Nijimideru and his duplicate self flapped their wyvern wings, creating such pressure that the crowd, their opponents, and the reserves for both teams found it hard to stand or even sit in place. Though Nijimideru was intent on killing Celsius before, his attention was directed toward his sister's killer, Tempo. Whether or not he'd win the competition did not matter to him, all that mattered was avenging Shokyo.
Both wyverns opened their mouths before releasing two bestial howls that were directed at the time warper. "TEMPOOO!" Ky found it hard to stand as he slid backward ever so slightly, covering his eyes and face from the incredible pressure being released from the aerial beasts as they called his name. 'Fuck.' was all Tempo could think during the moment. The guilt was still eating away at him after killing Shokyo– seeing her brother's agonizing cries, though in the form of a dragon, only made those feelings of guilt all the more potent.
Tempo understood Nijimideru's anger, If the shoe were on the other foot, say Nijimideru killed Tempo's father, Ky would do everything in his power to see to it that Nijimideru would be wiped from the face of the Earth. Regardless of his empathy for his enemy, Tempo reminded himself that Nijimideru was just that, his enemy. This wasn't about morals or doing what was right, it was about survival. If given the chance, Shokyo would have killed him without even half the same amount of remorse. Still, Ky knew this game he was forced to play was fucked up. Shokyo, or anyone else participating, didn't deserve to die.
When Nijimideru's screams no longer pushed Tempo backward, he stood tall with his katana ready, shrouding it in his black-and-white temporal energy once again, staring directly at the wyvern and its clone with eyes that said, 'Come and get me!'. Fighting was his only choice, he would have to feel sorry for himself, Shokyo, Nijimideru, and the rest of the competitors later.
Both dragons, seeing Shokyo's killer's challenging gaze, launched themselves like fighter jets toward the time warper, who still remained unmoved at the center of the stage. Again, pressure resonated from the wyvern's bodies as they left a slipstream in their wake. Celsius, who took the form of a one-hundred-meter-tall titan of ice, reared his icy neck toward his teammate. 'He's going straight for Tempo!?' Celsius reduced himself to his normal size before propelling himself toward his teammate, skating on a trail of ice he'd begun forming in front of him. Tempo didn't avert his gaze from his victim's brother, though he did see Celsius approaching in the corner of his eyes. 'If I'm going to fight these things, I need the air to become open space for me to recall to.'
Quickly, Tempo recalled to the part of the stage just in front of Celsius, holding his hand outward as if he were a hitchhiker asking for a ride. To avoid giving his partner a freezer burn, Celsius turned his hand from ice to human skin and grabbed Tempo by the wrist before the two of them took off toward the sky as the wyverns followed close behind them. "You really pissed him off!" Celsius said to his rival, creating a platform of ice for the two of them to stand on as they continued fleeing from the monsters as if they were in a horror game. Celsius could barely outpace the dragons, however, the metallic projectiles being blasted from the wyverns' mouths only made the task of running away all the more difficult.
As Celsius dodged and weaved through the projectiles, Tempo began barking orders of his own. "I need you to cover as much of the air as you can! It's necessary for my ability to work! We only have to survive for three more minutes, then we win by a time-out!" Celsius nodded in response before doing just that, covering as much of the air space as possible. This plan was foolproof, yet they both wondered what would happen once the time ran out. Nijimideru was clearly consumed by his own rage and it was unlikely that any timer would stop him.
"It looks like Celsius and Tempo are playing keep away! With only a few minutes left on the clock, Nijimideru is going to need to eliminate both of them if he wants to win!" The commentary only compelled the twin dragons to push themselves far beyond what they were before. Nijimideru hadn't thought of the time, only his sister's killer. 'Even if time runs out, Tempo DIES!' he thought to himself, still giving chase to the ice user and the time warper.
As Tempo stood on the board of ice that was generated by his partner he used his blade to slash at both dragons that trailed behind him. While using his sword as a base for his Spatial Construct ability, Tempo was able to effectively extend the length of his sword far beyond what was physically possible. If enemies were still out of range, he could flick the temporal energy off of his blade, sending thin slices of energy toward his enemies, and so that is what was done to fend off the beasts! Though his attacks met their mark, Nijimideru simply would heal himself in almost an instant. 'Damn it! His healing is a million times better than Celsius's! I'm only slowing him down for a second if that! It doesn't matter, every second counts! Besides, in just a few moments, he won't be able to touch me!'
"Alright Celsius, I'm ready." After so much of the air space had been covered, Tempo was ready to take this fight to the skies on his own. "I noticed if you freeze him, his body slows down, right? Do that to the duplicate and fight him on your own. I'll take on the main one. I'm the one he wants." Tempo lept from his partner's platform, toward the jaws of the beast! As he soared through the air, he and the dragon locked eyes for a moment. Though Nijimideru was in the form of a dragon, Tempo could still read the anguish and the fury resonating in his reptilian eyes. Again, Tempo could feel guilt within him but it was brushed off before it could fully manifest once more.
"Tempo is– Is he crazy!?" the announcer and the crowd couldn't believe what they were seeing. Tempo was diving headfirst toward his enemy without any known ability to fly or suspend himself in the air. However, they were unaware of Tempo's ingenuity. He couldn't fly, they were right, but there was something he could do, something he'd been planning from the start.
Nijimideru's talons were just inches from Tempo's neck before the time warper disappeared at the very last moment and recalled his body somewhere on the battlefield. Nijimideru's dragon eyes, scanned the area until they finally spotted Tempo standing on a platform of temporal energy, which was suspended in the air. Tempo could only make small constructs; this platform was only around a foot in a half in terms of length and width, as was the one he left behind in front of Nijimideru. However, all he needed was a platform large enough for him to stand on and this wasn't even the only construct Tempo had created. Not only was he using Celsius to map out the skies so he could use his Temporal Recall ability, but he was also laying out platforms for himself to stand on! There were dozens of them, scattered all across the sky at various heights and lengths away from each other.
Tempo began visualizing a cartoonish version of himself using his Temporal Recall ability to teleport himself hundreds of feet in the air. 'If I were to teleport to the sky, then I would have to wait for recall to go on cooldown.' Tempo imagined himself falling to his death after recalling without a platform beneath himself. This is what would have happened had he not come up with his current strategy. 'But if I make my own platforms out of Spatial Constructs, then I can simply stand on them until my cooldown finishes. Thus, I can effectively stay in the air for as long as I want.' Tempo's eyes followed Celsius as the ice user began growing in size. 'And it's all thanks to Celsius. I've noticed when he flies, he sometimes surfs on the ice as if it were a surfboard. That's what inspired these platforms. I do wonder, could I possibly implement some of his ideas and move myself using my own platforms in the same way? I can't get ahead of myself. Focus on the here and now.'
"Over here!" Tempo taunted, standing with his feet close together on the platform. As the dragons were distracted with Tempo's taunt the duplicate Nijimideru was flash-frozen before it received a punch in the face from Celsius, who then retook the form of his hundred-meter-tall self. The Nijimideru copy, not expecting the sneak attack, was blown backward and Celsius gave chase. With that, it was a fair fight, a one-on-one between the real Nijimideru and Tempo.
The rea; Nijimideru didn't waste any time, desperately flying toward Tempo like a missile. Tempo stood his ground, still balancing on his platform as his weapon gleamed with his black-and-white temporal energy. As the wyvern approached, Tempo slashed at the air, sending thin slices of temporal projectiles at his opponent, which slashed right through his metallic, scaly skin. Unfortunately, just like before, Tempo's attacks were effectively nullified once Nijimideru healed himself. This fact did not matter to Tempo, he was simply buying himself time by attacking and aggravating his opponent.
By the time Nijimideru would close in on Tempo, he would teleport elsewhere and begin firing projectiles from yet another platform that was suspended high above the stage. "Sloppy!" Tempo shouted, enraging his opponent even further. The shit-talking was all part of his grand plan. He knew that if Nijimideru was angry enough, his mind would be far too occupied to begin thinking up a strategy to beat him and he'd be right. Though he did feel wrong in taunting a grieving brother, it had to be done.
"I'll kill you!" Nijimideru's bestial voice shook the Earth and nearly blew Tempo off of his platform, though his stance remained firm. Again, Nijimideru blasted toward the time warper, firing projectiles of whatever the hell it was that Nijimideru was made out of at Tempo, who simply sliced these projectiles in half before they'd even get close enough to touch him. Just like before, once Nijimideru found himself within claw's reach of Tempo, the time warper would simply teleport elsewhere, standing on one of his Spatial Contruct tiles. "You can't kill what you can't touch!" Tempo once again engaged in more shit-talking, angering his opponent further.
With each recall and tease from Tempo. Nijimideru grew more frustrated by the second. He'd bellow in frustration every time his sister's killer would escape him. As this game of cat and mouse continued, so did the timer as it began nearing just a single minute. Meanwhile, Celsius was doing his best to keep Nijimideru's clone busy, boxing the wyvern as he maintained his colossal form. For Celsius, there wasn't any real threat in front of him. He and Nijimideru's clone would simply heal themselves if any damage was done. The only thing that mattered was the outcome of Nijimideru's real body against Tempo. 'Survive for just one more minute, man.' Celsius said in his own mind, praying that Tempo could keep up the pace.
However, Tempo started to feel himself slowing down. 'Of course…' he thought to himself. He was able to continuously zip around the arena, but in doing so, he could feel himself reaching a point of exhaustion. 'Energy has to come from somewhere, right? I'm tired as shit. Even though my Spatial Construct stuff doesn't run on any cooldowns, it clearly doesn't work for free.' Regardless of his exhaustion, Tempo continued to fight. One minute became thirty seconds and Tempo could see Nijimideru's ferociousness double, or perhaps it doubled in comparison to Tempo's speed which was then halved. 'Thirty more seconds of survival. That's all I need.'
Nijimideru could sense that Tempo was slowing down, so he decided to go all in! His clone reduced itself to a liquid and once again became one with Nijimideru. Once his entire physical being was restored, Nijimideru was faster and more powerful than he was when he was split into two. However, despite this slight boost in speed and power, it still wasn't enough to catch up to Tempo. He found himself growing more frustrated by the second, screaming out the time warper's name as if he'd lost his name. "TEMPO! TEMPO! I'LL KILL YOU! YOU BASTARD!"
He could scream all he wanted, but it wouldn't help him catch his sister's killer. With just half a minute on the clock, Tempo continued his fight for survival. By the time the clock had passed eleven, the crowd began counting down.
"Ten."
"Nine."
"Eight."
"Seven."
"Six."
"Five."
"Four."
"Three."
"Two."
"One!"
A buzzer sounded, signaling the end of the first match. However, despite it all, Nijimideru was still after Tempo, just as the time warper had predicted. "It looks like Team New York takes round one via a time-out! Participants, please return to your respective sides of the arena!" The announcer, quite frankly, was being a completely naive host. Obviously, the timer wasn't going to stop Nijimideru as he sought revenge for his twin. The announcer's smile faded as he watched Nijimideru's attempts at Tempo's life. "Hey! Did you not hear the buzzer? The buzzer means stop!"
It was odd, it was as if the announcer couldn't comprehend why Nijimideru was so angry at the time warper. "You both have ten seconds to stop fighting or else you will face consequences!"
'What!? I'm not even fighting, I'm running for my life, here!'
Hearing the announcer's threat triggered Tempo to teleport elsewhere, choosing the waiting room as his destination. He thought that once he was gone, Nijimideru would calm himself, but this was far from the case. Tempo watched through the TV as Nijimideru went ape shit, firing projectiles in all directions and screaming the time warper's name. Luckily for the crowd, his attacks were not powerful enough to break down the protective barrier that lowered itself before anyone could get hurt.
"Where is he!?" the dragon bellowed. "Where is Tempo!?" Nijimideru locked eyes with the announcer before flying down toward him as if he were his new target. He transformed back into his human shape and grabbed the announcer by the throat. "Where is Tempo!?" he clamored. Celsius stepped in, attacking Nijimideru from behind, however, Nijimideru's body simply reduced itself to a liquid state, and Celsius's ice simply passed through him.
"Nijimideru! This is your final warning! Stand down!" The announcer's voice could barely escape his throat as he spoke. Nijimideru didn't care. If his team were to lose an extra point or be disqualified from the tournament, then so be it. All that mattered was getting his hands on Tempo avenging his dear sister.
However, Nijimideru's body suddenly turned fully human, not just in shape, but in terms of his physiology as well. He looked down at himself, trying to once again use his abilities, but it was no use. As if he had his own form of super strength, the announcer pried Nijimideru's fingers off of his neck and threw the Japanese student to the ground. With his face scrunched in disgust, the announcer spoke once more. "Get your filthy hands off of me, human." The moment those words left his lips, Nijimideru could feel a burning sensation on his irises. "Matte..." Nijimideru muttered in his native tongue, knowing what was to come next.
"MAT-" Before he could speak once more, his head exploded, just like those who'd lost the tournament.
The announcer then looked at Celsius with crazed eyes, sending a chill down Celsius's already frozen body. The aura around the announcer had completely changed. 'What the hell?'
"You. Go back to your team. Now." the announcer ordered him with a monstrous tone, which was the complete opposite of that charismatic facade he put on. Obediently, Celsius skated back to his team, who were all there to congratulate him. However, he couldn't shake the feeling of fear he felt upon making eye contact with the announcer. 'Is he a game dev? Why did he call him a human like that?' he thought, remembering the dream that Tempo had told him about.