The earth shook. Dust kicked into the air like clouds as a gigantic elephant charged, eyes wide with anger. Leon raced across the field, twisting between chunks of broken debris and jump-starting energy, zeroed in on the girl pinned under rocks taller than him.
She struggled to move her limbs, but her body was pinned down as though it had been strapped to a table. Her eyes glared up at the massive beast, full of anger—not fear. Gritting her teeth, she mumbled, "This is not how it ends."
Electricity surrounded her. Lightning bolts exploded out from her skin, snapping at the air. Her eyes glowed electric-blue and literally lit the air up around her. With a scream of absolute power, she unleashed the stored energy with a shock wave explosion. Dust and debris sailed in every direction as the rocks blasted into pulverized dust. The elephant, moving quickly, didn't stop but skidded a few feet as chunks of the elephant-sized boulders exploded at all points around him.
She disappeared.
No—she moved, at a speed faster than the eye can register she was there, and moved again in an identical fashion with another strike that left blurs of her image on the field. The elephant's perspective must have looked like a dozen or so girls, running all over the field.
"Whoa..." Leon said, stunned. "This girl is insane."
Finn chuckled. "Oh man! I can't wait for my turn."
Fanny kept her arms crossed and watched the unfolding episode of distraction, "That girl has some serious balls."
The elephant was confused and becoming agitated. It slammed its trunk down onto the ground, sending up rocks. The girl easily dodged the rocks, moving from place to place like a flash of lighting. From each place she attacked with a bolt of lightning that tore through the air.
The elephant roared. It made a wall of large boulders to protect itself from the girl's attack. But the girl was moving too quickly. The bolts were coming from different directions: left, right, above, below. The beast grunted, sweat rolling down its thick hide, as several electric bolts found their mark.
The girl smiled because she felt the power coiled within her, creating a charge for her final hero's charge.
Then the mammoth reared back.
With an earth-shaking roar, it brought its massive front legs crashing down, and the whole ground splintered into the air. A tidal wave of stone and earth erupted away from the elephant and filled the whole arena with clouds of choking dust and debris stirred into a deafening storm.
The crowd fell silent.
Smoke filled the area. They waited.
As the dust settled around, they saw her—unconscious, folded under piles of rubble.
Selena Ma'am raised her hand. "Winner: the Earth Elephant."
Leon stared, unable to believe it. "She was so powerful...and still lost?"
Finn slapped a hand on his shoulder, "Don't overthink it. Just give it your all when you're up."
Leon smirked. "That's surprisingly mature of you."
Finn's chest puffed out with pride, "I do what I can."
Medics rushed to fly the girl away. Workers began cleaning the field. Selena Ma'am's voice crackled out again.
"Next match!"
Leon checked the lineup to see one of the twins step forward.
Finn grimaced, "It's that bastard's turn."
"Yeah...and now the brother is still in waiting. They must be tough."
The boy walked confidently down into the field. The gate opened again.
A graceful deer stepped out with a marble flowing green on its forehead.
Isla gasped, "Wow...it's so pretty."
Leon squinted, "Healing and wood."
Selena Ma'am raised her hand, "Ready? Begin!"
The boy sliced his palm open. Blue blood oozed from it to the ground. The cold aura surrounded him. He froze the deer in the ice.
The deer dodged a blast bright and light on its hooves.
The boy stomped and summoned thick roots bursting from the ground.
The boy grunted and froze them, shattering each with one punch.
Leon nodded. "He's strong."
The boy sent sharp icicles flying. The deer jumped, but a few cut into its flank. The boy grinned.
Then the deer healed, with a glow from its marble. The wounds closed in the blink of an eye.
Finn's mouth dropped open in disbelief. "If he keeps healing, he can't win."
The boy shouted an expletive. "Stupid deer!"
Then roots burst forth again, thicker. He froze a few, but they kept coming. They wrapped around him. He squirmed, helpless.
Yelling, he called forth ice rocks that shot up from the ground, slicing the roots. He was free. He felt as weary as a pencil pusher at the end of a day.
Then he created a giant ice crystal. The deer couldn't dodge in time, trapped under the crystal's weight.
He ran forward for the kill—but it was at that moment the deer's eyes burst with a bright green blaze and from the earth erupted more and more roots. They swallowed the boy whole.
It charged him.
It didn't take the deer long to close the distance. With the deer closing fast, the boy's eyes lit up as he unleashed a whole slew of gigantic ice shards hidden away until now with a single call.
Leon gasped. "It was a trap. He waited."
The ice hit the buck, causing a serious wound. The boy did not hesitate. He punched it vigorously to the ground.
Selena Ma'am raised her voice. "Stop! You win."
But he did not yield.
He made one last ice crystal and aimed it for the heart of the buck.
A spray of water shot from the audience and destroyed the ice.
All eyes stared.
Selena Ma'am's words were cold as ice. "I said stop."
The boy froze.
Finn told Karen, "The brothers are both bastards."
The boy was removed from the arena and the buck removed to the medical wing.
Two more matches occurred. Both students lost.
Then —
"Fanny, you're next!"
She entered the arena and shook off her shoulders. Isla cheered. "You got this!"
Fanny beamed and raised her fist in the air. "Let's go!"
The gate unlatched and a lion walked through the gate, red marble and all.
Leon's eyes widened. "Fire element. This lion is strong."
Fanny cracked her knuckles. "Finally, some fun."
"You ready? 3... 2... 1... GO!"
The lion charged, blasting a fireball directly at her.
Fanny's eyes went wide. "So fast—!"
The blast shot right at her.