Joan looked down from the spectator box at the arena. She was in a room with the three other Savants and their aides.
After the brutality unleashed upon Bell, Joan was starting to get agitated. She really liked that girl.
Her anger only intensified when she saw the Lightning Monarch's aloof expression. He caught her looking from the corner of his eye.
"What?" He said. "Don't tell me your mad about a few broken bones. She'll be fine tomorrow."
"That's not the point!" She yelled. "If Karn hadn't stopped your son then we'd be having a very different conversation right now!"
Jabari suddenly grew serious, making the air around him crackle with electricity.
"Oh? Do tell."
Joan responded to his release of bloodlust, sending out a wave of her own. With it came a violent shaking of the viewing box.
"You forget where you are standing."
They continued to stare at each other, their lethal aura's growing in power.
Suddenly, a green haired woman stepped between them.
"Please... you can't fight here, there will be too many casualties."
Jabari scoffed.
"The Ripper talking about casualties? Get serious Thalia. You're perhaps one of the most guilty people here..."
A feminine voice spoke from the back of the room. It was The Huntress, leader of House Beast.
"Those days are behind her, as they should be for all of us. That's what this tournament is for... remember?"
At her words, Jabari retracted his electrical aura and turned his attention back to the arena. Joan did the same.
After, the room settled into an awkward silence.
Eventually, another cannon blast went off, indicating the arrival of the next fighter in the gauntlet. Joan was interested to see the order Ace had decided.
'It's unfortunate what happened to Bell, but hopefully Ace or Silas is goin-...'
Seeing who stepped out into the arena, Joan couldn't help but groan.
'Stellis...'
Behind her, Joan heard a deep sigh.
Looking back she could see Larcet's eyes glued to the arena. Even though his helmet was on, worry was written all over his eyes.
Despite his tough exterior, Joan knew better. He was her first child after all.
Adapting quickly to his changed environment, Larcet matured quickly and grew ruthless. The early days of GQC-1 demanded as much.
After things settled down, he still remained jaded, forever changed by the horrible things he witnessed. As a result, he was tough on his siblings and even tougher on himself. But even he was just a big brother at the end of the day. Watching his little sister get beat down for eight years in a row definitely wasn't good for his temperament.
With a sigh, Joan turned her attention back to the arena.
'Jabari's boy is too fresh... This doesn't look good for Stellis.'
To her side she saw Jabari smile, no doubt excited for his son to continue the winning streak. Concealing her anger, Joan sat still as her daughter approached Jabari's son for a handshake.
***
"Well well well. Look who it is! I certainly hope you put up a better fight than your friend! Maybe if I'm feeling nice I won't break your legs too!"
Stellis brushed off a crude insult from her opponent.
"I wish I knew your name so I could curse it. Bastard."
The Son of Lightning only laughed more wildly.
"You'll get my name when you beat me. Not that you will ever pull that off..."
Calming her raging heart, Stellis shook his hand and walked to her starting position.
Karn started the duel soon after.
Stellis slowly inched towards her opponent. In all honesty, she didn't know how to approach the fight. She didn't have any ranged tools so getting in close was her only option. The only problem was that she knew how it would end. Eight years of embarrassing losses stood testament to that fact.
Shrugging off her her anxiety, she took another step forward and broke off a part of her heart shell, prepared to dash in. Before she could take off, her opponent appeared in front of her, gauntlets raised in a boxing stance.
Unprepared for the sudden burst of speed, Stellis barely had time to switch to activating her Notch before an impossibly fast fist struck her chest plate. At the moment of impact she felt her bones shudder but hold strong. Not even a second later, her body was filled with strength, far beyond what she was normally capable of, even with enhancement.
Gathering herself, she pulled out her second sword. If she could just land a cut with the Vampire Bat's chisel then she could stall for even more time.
Unfortunately, her opponent kept up the pressure, giving her little room to defend. His strikes were fast, strong, and aimed at weak points in her armor. Staying true to her training Stellis occasionally countered, aiming slashes at his vitals as well. The only difference was that whenever any of her sword slashes got close, they would slow down and be blocked by his gauntlets. The next few strikes he would throw after a successful block were stronger than usual.
While she wasn't able to land a hit on her opponent, Stellis remained positive. In her 8 fights with the Son of Lightning he had never been the aggressor. Seeing his frantic pace and armor crushing blows, Stellis couldn't tell why... not until she heard it. In between the sound of clashing steel and boots sliding against dirt there it was.
The subtle sound of hurried breathing. Except... it wasn't her own.
Underneath her helmet, Stellis smiled mischievously.
Relying heavily on her Notch, Stellis continued to trade blows with her opponent steadily giving up ground and having to move around the arena. The Son of Lightning stuck close, barely giving her time to breath. After over five minutes of continuous fighting, Stellis had yet to land a solid blow... like usual.
The Son of Lightning's ability to switch between Notch usage and enhanced strikes was nearly instantaneous, granting him an almost unfair amount of versatility. Her strikes were parried while his were empowered. Whenever one of his strikes stung too deep, Stellis was forced to heal it on the spot, losing a chunk of her shell.
In the back of her mind she knew the fight was already over. She could only hope to drag it out for as long as possible. After hearing his labored breathing, she knew every second would go a long way.
Putting her swords back in their sheaths, Stellis focused her energy into accepting all incoming attacks. When she received a boost in power from being struck, she circulated the energy back into her defense.
Their fight continued for another five minutes with Stellis holding on despite the heavy injuries she had sustained. By neglecting to heal them and focusing her boosted energy back into her muscles, she was increasing her longevity in the fight.
Her opponent kept up his aggression, eventually separating the two of them with a particularly powerful kick.
"Where is your pride Stellis?!" He yelled. "Have you already given up?! This defensive style is unbecoming of you!"
Stellis smiled underneath her helmet. It was true. For just this one fight she had forsaken her pride.
This wasn't a true one on one battle, it was gauntlet. She had to rely on Ace and Silas. That's what teammates were for after all.
Because of them, she could truly show off the defensive versatility that her brother knew she was capable of.
Ignoring his provocation, Stellis shrugged her shoulders in response.
"Someone's getting tired I see...I wonder how you'll hold up vs the next one... he seems to have it out for you."
Clearly agitated by her words, he walked towards her with a slightly hurried pace before resuming his attack. Only this time, he turned the pace to the maximum by abandoning Notch usage and instead focusing all of his energy into enhancement.
Even with her Notch active, Stellis felt the stinging pain from his strikes as they broke off pieces of her armor. Still, she kept her guard up, which only seemed to enrage her opponent more.
With a grunt, he did a backflip while kicking upwards, completely opening up her guard. From his landing position, he sprang forward and used two knife hands to pierce through her abdomen.
Spitting out blood, Stellis fell to her knees. A second later, the Son of Lightning ripped out his hands and kicked her to the ground.
While walking away, he spat a few distasteful words at her.
Karn appeared a second later.
"Need a hand?"
Using the last of her energy to heal her stomach wounds, she slowly rose to her feet.
"I'm fine..."
Limping towards the arena side locker room, Stellis thought about the desperation her opponent showed in the final moments.
'He's definitely starting to feel it.'
Walking past the arched entrance to the locker room, her eyelids grew heavy and her vision turned hazy. Exhausted, she fell towards the floor. Before she could hit the ground however, she was caught by Ace who lowered her down gently.
Through the blurriness of her vision, she could see him holding up a thumbs up. After that she fell asleep.
*** The Viewing Box ***
Joan looked over at Jabari. The smirk on his face was long gone, clearly dissatisfied. The fight they had just witnessed was the longest her daughter had ever survived in a fight with his son.
While she may have lost, the result was clear to those experienced in battle. The Son of Lightning was tired.
In a way, Stellis had won.
Looking back over her shoulder at Larcet, she could see a glint of satisfaction in his eyes.
'Things just might work out for us this year..."
*** Arena Side Locker Room ***
Ace place Stellis's sleeping body on the bench and walked over to Silas who was was waiting by the doorway. During Stellis's match, he had watched closely... very closely.
Ace looked at the behemoth of a weapon strapped to his back.
"You sure you wanna take your sword Silas? You saw what happened in the last match..."
Silas turned to him and smiled, catching Ace off guard. It wasn't the kind of maniacal smile that someone consumed by bloodlust would have. It was the kind of smile someone put on when they knew victory was around the corner.
"Silas?"
His friend just tapped his temple and pointed to the ground before flicking his hand upwards.
"What?"
Silas just shook his head with a smile. He then stuck out a fist.
Incredibly confused, Ace gave him the fist bump.
After, Silas disappeared from the dark room, enveloped by the afternoon sunlight in the arena.