Black Coin

VII

[Chapter 7: The Black Wolf Rises, Legend of Black]

Seven hadn't thought this through. He had just moved. The black armor felt more like a second skin, light but full of a strange, buzzing vibration. He sprinted across the cracked pavement, his metal boots making a loud clank-clank-clank sound. The Rakshasa was just inches away from crushing the little girl into meat paste.

"Get away from her! You monster" Seven roared.

He jumped and swung his leg in a wide arc. THWACK! His armored boot slammed right into the alien’s massive, and bleeding arm. The force was enough to jerk the monster's limb back, sending its five bone spikes whistling through the air, while missing the girl by a hair.

The Rakshasa stumbled, its gravity-defying hair swaying like black needles. It turned its head, while it's eyes were now glowing with a murderous red light. GRRRRRRRR. It didn't look like an alien at all; it looked more like a giant, angry human with the muscles of a insane bodybuilder. On its hands, it wore heavy, black metal gauntlets that looked like they could easily crush a car.

Nearby, a journalist named Dice stopped running when he saw Seven. This man had a Divine Essence called 'Eye of the Public,' which let him project whatever he saw to the Galactic web. He held up his cam-brace, with his hands shaking. "Are you seeing this? My fans!" Dice yelled into the stream. "An elite warrior just dropped in! He’s in full black wolf armor! He's taking on a Rakshasa soldier alone!"

Seven didn't feel like an elite. He felt like a street fighter that was in over his head. The Rakshasa swung a massive fist. SWOOSH! Seven quickly ducked, the wind from the punch nearly knocking him over his feet. He countered with a quick jab to the alien's ribs. CLANG! It felt like hitting a hard mountain.

"Ugh!" Seven grunted. His knuckles stung even through the protection of the armor. The battle was a test of raw strength. The alien was a brute, fighting like the Hulk from a movie in his past life, swinging its heavy gauntlets in wild, and bone-breaking circles. WHAM! A fist caught Seven in the chest, sending him sliding back across the road. SKREEEEE. His boots left black burn marks on the asphalt.

The Rakshasa soldier lunged forward, while closing the gap instantly. It raised both gauntlets high and slammed them down heavily toward Seven’s head. CRACK-THOOM! Seven rolled to the left, the impact shattering the concrete where his head had been a second ago. He sprang up, while using the momentum to drive an elbow into the alien’s jaw. CRUNCH. Purple blood instantly sprayed from the monster’s mouth.

Ding!

Seven rushed back in. He didn't know any fancy martial arts; but he definitely knew how to scrap. He dodged a grab, and stepped inside the alien’s reach, and hammered a flurry of punches into its stomach. BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM! Every strike felt like hitting a brick wall, but he didn't stop. He hooked his fingers into the gaps of the alien's gauntlet and yanked, while trying to throw the giant off balance. Grawl! The people watching the livestream were now going crazy.

User44: Look at that speed! He must be at least at the Advance rank!

HunterX: No way, he's a legendary rank for sure! To fight a Rakshasa soldier 1-on-1? That's insane!. Only legendary ranks can do that.

They didn't realize Seven was a Mortal rank using a miracle. They thought he was a high-level hero.

But the Rakshasa was a warrior race. The more Seven hit it, and the more it bled purple. and the stronger it got. The alien’s muscles seemed to swell, and its roar got louder. GRAAAAAAAH! It swung its arm, the bone spikes scraping against Seven's helmet. SKREEEEEE! Seven’s vision blurred as a high-pitched ringing filled his ears. Huff... huff... "You just don't... stay down... do you?" he wheezed. Every time he landed a good hit, the alien just got faster.

From the corner of his eye, Seven saw some of his classmates. They had stopped evacuating the premises. They were standing near the bus, staring with their mouths open, while being completely mesmerized by the "Elite" in black armor. "Look at that guy go," Kael whispered. "I've never seen armor like that. He’s a total beast!"

Jax nodded, while looking around the empty bus seats. "Man, Seven is such a coward. He probably bolted the second the ship hit. He's probably halfway home by now, crying under his bed while we are standing here and watching real hero saves our skins."

Miss Bernice was busy herding the last of the students toward the alleyway. She then glanced at the fight, her eyes were wide with relief. "Thank goodness an Elite was nearby," she muttered, while checking her roster. "Wait, where is Mo Seven? That boy... he must have run off in the panic. I'll have to find him after this mess is over."

The Rakshasa roared again, its black hair glowing with a faint, and dark aura. It smashed both gauntlets into the ground with double the force. CRACK-BOOM! The street split open in a jagged line, sending chunks of road flying at Seven’s face like stone shrapnel. Clang! Clang! Seven blocked his face with his forearms, while feeling the weight of the debris.

The air around was screaming. High-pitched sirens from the nearby buildings finally kicked in, while also mixing with the roar of the Rakshasa. Dice was shaking, his cam-brace hovering in the air as he broadcast the blood and metal to the entire galactic web, people started tuning into his live stream channel. "Look at that! He's holding his ground!" Dice yelled. The view count was exploding rapidly. Thousands, then millions of people were tuning in.

The comments section on the side of the screen was like a blur.

ShadowFan: Why is he just punching? Use a ability! Use a Divine Essence!

NoobSlayer: He’s taking too many hits! Is he even an Elite? Finish it already!

The external speakers of Seven's helmet picked up every annoying word from the crowd. Ugh. "Easy for you to say," he grunted, his voice a metallic rasp. Huff. Huff. He wasn't just fighting; but he was acting as a human shield. Every time the Rakshasa tried to lunged toward the frozen crowd of students and civilians, Seven had to throw himself in the way. That's why he was greatly losing.

SMASH!

The alien’s gauntlet caught Seven in the ribs. CRACK. He felt the armor groan, and the air instantly left his lungs. Gasp! Then He flew backward, while smashing into a parked hover-car. The metal immediately crumpled like paper. Creeeeak-crunch! "Come on... you oversized gorilla," Seven wheezed. His vision was now swimming. He saw the Rakshasa raising both arms for a final, bone-crushing slam. The alien’s black hair was vibrating, and defying gravity more than ever. This was it. The Rakshasa was at its peak strength because of its injuries.

Seven didn't have a big "fireball" or a "lightning sword." He only had a street fighter's brain. He saw a broken fire hydrant next to a downed power line from the crash. He needed a solid distraction.

As the Rakshasa leaped into the air, but Seven didn't move away. Instead He waited until the last second. Then Whoosh! He dived forward, while rolling between the monster’s massive legs. As he passed, he jammed his armored claws into the Rakshasa’s deep side wound. Squelch!

"GRAAAAAAAH!" The alien screamed, as a wet, purple spray of ichor hitting the ground.

Seven didn't stop. He grabbed the loose power line and shoved it into the spraying purple ichor. BZZZZZT-BOOM! A massive explosion of electricity and steam erupted. The water from the hydrant hit the heat of the crashed ship, and creating a thick, white wall of fog and dust. Fssssssssss! Everything went white. The crowd couldn't see a thing.

"Where are they? Did he win?" Leo shouted from the sidewalk, while squinting into the fog.

Inside the cloud, Seven moved like a ghost. The alien was convulsing from the shock. Seven reached out, his black wolf claws glowing with a sudden, hungry purple light. He grabbed the alien's metal gauntlets. Vruuum. The black coin on his chest pulled. The metal of the gauntlets seemed to dissolve into dust, getting sucked into the black coin.

Seven felt the armor's power starting to fade. He couldn't stay here. If the armor vanished, they’d see a bloody, and markless teenager. Sigh. He turned and ran into the alleyways before the dust and steam could settle.

When the wind finally blew the fog away, the street was quiet. The massive Rakshasa was lying face-down in a crater, its breathing was shallow. But the warrior in the black armor. the one the internet was already calling "Black" was gone. Even the alien's gauntlets had vanished from its wrists.

"He's gone!" Dice yelled, while running forward with his camera. "He disappeared into the mist!"

The students, the teachers, and the pedestrians all rushed toward the crater. They forgot about the bus. They forgot about the evacuation. They just wanted to see where the hero that they had now nicknamed "Black" had been standing.