Enigma 02:
The Blind Omniscient

"So, who's up next?" Stone asked his coach as they walked out of Black Arena.

Stone's coach, Cockeye, took a drag from his cigarette.

"Well... he's a pretty strange guy," Cockeye eventually responded, "Calls himself 'The Blind Omniscient.'"

The name alone was enough to make Stone laugh.

"Bit of an oxymoron, isn't it?" He said. Cockeye gave a halfhearted chuckle, but his stiff demeanor didn't change at all.

"Yes and no, I s'pose," Cockeye replied, "Apparently the guy's undefeated."

"For how long?"

"'Bout six months while participating in weekly fights."

Stone's only reply was a silent raising of his brows. He was silent for a minute or so before he spoke.

"Well, it's not exactly like I'm in a tournament," Stone said.

Cockeye nodded and sighed, "Well, 's'not exactly like you'll be able to, if he beats you. B.O. is ruthless."

"B.O.!" Stone laughed, "Ah, Christ, how can anyone take that seriously!"

"Would ya shut the Hell up and listen!" Cockeye snapped, "B.O... Er, Blind Omniscient has hospitalized just about everyone he's fought."

"Yeah, it's an underground fighting ring," Stone retorted, "As if that's anything new."

"Four of 'em died in hospice," Said Cockeye as he took another drag.

Stone had nothing to say.

"He's called Blind Omniscient 'cause he'd undergone a, uh... experiment of sorts," Cockeye continued, "Sensory deprivation, it was. 'Parently, if he didn't feel nothin' at all, then he'd be able to experience things as they happen; not as his senses, uh... perceived 'em."

"That's a load of shit," Stone snickered.

"Tha's what I thought at first," Cockeye said, "Then I saw 'im for myself."

"Listen, I'm gonna stop you right there," Stone took a few steps ahead of Cockeye and turned to face him while walking backwards, "Sensory deprivation doesn't work that way. So what, this guy doesn't have to rely on his senses to get around? That doesn't make him superhuman, it just makes him physically retarded."

Cockeye sighed, "Have it your way, Stone. Not like I could convince you, anyway."

The fight between Stone and Blind Omniscient took place a week later. It was a pit match between the two of them; they'd both be put in an empty swimming pool on the ground floor of Black Arena, which was just an abandoned hotel.

As Stone jumped into the pit, he had his first look at Blind Omniscient. Blind Omniscient stood at a height of 5' 9" and wore a somewhat bulky-looking suit that covered his entire body. Without the suit, Stone estimated that Blind Omniscient would only measure up to being 5' 5". The suit was heavily padded and practically rendered Blind Omniscient to be immobile. His arms and legs were stiff, with no joints, and the most that he could do to attack would be to flail his arms about. The suit was coloured navy blue, and had crude drawings of eyes all over it.

"Is this a fuckin' joke?" Stone laughed as he turned to Cockeye. Cockeye simply fixed his good eye at Blind Omniscent without showing any emotion. Stone rolled his eyes, huffed, and turned back to face Blind Omniscient. Above him stood a man in a black tuxedo and dark sunglasses. The tuxedoed man stood with arms folded in an emotionless statuesque stance.

"All right, who let the feds in here?" Stone called out to keep his nerves at bay. A few audience members laughed unenthusiastically. An atmosphere of unease filled the pit as Stone took his battle stance and gave a thumbs-up.

"Ready!" Stone called out.

"Ready," Said the tuxedoed man boldly.

Cockeye and the tuxedoed man held their arms up as they simultaneously shouted, "Fight!"

Stone made the first move, not seeing any reason to wait for Blind Omniscient to stumble towards him. As Stone rushed to give a blow to his face, Blind Omniscient tilted his head just far enough so that the punch barely missed. Stone followed up to sweep his foot back, but Blind Omniscent's leg moved just far enough to dodge. His moves were all minimal, only barely dodging any attack that Stone threw out. Stone eventually went for a grapple, and successfully took hold of Blind Omniscient's torso. He flipped him over to land on his head, but as Blind Omniscent flew over, he stiffly held out one leg to knock Stone across the head. Stone was knocked back, but not over. Blind Omniscent, on the other hand, was laid down flat on his back- or was it his front? It was impossible for Stone to tell. Regardless, he went for a kick to the head, but Blind Omniscient flipped himself over to get away from the attack. He now "stood" sideways on one hand and one foot. Stone went after Blind Omniscient's torso for another grapple, and once again succeeded. Stone threw Blind Omniscient into a wall, and Blind Omniscient managed to recover standing-up.

As Stone rushed to pin him against the wall, Blind Omniscient split his legs apart to "crouch" downward and swung one arm into Stone's torso. As Stone fell down, Blind Omniscient caught his head with his foot and kicked it straight into the wall. Stone's skull made a cracking noise as Blind Omniscient finished him off by swinging his arm at Stone's head.

As Stone slumped down, a steady stream of blood poured down the wall.

Stone was dead.