TOURNAMENT

2 (Asta)

"And down he goes!"

Asta watched quietly from the sideline as the bloody fighter toppled to the floor, unconscience. A man with nothing but a small loincloth pumped his fists in the air and let out a sound that reminded Asta a little bit of a deranged walrus.

Not that she had ever heard a deranged walrus. Or heard a walrus. Or even seen a walrus in the flesh. Still, she decided it was accurate. 

"And next, the Red Shogun vs..........!" He dragged it out.

Asta walked forward to the center of the ring. A big, burly woman, with ginormous well...everything, lumbered in. Her teeth formed a crooked smile, if you could call it that. Her eyes were beady and black, her stringy hair tied back into a pony tail. 

She resembles a walrus, Asta thought. Her opponent grunted. 

The fight moderator screamed from the side: "VERSUS," he repeated. "THE TITAN!"

'"I will squash you like a bug," the Titan-Walrus said.

Asta cracked a smile. "We'll see."

"What was that, little bug?" 

"The last thing you'll ever hear."

(Ok, so, THAT was a little harsh and probably not true, but she couldn't help it. Asta loved a little trash talk. Alright, a LOT of trash talk. But the Titan didn't seem in the right mind to trash talk).

With that, the Titan lunged. She was huge, but slow, as Asta soon discovered. Another dumb giant. In other words, no real challenge. So, Asta decided to play with her prey for a bit.

"Come and get me!"

The Titan roared. She swung and missed multiple times. That is, until she got too risky, and the Titan DID land a punch, which landed squarely on Asta's jaw. 

She reeled backwards, tasting blood. Cockiness turned to anger, she rushed forward, ignoring the dizziness from the hit. She felt her fist grow warm. There was not a rational voice in her head. 

Asta blocked a punch, willing herself not to shake from the impact. Now her hands were really hot. Then she ran. As fast as she could. Faster than the Titan could process. She then jumped, scaling the brute's massive back. 

And then Asta did something she promised herself she wouldn't do. the heat buildup in her hands reached its peak, and once she reached the Titan's shoulders, she pressed down, hard.

The Titan screamed, steam and smoke emitting from the two brands on her bare shoulders. She shook Asta off her back, but Asta landed on her feet. She kicked the Titan in the stomach, making her opponent double over. Asta took her chance. She nailed the Titan right in nose. 

Asta's enemy fell, but she didn't seem to care about that. Or about her nose, which was spurting blood. She kept screaming: "My shoulders! That bug! THAT BUG!"

Asta felt a burst of panic in her chest and looked down at the Titan's steaming shoulders. The marks weren't too bad. They would heal with time. 

A LOT of time.

"Winner! The Flaming Shogun!" the moderator held up Asta's hand, which let off a small wisp of smoke nobody seemed to notice. 

She had won. But it didn't matter.

Asta had cheated.

She went and sat down in a back corner at a small booth. Red Valley Nights & Delights was a glorified bar and fight club. She put her head down on the table. She was rash, stupid, and a cheater.

Not to mention WAY underage. She shouldn't be here. 

But if not here, where else?

"What, no prize or anything?"

Asta lifted her head, and jerked back in her seat a bit. "What in the world?"

A boy with a wide smile and curly blonde hair sat in front of her. He had a baby face, but his subtle smirk screwed it all up. He looked so much older and younger than he should at the same time. All Asta knew was that how he looked was really annoying right then.

"I SAID, no prize?" 

"I heard you," she murmured. He pushed a cup of something red across the table to her. "And I don't drink."

"It's just juice," he said drily. 

Asta sniffed it cautiously, surprised Red Valley even offered juice. After considering it for a few seconds more, she took a sip. "So, why are you here?"

"Wow, no 'hello'? No 'thank you for the juice,' no 'oh, wow, Lloyd, you got a haircut? It looks nice!'" 

Asta couldn't help it. She smiled. She brushed a strand of curly hair away from her face and fixed her gaze on Lloyd. She really was happy to see him, though she would never let the punk know it.

"Ok. Hello, Lloyd. Thanks for the juice. Wow, Lloyd, you got a haircut? It looks nice," she said blandly.

He grinned, green eyes twinkling, but it faded quickly. "The team is falling apart."

Asta's gaze dropped to her hands. She didn't say a word.

"You know it's true," he said.

"Yeah," she said, softly. "So?"

"So, we need you," he said pleadingly.

"It isn't "we" anymore," she said bitterly. "Not without...not without her."

There was a tug in Asta's heart. 

Orco had gone missing two months ago, or at least that's what Asta wanted to believe. The truth was, the Master of Water was presumed dead. 

And now the Master of Fire was ruined.

"All I know is you can't stay here," Lloyd said.

"And why not?" Asta snapped.

"This isn't you! I get it, you want to fight. We all do. But not aimlessly. You ever wonder why when you use your fire here it doesn't feel right? It's because your powers were made for something better. YOU were made for something better."

Asta gaped at him. "You watched my match just now?"

"Of course. And you didn't look like yourself."

"I still beat her, didn't I?"

"Maybe," Lloyd said, his voice a bit sullen. "But you didn't win."

"Don't get all philosophical on me. If I wanted to do that, I would go back and listen to Wu and your dad prattle."

Lloyd sucked in a breath. That was his uncle and father. Asta's sensei. 

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "That wasn't right...I just...don't think I can go back."

"It's alright," he said, softly, though there was still a pained look in his eyes. "I just want you to come back. And I think you do, too."

Asta looked away, towards the ring, where two skinny guys were swinging at each other. "Have you talked to the others?"

"Just Cole." He rested his head in the palm of his hand. "Brynn misses you."

Asta didn't respond, but her mind whirled. Did Cole want to come back? Did Brynn really want her back, or was she just saying that? And then there was Kai.

"I don't know, Lloyd. This is a lot right now, ok?"

Lloyd smiled reassuringly and grabbed her hand, his almost glowing hand contrasting deeply with her olive complexion. 

Before she could even react to him even TOUCHING her hand, he pulled it back, closing her hand into a fist. 

"You know where I'll be if you change your mind."

Asta opened her fist. There was a small slip of paper resting on her palm, an address scrawled in messy writing. A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

"That little punk."