Chapter 315 - 315. Speed Or Strength?

The boy that had been overly arrogant and crumpled before him, just looked at Art's outstretched hand as if it was a joke. The announcement of Art winning had already been played. However, the boy was still afraid that the beads Art controlled would move again. 

"Sorry again, I was trying to hold that move for later but you kind of set it up and I needed to make the most of the situation." The more Art realized he had really scared the boy the worse he felt. 

As if someone was shaking him awake, the boy finally grasped Art's hand. "I was fine. Just thinking. Your move was...a lot." He wanted to come off as strong but ended up just looking mote lost at the end. 

"That's kind of the goal. I wanted to push myself to control as many mall beads to take down an opponent slowly. It might wear in to their mind more than their body. You only have a few small bruises after all." The boy started to check his body and found that Art was right. "The small pricks of pain cause your body to think you are being hurt worse than you are. It's the same as paper cuts. One of my friends' sister thought of it. I need to pay her back for the idea." 

Art wasn't lying. Cara had given him the idea when he was practicing making his spoon feed him cereal the other day at the breakfast table. She had taken the day off to prepare for the tournament and Art had already practiced in front of the family all week after the Ricktor tournament. 

Cara had first asked him to get her silverware from the drawer since she wanted to be a little lazy. When he brought each every one to one it led to her asking why. After some deliberation, he started moving multiple at once then was asked again about how many her could move. 

Asher had joined in at that point and pushed him to move all of the large metal marbles he had from a magnetic toy as a kid. This better demonstrated the limits that Art had. After playing with it for some time Asher and Art had figured out that if they give the metal momentum and then remove control Art could get an endless cycle of flying metal marbles. 

Applying this to the paper cut theory and smaller metal beats in the weights gave Art his new signature move. "I just call my signature move bullet punch but it's pretty much all of my punches." The boy was controlling his breathing and getting more relaxed now that he knew he was not seriously hurt. A nurse still came over anyways to give him a check over and make him leave for the nurse's station. However, the boy still managed to shout a future challenge back to Art. 

"That was awesome. I saw your match from mine and honestly. Cool. I think you should ask for the video after the tournament is done." Laura had popped up from nearby. She was still going strong as well which was not a surprise since landing a hit on her was harder and harder every single day. 

"My last opponent recognized me and decided that they didn't want to challenge the fastest person they had ever see. The match was over before even I could move." Laura was annoyed and was munching on a cracker in her frustration. 

"Of all the people to have passed it's you because of speed and not Jackson because of the insane strength. Although, I haven't seen him yet." Art was worried his friends would be knocked out before they ever gt to the finals. 

"I have seen them a few times. Only talked once though. I have the speed to get from one side to the other so it really helps." Laura was speaking a matter of factly. Art couldn't argue since it was true that in ten minutes the only person that could search any of them out was Laura. 

"Oh, and here I go again. Good Luck Art." Laura was gone again. This time she saw her own familiar face. 

"Jackson! Let's give it our all. If you can catch me I will share my snacks." Laura was trying to tempt Jackson already and throw him off. 

"If you can win I will bring some of my stuffed jalapenos from home for you." The promise of food temped Laura more than she had temped Jackson. It was an unfair advantage he had since he literally grew his own food. 

The two looked at each other with extreme seriousness. They were not the most versed in the group when it came to martial arts. Unlink Jane, Asher, or Art they were too new to martial arts to be called geniuses or quick learners. They also were not making major breakthroughs with their super powers like Sammy and Louis. This left them with a half and half set up between martial arts and super powers. 

All of this did not mean they were weaker at all. They just had different specializations than the others did and would be able to work on both sides in the future. For now, though, they were going to test their will against each other.

Jackson was too slow to make the first move. They both knew it so he just fell in to a stance similar to Art's but closer to a normal boxers'. This let him have a chance to guess where Laura would come from and possibly take her down if he could get a hand on her. The real trick was catching her. 

Laura knew that Jackson was strong. Break bones with his bare hands strong. She also knew that she was small and light compared to him so that meant that she would need to try and get Jackson in the more vital points of his body to take him down.M it would be tough bit with her speed she was confident. 

Starting off, Laura rushed in and showed up right in front of Jackson. This prompted him to swipe out trying to jab and catch her at the same time. His hand came away with nothing but air as he felt a somewhat soft punch to his side. Unfortunately,. He still felt the sharp pain. Laura had aimed for his kidneys. 

"You are playing dirty." Jackson knew that she had to but was still a little shaken by the fact. 

"I kind of have to. Sorry not sorry, but I plan to win. Now catch me if you can." Her taunt was followed by Laughter as she rushed Jackson again. This time he had his arms further down. 

When she punched out, Laura found Jackson's forearm in the spot she was aiming for. She could not hit the weaker side he left open before. Hos forearm was too tough and she could feel the bruise in her fist beginning to form. 

"What are you made of? Your arm was like punching a wall." Laura wined a little but was forced to retreat when Jackson tried to grab her. He had hesitated slightly but managed to recover and push himself to move faster and try to get her. 

Jackson had his body extremely enhanced and it would be many times over more powerful than the average human body. This meant that he could somewhat perceive Laura's movements but could not catch her because his body was not the perfect machine working together just yet. He had to get used to the fact that his eyes would see something and he would have to push his heavier body to move at the proper speed without putting excessive force in to it. 

Laura on the other hand had made huge leaps. She had taken up stretching in the last week to better understand how she moves. It also helped her control her heart beat and the speed of her body at all times. It was a relaxing activity that would allow her to also think more clearly. 

Everything she had done led her to be able to move at the faster speeds she wanted. However, what id did the most was that it gave her the ability to pop up around people. The general idea was to use her speed and the failed attempts at her opponent following her movements to get them confused. This would leave them wide open to attack. 

Laura's' strategy was a failure here. Jackson had trained with her when she began making this only a way for her to bait him in to moving and giving her an opening. It was the soft hitting speed against the big hitting brute. The only falsity was that Jackson was not just a brute. He was clever and caring and could take care of anything just to see it grow. 

"I think you are starting to underestimate me," Jackson said this while swiping out and barely grazing Laura's arm. It was enough to push her to retreat and hold his smirking Gaze. She had played around too much and had to act like a real match instead of some training they did.