“We’re next, Jacky. Are you ready?”

“When am I not? Let’s get this over with.”

Jacky tosses his coat into a ball and strides toward the summoning pillar, undresses, and readies his body for transformation. Audible “hms” and “ahs” transmit from the central speaker. The faces on the screens all make awkwardly, overdramatic faces.

Ah. That’s more like it! Time to stretch these limbs.

Roxxane positions herself on the summoning pillar. She takes a deep breath and holds it, her face turning ocean blue. She fights the sensation of drowning and focuses on her ritual—the water forms into a lanky elemental. A long stream of water consists of the upper body of a humanoid and the lower body of a snake. An iron cage covers the horror’s face, long red tassels dangling from the top of the helmet.

Perfect. This is my kind of matchup.

The Sabered Prince cracks his neck and knuckles; the Prince sizes up the horror. He grins; his canines shimmer in the stage lighting as he steps forward, centralizing himself in the arena. Flood mistress slithers closer, water turning the arena field thick with mud. The main screen sounds off at the beginning of the match. The audience cheers, and many screens shake and sway back and forth with excitement.

The Flood mistress makes the first move like a whip, its arms lashing out at the Prince. Narrowly dodging, he skips back out of reach. Relentlessly, the horror continues their assault, slashing away at the Sabered Prince; drops of water splash as the water whips slice into the field, sloshing mud everywhere.

“Ferocious elemental. You will know your place!” The Prince roars.

Dancing around the horror’s attacks, the Prince growls; pale blue veins surge through his muscles. Running down to his claws, they shimmer like blue crystal. Flood mistress fires a pulse of water at the Prince; he rolls and dashes for the horror. Shoving his claws deep into the horror’s chest, the Prince’s recovered ability begins to turn the horror’s elements into ice. It shakes its head and lashes out once more. The Prince moves fluidly like a pro boxer, ducking and slipping away from the water whips.

The ice begins to consume the horror’s torse. Its movements slow, and ice shavings peel away at the horror’s form. The Prince lunges in, avoiding a slash from above; he reaps his claws through the horror’s arm, causing a flash freeze, and the arm goes limp and falls off.

Now I got you! If I didn’t have these blue claws, I wouldn’t damage this elemental. Slowly gaining back my abilities isn’t pleasant but having these claws back sure is a treat.

The Flood Mistress charges the Prince, swinging its final whip wildly. The Prince rushes into the horror, shoving his fist through the horror’s frozen chest. The whip hooks around, attempting on the Prince’s head. The Prince sinks his claws into the horror’s arm, flash freezing it and crushing it. Shards of ice fall to the field.

“Definitely what they call a mismatch.” The Prince snarls. “Time to put an end to this game.”

The Prince takes his free hand and runs his claws into the horror’s neck; freezing the head, he splits the horror into three. Chunks of ice fly all around the Prince. Roxxane vomits up more water; however, she doesn’t stop. She drowns until the water turns black, and her body crumbles into nothing. This was her last chance.

How unfortunate. All well; I can’t wait for the actual game to start!