Nova and John charged at each other, their speeds perfectly matched. John's staff was poised for impact, while Nova pulled her fist back, pouring all her strength into the punch.
The moment her fist met John's staff, shockwaves rippled through the air, the force of their clash reverberating throughout the arena. Both fighters pushed against each other, neither willing to give ground.
But Nova quickly sensed something was off. His staff... it's absorbing the shockwaves and the force of my attack. Thinking fast, she flicked her hand, releasing a powerful shockwave that struck John from the side, sending him flying and disrupting the staff's absorption ability.
John flipped mid-air, stabbing his staff into the ground to stop his momentum. "Man, I really hate that move," he muttered, his lips curling into a smirk as he looked back at Nova.
"That's quite the unique staff you've got there, John," Nova remarked, her stance shifting. She blended her abilities—gravity manipulation, shockwave generation, and now something more. Her aura changed, becoming oddly serene, almost calming.
John raised an eyebrow, feeling an unfamiliar sense of ease wash over him. "What's this feeling?" he asked, his guard momentarily lowered. "Is this another one of your tricks?" Without waiting for an answer, he dashed toward her, hurling his staff as a distraction.
Nova easily sidestepped the incoming staff, her expression calm. "Throwing your weapon? Not the smartest idea," she said, her eyes tracking John's every move.
Nova glanced back to where John had been, only to find him gone. She quickly scanned the area, her thoughts racing. Where did he go? she wondered, her eyes darting around the battlefield.
"Looking for something?" John's voice rang out from behind her. He hovered in the air with a smug grin, his fist raised, ready to strike her down from above.
Before he could move, Nova snapped her fingers, releasing a sudden shockwave that disoriented John mid-flight. He stumbled, his balance lost as she turned to face him, her expression calm yet deadly. Without hesitation, she pulled her arm back and delivered a powerful punch.
The blow connected with brutal precision, sending John hurtling through the air in the same direction he had thrown his staff earlier.
As he tumbled through the sky, John spotted his staff spinning ahead of him. "There you are," he muttered, reaching out to grab it. But just before his fingers could close around it, Nova activated another one of her abilities. A powerful force yanked him backward, pulling him straight back toward her.
"How many abilities does she have?" John muttered to himself as he closed in on Nova, readying his fist for another strike.
He launched his attack, but Nova had already anticipated it. With a quick sidestep, she easily dodged the blow. Before John could even process what happened, Nova landed a powerful uppercut, sending him rocketing into the planet's atmosphere.
John could see the vastness of space stretching out infront of him, a testament to just how high he had risen. I'm pretty high up, he thought with a chuckle, almost as if he was letting Nova's attacks hit without a care.
In an instant, Nova increased John's gravity by a hundredfold, slamming him into the ground in the blink of an eye.
John struggled to get back on his feet, his head spinning wildly, making it impossible to focus on Nova. After a few disorienting seconds, his vision cleared, and he managed to stand. When he looked up, his heart skipped a beat—Nova was holding an enormous sphere of energy.
But this wasn't just any energy. John recognized the deadly glow immediately—it was the Poisonous Field, a lethal force that attacked its victims with all manner of toxins, diseases, and viruses. This energy ball carried that same terrifying power.
He stared at the swirling mass, a dominant light green hue with streaks of dark green weaving through it. Now I see why she's ranked number two, John thought, a mix of admiration and dread.
Nova raised the ball above her head, her expression cold. "Try not to die," she warned, before hurling the deadly sphere of energy straight at John.
John stood motionless as the energy ball hurtled toward him. "Hope this works," he muttered under his breath, snapping his fingers and waiting.
Suddenly, Nova staggered, struck by an invisible force that left her disoriented. That same force seemed to travel toward John. Just as the energy ball was about to hit him, his staff materialized in his hand. John pointed the staff toward the ball of energy, hoping it would absorb the incoming attack. As the sphere collided with the staff, it came to a sudden halt, and in the blink of an eye, the energy within was drawn into the staff.
Nova's eyes widened in surprise at the sight. She hadn't expected the staff to have the power to absorb energy—and even more surprising, it returned to its wielder so effortlessly. Where did he get a staff like that? she wondered.
John examined the staff closely, noticing that glowing green runes were beginning to appear, pulsing with an earthy hue. These runes… he thought, puzzled. Why do they seem so familiar?
He stood still for a moment, racking his brain for where he might have seen the symbols before, but nothing came to him. Shaking off the distraction, John refocused his attention on Nova.
"Now it's time I fight back," John declared, spinning his staff with a flourish before launching himself toward Nova.
"Bring it on," Nova replied with a smirk, settling into a fighting stance. As John swung his staff at her, she swiftly dodged, careful not to let it graze her. In the brief moment his face was exposed, Nova seized the opportunity and threw a punch, confident it would connect.
Just as her fist neared his face, John caught her hand mid-air, halting her attack effortlessly. "Did you really think you had an opening?" he asked, smirking. Releasing his staff, John yanked her closer and delivered a powerful punch to her gut, sending her flying back into a distant mountain.
"Ahh!!" she cried out in pain, her vision blurring from the impact.
With a snap of his fingers, John's staff returned to his hand. He aimed it at the dazed Nova and hurled it with precision.
Nova became fully aware of the situation as the mountain crumbled from the impact of the staff, pieces of rock crashing down. John landed on the Poisonous Field, his eyes locked in the direction where Nova stood.
Having reacted just in time, Nova erected an energy barrier to shield herself from the falling debris. With a wave of her hand, she expanded the barrier, pushing away the remaining rubble. Rising to her feet, she glanced toward John, her expression stern. She touched the spot where his attack had landed earlier—the pain still raw, her body weighed down by fatigue. Resting her hand on a large fragment of the mountain, Nova absorbed what little energy was left in it, replenishing her strength.
Seeing her regain energy, John wasted no time. He leaped forward, drawing back his arm for another strike.
As his punch flew toward her, Nova stopped it effortlessly with one hand, without even turning to face him. "I'm getting tired of this," she muttered, her eyes briefly flicking to the staff still lodged in a piece of rock nearby.
John jumped back, and Nova turned to face him fully, curious about his next move. "Alright then, I guess it's time to get serious," he said with a grin before snapping his fingers, calling his staff back to his hand. His expression shifted into something more focused, more determined.
"About time," Nova replied, settling into her fighting stance. She unleashed an aura that swept away the remnants of the shattered mountain.
John's staff began to emit a faint, shifting aura—a mixture of gold, deep blue, purple, black, and green. It was barely noticeable to most, but Nova's sharp senses picked up on it, She noticed the same runes that John had seen. She didn't quite understand what it signified, but she kept her focus, ready for what came next.
John took a single step, and the entire stadium trembled. The shockwave rippled out far beyond the arena, shaking the foundations of the city. Even people in distant kingdoms felt the earth quiver beneath their feet. The sheer force of his movement threw Nova off balance, her footing unstable as she struggled to regain control.
In the shadows, unnoticed by the crowd, the same mysterious figure who had observed John entering the Hero Association building was silently watching the fight, his eyes sharp and calculating.
As John continued to move, his footsteps intensified, causing the ground to shudder more violently. The very planet seemed to groan under the pressure, as though it could barely withstand the force radiating from him. Nova, sensing the immense power, released all of her energy in a desperate attempt to match him, her aura flaring as the two prepared for a final clash. The ground beneath them fractured, cracks spreading like spiderwebs across the arena as they charged toward each other.
Just as they were about to collide, both stopped, frozen mid-motion. The force of their momentum vanished, leaving them standing still, unable to move.
John strained against the invisible force holding him in place. "What's going on?" he muttered, confusion clouding his face as he struggled to break free.
Nova, equally bewildered, glanced at him. "I don't know," she admitted, her voice edged with frustration and confusion.
Suddenly, a voice echoed through the air, calm yet commanding. "That was quite a fight," it said, followed by the slow sound of clapping. "But I think it's time to stop."