Standing on the mat ring, Felix suddenly felt an intense stare from behind. As he turned to look at it, he saw a vision of a pack of wild lions surrounding him.

That’s some intense bloodlust.

Distracted, Felix was nearly struck in the face by a sharp haymaker. He closed his eyes and braced for impact, but the blow never came. Allison’s fist stopped short two inches from his face.

“You’re not the one I was fighting…” The blonde woman stood up straight, wearing a curious expression.

Thoroughly unnerved, he gulped and awkwardly responded, “I’m glad you noticed, Allison…”

“Huh, and you are…?” Her expression went blank, yet her tone was curious. She stood there, emanating strength and experience. Her arms glistened in sweat, dripping through the lines of her tight muscles.

“I’m… Felix. Felix Aster.”

“Oooh… That’s a pretty name.”

“…We’ve met before.”

“Oh, we have? I see…” She muttered dismissively.

“Yeah…” He awkwardly responded, “You know, I’m actually ranked eleventh now.”

“Oh, um… should I congratulate you? Ranked eleventh on what?”

“Of the board? You know… the Elite Agent’s board?”

“Elite Agents? Oh, right. I’m a part of that.” She lowered her head in response.

“Yes… you’re ranked two.”

“I am? Oh, right…” She turned her head left to right, looking at the crowds, “So, do you want to fight too?”

“Actually, I was just dragged into this, but…” He stopped as he heard his partner’s voice call out his name.

“Felix, Felix, Felix!” Maria chanted his name and raised her fist in the air. Kaitlin added her voice to the chant, cheering his name enthusiastically, and the rest of the crowd followed suit.

From the other side of the crowd, a red-haired woman with red rabbit ears started to cheer, “Allison! Allison! Allison!” Followed by Rico’s voice.

Kaitlin glanced at him with a curious smile, “Aren’t you supposed to be cheering Felix on?”

“Blonde muscle mommy.” Rico shrugged.

The crowds began chanting the names of the two combatants in repetition, roaring their excitement.

Felix looked over to the golden lion staring down at him. A vision of Luna facing off against Allison flashed in his mind.

“You know what? Yes. I do.”

“Alright then.” Her soft demeanor sharpened. She took her stance, and her overwhelming presence took over.

I hate to admit, but the woman standing in front of me right now… makes me feel intimidated. No, scared. But I don’t wanna back down from this. I want to beat the top dog. I will be the top dog.

The cheering from the audience died down as Felix took his own stance.

I guess now is as good a time as ever to see how far I’ve come.

After all…

Not even Luna could beat her.

Asahi’s face flashed in his head.

Maybe… if I could beat you, then…

From under the audience, the two red-eyed guests sat on the floor, catching their breath.

“Hard to believe she’s not an enhanced human.” The silver-haired woman remarked as she gasped.

“Either way she’s a monster.” Nero remarked as a small stream of electricity crackled on his forehead. He then turned his head towards the arena and sneered, “How much you wanna bet one of them dies?”

“You’re joking, I just hope none of us get killed just by watching.” Isabelle worriedly frowned.

“We’ll get to see what the strongest esper is really made of.” He grinned widely with high expectations.

As the two watched intently, their hearts skipped a beat as a cold voice spoke from behind them, “Is it that hard to tell which one is gonna win?”

A bead of sweat slid down Nero’s face as an immediate thought crossed his mind, ‘This girl, how did I not notice her?’

Maria smiled confidently, “Felix isn’t the type of guy to back down from a challenge. That much I can tell you.”

“Really... wait, when did you—?” Isabelle spoke with an awestruck tone, yet as she turned around, Maria was already walking closer to the arena.

The chief adjusted her glasses with an amused expression, “A fight between the Black Cat of Ruin and the Golden Lion, this should be interesting.”

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Felix’s feet bounced around the floor, waiting for the first move. He knew that taking the first strike against the lion would be a fatal mistake, even if it was just a spar.

If Marie's watching, then I'd better make this entertaining at least.

He let out a sharp exhale through his teeth, and the battle began as Allison initiated the first attack. A fast, sharp jab. Felix, confident in his own physical strength, had that confidence shattered as she destroyed his guard.

Pushed back by the blow, his hands trembled down to the fingertips.

She followed up with consecutive vicious jabs, which made Felix’s feet dig into the floor mats.

He adapted to her jabs little by little, following the pattern of her fists, and inching towards her, looking for the chance to counter. As he slid in and under her arms, he struck. Allison arched her back, inches near the ground, escaping his fist and the gust of wind that followed.

The lioness grabbed his head with her legs and threw him across the room.

He rolled over the ground and he quickly got on all fours, sprinting like an animal to avoid a fist that came crashing down.

The black cat got back up as soon as her fist cracked the ground, and followed up with a rapid barrage of his own.

But each of his punches were easily parried. Instinctively, he threw another kick in response. Not learning from last time, she grabbed his leg and slammed him straight to the ground this time.

His vision turned pitch-black for a moment.

When he opened his eyes, there was a sharp ringing in his ear, but even in spite of it, he heard Maria’s voice counting upward, “Six… seven…”

A sharp ache radiated throughout his neck and head as he looked ahead. In front of him, he saw his opponent’s unchanged, dull expression. A memory replayed in his mind, and a voice in his head told him to get back up.

“Eight… And he’s back on his feet, everybody!” Maria announced loudly, to which the crowds responded with an explosion of cheers and excitement.

Felix staggered to stay upright, but he grit his teeth and raised his fist, signaling that he was ready to continue.

Allison once again raised her fists, not allowing her opponent any mercy. She followed and struck once again, but as she did, Felix made an opening for himself, avoiding her strike and followed with a counter.

Her golden locks dragged against the wind as her feet tore through the floor mat.

“That attack…” Allison muttered.

Felix followed with a flurry of attacks. His arms were like weapons, striking and whipping at every turn, and yet— Fast as they were, they were caught in her hands, and she threw herself towards him with a rock-hard headbutt.

He reeled a step back as his head wobbled. His forehead was marked red.

“Alright, serious time.” Allison muttered to herself.

She lowered her stance, not dissimilar to the one he had used against her earlier. She appeared as a carnivorous animal, tensing up moments before it springs to its prey.

The Phantom, in turn, took back control of his body and firmly planted his feet, digging his heels and toes with desperate strength. He lifted his arm above his shoulder and tightened his fist, there was an imaginary weight as he held the shaft of an invisible weapon.

“What’s he doing?” Isabelle’s brow curled curiously.

“A spear…” The red-eyed man beside her mumbled.

She turned to him and asked, “What?”

“That pose... It looks like he’s holding a spear.” Remarked Nero.

“Come on... work…” Felix muttered as both of his eyes beginning to radiate a cold, azure light. A crisp, thin blue ribbon manifested from his hand and spiraled up his arm.

Allison took a step forward, and though his senses were heightened, she had vanished in front of him.

His eyes widened as they gradually grew accustomed to her movements, and saw that she was crouched against one of the pillars that made the ring. But before his body could even turn around to face her, she already landed on the other one, and was preparing to jump once more.

She moved from one pillar to another, weaving together a golden thread across the arena.

Nero and Isabelle’s heads kept turning as they followed, yet Maria’s expression remained unimpressed, her irises reflected every single one of Allison’s movements.

When she finally reappeared, his eyes quickly narrowed as the inescapable blow was less than a few inches from impact.

His memory flashed to earlier and remembered what Nero did to escape.

A hazy blue vortex shot out from Felix’s fist and spiraled throughout the hall. The crowds became deafeningly silent after a loud crackle reverberated across the room.

The two combatants took a step back. Allison nearly toppled over, gasping and covered in scratches. Felix, however, collapsed.

The sparring match was over, and the victor was clear.

*

Felix’s mismatched eyes slowly opened, and found himself lying on Maria’s lap.

“You know, you really have to stop doing that all-fours animal style fighting nonsense.” Maria pouted as she sat beside him. “It’s apparently leftovers from when you were involved in Project CHIMERA.”

As he got up, he looked around and the training hall had become empty. The crowds have cleared up and only three people remained, “M-Marie? What... happened?” He groaned.

“You blacked out twice, so you know, there goes my expectations.” She replied.

“It’s not my fault you overestimate me.” Felix muttered with a sharp groan.

“You want to be rank one, don’t you? You’re supposed to be better than this.” She muttered with a focused stare, much to Felix’s dismay.

“R-right.”

“Well, on the flip side, you left a Felix-shaped crater where you landed.” Her voice returned to the usual poppy and upbeat tone as she pointed to the floor, where his body had been buried deep into the floor mat.

Allison walked up to Felix with a blank expression, “I apologize, I took you seriously.”

Felix laughed awkwardly in disbelief, “That somehow both annoys me and makes me happy at the same time.”

“I remember now, you’re Luna’s brother, right?” She tilted her head.

“…I’m surprised you remembered.”

“Your attack… It looked like you were throwing a spear. It was familiar.”

“I feel like I’ve finally caught up to you, even just by a bit. Good match.” Felix smiled and reached his hand out.

“Yeah… good match.” Allison muttered with a gentle smile as she shook his hand.

But as she let go, Felix suddenly lost balance and fell to the ground. The intense shock on his body quickly caught up as he got up, and Maria lifted him over her shoulder.

“Easy there, bud.”

“Thanks, Marie…” He then turned his head back at Allison, “Think you and I can have a rematch again sometime—?”

As Maria helped Felix up straight, her and Allison’s eyes met, and as they did, Allison quickly pounced far from the two of them.

“Huh, what’s wrong?” Felix asked, though Maria just smiled cheerfully toward her.

Allison’s eyes sharpened immensely, with a subtle agitation in her voice she spoke, “I’m… sorry, I have to go.”

“Oh, uh… okay.” Felix waved.

As if in a hurry, Allison left the training hall without turning back.

Both of them watched with a surprised expression before Maria broke the silence, “You land one hit and suddenly you’ve caught up with her?”

“When I was young, I wouldn’t have even dodged her first jab, now I landed a blow on her… so yeah, improvement.” He snickered.

“Good job.”

With his mismatched eyes, he gazed into his balled fist.

What is it that I wanted to prove? That I was stronger than I was before? Or maybe I just wanted someone else to knock some sense into me… or maybe I wanted something else entirely. In any case, that made me clear my head.

“So, you never told me you had a sister before. Luna, huh?”

“I didn’t? I’ll tell you some other time.”

“Hmm?” She hummed in an sarcastic tone.

“Okay… wait—”

“What?”

“Nobody removed their damn shoes, now the training room is dirty…” Felix expressed his annoyance.

“The janitor’ll clean it up. Now c’mon, the Chief is waiting for us.” She said as she carried him out of the room.

~