Alternate Color

Chapter 2

A large dome slowly erected itself around the ring. I was now trapped inside with someone I was supposed to bite in the neck. Why was I supposed to bite her in the neck? Isn't that painful? Really painful?
Regardless of how I felt in that situation, Cindy leapt out of the trees. I'm going to stop emphasizing how ridiculous these feats are because she seems to do this all the time. When I finally figured out where she was going to land, I also figured out that I should move. Fast.

Cindy was heading straight for me. I scrambled out way just in time to avoid the ground breaking under my feet as she landed. I ran.

"Hey, if all you have to do is bite my neck, you can do that and it's over, right?" She, completely enraged by my ignorance, chased me down in the most demonic power-run I've ever witnessed.

"Bite you? I'm gonna murder you!" As I was running, I put the pieces together in my head.

Bite to the neck
Fight to the death

What a terrible failure on my part.

"Can we not murder each other?" I yelled, trying to reason. "Wouldn't that be very painful? Also, wouldn't one of us be dead?"

"Don't worry!" She yelled back. "You die in here, you wake up outside again! That way, I can murder you as much as I please!" I completely stopped in my tracks. Is it really that easy? Cindy, who was running like she was after the most delicious treat in the world(probably my blood), could not stop in time and slid far past me.

"All right then, I'm going to go all out!" Cindy smiled, got into a running position and yelled back.

"Give me an exciting fight!" I had planned on it. I knew she was going to run at me. So I cleverly erected poles for her to trip on all in front of me. Having invisible abilities was great.

Just as planned, she sprinted towards me. Completely unexpectedly, she destroyed all of the pillars I set up, the floor all around where she stepped and about all of the plant life within a mile. I instinctively blocked when she came up to me and tried to punch me. I put up my arms and a thick, invisible wall rose between us.

Cindy's punch was so powerful that it broke through my wall and breached my arms. I had one last line of defence and I blocked it perfectly. With my face. I was doing backflips, hit the ground and started doing front flips, turned those into cartwheels and, finally, maximized friction by sliding on my back. Within milliseconds, Cindy was upon me again.
"You know, they were right. You are special. They would've landed at lea-" I had flicked another pebble at her face.
"Landed one," I croaked. When she got back up, she was furious.

"You're done now." Her foot lifted over my chest, lightning shooting from her leg. I understood why she was so strong in that moment. She used her entirety to reinforce the strength of her leg so she could stomp as hard as she liked. Using the same principle, I reinforced my arms to intercept. I caught her leg, making the ground under my shoulders give way. Her stomp broke my left arm.

It was a hefty price to pay an arm for an opportunity, but I had her. Using my abilities, I created a splint for my arm so I could still use it in battle. As for her leg, which she was furiously trying to get free, I kicked it with the same superhuman strength she had been using this entire death match. Her leg broke, leaving her unable to get up and use her strength. I had won.

Because I didn't want to see any of the end of the fight, I tore the largest chunk of land that I could out of the floor. The chunk was about thirty feet across and ten down. I kicked Cindy into the hole it left, and with her leg broken, she was helpless. After she rolled to the bottom of the pit, I slammed the chunk of rock back into the floor where it came from.

I opened my eyes, although I didn't remember closing them, to see an area outside of the ring. I was facing outwards, toward a heavily beaten mountainous area. Craters were everywhere, as if Cindy used it as a landing pad. She then came up behind me, making me up.

"I didn't think anyone could stop a kick of mine. I didn't think anyone could kick like me either. Good job, nice win." During her speech, I remembered my arm was broken. I held up my left hand, expecting it to bend sideways. My arm was perfectly fine. Jacket wasn't even torn.

"It broke in the arena. As long as that's true, you'll come out fine. See? Even though you smashed me, I'm still as beautiful as ever!"

"So, as long as I'm in there, I'll come out?" I asked, ignoring the mountain.

"As long as the shield's up. Can't die in there."

"Not bad for a newbie!" I scanned the area for the third voice, but to no avail. That is, until Rachel landed in front of me.

"Great performance. Bravo! Just, as a rule of thumb, don't end it so painfully for everyone, okay? It's nice to be ended before you feel the pain."

"Hey, Rachel, you're late. You were supposed to show up first." Cindy said. I guess they had a time schedule.

"Whatever, I'm here. Devan, let's go. I'm gonna show you how we do things." Hesitantly, I followed. I both did and didn't want to get into a fight again. We walked through a valley and around a forest.
"Hey Devan. Shhh. Don't say anything. Take a right." I stopped, letting Rachel continue. As the voice told me, I took a right. James formed from water rising out of the ground beneath me.

"All right, hot head's gone. Look, I'm going to help you out here. She's going to offer to train you. Say no. I will too. Say no to me also. Say no to everyone who isn't Olivia. They'll probe you for weaknesses. Olivia won't train you attentively, but she won't try to figure you out, either. Got it? Good, now hurry up before she realizes." With the last word, he turned to water and faded into the floor. As commanded, I hurried after Rachel. When we finally arrived to where we were headed, everyone was there.

"So, what's going on here?" I asked. Everybody lined up like they were trying to create a rainbow. Rachel was red, Olivia orange, Cindy yellow, Green... green and James blue. All they were missing was purple.

"We want you to pick one of us to train you. I, Cindy and James specifically want to train you. Olivia, not so much. Green, well, we don't know about Green." I looked over at James. He didn't meet my gaze.
"Devan, dude, I want to show you how to throw a real punch. And a real kick. Your running could use some work, too. And I'm the best at those things. Let me teach you," Cindy said, stepping forward. James stepped forward next.

"Your ability is rather unique. Unknown. Let me study it, and I'll tell you how to use it. You'll be able to do more than you can now." Green moved forward and offered me a flower. I was unsure whether to pick it or not.

"If I take it, does that mean I accept?" Green nodded, so I backed away from the flower. It wilted.

"Devan," Rachel began, immediately shifting my attention. "I can show you new techniques that even James didn't think of. I can show you how to bend your abilities to encompass more situations and how to use them for your convenience."

"I have been taught by all of them. I think. I'm not sure if Green really showed me anything," Olivia started. Green bent over as if he was sad. "Sorry, Green, it's just hard to learn when you can't talk. Anyways, I've learned from them. I can't teach you everything, but I can teach you a little bit of each." With what they offered, regardless of what James told me, I would have picked Olivia anyways.

"Sorry guys, but everything sounds more tempting than any one thing. I choose Olivia." She opened what looked like an orange wall until the colors changed into a background. It took me a few seconds to realize it was a portal.

"All right Devan, step through," she urged.