Relic-Verse: Champions of Hope

Chapter 26

-- Part 1 --

Anchor and Nightstalk stood in the center of their warehouse, with the latter of the two carefully watching Evan and Catherine while Lillith did midair flips, the group waiting for the arrival of Coral and Micheal. Evan held Catherine's hand, awkwardly trying to avoid making eye contact with their teacher, while Catherine stared right back at him.

After a few moments of awkward silence, the doors to the warehouse burst open, allowing Micheal and Coral to enter, the former basking in a pink glow while the latter was awkwardly waving at everyone.

"Hoops, Suckerpunch! You're a little late!" Anchor grinned and waved his students over. "Now let's get started-"

"Anchor! I challenge you to a fight!" Micheal pounded his fists together, causing the golden rings to sparkle slightly as a grin spread on his face. Coral immediately sighed and made his way over to his confused classmates.

"What's his deal?" Lillith appeared directly in front of him, almost causing the two to collide.

"Well he wants to prove to us that he is strong, and he wouldn't listen to any kind of reason."

Evan quickly dragged Catherine away from Anchor and Nightstalk as the student approached.

"This is gonna be interesting..." Nightstalk quickly evacuated with the students while Anchor crossed his arms.

"What makes you challenge me, Hoops?"

"To get stronger, and prove my worth as a hero!"

Confused murmurs consumed the class as Anchor grinned. "Well, I suppose that qualifies as training, so let's do it!" The hero pulled out his massive anchor, slamming the end of it into the floor as Micheal got into a fighting stance. "Nightstalk, if you'll start our match!"

The aforementioned hero shook his head and raised his hand. "Alright. You lot have ten minutes to spar. The goal is to get your opponent to yield or unable to fight while minimizing collateral damage. If the match goes to time, then I shall count it as a tie!" The duo puffed out their chests as Nightstalk brought his hand down. "You may begin."

As soon as the signal was given, Micheal rocketed towards Anchor, pulling back his fist for a punch, only for his face to be met with cold metal as the large anchor had been slammed into him, sending the student crashing across the warehouse, kicking up a cloud of dust that concealed the student. Nightstalk went to call the match, only for a golden ring to fly out of the smoke, growing larger as it traveled, until it slammed down around Anchor.

The hero glanced down at the ring as it hit the ground with enough force to embed itself into the floor, and then he noticed a deep blue aura emanating off of him. Micheal pounded his fists together, the impact clearing the dust to reveal his grinning face. He promptly lunged at Anchor once more, causing the hero to try to pull the same move, only to realize his movements were noticeably slower, and receiving a high powered fist to the gut, this time sending Anchor flying backwards.

Evan and Lillith let out cheers of approval as Coral's eyes widened in surprise at the comeback. Nightstalk chuckled and held his arms behind his back as he studied the two combatants.

"How about that?!" Micheal picked up his ring and slipped it back onto his wrist. "I call that debuff!"

Anchor got to his feet, a wide smile on his face as he raised his weapon into the air. "Not bad, kid. And super original too." A white energy began spiraling from his arm and up the anchor, accumulating on its edge. "Now let's see how you handle this!" He swung his anchor down, sending a wave of energy out. Micheal crossed his arms in front of him, using his golden rings to tank the attack.