The GATE Academy [Please read description]

Chapter 14: The Colosseum (Pt. 1)

A/N: These next two chapters will be fight scenes for all five fights so feel free to skip over it if you want to ^^ They'll be long, but I hope that you'll read them anyways!

As soon as Braxas flared up his black energy aura, the five of us GATE students all charged forward to our opponents. Keita versus Yosaiga, Riku versus Hisashi, Faith versus the unknown girl, and Yuki versus the familiar one, Asuka. I set myself against the chaotic Braxas, as Fate would demand it to be.

Braxas lowered his weapons and, as I approached him, could see in more detail the weapons in his hands. In his right hand was a spatha, a meter long straight sword, and the shield was a pugnam, a small shield that would be able to be used both defensively and offensively. The tools he wielded were Roman gladiatorial weapons that were used two millennium ago. Though his weapons were Roman, his armor was more custom-made and seemed to be designed more for mobility and appearance over durability. The designs on it were eerie, but it fit Braxas well.

Meanwhile, I sported a slim fit, light gray button-up flannel and black skinny jeans. No armor for me.

I held out my right arm, summoned my black-bladed sword, and held it above my head, facing forward, ready to stab with it.

Braxas stepped forward with his left and then charged to meet me.

He's a lefty, I thought to myself, he lead his charge with his left leg. If that was the case, then his pugnum would be his weapon of choice...

Once within a suitable range, I thrusted my sword forwards to his exposed neck. Sure enough, instead of shielding with his pugnam, he raised his spatha to successfully deflect my sword upwards and smashed his pugnum into my middle chest. The blow was extra impactful due to the small dome that protruded from the area in which he held the shield.

The attack winded me, but I, having been lifted up slightly due to the force of the strike, dragged my left leg back, planted it, and held open my left palm to Braxas at waist-height. I let loose a stream of concentrated flame (8" in diameter) into Braxas' now-exposed-again neck/face and tumbled backwards, sword still in hand, as the fire gathered around his head and exploded at my command not a moment later.

I back-tumbled out into a crouch and watched as Braxas stumbled backwards, the crowd of students, who were assumably watching our fight, gasped. Braxas caught himself by planting his right leg back and glared at me, grinning, with an unscathed face.

"Have you ever fought another fire user, Shizuo?" Braxas asked me.

Thinking back, I actually haven't.

"It doesn't matter," I said as took my blade in two hands and coated it in a blue energy. Energy can cut through fire, as it is a more pure projection of energy, so I decided that this would not be a fight of whose fire is stronger then.

Braxas nodded as I did so, "Yes, that's better..."

Braxas leaped up into the air, spun to his left with his pugnum outstretched, and once he came around completely back to me, he threw down a large fist made out of flame from his pugnum and continued to fall towards me behind it.

I leaped up to meet the flaming fist and slapped it off to my left side with a controlled wall of energy and stabbed my energy-coated blade up towards the incoming Braxas. Braxas raised his left shield and tucked into a ball behind it. He hit my blade with it and rolled off to my right, his hit intentionally weak so that I would continue up. He rolled down to the floor below me and swung his spatha up, summoning a diagonal slice of fire that lashed against my back, as I had no way to defend from it.

I winced under the hot lash of Braxas' fire. Apparently I was not immune to others' flames as I am to my own...

I tucked and rolled in midair and turned out to face down at Braxas while I still ascended, I aimed my sword down at him and began shooting blasts of energy at him. Braxas began dodging as I continued to release the beams onto him.