Corrupted Radiatons

by Michael Rogers

  Spectator: "Let the battle begin, now!"

  Nathan: (I'm ready!)

  Pepper: *She reached to her side, grabbing hold to something.* "You can go first." *She smiled and pushed forward, watching sparks scatter around her hand and mallet.*

  Nathan: "No, thank you. You can."

  Pepper: *She smiled, suddenly looking serious.* "Okay." *She bent her knees and jumped forward, giving the illusion she glided across the ground.*

  Nathan: (If the champion had trouble with her, then I won't be surprised!)

  Pepper: "I say-" *She grabbed the end of the mallet, leaping into striking distance.* "Repent!-" *She shouted, violently slamming the mallet towards Nathan's face.*

  Nathan: *He moved his sword at incredible speeds, blocking the attack.* "Gah-" *He squinted his eyes, as sparks flashed in his face.*

  Luna: "Shit nuggets!"

  Lezard: "Eww-"

  Rachael: *She formed a fist, watching dirt blow away from Nathan.* "Wow."

  Nathan: *He grunted and gritted his teeth, struggling to keep his sword up.* (She's got the strength of a man!)

  Pepper: *She flicked one leg behind her and kicked it forward.* "You're strong-" *She used the kick's momentum and twirled her body, knocking Nathan back.*

  Nathan: *His feet scraped along the ground.* (She should've kicked me instead-) *He leant forward and stopped himself, raising the sword.*

  Pepper: "..."

  Nathan: "Air Slash." *He frowned and slashed downwards, slicing a visible shock wave towards Pepper.*

  Pepper: *She sighed and flicked the mallet to the side, blocking the air slash with ease.* (The fire that burns in my body when I fight..)

  Nathan: *He watched Pepper's hair rapidly flap, as the visible air slash broke around her mallet and faded into nothing.* (My Air Slash did nothing!)

  Karol: "What?!" *He squealed in disbelief.*

  Pepper: (I can't tell if it's due to experience or my memories, but, I'm learning how to control that fire-) *She faced Nathan and ran directly towards him, jumping high into the air.*

  Rachael: "I can't tell unless I'm closer up, but her steps on the ground aren't normal movements."

  Lezard: "Well-" *He glanced at Rachael, adjusting his hat.* "Father monster said, that unnatural movements are the work of someone very skilled. They incorporate flashside and flashstep-like movements, allowing them to freely move about."

  Rachael: *She looked worried.* (We're too busy focused on Nathan versus champion, we didn't expect or realise other strong entrants.)

  Pepper: *She spun in the air, landing directly in front of Nathan.* "Shattering Stones." *Her hair spiralled around her head.*

  Nathan: "Harh!" *He sliced upwards, causing Pepper to skilfully lean back with a spiral.*

  Pepper: *She watched Nathan's sword slice up past her face.* "I say-" *She swung the mallet to the side towards Nathan's face.*

  Nathan: *He flashsided next to Pepper's mallet and hit it downwards with the handle of his sword.* "Double Slash."

  Pepper: *She squinted her eyes, as if she knew she was in a bad scenario.* "Hmph!" *She leant forward and quickly backflipped away from Nathan, throwing the mallet into the air in the process.*

  Rachael: *She noticed several swirls in the ground caused by their commotion.* (Wow.)

  Pepper: *She elegantly landed on both feet, catching the mallet in one hand, as it fell directly in front of her.* "Good moves."

  Nathan: "..." (She is incredibly skilled!)

  Pepper: "I say!-" *She suddenly charged directly towards Nathan.* "Did you forget about my Azure Burst?"

  Nathan: *He stepped back, readjusting his grip on the sword.* "Seventeen, Great Divide-" *He watched Pepper jump into striking distance, raising the mallet to her side.*

  Pepper: *She watched her mallet glow red, nudging it forward.* "Herh!"

  Nathan: *He raised the sword with anticipation, listening to his heartbeat.* (I just need to hit her before she-)

  *The mallet tapped Nathan on the shoulder, instantly blasting him backwards into the air.*

  Luna: "Holy shit!-"

  Pepper: *She watched Nathan fly back into the distance, causing her mallet to vibrate.* "Ouch-" *She glanced at the mallet, dropping it in pain.*

  Nathan: *He violently slammed into the stone wall, gasping in shock.* "I don't want to lose-" *He mumbled in pain and dropped to the ground, causing a puff of dirt to hover around him.*

  Karol: "What happened? They moved tooh fast!"

  Lezard: "Lezard believes they both heightened the Neurons in their arms, allowing them to strike at near blinding speeds."

  Rachael: "And the Rasticsplash-" *She mumbled out loud, as if she was thinking to herself.*

  Lezard: "Correcto, Razzypoo."

  Pepper: *She looked at her hands, watching them twitch.* (I should release the fire now, just the vibrations of my weapon hurts me.)

  Nathan: "I want to prove that Rostical can be defeated with skill alone." *He awkwardly stood up and focused, causing the dirt cloud to spiral around him.*

  Pepper: *She closed her eyes and her hair started to float in the air.* "I say-" *She opened her eyes, causing a pulse of dirt to blow away from her.*

  Lezard: "Oh?" *He focused on Pepper, catching Rachael's attention.*

  Rachael: "What is it, Lezard?"

  Lezard: "That's undoubtedly Radiatons."

  Pepper: "I can see the Neurons clearly gathering around you." *She stared at Nathan, as her golden eyes shined in the light.*

  Nathan: (I didn't spend countless days dislocating my joints for nothing!-) *He stared at Pepper through the gaps of the swirling dirt.*

  Champion: "..." *She continued to silently watch Nathan from the waiting area.*

  Nathan: "Ougi."

  Pepper: "Humph." *She smiled, proudly raising her chin.*

  Nathan: *He ran out of the dirt cloud, sprinting as fast as he could towards Pepper.* (I've extended the duration I'm able to use my Ougi without my muscles ripping.)

  Pepper: *She touched the mallet with two fingers, lifting it up in the air with ease.* "I say, initiating your Ougi this early in a battle?"

  Nathan: "Don't talk down to me!" *He slowed down and power walked towards her, watching his sword lose its image.*

  Rachael: "You can tell when he's serious. He doesn't really move his sword that fast."

  Luna: "Yea, he always bitches about how his wrist and shoulders are sore later."

  Lezard: "But then the luxurious Lezard heals him."

  Nathan: *He slashed to the side and a line cut into the dirt, cracking the arena's wall.* (It's even stronger now!)

  Pepper: *She glanced at the crack in the wall with an emotionless face, watching Nathan continue to power walk towards her.* (His arm, it's moving at flashsiding speeds. A trait no mere mortal can do easily.)

  Nathan: *He stepped into striking distance and swung the sword, causing his arm to blur.* "Hah!"

  Pepper: *She lifted the mallet in front of her face and a slash mark sparked off her mallet and into the air.* (Just as predicted-) "I say, very good."

  Luna: "Here we go." *She eagerly grunted, as if she knew Nathan was about to attack at full capacity.*

  Nathan: *He frowned, taking small steps closer to Pepper.* "More!"

  Pepper: *She moved her body from side to side, as large slashes sparked across and off her mallet.* "Time to end this-"

  Nathan: "I agree!" (The last part of my Ougi is the strongest.) *He stopped and angrily breathed through his mouth with struggle, focusing his attention on Pepper.*

  Pepper: "I say-" *She gasped, as splinters of sparks scattered off her mallet and past her face.*

  Nathan: *He frowned with determination, watching blurred air slash-like strikes slice towards Pepper.* (Rach said fights are like a race, even if it hurts, if you don't keep going, you'll never finish what you started.)

  Pepper: "W-What?!" *Her mallet shined, as it was completely covered in sparks.*

  Karol: "W-Wow.."

  Destiny: (The ent
ire stadium is quiet!)

  Rachael: (The sounds of Nath's sword, it's kind of like a tray of cutlery being moved about.) *She thought to herself in amazement.*

  Nathan: *Sweat dripped down his face, as he slightly grunted in pain.* "More!"

  Pepper: *Slash-like sparks cut her fingers, causing her to let go of the mallet.* (How?) *She pushed the mallet forward, watching slash marks suddenly appear in the dirt around her.*

  Nathan: *He stared in front with blurred vision, watching a figure of sparks.* (Is it working? Am I getting her-?) *A ripping sound squished from his arm, causing him to stop.*

  Champion: (Such incredible power, Nathan.. Such a powerful technique and you haven't even spoken your Ougi's name yet.)

  Pepper: *She slightly frowned, noticing small cuts on her arms.* "..."

  Nathan: "A-Ah-" *His arm slowed down, pulsating in pain.*

  Rachael: "The sparks stopped and you can only just see the image of his arm now."

  Luna: (The sparks in between them looks like a party sparkler.) *She intensely thought to herself, oblivious to her surroundings.*

  Pepper: *Her mallet dropped to the ground, as Nathan's Ougi finished.* "I-I say-"

  Nathan: *He breathed heavily, holding his right shoulder in pain.* (I hate the pain when it throbs.)

  *A massive cloud of dirt rose above Pepper, as if Nathan's Ougi had an after effect.*

  Pepper: "Nine finger snap-majestic pulse."

  Luna: "No way?" *She heard Pepper's voice from within the dirt cloud with her heightened hearing.*

  Karol: "Wat's wrong, Loona?"

  Luna: "That chick is still alive, aye."

  Champion: "Luna or Destiny, if you're there, could you please come to the waiting area on the west wing."

  Luna: "Aye?" *She looked away from the arena to the massive gate on the outer wall of the arena.* "Oi, the champion wants us to see her for some reason."

  Lezard: "But we're in the middle of the match."

  Rachael: *She stood up.* (It's going to end soon.)

  Pepper: *She pointed at Nathan, causing an arc of light to blow away the surrounding dirt.* "I say, good match."

  Nathan: *He looked surprised.* "How are you still stand-?"

  Pepper: *She stepped to the side and flicked her finger, causing the light around her to vanish.*

  Nathan: "Huh-?" *A small arc of light slammed into his chest and exploded, causing him to drop to his knees.*

  *Several people in the spectator seats chattered amongst themselves, keeping their focus on the match.*

  Nathan: "I can't m-move." *He moaned and fell face first into the dirt, lying motionless.*

  Champion: "That's the end of it.." *She sounded surprised.* (For some reason, I'm not disappointed he lost to her, but disappointed we couldn't fight.)

  ?????: "Nafan... Lost?"

  Champion: "Oh my?" *She turned around and smiled at the guild.* "You heard me, Luna, thank you."

  Luna: "Watevs." *A purple light flashed from the back of her head and Destiny appeared from a swirl of silver liquid.*

  Destiny: "Yeup!"

  Champion: "And of course, thank you, Destiny."

  Spectator: "It appears Nathan is unable to battle, Pepper is the winner!"

  Champion: *She stared at the arena, glancing at Luna, Rachael, Karol and Lezard.* "Oh dear.. Poor Nathan."

  Lezard: *He sighed, adjusting his cone-shaped hat.* "He really wanted to fight you."

  Champion: (I know.)

  Karol: "At least he was allowed to enter. Humff!" *He stamped his foot, folding his arms like a child.*

  Destiny: "Yeu, yeu!"

  Luna: *She nodded her head, running her hand through Destiny's fur.* "Destiny says you're too young."

  Destiny: "Yeup-"

  Karol: "I thought you were on my side." *He pouted, stamping his foot at Destiny.*

  Rachael: (A mature member from one of the guilds once told me, that Rostical, Neurons, Astragons, none of that is determined by age.) *She looked at Karol, as if he was the reason she was thinking.* (Age merely increases the quality of Neurons and Astragons...)

  *Rachael looked back into the arena, intensely staring at Pepper in thought.*

  Rachael: (Rostical itself doesn't discriminate, but it's so interesting watching teenage girls, or even Karol, defeat grown men.)

  Lezard: *He watched the revitalising breeze awaken Nathan.* "The little monster won't be happy."

  ?????: *A woman with long brown hair and eyes walked through the waiting area, glancing at Lezard.* "E-Excuse me."

  Lezard: "Oh, excuse me." *He smiled and stepped aside, causing the woman to awkwardly chuckle.*

  Luna: *She watched a timid, shy sounding girl walk onto the arena.* (Who's that?)

  Destiny: (She smells like you?) *She thought to herself in confusion.*

  Luna: "Like me?" *She looked up, whispering to herself in confusion.*

  Destiny: (I'm sure of it!) *She floated into the air, keeping an eye on the woman.*

  Luna: "How is the possible?" *She grunted to herself, knowing Destiny could hear her fine.*

  Destiny: "Yeup?" *She meowed in confusion, as if she didn't have an answer.*

  Nathan: *He slowly stood up in defeat, picking up his sword.* (I wasn't expecting a Rostical to suddenly blast me in the chest.) *He noticed the guild waiting for him at the gate, causing him to look down to his feet.* (I'm a little embarrassed...)

  Lezard: *He stared at Nathan and took a deep breath.* "The moment of truth, little monsters."

  Karol: (Nafan didn't even get to fight the champion.)

  Nathan: *He frowned in thought while walking towards the waiting area.* (If I can see the Rostical heading towards me, then I don't have a problem.)

  Champion: "..."

  Nathan: *He walked into the waiting area and threw the sword to Ronan.* "With your blade, I defeated the opponent."

  Ronan: *He smiled in appreciation, as if he didn't know what to say.* "Bless the Astragons! You have all my gratitude!-"

  Spectator: "Next is Alicia Riseley!"

  *The spectator's announcement caused the entire guild to look onto the arena.*

  Rachael: *She listened to the crowd's cheers, causing her to glance at Luna and the champion.* "Why did you want us to move here?"

  Luna: "Who cares, aha! Front row seats, aye."

  Destiny: "Yeu!"