Ramon did not quit, despite the catastrophic damage to his exoskeleton. He stood there, swaying slightly, with a look of pure, manic obsession in his eyes, the look of a man who refused to believe his masterpiece had failed him. It was as if he truly believed he could still win this fight no matter the cost, clinging to the desperate hope that he just needed one lucky hit to land, and everything would somehow turn back in his favor.
But the reality of the situation was far grimmer for the scientist. Both of the power-units on his arms had been systematically destroyed, their internal servos crushed into scrap. His chest piece, once the sturdy core of his defense, had been shattered by Max’s relentless blows, leaving only the exoskeleton components on his legs still operational. Because he was now reliant solely on those leg units to launch his attacks, Ramon’s movements had become incredibly predictable. Every strike he threw followed a rigid, mechanical path that Max could see coming from a mile away.
’Increasing my powers made it so both of us were equal in raw output,’ Max thought, his breathing steady as he watched Ramon’s frantic movements. ’And when it came down to that, the fight became about who had more actual experience and skill. All of the techniques I’ve been able to copy from the talented people I’ve faced along the way... they’ve made me a much better fighter than I ever was in the past. And it’s quite clear now that I am a far better fighter than Ramon.’
After effortlessly avoiding a desperate, wide-swinging kick, Max countered with a surgical precision. He drove his own leg deep into a low kick, hitting Ramon’s mechanical support with everything he had. More sparks flew into the air, accompanied by small spurts of acrid black smoke. Now, there was only one functioning part of the exoskeleton left on Ramon’s body.
’In a lot of ways, Ramon reminds me of who I used to be,’ Max mused, almost feeling a twinge of pity for the man. ’He obviously had to have some type of tenacity, some type of grit to allow him to become the head of the Gilt Rats in a world as cutthroat as this. And it’s clear he is a good fighter in his own right, but he is nothing compared to the extremely talented warriors he has in his own group. If it wasn’t for this exoskeleton, facing him would be a walk in the park.’
Max shifted his stance, preparing for the final exchange. ’The exoskeleton would have been better used on someone else in his group, someone with the actual skill to utilize its speed. When I say he reminds me of my old self, specifically the version of me from the past, it’s because I was the same. I rose to power not through the strength of my own fists, but through the strength of those I kept around me. And that... that is the exact reason why you have lost today.’
As Max spoke those words, he drove his leg forward again, landing a punishing low kick on the other side. With a final metallic snap and a hiss of escaping pressure, the last functional piece of the exoskeleton was destroyed. Yet, despite the total failure of his tech, it was as if Ramon didn’t even realize his advantage was gone. He charged forward blindly until a heavy leg hit him deep in the chest, sending him flying through the air. He crashed into the ground, sliding across the polished floor until he came to a stop, gasping for air.
It was the first time in the entire fight that Ramon’s actual human body was taking the full, brute strength of Max’s kick without any armor to dampen the blow. Max didn’t give him a chance to recover. He walked over quickly, lifted his foot, and stomped down hard on Ramon’s ankle, cracking the bone with a sickening sound.
"ARGHH!" Ramon screamed, his face contorting in agony as he clutched at his mangled limb.
"I can’t have you escaping," Max said coldly, looking down at his defeated rival. "We might have caused a lot of mess and trouble for your Gilt Rats, but we never attacked you head-on like this. All we did was deal with you in a business sense, competing fairly in the market, but we managed to come out on top each and every time. You couldn’t handle losing the money."
Max’s eyes narrowed. "So when that didn’t work, you were the ones that decided to resort to using your fists. You decided to use this cheap technology to try and take what you couldn’t earn, and yet you still managed to lose in the end. Everything that is about to happen to you is your own fault."
Max lifted his leg again and stomped down on the other ankle, breaking it apart just as he had the first. He needed to ensure the threat was neutralized. As he stood there, he couldn’t help but think about the cost of the night. He couldn’t imagine how many people in the Billion Bloodline group would have been hurt during this massive brawl.
There would be badly beaten allies, broken bones, and perhaps even fatal injuries. There might even be those who had died tonight simply because of this one person’s selfish decision to escalate a business rivalry into a war.
"Are you one of them as well?" Ramon wheezed, looking up at Max with a mixture of terror and curiosity. "Are you one of those freaks that are part of the Invitation?"
"So you know about it?" Max asked, his interest momentarily piqued. "But before you think you lost to someone greater than you, let me set the record straight: I am not. I’ve never even received an invitation myself."
What Max was saying was the truth, at least in this life, no such letter had found its way to him.
"I just know about it," Max added simply.
Ramon started to laugh to himself, a dry, hacking sound. "Then I guess I was foolish. If I lost to a nobody like you, then I would have stood no chance even with the exoskeletons against them ." Ramon tilted his head back to look at Max, a grim smirk on his face. "But don’t think this is over just because you bested me. There are others with the exoskeletons still fighting out there. You can still lose everything tonight."
Just as Ramon said those words, several sounds of huffing and panting were heard coming from the entrance of the arena. Turning his head, Max saw a group of familiar figures emerging from the shadows.
The Rangers, along with Na and Darno, had all arrived. They were battered and covered in the dust of their own battles, but they were standing. They had rushed here thinking that Max might still need their help to finish the job.
"I told you he would be fine," Joe said, wiping a smear of blood from his forehead and giving Max a weary thumbs up.