Well, this is a first. Standing on the empty platform I waited for my opponent. The man I was fighting, Gale, was fifth-ranked overall? Considering Red isn't in the top five this guy only has the fifth spot in name. Thinking about it that way, are any of the top five really the strongest here? To be in the top five not only do you have to be strong but you need to cooperate with the warden fully. I hope the rest of them turn out to be flukes like this guy here, it would make it a lot easier for me.

"You ready to pay up!"

Gale made his way into the arena. He had buzzed hair which only made his large ears seem even bigger. He leaped off the ground while still more than fifteen feet away from the platform, yet he landed on it. Though it was an incredible leap, I could tell by his trajectory that he was going to land on the platform so that isn't what surprised me. What did however was the sound of his feet hitting the platform, it was almost completely silent. He landed with a gentle grace of a small hop. There was another sound but I couldn't quite place it in my shock.

"Don't think because you put on a little muscle that you're any match for me. I'll have you sitting next to Trevor in no time."

He sure does like to talk a lot. I lean forward and raise my arms slightly, preparing for anything. His ability is almost a complete unknown so my best bet is to wait until he uses it so I can gather as much information about it as possible. If I close the distance and his ability is suited for that then I would be fucked. The best-case scenario is he uses it straight out of the gate.

"The match will now begin."

...

Neither of us moved. This could be a good sign. This might be him being cautious about me, which indirectly tells me his ability is around my level, or, he could be waiting to take me out in one strike.

He realizes that I wasn't moving to attack and he gave me a smug glare, "I can understand, you must be scared, don't want to make the first move."

Is that his attempt to provoke me? I guess I could use this to my advantage. I make a, hopefully, angry face at him, "YOU THINK I'M SCARED OF YOU!!" I take off towards him while making sure to watch him closely. He smiles then swings his arm around in front of him. There's still plenty of distance between us but I'm not taking any chances. If he is starting to act with me still this far away he may have a distance ability. I wait until he was committed to his movement and then stop and brace myself. He completed his movement, then realized I had feinted him. I feel something try to shove my leg to the side, if I hadn't braced, my foot would have easily been taken out from under me.

Gale looked at me in shock, probably at how easily I had played him, but that didn't take my mind off the feeling in my leg. I used my perception so that I could take in every detail of the effect. Focusing on my leg I noticed how much my pant leg was flapping as the force pushed against me. The sound, the feeling, it felt like... wind.

That's what that sound was when he landed on the platform, it was the sound of rushing air. Well then, I know he has to move to use his ability so it's just as telegraphed as any punch, I should be fine closing the distance now. I resume my charge towards him. To him, I must have only stopped for a second because he moved in a flustered state as he tried to send out another attack. It was the same movement as before but with his opposite arm. I felt it sweep my leg out from under me as I ran, causing me to fall to the side as I traveled forward, carried by my running momentum. I had expected this however so I only touched the ground for a second, enough time to go into a roll and make my way back up to my feet as if I had never fallen in the first place.

This seemed to be the last straw for Gale as he fell into a panic and started waving his arms all over the place. I did my best to dodge the areas I thought he was targeting, but even I couldn't dodge air. Wind appeared out of nowhere and slammed into me, making me stop in my place as I fought it to stay standing. Seems like it doesn't have much force behind it when you compare it to one of Red's punches or throws. It took some fighting but I closed the distance between us, however the closer I got to him the stronger the wind got.

He threw both palms at me, they didn't touch me but I was thrown back by the pressure. As I fell I watched him shoot up into the air, he most likely planned to land on me. I had been into a similar situation the first time I fought Red so I reached for his foot as I rolled out of the way but his trajectory changed while mid-air and he landed a few feet to the right of me.

Of course, he can change his orientation mid-air! I roll towards him and get to my feet jumping at him. He jumps back and seems to glide across the platform putting a few feet between us, again. Did he get the fifth spot by running the fuck away?

I follow after him while he continues to wave his arms around, attacking me with barrages of condensed air. I was beginning to pick up on his attack size, range, and versatility. If I moved in the direction the air was coming from I could dodge the main force behind it and not be slowed down. As long as I avoided the center of the attack the rest was negligible. Probably noticing my adaptation and constant advance despite all his efforts, he shot towards me. He's definitely fast but it's nothing I haven't seen before. His palms slammed into my chest, with this little distance he could definitely generate enough force to throw me with his ability, perfect.

I watched his face and when his eyes narrowed I jumped back while using my arms to start the rotation of a backflip. I felt the force start to push against my chest, adding rotational power to my backflip. I swung my foot up as I was pushed back and it connected to his chin.