Fox
stood across from his opponent. He heard his virtual reality gloves clicking as
he clenched and unclenched his fists. His goggles brought up information on the
opponent.
Age: 17. Male. Hair: Black (w/
white streak) Usrnme: Destroyer. Specl Mve: Fireball. Weak Point: Slow Moving.
Fox
smiled. He was lithe and agile while Destroyer was bulky and slow, beating the
guy would be a piece of cake.
“Ladies
and Gentlemen!” the announcer said, “On this side, from Team Glitch, is Destroyer!”
Destroyer
raised his muscular arms to the cheering of hundreds of thousands of fans. A
holographic projection of him appeared on the floating platforms high up in the
coliseum-type arena.
“And
over here, we have a newcomer from a new team, the Hackers. Ladies and
Gentlemen, I introduce to you Fox!”
The
cheering was less raucous this time. Fox wasn’t exactly sure how to react, so
he meagerly waved, which Destroyer seemed to find hilarious.
“Gentlemen,”
the announcer said, “Prepare to fight!”
The holograms
on the platform became the number 3 and started counting down. The entire
stadium counted along with it.
“3 . . .
2 . . . 1 . . .”
Fox
gulped. Let the game begin.
He
barely had time to react before a blazing fireball flew past him. He rolled
out of the way just in time. He saw Destroyer roll another one in his gloves,
this one about the size of a baseball. Fox brought his fist down on the ground
and, though the floor was made of a thick glass, great walls of rock launched
upward and deflected the flaming ball.
As the
rocks lowered, two more fireballs were launched at Fox, which he deflected with
sheets of water that seemed to materialize out of nowhere and disappeared in a
hiss of steam when the flames touched them.
It
seemed that Destroyer wasn’t one for variety when it came to his attacks. Fox
deflected yet another fireball, but he didn’t expect a second to follow right
behind it. It hit him in the shoulder. His vest vibrated and he felt a dull
stinging in his shoulder. His goggles glowed red as his health bar dropped 22%.
Fox
looked up from his shoulder. There was a cracking sound coming from Destroyer’s
arm. Steadily, gray rock climbed its way up his arm and over his torso. He was
making armor for himself. The rock cracked at his joints to let him move. Fox
grimaced, there was only one way he could have done that. Dang cheat codes.
They were supposed to be illegal in an arena battle but they made exceptions
every now and then.
Fox
threw a stone the size of a baseball, but Destroyer caught it in his rock-covered
hand and crushed it to a powder. Fox formed a white ball in his hand and
underhand tossed it to the ground. As soon as it touched the floor it burst
like a water balloon, but instead of water spreading across the ground, it was
ice. It spread to Destroyer’s feet and he slipped, landing flat on his back.
Fox threw another one and Destroyer’s rock-covered arm was frozen to the
ground.
Fox
formed a spear made of ice and spun it a couple of times. He half jogged, half
slid right across the ice and raised his spear to bring it down.
All of a
sudden, Destroyer shot up a burst of flame and melted the spear in Fox’s hand.
There was the sound of cracking ice, and Fox felt himself being launched
backwards, landing on his back with Destroyer kneeling over him. Fox felt
himself being pinned down by Destroyer’s knee.
Fox had
to think quickly. He grabbed Destroyer’s rock-covered arm. Almost immediately,
water flowed from Fox’s glove, drifting over the rock and into the cracked
joints. Quickly, Fox froze the water and within seconds there was the sound of
cracking rock as the ice in the cracks expanded. Destroyer looked surprised and
let his guard down. Fox took the opportunity to throw the opponent off of him.
Destroyer
stood up and took a few steps back from Fox. The rocks had nearly completely
fallen off of his arm, but his torso was still covered. He started rubbing his
hands together quickly. Sparks began to form between his palms and very soon a
small ball of fire began to form. But the ball didn’t stay small for long.
Within seconds, it went from the size of a golf ball to a tennis ball, and
after that it was the size of a basketball.
A jolt
shook Fox’s stomach. Destroyer cocked his arm back to throw the fireball at
Fox. With a wicked grin, Destroyer launched the ball. It flew through the air
with deadly speed.
Fox’s
mind raced with possible escapes, but as the fireball raced toward him, he
threw his arms up and a large sheet of water exploded into the air. The ball
hit the wall of water with an explosion of steam, clouding the entire arena in
mist so thick that Fox couldn’t see five feet ahead of him.
He knew
that it was time for his special move. The steam was exactly what he needed to
pull it off. He wiggled his fingers and sparks began to arc between them. He
felt the electricity surge through him and when he felt like it was about to
explode, he released all of it through his fingers. Fox knew that water was a
conductor of electricity, and the water in the air picked up the lightning
easily. There was a sharp electric zap and in the distance, Fox could hear the
groaning of Destroyer.
The
vents in the arena sucked the steam out of the arena and Fox saw Destroyer on
the ground in a heap. Stunned silence filled the stadium before the words rang
out, “Fox is the winner!”
The
crowd erupted in thunderous applause. “Fox will be moving on to round two!”
Fox
grinned. Game on.
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