Chapter 8: Not Like the Others

I've only got one shot at this, Zero thought as he looked into the unwavering eyes of his opponent.

Zero stood his ground and awaited his opponent to make the first move. The other player watched Zero as he held on to his energy sword.

"This is a harsh game." He stated. "Please don't take this personal, but we all have our reasons for being here." I don't know what your game is, the boy thought, but it was a bad move to pick a cooking system as your first choice. You should've known that wouldn't save you in a fight.

"Funny, I was about to say the same thing." Zero replied with an uncomfortable smirk.

The boy didn't bother to respond to what he could see was false bravado. He had run into enough players at this point that he knew that when faced with death, players will say just about anything.

"Out of a show of respect, I want you to know that my name is Kai." The boy finally said. With that he rushed forward and made a beeline for Zero. Unlike before, Zero made no attempts to try to flee but awaited his opponent.

Kai lunged his energy sword forward at Zero's torso, the latter of whom ducked under the strike and charged their smaller frame right into Kai's stomach. Kai stumbled back slightly but kept his composure. He raised up a high knee and nicked the side of Zero's face just as he dashed sideways away from the attack, creating some distance between the two.

Zero took a small breath as he felt the side of his face. "That was close." He whispered to himself.

Kai patted his stomach where Zero hit him but didn't have any lingering damage. Yet again, his nimbleness saves him. That can't be the only reason he's facing me now, is it? Kai thought.

Once again, Zero took up his awkward fighting stance and made no move toward Kai.

Waiting for me then? Ok. Kai thought as he raised his sword above his head. "Crescent Strike!" Kai proclaimed as he swung his blade down and generated one of the crescent shaped energy waves Zero had saw earlier.

"It's faster than it looks!" Zero said as he threw himself to the side right as the attack zoomed right past him.

Pain suddenly surged through him as he was blindsided by Kai's fist - he was sent stumbling backwards across the ground. As Zero quickly tried to scramble to his feet he was met with a hard boot to the chin and was kicked upwards into the air.

"Guh!" Zero let out in pain.

Kai reached out and grabbed Zero by the throat before he could fall back to the ground, holding him out like a rag doll.

"I commend you for using your natural ability to try to dance around me, but without any actual offense I'm afraid this battle has long since been decided." Kai stated. With his other hand he held his energy sword back as he prepared to skewer the helpless Zero.

"Not...quite..." Zero said between tight breaths. As Kai arched his eyebrow in confusion, Zero stealthily reached in his back pocket and pulled something out into his palm.

"Hm? Didn't quite catch that?" Kai asked.

"You...you...can't forget..dessert!" Zero shouted as he quickly threw his arm forward and revealed a small muffin in his hand.

A-a muffin?! Kai thought, bewildered.

Thrown off by this random maneuver, Zero had the upper hand as he shoved the cup cake straight into Kai's mouth! Which of course caused him to loosen the grip on Zero enough that he could slip out.

As Kai spit out some of the cupcake, he threw his sword up in defense of an anticipated follow up attack. But his eyes widened as he saw that Zero had done the exact opposite - he had retreated several feet away instead.

He swallowed what he didn't spit out in a haste to not be left vulnerable for too long. He quickly retook his fighting stance.

"....so was that an attempt to choke me with a dry pastry?" Kai asked.

Zero smiled. "Maybe."

"Hmm." Kai wiped away the crumbs from his face. "Well, points for ingenuity I suppose. But you lost your last opening." He took a single step towards Zero and that's when everything seemed to shift forward. He caught himself when he realized that it was actually his body falling forward! "Huh?"

Kai took another step, but it suddenly felt like his body wasn't listening to him anymore. His legs felt shaky and his muscles were seizing up. His expression became strained as he tried to will his body to work. "W-what is the meaning of this?!" His gaze drifted up to Zero and saw that he was still smiling back over at him. "You...!"

He stumbled backwards one step and completely lost his footing. He fell with a THUD to the hard ground, unable to move.

Kai heard slow footsteps as Zero approached him. As if in a show of confidence, Zero stood over Kai's frozen body and knelt down so that their faces weren't very far apart.

"Ugh...the muffin." Was all Kai could say.

"The muffin." Zero repeated. "I knew that I couldn't just hide and hope no one found me before I got another system, so I picked the first skill on the Debuff tree - the ability to make food with a moderate paralyzing effect. I just had to wait until I had an opening to shove it down your throat."

Kai clenched his teeth in frustration. He had been tricked - he thought his opponent had no actual weapon which is exactly what Zero wanted him to think.

This one isn't like the others, Kai thought. My naivety has cost me everything!

Zero stood back up and looked down at his helpless opponent. This level of technique will only hold him for maybe another minute if that. I have to act.

Kai's energy sword fizzled out as he deactivated his skill. "Go on. Finish it." He said with reluctance in his voice.

Zero stood in silence for a moment as he studied his opponent, victory right at his fingertips. That's when a thought occurred to him that has become more clear to him throughout this fight with Kai. One that he couldn't outright ignore.

"What? Just...get it over with!" Kai yelled, noticing Zero's lingering stare.

Zero sighed and rubbed the back of his head for a moment as he looked away. "Actually..." His glance fell back to Kai's. "How about we strike a deal instead?"