Limit

Chapter 11 Battle of Wits and Shadows

And with that, the second fight came to an end. The next battle wasn't as close as the last two, with the winner triumphing by a landslide. The fight after that was closer but lacked the emotional intensity of the first two. The fifth fight of the day was Maddie's turn. She drew a name from the hat—Sketch. Unfortunately, I had never had the pleasure of talking with Sketch; he often kept to himself in the short time we've known each other. But I remember his unique ability. Sketch had enhanced strength and speed, but his main power allowed him to guarantee a hit if he contacted his opponent's shadow.

Maddie, on the other hand, could read body movements so well she could predict her opponent's moves. When she focused, her ability was so strong she could almost read thoughts. This battle was going to be tough for her. Unlike Sketch, she didn't have any strength boosts and relied on a limited weapon to do damage. But no limited weapons were allowed in this fight. Hopefully, she could come up with something.

"Ouch," I said as Maddie pulled on my ear hard.

She looked at me, her cheeks puffed out in a pout. "I know I can't use my weapon, but I thought you'd have more faith in me," she said quietly, then took a deep breath and changed her expression. With a determined look, she said, "Don't worry, I got this."

My expression of pain turned to one of relaxation. "Sigh, I don't know why I was worrying so much."

She took her stance in the battle area, right foot back and hands up, showing clear martial arts training. Mr. Edge counted down from three, and the fight began. Sketch charged at Maddie, but she remained composed, waiting. As he got close, she landed a quick jab to his face. It didn't do much damage, but it caught him by surprise. He tried to step into her shadow, but she stepped back, landing a left kick to his calf, making him stumble.

While on the ground, Sketch moved his hand to reach hers, flicking his finger and striking her forehead, launching her back. His shadow-based attacks were powerful; wherever his shadow met hers, the attack landed, with damage multiplied. This simple flick had sent Maddie flying. He groaned and charged again. Maddie avoided and countered multiple attacks, but one left hook allowed him to kick her shadow, sweeping her off her feet. He karate-chopped her stomach, smashing her into the ground.

I looked away briefly, wincing at the sight. He went in for a stomp, but she rolled away—though he caught her arm's shadow, pressing double his weight on her hand, immobilizing her.

"You're not bad. If we fought again, you might have won," Sketch said.

"You say that even when the match isn't over?" Maddie replied.

"How are you going to prepare?" he taunted.

"Just do it already, and you'll see," she shouted back.

Sketch aimed a full-strength punch at her shadow, but Maddie wrapped her legs around his arm in a Brazilian jiu-jitsu arm bar. Using her weight, she took him down, making it impossible for him to hit her shadow. Both their faces reddened with effort. Maddie tried to break Sketch's arm, while Sketch tried to lift her. Despite his strength, Maddie succeeded, snapping his arm. The sound was deafening and gruesome. To my shock, he lifted her with the broken hand.

"You shouldn't have let go just because you thought you broke my arm," he said, sweating and gritting his teeth. He punched Maddie in the face, making her detach from his arm.

"But I heard it snap, and I felt it," she gasped, wiping blood from her nose.

"I can dislocate and reattach my shoulder. That was the sound you heard. You couldn't predict it because even I didn't know it would happen. Just got lucky," he said, grabbing her shoe's shadow and pulling her closer. He landed multiple punches from a mounted position. Maddie guarded, but the bone-crushing blows made it clear things were over. Her hands dropped, and her eyes rolled back. Sketch stopped his final punch, smiled in victory, and walked away.

"You're quite the hypocrite," Maddie said, leaping onto his back and locking in a rear-naked choke hold. He fell to his knees.

"But how did you know I would stop punching?" he struggled to say.

"Because I can read you like a book, idiot."

Sketch reached for her head's shadow, but she tucked her head behind his. Her face reddened again, muscles popping as her choke tightened. After three seconds, he tapped out. Maddie released him, and he fell face-first. Standing up, she shouted, "Hell yeah!" as Mr. Edge announced her victory. Acting smug, she passed me.

"I told you I had it in the bag," she said proudly, limping as soon as she thought she was out of sight. Sheesh, she's a piece of work, just like Dom.

"Alright, with that battle done, it's nearly been two hours, so you can all have your lunches and prepare for your turns after the break. Hopefully, this gives others time to heal up. Watching and learning from others is important too. Thank you," Edge said.

During lunch, I quickly grabbed food for me and my friends in the medical room. It was practically empty except for my friends. Jeez, of course, they are the only ones still here. Sketch was in the corner, covered up and hiding.

"Ahhh, hey Kai, did you bring us snacks?" Ab asked.

"Of course. Here, take something," I said, handing out snacks to Ab, Scarlet, and Maddie. Dom politely turned me down, clearly in a mood over his draw. I recounted the battles they missed, emphasizing Maddie's greatness, making her blush and shy.

"No way, she actually got him in a flying arm bar? That's insane," Ab said.

"Yeah, that's pretty impressive. I don't know much about martial arts," Scarlet added.

"I know, right? We were all shocked she knew kickboxing and jiu-jitsu. It was really cool," I said, winking at Maddie, who covered her face with the sheets.

"Okay, that's enough. You all did amazing," Maddie said, making everyone blush, except Dom.

"Hey Kai, you didn't fight yet, did you?" Dom asked.

"Nope, not yet," I replied.

"Then instead of chatting, focus on your next battle if you don't want to end up in a draw like me," he said grumpily.

" nah it's alright he's right i should go prepare" I replied

Dom shrugged his shoulders and said " I'll be watching so good luck".  With that response everyone else smiled slightly and nodded. I headed out but now with a ton of pressure on my back God damn it . Uhhh I guess I got to win.