Crystalline Cavern: The Brigaders

Chapter 21

Rank Rage

      The Brigaders head to the training facility for the monthly Rank Rage. Last month, Rank Rage was just the leveling course for Violet so today will just involve intense training, and of course, competition. Each month, Training Instructors have everyone spar against each other. The girls have one champion in the end, as do the boys.

      When a champion for each gender emerges, the two will go against each other to decide this month's strongest warriors. Last month, the champion was Andy, followed by Nicole coming in second after losing to Andy, then Kai, Eliza, Jane, and lastly, Tyler. The female training instructor called out, "Alright ladies, come with me so I can decide the first couple of spars." All the girls went walking behind her to seek their rival's for the day. There were fifty-five different warriors on the girl's side this month, and sixty on the boy's side. Training day was optional, and for the school team, it was mandatory. A handful of the warriors in the school usually take this opportunity to challenge them and test how strong they've become. Although, no one has ever beaten them up to this point, for they have always taken up the top six spots. Last month, however, someone nearly beat Tyler for the sixth spot. In the end, it was Andy, Nicole, Kai, Eliza, Jane, and then Tyler. At the end of the day, a list of the top one-hundred warriors are posted for the student body to see. The TI's for both sides spoke up, hyping up the students, "Who's ready for Rank Rage?!" Everyone cheered and yelled, clearly ready to begin the spars.

      A TI spoke up to the female warriors to begin the spar pairings. "First up, it'll be Jane against Laura and Nicole against Valerie!" Nicole and Valerie had a special kind of rivalry since the intermediate level of NWA. Valerie was a level 7 warrior, as she previously attempted in trying out for the school representatives team, I guess you could say that their hate will make their spar the most interesting out of them all. Jane and Laura, a level 6 warrior, head to Sparring Area 1 and Nicole and Valerie head to Sparring Area 2. The Training Instructor had an assistant to help with the other sparring area. "Since Sparring Area 2 has the warriors with the highest leveled warriors for this division, I will be overlooking there, my assistant will see to referee Sparing Area 1." All four female warriors ready themselves on either side of the small courts. "Alright, warriors! Neon forms at the ready!" The four female warriors change into their neon forms, giving off strong auras in the process. "I know you all know the rules, but it's my job to remind you every month. You have ten minutes of sparring time. The first five will conduct using your power sets, and the last five, your weapons with your power sets. If you summon your weapon within the first five minutes, then you are automatically disqualified. Understand?" The girls nod their heads in agreement, as they take their stances and think of possible strategies to dominate their opponents. "Powersets at ready...begin!" The girls charge after their opponents, giving off their auras and neon energy with loud battle cries.

      Meanwhile, the boys are about to begin their spars with their assigned Trainer Instructor. In Sparring Area 1, it was Tyler against a level 6 warrior named Peter, and in Sparring Area 2, Andy against Luka, which many know him as Wine. Of course, Andy and Luka have a bit of tension between each other, seeing as how Andy loves Nicole and Luka is her ex-boyfriend. "Alright, boys! The ladies are already one step ahead of us so let's begin!" The TI proceeded to explain the rules and prepared both courts. "Since Area 2 has the highest leveled warriors for this division, I will be there as referee." The boys looked across the facility to see the girls sparring against each other. Tyler looked at Jane as she duplicated herself to confuse her opponent, to then sneak up behind the girl by making herself disappear. Tyler was watching her actions very closely with admiration. It was clear who was the true veteran.

      Andy was fixated on Nicole as she used her Rosenia power set on Valerie's power set, Plumix. He watched her as she blocked many flexible attacks from Valerie with her aura. Nicole's eyes were glowing, meaning that she was using her telepathy ability to read Valerie's mind to get ready for her next attack. Using her telekinetic power, she was able to have small objects go flying into Valerie's direction, only to hit a holographic version of her instead. Nicole used her aura to find the real Valerie, which was behind her and kicked her under her legs, knocking her down on the ground. Andy knew she was gonna be victorious. Luka was as attentive as Andy. By this point, the boys had forgotten about the opponent's they had in front of them until the TI exclaimed, "Alright, power sets at ready!" Taking their stances, all of them took a breath. "Begin!"