blaze was staggered for a second but he didn't back down anymore. Nothing's changed for him. If electricity couldn't bind the boy in front of him, then he'd just pin him down on the ground with gravity. 'But won't it break the rules to use my own powers on him?' In order to use gravity, he needed both his saber's powers and his own.

Blaze grinned. 'Not that it matters.' He didn't give a damn about the rules anyway. 'I'll just say gravitons are also projectiles.' Besides, no one would interfere with this duel anyway. So even if he cheated and lost he'd still achieve his goal of crippling this boy- this boy who shamed him in front of the whole school- this boy who he hated so much.

Blaze was sick of hearing people compare this nobody to him, a guy who had everything- him.

Blaze pointed his sword at the boy who was still moving rather slowly. The electricity did work on him but not to the extent Blaze hoped. But this time the boy stopped. Blaze just made gravity a hundred times stronger. Ordinary humans would have been crushed. And yet the boy- Helio just grinned and took another step. All the veins of his body popped up and throbbed as he took one more step: almost as if this was someone else in that body.

More and more steam came out of that boy.

"Monster." Blaze was out of breath. "You're a monster!" He screamed loud and fired off his best move, a stream of lightning shaped like a dragon- more like a snake.

The dragon-like snake buzzed, or was it a roar? It swam across the barrier and finally descending on Helio. Electricity blitzed everywhere across the barrier like thunder.

"Writhe you filthy rat!" Blaze was sure of his victory. For a second he thought he was in trouble but now that his best move was out, he was sure he'd win. He had won against Dan using this same technique back then. Dan had let him use this just like he (Dan) let Helio use his. So it came down to luck rather than actual skills for Blaze's win. Though Blaze knew that, he also knew using his brain was a skill in itself. 'All of you morons are the same.'

But he was wrong.

This boy- Helio wasn't the same.

Whoosh!

It was just one sound. Just one sound was enough to convey fear in Blaze's heart. His signature move, his best move, was all but rendered infective. Helio had done nothing. He just stood there with his toothy grin. He did nothing yet there was no visible damage on him. The electricity dispersed and he just kept walking.

"What the hell-"

Blaze couldn't finish as he was punched in the stomach the very next second. "I'll kill you." That's all he'd heard before he coughed up red liquid as if he was in the final stage of lung cancer.

Helio, had snapped.

***

Helio had also snapped twice in the past. Once when he was in middle school and one of the kids just happened to cut off one of Elsa's fingers: it wasn't by accident. Elsa's finger did grow back. But needless to say, the kid didn't get out so lucky.

And the other, exactly thirteen years ago on the day when three countries were destroyed. But this particular snap was different from the other two. The official records said that Helio Romswell Julio, his grandfather was the one who destroyed the three countries because of a certain incident. But no one really knew what this incident was. And though this incident involved Helio, he couldn't really remember anything as he was rather young back then. And he also didn't know that he'd snapped back then in the first place or what he did when he did.

But one thing Helio did remember, on that day, three countries were destroyed, on that day his grandfather disappeared, and on that very day, his father left home: the memories were hazy but he remembered the last words of his father to him.

"Goodbye, son. I'll find a cure." Of course, Helio's memories overlapped and he remembered the other words. "I've found a new girlfriend." Helio didn't know which one was true but one thing was for certain, his father abandoning them, made a lot of ill feelings grow inside of him.

Helio didn't understand any of that, or more like, he never tried to. Or was it that he never wanted to?

***

Blaze had flown at the edge of the barrier. He got up on shaky legs.

Helio's grin was still there. He moved as slowly as he did before.

There were a lot of faces watching eagerly with their hearts in their mouths but two were probably the most nervous- Elsa and her mother. To Elsa, this wasn't new. She'd seen her brother like this before. She only saw him like this once but it was probably the most memorable memory of her life, and back then, Helio had a similar grin and he ruthlessly butchered the boy who hurt her.

The only way she could stop Helio was by saying his name again and again and hugging him tightly. But this was different. She couldn't do anything about this. She was powerless.

Their mom, however, had never seen Helio like this. She did hear about this but she never saw it with her own two eyes. So this time, she just watched her son, with a serious expression. If need came to be, she'd have to stop this before it became something grave. 'Please don't be that. Please don't be the third stage.' For now, though, she could only pray.

The constant gasps of the audience, never really reached the two within the barrier.

"Sto-Stop! Don't take another step." Blaze stuttered.

Of course, Helio didn't listen.

"I-I give up!" Blaze raised both of his hands and dropped the saber.

The barrier came down too, as there was virtually nothing leaking from Helio's body: so there was no need to protect anyone outside.

Helio, now released from the gravity, just looked staggered. Was he confused?

'Gotcha!' Blaze flashed a grin, picked up the saber at blazing speeds, resumed the gravity, and lowered his own weight before launching one last all-out attack. "You damn amateur!"

He disappeared for a second and then a second later, kicked the left side of Helio's head. He was a coward. It was a hard kick, a very powerful one. But blazes' grin disappeared the moment his kick connected. His leg fractured: it was almost as though he was kicking Sylvanide, the strongest substance known to man. Helio grabbed the broken foot, his grin widened, almost tearing the skin on his cheeks, more steam came out, and a second later slammed Blaze on the floor, like he was swatting a fly or something.

Blaze crashed into the concrete floor and almost broke his skull: he did break three of his ribs and his femur though.

ARGHH!

Now that the barrier was gone, his screams were very audible. And so were the grasps of the crowd.

People were silent. Too silent.

One punch. Two punch.

Helio slammed his fist again and again on the poor guy. There was no escape. The whole crowd, everyone was staggered.

But two among the crowd looked with eager grins on their faces.

"Not bad. The guy did have some balls." He was the same one who'd called Helio a coward.

"But he doesn't have control. So he isn't that different from the kin. Or maybe-" The second guy grinned hard and focused on the match. "We'll just have to see."

***

"AY gia via upp-!" Blaze couldn't even talk anymore. His face was puffed up and light didn't reach his eyes anymore. If it weren't for the Battesuin life suit, he'd have been dead three times over. Just how many punches did he take? He didn't have the count.

Even the disciplinary committee was staggered at the whole thing. Just what was going on?

Helio raised his fist once more and the members of the committee just ran towards the two. If nothing was done, then Blaze was about to die.

But one voice reached Helio faster. "Stop!" Just one voice was enough to stop his fist. He looked at the voice. The voice belonged to a woman in her late thirties- his mother. "That's enough."

Helio's fist stuttered and so did his conscience. "Times, up." His grin disappeared and for a moment it looked like he had passed out.

'Thank God, it's not stage three.' His mother breathed a sigh of relief.

"M-o-m?" Helio's head spun but his sanity came back. 'What am I doing?' he didn't know what he was doing anymore but one thing was for certain, he was still in the middle of a duel. He saw his raised hand and then he saw the guy below. He remembered Blaze's words and the rage came boiling back. But he was still sane. "Never come near me or my family again!" He slammed his fist on Blaze, hitting him with an uppercut. And Blaze passed out.