Thirty seconds

Thirty seconds. It seemed almost incredulous to Lee that years of his hard work and rigorous training would come down to these few seconds. He stared at Yong, his opponent sitting some twenty feet away, and pondered upon his strategy.” 30 seconds. That would give me just enough time to land a few sharp jabs and swipes. Aggression is the key.” he thought.

He looked into the dark, beady eyes of his aged opponent. Yong stared back at him, gray and impassive. “What I wouldn’t give to know what’s in that mind of yours, old man. What are you planning to do now?” Lee thought.

The fight, to Yong, meant glory, as he was the defending champion of the Samurai Showdown. To Lee, it meant everything he had trained for the past three years. "So it begins", he thought.

“Start!” the announcer roared from his panel. The two samurai ran towards each other with incredible speed. Lee’s sword was unsheathed, ready to strike. Yong was merely keeping a hand on the hilt, his left hand inside his robes. Over their head, a giant timer was ticking away the precious time allotted for the battle.

29, 28. Just as Lee was about to strike, he saw a flash of silver and found three shurikens flying at him. He nimbly dodged two and blocked the third with his sword. The next instant, his sword slashed through the air, leaving a deep wound in Yong’s left arm. Yong retaliated with a straight jab, which lee blocked with ease and countered with a vertical strike. Yong parried it and struck Lee with both hands on his sword. It was Lee’s instincts that saved his life, even though the blow left a deep cut on his chest.

22,21. The two warriors ferociously sliced and stabbed at each other. Age and experience was fighting youth and agility. Lee could feel that he was winning. He could see his opponent's body scarred, and his clothes tattered, while Lee himself had but a few scratches. Lee wondered whether age was finally blunting Yong's reflexes, and pressed on, gaining ground with each of his strikes.

With twelve seconds to go, another shuriken flew carelessly at Lee. He struck it away with ease, grinning to himself, a split second before realizing what a grave mistake he had made. His sword pointing upwards , away from his body, he had no time to recuperate as Yong charged at his defenseless torso, his sword flashing in the sun. Lee’s defence left agape, Yong leapt at him, as if in slow motion, and Lee watched in awe as Yong twisted in air thrice, each time striking a deadly slash on Lee’s chest.

Ten,nine... With the minuscule amount of energy left, Lee swiped and struck at him furiously, straining his fingers. But Yong parried, as he knew he had done enough damage to win him the match.

Exasperated, Lee shouted out, “Fight back, you coward!” Unbelievably, the fingers of his opponent trembled for a split second. Seizing the opportunity, Lee soared in the air like an eagle, and thrust his sword deep into his opponent’s heart. Yong fell, lifeless, at his feet.

The timer struck zero.

To the roaring applause of the spectators, Lee stood up, greeted Yong, and apologized for the shouting. Standing up from his gaming console, Yong replied with a smile, “You’ve won fair and square, young man. See you in the next tournament.”