Hawke scrolls on his phone while chewing gum loudly. Nearby, Harv finishes checking Sixx's unconscious body before standing back up.
"So it looks like this kid, Ari, isn't the killer, but a Sangre De Reyes student sent on a solo operation."
"Hm? That don't matter. We'll just say he's an accomplice. That'll bring in the views." Hawke says without even looking up from his phone.
Harv exhales through his nose and starts adjusting the camera settings.
"...Well, he was on his way to a victim's house right now, he's probably there now. We should hurry over."
Hawke finally turns his phone off and pockets it.
"Let's go."
…
Ari bursts through the front door of Coti's house.
The door flies off the hinges and crashes across the floor.
Inside, the lights are off.
Leni's body lies motionless on the floor.
Ari immediately rushes over and kneels beside her.
He checks her pulse carefully.
'I sense a faint pulse, she's alive.'
Relief barely settles before blood suddenly drips from his nose.
"Huh?"
Ari wipes it with his finger and stares at the blood.
His eyes widen.
'The Killer is still here.'
He quickly pulls his phone out and starts calling Sixx headquarters.
'I need you to pick up!!'
Suddenly, a loud voice suddenly echoes from outside through some speakers.
"STANDING SIX FOOT THREE… WEIGHING IN AT TWO HUNDRED AND TEN POUNDS… HE IS UNDEFEATED… UNMATCHED… UNAVOIDABLE…"
Ari scans the house.
"THE PHENOMENON…"
"HAWKE!!"
"What the hell is going on?" Ari thinks confused.
The wall beside him explodes inward.
Hawke bursts through the house at full speed and drives a brutal lariat into Ari's chest.
The impact launches Ari completely out of the building.
Wood and concrete scatter across the street as Ari crashes through the shutters of a closed convenience store.
Hawke lands smoothly outside the destroyed house and slowly straightens his posture.
He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.
"Oh… yeah…."
He spreads his arms wide.
"Make sure you get all of this, Harv."
Harv keeps the camera focused on him.
Hawke suddenly lowers himself slightly, then shoots forward again like a missile.
Ari barely gets back onto his feet.
"This is bad…"
Blood spills from Ari's mouth onto his hand.
'The impact on that hit… I've never felt such raw power.' Ari thinks, comparing it to the likes of Prince, Tlen and Zodiak.
Hawke closes in instantly.
Ari rolls out of the way at the last second,
Hawke stops himself just before smashing through the convenience store building.
Harv stays outside the store filming everything calmly.
Ari immediately counters, rushing Hawke with a front kick.
Hawke catches his leg clean.
He flips Ari upward.
Ari rotates midair and swings his left foot toward Hawke's jaw.
But it's useless as Hawke catches that leg too.
He slams Ari straight into the drinks section.
Glass explodes everywhere while Ari coughs hard from the impact.
Before he can recover, Hawke grabs him by the shirt and jumps straight out through the broken window back onto the street.
Cars screech to stop nearby as civilians run away screaming.
Hawke locks Ari into a standing rear naked choke in the middle of the road.
"You should tap before it gets worse."
The pressure tightens immediately.
Ari's vision starts fading.
'I can't lose here…'
He grabs Hawke's forearm with both hands, desperately trying to create space.
"S-Scorpio Style: Viper Pulse!!"
Purple mana erupts violently from Ari's body.
The surge forces Hawke to immediately let go and jump backward.
"Hawke!! That's his technique! The one I told you about!"
Harv zooms the camera in.
"Hm, this technique could be really tricky." Hawke says sincerely.
Ari drops to one knee, coughing while his mana continues surging around him.
'I bought myself some time… but I feel my power returning, I should be able to match up with him.'
"Hawke, according to my calculations, he's an adaptive fighter, so you shouldn't stretch this out, finish it quickly!"
Hawke stretches his wrists calmly.
'How do these guys know so much about me? Have they been tailing me? Where the hell is the killer? Are they working for him?'
"That wouldn't bring in the views, Harv, a round 1 knockout is never fun for anyone."
Hawke grins.
Ari slowly steadies his breathing and raises his guard.
'No matter, this is my situation now.'
Hawke chuckles.
The both of them explode forward at the same time.
Harv's camera barely follows them.
Hawke reaches to grab Ari,
Ari slips inside and punches him in the neck.
He follows it up with a body kick.
Hawke tanks it completely and smashes his forehead into Ari's face with a headbutt.
Ari stumbles but immediately stomps Hawke's foot and drives a body uppercut into him.
The two continue exchanging blows at insane speed across the street.
Ari's Viper Pulse sharpens his reactions while Hawke keeps forcing exchanges through sheer power.
A heavy punch from Hawke finally breaks through and sends Ari flying backward.
Hawke instantly chases after him.
They continue fighting through the city, smashing across rooftops, streets, signs and walls.
Eventually both land on top of a rooftop building, gripping each other's wrists tightly while trying to overpower one another.
Hawke grins.
"I've had my fun so far. Time to introduce MY technique."
Ari's eyes widen.
"Script Style: Activate!"
His technique forces reality to follow the narrative he predicts.
The user imposes a "script" onto the flow of combat.
Any action the opponent performs that matches the user's prediction becomes predetermined within the technique's narrative structure.
Once an action falls into the script, the consequence tied to that action becomes unavoidable.
"It's over!"
Ari doesn't listen, he breaks their hold and lunges to throw a right punch to the body.
Just then, time around him stops, but his mind is still aware.
A right hook crashes into his cheek with terrifying force.
Time resumes instantly.
Ari gets launched backward and nearly falls off the rooftop.
He barely catches himself.
"How do you like the taste of Script Style?" Hawke says while Harv films from behind him.
Then the camera suddenly cuts black.
Harv frowns.
"What the fuck?"
He shakes the camera repeatedly.
Far away, standing silently on another rooftop, Naoki watches them.
His hands stay inside his hoodie pockets while the wind blows through his navy blue hair.
His calm eyes stay locked on the fight below.
Ari slowly forces himself back up despite the damage while his vision doubles.
"I can't fail." He whispers to himself.
He raises his guard once again.
Harv's camera finally turns back on.
'This kid Ari is a competent fighter, but he relies a lot on adaptability, the main weakness Therewolf seemed to ignore was exactly that. Someone that could swoop in and deal heavy damage early is the formula to beating someone like him.'
Harv keeps filming silently.
'Then again, he's probably comfortable in situations like this… are you gonna be alright, Hawke?'
…