“Sakura! I’m here to see you!” Carmen shouted. Her voice echoed through the Imperial East Garden’s entrance to the Eternal Blossom Garden, where a velvet rope blocked a path deeper into the cherry forest.
The trees responded with the rustle of a chill breeze, nearly blowing the hood from her head.
Go inside.
By the Memory Shot’s command, Carmen checked left and right. No one was around. She sighed. “I’m sorry! I know this is illegal, but I need to see you!”
Carmen ducked under the velvet rope, her feet sinking into the blanket of fallen cherry blossoms over the grass. She trekked further into the Eternal Blossom Garden, catching sight of the imperial castle. Somewhere between here and there, Sakura guarded the area. Every step felt like breaking another law, like intruding on sacred, magical ground.
It wouldn’t be the first rule she broke today. Daniel believed her lie — it almost made her sick to her stomach to think about how sincerely he appreciated her answer, but he couldn’t know the truth. She hated being a liar, but she hated feeling powerless without the Memory Shot even more.
As long as he didn’t find out again, it would all be fine. Mei’s trial program had to end someday, right? At some point, they’d stop, and she’d stop using it, and if he never knew, it would all be like a distant dream.
Another powerful gust of wind rustled through the trees. Cherry blossoms lifted from the ground, but the wind got stronger, kicking more of them into her face. Carmen shielded her eyes. The humidity intensified, too, until every breath was heavy in the blinding storm of cherry blossoms.
The storm stopped.
This wasn’t the Eternal Blossom Garden anymore. In an infinite field of cherry trees, a thick mist blanketed anything beyond a mile away, the sun like a spotlight in the gray sky. Jaw on the floor, Carmen paced into a clearing. Ahead, a tall, older Japanese woman with fine black hair perched atop a rock underneath shade, sharpening the end of her human-length spear.
Sakura, the guardian of the Imperial Palace, had a glare fitting of her position, eyes sharp and regal. “You are not like the other trespassers,” she said. “Similar age, sure, but most are seeking trouble in an attempt to reach the Imperial Palace.”
Reflex kicked in. Carmen summoned Chip in his muscular form behind her, drawing into an apprehensive stance. “Where are we?”
“The place that I take people like you. The minority, who come for me. You said you wanted to talk, but…I have a feeling there’s more.”
They stood on either end of a circular clearing, with no obstacles, no crowd, no one but each other. Carmen pulled back her hood and tossed her jacket away, revealing her full fighting uniform. “Take a guess.”
Sakura raised her eyebrows before smirking. “Oh. You’re Electrica, the Millionth Girl. First you find Stylus, the Millionth Man, now me, the guardian of the Imperial Palace?” She rose from her rock, spinning her spear. The razor-sharp tip sliced through the air, throwing petals. “There are easier ways to make a name for yourself.”
“I’m not here for easy. I’m here to challenge you to a ranked fight, Sakura!”
“So be it,” Sakura said, as two menus appeared in the air in front of both of them. She sneered at Carmen’s stats. “Just like I thought. You are not even a metal rank, Electrica. You are not on my level. Do you enjoy biting off more than you can chew?”
Carmen looked at the menu in front of her, showing Sakura’s stats and her Platinum Class.
They matched in Long-Range stats, but Carmen still had the upper hand in Speed and Combo-Potential. Her balanced stats confirmed her research; Sakura was a Shoto, so she’d do well at both long range and close range. But, her range was dangerous. Her spear gave her a disjointed hurtbox, allowing her to attack from a range that she couldn’t be hit from at close quarters.
On top of that, her past clips showed that every attack threw razor-sharp cherry blossoms as an after-effect, draining her health with chip damage and micro cuts on block.
“I’m biting off just enough,” Carmen said.
Thanks to the Memory Shot, her mind worked at a level way higher than Sakura’s rank. She knew she had nothing to worry about. She could win without losing a single round.
“So be it.” Sakura’s menu followed her. She stepped into the circle drawn in the center of the clearing and pressed the button to accept the fight.
The referee spawned in perched atop a tree branch over the arena, like a long, spindly finger. “Electrica VS. Sakura. Best of three! Fighters, enter your starting positions!”
The glowing red and blue squares on the floor made them both step closer. Close enough for her to send in Chip for an attack, but also close enough for Sakura to reach her with her spear.
“Stylus tried visiting the Emperor once for a sponsorship, surprisingly,” Sakura said. “I had to remove him from the premises personally when the Emperor said no. Let’s see how well you live up to his rank.”
“Round one!”
Carmen entered her fighting pose, dispelling Chip for now. If Sakura took the offensive, the cherry blossom aura of her blockstrings would drain her health, spelling death.
“Ready?”
She had to play her part as a Rushdown. The Memory Shot gave her a plan immediately: stay aggressive, keep firing projectiles from afar with Chip and capitalize on the weakness in Sakura’s stance while she blocks.
“Fight!”
Down. Forward.
Carmen crouched and sprinted forward, summoning Chip to fly off to her right at the same time. Her movements counted as the inputs for an Electroshock, but lightning crackled around Chip’s hand.
Sakura ducked underneath the Electroshock, swinging low. Carmen jumped in with a kick, but Sakura blocked with the wooden base, her movements swift and flowing.
As Carmen landed, Sakura’s blockstring spaced her out further with every attack. The swipes of her blade summoned small petals that danced along her skin, drawing fine papercuts.
Down. Forward.
Far to Carmen’s right, Chip acted out the commands and fired another Electroshock, forcing Sakura to block. Carmen turned the tables, reaching through her guard and throwing her to the ground, gaining the health advantage.
She ordered Chip to fire another Electroshock on wake-up, but Sakura rolled out of the way.
Down. Up.
Sakura dropped to a crouch and slashed upwards. A curtain of petals rose from the ground, obscuring Carmen’s view of her opponent.
Sakura must’ve already realized leaving Chip isolated was dangerous for her. Carmen dispelled Chip as Sakura fired a windy blast of cherry petals at his previous position. Her projectile missed, and Carmen rushed through the curtain, chaining a punch to the stomach to a blow to the throat.
She continued into a punishing combo, taking Sakura into the air and knocking her back down, winning a chunk of health. As Sakura hit the ground, Carmen backed out of her range and sent Chip to her side, returning to her previous setup.
On wakeup, she fired an Electroshock from her own hands. Sakura blocked, sure, but Chip fired from another direction right after. They went back and forth peppering Sakura with projectiles, forcing her to block in place, edging her health away with a minimal amount of chip damage.
Carmen thought it felt cheap. The Memory Shot assured her like a blanket of strategy; this was perfect. It forced Sakura to make the next move; she couldn’t just block forever. Every blocked Electroshock pushed her back a foot, and soon, she’d hit the boundary.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Sakura danced.
Like a ballerina on a court of cherry petals, she weaved past one Electroshock and ducked underneath the next. She forwent blocking, instead dodging each blast, getting closer and closer to Carmen.
She was in range. Carmen’s mind moved at a mile a minute, mapping out all of her possible moves and responses. Sure enough, Sakura stabbed her spear into the ground and vaulted into the air, leaping over Carmen’s head and swinging against her guard. Carmen thrusted her palm upwards, and Sakura flinched into a midair guard.
But the Electroshock didn’t come from Carmen’s hand. Breaking the order, Chip fired at Sakura’s off-angle, paralyzing her with a blast of lightning from her side. Sakura’s face flashed with surprise before Carmen leaped into the air and met her with a knee, finishing off the last of her health with a midair combo.
Down. Forward.
As she attacked, she ordered Chip to do the commands for an Electroshock and kicked Sakura down into the path of the blast.
“Electroshock!”
Enhanced by the power of her voice, a final EX Electroshock blasted away the last of Sakura’s health, leaving her unconscious on the ground.
“Down!” the referee announced.
The quiet rustle of tree petals hit her ears like applause — Carmen could practically hear her parents as they watched her fight from across the globe. Her heart drummed in her chest, but her stamina wasn’t anywhere near drained. The Memory Shot didn’t just unlock her potential; it gave her energy, exactly what she needed to win this fight without losing a single round.
After the referee revived her, Sakura stabbed her spear into the ground and rose. “I must commend you, Electrica. You’re tricky.”
“No way, really? I never would’ve noticed,” Carmen spat.
Sakura chuckled, letting her hair down. “I haven’t faced an opponent that forced me to do this in a long time.”
“Ready?”
Sakura grabbed right below the pointed tip of her spear and twisted, separating it from the rest of the base. Carmen raised her eyebrows in surprise. In one hand, a long wooden staff. In her other hand, a short blade.
What was going on?
“Fight!”
Carmen tried to throw Chip out into the distance again, but Sakura closed the gap in a single lunge, arms outstretched. With one hand, her short blade aimed right for Chip’s transparent chest. With the other, her staff reached far enough to swing at Carmen’s head.
Carmen dispelled Chip and raised her block, bracing herself as the end of Sakura's staff hit her with a breeze of sharp petals, cutting her arms. Sakura’s blockstring flipped between flowing sweeps with her staff and quick swipes and stabs with her short blade.
Yet, with two different weapons, she summoned twice as many flower petals. A storm ripped around Carmen’s body, raking her exposed skin like the grooves of a record. Fifteen percent of her health drained away from a blockstring.
The force and speed of the attacks pushed Carmen closer and closer to the edge of the arena.
Carmen grit her teeth, focusing on every individual swing itself, tapping into the extra sensory abilities and knowledge of the Memory Shot.
She weaved past a staff swing and barely righted herself in time to block a stab,. switching between high and low to avoid getting hit. Dodging let her escape the flower petals, but she could barely keep up. She dodged some attacks and blocked others, though her health still steadily drained from the chip damage.
Carmen took a slim chance and jumped over Sakura, switching to plan B. She summoned Chip midair to attack in a pincer formation.
Mentally, she passed the baton of control back and forth rapidly, ordering Chip to go for a high punch before switching back to herself and going for a low kick. With the Memory Shot, her mind moved twice as fast, changing perspectives quickly with no confusion.
But Sakura had two weapons. She blocked and parried Carmen’s strikes with the blade in one hand and did the same for Chip’s attacks with the staff in her other hand, effortlessly handling both of them at once. Not only that, but the few attacks she got in still summoned unblockable flower petals, hitting both of them at the same time.
This won’t work either.
When Sakura swung low with her staff, instead of blocking, Carmen caught the wooden shaft. As Sakura went for a high stab at Chip, Chip blocked it, and Carmen landed a sweep to open her up for a combo, bashing Sakura from both sides.
On wakeup, Carmen surrounded her with Chip on the other side and charged an Electroshock, planning out every response for how she could’ve gotten up. Sakura tried to do something unexpected; she stabbed her blade into the ground and thrust, pushing herself into the air, dodging the Electroshock. Carmen dispelled Chip and backdashed.
Retreating avoided her punish, but it gave Sakura a free opportunity.
Down, Back, Left, Forward!
Pink light gleamed in Sakura’s eyes as she spun her staff in circles. “Let’s see how you handle the force of spring, child. Blossom Storm!”
A storm rushed in from the horizon behind Sakura, blacking out the sun as the breeze picked up. She thrust her staff forward, and the wind threw a tidal wave of flower petals. Carmen’s instincts made her flinch into a block, even putting Chip in front of her to block the tsunami of pink, too.
The voices from the Memory Shot screamed at her to jump.
At the last moment, Carmen pulled Chip closer, keeping only his legs over her own like a ghostly pair of pants. Her enhanced muscles carried her into a gravity-defying jump, high enough for the flower petals to rip through the air below her.
Carmen avoided the super and landed without a scratch, her heart pounding. It would’ve been unblockable. Forcing her opponent to block was the trap of her super; the sheer amount of flower petals would’ve torn her apart.
Even if Sakura whiffed, Carmen realized she was still behind in health. Jumping Sakura with Chip wasn’t working, since Sakura could still handle her with two weapons and hit her twice with the chip damage. But, she thought back to when she tried dodging her blockstring.
The Memory Shot gave her an idea, posed as a question: did summoning Chip’s individual body parts over her own to enhance herself count for her eyes?
Sakura paced towards her. Carmen took a breath before summoning Chip’s head over her own, like a ghostly, bird-themed helmet. Color intensified twenty times over, and she could even see the hair follicles in Sakura’s clean face. Her eyes tracked every single movement, from the shifting clouds to the ends of Sakura’s kimono.
The Memory Shot was the only reason her brain didn’t explode.
Sakura lunged for an attack, but Carmen cut her off with a light jab. Sakura blocked and swung with another combination of her staff and short sword. But, between Chip’s eyes and the power of the Memory Shot, she saw the path of her attack as if drawn out in front of her.
She dodged easily, punishing with a simple three hit combo. Every time Sakura tried to press the offensive, Carmen weaved through like a butterfly and stung like a wasp, her feet kicking up flower petals.
Sakura’s health dropped past half. After the next punish, Sakura disengaged, backing away with wild staff swings to cover her retreat.
Left, Right, Left, Right.
“No one’s forced me to The cherry blossom represents spring, but also fate,” Sakura said. “And now I’ll see yours, through my Blossom Vision!”
Pink light coursed through the whites of her eyes, as her dark brown pupils lightened to a milky white.
Carmen took a step forward to rush in, but Sakura fired a Blossom Thrust, forcing her to roll aside instead of approaching. Carmen thought of jumping, but the moment her feet left the ground, Sakura lunged into a stab, forcing her to block and simply fall.
Sakura was reading her mind. She had future vision.
If she wants my thoughts, she can get them.
Carmen glared at Sakura and let the Memory Shot work, thinking of every single possible way that she could close the few feet of distance between them. Her mind sped at a million volts a second, synapse firing off every possible attack pattern, every plan for the possible responses to her attacks.
The fight could go ten thousand ways for the last thirty seconds, and Sakura felt it, too. She grimaced. Every second, a hundred more possibilities. Sakura grabbed her head, scoffing, face tightening as she cried out in pain.
“Stay out of my head, Sakura. You aren’t on my level.”
A single step; a thousand ways to win, a thousand ways to lose. Sakura saw them all. Her mind was too occupied, and she blocked and parried with half a brain.
Carmen swept Sakura’s leg and punched her in the temple.
“K.O.!”
Her body crumpled, unconscious, and the referee appeared to swipe his hand down. Carmen dispelled Chip and let her mind rest.
“Electrica wins!” the referee announced, raising her victorious fist into the air.
A menu appeared showing her new rank as she climbed higher in the rankings. She took Sakura’s place, within the top two thousand fighters in the world. Even better, her rank rose from S Class to Golden Class, the first of the metal ranks.
All thanks to the Memory Shot. All thanks to her perfection.
Once the referee revived Sakura, she barely bat an eye at her stat window, though the disappointment weighed her face down as she put her spear back together. “Congratulations on your victory, Electrica, but…I must do my job regardless,” she spat. “Goodbye.”
She flicked her hand like swatting a fly. A storm of flower petals filled Carmen’s sight, and before she knew it, she was back on the path through the Imperial East Garden, at the entrance to the Eternal Blossom Garden, where she first met Sakura.
Her phone rang with a video call from her parents a breath later.
Carmen answered, and Chip flew from over her shoulder, dancing and silently cheering in the air in front of her. “Hello?”
“That was amazing, mija!” her father shouted. He panned the camera to the rest of the crowded bar, all four TV’s set to her fight against Sakura, too.
Her father rattled off about the highlights of the fight, yet it took everything in Carmen to not cry. No backhanded insults, no comments on what she could’ve done better. She did great — she did perfect!
All thanks to the Memory Shot. It ran out right after she hung up, but she downed a second vial instantly.