Maximillian Hunter.

In his mind he had one thought running through his head.

Just what was Tiffany Chang?

He looked up and his gaze met her's once more.

She looked hurt and was also panting.

So she was also hurt.

It didn't feel like that though.

He straightened himself up and stared at her and she did the same.

Ken: This fight.... is really something. (thinking: Was Tiffany pushed this hard against any of us?) But in any case...

Rose: Hmm?

Ken: ... I do believe that this fight is ..... almost over. (thinking: After all, as the officiator, I'm supposed to stop a fight if it gets too far. And I think we've just about reached that point.)

Meanwhile....

Max still couldn't wrap his head around it. She was a human. So, just how had she been giving him so much trouble?

He was going easy on her. That was true. If he wanted to, he could go all out and really give it to her. But.... would that even work?

He'd hit her harder than he'd hit a normal person so far, but so far, she'd taken it like a champ.

In a sense, it was an odd feeling of respect that welled up in his heart.

Respect for one who'd accomplished so much without any special powers.

As for Tiffany....

She knew what she'd signed up for.

Twice, she'd had a chance to end the fight and in both cases an unexpected aspect of her opponent changed the course of the match.

That much was expected. Just like she thought, Max may have had a lack of battle experience and even had a bull headed mentality, but that didn't stop him from surprising her.

Her earlier analysis of her opponent was correct.

Maximillian Hunter. There was more to him than met the eye.

The pair stayed there, silent, gazing into each others eyes, all the while, anticipating a surprise attack, preparing their next moves and calmly taking the time to gauge their feelings about the battle and their opponent.

Rose: Are they... Ok?

Ken: Hmmm....

Luke: They're fine.

Rose: Huh?

Ken: Hmm?

Luke: Trust me. They'll be fine.

Max poised himself to dash again. His eyes transfixed on  Tiffany.

She, in return, poised herself for battle.

"This time," Max said to himself, "This time, I'm not gonna take her lightly."

He dashed again, this time running straight towards Tiffany, and just before he made it to her, he paused, mere feet from her, and dashed to her right.

Ken: Hmmm

Rose: Woah!

And so his new plan came to fruition.

Max dashed from place to place, making several quick dashes to random areas not too far from Tiffany and then stopping suddenly, before continuing to dash some more.

Tiffany could only try to follow him by turning left and right, trying to keep track of him.

Ken: (thinking: Hmmm... not a bad strategy. If youre not sure of when or with what Tiffany will strike, you make her unsure of when you'll strike. Good job, Max. Good job.)

And the speedy dashes only continued as Tiffany grew increasingly bothered by it while trying to keep up.

And then... Max suddenly struck Tiffany, bashing her at full force.

This was his plan. Hit her hard. Much harder than before.

After all, his first blow didn't knock her out.

And this time... his bash sent her flying to the ground.

She landed on her back.

Rose: Tiff!

Tiffany slowly begun to pull herself up to face Max again.

Ken: Match over!

Rose: Huh!?

His statement shocked Max and Tiffany, as well as Luke and Rose.

Ken: Hmph. The winner has been decided.

Rose: You mean.... Max..... won?

Ken: Affirmative.

Rose: Oh my gosh! I don't believe it. In his first fight?!

Ken: Yes.

Rose: That's incredible.

Ken: Hmph. (thinking: Maximillian Hunter. Always full of surprises.)

Luke simply walked over to Tiffany.

Luke: You alright?

Tiffany: Yeah, I'm fine. (to Max) Good job.

Max: Yeah...

Those words would have sounded much better to anyone had the fight have been fair, but for Max, it felt... odd.

For one thing, in a sense, he'd grown a new found respect for Tiffany after fighting her.

But also, just as he'd bashed into her, or maybe while he was bashing into her, in that brief moment, ...

Max's hand touched his chest.

.... she jabbed him.

The punch was hard alright. Not hard enough to knock him down, but hard enough that he felt it dig through his chest. It hurt. It hurt a lot.

So much so that, while he'd won, he knew full well that the actual results of the fight were a lot closer than one would think.

Did anyone else even notice?

But that wasn't all that bothersome.

What truly bothered Max, was that she was able to hit him at that speed.

He still hit her, but... how did she hit him?

Like a wolf that had just had a tough battle with what to him was a sheep, he took some time to reflect on things.

Rose: Great job, Max.

Max: Hehehe... thanks...

He didn't feel like celebrating. That was a first for him.

As for Tiffany, she'd lost. That wasnt that big of a deal to her. But as for her thoughts towards Max... yeah. She decided that she was right the first time.