The Moonlight Hero

Chapter Eight: Second Round Versus James!

I jumped backward onto a large boulder as a column of fire hotter than the sun shot below me. James thrust his free arm towards me, and I jumped off of the boulder, which had just been crushed into millions of small, pointed fragments. James whipped his arm to the side, and the rocks shot towards me. I sent a large ball of blue fire at the shards, and they dissolved almost instantly. I heard small, flying objects hurling through the air. I whipped around to see more fragments flying towards me. I shoot out a blast of fire, but it died in the wind. Wind! I thought anxiously. I made contact with another platform, and jumped as far as I could off of it. I nearly dodged all of the shards, but one rogue fragment grazed the back of my calf. I landed on the ground, near where I started, directly across from James. 

James hopped into the air, levitating through the use of wind. His eyes glowed an eerie purple and red. The wind began to pick up. I shielded my face, unable to see clearly. I created a small wall of ice behind me to brace myself against the wind. The arena was sunk into darkness, dark, ominous clouds forming at the top of the arena. I couldn't hear the announcer over the howling wind. My hair whipped uncontrollably, pulsing with black lightning. It began to downpour. Thunder shook the stadium. I could just make out the figure of James, looming high in the sky, his purple and red eyes glowing like twin demons straight from hell. His hand was raised towards the sky. I watched as he snapped his arm down towards me. I Jumped to the right as a bolt of purple and red lightning struck where I was standing. The ground began to break apart, spanning out from the point of the bolt's impact. Several more bolts came hurling from every direction. I dodged left, right, forward, backward, each bolt sending a tremor through the ground. I skidded to a halt, my back dripping with sweat from the humid, wet environment that had minutes before been a dry wasteland. I looked up at James. More bolts were forming in the sky. Several large, cracked pieces of the earth that had laid below us at the beginning of the match now hovered in the sky. The torrential rain just got worse. I didn't know how much time had passed. I forgot what time of day it was. And then a plan formulated in my head. 

I looked at the several flat, massive pieces of ground hovering in the air. James had spaced them perfectly so that a normal fighter couldn't use them to climb. But, I had electricity, fire, and ice. I pushed my hands down and jumped. A trail of ice propelled me to the fifth highest platform. A bolt of lightning hit the tower of ice and it shattered. I jumped as far as I could to the next platform. A bolt of lightning struck the platform just as I propelled myself to the last platform. A third bolt struck towards me, but it was too late. I jumped from the platform, hurling through the air towards James. His eyes widened and my body sparked with electricity. He thrust his hand out and a bolt of electricity shoots out of his palm, directly towards me. I twisted around mid-air, bringing my leg towards the bolt. It connected, and my black electricity mixed with the purple and red bolt. A huge explosion erupted from the point of contact, and an enormous boom followed. 

I flew backwards, my vision blocked by the heavy rain. I hit a rocky wall head first, and I fell to the ground. I barely got up, and opened my eyes. My vision was extremely blurry, but the landscape was bright again. I looked around, and my vision somewhat cleared. Ahead of me was James, who was visibly beaten up. His right arm looked broken, and he was in a defensive crouch, his left arm out in front of him. His eyes were filled with emotions of confusion, disbelief, and anger. They were no longer glowing.

"The eight minute exhibition match between Artemis Izuku and James has finished! Since Artemis has not been knocked out, he will immediately move forward to the fourth round! To his second round opponent, you will face the runner up from round one. Now, let's get to the first match!" Rei announced.

I turned around to leave the stadium. James did the same. I walked through the dimly lit halls. Other participants were cheering for me, their faces bright with happiness. My vision begins to get blurry. The sound in the hall begins to become distorted, and distant, like I was listening to music through a pillow. I could feel my jacket and shirt against my body, wet and heavy from rainwater, sweat and blood. An aching pain was throbbing in the side of my head, which felt wet. As soon as I turned the corner, I collapsed, my heart pounding faster and faster.

I could hear the hall go silent for a second. Someone screamed, "Get the E.M's!" I lay there, a small pool of blood forming from my chest and skull. The fun chatter turned to hurried, anxious yelling and screaming. Someone picked me up, and began to run. I could barely hear more footsteps from behind. I couldn't see anything. My mind was groggy. Everything became more and more quiet. I faded into the darkness, the air rushing through my hair.