10
Vex gritted his teeth in frustration. Alto stared down at the hourglass in his hand in confusion. After a moment He looked up and around at the two teams. He took in a deep breath and lifted up off the ground. He flew away towards the champion's special spectator box. Both teams watched as he flew off and both teams watched as he returned with a small wooden table that he placed just outside of the ring and placed the hourglass on.
"Are you both fine with these conditions?"
Simultaneously both team captains answered.
"Yes."
Alto raised his arm into the air and held it high above his head. Together he brought the arm down and flipped over the small timekeeper.
"Fight!"
But they didn't right away. The two teams stood facing one another with sharp glares. On one side the three dragon disciples and on the other side Yuki and Maria. Further behind them was a seemingly uninterested Styx lounging casually. Vex relaxed his muscles a bit and stood straight.
"Aren't you going to attack up."
"Ladies first."
Maria had thought that was rather clever until from behind her Styx graciously pointed out that their team had more female competitors than Vex's team.
"Thanks for the help, Styx!"
Yuki stepped forward one step. This was enough for Vex to tense back up in caution but the two teams were still fairly far apart.
"Personally, I'd rather not fight. Maybe we can solve this non-violently."
"Yeah. In abou' 14 more minutes yer team will lose wit no need for figh'n."
Gorbac let out a hearty laugh. Yuki looked down and rubbed the back of his head gently. He kicked a small rock that had made it's way into the ring and looked back to the other team.
"Guess that does kinda screw things up for us. But then that wasn't really my idea. I'm kinda shit at fighting."
Faster than any of them could have expected Yuki bolted behind maria and began to push her forward. Her feet dragged across the ring floor kicking up little clouds of dust. She turned and pushed him away from her. She rested her arm comfortably on her hip and pointed at Yuki.
"Fine, fine. I guess I'll do all the work."
With a flick of her wrist the hand that she had resting on her hip shoot out a card that landed directly between the two teams. She moved so fast that Vex never saw her pull the card from her pocket. He then considered that it hadn't been in her pocket and it was some slight of hand trick to unnerve his team.
“It won't work,” he thought to himself proudly. Still, he was going to be cautious so he slowly leaned forward to get a better view of the card. It was longer than a normal playing card as well as being larger in general. The face-up side displayed an eye pierced by the flour de lis. Vex recognized it immediately as the same one on the back of Maria's jacket although that gave him very little useful information about what the card may have been.
"About how much time is left Yuki?"
"About 12 I'd guess. Hard to tell with sand."
In an instant Maria exploded forward and quickly closed the gap between the two teams. The dragon disciples prepared for her attack but lost focus as one of her feet landed directly on the card as she ran. Tendrils of light ran up her leg and soon she was consumed by the universe. A supernova exploded across the star-soaked plane and formed the girl once again. She stumbled for a moment but as she ran forward she broke out of the light like it was an old snake skin. Vex, Gorbac, and Sivlis jumped back from Maria as she swung at them in a large arc with her sword.
After stepping out of the light Maria had changed completely. She was wearing a different outfit than the one she had on seconds before and now had a weapon that she certainly wasn't hiding with slight of hand. The audience reeled in the temporal dysphoria gained from watching Maria's transformation take place both over more than a minute and at the same time less than a second. Vex stood unshaken. He had learned what her powers were and now he finally understood what she meant when she said she could wear souls like armour.
"Sivlis, you focus on the boy. Me and Gorbac will handle the girl. Don't let your guard down."
Sivlis ran off at surprising speed in a small arc toward Yuki. Quickly Yuki grabbed the ring on his left hand and pulled it off. It left a green trail behind it that blew around like smoke but then solidified into the shape of his weapon. It was a handheld gardening kama with a long chain attached at the handle. He held it in front of himself just in time to intercept the foot of the small creature. It pushed back against the handle and flipped back landing a few feet from Yuki.
Vex and Gorbac both ran at Maria and came together at the point she had been standing. Narrowly she managed to roll through their arms tumbling a few times before stopping her momentum by stabbing her sword into the ring just before the edge. She stood up and brushed herself off.
"Not bad. The big guy is faster than I would have thought."
Maria grabbed the edge of her cape with her left hand and pulled it across the front of her body. With a flourish she threw her arm back out away from her body and her cape fluttered gracefully in the wind distracting from the new sword that had somehow made it's way into her hand. The old sword remained firmly planted in the ground behind her. She ran forward at the pair with her new sword flowing in a metal trail behind her.
Yuki was continuing to slip just past any of Sivlis' attacks. Each kick came just inches away from his head. Occasionally he wouldn't have time to dodge and would have to black the impact with the handle of his scythe. The impacts left his hands increasingly sore as each one stung worse than the last. He wasn't sure if his tolerance for pain was lowering or if her strikes were getting more powerful.
Maria swung in a wide arc at Vex but he moved out of the way without taking any part of the blade. Maria's momentum carried her once again to an edge of the ring. She slammed her blade into the ground and let out a loud grunt. Vex couldn't resist the opportunity to say something.
"Getting frustrated already?"
When Maria turned to face them again not only was she brandishing another new sword but her face was unmoving. If she had been frustrated a moment ago she was choosing not to show it now. Maria ran at the pair once again.
Yuki was beginning to slow down. He had so far been able to figure out where Sivlis attacks would come from and take the proper measures to avoid them. The problem was that soon that method wouldn't be viable. It doesn't matter if you have perfect senses if you don't have the reaction time to deal with it. Knowing something bad is going to happen and not being able to deal with it isn't a quirk or superpower, it's just anxiety, and Yuki had mastered that one long before becoming a ferryman.
Maria was seemingly having similar problems in her fight. She had made a few more charges with similar results each time. She hadn't managed to hit a single one of her opponents and had each time only managed to spike her blade into the ground at the edge of the ring. The swords were jutting up like thin tombstones marking the place where each of her attempts to attack had died. She wrapped herself in her cape and then threw it back revealing a circle of blades dancing around her. With the steady calm look on her face she began to pick the swords up one by one and throw them at her opponents.
Vex and Gorbac shifted quickly from one position to another doing their best to avoid the incoming projectiles. Most of the blades flew harmlessly past and lodged themselves in the ground behind them. One blade did manage to graze Gorbac's leg before it sputtered around and rolled off the edge of the ring.
"Ah, one more scar t' add t' my collection."
Yuki had been unable to dodge the last six of Sivlis' attacks and had relied solely on blocking her incoming kicks. Even though she was small each one possessed a surprising amount of force. In one moment Yuki shifted his weapon to block an incoming attack but realized too late that he had misread where the attack would come from. Sivlis glided her foot effortlessly past Yuki's obstacle and landed a solid blow across his right cheek. Yuki spun to the ground and rolled away from the impact. Maria dashed through Vex and Gorbac without attacking and slid on her knees stopping just in front of Yuki.
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Yuki raised shakily to his feet. While he struggled to get up Vex was formulating a plan. He turned to his allies and beckoned them to group up. While Maria and Yuki were distracted the team came together and Vex explained his idea.
"Look how easily they're distracted when one of their teammates gets hurt. We can use this to our advantage."
Sivlis chittered a response.
"Yes, I know we're already trying to hurt them. But they have a team member who is sitting around completely unguarded."
"She said she wasn' gonna fight though. We can' jus' go attack'n er outta nowhere."
"Why not? I never agreed not to attack her. We go all out, anything to win."
Sivlis and Gorbac both thought back to the image of their master and with that, they were sold on the idea. They nodded in approval and stepped back from their impromptu huddle. By the time Yuki and Maria had turned back to face the dragon disciples Gorbac was easily holding Sivlis in his large hand. They watched helplessly as the orc wound up and threw Sivlis with all his strength. Sivlis flew through the air with her foot out prepared to strike its target which in this case was not Yuki or Maria but Styx.
Yuki was going to say, "If that blow lands we'll lose for sure." but the whole thing was over before he could even open his mouth. Maria stomped her foot against the ground to Vex's amusement. He thought it was another outward sign of frustration. Maria, however, was completely calm. From the ground below her foot another sword began to emerge. The foot that she had stomped down rested nicely on the cross guard and as the sword continued to shoot out of the ground she was taken with it. Upon reaching the full length of its blade the sword stopped and pointed out of the ground at a jagged angle. The small girl, in contrast, continued the swords momentum and was thrown back jut in time to make devastating contact with Sivlis kick and fell to the ground with a roll.
"How. That shouldn't even be possible."
Vex stomped his foot down in the same gesture of frustration he thought Maria had partaken in earlier. He wondered how it was that she was so calm and calculated. He wanted badly to throw her off but she reacted to everything like she had already expected it to happen. The girls crumpled body lay still for a brief moment before pulling itself slowly to its feet. Maria turned her head to the side and spit out a bright red stream of blood. A tooth that had taken a liking to the blood and that had been forcibly evicted from its apartment just moments before decided to make the trip as well. Around the chair that Styx lounged in blades arose from the ground and formed a picket fence of sharpened steel.
"Your fight is with me."
She stared right at Gorbac and the now very upset Vex. In an attempt to calm himself down Vex glanced over at the small table and the hourglass. The grains of sand were very quickly making their way to the bottom of the device. He estimated less than 5 minutes remained before the Black Cats would be eliminated. With that thought he calmed. Maria continued to stare at him menacingly but seemed to be completely unaware of Sivlis who was coming up slowly behind her.
Sivlis hopped high into the air and threw a strong kick at Maria's head. Before the meeting of foot and head could take place Yuki tackled Sivlis out of the air. Maria turned quickly to get a view of what was happening and in her distraction Gorbac made his move. He closed the distance between them and swiped at her with the back of his hand. His large arm moved her aside with ease and she flew to the edge of the ring where her head crashed roughly into one of the swords she had planted in the ground. She tumbled roughly and landed outside the ring like a sack of potatoes.
Alto flew across to the side of the ring Maria had fallen from and with a better view began his count. He made it to 6 before Maria moved and to 8 before she made her way to one knee. Just barely between the counts of 9 and 10 did she manage to roll herself weakly back into the ring. Vex and Gorbac watched carefully as the girl used the sword to pull herself to her feet. Sivlis paid no attention and rained kicks down on Yuki who was on the ground weakly defending himself.
Once she was to her feet Maria lifted her head and turned her gaze to the enemy. Blood poured down her face completely covering her left eye. She took her hand and slicked back the hair that hung over her injured eye smearing red into the violet strands. Vex and Gorbac watched carefully as the girl stumbled roughly across the ring past both of them and past her teammate who was being savagely beaten to make her way to the opposite edge. She raised her right arm and a blade formed in it which she promptly speared into the ground. Swords now lined the entire outside of the ring at equal intervals. Maria wobbled her way back to the center of the ring and delivered a swift punt to the Kobold sending her flying.
Yuki made his way to his feet and was only able to stand by resting his weight on Maria. The pair looked over to the hourglass which was rapidly running out of sand.
"Less than a minute left now."
Vex chuckled lightly. He, Gorbac, and Sivlis grouped around Maria and Yuki in a circle. They were about 10 feet away but were closing in slowly.
"That's right. Less than a minute left before the sand runs out and you lose. You talked big but in the end you barely got in one blow each."
For the first time since the fight began Maria's blank face finally shifted to show some expression. Her lips curled into a smug grin. She pointed viciously at Vex.
"Your next line is..."
In unison Maria and Vex spoke aloud.
"I guess we overestimated you after all!"
Vex's eyes shoot open in suddenly.
“What!?”
Maria turned the back of her hand towards Vex and let all but one of her fingers curl into her fist. Bonus points for guessing which finger she left up. With her crude gesture displayed the floor fell out from beneath Maria and Yuki.
11
The Dragon Disciples looked at the ground that had previously held their opponents and saw that the ground now had a sliding door inlaid in it. The door slid closed with a loud clack. Vex looked quickly around for where the pair had disappeared to but gave up when he noticed the other change in his surroundings.
Japanese style sliding doors had appeared all around the ring floating high in the air in exactly the way doors normally don't. One by one all of the doors slid open with a force and a deep black became visible behind them. With haste the deep black began to leak out at high pressure in a torrent. In the moment before the last grain of sand fell the hourglass as well as the table, folding chair, and all four fighters in the ring were washed unceremoniously away. The doors in the sky closed stopping the flow of the black liquid and slipped out of existence. In their place the entire outside of the ring became lined in the doors corresponding to each one of the swords maria had dug into the ring.
Vex was the first to his feet and once the shock of what happened had worn off he noticed Alto was already to the number 3 in counting the four of the out of the ring. He began to turn quickly toward the ring hopping over a flopping angler fish in the grass. As he reached the edge of the ring and made his way through one of the sliding doors he exited through the opposite door on the other side of the ring. He turned to figure out why he had made it all the way to the grass on the other side of the ring without ever getting back in the ring. He tried the door again and once again phased right through the space where the ring was. His team had now recovered and joined him but it was no use. Styx' dimensional gates had essentially locked the enemy team out of the ring and they had no way to get back in. Alto finished his ten count and the four of them were all eliminated from the fight. The crowd let out a wild cheer.
Champion Lloyd who had been sitting at the edge of his seat for the last 15 minutes finally leaned back and relaxed. He let out an excited chuckle at the conclusion of the match. Ursus, who had been equally on edge during the fighting, leaned back in their chair as well.
"You were right. That Maria girl really did pull off something impressive."
Lloyd let out another laugh.
"It was Styx that did that."
"But she sat out the whole time."
"That's what's so interesting about it. Look at the sword on the right side. The one Maria was thrown into."
The Champion's apprentice looked at the sword he had pointed out. It had been knocked around by Maria's sudden impact with it and was not properly lined up with the doors.
"Everyone in the arena now thinks that Maria used her swords to summon the doors. They have tricked all their future competition into thinking one team member can do things she can't and that the other is shrouded in mystery. It's quite interesting."
"Indeed."
The crowd's rumbling cheer slowly faded into silence as they realized that Alto still hadn't announced one team or the other as the victor. Alto floated down slowly until he had his feet firmly planted in the ring. The doors disappeared into the ground and the ring was once again accessible. The Dragon Disciples made their way in to face Alto and Styx watched briefly before doing the same.
"Everyone was counted out at the same time so who won."
Vex spoke with frustration still in his voice. In contrast, Alto's voice was shaky and reserved.
"Umm. Well... I don't really know."
"What do you mean you don't know. You're the judge so make a ruling."
Alto looked down at his feet unsure. Styx walked up beside him and put her hand on his shoulder. He looked up to meet her gaze.
"According to the rules once a person's feet touch outside the ring the count begins. All four of us were outside of the ring for the full 10 count and are eliminated."
"Yes, that's right."
"Maria and Yuki disappeared right before hand so you consider them counted out as well."
"Yes. So all six of you were eliminated simultaneously. There is no winner. I'll have to ask the Champions what to do with a tie. Do both teams move on or are both eliminated? Maybe we just do the match over?"
"What if my teammates return to the ring without touching the ground outside the ring?"
Alto looked at Styx with a puzzled look on his face. He floated into the air and hovered 3 feet up stroking his chin gently. He rolled and sat indian style above the ground.
"If they haven't touched the ground then they can't be counted out. But how would that be possible?"
12
Yuki looked up and all that he could see in front of him was Maria. He reached out to grab her but she was too far away and slowly moving further away. He said something to her that she couldn't hear. Noticing that he was trying to tell her something Maria pulled in her limbs and angled her body down. The blood from her eye flowed backward and flew back behind her as she fell. Clouds rushed by them as Maria speed up and slowly closed the gap between the two of them. When she was close enough Yuki reached out and grabbed hold of her pulling her into a tight hug. He put his face right against her ear and repeated what he had said earlier. The sound of rushing air was defining but at such a close distance she was finally able to hear his scream.
"If we die I'm going to kill you!"
Maria prepared to say, "It's not the worst way to die" but she couldn't actually think of any worse ways to die and decided against it. After a little more thought she did decide on a reply and screamed it into his ear.
"It's ok because I believe in you Yuki."
Yuki replied with, "You're an idiot" but he didn't scream it into her ear so she had no way to hear it. She read his lips.
"That's not very nice."
Yuki turned slowly making sure not to let go of Maria and tried looking down at where they were falling. The rushing wind ripped at his eyes with high pressure and forced them shut so he turned back around.
"I can't see. It's too painful to keep my eyes open without eye protection. You can't feel it right? You'll have to tell me when."
"I'll give you a signal."
Yuki wrapped his arms even tighter around Maria and prepared to use his ability when she gave him the signal. Maria watched the ground below carefully as it made it's way closer and closer like the drunk uncle at the family reunion you try your best to avoid meeting up with at terminal velocity. As she watched the countryside zoomed quickly into a view of the castle town, and then into a view of the hospital and arena, and then into just the arena. The ground came upon them fast and when the time was just right Maria pushed herself up away from Yuki. Gently she leaned in and pressed her lips against his.
In surprise Yuki lost concentration and let off his ability, Soul Eater, without even realizing that was Maria's idea of a signal. Normally the technique was used to drain all the energy from him and his opponent simultaneously putting the two fighters on an even playing field and give him a chance against opponents far stronger than himself. Now it would have to function as a makeshift brake. It appeared to everyone that a large burst of steam had shot out from Yuki and Maria as they fell. The steam was actually their combined reserves of energy that Yuki had managed to shoot in a downward burst. It didn't have nearly the power to stop their fall but slowed it enough that when they crashed painfully into the concrete floor of the ring Yuki's resulting symptoms were intense regret as opposed to sudden death.
Alto floated over to check that the pair were still alive having forgotten completely about the fight and it's lack of a declared winner. Yuki squirmed a bit and let out a moan.
"Maria are you still alive?"
"I'm not sure. I'll check."
"If you check and you are still alive then get off of me."
Maria tried her best to move but only wiggled slightly. Soul Eater had left them both completely drained and also completely in the bounds of the ring. Alto was relieved that both of them were still alive and then after a moment remembered the consequences of that fact.
"The Black Cats win!"
The crowd erupted in cheers once again as Styx made her way over to her exhausted teammates.
13
"That was some great timing with that ability. Just in time to slow yourselves down."
Yuki laid unable to move with Maria draped across his chest and sighed deeply.
"It was nothing."
"Oh. Well if it was nothing forget it then."
"That's not what I..."
Styx picked up her two teammates in one big mass and flung them over her shoulder. Slowly she made her way back to their respective dugout stumbling a few times along the way. She dropped the weight off of her shoulders and into the grass just in front of their area. Yuki and Maria fell into the same basic position that they had been in when they fell into the ring. Yuki was flat on his back and Maria was sprawled helplessly over top of him, both unable to move a muscle.
"You two can watch the rest of the matches from here. I'm leaving. I'll meet you back at the hotel tonight."
Yuki let out a series of complaints that Styx couldn't hear as she walked away through the dugout and into the halls of the arena. She made her way to the front exit and as she turned the corner to leave the contestants area she was greeted by a familiar face.
"That was quite the show you put on."
Styx turned to face the Champion Lloyd leaned against the wall.
"It was all Maria's idea. Anything that theatrical could only come from that girls mind. Also suicidal and stupid."
"It was still entertaining none the less. Congratulations on actually pulling it off."
"That was all thanks to you. If I wasn't allowed to practice here last night I could never have set up that many gates in 15 minutes."
Lloyd leaned forward off of the wall and walked away past Styx. Once he was past her he turned back for just a moment.
"I have to get back before the next match begins. Good luck in the rest of the tournament."
The Champion left and after a moment Styx took his example and exited the arena.
