Baki glanced at Eli, who was struggling to stand. His eyes moved across the wounds covering his body. "Well, it seems you're in a rough situation. You can rest now."
"B-Baki-hyung?!" Eli's eyes went wide. He hadn't expected to see Baki here after a whole month, and not like this.
Baki walked toward James. "What's with the pink hair? You trying to become an anime character or what?"
James's surprised expression shifted into a smile. "I didn't expect to meet you here after all this time."
Baki stopped in front of him, his figure towering over James. "But I very much wanted to meet you. After all, you're the Legend of the First Generation. The man they call One Man Circle. I heard you ended the first generation single-handedly. I'm saddened you didn't come to find me."
James's smile widened. He slowly raised his hands and straightened Baki's collar. "Are you sure it wasn't you who ran away to hide from me? Let's forget our past differences. Today I'm here on business."
Baki swatted his hands away. "Is that so? By the way, you were on business last time too. I remember you ran away then. Should I make you run away again?"
James glanced at Baki's arm. "Are you sure you want to do this now? Your condition doesn't look too good."
Baki's smile turned demonic. "Haha~ Don't worry. It's good enough to knock some sense into you. But sadly, I'm here on business too. I heard the pesky little runt who conspired against me is here. So step aside."
James glanced back at Eugene. "Him? Sorry. I can't let you have him."
Baki laughed. "Haha~ I see you're craving a good beating!"
He threw a punch with his right hand. James moved his head and the punch grazed his cheek. Blood trickled down and he wiped it with the back of his hand.
Baki's right leg came up immediately in a roundhouse aimed at James's head. James bent his spine backward at an impossible angle, hands touching the ground behind him, and the kick passed over his face. He pushed off and flipped backward, creating distance.
Baki charged. James sidestepped the punch and countered with a spinning kick. Baki blocked it on his right arm and James was already spinning again, kick after kick coming from different angles, his body moving like a dancer through the air. Baki backed away and dodged each one by inches until one came too close. He ducked and James's foot smashed into a steel support beam behind him.
CLANG!
The beam bent. Metal groaned.
Baki stepped in and threw a side kick. James twisted mid-air and avoided it and the kick hit a concrete pillar instead.
BOOM!
Cracks spread across the concrete and chunks fell to the ground.
James went low and swept at Baki's legs. Baki jumped over it and James's leg scattered a stack of metal pipes across the ground.
CLATTER!
James spun on his hand and kicked upward at Baki while he was still in the air. Baki kicked downward at the same time. Their legs collided mid-air and the impact sent dust kicking up around them. Both landed and went at each other again immediately.
Baki threw a straight punch. James leaned and let it pass by his face, then countered with a kick to Baki's ribs. Baki turned his body enough that it glanced off his side, grabbed James's leg with his right hand, and pulled. James used the momentum to spin and sent his other leg around in a hook kick at Baki's head. Baki let go and ducked and James's kick cracked into a wooden support beam and split it in half.
Baki came up with an uppercut. James arched back and it missed his chin by inches. He grabbed Baki's extended arm with both hands and tried to throw him. Baki planted his feet and didn't move. He pulled James back toward him and threw a knee at his face. James let go and flipped backward over the knee, then pushed off his hands and kicked upward at Baki's chin.
Baki jerked his head back. The foot missed by a hair.
James landed on his feet and they reset.
Baki threw a crescent kick. James ducked and Baki's foot connected with a metal barrel.
BANG!
The barrel dented and flew across the construction site and crashed through a wooden fence.
James came up with a spinning kick. Baki blocked it on his right forearm and slid back a step. James kept spinning, kick after kick from different angles, his movements fluid and continuous. Baki blocked each one with his right arm. The final kick came from above, an axe kick aimed at his head. Baki stepped to the side and James's heel hit the ground.
CRACK!
Concrete split open beneath his foot.
Baki threw a back kick. James jumped and Baki's kick drove into a concrete pillar behind where James had been standing.
BOOM!
The pillar exploded. Chunks of concrete flew in every direction and the structure above groaned and shifted.
James launched himself from the air with his body spinning, kicks coming from angles Baki didn't expect. One grazed his temple and drew blood. James landed and pressed forward, his movements faster now and harder to read.
His kicks started finding blind spots. One hit Baki's shoulder before he saw it coming. Another hit his side. A third caught his leg. Each one arrived before Baki could react and James was already gone by the time Baki turned.
Baki stopped trying to see them. He closed his eyes and moved on feel alone, reading the air pressure. James's next kick missed. Baki countered immediately with a roundhouse.
James flipped over it and Baki's leg hit a steel beam.
CLANG!
The beam bent at a right angle.
James went low again. Baki jumped over the sweep. James kicked upward and Baki kicked downward and their legs collided again, sending both of them sliding backward across the ground.
Baki charged and threw a straight punch. James sidestepped, but Baki had read it. His leg came up in a hook kick and caught James in the ribs before he could fully clear the way.
CRACK!
James gasped and stumbled. Baki followed with a side kick and James ducked under it and the kick drove into the wall of an unfinished building. Bricks exploded outward and the wall caved inward.
James flipped back and created distance, breathing harder now. "I see you've grown a lot stronger too."
Baki was already coming at him again. He threw a combination and James dodged the first two but had to block the kick. The impact sent him sliding backward and his feet left tracks in the mud.
Baki didn't give him time. He threw a fast straight kick at James's face. James tilted his head and it passed by his cheek and Baki's back kick came immediately after. James jumped to the side and the kick hit a concrete mixer.
BOOM!
The entire machine tipped over and crashed to the ground.
James landed on a pile of construction materials and launched himself immediately, spinning through the air, kicks coming from multiple angles and targeting every blind spot Baki had. One hit his shoulder. Another hit his side. A third caught his leg. Baki endured each one and planted his feet and waited.
James came in for a final spinning kick aimed at Baki's head. Baki saw this one. He ducked under it and came up with an uppercut.
CRACK!
James's head snapped back. He flew upward and hit a steel beam above him.
CLANG!
The beam bent. James fell back down and Baki was already waiting. His roundhouse kick connected and James twisted mid-air and blocked with his arm but still flew sideways and crashed through a stack of wooden pallets.
CRASH!
Wood exploded everywhere. James rolled and came back to his feet. Blood dripped from his chin and he wiped it away. "I would have loved to fight you at your best."
Baki's right arm was trembling slightly. He was breathing hard.
James smiled. "But I've also grown stronger."
He moved faster. His speed jumped and he came at Baki from an angle then shifted direction mid-movement. His kick landed from a blind spot and Baki stumbled. James pressed the advantage immediately, kicks coming from every direction Baki couldn't cover. One hit his ribs. Another hit his leg. A third hit his shoulder again. His body was taking too much and his right arm was getting too slow to block properly.
James's axe kick came down from above. Baki raised his right arm.
BOOM!
The impact drove him down to one knee and the ground cracked beneath him.
James spun and kicked from the side before Baki could recover. Baki gasped. Another kick followed from a different angle. Then another. Baki's vision blurred.
James came in for the finish, his leg rising from Baki's blind spot.
Baki stopped thinking. His body twisted on instinct and his leg came up at the same time. A full spinning kick, his body rotating through the air with his leg extended.
Their kicks collided mid-air.
BOOM!
Every window in the surrounding buildings shattered at once. Glass rained down across the site. The ground beneath them cracked and cratered and both fighters were blown backward.
James crashed through a wooden structure and wood exploded around him. He hit the ground and rolled and pushed himself up.
Baki landed on his feet and slid backward, his feet carving deep trenches in the mud before he stopped. He looked at James. "Trust me, you won't like it if I use all my strength."
James pulled his hands out of his pockets for the first time. "You really are something."
Baki's smile turned demonic. "That's my line."
Both charged at the same time. Their legs collided mid-air again and again, each impact cracking the ground beneath them and sending shockwaves rolling outward. James landed and swept low. Baki jumped. James kicked upward and Baki kicked downward and the collision blew them both apart.
James landed on a steel beam and launched himself spinning like a drill, kicks coming at Baki from every direction. Baki started spinning too, his leg extended and deflecting each kick as it came. The continuous impacts sent everything nearby flying, pipes and barrels and wood and metal scattering across the site.
Both landed at the same time and both charged again immediately.
James's kick hit Baki's ribs. Baki's kick hit James's shoulder. Both gasped. Neither backed down. They kept trading, kick for punch, punch for kick, each hit landing clean and neither man going down.
James planted his hands on the ground and drove both legs into Baki's chest. Baki crossed his right arm and blocked.
BOOM!
His feet carved long trenches in the mud as he slid backward.
James flipped back to his feet. His shoulder was bruised and his legs ached and he was breathing hard. He thought to himself that Baki was a beast, and wondered whether to push further.
Baki's ribs hurt and his right arm was trembling and blood dripped from cuts on his face. He thought to himself that his body would break down if he pushed any harder, that he had probably overdone it this past month enjoying the fights too much.
But both of them were smiling.
They were about to go again when a voice came from the side.
"What's this?"
Both James and Baki turned at the same time.
Three figures stood at the edge of the construction site. Gun Park. Goo Kim. And the Chairman of the HNH Group, Charles Choi.
Charles's eyes moved slowly across the destroyed construction site, then settled on James. "I was wondering what was taking so long. But I didn't expect to see you here, DG."