Fanny's eyes widened in shock as a huge fireball sped towards her. Without thinking, she sprang to the side, just avoiding the flames.
"That was close," she said, landing in a crouch. Her eyes were trained on the fiery beast in front of her. A smirk crept across her face as she tightened her fists.
"Let me show you what I've got," she growled.
With a flick of her wrist, she shot fireballs like a machine gun at the lion. The beast didn't budge. It let out a loud roar and summoned flames that burnt up and obliterated every single one of her attacks in a blink of an eye.
Her smirk grew. "Now this is getting interesting."
The lion bounded towards Fanny with a speed that terrified her and swiped at her with a paw that could crush a small creature. Fanny caught the attack with her hands, and locked into the beast. Both of them struggled to gain an advantage. Sparks fizzled at the point of contact as their powers fought it out. Fanny was not afraid. She was excited.
Then, the lion began charging a fireball in its mouth, right next to Fanny's face. Fanny's eyes flickered with alarm. Just as the beast shot, she smashed her head into its snout, sending it careening to the side and away from her.
the explosion to shoot up into the sky.
The fighters both jumped back panting for dear life. Fanny gritted her teeth and steadied her breath.
"I've had enough," she said, charging her fist with energy. Flames encircled her fist as she took off running.
The lion's answer was to launch a large flamethrower. Fanny leaped up, just barely avoiding it and landed on the lion's back. With primal rage, she punched down hard into the spine of the beast as she let out a large yell.
Isla and Leon watched from their corner, "You're the best, Fanny! Let's finish this!" Isla teased. "Yeah yeah, no big deal," Leon said. Even though he didn't seem intimidated, there was a slight flicker of anxiety in his eyes.
She created a gash on the beasts side, the lion let out a furious roar as its hair bristled with heat. A moment passed, then it expelled a beam of flames so powerful the air shimmered.
Thinking fast, Fanny punched the ground with enough force to leap above the flames.
"She's so smart!" Leon yelled.
Fanny gracefully landed her feet on the ground—but the lion was anticipating her. With a menacing growl it charged forward slamming its head into her, forcefully knocking her back and into the wall. Fanny slumped on the ground, plasticized, and unconscious.
"The match is done", spoke the teacher, "Lion wins -"
But Fanny was standing.
Crimson energy enveloped her. A red aura exploded off her body covering large distances in a winding path similar to fire spreading. The lion realized the shift and roared; it erupted into its own aura. The heat in the field soared. Even the teacher took a step back.
"They're... heating the whole field", she whispered.
Fanny's and lion's auras slowly ignited more and more violently until both are entirely surrounded by fire. They charged towards each other with a crazy ferocity colliding with a very loud BOOM.
A shockwave traveled through the stadium. Heat rolled off the crowd like a wave and a dense wall of smoke poured around the arena partnering with silence for amusement as what just occurred settled in:
As the smoke cleared: Fanny remained standing. The lion remained at her feet unconscious.
The teacher stepped to the field and raised her hand. "Fanny wins!"
Leon and Isla cheered and rushed toward her; Finn clapped his first sarcastic clap as admiration replaced his critical persona.
"Good job girl!" Isla grinned.
"You rock!" Leon added.
Fanny grinned, slightly surprised to heard Finn whisper, "Yeah it was good."
All three, paired with Darius Sir, supported Fanny to be healed from the ordeal. She lay down and still breathed heavily.
"So, how was today's training?" Sir asked.
"Best training ever. And better than your training." Finn grinned.
Sir glared at him. Leon chuckled, "Yea, it was good. Even Fanny passed."
"That is so great," Darius agreed.
Later that evening, Leon and Finn were making their way down the dark hall when they saw the two boys who had passed out earlier.
"Hey! How are you boys doing?" Leon called out.
"We're fine now," one of the boys answered.
"What did you see when you guys, you know, passed out?" Leon asked with curiosity in his voice.
The boys shrugged. "We... saw a huge monster in the basement. It had a marble on it's head."
Leon narrowed his eyes. "A marble...? Ohhh... I understand."
"What is it?" Finn asked.
"Those were actually divine beasts. You two just got unlucky that day, it was part of our training they didn't realize," Leon replied with a smile.
The boys looked embarrassed. "Oh, so it wasn't a monster? We thought it was really—"
Everyone laughed. "Alright, goodnight," Leon said and waved to them as they resumed to their bedrooms.
Next Morning - Training Grounds
Another student completed their match. The teacher turned and faced Finn. "You're next."
"Finally!" Finn said, beaming. "I can't wait to see what kind of magical beast I have. A dragon? A tiger?"
Fanny, behind him, chimed in, "I bet they give you a monkey. That fits you."
"Shut up! I wasn't talking to you!" Finn shot back.
He entered the arena when the door opened. Smoke poured out dramatically. In the moment he stood tall until he looked down.
In front of him, on a pedestal was a small monkey.
From the audience, Fanny laughed. "Told you! It's so you!"
Finn's face contorted through several different emotions. "Why… why in this world… a monkey?!"
He then noticed the pink marble on the top of its head. Electric element.
Finn snarled and charged, punching the monkey, but the monkey disappeared.
"What the—?" Finn spun around. The monkey shocked Finn from behind.
Finn went down, spasming. Leon and Isla sat in the stands nervously.
"Annoying little—" Finn groaned, as he looked at his smoking body from the electric shot.
He was bleeding a little from his hand. "That's it."
He conjured a ball of explosive energy and shot it, but the monkey expertly dodged. Finn kept trying, again and again, until he became too tired and frustrated.
As the monkey landed on his back and shocked him again, Finn was done.
Leon's panic peaked. "No! Finn, stop! You're going to get hurt!" he screamed from a distance.
Finn did nothing of the sort.
He created a giant explosion that engulfed the entire field in flames. The explosion was so powerful that the teacher had to put a water shield between the students and the explosion. Even with the water shield, it began to crack from the heat of the explosion.
Everything became engulfed in smoke.
"FIIIIINNNN!" Leon yelled.
As the smoke settled… both Finn and the monkey were passed out.
But… their fingers began to twitch.