The crowd was going ballistic as Nijimideru, who took the form of a dragon, flapped his mighty wings, blowing forceful gusts of wind toward the audience and his opponents. The announcer could hardly contain himself; a vein was popping out of his forehead as he hollered into the microphone! "Ladies and gentlemen! I can't believe what is happening before my very eyes! Nijimideru has taken the form of a freaking dragon! A dragon! But Celsius won't let up–"
As the announcer did his job, trembling with each word spoken, Celsius was seen ascending a construct of ice, gliding across it as he propelled himself toward Nijimideru's airborne wyvern form. Rather than blowing fire from his mouth, Nijimideru spat out metallic projectiles, each one coming within inches of Celsius's body as he weaved through the air, surfing on his own trail of ice. Occasionally, one of these projectiles would strike the trail of ice behind Celsius, completely obliterating that section of his track, and shattering his ice to bits and pieces. 'That's going to be me if I'm not careful! One hit and I'll be blasted to bits! I won't have time to regenerate!'
As one hand propelled him forward and upward, Celsius used his other hand to fire projectiles of his own, shooting shards of ice at the dragon before him as he closed the gap, though these merely tickled the metallic beast. His icy eyes were wincing as the powerful gusts of wind from Nijimideru's wings nearly blew him away, keeping him from getting within range of melee attacks. 'Damn it! How can I even get close enough to attack this guy!? He's-' As these thoughts ran through his mind, Celsius could feel a single raindrop on his icy skin. Celsius exhaled humorously before chuckling to himself. 'How lucky can I be!?'
Celsius could feel his body becoming one with the moisture around him. 'More water just means more power!' At all times, the air around Celsius had some degree of moisture, it was how he was able to use his powers. If one were to somehow erase any and all moisture in the environment, he could easily be killed. However, when it rains, airborne moisture is very obviously multiplied, meaning Celsius's power was multiplied as well!
Celsius lept from his trail of ice as the rain started to fall with more intensity. As he did so, he reeled back his frozen fist, which began growing in size with the rest of his body. Meanwhile, Nijimideru continued firing projectiles from his mouth, though these were simply tanked by the icy New Yorker as his size multiplied by the second! Not only was Celsius then able to grow in size, but thanks to the rainwater, his wounds were healing instantly!
After just a few seconds, Celsius matched the size of the dragon, standing at just over twenty meters tall. "Sorry, Nijimideru! You're in my domain now!" Celsius' voice boomed as he threw a punch at his opponent, one with such speed that it was heard cutting through the air. Nijimideru flapped his wings, dodging to the side before flying even higher in the air and transforming his own body! Like Celsius, his body loved the rain, allowing him to perfect his dragon form, becoming a wyvern of double the size!
The announcer was enjoying the show so much, he forgot about the ten count! Even if he did remember, he'd be crazy to disrupt a fight of such monumental proportions! Let's just say the rules for a ring out were changed on the spot after a mental hotfix.
Back on the main stage, things weren't looking too hot for Tempo as he found himself constantly on the move, hopping, skipping, and teleporting around the stage as Shokyo continued forming portals and reaching through them in attempts to erase the time warper from existence. 'Damn it! How can I retaliate if she's just spamming those portals!?'
Tempo hardly paid attention to the battle between two beasts happening behind him; he was laser-focused on the task at hand, determined to beat Shokyo once and for all! 'Celsius evolved. Now it's my turn! I won't let him get ahead of me!' Ky took one big step backward, only for him to sense a portal opening up behind him. Shokyo's hand, imbued with purple energy, reached through the portal and nearly wiped Tempo from the Earth, only for him to teleport just a meter away out of her reach.
"Don't forget! We have Tempo, trying his hardest to dodge Shokyo's attacks! Everything is happening so fast, I can hardly tell what's happening! AAAAAH! THIS IS INCREDIBLE!" The announcer forgot about commentating and started reacting as if he were a member of the audience.
Meanwhile, Tempo was studying his opponent, figuring out what exactly were her weaknesses. She too was studying the time warper, looking at the way he was teleporting for answers. As if they were linked, they both made a realization about one another. 'She can't use both her Erase and Restore powers at once! I have to put her in a situation where she can only react to one thing at a time!'
Meanwhile, Shokyo had deductions of her own, though they were in her own native language rather than English. When translated, she thought, 'He can only teleport short distances-- No, I saw him teleport across the arena before! Why isn't he trying to close the gap? Is there some sort of limitation? Think, Kiri, think.' Shokyo continued forcing Tempo to zip around the room while still thinking about the moment in which he teleported across the entire stage. 'That's it! After he teleported, he didn't run up to me rather than teleporting to me! The times at which he can teleport are determined by the distance of the last! I have to force him to teleport a greater distance, then I can punish him!'
Every time Shokyo's arm would reach through a portal, the crowd would hold their breaths, finally exhaling the moment Tempo would teleport just out of reach. Of course, Tempo wasn't going to simply allow himself to be attacked without retaliating. With both of his hands, he began firing a volley of bullets made of temporal energy, forcing Shokyo to dodge whilst still attacking from afar with her portals. He knew these projectiles weren't going to do much, but he was using them to gauge how she'd react.
Rather than firing projectiles at one another, Celsius and Nijimideru were attacking each other up close. Celsius once again equipped himself with his favorite weapon of choice; a greatsword, which was perfectly suited for slaying a dragon. Nijimideru, on the other hand, attacked Celsius with his talons and tail. Before any of these physical attacks could hit Celsius, he'd slice through them with his sword! "Big and slow is what you are!" Celsius shouted, slicing through Nijimideru's melee attacks like butter. However, his limbs simply reformed quicker than a second!
The two of them were evenly matched, though Nijimideru was burning a metric ton of energy, thanks to the rain, he and Celsius could go on forever. They both depended on the two fighting beneath them in order to win. 'C'mon, Tempo! Kick her ass already! If we get her down, then we can just stall for time!'
Coincidentally, Nijimideru had the exact same plan. They both planned to stall out the timer once their partner defeated their opponent, winning via a time-out!
Tempo continued firing his puny projectiles at Shokyo, but those small pellets were far too small and too slow to make any sort of difference. Like their friends in the sky, they too found themselves in a stalemate, however, Tempo still had more tricks up his sleeve. As he dodged, zipping around the stage without any sort of visible pattern, he thought back on his training with Celsius.
He remembered forming a ball of energy, and thanks to his background in soccer, he was able to kick that ball at great speeds. 'On its own, that'll never work. But if combined with all of my abilities, and everything I have, then I can pull off this win!' Tempo began forming a sphere of energy between his fingertips as he continued weaving through Shokyo's portals.
Shokyo was wary of this technique that was new to her, standing in place with her hands crackling with energy. 'What is that!? A ranged attack!?' Those thoughts were of course in her native tongue rather than English, but this is the rough translation.
Once the sphere had reached its maximum size, black and white energy swirled around Tempo's foot, creating a boot meant just for kicking. Tempo then released the ball from his hands, pulled his foot back, and kicked it with everything he had! Both of them locked eyes, and for a moment, Shokyo considered absorbing the attack. However, she noticed that Tempo was off balance, having one foot in the air after giving the ball everything he had with his right foot using a textbook soccer technique!
This was her chance! Her opportunity to counter-attack while Tempo couldn't move! As the ball barrelled toward her, leaving a slipstream behind it, curving unpredictably in the air, Shokyo swiped her left hand, which was crackling with yellow energy, and released a shockwave to push her body out of the way before extending her right arm forward, sending it through a portal and toward Tempo!
The ball of energy whizzed past her, there was so much force behind it that her hair and jacket fluttered behind her. One hit from that would have absolutely blasted a hole into her body! Her arm, on the other side of the stage, started reaching directly for Tempo's head, prepared to swipe the air behind him and kill him once and for all!
"SHINEEEEE!" she yelled in her native tongue, swiping her arm from left to right, leaving that signature trail of distorted energy behind it. The moment the reality around her hand was distorted, Tempo disappeared out of thin air...
For just a micro-moment, the crowd, Shokyo, the announcer, and the benched members of both teams thought Tempo had been erased from existence thanks to Shokyo's ability. The crowd erupted, thinking for just a moment that the match was over. Team New York could feel their hearts sink upon seeing what looked to be Shokyo's Erase attack killing their star starter. "Tempo!" Lady Luck wailed out his code name. She felt sick to her stomach, but only for the briefest of moments.
She drew in her breath, eyes wide as she was the first to spot him across the stage, floating behind Shokyo after teleporting there at the last possible second before her attack could land.
"Incredible!" Professor Anarchy leaned forward, clenching his fists as Tempo lined himself with his temporal soccer ball.
"He passed the ball to himself!" said Infinite, he too was clenching his fists in excitement. They'd seen this ability before, but neither of them even considered that the idea of passing the ball to himself using his Temporal Recall ability was possible!
Even Mania found himself enthralled, unfolding his arms and paying close attention to his teammate. 'Good, Tempo! Now finish her!'
Since Tempo could only teleport to spaces he'd been before, he couldn't teleport himself high enough to kick the ball traditionally. Instead, the moment Tempo phased back into reality, he found himself upside down with his feet perfectly leveled with the ball!
"TEMPO GOES FOR A BICYCLE KICK!" said the announcer. The announcer's voice compelled Shokyo to turn around, and her eyes enlarged upon seeing what was in front of her. With a foot shrouded in black and white temporal energy, Tempo pulled his leg backward while upside down before kicking forward, making contact with his spatial construct. The moment his foot made contact, an incredible amount of pressure blasted in all directions, causing his long jacket to flutter sporadically. When his foot made contact, there was a blinding flash, such that Shokyo could barely keep her eyes open! Nonetheless, she placed her violet-shrouded hand in front of her, ready to absorb the attack!
In less than a second, the ball whizzed toward her, and just before touching her hand, the ball turned intangible and passed right through her! "Nani!?" Meanwhile, in front of her, Tempo somehow shifted his body in mid-air and landed on his feet with his katana held to his side! It'd been so long since Tempo utilized his weapon that everyone had forgotten that it even existed! As he took a low stance with his sword, black and white energy swirled around it in an instant!
Shokyo had no idea what he was doing, but it didn't matter! All she had to do was create a portal and swipe him from existence before he could even do whatever it was that he was planning! Shokyo stomped her foot, ready to push her hand forward! However, a sudden warmth: no, an intense heat was felt behind her! Shokyo's neck instantly reared itself and her eyes locked with Tempo's spatial soccer ball, which was coming back at her as if it were a boomerang!
Unbeknownst to her, when Tempo kicked the ball, he transferred his Temporal Cloak onto it using his foot, allowing him to control how it reacts with time itself! In other words, at this moment in time, Tempo was reversing time around the spatial construct alone! It was moving just as fast as it was when he kicked it toward her, giving Shokyo no time to think, only to act!
Instantly, she held out her hand to absorb the attack, and at the same time, Tempo swung his blade at her from behind! There was an incredible wave of pressure accompanied by a horizontal line of temporal energy that was as thin as paper, but as long as the stage! Tempo was using his katana as a way to condense and concentrate his temporal energy, giving his sword extended range and power! There was nowhere left for Shokyto to run, she couldn't use both her right and left hand at once!
Simultaneously, Shokyo absorbed the ball and the massive temporal blade, using the katana to focus its shape, sliced through her. Once the attack hit, the light faded and Shokyo was seen standing at the center of the stage, completely motionless. The crowd was silent, for a moment, they thought the attack had no effect. However, they all failed to notice the microscopic slit across the center of her body. The upper half of her body slid off of her lower half and fell to the ground. Due to the heat of the attack, her wounds were instantly cauterized, sparing Ky from having to see a gruesome kill.
Tempo sighed, stabbing his sword into the ground to catch his breath. This was the first time he'd taken a life, a real one that wasn't just an AI inside of a Domain. He found himself trembling, almost to the point where he wanted to vomit. 'She was going to die regardless. She was going to die regardless.' he told himself this to get over the fact that he just killed a kid, one who still wore their high school uniform. Like him, she was forced into this game. Like him, she had no choice but to fight to survive. He felt no ill will toward her attempts at his life, it was all part of the game.
"It was me or you, Shokyo." he whispered.
"It was me or you."
Enthusiastically, the announcer screamed into his microphone. "Shokyo has been sliced in half by Tempo! Unbelievable!" as those words left the announcer's mouth, Nijimideru stopped in his tracks and turned his dragon head toward the stage. There he saw her, his sister's corpse sliced in half at the center of the stage with Tempo standing triumphantly over her.
'Kiri!?' Though his dragon face showed no emotions, his anguish was felt by the earthshattering bellow released from his mouth. The entire stadium trembled as if they were directly atop a fault during a monumental earthquake. Celsius had to cover his ears due to the raw intensity of it, even Tempo found himself sliding backward from the pressure alone. 'He's pissed!' thought the ice user, but pissed was an understatement. The boy was heartbroken.
In his own visual field, there was a text that would have been familiar to Tempo had he been able to see it from Nijimideru's point of view.
[Fated Moment - Losing Your Other Half]
[New Ability Unlocked!]
[Duplicate - Nijimideru can now create a duplicate version of himself, capable of self-thought while still maintaining obedience to the original.]
Fated Moments were rare, only happening when certain requirements were met. For Tempo, it was his first death. Every beta tester has their own unknown Fated Moment, and the twins shared the same one. The moment their sibling died, their Fated Moment would activate, giving them a boost in strength.
Nijimideru continued to bellow as he flew even higher, just out of Celsius's reach. As the beast wailed, it formed six heads from its body, each one screaming louder than the last. Multiple limbs and a second body were formed, and before long, those six heads were split, three of them occupying the new body.
After losing his dear sister, his twin, Nijimideru had created another. Beside him, was a perfect duplicate of himself. His twin dragon.