Caged Freedom -Finished-

Ch 13: Sports Festival- Tournament part 2

  Valkyr was sitting in the waiting room. She would be facing Lida soon. She hated this, having to fight her friends, but she knew it was just for the game. It wasn't serious. She took a deep breath and stood up. She already had a strategy in mind. She couldn't match Lida's speed but she could keep him from getting to close. She rubbed her right arm. It was still numb. She hadn't gone to get it looked at. She walked out onto the stage and saw Lida standing before her. 

"I hope this is a good match, Valkyr." Lida said. "I do apologize in advance if I hurt you."

Valkyr smiled softly. "I should be saying the same to you Tenya." She shifted her body to its dragon form minus her wings and tail. The scales came up her neck and her right eye became slitted. She cracked her neck. "Hope you're ready Tenya. I won't be an easy fight."

"I didn't think you would be, Valkyr." Lida said. They were given the go ahead and Lida immediately began to try to attack her. She kept an eye on him trying to predict his movements. She was able to dodge most attacks by watching his eyes, he had a tendency to look where his next attack would be. She waited until it seemed he was committed to a movement before taking a deep breath and exhaling purple flames. He managed to dodge the brunt of the attack but part of his uniform was burned. 

"Woah! Seems things are heating up, Folks!" Hizashi announced. "Seems are little princess can breath fire." Usually Valkyr would roll her eyes but she didn't take her focus off her opponent. She didn't want to give him a chance to recover. She took off towards him, talons digging into the concrete to give her more leverage and push. She through a punch to his chest and knocked him back. She kept going after him but he managed to use his recipio burst to get across the ring from her. She was breathing heavily and her throat itched. Breathing fire was not easy. He burned her throat. She hadn't yet developed a tolerance to it.  

Lida began running fast circles around her trying to find an opening and make her dizzy. Valkyr wouldn't fall for this tactic. She closed her eyes and just listened. Sometimes she felt people underestimated her. She may be naive and innocent, but she was trained to fight. Being stuck in that centrifugal force of the circle he was running in wouldn't be an easy thing to pull away from. She took the opportunity as he was tightening the circle. She took a deep breath and jumped up. She blew flames at the concrete so it would spread in each direction. She heard him cry out as he slowed to a stop. She landed in a crouch and rubbed her throat. His engines had overheated and his legs were burned. She watched him grimace looking at his burns. 

"Just forfeit Tenya," Valkyr said standing up. Her voice was a bit gravely. "I do not wish to continue to hurt you."

"I have to win this," Lida said. "I want to make my brother proud."

"You have fought well," Valkyr said. "But I don't think you can continue against me with those injuries. Plus your engines have stalled out." She watched Lida struggle with himself for a few moments and try to move before raising his hand and forfeiting. 

"Wraithier advances to the Third Round." Midnight called. 

"Once again, Folks, our favorite princess has shown mercy on her opponent," Hizashi yelled. Valkyr jogged over to Lida and helped him onto a stretcher so he could be taken to the nurses office. 

"I'm sure your brother is proud of you Tenya," Valkyr said with a smile. "Sometimes the hardest part of being a hero is acknowledging your own limits." Lida looked up at her for a moment and nodded. 

"Good luck with your next fight," Lida sighed. 

"Thank you, Lida." Valkyr said before walking out of the ring. She went and sat in the waiting room to wait for her next fight. She didn't want to watch Kirishima and Katsuki go at it. Both were close friends and she didn't want to see either hurt. She drank a lot of water trying to soothe her throat. Her next match would not be an easy one. She knew Todoroki was an amazing fighter and quite strong.