Injustice: The Path To Hell (DC Comics)

"▄▅▄▅▂▂▃▃▄▄▅!"

With a grunt, Esau found himself flung back by the unexpected eruption of sound that burst from his doppelgänger mouth, it hitting him with concussive force so great that on his unstable footing, he was unable to resist. However, he recovered quickly and went with the momentum, flipping around to land on his feet something that kept him in the fight as he was able to duck under the roundhouse kick aimed to take his head clean off his shoulders. Yet he was unable to capitalise upon the overrotation of his doppelgänger when the tail came around sharply intending to finish off the job.

Planting his hand against the floor, he pushed off and flipped away a bit further creating a safe distance between them as the two looked upon one another. Their breathing was light, sweat dripping from their bodies and Esau knew that this fight had taken a sudden turn, his hands flexing by his side as he rose to his feet slowly.

When the fight had begun Esau had been confident.

In the opening salvo of the fight it had been evident that besides the increase in strength and speed, the fighting style of his doppelgänger had not changed in the slightest. Thanks to his experience fighting physically superior foes and having analysed his opponent's skills in their many other spars he was able to react.

However, it had been the tail that threw him off.

The openings that had once been present in his doppelgänger's wild and ferocious style were all but completely gone with the inclusion of the tail. For whenever he over-rotated or committed to a combination of attacks that would have at one point created a vital opening for Esau to exploit, the tail was there. Either to act as a shield and block a counterattack or to be used like it had been before and continue the combination, plugging the gap between the first and second move.

It was an irritatingly effective use of the tail that had left Esau on the backfoot for most of their fight.

But like always he adapted and gradually began to fight back.

His doppelgänger was highly skilled, more so than he had given them credit for in the beginning but the inclusion of the tail had led to him realising just how skilled they were. Yet Esau had already grasped an understanding of most of his doppelgängers fighting style and while the tail threw a little wrench in there, ultimately it wasn't big enough to keep Esau on the backfoot forever.

'I can win this as well!' He wasn't overconfident or cocky in that belief.

No.

Esau was certain of it.

'You can reveal whatever tricks you want! But I know just how strong and fast you are! I know just how you fight!' Esau smiled wildly rushing to meet his doppelgänger's charge head-on, the two slamming their forearms into one another 'Show me more of how you fight! I want to see every last trick up your sleeve and take it from you!'

Ducking under the swinging tail, Esau came around with an uppercut to the liver that lifted his doppelgänger off its feet and into the air. Even as he felt the muscles in his arms tear and his wrist snap, Esau's grin didn't slip as he grabbed ahold of the tail with his other hand. With a shout, he swung his opponent down onto the ground face-first but as he expected they caught themselves on all fours.

He was already upon them though, having rushed to that position before they had a chance to get up.

"▄▅▄▅▂▂▃▃▄▄▅!"

There it was again.

The roar of concussive force that flung him backwards.

'So, that's your defence?' Esau thought to himself feeling the bones in his hands reset as he wiped away the sweat from his brow. 'You sacrifice all pretence of defending to go all out on your attack using your tail to help. But when pushed to the edge, when you're on the backfoot and unable to fight back, that's when you use that roar to push back your opponents.'

As he and the doppelgänger both turned to face one another again, Esau's smile only grew wider something which made his opponent turn to look to the others. Each of them were frowning, brows deeply furrowed and it only made Esau laugh as he too turned to follow his opponent's gaze.

"What's wrong?" Esau asked rhetorically. "Don't like the fact that I'm figuring you out so quickly?"

None of them said anything.

Esau's grin widened to an almost manic degree as he ruffled his hair into a wild mess, arms dropping limply down as his stance widened. "I've spent my whole life fighting! Every second of every day. I've spent it fighting to survive! Do you think this is any different? I know precisely what's at stake!" The smile then dipped for a moment as Esau took a deep breath centering his mind and body, when they opened again he was calm, dangerously so. "Almost every opponent I've fought has been my better in some way shape or form. You're no different. But the thing is, I'm used to that. Used to being weaker. Less skilled. Less experienced. Less intelligent. This is nothing new to me. This is precisely where I've always been. On the backfoot. This is where I thrive."

Another deep breath and Esau lowered his body even further, rising onto the balls of his feet.

"I don't care how many tricks you have up your sleeve. It doesn't matter what you throw at me. In the end, I will win." Esau then burst forward and rushed in his doppelgänger reacting quickly to throw out his tail, but Esau didn't so much as break his stride as he ducked under the thrust and continued to close in.

"▄▅▄▅▂▂▃▃▄▄▅!"

The roar came next

But Esau had seen the buildup to it, the slight swelling of his chest and the positioning of its body.

Planting his foot on the floor, he jumped back and when the concussive force rolled over him, Esau was able to stand firm having put enough distance between it and the brunt of its power. It had a range and the further away from its epicentre the less power it packed and though it was prolonged, Esau moved forward. He fought against the force of the roar and powered forward one step at a time even as the weight of its power increased, he kept pushing forward.

Then, when it reached its end, he dashed to close the distance once more.

His doppelgänger was seemingly still recovering from its roar, almost as if on a cool down and Esau didn't hesitate. Not even when his doppelgänger swung its hands out, claws lengthening to an absurd degree and rushing to decapitate him. His stride didn't falter as he weaved through them and stepping in close, Esau swung his fist around with all the power he could muster.

It struck true.

Smashing against the face of his doppelgänger breaking its jaw and nose.

Carrying it through with all his body motion, Esau overextended his whole body leaving himself completely exposed.

But he did not need to worry about an attack.

Like his doppelgänger, he had sacrificed all pretence of defending himself.

He put everything into this one attack.

With a shout, Esau carried the punch through driving it and the head of his doppelgänger straight into the ground with such force the ground beneath them crated.

Breathing heavily, Esau looked at the fist buried in the ground, watching the red smoke waft up into the air and slowly circled him before seeping into his body. Once again he had done it, defeated his doppelgänger and emerged victorious despite being weaker. Feeling the power rush through his body, Esau rose to his feet looking upon the remainder of them and pointed his finger at the fox with two tails.

"You're next."

He could feel it in his body.

Not only was he hitting his stride, he was stronger than he had ever been before.

This was the moment.

The moment in which things would begin to turn around for him.

The moment in which he could finally begin to enter the big stage.

The moment in which he could finally start being strong.

This was his time.