Second Strike

Chapter 7: Maria vs Cloke

Dust is flying all over the arena as Cloke and Maria fight. 

Twenty minutes have passed, and Cloke tries to reach Maria, but with her ability to control the environment, she always manages to dodge him by creating obstacles.

Maria taunts, "You depend too much on your inner spark. Weren't you a master spark?" Cloke takes a moment to breathe and looks at the clock on the wall, realizing his limitations. "I can barely use it with small objects... That's the whole point of you training me, but you're being such an asshole!"

Cloke gathers his determination and dashes towards her, but she quickly manipulates the floor, causing him to crash face-first into the wall and fall to the floor. As the wall returns to its original position, Maria smiles and says with an intimidating voice, "Maybe if we up the game a bit more." Cloke looks at her, feeling a shiver down his spine, as she adds with a sinister voice that sends chills through him, "Survive."

Cloke sees how the floor around him starts becoming spiked. He immediately propels himself with his hands from the floor up to the roof. The entire arena is now covered in spikes, and Maria has made a platform to keep herself safe. Cloke starts falling towards the spikes, frantically trying to think of ways to escape.

He knows he needs to use a mix of both sparks to win, but he's aware of his limitations. With a brave face, he exclaims, "That's cheating!"

He dashes towards the wall on Maria's right, then quickly towards the left one, and finally up to the ceiling. All Maria can see is a blue bolt bouncing all over the room. She keeps her eyes on his every move as he bounces around, trying to find an opening.

In a split second, Cloke tries to reach her, but Maria notices him and moves the platform up. Cloke hits the wall with his fist, breaking a column, as Maria jumps off the platform and holds onto the roof.

Cloke then dashes to one of the benches, but he realizes the spikes are still there, though smaller. He notices Maria sticking to the roof with one hand and says, "Radioactive spider?" Maria makes the spikes disappear and lands on the floor.

The benches start moving, and Cloke can't react in time. He gets trapped in a ball made of benches, and the tubes of the benches try to impale him, but he manages to keep dodging them.

He says, "Shit, shit, shit!" Maria seems to be trying to kill him without any remorse. She smiles and taunts him, saying, "Go on, 'Master Spark'! You're supposed to be the strongest! You going to die like this?!"

Cloke grabs one of the tubes and charges it with his energy, blowing a hole in the ball and jumping out of it. He smiles, knowing he used a bit of outer energy, proving Maria wrong. He starts to say, "See, told ya I had oute-" but he suddenly falls silent. When he looks down, he sees a tube impaling him. Maria got him.

Maria stands strong as Cloke falls on his knees, bleeding out. She approaches him and crouches down, saying, "You are not fit for this. Go back home and never come back." Cloke coughs blood and responds with a smile, "Time isn't up yet." 

Maria looks at the clock and sees that there are five minutes remaining. She retorts, "You're right, but what are you gonna do-" Suddenly, she notices Cloke trying to touch her. She impulsively moves back, exclaiming, "You little shit!"

Cloke stands up, the tube still impaling him, and declares, "I'm Zeus, the hero that will bring the Unity down." Maria chuckles sarcastically, "Yeah, sure! You'll just die like everyone else!" Cloke dashes towards her with intense blue sparks emerging from him, filling the room with a blue glow. Maria attempts to move out of the way, but the floor chains her legs, trapping her. She struggles to manipulate the floor to break free, but it's too late. Cloke taps her head weakly, all bloody and on the verge of unconsciousness.