Dimas rubs his side where he hit the rock pillar, the same pillar he's currently hiding behind. He may have gotten away from Clarke but long range is Clarke's specialty. Not only that but the escape left Dimas winded. Small areas of his legs and back begin to sting and ache. A result of the rock shots from earlier.
[I'm tired and bruised and he doesn't even have a scratch on him. Seriously, screw this guy!]
Dimas peeks out from his cover. He sees a rock heading right towards him. In that moment, Dimas saw the projectile not as a rock but as the Grim Reaper eager to shake his hand. Dimas barely pulls his head back in time. The rock flies past the pillar and explodes against another rock pillar a few feet behind him. It leaves a small indentation in the pillar.
[I'd hate to see what that would do to bone.]
He imagines what the rock would've done to him had he not reacted in time. The thought sends a chill down his spine.
THACK!
THACK!
Clarke begins shooting the wall with rocks. Dimas can feel the vibrations of the impacts when he places his palm on the pillar.
[What is he doing?]
A series of 'thacks' begin to shake the wall. It sounds like a ton of gravel was being dropped on the pillar. Dimas takes his hand away from the wall and takes a couple of steps back. He can still feel the vibrations but this time from the soles of his feet.
His instincts all scream at him to get away from what was about to happen. Dimas sprints to another pillar on his right. Along the way he hears rocks hitting the ground behind him. The sounds follow him to the next pillar.
He looks back at his previous safe spot and sees Clarke's handiwork. There was a large crater at the center of the pillar's base. Clarke had focused all his shots in that single area for maximum damage. The mighty rock pillar, although tremendously bigger than the stones smacking against it, fell to their overwhelming power.
[At the very least, there's only so many times he can do that.]
Dimas counts every possible pillar he can hide behind. There are only five others safely within Dimas's reach. Any other safe spots stood behind Clarke, basically making them impossible to reach without getting riddled with rocks.
[But my number of covers isn't any better.]
Dimas risks another peek. Clarke is gathering more rocks, which doesn't take much effort or any actually as all it takes is a few steps in any direction, his attack must've exhausted almost all of his ammunition. Almost all. Clarke isn't stupid, he kept a few as backup. Dimas catches Clarke's eye and Clarke sends a rock his way. Dimas hides once more.
[He's definitely not going to have any trouble getting more rocks… What the hell can I do at this point?! Nothing that's what! Might as well surrender and save us both some time!]
Dimas clenches his fist. He wants to scream at the judges for choosing such a stupid arena. Maybe even pelt them with rocks for good measure. Same with the audience. They cheered when he was at Clarke's mercy, he would love to see if they would still be cheering if they were on the receiving end.
Dimas takes a deep breath and tightens the cloth around his wrist.
[Stay calm. Think this through. He still doesn't know what I can do, that's why he's staying away. I gotta be careful with my ability, the next one is my last one, but at least he doesn't know that. Hate to admit it but waiting is all I can do. No point in getting frustrated, just bide your time.]
Clarke's following attacks are the same, he topples Dimas's cover but Dimas is able to get away each time. All the while, the crowd continues to cheer for Clarke, as if he was the one in need of encouragement. It was like cheering for a rabid cat for playing with a cornered mouse, at least that's what it felt like to Dimas.
Dimas is hiding behind his fourth pillar when he hears the worst possible sound.
Ding!
Dimas gulps.
[Maybe he won't-]
"I...call...support." Clarke says.
The crowd goes silent. Dimas doesn't know why. He would take a peek but doesn't want to risk getting lobotomized. Confused whispers begin to sweep across the audience members. Dimas can't make out any of them.
[What's going on?]
He notices movement to his left, it was Clarke, Dimas's eyes go wide. Clarke points at Dimas and the rocks are hurled to their target. Dimas throws himself backwards while shielding his face. He knows he'll get hit but this should minimize the damage. However, as soon as the rocks hit him, they disappear into thin air.
[What the hell?]
Now out of cover, Dimas sees that there is another Clarke, no not another, this is the real Clarke. With real rocks. With one whizzing right towards his face. Dimas turns his head but the rock still manages to hit right above his right eye.
Without wasting another second, Dimas dashes for cover. One of the rocks manages to get his ankle causing him to tumble towards safety.
[What the hell just happened?!]
Blood from where the rock struck just now begins to fall down towards his eye, covering it in a curtain of blood, making it difficult to keep it open.
He looks towards the 'fake' Clarke, they look identical to Clarke right down to the mask and hunched physique, they shoot a couple of rocks at Dimas, he flinches on the inside but he doesn't move. Just as before, the rocks disappear once they make contact.
[Illusions…]
'Fake' Clarke shows no sign of surprise when Dimas remained still. Did they know Dimas would figure it out? Seems almost like a one-time trick now that Dimas knew which one is the fake. 'Fake' Clarke, now dubbed Fake in Dimas's head, walks over to Clarke, out of Dimas's line of vision. Dimas risks a glance to see what the peculiar pair was up to. Dimas watches as Fake and Clarke go behind a rock, it doesn't take long for them to reemerge and begin walking toward Dimas, one to the left with the other to the right.
[Crap… Which one's which?]