"Not yet! A couple more seconds! We can't surrender!" Dark Matter desperately screamed.
Obviously, Dark Matter and Light Wing were on the verge of losing, but there was no way they'd accept a third loss after everything they'd been through. They were fourth years, and they hold the esteemed title of the strongest. If their strength only amounted to three losses, then they might as well quit their jobs as professional undercover superheroes.
What's the point of being the strongest when you would be severely defeated by a first-year high schooler? It's like playing chess with a baby and losing.
The friendly fire was one of the worst mistakes that Light Wing could've made, and she deeply regretted it. As for Dark Matter, he was way past the accident. At the moment, he had enhanced his senses so he could detect some of the ice spikes directed at them. Despite losing his sense of sight temporarily, he was able to dodge more ice spikes than Light Wing.
At first, Emma and Shiroi were confident that they'll be able to win the match. Not only was Dark Matter out of commission, but Light Wing was also mentally exhausted as well. In terms of overall status, Emma and Shiroi should be winning.
However, they couldn't seem to break through the desperation of Dark Matter and Light Wing. No matter how hard they hit them with the ice spikes, they just wouldn't budge. Wounds have decorated their body, but they still found the strength to keep on dodging. Apparently, their adrenaline was doing all the work for them.
"We have to finish this now," Emma called out. "Don't you have other attacks aside from ice spikes?"
"I can produce a blizzard or a storm... but that wouldn't do anything. In terms of offensiveness, the ice spikes are the most effective ones." Shiroi responded.
"Then, continue on firing. I'll aim the ice spikes for you. If we're driven into a corner, I'll use my trump card and force them to surrender." Emma continued. "Don't worry, we're going to win this."
Dark Matter muttered a quick prayer, and as if on cue, his eyesight had returned. A smirk appeared on his face as he teleported to the nearest shade, bringing Light Wing with him.
Their sudden disappearance caused Emma and Shiroi to turn their heads around as they tried to search for them. The moment their eyes landed on them, however, Light Wing shone a strong light at them.
Fortunately, Emma was quick to act, and he propped a dimensional portal in front of her, directing the light in their direction. The counterattack almost caught Dark Matter and Light Wing off-guard, but they were able to close their eyes due to the delay of the attack.
"Let's go," Emma called out, pushing Shiroi into a portal as the two of them spawned in a random part of the arena. Thanks to Shiroi's ice superpower, they were able to blend their temperature with the area around them. Also, Emma's dimensional portal hid them from Dark Matter if ever he tried to search for them with his detection skills.
"What's this trump card of yours? Do you think you can use them now?" Shiroi whispered, swiveling her head around while thinking that Dark Matter and Light Wing could appear out of nowhere.
"It's pretty risky. I've done it before... That's why I know that this would work." Shiroi whispered back. But then again, she didn't want to resort to her trump card since she felt nervous using it. She was successful last time, only because it was beginner's luck— or so that's what she thought.
"All right. I also have a plan." Emma continued.
...
"Come on out!" Dark Matter screamed. "If you're going to fight, then fight us fair and square."
"Yeah! Come out!" Light Wing seconded.
Even though there was a break between their fights, Satoshi and the others still felt the tense atmosphere surrounding the arena. It was calm before the storm, and the storm was at its tipping point.
Knighthawk grew rather impatient as seconds passed. However, before he could scream at Emma and Shiroi to come out, they appeared out of nowhere. Their faces were calm and collected, almost as if they had a good rest before the second confrontation.
"You finally came out."
Shiroi didn't respond. Instead, she flicked her arm and ice spikes started appearing on the ground, moving towards Light Wing and Dark Matter at a rapid pace. Dark Matter was almost a step too late in responding to the attack. Fortunately, he was able to charge a dark orb on his hand and he shot it at the oncoming ice spikes.
However, that was just a misdirection. Shiroi already knew that the attack won't connect. With a nod, Emma created a dimensional portal right underneath Dark Matter, sucking him inside the portal and trapping him in a box with dimensional portals on all sides. These dimensional portals were one-sided, all except for one. The other one was directed to the sun, giving Dark Matter no leeway to teleport.
"I'll hold him off. You deal with Light Wing." Emma said.
The plan had worked.
Now that they've separated Dark Matter and Light Wing from each other, it was finally an easy picking. Light Wing also felt as if she was driven into a corner. Without Dark Matter supporting her, she couldn't face anyone in a head-on battle. Her superpower was meant to be for support or sneak attacks. A direct confrontation was the direct opposite of those things.
"You can surrender now, Light Wing," Shiroi asked, her eyes turning a nice shade of white and blue as she activated her innate ice superpower. Without waiting for an answer, she raised her hand to the sky, summoning a blizzard that entrapped Light Wing inside it.
Long story short, Emma and Shiroi utilized their power so they could trap Dark Matter and Light Wing in their weakness. Dark Matter was trapped in a light-filled space, while Light Wing was caught in the middle of a raging blizzard.
As seconds passed, Dark Matter knew that he couldn't teleport anywhere anymore since everything was too bright. He had no idea where he was, and if he tried to teleport outside the box made out of dimensional portals, he might end up somewhere in the middle of the universe— which was not ideal since he had no idea how to go back.
Then there was Light Wing, whose only use was to flash people with bright light. Slowly, she succumbed to the frostbite that ate away at her flesh. At this rate, she was going to get mummified in ice.
It was another loss for Dark Matter and Light Wing.
.....
Three years ago,
"I- I like you!" Lufine mustered all her courage to ask her senpai out. It was a cliche confession— putting a love letter in his locker, and then calling him to the huge tree by the back of the school where most of the school confession took place.'
"I'm sorry, Lufine, I'm engaged." Her senpai responded, scratching his head before forcing out a laugh from his mouth. He then left without saying another word.
Engaged?
Engaged?!
Lufine remembered every single time her senpai helped her out, even complimenting her here and there and it made her feel special. They were pretty close, but not once did he tell her about being engaged. It was a pretty dirty move, and it left Lufine crying by the tree.
From afar, Arcane Bishop watched as the confession took place. Ever since their first year as high school students, Bishop and Lufine had become close friends. But what Lufine didn't know was that Bishop liked him ever since, and he was just slowly building his way to a confession.
Bishop felt a tug at his heart when he saw Lufine cry. Mustering his courage, he walked up to Lufine handing her a handkerchief. "Stop crying, you didn't deserve him anyway. He's sick. He should've told you he was engaged. Anyone would misunderstand his flirting." Bishop let out. "That kind of guy doesn't deserve your tears. Get up."
Before Arcane Bishop could say another word, he heard a laugh a couple of meters away. Since his enhanced senses were always activated, he recognized the voice, which belonged to the guy that dumped Lufine.
Using his superpower, he teleported to a nearby shadow. There, he saw the guy meet up with his peers. He was laughing his heart out.
"And I won the bet. See? I told you she'll fall for it." The guy confidently said as he puffed his chest out.
"Hah~ she even believed your lie of being engaged. HAHA!"
"Here you go, five thousand yen."
"Sigh~ here you go, five thousand yen."
"Sweet!" The guy exclaimed.
At that point, Bishop's eyes dimmed, and he charged at the guy without reprieve. He punched him straight in the face, and before the guy could activate his superpower, he shot a dark energy beam at both his shoulders. Now he couldn't move any of his arms.
"What did you just say?" Bishop asked as he punched the guy a couple of times in the face. He meant every punch he unleashed, and pretty soon, the guy was beaten up to a pulp. His friends didn't bother jumping in for fear that they might get in trouble as well.
Once the confrontation was done, Bishop got up, dusted himself, and wiped the blood off his fist. He walked towards Lufine, who was watching from afar. Just like Bishop, she overheard what the guy just said. She couldn't believe that she fell for a crappy guy like him.
"Come on, let's head to the cafeteria. Lunch's on me." Bishop offered, grabbing Lufine by the hand and dragging her out of there.
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