Chapter 18: Total Shutdown of the Heart

Jasper takes on what appears to be the last of the hired assassins, in a race against time to save Carmen.

After my little remark, one of the inmates unlocked one of the two doors into the cage and ushered me in with a shove.

"Good luck in there, kid," he spoke in a gruff voice. "You'll most definitely need it."

As I stared down The Drunken Bull with an all but blank expression, I slowly began to grow numb to the criminal crowd that applauded and jeered at me. I didn't bother looking back, but somehow I could tell that my friends and mother-in-law were silently rooting for me.

"Alrighty then, boys!" Garbanzo announced. "I present to you, the death of Mr. Collins! Fighters, get ready, and three... two... one... fight!"

"Let's end this once and for all, Jasper," The Drunken Bull said darkly, balling his fists and cracking the joints in his neck. "I'm here to kick a*s and drink beer! And I'd like to save my beer for later!"

"Dude, if you're gonna make a pop-culture reference, at least do it right," I remarked. No question I was intimidated by my opponent, so I felt the need to boost my own confidence by lightening the mood a little.

As soon as he clamped the heart monitor onto his wrist, I could immediately see its effects as the wrestling cage started to occasionally jolt with electricity, though thankfully the charge was too low to harm anyone. Right after the countdown ended, The Drunken Bull took a beer bottle from his bullet-sash and chugged it down in one gulp, before lazily wiping his mouth and tossing the bottle into a corner, where it shattered upon impact. The effects of the alcohol immediately took hold as his eyes lit up, his stance becoming less sloppy and more firm in the process.

He then made a beeline for me, attempting to ram into me with a shoulder-charge. I strafed to the side in order to avoid him, but he quickly screeched to a halt and attempted to charge at me again. The cycle repeated numerous times over the next few minutes, during which I couldn't help but feel astonished at the wrestler's surprisingly high mobility. Once that got boring, I attempted to backflip over his head for a counterattack, but he managed to halt and catch me, before gripping me with both hands and bashing me in the face with his own, and then body-slamming me onto the ground.

All I could do was lie there helplessly as he pinned me down by my chest with just one of his massive, combat-booted feet. I didn't feel injured, but the impact still hurt a little.

"Don't tell me that's all you have to offer. I was hoping for more of a fun brawl," The Drunken Bull taunted.

"Ohhhh, I'm not finished yet," I replied, switching my gloves to heat mode. "Just gotta crank up the heat a little."

With that, I gripped the ankle that was on me, singeing a hole through his jeans and causing him to scream and recoil as his skin was seared as well. I took the opportunity to hurriedly get back up and continue the fight. Before he could attack me again, I began decking him in the face and torso with several hot punches, occasionally gripping a random part of his body and burning some holes through his clothes. I then dealt him a slice to the face, no thanks to a butterfly-kick that was executed while my boots were in skate mode. I ended my combo with several more punches, while also throwing in some cleated kicks, bringing him to his knees. I took the opportunity to grip his afro and facial hair with my heated gloves, creating some bald spots and causing him to scream in blood-curdling agony, while also catching his remaining hair on fire.

I backed away just as he swiped his hand at me, quickly creating as much distance as I could as he flailed about and ran around the arena, flames and smoke trailing from his head.

"Ooh, looks as though Jasper might be a little too hot to handle!" Garbanzo quipped. "Let's hope he doesn't piss off The Drunken Bull too much!"

Within another minute, my opponent managed to find a fire extinguisher on the wall, yanking it towards him and popping the top off with his superhuman strength, before dumping its contents onto himself, immediately putting out the fire.

"You... are gonna... pay for that!" he panted with a weak, pitiful glare.

I didn't say a word, watching as he slowly reached for his sash and grabbed two beer bottles, guzzling them both down at once as he regained his strength, before immediately using them as glass projectiles as he tossed them at me. I cart-wheeled out of the way of the first one and performed a mid-air split over the second, before he charged at me again at a considerably higher speed than before. I just barely managed to swerve to the side, making him ram into the wall of the cage we were in. The resulting impact electrocuted him, causing him to yowl in agony and droop forward a bit.

"Wait a minute... that's it!" Tequila called into my earpiece. "Quick, Jasper! The electricity weakens him!"

"Use it to your advantage!" Xavier added. "Combined with the effects of all that alcohol, shocking his heart might be enough to take him down."

Without a word, I stepped up to my kneeling opponent and switched my gloves to electric mode, before gripping either side of his torso and shocking him some more. The Drunken Bull wailed in pain yet again as I held my hands there, before attempting to grab my arm. I instead punched him in the face, knocking him onto his back, before continuing to electrocute him. As I held my fists to his chest, I briefly took notice of the bottles that remained in his sash, proceeding to shatter them with my fists so he couldn't power up again.

"Nooo!" he cried out.

It took a few more minutes to completely defeat him, during which I noticed the line on the heart monitor spike over and over again. I was worried that this might have a negative effect on Carmen, but even if that were the case, it would probably be over soon. Eventually, The Drunken Bull fell unconscious, unable to bear the strain of the cardiac arrest I'd sent him into. As soon as his heart stopped, I yanked him up by the chest and removed the heart monitor, before lazily tossing it to the floor and crushing it under my boot. I then tossed him aside, where he hit the wall again, triggering a brief jolt of electricity. Choosing not to think much of it, I switched off my gloves, dropping to my knees right by my downed foe and trying in vain to catch my breath, receiving cheers from my friends and boos from the audience all the while.

"Well damn, I guess he was capable of beating The Drunken Bull," Garbanzo let out a manic cackle. "But regardless, the winner is Jasper Collins! On the downside, that means I'll have to hire someone else to kill those fools, but oh well..."

"The only person you'll be hiring is a life insurance agent," Tequila threatened, she and Xavier having snuck up on him.

"Gah! Wait, what?! H-How'd you two-!" Garbanzo stuttered.

Tequila then cut him off by kneeing him in the groin, making him keel over onto his side, writhing on the floor as he grumbled in pain. She then took the opportunity to untie her mother from the outside of the cage.

"Quick, Mom. Get outside and get to the car," she said, handing her the spare car key. "We've still got a score to settle with this punk."

Carmen did as she was told, all the while several cops barged in and started to subdue the crowds of inmates that had gathered to watch the fight. It was then that Garbanzo managed to get up and hurry out one of the side entrances to the room, simultaneously pulling out a walkie-talkie.

"Quick, boys! Meet me off to the side! I'll be there shortly!" he spoke.

"Ohhh no, you don't!" Tequila snarled. "Come on, guys! After him!"

Right as I started to exit the wrestling cage, I heard a small groan coming from behind me. Looking back, I noticed The Drunken Bull slowly coming to. I guess that small jolt of electricity had been enough to revive him. As soon as he laid eyes on me, however, his expression grew angry. Without hesitation, he knocked me to the ground with a leg-sweep, before gripping me by the neck with one hand and slowly getting back to his feet, glaring intensely into my face as I struggled for oxygen.

"You thought that was it, Collins?!" he growled. "Well think again!"

I could just barely breathe, my vision blurring as I watched him pull a small syringe full of clear liquid out of his pocket, before quickly pumping it into the vein in his inner elbow. His growling became louder and more feral as seconds passed, life returning to his body at a rapidly increasing pace. On top of that, I could see the muscles all over his body begin to grow exponentially until he nearly tripled in weight. The Drunken Bull then briefly ducked his head and released a puddle of tan vomit onto the ground that solely consisted of the beer he'd previously consumed. He then roared in my face before he finally let me go and tossed me onto the ground, roaring again as he did so. For a brief moment, I let my breathing return to normal and massaged my neck, relieved that it hadn't broken in his ever-tightening grip.

I didn't have much time to dawdle, however, as soon enough my revived opponent launched as high into the air as he could and attempted to slam his fists onto me. I quickly got up and swerved around back, but not before he rammed his shoulder into me, sending me reeling through the window and into the loading dock out back. I swore I could briefly hear cries of "Jasper!" from both Tequila and Xavier as I flew through the glass and landed on top of the one of the large, rectangular metal crates.