Author’s note- Chapters take sooooo long to write! I’m serious! It takes about 4-6 hours out of my day! I hope I still have enough time for hw!

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The Cell Games

Mrs. Kim- “Fight!”

I ignited flame points in a circle around my body, using my new technique. Flame ring!

Mrs. Kim- “Oh, that’s new.”

Viola did her preparations as well, extending the red light from her fingers to across her whole hand.

Viola- “Come on!”

She dashed forward, and leaped into the air to slash down on me. Naive!

With a thought, I sent the flame ring next to her arm. Flame point X10!

“Bang!”

A flash of light combined with a sharp yelp of pain rang out, and Viola flew back! She smashed against the floor and rolled back, her face contorted in pain. And as she got back up, a trickle of blood ran down her arm.

Me- “Do you want to continue?”

Viola- “You actually injured me… You’ll pay for this!”

I’ll pay for this? You slashed my friend! And you’ve been acting like a little princess this whole time! Somebody oughta teach you a lesson. And that somebody is me!

If I trounced her at every step, I could probably beat back that annoying arrogance of hers. So I observed her, waiting for her next move.

The red light extended from her hand and enveloped her whole body. She turned into a crimson knight, with a red, berserking light coming from her eyes. Charging at me at a speed that could be considered somewhat fast, she extended a knife hand towards my body. But was I just going to stand there?

I gathered a flame ring at my feet and jumped. I was sent almost triple my normal height, and it allowed me to dodge her attack by flying above her attack. And a sadistic smile appeared on my face, and I made another flame point X10 as my feet passed her head. Explode!

“Bang!”

I was sent further into the air, and when I hit the ground, I rolled, mitigating the damage from the fall. And looking back, the explosion had knocked her head into the floor.

But apparently, she wasn’t done yet.

Viola got up slowly from the rubble, coughing terribly. But she didn’t look like she took any damage; the barrier armor was only a bit deformed. Let’s fix that, shall we?

Before she could even get up, I condensed another flame point X10 at the damaged area of her barrier armor.

“BANG!!!”

Smashing back onto the arena, Viola started to hold her ears in pain.

Me- “Not so arrogant now, huh.”

Viola didn’t react to my words and continued to roll around on the floor in agony. Did I hit her too hard?

I looked over to Mrs. Kim, and she looked concerned as well. She took out her phone, and typed something out. And in the next moment, the purple light came out signaling a teleportation. A figure of a man in a black suit came out.

???- “Is the young miss ok?”

Mrs. Kim- “She will be if you heal her…”

???- “Yes, of course.”

He walked over to her side, and put his hand over her. A green light came out, and in a moment, Viola stopped rolling around.

Jumping up, Viola looked at me with hatred.

Viola- “Why did you hit me with a second explosion while I was still getting up!? What happened to your honor, your chivalry as a man?”

Me- “You didn’t even look hurt, so I thought another one wouldn’t do much damage. And how does this relate to honor, or chivalry? In a battle field, I would of had your head!”

Viola- “But this isn’t a battle field, is it?”

Me- “Yes, it isn’t. Therefore, I didn’t kill you.”

Viola- “You blood thirsty bastar-”

Mrs. Kim- “Stop squabbling like children! The next match starts now. Stella, it’s your turn.”

Stella- “But I have no way to block his explosions! The match would be over in an instant.”

Mrs. Kim- “And Nathaniel, from now on you aren’t allowed to make explosions. Fight purely with your flame.”

Viola gave a vicious grin from the sidelines, but I was worried. My flame has no attacking potential to ability users, and flame point X10 can only hurt them because it’s the shockwave that damages, not the flame itself. The only useful technique would be my flame ring, as I could use it to jump higher than normal.

Mrs. Kim- “You have no objection to this, right Mrs. Page?”

Stella- “Yes Mrs. Kim.”

Mrs. Kim- “Then fight!”

I went into a martial arts stance, knowing I’d have to beat her in close combat, and Stella activated the cat body transformation. Black ears popped up from behind her head, a tail emerged and hung between her legs, and her nails turned into sharp, white claws.

Activating a ring of flame points, I continuously drew heat from the area around Stella, restricting her mobility. The frost extended outwards, but I was protected by the heat of my flame. And realizing that she could not delay any longer, she rushed forward to meet me in combat.

When she slashed out with her claws, I could tell she was a total ametuer. She slashed at my chest, but she placed all her power in her first blow. Meaning if I dodge it, she will end up leaving herself wide open. Not to mention she didn’t put her weight properly behind the blow.

Spinning to dodge the blow, I backhanded towards her face.

“Bam”

She fell to the floor, but she spun to her feet and rushed at me again. Don’t you ever learn?

Slashing at my defensive arm, Stella tried to take a different approach. I moved my arm to dodge, but her claws were too long! I ended up with a bloody scratch on my arm, and she continued by slashing her claws wildly!

Slapping an arm away, I decided I’d have to do more damage than a one hit contact. So I landed a jab to her face, a smash to her gut, and when she doubled over I sent a knee to her chin.

Stella- “AHHH!!!”

She fell to the floor in pain, and I waited, still battle ready. I didn’t have any particular dislike for her, so I didn’t go and finish her off.

Like always, the hot feeling arose from within to heal my wounds. Noticing it, I decided to concentrate on that feeling as it worked.

After about 30 seconds, Stella was done rolling on the floor and trying to get up. She eventually managed to stand on her feet, but I could tell she was unsteady.

Stella- “I surrender. I’m no match for him.”

Mrs. Kim looked at her strangely, and remarked angrily,

Mrs. Kim- “Did I say you could surrender? The match ends when I say it does! You have 5 seconds to continue, or you will face the consequences!”

Stella took a glance towards the pale, sweating Natalie and looked back to me.

Stella- “Please, have mercy on me!”

She charged at me again and stabbed her claws at my chest. However, her feet were still unsteady, so she fell to the ground instead. Futilely trying to stand up again, she started to whimper pitifully.

Stella- “Can you help me up?”

Retracting her claws, she extended her hand for me to grab hold of. Feeling pity for her, I grabbed a hold of her hand and pulled her up. But that was naive stupidity.

She extended her claws into my wrist, and used her other hand to stab towards my gut. Damn it!

I grabbed her wrist with my other hand and head butted her. She backed off, but her claws were still stuck in my arm!

The hot feeling rushed full speed throughout my whole body, and suddenly, everything slowed down.

She sluggishly kneed towards my nether regions, but I moved the flame ring under her legs to throw her off balance. Then kicking at the inside of her other knee, I made her kneel.

I kneed her chin once again, and the force was so powerful that her claws were ripped from my wrist. She flew quite a distance backwards, and landed on the ground, unconscious. Bitch...

Mrs. Kim- “The fight is over! Heal him, and then we will start the next match.”

The healer in black came over, and extended a green light for a short moment. The green light combined with the hot stream, and suddenly my wounds started healing insanely fast. In a moment, the wounds were fully healed.

???- “That’s strange. That healed much faster than I would of imagined.”

Mrs. Kim- “Interesting. Stewart, you’re next. Start as soon as possible.”

Stewart came forward, and created an iron blob in his hand. It seemed to be slowly forming into the shape of something. A dagger.

I ran forward, knowing the more time I gave him to create iron items, the less of a chance I would have to beat him.

He seemed to be expecting this, as he started running the other way. Unfortunately for him, I was much faster than him normally, as he was just a middle school kid. And with the addition of the flame ring at my feet, I had caught up to him in an instant.

“Shua!”

Whistling as it passed through the air, my kick whiplashed towards his face! And he raised his ‘dagger’ to block, yet it didn’t have a sharp edge. My kick continued through the dagger with no obstruction, and it smashed him to the ground.

Stewart- “Ughhh”

He groaned and rolled around the floor, but I learned my lesson from what Stella ended up doing. Surrounding my hand with flame, I put it near the back of his throat, while pinning him to the ground.

Me- “Mrs. Kim, this should be enough, right?”

She looked hesitant, but seeing as he couldn’t break free from my pin, she nodded her head.

Mrs. Kim- “Your last opponent will be Natalie. I will wake her up in a moment.”

Mrs. Kim went to Natalie, while she was shivering on the floor, her face pale. Bending over, Mrs. Kim brought her red lips close to her ear. She whispered,

Mrs. Kim- “It’s time to awake. Look, the man that did this to you is right before your eyes. Fight him!”

Natalie’s eyes flipped open, and they were red with rage. Mrs. Kim backed away hurriedly, and a twisted smile appeared on her face.

Mrs. Kim- “I would be cautious, Nathaniel Belair. She is still recovering from the illusion, and I don’t think she’ll hold back at all. She may try and kill you.”

Natalie- “I’ll rip out your throat!”

Mrs. Kim- “See?”

Dog ears flipped up from the back of her head, and she grew claws. Unlike the previous girl’s cat transformation, her body didn’t become more feline. Instead, her arm’s muscles bulged, and a deep growl emerged from her throat.

She pounced at me, but it was still much slower than I expected. I could easily deal with this.

I slid under her claws and spun around to see her in the process of landing. Before I could do much more, she pounced at me again, this time much lower to the ground. But that fell within my expectations.

I kicked her head as she flew forward, and she was smashed backward, dazed. It was time for my assault.

Springing forward, I punched. Full power!

My attack flew forward like lightning, and it landed on her chest.

She was knocked back into the ground, hard, and I flipped her over in order to subdue her like Stewart. But she started to struggle like a wild beast, growling insanely. She didn’t seem to care about the numerous burns that appeared on her arms.

But when she realized she couldn’t get out of my lock, she started to tremble fiercely.

Mrs. Kim- “Nathaniel wins.”

Natalie started to struggle even more, though her strength was rapidly waning. She shrieked out, begging,

Natalie- “No, please! You can’t! I’m sorry!”

I was confused for a second, and then I thought back to Mrs. Kim putting her under the illusion. What did she experience in there to have such fear and hatred towards me?

Me- “Snap out of it! You aren’t in the illusion anymore; this is real life! I’m not your enemy!”

Natalie seemed bewildered for a second, but shouted out angrily,

Natalie- “What illusion!? You tortured me and left me for dead! I was only given a second chance by that guy over there if I fought you again!”

Me- “Wtf! That was part of the illusion! You were drawn into it when Mrs. Kim touched you for talking! You passed out shortly afterwards!”

Natalie- “Why are you making things up? That doesn’t change anything; everyone knows what you did!”

Me- “Adam! Can you help me out here!”

Adam- “What he said was true. I carried your limp body here myself.”

The look of bewilderment on her face grew stronger. Her trembling seemed to subside a bit, and she asked,

Natalie- “You won’t hurt me?”

Me- “Only as long as you don’t attack me first.”

Natalie nodded, and I released her from the lock. I jumped back quickly, still remembering what Stella had done. But it seemed to be unnecessary, as she turned back into a human and didn’t make any sudden moves.

She turned to Mrs. Kim, tears in her eyes.

Natalie- “Is it true? Did you trap me in an evil, sadistic illusion just to be tortured?”

Mrs. Kim did not have any change of emotion on her face; only coldness came through.

Mrs. Kim- “It was a fitting punishment for disobeying me. You would do well to remember this.”

Natalie’s mouth opened in outrage, but it closed again in a bout of fear. Her face turned pale, as tears slid down her cheeks. I felt sorry for her.

Mrs. Kim- “Today’s lesson is over. You may leave through the ‘path’ at the center of the stage. It will send you back to your beginning.”

Natalie was the first to jump in the portal. I guess she was too shaken by the events of today, and she wanted to get out quick. I understood the feeling.

The next to get out was me. After I had beaten all of them in the fights, they subconsciously made way for my passage. So activating my ability, I teleported back.

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