"Hold up. I don't want to skip to the end," Charanko withdrew his punch. "If you leave, I'll destroy the planet.
All I want is a good fight and you best make haste. I mean, look at how long you've been away from your post. Will your squadmates cover your portion of the Dimensional Seal you guard? Don't they have their own posts?"
Blast steadied his nerves. He didn't know what Charanko's true aims were unknown, but he didn't have a choice but to remain here. It didn't matter if Charanko's lying about destroying the Earth. He proved he could and now he's a grave threat to humanity. He also displayed knowledge he shouldn't be aware of.
"Do you have an endgame?" he asked.
Charanko place his hand on his chin. "An endgame… Well, there are seven of them now and there will be at least three more with each of them. Twenty-eight total at the minimum.
Honestly, we'll have even more. I won't lie to you. Damn, we're going to need a huge ass nursery. I'll have to get construction started here soon… first I need to talk to Sui…" His voice trailed off to incoherent mutterings.
W-What kind of endgame does he have in mind?!
Blast had never crossed paths with an enemy like him. Was Charanko a being of old? Had the sands of time worn down his mind? Why did a good chunk of what left his mouth make little sense?
A ninja… Members of the 'Ninja Village' I've come across in the past have shown a similar level of inanity, but...
"I'm ready." Charanko crouched down and dug his fingers, palms facing away, into the reddish-brown terrain.
There wasn't much time left before problems would arise from his absence. Blast needed to render this man unconscious and bind him quick!
"'Normal Table Flip,'" the ninja said as he ripped his hands upward, the ground rising with a deafening rumble.
A shadow swallowed Blast while his gaze climbed higher and higher as a tsunami of earth tore into existence, a wall stretching hundreds of meters wide and tall, blotting out the sun and sky.
He could admit that the ninja's trick would work well against an opponent who couldn't fly. But to him, it meant nothing.
Blast soared into the sky, now enveloped by a cloud of shattered land. His eyes darted about the disarray, searching for Charanko. Motion flickered at the bottom of his vision — Charanko launched upward from the ground below.
Imprudent.
Blast's fists snapped together, sparking with energy. The infinity symbol flared once more across the backs of his hands. He unfurled his fingers, pressed the bottoms of his palms together, and spread his hands apart, fingers curled at the ends, aiming downward.
"'Dimension Cannon!'"
A dark sphere, whishing with jagged arcs of white energy, burst from his palms. At its center pulsed a small, lambent white core, from which the bolts danced wildly within its confines.
Charanko showcased his own flight capabilities, veering to the side and avoiding the miniature singularity. Without slowing, he continued his rapid ascent.
Blast drifted rightward, generating a hyperspace gate into existence ahead of Charanko. "'Gravity Knuckle.'" With a rush of tonnage, his gravity-charged fist smashed into the back of the ninja's skull as he passed through the gate, hurtling him through the reddish-brown haze left hanging after the tsunami of earth had crashed back down.
Another hyperspace gate opened in Charanko's path. As he entered, Blast landed a gravity-charged punch squarely on the ninja's face. Without pause, Blast generated two more gates, one to his left, another in front of him, before raining down a flurry of strikes onto the helpless C-Class hero while he slipped through the two gates in a loop.
Is that enough?
"'Shut!'" The two gates overlapped, sealing Charanko inside an alternate space.
Yet again, to Blast's dismay, a hyperspace gate tore open the air. From within, Charanko floated upward, crouched low with arms and legs crossed, showing no sign of injury.
"I love that cross-limbed pose. There's no reason to do it, but imagine the aura-farming you could pull off? Well, you can no doubt imagine it." Charanko floated backward and rolled his shoulders. "Come on old man. Try harder. The clock is ticking…"
Blast refined his concentration and curled his hands into fists. "You've left me with no alternative." In one smooth motion, he flooded his hands with gravitational energy.
"'Giga Gravity Blow!'" He thrust his fists forward in rapid succession, unleashing a barrage of large, transparent spherical masses. Each one struck Charanko with crushing, concussive power, thrashing the ninja in midair.
When the last sphere flew, Blast lowered his arms and watched as the unconscious Charanko plummeted toward the ground, crashing hundreds of meters below.
Blast descended and studied the ninja. Charanko's obsidian full-body ninja uniform was torn and dusty, ripped in several places.
"Did I…lose?" Charanko's ragged voice trickled out.
"I'm surprised you're still conscious."
"The prophecy held true."
Prophecy?!
"The battle was…hard fought."
Blast frowned but still answered, "Yes. I won't deny you're strong."
"You lie. You had strength to spare. I never stood a chance. It wasn't even a battle." Charanko let out a miserable chuckle. "So much for prophecies. You were too strong." His eyes closed and his body went limp.
Blast's puzzlement spiked.
What prophecy? Where had that even come from? Why hadn't he mentioned it earlier?
Is he dead or alive? I can check his pulse, but first—
Blast extended his hand, fingers spread wide. "'Gravity Tethers.'" Five transparent strands of ultra-dense gravitational energy snaked through the air, wrapping Charanko from his ankles to his shoulders, binding him in place.
Once Blast's feet touched the ground, he knelt beside the C-Class Hero and tried to feel for a pulse.
"I'm ready to meet her."
Blast's breathing caught in his throat as a flicker of motion appeared before Charanko's hand seized his wrist.
"Here's a new one." Charanko raised his right leg into the air, snapping the remaining 'Gravity Tethers' as though they weren't there.
"'Killer Move: Serious Series…Serious Heel Drop.'" His heel began its descent and in unison, he released his hold on Blast's wrist.
The world stilled for Blast as he witnessed another planet-busting attack.
"You're mad!"
He sprang to his feet, fists punching together as he summoned a large hyperspace gate beneath them. In an instant, they were above the planet, suspended in outer space.
Charanko's heel slammed into the bright white surface of the gate, unleashing an explosive surge of power.
Blast shot backward, creating a distance between himself and the ninja.
The gate can't handle this much energy… I can't give it enough distance!