Eternal Skies [Dr. Stone]

Chapter Ten: Master of Minds

(Thank you everyone for your patience! I apologize for the late updates, I'm currently recovering from an accident. I made this chapter a little longer for you guys as well as a new book cover <3)

Senku, Kohaku, and the rest of the Kingdom of Science watched in disbelief as their friend and ally lay motionless on the ground. Michael flipped the coin into the air, the metal landing with a thud as it clattered against her bamboo armor.

After confirming she was no longer conscious, Jasper held up his hand. "Winner: Michael!"

━━━━━━ ✦ ━━━━━━

Senku stared as he watched Aria fall into Michael's trap. By the time he realized what he was attempting to do, it was already too late. Michael's leg drew a question mark in the air as it soon made contact with Aria's head, her body dropping instantly.

They brought their engineer's unconscious body to the sidelines, Kohaku holding her in her lap and gently shaking her and calling her name but to no avail. "She's knocked out cold."

Chrome fell into a cold sweat, worried for their friend but also for what the outcome of this Bout was going to be now. "This is bad...!" They had two major obstacles, Magma and Michael, and their strongest fighters were out of the game. "What are we going to do? Both Kinro and Aria lost, Kohaku was forfeited, it's going to be Magma and I next, and then Ginro and Michael."

Senku chuckled, nervous sweat running down his cheek, "We keep playing our cards right. The Kingdom of Science isn't out of the game just yet. The final round will be a free-for-all between the last three winners, we just have to win at least one of these second-round matches."

Chrome looked up toward Magma, then Ruri within the throne room. Ginro was already in bad shape and might not win against Michael, Chrome had to win this. His fists clenched slightly, a fire burning bright in his eyes.

"I'll take down Magma in the next round!" He said with utmost confidence. Chrome knew he wasn't any match against Magma of course, but that wouldn't stop him from using science and his training to help save Ruri. "We can do this!"

The start of Chrome and Magma's battle commenced, their hopes for the brunette were high but were crushed almost immediately. It became a gruesome sight, Magma not even having a single scratch on him and Chrome looking far worse than Aria, Ginro, and Kinro combined. The brute held nothing back, knowing the sorcerer's desire to protect and save Ruri would keep him going no matter the state he was in. Things were looking incredibly grim.

"Wahh! Chrome just give up already!" The bruised Ginro cried, his heart aching to see his friend getting crushed mercilessly.

At this rate, Chrome wasn't going to be able to keep going if he didn't do something fast. He looked around for anything he could use, his keen scavenging skills kicking in when he spotted Suika's broken helmet from Kinro's fight. What could he do with it? 'Think Chrome think...' Chrome's eyes widened as an idea sparked.

His hand grabbed the dirt underneath him, "Special attack: Blinding!" He threw the pile of dirt into Magma's face catching the man off guard.

Chrome lunged over, covering the helmet with his body, and let his sweat and tears poor in the glass. " 'Special Attack' my ass! You piece of shit!" Magma cursed, the man seething with rage from the cheap shot. He went on to ruthlessly strike Chrome, the audience finding the whole fight too hard to watch at this point.

Aria's head pounded, blinding light breaking through the darkness. 'What happened..?' She could feel the warm dirt under her, spots still clouding her vision. Aria could hear the muffled sounds of concerned murmurs and the occasional sound of something soft being struck. Her blurred vision threatened to darken but she focused her eyes on two figures beyond the ankles that blocked her view. It was Chrome and Magma.