(Outdated) The King of Elements

The Main Event (part 1)

"Dude, this is gonna be amazing!" Megumi said, hopping excitedly as the screen flashed brightly. Dre felt bad for the people not being able to see due to her uncontrollable exuberance. Then, he remembered that she's vertically challenged.

He snickered. "Being short must have its advantages."

"What was that?" she said brightly, looking like a schoolgirl hopped up on a sugar rush.

Dre gulped as he quickly shook his head. She grinned before she turned back to the screen. He definitely dodged a bullet there.

The screen dimmed moments later to a clearing surrounded by a dense dark forest. Orbs of light fluttered about, providing the only light source in the arena. Dre quickly realized just what he was looking at: the Edge Walker's forest. Two figures appeared in the small area, one that Dre recognized was Brianna, who was wearing a pair of dark green cargo shorts and a black tank top. A sabre was attached to her hip. The other woman, Megumi's Aunt Sophie, stood in front of Brianna. Her eyes shone green as she pulled a compound bow from her back. The edges of the bow had been sharpened to double as a blade. She pulled an arrow from behind her and fitted it on the drawstring, forming electricity at the tip, and.

"So that's your aunt, Megumi?" he heard Kimmy say.

"Yeah, but it's been forever since I've seen her." Megumi focus sternly on the screen as they both prepared themselves. "You guys may not want to blink. Duels don't often last longer than a few seconds."

Both Dre and Kim fixated their eyes on the screen, not wanting to miss a single detail. Brianna and Sophie were both staring boldly at each other, not letting a hint of fear escape either of their hardened expressions. Without warning, Brianna began sprinting circles around Sophie, who started shooting arrow after arrow at her, narrowly missing with each.

"That's not a good idea," Kimmy said. "If she shoots her electricity with the arrows, wouldn't she just get tired quickly?"

Neither Megumi nor Dre said anything; the both of them were too focused on the match. Sophie was down to her last arrow. She quickly fitted it as Brianna skidded to a halt and dashed towards Sophie, drawing her sabre from a solid white scabbard. Sophie shot, sent the arrow careening at her head. She missed, slightly grazing Brianna under her cheek. She looked startled as the arrow passed, leaving a streak of lightning behind it like a string. Sophie grinned, despite her missing with the last arrow and tugged on the electric streak. As if it were on a piece of thread, the arrow began to zip back to her, point first. Eyes widened, Brianna stopped and fell to the ground as the arrow zoomed past her. If it wasn't for that invisible force field that McManus had been talking about, the arrow would have made its mark.

Sophie jerked her hand back, pulling all of her arrows towards Brianna. She quickly stood, dodging each of the lightning infused arrows with inhuman speed and reflexes. Dre couldn't believe what he was seeing. Even after shooting and missing with the arrows, they were still as dangerous as if it was nocked on her bowstring. Was it one of the perks of being a fire elemental?

Brianna dodged the last arrow and expelled a blue wave of light out of her hands towards Sophie's midsection. She grabbed it with both hands; the force of the light was strong enough send Sophie sliding towards a tree. Using the tree as an anchor, she forced the ball up through the trees, leaving her wide open for a second too long. Brianna slashed diagonally, slicing Sophie from the left side of her hip to her right shoulder. She fell to her knees and vanished.

Brianna let out a sigh of relief as she sheathed her sword. The crowd erupted as the next opponent fell from the sky. A crimson mass landed on the other side of her, standing with the strength and grace of a hardened warrior. Dre noticed a smile stretch across Megumi's face as the next fighter stood straight. "It's my mom!"

~~~~~

Tiffany stood tall and proud as she rested a hand on her hip. Her black hair was tied into a ponytail perched on the arc of her head. The red kimono seemed to glow in the light of the butterflies. A circular shield and short sword was strapped to her back. She smirked confidently as she armed herself, strapping the shield in her left hand and holding her sword in the other. "Are you ready?"

Brianna looked surprised, almost intimidated, as she turned to face her new opponent. She straightened her face up before nodding. "Let's go." She dashed at Tiffany, sprinting low and hard, and swung her sword at Tiffany's waist. It was deflected easily with the shield, cracking the pummel of her blade into Brianna's rib-cage. She cried out as she fell to the grassy terrain. Tiffany's grin hadn't ceased as she stood over her downed opponent. "Getting weak, aren't you?" she stated as she held the blade upside down. She readied herself to deliver the final blow before an explosion of blue light knocked her back. Brianna slowly rose to her feet as she clutched her wound. As a last resort, she spiked her spirit to an endangering level, destroying anything that was within her force field. Unfortunately for her, Tiffany caught on at the last second and leaped out of the way. Had her reflex been off by the slightest of margins, she would have died.

"Dammit," Brianna spat. Her free arm dangled pathetically, her breathing labored. She swayed, as if she was about to collapse on herself. Tiffany gathered that it was only a matter of time before the end of their fight.

Brianna took a deep breath before rushing at Tiffany again. Both swords clashed, sending sparks flying through the thick air between them. Tiffany's smirk remained unchanged as she glared into Brianna's eyes with the look of self-determination. Brianna snarled as she used her free hand to send a ball of energy at Tiffany. She brought her shield up at the nick of time to block it.

Then, Tiffany felt her momentum fall forward. She stumbled as Brianna jumped back, sending a volley of energy at her. Tiffany hid behind her shield, blocking the onslaught as she marched forward. It was clear that the match was just about over, and she needed to conserve her energy for the next person. As the seconds past, Brianna's attack felt weaker. Her force field would also begin to diminish. She had to finish it now, before she had a chance to build it back up. Tiffany abandoned her shield, sidestepping the volley as she brought her hands together in front of her and released a wave of fire. Brianna had only a second to turn toward it before she was engulfed in the hellish wave.