"Alex Amaya and Minato Hayabashi, please report to the fighting ring," The Chairman's voice boomed, seemingly coming from everywhere.
Alex jerked up in shock. Minato. That man. He was the seven foot tall, heavily muscled man that Alex had seen in the training room. The first person to force him into the solitude that he'd known so well since his parents had been convicted. This was the man he properly learned to kill for. His reason for knowing Dark Lightning.
The voices in his head started roaring. His blood started pulsing. I don't want to disappear for this fight. I want to remember this one. I hope I'll be able to. Alex got out of bed, resigning himself to the fact that he likely wouldn't sleep for a while more. He worked his way down from the bedchambers to the arena entrance. Beside him, the large man that was his first tormentor. Alex could hardly contain himself.
"This will be the first match that can disqualify you from the tournament. Fight well, children. Good luck," wished The Chairman. "You two may proceed."
Dwarfed though he was by the man to the right of him, Alex couldn't help but feel that he was the one that everybody was watching. Some of them had already seen him fight, and they were interested.
"Minato, it's been a while. I hope you're ready to die here," Alex said.
"Oh, Amaya. Even when we were kids you suffered from that foolish arrogance. You think you have a chance," Minato countered.
"More than a chance, old friend," Alex shot back. Alex's words were full of biting sarcasm. Though Minato had been his first real friend at the castle, he was also the first person to desert him. After the "accidental" murder of the other children at the castle, most of the kids had been sent back to their home countries, the castle being deemed to dangerous to allow young children. Alex and Minato had continued their friendship until the fateful day that the news was delievered. After that, all he could see in his eyes was pure, unadulterated hatred. That, and fear. The fear was deserved.
Taking their places twenty feet apart from each other, Minato drew the giant claymore that he typically carried into battle. Alex didn't even bother drawing his sword. If Minato got in close, no matter how good Alex was technically, it would be over. Unless, of course, Alex was the one that closed the distance.
They stood across from one another, sizing the other one up and getting ready to go at the sound of The Chairman's voice. This was a battle to the death, and each party knew it.
"And now... BEGIN!"
Alex ran straight forward towards Minato. With each hand, he created huge gusts of wind to launch himself upwards by a good fifteen feet. Doing a flip in the air, he created two swords of ice, one for each hand, and plummeted towards Minato.
Minato, surprised by such a direct attack by Amaya, stepped back and prepared his defensive stance. He braced himself against the earth, ready for the impact.
Alex, looking him straight in the eyes as he fell, started laughing. He brought down both of his ice swords with all of his might. Meager as his own strength may be, aided by the height, he was able to put one hell of a punch into it. I've chosen a direct conflict with him. If I stay on the offensive and use my plan, things should work out. If this isn't done within two minutes, it's his game. I'll die. Taking one of his ice swords, Alex melted it using his control over fire. Then he superheated the water and used a gust of wind to blast it all over Minato. Then, using the time that the boiling water had bought him, Alex created another ice sword to replace the one he just used, and thrust forward with his left sword. Minato, ready for this, quickly went to parry it away. Amaya, counting on this, liquefied it, heated it, and used Minato's own energy to again drench his opponent.
"Alex, I don't know what you think you're planning, but you know you won't last against me. Getting me wet won't do anything. I'm not some cheap whore that your father bought for entertainment."
Alex ignored him, just grinning at what he said. He hated to admit it, but Minato was still kind of funny, even now. I'm starting to wear down. I have to finish this soon. I still have enough time. With that, he continued the process. Every attack he attempted looked like it would be easily batted away, but every time that Minato's sword went to counter, it simply turned into boiling water and splashed him. After about a minute and a half of this, Minato was drenched, and a rather large puddle had formed around him. I've been lucky so far. The savagery of my attacks have kept him off guard, but I'm slowing down. Time to back up, I think. Even though a relatively long time had passed in the battle, Minato still wasn't able to find an opening to start attacking. The claymore he used, even in his giant hands, was a slow weapon, and Alex's lighter ice swords had kept him on the defensive.
Finishing with one more thrust to the chest that was blocked with ease, Alex used his wind powers to blast himself up again. Instead of angling it any particular direction, he simply used the blasts to go thirty feet in the air. This is the highest I've ever been. I don't think I've ever been so aggressive in any of my fights before. I'll definitely have to cushion my impact. I hope this works. If it doesn't, it's his match.
Once he reached the apex of his air-assisted jump, Alex drew upon all the reserves he could muster. Because he was so tired from the exertion, it wasn't much, but it was still more than enough. Using almost every strip of energy he had left, and all of his powers of concentration, Alex called upon the power of his Dark Lightning. A large bolt of purple lightning appeared from his hand and began the quick trip down to Minato.
"Amaya, are you stupid? You know that I have my father's enchanted sword. It renders any dark magic useless if I can block, which I can," Minato shouted upwards.
"No, Minato, I didn't forget. Why do you think I drenched you in water before I did this? You're in a puddle, and you don't have time to move. This is mine. You're dead."
Pure shock overcame Minato's face. He had never even pictured that he would lose to scrawny little Amaya. He had thought that the ice swords had simply dissolved because of his sword's effect. He had thought that Amaya had put killing power into them.
"Oh. Fuck."
As the lightning spread over him, he managed to counter a good portion with his sword. Minato, however, didn't manage to get all of it. The rest that he'd missed landed in the puddle he was standing in and found its way into his body.
Alex observed the look on Minato's face as he died, while simultaneously preparing the cushion of wind he needed. That had taken all the energy he had left. The look on Minato's face, though, was wonderful. It was a combination of fear and the dawning realization that he'd lost. His face spasmed as the Dark Lightning coursed throughout his body, closing all the blood vessels and severing any connections they came across. Once it reached his heart, his chest exploded, splattering Amaya with blood.
Licking the sole bead of blood off of his hand, Alex collapsed. Breathing heavily, he was sure that he'd pass out. And this is why I don't do frontal assaults. Had I not been familiar with him, I would've been finished. Throwing up from pure exertion, Alex passed out briefly before awakening and sitting up.
"AND THE OBVIOUS WINNER HERE... ALEX AMAYA! YOU WILL BE PROGRESSING TO THE NEXT STAGE!"
Smiling a little bit, Alex just sat. He would need a good five minutes before he would be able to stand again, and everybody was willing to wait.