The fifth match had concluded, and the next two names were called.
"GARETH SPAREK VERSUS MARTIN KORAN!"
Riba looked over to Gareth with a smile but was greeted by Gareth's nervous face.
"Hey, you'll do great. Good luck."
Riba's words rejuvenated him, because Gareth stood up and brought back his famous grin.
"Thanks, Riba."
With that, he walked off to the stairs and descended to the depths of the arena. Martin joined him. Riba scowled and watched closely. Martin was one of Doron's goons and his concern for Gareth was steadily rising.
'What am I thinking, Gareth is very capable. He can do this.' Riba thought to himself with determination.
The two combatants stood opposite from one another while Ms. Bayora raised her hand.
"Ready? BEGIN!"
Martin stomped down hard, a trail of sharp, shiny ice spikes beelined in Gareth's direction.
"Woah!" He exclaimed and dodged swiftly and landed to the side.
He thrusted his arms outward wrathfully and crossed them. Upon opening his mouth to speak, another trail of jagged ice spikes advanced toward him.
Martin laughed as Gareth was forced to dodge once more.
"Nice try buddy! But my ice is too fast and dangerous for you to use any magic!" Martin laughed and pointed.
"Shut up!" Gareth snapped and flipped out of the way of oncoming spikes.
"Ooh, angry aren't we? You must be like your dumbass friend! Picking fights you can't win. But you and him are different."
Gareth refused to answer and continued to dodge.
"You see, you have potential! He's a useless loser!"
This enraged Gareth. He furiously clenched his fist and made a face, filled with intense rage.
"Don't listen to him! DON'T LOSE!" came a thunderous and resonating voice.
Riba was standing and thrusted his fist into the air.
"YOU CAN DO IT!"
Riba's encouragement was a success. With a sudden spark of determination, Gareth reached into his pockets and cast a party of knives at Martin, distracting him long for him to thrust his arms out again and shout,
"Beast Connection! Tiger!" With these words, a blue aura surrounded him. This aura morphed into red streaks of pure magic, swirling like serpents struggling in a vulture's grasp. Gareth's teeth grew sharp, his nails as well. His pupils thinned and he crouched down like the hungriest of beasts. Bestowed upon him were the abilities of a fierce tiger, as fierce as his determination. Martin gasped and backed up nervously.
"T-This doesn't change anything! You still stand no chance agai-" He protested, but was cut off by Gareth's savage roar. In an instant, he was dashing at full speed toward his opponent.
"NO! STAY AWAY!" Martin cried and frantically created pointed ice trails to stop him.
Gareth wasn't fazed at all, and slashed through the ice with his claw-like nails, like a knife carving into butter. With a smile, Gareth clenched his fist and got ready to swing as hard as he could, but was blocked off by an ice wall. This wouldn't thwart him. He clenched his fist as tight as he could and struck the wall with the force of a charging elephant. The arena filled with dust and huge chunks of ice upon the impact of Gareth's powerful punch. The spectators fought against the hurricane of powerful air caused by the collision. Finally, the wind settled, and the dust started to disperse. A silhouette could be seen through the slowly clearing dust clouds. Everyone inched closer to see. It was Martin, standing tall and proud. Ms. Bayora approached and looked around. A couple of feet away from Martin was a pile of rubble, consisting of ice and rock from the arena. Upon closer inspection, the brown of Gareth's shirt was visible. He was under that rubble.
'Gareth...no...' Riba thought to himself."
Ms. Bayora sighed and held up her hand.
"I declare this match-"
She was suddenly interrupted by a low rumbling.
"BEAST CONNECTION! GROUNDHOG!"
Gareth's muffled voice came from the ground beneath Martin. Instantaneously, Gareth burst from the ground like an overdone potato and delivered a solid uppercut to Martin's chin.
"GAH!!!" Martin sputtered as he was sent soaring backward and collided with the ground.
Everyone leaned forward, anticipating if Martin would get up. He didn't. The poor guy was knocked unconscious. Gareth landed on his feet and cheered, wearing a white shirt.
'It all makes sense...he took off his brown shirt and put it under the rubble to make everyone think he was defeated...!" Riba thought, '...nice one Gareth!'
"I DECLARE THIS MATCH OVER! GARETH MOVES ON TO THE NEXT ROUND!"
The smile on Gareth's face was the biggest anyone had ever seen.