Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Aria & getting adopted.
"PEOPLE!, Today we have some interesting participants here today for this battle, but they won't be battling until near the end so for now you have to make do with other bloody battles we have to offer you" said the host as the crowd erupted in a loud roar in excitement for the upcoming battles
High in the air four multi-screens showed the first two participants
<ROUND 1>
#[Image]
Name: Sirius
Ability:Energy vines
Recorded LVL: 2•4
#[Image]
Name: Aria
Ability: Lightning
Recorded LVL: 2•6
From opposite ends of the stadium both came out, Sirius whom was a light green haired boy of age 11 and light yellow irises. And from the other end was a violet color haired girl three years younger than Sirius and with light blue eyes, she was sure going to be a beauty in the future, it was already obvious. The host began his introduction and announced the rules to them for good measure;
"Hey so who did you guys bet on, i chose Aria"
"Same, her ability gives her a massive speed and power advantage over Sirius"
"And it's also less taxing to use and more versatile"
"Although he isn't to be underestimated also. His vines are able to attack at massive speeds also, not as fast as her but it's impressive nonetheless"
"Defense is really his best option if he wants to drag things out, but doing that means certain defeat"
"Attack leaves him too open for strikes, the very second one grazes him it's over"
"He's going to have to play it smart throughout the whole match"
"If he could somehow prevent her from getting close then there's a small chance he could win depending on how fast and far his vines could reach"
"But with her speed, that's very much a dream"
"Putting his vines underground seems to actually be the best option, even with her speed it would make for quite a surprise"
"But she could also end it in one move if she's able to amass enough power and break through his entire defense and get to him directly"
"But that takes a bit of time, although it may just be three seconds at max i don't think he will allow her the luxury. Unless she surprises us and is actually able to perform it "
"It's actually possible if she moves far from where his vines can reach, maybe during the countdown she could do this ?"
"Or-
"Shhh, it's starting now let's watch"
Aria and Sirius after thr host had announced the rules to them now took a 10meter starting distance away from each other, a countdown appeared on screen 3,-
Their eyes glowed the moment it reached 2 and around Sirius a barrier of green energy vines rose up around him but he kept enough spaces open in-between for vision. And around Aria lightning raged, it was in the form of sparks but soon became a full on raging stream of electricity.
1...0.
<Btzz>
Aria vanished, heading in a straight line towards Sirius who barely managed to react in time and close his barrier completely as she impacted it.
Lightning raged all around it and the vines began cracking, the spot where she impacted was almost destroyed but Aria jumped back as a vine erupted out of the ground at great speed.
They were now back to the 10meter distance they started at buy inside his barrier Sirius's hear beat like crazy as sweat poured down his face */something's wrong, why didn't her first attack tear through my barrier. The countdown was the best time to amass the power she needed but why didn't she/* he pondered as he healed the cracks around his vines and sent some underground sacrificing a bit of his barrier and using it for attack.
Aria crouched down, her lightning raging all around her as she blitzed all the way to the side avoiding the vine attack from underneath and still using that same momentum she blitzed forward and jumped high in the air as she delivered a spinning Lightning kick to the barrier again.
<Crack>
And then it got completely destroyed, the attack caught Sirius off guard thereby cementing his fall as Aria landed on her feet and sent multiple streams of Lightning from her feet towards Sirius catching him in a lock of electric torment.
He groaned in pain but was cut short when a kick was sent towards his head sending him flying towards his own Vines and hitting them hard, his voice was caught in his throat as he felt extreme pain. Unable to hold on any longer, he fell down unconscious as he bled from the side of his head.
His barrier went down and vanished into thing air revealing them both to the audience.
"AND WE HAVE A WINNER!!" yelled the host, the crowd roared in joy after witnessing the high speed battle that took place between both parties. Although it was short it was expected, she was just a bad matchup for him.
Aria looked down at the unconscious Sirius and turned around leaving the stage with medics coming out of another entrance to take the uncons and bleeding form of Sirius off the stage. As soon as she was out of the audience's gaze she collapsed against the wall holding her right hand. She was barely able to stand as her legs trembled, most especially her left. She grit her teeth, that guy's defense is really no joke.
The moment she impacted it she felt her bones crack, and the last kick she delivered was dangerous but necessary. This was the gladiator hall, and blood must be spilled, and this wasn't the her first time having broken bones so she was able to stand strong and bear it. *sigh* "i have to move out of here, new contestants would be coming soon" she said as she pulled herself up and walked away, limping as she walked
"You won't be able to go far like that" a voice spoke.
She paused and turned around as her gaze came upon a spiky blond haired boy with gorgeous blue eyes, and a jaw dropping beautiful face. Everything about him just seemed too noticeable and impossible to miss, and he had a very weird presence about him but Aria just wanted to know one thing "who are you" she asked in an extremely cold voice as her eyes glowed.
She noticed his height and concluded the boy to be even younger than her, this put her heart at ease a bit because she was sure he was weaker than her. Even in this state of hers if he dared to try something it still wouldn't end well for him.
Arlo walked forward and the next second Aria's eyes widened, a tail? What in the hell is that, she couldn't resist and had to ask "why do you have a tail".
He responded with nothing but the glow of his eyes which alerted Aria as her face turned cold and sparks flew around her "it'll be much advised for you not to try something you will regret" she warned.
Arlo smiled "I'm not looking to fight you" he said as a yellow dome shaped barrier erected around her, she looked around "a barrier, what are you-
She was cut short when she felt herself levitating off the ground and the barrier rising along with her with more of it phasing through upwards from the ground. She was now afloat in a spherical ball, her attention was called when she heard the host announce the beginning of the next round
"Someone's going to come through here soon, it's better we move" said Arlo as a yellow outline appeared on his body and he too levitated, he came towards her "I'll take you towards a healer, just tell me where to go. And ask your questions along the way if you will" he proposed to her.
Aria nod her head "we can't follow an obvious path so we'll go with another" she said and Arlo nod his head in agreement as Aria began giving him instructions on paths to take and he levitating both of them through them.
Aria gazed at Arlo from the side of her eyes, the swaying tail was too distracting for anyone not to notice "why do you have a tail" she couldn't resist asking again.
Arlo smiled "i was born this way, it's not part of my ability but an actual part of my body" he explained to her.
She nod her head silently and gazed at him again, she passed it off as some sort of weird bodily mutation and left if that. */how much mastery over his ability does he posses/* Aria wondered, she felt he wasn't using two separate abilities, i mean that didn't exist but still. And it seemed the primary manifestation of his ability was in the form of the barrier that held her now, the only surprising thing was how he could manipulate it to the point where could thinly surround himself with it and thereby use it to levitate.
There were two possibilities, he either mastered this himself or this was a passive or sub par of his ability. She was having trouble believing the first because it just sounded way too insane even though this already surpassed what would suffice as a sub/ passive ability in this situation.
Could this kid's level actually be higher than hers. That was thought that ran through her mind right now but she held it back and decided to ask questions "why are you doing this, and who are you, i think it would be obvious if you had been here for a long time so you're probably a newbie right" she asked.
Arlo nod his head "Today's my first time here, my name's Arlo. Nice to meet you Aria" he introduced.
"Arlo huh....so what's your deal with me, i don't think we have any history so did someone ask you to do this" she asked.
Arlo shook his head lightly and turned his gaze to her "I actually want you to be my friend"
Aria was silent and just gazed straight at him, from the very beginning they met she had been reading him. Her passive ability turned her in something of a heart & mind reading machine + lie detector, it wasn't perfect and she couldn't trust it 100% of the time but still. It was good enough for most situations "Why" she asked.
"Hmm.....I just think I'll get along with you, it's obvious you're not the loud type and actually someone who keeps to herself" he turned his gaze to her "i really didn't plan this, i just decided to try and see what happens" said Arlo.
Aria didn't respond and just silently gazed at him "I see" was all she replied and returned to silence only giving him directions to their location.
Arlo levitated them all the way until he reached their destination, it was just a normal house and quite separate from the main ground "a healer lives this far off from the main ground?"
"This is just my personal space away from the girls dorm, the one who's supposed to heal me should be in there also" Aria replied to him. He turned to her for a second and returned his gaze to the house "i see, so do i ring the doorbell" he asked.
The front door of the house opened as a blond haired woman looking to be in her early thirties stepped out of it, her eyes were closed and she was yawning without a care in the world hugging a pillow in her arms and still in her PJ'S.
She rubbed her eyes and slowly opened them looking left and right, her vision still a bit blurry until it cleared a second later and she met with something strange. She blinked a few times to be sure she was seeing right, she rotated her vision between the floating golden yellow ball that held Aria in it and the floating boy with a...a tail?.
She looked towards Aria again "is there anything i should be worried about here" she asked.
Aria shook her head and shrugged, the woman turned to the floating boy besides her "okay then, let's go inside so we can talk" she turned back and opened the door for them to enter but when she didn't notice any movement she turned back to them "why are just stand....floating there" she corrected and chuckled.
Arlo slowly began descending to the ground as the yellow outline on him vanished as he looked up at Aria "you can release the sphere now" she said to him.
He brought the sphere down to the ground and de-activated his power completely, the woman noticed the tiny strained look on Aria's face and figured out what happened "seriously" she said in a deadpan tone "what am i your healer?"
Aria nod her head without hesitation, the woman could only remain speechless at her answer. She sighed and entered the house with both following close behind her...
[40 minutes prior]
Vincent smiled seeing Aria walk off stage and then returning his gaze to the Unconscious and bleeding form of Sirius on the ground "you see that Arlo, this battle does not even scratch the surface of what goes on in here. A dominant rule if this arena is that blood must be spilled, either it's your blood or someone else's" he said but after some time without noticing any movement or comments he turned his head to the seat next to him only to meet with empty space.
"Whaaat the- he exclaimed in a low tone but his attention was drawn when he heard the announcement for the next round.
"THE NEXT ROUND BEGINS NOW, LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT OUR PARTICIPANTS SHALL WE" the host announced and gestured up at the board
<ROUND 2>
#[Image]
Name: Holden
Ability: Berserker
Recorded LVL: 2•7
#[Image]:
Name: Jermaine
Ability: Blaze
Recorded LVL: 3•0
There was no loud cheer or roar this time, the audience were mostly silent. And if one were to look close enough you would see the extreme look of pity contained in those gazes. Everyone knew what was about to take place, even with how much they loved blood that guy.....was just something else.
"Damn, this is going to be brutal"
"That guy is always like that".....
"That guys ability allows him to keep growing stronger the more damage he takes right"
"Yes...damn. it's because of this that things will be even more brutal"
But even so, even with how pitiful they felt for that guys opponent. One thing was sure, it didn't mean they weren't still gonna enjoy it.
Vincent had a smile on his lips '/i didn't know this guy was participating here today also, if only the kid stayed to watch this. But seriously where is the kid tho/' wondered Vincent as he watched the participants come out.
The first to come out was a brown haired 11yr old kid, he had light orange irises and looked to be especially buff for his age with really average looks. On his arms were gauntlets and his eyes seemed to have a natural seething rage underneath them, his aura was like that of a volcano ready to erupt at any second.
Some seconds after, his opponent stepped into the arena also. He had wavy red hair that matched with his eyes, he had an extremely laid back look with one hand in his pockets and a smile on his face. He looked like he Wasn't even acknowledging his opponent in front of him, in fact. There was a small condescending gaze present in those eyes, he looked up and around the audience. "Where's the cheers y'all" he asked and they immediately erupted, their hearts beat in excitement. The time for pity was over, they were enjoy this fight to the fullest.
Jermaine's smile grew wider as he looked to his opponent, the host moved far away from the stadium this time, things were about to get really heated. Once he was in the clear he ordered the countdown to begin.
"You're gonna get the roasting of your life" threatened Jermaine as his eyes glowed, his opponent stayed unshook by his words and prepared himself also.
His aura was a raging orange and it formed an outline on him, his gaze turned to one of rage. Even without having to grow stronger with damage he still immense speed, strength, durability and an immense pain threshold.
Jermaine smiled as the countdown reached zero, he jumped far backwards as Holden's fist slammed into the ground creating a wide crater and multiple cracks. In that moment he sunk his hand into the ground and pulled up a rock thrice the size of his hand and throwing it at immense speed towards Jermaine in the air who sensed the attack and placed his palm in front, catching the rock midair and sinking his fingers into it due to sheer strength. With that same momentum, he turned his body sideways to avoid another attack by Holden who's punch missed and hit air.
Jermaine jumped father back again to create more distance between them, he still had one hand in his pocket and his other hand was holding onto the rock firmly. And that same smile was still on his face "are you getting annoyed that you aren't getting damaged, i didn't know you were such a masochist" he taunted seeing Holden become more and more frustrated as he began walking in a circle around Holden "the level difference between us is very significant, I'm even a bit higher than you in physical strength. My speed also dawrfs yours" he paused and smiled as he looked at Holden "i think you dropped this" and in a split second his hands were caught ablaze by a red flame.
The rock in his hand was engulfed and before anybody could react, a small red flaming meteor was heading towards Holden at neck breaking speed. His eyes widened but he reacted in time and put his arms up for a block which was a mistake as the meteor impacted his arm sending him flying off his balance and breaking his guard.
<GARGH>
He yelled as he felt the impact and the pain of his skin being burnt, his eyes closed involuntarily due to instinct and when he opened them again he was greeted by a palm. And he watched in absolute horror, too late to make any other moves as the palm grabbed onto his face and slammed the back of his head into the ground and cracking it.
Pain rattled through his entire head causing him the greatest headache of his life, but his will was strong and so he grabbed Jermaine's arm with both hands. His aura rose around him as he gripped Jermaine's arms tighter aiming to crush it.
But Jermaine smiled even when on the verge of getting his bones shattered, he smiled because something really brutal and painful was about to happen. His grip on Holden's face got tighter as he spoke one word "Burn".
Holden eye's widened in unimaginable horror as he felt the incredible blazing heat, in just that split second he felt all that pain before that part of his nervous system was vaporized at the point of contact but that instant of short unimaginable pain made him roar in pain.
His whole head was caught ablaze and he went into a frenzy, pulling Jermaine's grip off his face as he rolled around in agony before getting up and running around crazily wailing and begging for the pain to stop. And that wish was to be fulfilled as his wailing was cut short by a sudden kick to the side of his head which sent him flying and crashing as he rolled over and over until his body came to rest and spayed on the ground.
Most of the flames had flickered out and the last remaining little bits flickered out completely seconds later but there was still no movement, he lay there and seemed to be unconscious. The audience were really controlling the urge to gag at his disfigured face, the skin was burnt of completely and the muscle under was just out in the open and roasted. He was lucky to still have his eyes but even then who knew what damage had been to it.
The host swallowed "u-umm i umm...i think we have a- his words were caught in his throat when he and the rest saw orange colored aura rise up from Holden's body, his fingers twitched and a ghastly sound was released from his vocals. It looked like something out of a movie as the badly burnt and disfigured Holden got up, he was really uncomfortable to look at at and those bright glowing orange eyes were really not making things better. "I can't hkeel any hain now" he spoke in a strange way, his lips were now missing as they had been burnt and only his teeth and gums were left.
Host: "OH OH OH AND HE GOT UP, IT SEEMS OUR DEAR HOLDEN NOW HOLDS A SERIOUS GRUDGE. THE MATCH JUST GOT MORE ENTERTAINING, WE HAVE NO IDEA JUST HOW MUCH HE'S GROWN RIGHT NOW BUT THE FIGHT WILL SPEAK FOR ITSELF AS ALL WE CAN DO NOW IS WATCH" announced the host in excitement.
"This is too brutal"
"When was the last time he went this far"
"My god, it's going to take at least a full day for him to be healed completely by our best healer"
"And that's if he doesn't do any more damage than this already"
Jermaine smiled looking at Holden, it would seem he had to become a bit serious now "come Holden, i haven't finished having my fun yet" he taunted and pulled his other hand out of his pocket as his red eyes glowed and a red aura constantly rose up from him.
Both ran in a straight ran towards each other and threw a punch but in the last moment just when Holden's fist was millimetres away from Jermaine's face he slightly moved his head leading to the punch missing and only grazing his ear but his punch however connected fair and square with Holden's face which sent him flying.
But Jermaine wasn't done yet, with his insane reflexes and battle instincts he held the flying Holden by the arm before he could move away from him and used his momentum, turning his hips and redirecting all that power as he swung him with full force to the ground breaking and dislocating his arm as well as the ground beneath him.
Holden groaned in pain as he gripped his chest feeling but he grit his teeth and growled again when Jermaine pulled on his dislocated arm, he pushed his will to limits and tried to fling Jermaine away with his dislocated arm which succeeded as Jermaine was sent cartwheeling through the air but he copped a perfect landing on his feet.
Holden groaned as he held his limp right hand and got himself up on his feet, his gaze was burning as his aura grew stronger. Jermaine smiled again looking at his opponents pitiful state "what use is the ability to grow stronger through damage if you have a poor combat ability, it's really wasted on you" he shook his head in pity.
Holden's rage only grew stronger, he grit his teeth and put his shoulder back into place. His breathing was ragged and super uncomfortable for him, although he may have placed his arm back into place it didn't mean he could use it to it's full potential now. He could barely move his fingers so he had to compromise now, he took in deep breaths and looked at his arm. It was a liability in combat now, knowing that bastard there's now way he wouldn't use it against him.
"You're thinking about how to go about this battle aren't you" asked Jermaine as he smirked "i have a suggestion for you...don't. Just accept your fate" he opened his palm and molded an instant fireball as he launched it towards Holden who punched forward with his arm coated in aura to dispell it. He hissed in pain, although he negated most of the damage it didn't mean it still didn't hurt, that guys flames were incredibly hot and special.
"Stupid move again" insulted Jermaine as he ran towards Holden and coated his arm in condensed flames as he gave a right hook blow towards his sides but Holden was almost at his face with a full on palm smack. If he had to take damage then he would make sure his opponent suffered with him, but he still missed as Jermaine pushed his head low enough not to take significant damage and so only a bit of his hair was grazed while Holden's sides took the full brunt of his punch and flames.
His body keeled to the side as he groaned in pain and fell to his knees, coughing out a decent amount of blood and turning his teeth red. Jermaine gave a final kick to his head just for fun as Holden fell to the ground *haha* "that was very close you bastard, you really were going to smack me weren't you" he delivered another kick to his guts again and picked him up by his throat as he brought his face close to him "have a taste of this" he smacked his face with flame coated hands and did it over and over but Holden caught his hand at the last slap then snapped it.
Jermaine's eyes widened but then he threw a punch at Holden's chest with his other hand which made him fall forward as he coughed up another round of blood but he still didn't let go. Instead his grip only grew stronger as he almost shattered Jermaine's arm with his grip but he suddenly stopped when he felt something penetrate his gut <GURGHH> he looled down to see Jermaine's hand in his abdomen.
He trembled in horrendous pain and raised his head up to see a cold deathly gaze on Jermaine's face and roared in pain again when he felt his insides burn to due to Jermaine's hand heating up like a hot knife.
His grip on Jermaine's arm got weaker and weaker until it dopped down as he trembled uncontrollably in pain, he yelled again when Jermaine suddenly pulled his hand out and move away from him.
He fell over on his sides, this was too much and the audience also shared the same sentiment. But the only rules of this place was that killing was prohibited and so far all Jermaine's had done was bring him closer and closer to death but he wasn't killing him. The host had no right to stop the match unless it comes from Holden's mouth that he forfeits or he is knocked out and unable to continue.
"I don't understand, shouldn't he be growing stronger, this damage is too much so he should be at least putting up more of a fight right"
"That's the problem, HE IS growing stronger, but how exactly is he going to fight like this. His arm is out of commission and he took a dangerous blow to the gut, he can't take infinite damage, at some point it just.... becomes too much. So instead of being able to use his power it actually begins to weaken him, it becomes an actual burden as his body can't take it anymore. Too many heavy damage in one go just is not good for him" one member of the audience explained as he watched the pitiful state of Holden on the ground and shaking his head. This wasn't a battle, it was just extreme torture and that guy doesn't seem like he has any intention of stopping.
Jermaine looked at his arm and massaged it, his gaze on the half dead Holden lying on the ground and trembling in agony. He squatted down before him and smirked "do you forfeit Holden" he asked.
Holden raised his gaze to Jermaine but didn't say anything and only just stared at him, Jermaine smiled "i really advise you not to push it, you're already dying. You're lucky my heat cauterized the stab wound i gave you, but it's still not taken care of you know" he said to Holden who still didn't show any signs of giving.
Jermaine shook his head and smiled "look at you, so pitiful. At any moment now you could just pass out from the pain so you're still going to forfeit even without you wanting it, but before you do-- he stood up and lift his foot, hanging it above Holden's disabled arm and with a dark smile on his face "let me hear your screams of agony one last time" then he brought his feet down with full and stomped on his arm absolutely breaking it.
<CRACK/CRUNCH>
<Aaaaaaaaaaaargh>
Holden roared as he experienced one of the greatest pains he ever felt in his life, the scream was so uncomfortably heart wrenching that it made the audience visibly cringe and close their eyes as they felt a phantom pain that was was nothing compared to the real one Holden was feeling right now.
"Ooo, that's really gotta hurt. But it should be over now, that poor fool" said Vincent shaking his head in light pity
Jermaine took his feet off Holden's arm and watched him with a calm unreadable gaze, some seconds later he just turned around and left the arena with the medic team coming in right after he left to take the Unconscious Holden out of the stadium. The audience watched silently as they hauled his body outta there, his poor arm was destroyed and his face absolutely disfigured, at least he wasn't really handsome so there wasn't anything to miss but still--Luckily their healer could fix him in no time so it wasn't all bad after all.
The host came out into tue stadium and cleared his throat "so um, well there you have it folks, absolute brutality....alright shake it off people, we really haven't gotten to the interesting parts yet. NOW LET'S SEE, who we have next for our next match" he gestured up to the screen above, the audience got rid of the pity charade and became excited once more as the rounds continued.
[Meanwhile]
Aria had gotten healed and the woman had introduced herself as Venus to Arlo and he introduced himself to her also as courtesy, Aria explained to her that Arlo was new here and she also told her the reason Arlo gave about why he helped her.
Venus nod her head in understanding and turned her gaze to Arlo who was sitting cross legged on the couch across her and with his tail resting on his laps "well i guess i have to thank you then, knowing her she would have strongmanned it all the way here and thereby causing herself unnecessary discomfort" she said.
Aria rolled her eyes and Arlo smiled "i would have done the same thing as her also so i can't really judge can i" he confessed.
Venus gave a light chuckle "i got the same feeling from you too... so you're five huh" she asked and Arlo nod in reply to her question. She sighed "damn, such a shame. But all hope isn't lost yet, there's still many years on the line and i could groom you perfectly until you're ready, i can already see the absolute monster of a potential you have" said Venus nodding her head to herself as a small smile formed on her lips.
*//.....What??//* Thought both kids simultaneously in full confusion but then Aria's eyes widened as she perfectly understood what this shameless woman was referring to "you...you really don't have any shame do you" she asked bewildered.
Venus smiled a most innocent and sweetest of smiles "i really should thank you my dear sweet Aria, he's the greatest specimen I've ever laid my eyes on" she said in the sincerest of tones and the softest of gazes which just made Aria all the more speechless that something like this could be said in this way. This woman was really serious, there was no denying it.
Arlo on the other side was just feeling left out, he felt he understood something but then not really understanding it until another bomb just dropped out of nowhere when Venus got up, went inside her room probably and then came out with a birthday cone hat and a handful of confetti.
She threw them up in the air and yelled "Congratulations, you're now my temporarily adopted son" she said in a celebratory voice and a huge smile on her face while Aria just covered her face in shame, she was so not claiming relations with this woman. Venus put her hand down and looked around the floor "now who's going to clear this" she asked to no one in particular.
Arlo looked up at her with one of the most i am completely lost gazes of all time as he could say was "huh?"
EnD.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone