After throwing the twice fainted bomber out of the arena, Mistress Stunlock returned to her corner. Roaring like thunder, she yelled
"NEXT!"
Several new heroes quit the mission immediately; swimsuit mode was just too scary. The John, by contrast, stepped closer to the arena. His hand scribbled furiously in his notebook, and he mumbled without realizing it.
"Is she acting like a battery, right now? Or is this energy beyond her capacity..."
By now, his sidekick had just finished beating her 6th opponent in a row. Out of the 87 examinees, the 36 'new heroes,' and the 12 mission takers, only Logan remained.
"NEXT!"
"Better not keep a lady waiting," he said while entering the arena. His next action, however, contradicted the statement. Just as Drill-bit was about to signal the start of the match, he shouted
"TIME OUT!"
"What," the two veteran heroes and one sidekick asked.
"Surely, you know the by-laws as a referee? page 300, paragraph 4, clause 20... It states each combatant is afforded a 30 second timeout, provided it is called before the start of a round."
"I am familiar, it's just that it's meant to give more time for coaches to decide if they should throw in the towel."
"Nobody said it couldn't be used for stalling..."
The John laughed.
"I'll allow it, start the timer."
Logan wasted no time, immediately gabbing with an increasingly irate Stunlock.
"I gotta say, you are a genius. It took me a whole year to learn how to move fast, and I could only do it for a step at first. You've been using that full body technique for what, 5 minutes now?"
He whistled. The timer buzzed. She charged him without saying anything. Since she was too fast to quip at in this mode, Logan likewise attacked.
He leaned back preemptively before taking a step. They both disappeared from their respective corners, only to reappear in the middle of the arena.
SLAM!
Stunlock, who had gone for a throat strike, was shoulder checked in the gut at high speed. She flew across the room, slamming into the cage wall behind her corner.
"Jeez, are your abs made of steel or something? I think you dislocated it, you know."
POP!
"Yup, you dislocated it alright."
Inwardly, however, he had concerns.
"Can I beat her with only one skill?"
Stunlock, having extricated herself from the now dented cage, took a quarter of a blink to think as well.
"He's slightly faster, but doesn't lose in coordination either... This technique is a limiting factor now."
She raised her hand, the sparks around her following it upwards.
Logan rushed forward, his wind pressure shoving the John away from the cage. He reached her and, with a chop that vibrated at incredible frequency, nearly severed her arm.
It did not matter, however, because her attack was complete! A three foot wide beam of lighting shot up to the ceiling. The fluorescent lights, having just been replaced, all exploded again. Stunlock had long since passed out at this point but, according to ASF rules, he still had to dodge it!
"Shit! I'm getting that promotion!"
200 bolts of lightning fell within the span of 2 seconds, all of them aiming for Logan's head. For him, though, it was like a millennium in hell. In the first millisecond alone, he dodged ten strikes. They fell faster in response, attempting to overwhelm him.
The 21st strike just barely managed to graze his ankle. The pain was intense; definitely a solid 4 out of 10, for Logan. He dodged 5 more, and was then struck in the shoulder. His reactions, as well as his thoughts, went slow.
"Ugh! I always thought spaghetti step was perfect, but this prep time is horrendous! How can I shorten the delay? Wait, my appendix! Why am I collecting void energy with the step? Master made my appendix do just that!"
His dodging suddenly became faster and, to those with eyes that can process super speed, a strange illusion developed.
Logan was both running and standing still, his completely stretched body forming a wide ring. Everywhere along the ring, bolts of lightning struck. But, despite hitting, each bolt inevitably made impact on the floor instead.
2 seconds passed, and the illusion vanished. The sound from every strike thundered near simultaneously, deafening all present.
"I did it! I did it!"
His smile, hidden under the face mask, appeared genuine for the first time. The moment was fleeting, however, as a certain proctor brought the mood crashing down.
"Yeah, you did! You better go!"
"What? But what about my promotion?"
"You just injured an S-class hero's sidekick, you know? I'd beat you up for brownie points now, if I wasn't afraid of... Never mind, just go."
"... But what about my application to the tournament?"
The Drill sergeant snatched a stack of papers out of his hands.
"We're even! Now SCRAM!"