Spanner flinched when the sword nearly cut his head off. "There goes this year." He said depressingly. Spanner decloaked the base, and stepped out. "Hey hey, you don't have to break all of my stuff."
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Spanner flinched when the sword nearly cut his head off. "There goes this year." He said depressingly. Spanner decloaked the base, and stepped out. "Hey hey, you don't have to break all of my stuff."
Silver glared at him and grabbed his wrist. She lifted her sword up and casually sliced off the watch. She picked it up and tossed it at Enzo. Still glaring at Spanner, Silver pointed at her shirt. "You're paying for a new one."
Enzo caught it with two hands, and looked at it. He smiled, knowing they beat one of the three teams. "Hah, with all this research, it makes this tournament's reward like child's play." Spanner said, not concerned with facing angry Silver. "I can either sell my new Moscas, or just duplicate what abilities you have. It's really a victory for me. Heheheh... HAHAHAHA!" Spanner went on laughing like a madman, despite his situation.
"Aaaand, Team Valor is the winner!" said the announcer. The illusion battleground faded, and screams and cheers of the crowd nearly drowned out the combatants thoughts. Enzo looked to Silver, with their defeated enemies watch in his hand. "Good job. The both of you." He smiled. He was also referring to Joanne, who was probably able to hear it through the TV. "Let's go back."
Silver stared at Spanner for a moment before backing up and looking to Enzo. She nodded, and slid her swords back into her backpack. At least that's over, she sighed and looked back at her shirt, putting her hand through the giant hole in it. Suddenly, that two story fall came back to her and hit her like a truck. Her eyes widened a bit as she put her hand on her forehead, surprised at how much it hurt. She took a deep breath, and tried to shake it off, standing up straight like she normally would.
Maya stood at the entrance to the battlegrounds, waiting to greet her friends and congratulate them on their victory. She also wished to meet their opponet, and mentally noted it as something to look into after the battles. Silver suddenly look like her adrenaline rush had faded and the pain had finally hit her. Maya grimaced at the thought, feeling sympathy and also knowing that she might end up worse. She walked out on to greet them, slightly smiling. "You put up an excellent fight, Silver. All of you did." She glanced at Enzo, and then the cheering crowd. She turned to walk back, keeping a close eye on Silver.
Enzo made it back into the team room with Silver and Maya. He grinned at his team members, as if to show them that they won. "That was a reckless move, Enzo." Kenji spoke out, he had his arms crossed, but he also couldn't help but smile. "I barely did anything," Enzo said, scratching his head. "It wasn't my battle." He went over and grabbed a water bottle, and noticed that half of them were gone already. "Eh?! Who drank all the water?"
Red fell back into a large puddle of rainwater, his body was pretty bashed, and it ached. He was somewhere in an alley, a distance away from the stadium. "Ooiii, he's really softened up." said a boy with an odd, mascot-like frog hat. "God fucking damn it, Red." X said under his breath. "How did you get so weak? Why are you not in this years Battle Royal?" X put his pistols back into their holster and sighed. "I'm not cut out for it like you and Lex." Red uttered. His battered stomach made it hard for him to speak. "I didn't have that 'special' blood like the two of you had." "Stop blaming it on fate. Who made you soft? Because I'll kill em." The odd boy tilted his head and put a finger to his chin. "Senpaii, let's just take out Valor and go back to Gaze. This place is too dull."
"I'm going to collect our reward for becoming champions, dumbass. I'm not in any rush."
X turned around and started to walk out of the alley. The odd boy, who was crouched down beside Red, gave him a judgmental look before standing up and following him.
Silver couldn't help but grin a little at the fact that they won their first battle. She honestly didn't even remember why she was a part of this team in the first place, but part of her was glad she was. Feeling a bit dizzy, she sighed and leaned against the wall, sliding down it into a criss-cross position where she felt utterly exhausted. Of course, she wasn't really surprised given how hard she hit her head when she fell. As if she would tell anyone else about how she felt right now, though. She formed her right hand into a loose fist and leaned her head against it, yawning a bit and watching everyone else celebrate their victory.
Joanne stood outside of the locker room. Ling had gone out to pass her a towel. "Didn't expect you to be so serious." She grabbed the towel out of her hand and wiped her face with it. "I think Mr. Paopao is having a very close eye on us. You revealed too much of our power." She smacked the towel onto Ling's face. "That giant robot was using nukes to a sword. How the hell was I suppose to counter that?" Ling patted her head. "Don't worry, as long as we make it to the finals, that is all we need to fulfil our mission." She kept on glaring at Ling. "I think that fox is already getting suspicious of us. We don't even know if you and Enzo will be paired up for the finals." Ling just let out a smirk. "Don't worry about the final pairing. Our master have already started working on that result."
The white suited man sat on his very Victorian chair as a glass of white wine was being handed to him from one of the VIP lounge worker. "Exciting display from the young Miss Heartland. Team Valor is indeed a strong team." He sat their with elegance. "But Enzo Ferrari, showing off his strength like that. I can see why Little Boone would have such interest in that boy. I can not wait to see the fulle extent in the finals... with Ling and Enzo working together."
While everyone was celebrating the team's first victory, Kenji watched from the side of the room. He was unknowingly holding a miniature water bottle in his hands. To think that Enzo would have a group of people that actually likes him... That's going a long way. He thought to himself. He brought back memories of Enzo's childhood.
The light shined dimly through the windows of a small apartment. Ambient noises of busy people commuting outside suggested that the apartment was inside of a large city. Inside the apartment was a sleeping Enzo, and a uncursed, adult Kenji.
It had been 3 days since the death of Enzo's mother. He had been kicked out of kindergarden, having failed it for the 4th time, all due to violent outcomes. No other school would accept him after those many incidents, and magic back then wasn't totally popular, either.
Kenji reached to the coffee table that was infront of the sofa, and grabbed a slice of pizza. He was watching some children's show, and not even conscious of it, either. He looked over to Enzo, who was starting to have a fit in one of his dreams. "You're quite the dreamer." Kenji said to him. He picked him up, barely awakening him. The doorbell rang, and Kenji went to get it while carrying Enzo. He opened the door to see a younger, more uplifting Boone. "Who are you?" Kenji questioned him. "My name is Ivan. I have a message from Sorcerers." Boone looked over to Enzo and smiled. "So that's the boy that's causing trouble?"
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"He will fit in perfectly with our school." Boone said. "I'm in no condition to go anywhere, i'm babysitting." Kenji replied. "All I need is a few minutes of your time." Kenji sighed, and went back into the apartment. He set Enzo down on the sofa, and stepped back. Kenji waved his hand upward, and an image of Enzo's dad was formed. Kenji walked back over with Boone, and they both left the apartment while Enzo's dad looked after him.
Sounds of clashing steel filled the training room. They were in a different realm entirely from the magic seal on the floor. They were standing on a stone platform floating above a light blue space, swirling with energy. Volitaire was doing his best to parry attacks from Artizle, but had great struggle. Artizle was in his domain, swinging with a flurry of attacks that was hard for Volitaire to keep up with. Artizle overpowered him and kicked him in the stomach, making him skid to the edge of the platform. Volitaire panicked and tried to keep balance. "Volitaire. How do you expect to beat your enemy if you can't keep up with him. Not everyone is going to fall for traps and ranged spells. You're going to have to overpower them in other ways to get what you want." Volitaire regained balance and held position and kept his eye on Artizle. "I'm on he ropes here...I'm not that good at close combat and he's a expert at it, there's limited space, he's faster than I am, there's not a lot of shadow for me to weave, and my only choice is to parry his swings...fucking great..." Volitaire kept in thought, but watched Artizle slowly. Artizle leaned to his left and vanished, but Volitaire saw a brush of dust coming from the left. "He moved right! Then that means he should be coming from my-" Artizle appeared to Volitaire's left and he lifted his foot up for a kick, Volitaire grabbed his foot and pushed it back, following with a slash of his sword. Artizle stood back with a cut down his shirt, Volitaire purposely held it back. Artizle grinned. "You're learning! Before you used to panic and get roundhoused across the platform. Keep this up. Take a look how your opponent moves, and you may get an idea of what they may do next." Volitaire nodded but put his sword away. "Artizle, I think it would be better if I used my hands to learn first...get used to dodging, and using my body as a weapon..." Volitarie felt out for speaking his own idea, he kind of felt stupid. Artizle chuckled. "A good way to learn is with a bit of punishment, no? Well lets continue!" Artizle charged forward.
Enzo gave up on trying to figure out who drank all the water, and turned back to the others. "We shouldn't get too relaxed. There are still two more battles we have to win." He reminded them. He thought that at any second, the announcer would call out the next team members. But in reality, the stadium crew members were repairing the field for the next fight. "That last fight was pretty close."
Silver finally spoke up. "I think I would have been fine even if you didn't show up." she said, still sitting criss-cross and crossing her arms, showing her disapproval of his actions. Though, secretly she was glad he did decide to join. She sighed and leaned her head back against the wall, closing her eyes and going over the battle in her mind.
Enzo looked down for a moment, to him, it felt like he had a duty to protect everyone. He didn't question much about why he felt that way, he just went with it. Looking back up to Silver, he smiled. "You're right." He replied.
Silver opened one eye and looked at him. She wasn't expecting that answer, let alone a smile. She gave him a strange, almost suspicious look. Why did she feel like she actually wasn't right? Her head was starting to hurt again, so she stood up and started walking out of the room. She figured she could go to the bathroom and splash some water on her face, that would probably help.
Sarus looked over his teammates, shaking his head with a little laugh. "You guys sure know how to add a flare to your fighting huh?" he joked lightly, seeing those fights got him itching to try one of his own. "Silver you did a great job out there, some of the moves you pulled astounded me big time, can't wait to see more later." he called out with a smirk before she left. He looked in the direction of the stadium, wondering how long it would take to fix it, and who all would be going next.
He looked to Enzo after a moment. "You did good to short stuff. Though I was slightly surprised when you jumped in so quickly." he replied thoughtfully. He didn't want to think about what would have happened if Enzo didn't jump in when he did. There was no point in it now after all, but still...it would have sucked to lose silver so soon in the tournament. That girl probably had a lot to show to everyone, same as with Enzo. Sarus was pretty stoked he had some awesome teammates so far, by the looks of it anyway.
"Kenji said it was reckless." Enzo said with a nervous smile. "We can't be reckless here. We have Sorcerers's reputation riding on this." He took a look at his rings that were on his hands. As powerful as his hyper form was, he wanted to be able to fight without it. He was worried that he'd lose control of himself during his battle.
Sarus saw the look of worry on Enzo's face, his arm stretched out before he even really registered what he was doing. With his hand landing on Enzo's shoulder, he gave it a light squeeze. "Hey, I'm not entirely sure that your worried about, but..you strong you know? and if it's anything to do with the competition I think you kick some serious ass no matter what." he said a little awkwardly, not being used to comforting people at all. "And If you do end up having trouble I'll just use my fist to knock some sense into you..." he said with a deadpanned voice.
Enzo laughed nervously, his words enlightened him, except for the fist part. All of us here are strong when we put our minds to it. He convinced himself, though he couldn't shake off the worry of who the next who teams would be. Mechromancer was a team of one, and he was able to take out Joanne and nearly Silver. A chill went down his spine, despite the positive thinking.
Ling came back in the room and gave the group a casual look. "So I had Joanne sent away to let her rest by herself. I doubt they will call on her again." Ling looked like he was showing some enthusiasm by shadow boxing. "I can't wait to get my game on out there." He walked over to Enzo and gave him a good tap. "But you know.." He let out a very pissed off aura to Enzo even if he was still smiling. "Wasting one of our help support like that was definitely a bad idea, Enzo."
Again, a chill was sent down Enzo's spine when he discovered Ling's frightening 'air' about him. He gulped and nodded slowly towards him. "I'm s-still a beginner, you know?" his voice was obviously shaken. Kenji crossed his arms and closed his eyes, letting out a sigh. This next fight needs to come faster. These kids need something else to worry about right now.
The dragon swished its tail back and forth in response to Ling, much like a cat does when it is annoyed. Maya stared half-heartedly at him, but said nothing. She instinctively wanted to protect Enzo and say something, but now was not the time to get on any one of her teammate's bad side. She also couldn't help but agree just a little bit. A few seconds passed and Maya spoke up anyways. "It wasn't a terrible idea. For all we know, he saved us in the competition. There's only two other battles, anyways." She leaned up against the wall and bit her lip, watching the tv.
Silver stood in the bathroom, turning on the water and splashing a little water on her face. She took a paper towel and lightly patted her face, looking up in the mirror once she was done. She looked at herself, seeing no scratch marks or anything wrong with her besides her shirt being cut. "I could have lasted a lot longer without him." she sighed as she looked down, staring at her hands. They didn't even have blisters on them. Thinking about the battle more, she felt almost disappointed with herself, almost like she let everyone down by "needing help"... Wait a second, why should she care if she let them down? It's not like she was getting anything out of this, besides maybe a little extra training. She sighed again. She wasn't sure about any of this anymore, but it's not like she could just quit.
I'm part of a team now, and I have to get used to that.
When her head started pounding again, she placed her hand on her forehead, hoping it would ease the pain a little. She wasn't used to headaches like these.
Volitaire stood a little hunched over, he had some cuts around his body. He was breathing somewhat heavily, trying to catch breath. Artizle was a bit damaged as well. He was leaning on his sword, they both were getting tired, but didn't inten to stop soon. Volitaire regain posture and black chains swirled around his hand and he threw them to Artizle's sword. "Was hoping you'd try that...I want to show you a obvious flaw in that spell." Artizle gripped his sword and pulled the chains, pulling Volitaire forward, causing him to stumble. Volitaire recalled the chains and tried to gain balance, but before he could Artizle was behind him and slammed him to the ground with his hilt making Volitaire crash onto the floor. "What if someone were to pull at your chains unexpectedly? And make you stumble just like that. I could've done so much worse to you, Voli." Artizle walked back. "I know you have a different way of using this spell. Think." Volitaire was grunting a bit. "I haven't tried...but I guess I can find out..." Volitaire saw his shadow while getting up and it came to him. When he stood up, his shadow twitched and moved about when he moved his hand upward. Wavelike curves bounced in his shadow and formed rising chains. They pointed upward, awaiting for another command. Artizle nodded. "Try it again, Voli." Volitaire moved his hair from his face and pointed his hand towards Artizle and the darted towards him, Artizle tried to block again with his sword, but other chains coiled him. Artizle attempted to pull away again, but Volitaire shadow remained unaffected. "You got it..! Now undo me.." Volitaire threw his hand down and the chains pulled Artizle to the ground. "We're even."
Saved, huh? Enzo thought to himself. Suddenly, the voice of the announcer is heard over the intercom. "Alright, BR fans! It's time for another showdown! We're got your listings here." Sounds of a piece of paper being opened is heard on the intercom, strangely enough, it created suspense.
"Team Valor will battle.. Nor's warriors!" And with that, broke the silence in the stadium. Crowds were once again cheering. "And for the member pairings... On team Valor, we have: Sarus Moon and Maya Morrison, versus Sol Nor and Trident!"
"Sol Nor and Trident? Nor's warriors?" Enzo remembered Nor as the village they saved from the Endine and Montesque.
It felt odd to be going up against the people they saved just recently.
Maya frowned. In the back of her head, she was hoping that she somehow wouldn't have to fight anyone. She also did not have any knowledge about her opponets or her teammate's powers and skills. Maya sighed and pulled a metal mask and two cuffs out of her bag. She put the cuffs on. "Well, wish us luck, I guess." Her dragon padded out and looked at the stadium and the crowd cautiously. Oh, boy, we're gonna die. She put the mask on. "Does anyone know anything about Sol Nor and Trident?" Maya had trouble fitting the mask on correctly without a mirror.
"Considering that a team from Nor made it this far into the tournament, they're no joke. Nor's people are very spiritual." Enzo could recall the moment the villagers gave team Valor their prayers. Defense... Luck.. Again, Those names echoed in his mind. He felt as if he knew people by those names.
Before the announcer could call them to the field, one of the other workers had informed the speaker of something urgent. After a moment of whispering, the worker retreats out of the announcing room, and the announcer himself speaks. "Change of plans, fans." his tone was less cheerful then before. "Round 2 will be put on hold." Cries of disappointing fans filled the stadium. "They're putting it on hold? Why?" Enzo asked. "Round 2 will be switched with Round 3! Our team listings are Team Valor VS Phantom!" The cheering returned with the announcement of the third battle being next. They enjoyed fights, not delays.
"From team Valor, it will be Enzo Ferrari and Ling Yuan He, VS X and Droy from Phantom!"
Montesque, in the dark of his hidden library was writing incantations in a large blank book. The only light is a lantern by his side on the desk. There was nothing but bookshelves on the walls, and piled books on the floor. Records of history, forbidden magics, encyclopedias of magical findings, a tome on ancient artifacts and civilizations, and much more. He was quietly scribbling notes down inside, with plates of food stacked next to him and numbers of cups once filled with coffee. A man in a similar outfit as his walked in with more food. Mashed potatoes with cuts of beef inside with a small lather of gravy. "Montesque, more food was prepared for you." He put the plate beside him and took the others. "When are you going to take a break, and sleep?" Montesque shook his head, continuing to write. "I can't sleep. I have to finish this...also, I carry too much guilt to sleep peacefully. To create a replica of the book of Aurora requires no rest. I must work endlessly." "Guilt..? You mean, all of the attacks done to others? But that was for the pursuit of your goal. To eliminate all acts of magical misuse. You killed those who did misuse magic." "My family did. I didn't...at that, they murdered whomever they thought was a threat to them. I feel guilt from our biggest attack, being the Lucath family. I wish to go back and correct my mistakes. To find the man who created magic and learn from him. And create my own law of magic for all to realize. I remember the look on the faces of those children to attacked the castle. They looked at me as if I was some sort of villain...I can assure you I'm not. They must figure the world is fine as it is, but I've seen so much carnage, so much dispute, so much alienation because of magic. People who don't use magic look at us like we're monsters. My family was a large contributor. Our ancestors told us that we can only make ourselves known by killing those who disagreed...but I can't blame them. Back then whomever disagreed with ideals turned into a large conflict. But it's as if we ignored compromise completely. I saw the faces of those we harmed, I felt horrible for it. I remember seeing "that" boys face back in Aurora...he assumed a form of something else entirely because of his anger. I knew he would attempt to destroy me, but I had no choice but to defend myself. Either way, I know he's too frustrated to listen to me. I never wanted to attack his family, my "partners" did. They took my words and twisted them to sound like I started this. There was a reason I tried to keep as much of them alive as I could...but he couldn't see the fact I saved him and his brother. If he does get to me before I complete this book, I know he has intention to kill me. I'm afraid he may be able to. Leave. I've spoken enough, I have to get back to completing the book." Montesque continued to write, but a faster, ignoring his food. The man nodded and walked out with the dishes. "I've gotta correct the mistakes magic has made.."
Silver walked back into the room slowly, a bit more refreshed now that she had spent some time alone. She looked around to her seemingly eager, yet confused teammates. "So who's turn is it next, then?" she muttered and leaned against the doorway, looking at her nails and rubbing them on her shirt a bit.
"It'll be me and Ling this time. Nor's warriors couldn't fight for some reason.." Obviously feeling concerned about it, he shakes it off and turns toward the door that led to the field. "If they called our names, we should be leaving, then." Enzo clenched his fist in excitement, then looked to Ling with a smile. "Here we go!" Enzo darted off out the door, heading towards the field.
"Aiyaa, I didn't expect for us to be going out so soon. Now I lost all my tension." He looked over to Enzo and gave him a thumbs up. "Well I am all set." Ling picked up a towel and placed it over his shoulder. Ling followed behind. He then started to talk to himself quietly as he moved along. "The plan is moving on a bit faster, but doesn't matter. All I have to do is follow it to the end." He let out his laugh under his breath. "So Enzo Ferrari, prepare yourself for a fight that you will lose."
The man who sat at the VIP section listened to the announcement. He then listened a whisper from a butler. "Very well, prepare everything and send the message to the centre to prepare for the activation of Aurora. On my signal."