Bradford gives Mike an ice-cold look. A superior grin creeps onto his face.
"Don't expect a lucky hit, you weirdo," Bradford growls, amused.
"As if I'm afraid of you. Muscle guys like you are 80% hot air anyway!" Mike hisses back energetically. He immediately tenses his entire body ready to fight.
"You probably don't understand the situation you're in at all. You're just a child acting out, and I, I've already trained, fought and killed before you've even pooped your first diaper. What do you actually think "How do you become the leader of a group of this size? Air in your arms?!"
Now Bradford also gets into a fighting stance. His abs and chest muscles are bulging out of his tight tank top. His arms are now almost twice the size of Mike's legs. He takes a few steps towards Mike. His dark eyes sparkle above the dark circles. Mike doesn't back down. He stares seriously at the leader of the Gauntlets.
"I don't care who you think you are, Bradford! I definitely won't let you attack my friends. I won't just leave Merlany and Skid here!"
Bradford's grin widens.
"Your loyalty is impressive. Unfortunately, you're on the wrong side of it. If you weren't responsible for the Don killing us all, maybe you could have become one of us."
"No interest in your idiot club. As if I support your tyranny."

Skid watches the conversation carefully. There is a solid tension between the two. One wrong movement would cause the thread to break. But one thing catches Skid's eye. Something that is obviously in the air with the sheer power that both of them exude. Mike has no chance. How could he cope with Bradford when he can barely deal with the "Storm of Steel" Rogers. Skid hasn't known Mike and Merlany for that long, but sweat is still running down his forehead from tension. Maybe it's because he never had any real friends in Factory Town, but he, above all, somehow grew to care about Mike. And yet he can't get a word out in Bradford's presence. He looks at his control bracelet, which shows the status of the Lance Driver. "Arms destroyed - some difficulties in the control unit - fuel cell intact"
Bradford's pupils move past Mike to focus on Skid.

"Don't even think about pointing this thing at me again!" Bradford orders Skid imperiously. He immediately backs away. In this moment of inattention, Mike quickly races towards Bradford. Mike throws out a powerful punch with his fist and throws it at his enemy with force, but Bradford easily catches it with his hand and throws Mike away from Skid. Mike flies through the air completely disoriented before he hits the asphalt hard. All the air is forced from his lungs in a tortured croak. Skid's eyes tremble at the sight of Mike and Merlany putting themselves through such pain. Bradford looks at Mike mockingly. Confident of his victory, he turns away from the defeated Mike to turn back to Skid. But he gets back on his feet, unimpressed.
"I'm not done with you yet, you fat bastard!" Mike shouts with all the air he has left. Bradford doesn't look at Mike and continues to walk towards Skid. Mike growls energetically. So he has no chance. He needs a strategy.

You may not notice it, but Mike is above average intelligent. But he rejects this intelligence, he refuses to live his life the way the society around him demands. Education, obedience and conformity are things that have gone against his grain since childhood. The boredom, the routine and the hopelessness of an orderly life have always put Mike off. It's not his world. It is the reason why he gave up life in the villages. Maybe he wasn't as different as Merlany, who had attracted attention since childhood with her supernatural abilities, but inside he was at least as out of place. But no matter how hard he tries not to be what others expect of him, in the end he can't escape his personality. Mike is a slob because he wants to be one.

Thoughts are running through his head, but a plan still can't come to mind. There's only one way to protect Skid - with your head through the wall! Mike runs towards Bradford, completely tense, but he turns around in a quick movement and, as he turns, rams his fist into the pit of Mike's stomach. Mike involuntarily spits and sails through the air again.
"What do you think, you are going to achieve like this. I'm stronger, faster and more experienced than you. Maybe you can handle the errand boys, but you're still a long way from being a real opponent," explains Bradford in a stern, military tone. His words burn into Mike's soul. He was always different than others, but here, in the big city, he is a nobody, no better than the inconspicuous henchmen in the background. Wolf, his student, Biz or even Bradford - even Merlany - they all leave him far behind.

He slowly gets up again. He won't be defeated that easily. Bradford looks visibly surprised. "You weakling get back up? What's the point? Every one of my punches hits you like a car, and yet you keep going! This is pure stupidity! Sometimes you have to accept your defeat," explains the Gauntlet, rather incredulously. But this only makes Mike's expression even more grim.
"I came to this city to experience something! To be different from others! To be someone who reaches new horizons! What would be the fun if I gave up. If I wasn't serious, "Then I wouldn't be here," Mike replies ambitiously, with a challenging tone, "And there's one thing you probably don't know about me: I can take more than is good for me!"