- You noticed it to right? Her eyes moved the moment you were about to hit her. She shouldn't be able to move at your speed. But her visual acuity allows her to react with enough time to respond with minimum movements. Her eyes that are far greater than average allows her to see the trajectory of each attack. Maybe even more!! She's good!!!
- "So that's the secret of the Wessex arts huh..." - thought Logan - "What to do..."
Whilst Logan thought about the tactics he should use against Alicia, Alicia looked interestedly at Logan. The majority of people would have gone down with that move.
- "Jester's got great battle sense..... this is going to be interesting"
As soon as she reconfirmed that thought, Alicia ran against Logan. It was as if she knew what he was thinking. No other people around her age had defeated her so far so she had great pride.
As Alicia ran, she slowly brought down her centre of mass.
Once she entered Logan's battle area, she targeted Logan's plexus. Which is what she wanted him to think. Hidden outside Logan's attention span, was Alicia's other leg trying to sweep him of his feet from behind.
Logan deflected the first attack but not expecting the second one, he fell down.
Using her flexibility, Alicia then rapidly recovered her legs and brought them both towards Logan.
It was then that Logan did something unexpected. Before falling down, he used both hand as anchors to impulse his legs forwards and meet Alicia's attack.
* Bam *
Logan was brought backwards by the impact whilst Alicia remained in place. But this wasn't because Alicia was stronger but it was because Logan let go of the floor at the moment of impact.
- First art. Cherry Blossom
As if those words were a spell, the moment he finished them, Logan's body changed direction in midair and went rapidly towards Alicia's position.
Alicia was baffled. She was in a compromising position. She had yet to recover from her previous stance. The audience thought the same.
- Would it end here?
Logan was upon Alicia, when she was but a couple of metres away from her, he performed a punch. The standard Wing Chun punch adopted by the Rogue arts.
Nevertheless, the moment it was about to make contact with Alicia's plexus, she raised her hands and used it to deflect the incoming punch.
Unluckily for her....
- Log has the centre line....
He had it indeed. So no matter how much force she applied to deflect it, she would still be hit by the other hand.
* Bash *
* Bang *
Alicia was hit and was sent impacting the flooring below her.
Logan wanted to follow with a chain punch but Alicia wasn't the champion for show.
The moment Logan was upon Alicia, she used all the power she could muster on air along with her flexibility to raise her legs and hit Logan outside what his vision could see.
It was supposed to hit him the moment she was hit by his attack.
People are most vulnerable when they see a chance to win after all.
She somehow knew she wouldn't be able to deflect it but her pride impeded her to admit so. As such, she couldn't totally bait Logan.
Logan retreated as soon as he felt it.
It didn't arrive in time to hit him but it was still enough to give her an opportunity to recover after the impact.
She also fell back and assessed how her body was doing. Then she looked back at Logan. Her blood was boiling but not of anger, but of excitement.
She only felt like this when going against strong opponents and the feeling made her feel omnipotent.
Disregarding her safety, she once again ran against Logan, only that this time, she stopped just outside his fighting range.
In turn, Logan was ready for any sudden movements.
They observed each other's intents for a while and then...
Dashed against each other.
*Bam* *Bam* *Bam* *Swish* *Swish* Swish*
Logan deflected all of Alicia's attempt to punch him whilst he tried to break her balance.
Alicia dodged all of Logan's attacks with precision as she looked for opportunities for a counterattack.
No one gave way to the other one.
This had turned into an attrition battle - or that is what everyone thought.
- "What is happening?" - Alicia thought.
Alicia's limbs felt numb for some reason. Normally, she'd be able to fight longer battles. She didn't understand why her body felt like this.
Then her hands began to feel painful.
Feeling this, she tried to attack with her legs only to be denied their movement over her waist by Logan's own legs.
- "Why isn't anything working? Why isn't he crumbling?"
Logan was returning all the power she received from Alicia towards the persona in question. He was overloading her muscles with fatigue. At the same time, he was deflecting her attacks with his bones instead of using muscle such that Alicia was always hitting the hard parts in his body.
She was revered as a genius. Until now, she didn't receive this much difficulty on fighting against other people than her master.
As such, the pain coupled with her pride made her start feeling impatient - or so did Logan think until he saw her face.
- "Eh?" - thought Logan.
- "The hell?" - thought Locus.
Alicia's skin was crimson like the sun. White vapour came out of her mouth as she panted. An excited expression covered her face. Longing hung in her her eyes as he gazed at Logan's figure.
- Is she alright?
- You truly attract the weirdest people don't you Log?
Alicia moved. She was twice as fast as a gale. Still, she wasn't as fast as Logan. Logan could still predict her movements and deflect them.
*Bash* *Bash*
But he was surprised to find out that the hits had more power behind them. They had suddenly turned heavier.
Logan grew motivated. He found this phenomena interesting.
Their confrontations grew rowdier, louder and fiercer. The audience loved it.
Gale after gale rose up as fists met, blows were deflected and dodged and the 2 moved.
It had surpassed the level of normal children.
- I think it might be time for me to get serious - murmured Logan.
Logan retreated, Alice followed in his footsteps.
But this was bait. The moment Logan was about to be hit, he jumped and used the first art to absorb the blow.
Alicia felt that she was hitting at nothingness and this made her more excited. She continued to unleash a barrage of attacks.
Logan was still in midair so he continued to absorb blow after blow after blow. Soon, he began to feel bloated. His tensed muscles were screaming for release. Still, he kept the kinetic energy moving around his body.
The energy leaked at different places and he began to feel blows in them.
Finally, he touched the floor. Yet, Alicia wasn't finished with her onslaught.
However, at the surprise of the audience, Logan closed his eyes.
- Rogue arts. Third art. Lull.
Logan felt every single movement in the air and used it to dodge the rainstorm with minimum effort.
Seeing this, Alice grew the more thrilled. As such, her speed increased and the power behind her strikes did so too.
On the other hand, Logan grew the more calmer. His muscles were being destroyed from the inside out, still he resisted. He looked for the exact moment to release all this stored strength.
- "Not yet"
- "Not yet"
- "Not yet" - he thought.
Without Alicia's knowledge, Logan moved closer, and closer and closer to her. It seemed that her increase in strength made her the more careless. That's how much she trusted her eyes.
When he was close enough, as Alicia predicted, he went for her eyes. She only had to tilt her head to dodge it. She smirked. He had missed his chance.
Most important of all, he had left himself wide open.
- Tchh. Dammit.
Alicia heard that and her grin grew wider.
Using the gap Logan had created, he fiercely began an assault on his body.
Yet, she noticed something out of place. The opponent in front of her would never commit this kind of mistake.
She looked around the area to find the trap. Her eyes then landed on the right side of her abdomen. Logan's right hand fingers were pointing towards it. She decided to ignore it for it couldn't do any real damage at that distance.
- "Am I becoming paranoid?..." - she thought.
Noticing nothing, she decided to ignore that thought and send Logan hell.
Nevertheless, when her attack was about to hit, her abdomen felt a sudden powerful impact. Her body stayed in place but her stomach felt a tremendous blow land on it.
When she looked at the site of impact, there lay a hand in the form of a fist.
What she had previously deemed inoffensive have come to bite at her.
- "How?.... He didn't have enough space....."
She went on her knees whilst grabbing the right side of her abdomen. Saliva drooped from her mouth.
- Log. That's so cheeky. What a way to use the one inch punch.
Seeing her like this. Logan did not follow suit. This was but a tournament. There was no need to cause further injuries or kill her to win.
That's why after watching her in that state, he did not wait for her consent and just retreated in his own as he waited for the referee's decision.
- .....Wait, I can still fight..... - declared Alicia.
- I advise you not move. The pain will only worsen if you do.
But no matter how much she forced herself up, her body did not listen.
- This... fight.... I want more of that thrill.... This cannot be the end.... It hurts... it hurts.....
- Ahhhh..... What did I tell you, the pain will only worsen if you do that... referee, your decision?
The referee hurried to Alicia's side and inspected her.
- As Alicia Wessex is incapable of continuing the fight, she is hereby declared defeated and as such I declare that.... Jester is the winner!!!!
The audience cheered and with that glory behind him, he mightily abandoned the arena - or that's what he thought he was going to do until he heard the sound of someone sobbing behind him.
Alicia was crying.
- Ahhhh he made her cry.
- He made her cry...
- Disgusting.... he made her cry...
Such comments were heard throughout the entire stadium.
- Log... you disgust me....
- Hey! This is normal in a fight right? Right? Why does it seem like I'm the bad guy now?
- Still.... it seems I still need to teach you a couple of things about people. For now, do something about this. First lesson, there's a difference between how you treat someone in a competition and in the battlefield. That's not a way to treat girls!!!
Logan awkwardly scratched his neck. After dealing with Cloud, he broadened his horizons. He now knew that there were some good people in the world. He could not put them all in the same sack because of some wicked ones.
He turned around. His gaze naturally then landed on Alicia.
- It hurts.... It hurts so much....
Logan could not bear to leave her like that. So he approached her.
As she was on her knees, Logan had to do so too to meet her at eye level.
Noticing that someone was near, Alicia opened her eyes to be greeted by a strange jester mask.
She was startled but it was rapidly drown by the ever increasing pain on her abdomen.
- Let me have a look at it - Log said.
Log reached his hand into the affected area. But no matter how much he waited, Alicia did not move her hands. She strongly believed that if she removed her hands, the pain would be too much to bear.
It was then that she felt something warm touching her hands.
- Grab into this instead.
It felt warm and rough to the touch. Still, she grabbed it for she felt like it offered her protection against anything. She felt at peace.
It was then that she felt another warm thing touch her abdomen. When it did, a surge of warmth and comfort enveloped her body. She rapidly forgot about the pain and basked in this atmosphere.
But then the warmth in her body dissipated and so did the one in her abdomen. It took with it the pain.
She felt dissatisfied to feel the warmth go away.
- Hello. Hello? Could you let go of my hand...
After hearing that voice, she opened her tightly shut eyes only to find the Jester's left hand holding her own. He had removed his gloves and offered it to her.
She immediately felt embarrassed but didn't pull back. Instead she put more force in the grab which greatly startled Logan.
- Ano.... Could you let go of my hand? - Logan repeated.
Logan was confused at what to do. He could not use force for she was not an opponent at the moment.
It was then that he heard a low murmur.
- ....your name.....
- .....Yes? - he answered.
- Your name...can I know your name? - asked Alicia cutely.
Like when they first met, Alicia had a sudden blush. Although this time, she did not run or look away but instead looked at him with resolute eyes.
Logan had not expected such a situation. He couldn't understand why she was doing such an expression and he didn't have time to think about it. He had problems of his own.
- "Name? What should I tell her? It seems she won't let go until I tell her one.... but what should I do?"
It was then that Locus felt a massive killing intent from outside the walls.
Suddenly, an explosion was heard. Black fumes started to rise above the city, it had happened near the centre.
*Clang* *Clang* *Clang*
Next, the alarm resounded throughout the city.
State of emergency had been declared.
- .....What is happening Loc?
But before Locus could answer, she felt something wrong below the stadium and some of the audience seats. The moment she felt this, she sped up towards Logan.
- Log!!!! - she shouted then directed earth and wind elementals towards Logan's position.
Yet it was too late.
*Booom*
Logan and Alicia were at the centre of the explosion.